Bread

Pat and I decided not to do big gifts for each other for Christmas this year, but he still wanted some ideas from me.  I knew exactly what I wanted to ask for.  I've been wanting to get a bread machine for years now.  And since I'm not currently on a quest to get thin carbs can be a staple of my diet, right?

I couldn't wait to try my bread machine when we got back from our trip to see family.  The first weekend home we decided to have some homemade chili with buttered fresh bread.  It was delicious!!!

After making my first loaf, I guess you could say I'm a bit obsessed.  The next day I wanted to try another recipe.  The only one I had all the ingredients to try was Chocolate Bread.  Sounds a bit odd, huh?  I decided to give it a whirl though.  It ended up pretty good.  Sean is a big fan.  It is recommended as a breakfast bread and served with cream cheese.  If you like chocolate, why not add it to your breakfast?

Since I had a bit of the white bread left over I decided to try a recipe I'd been craving.

French Toast Casserole (Modified from FamilyFun Magazine)

Ingredients:
5 large slices homemade white bread
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon or to taste
4 eggs
3/4 + a bit extra milk
1tsp vanilla extract
maple syrup for serving

Cut bread into 1" cubes.  Place half of bread cubes in a buttered casserole dish.  In a small bowl combine cinnamon and brown sugar.  Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture on the bread in casserole dish.  Add the remaining bread to the dish.  Top with the remaining cinnamon and sugar.  In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla.  Starting at the sides and working toward the center pour the egg mixture evenly over the bread.  Gently press down on the bread to make sure it all gets some of the egg mixture on it.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).

Heat oven to 350*.  Bake covered for 20 minutes.  Then remove foil and continue baking about 20 minutes until the top turns golden brown.  Serve warm with maple syrup.

I love french toast.  This was definitely a good variation of it.  It hit the spot, and I didn't have to do much work to get it ready this morning.  It would be a great dish to serve if you are hosting a brunch.  

Outgrown

Just like I've outgrown my pants recently, we've also outgrown this house.  This was one of the hard things to accept about our move being cancelled.  Our house right now isn't technically too small for us.  In fact with a move we'll probably be downsizing the square footage, but the truth is the layout just makes this house too small for our family.

While we have a large living room, we do not have a playroom.  Our living room is full to the brim with children's toys.  So almost all of my day is spent feeling like my world is being taken over by colorful plastic.  And to add to the pain of it, our bedrooms are literally inches from the living room (no hallways here, my door just opens to the living room).  As soon as I wake up the clutter hits me.

As much as I complain about this, I am not one to take the toys away from the kids.  I just know in my next home, a safe and designated play area is a MUST.

With all the growing we have going on here, we've also had to make some changes.  Since we aren't moving and we do have a baby on the way, we had to combine the boys into one room.  I was planning on this with a move, so now I just started earlier.  Sean's new bed (identical to Ryan's) arrived yesterday.   Sean is having a little bit of a hard time falling asleep without momma in his bed.  And Ryan is still learning that at bedtime we have to be quiet.  They didn't fall asleep until just after 11 p.m.  I'm sure it will get easier with time.  And it was so worth it to listen to the two of them talking over the monitor.  I couldn't help but laugh at them.

Here's a pic of their new room.

Here's hoping for more sleep tonight.      

Why hello there!

Last night I spent a little while trying to catch up in the blog world.  So much is going on right now for many of my favorite blogs.  I also noticed the plethora of 2012 goals/resolutions.  Before I tell you mine, let me start by catching you up on where I've been.

We arrived home last night from our holiday trip to see family.  It was a great 13 days.  I miss my family so much.  Being back in New England was bittersweet since that is where where were supposed to be moving in the next few months until the stop move.  And I'm sure you remember how upset I was about all that.  I can at least say that Pat and I have hashed out a plan for our future.  Of course it's only written in pencil at this point, but I'm a planner and having a plan makes me feel a lot better.

The boys had an awesome time getting so much attention from everyone.  We celebrated Christmas up there and had a little visit from Santa last night for a TN Christmas this morning.  There is absolutely NO room in my house for any more toys.

So that leads me to the present.  We're now in 2012!  I know I entered the new year feeling a little stuck and at a stand still.  But really there are such big things in store for us.  In June we'll welcome a new baby.  Next fall/winter (fingers crossed) we may be selling our home and buying a new one in preparation for a BIG move.  I have another trip to visit family planned this spring, but I'll be flying with both boys alone (and pretty pregnant) so that is exciting and scary at the same time.

As for goals, I have lots of goals that I'm working on all the time.  So for 2012, I just want to have a broad goal of choosing happiness.  I want to choose a happy outlook at life and also to actively pursue happiness through the decisions I make.  Maybe I choose this since we ended 2011 with such a let down.  I don't want to let noise on the outside color my mood or perspective.  We'll see how it goes ;)

Happy 2012 everyone!  I hope the new year is filled with blessings for all.