Bacon Potato Chowder

This is one of our new favorite meals. I made it, totally thinking Shenli wouldn't like it, since it's a soup and the only meat is bacon. But he loved it! I've made it three times in the last month, and I make the full recipe each time - and even then, there's only usually the tiniest bit of leftovers!

Potato Corn & Bacon ChowderIngredients1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. butter
1 c. whole milk or half & half
4 c. or (1) 32 oz. box chicken broth
3 slices of thick-cut bacon, cooked until crisp and diced
½ c. medium-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3 russet potatoes, rinsed, peeled (optional) and cubed into 1″ chunks
2 c. fresh corn
½ of a yellow onion, diced
1 leek, rinsed well and diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. sea salt + a pinch for sweating
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
¹⁄₈ – ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, depending on personal taste
DIRECTIONS:1. Set a large stock pot or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add butter and melt. When butter has melted add onion and leek. Add a pinch of salt to help the onion and leek sweat and cook for 4-5 minutes until tender and transparent. Add garlic and corn and cook for 3 more minutes.
2. Sprinkle in flour and whisk. Slowly add chicken broth and then milk. Turn heat up to medium-high, then add potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Simmer for 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Once the potatoes are tender and the soup has thickened, turn heat off. Add in cheddar cheese and stir until incorporated. Spoon into individual bowls and top with crisp bacon pieces. Serve immediately.
Stephen + Natalie via Life Made Simple | Makes approximately 4-6 servings

Roy's First Haircut

Everyone we knew told us not to cut Roy's hair. But seeing it every day, it was driving me crazy! My doctor told me many people give their babies buzz cuts as early as two months old, so I wasn't too worried about cutting his hair. My sister Alexis held him while I used our trimmer (6 all over, then a 3 on the bottom and around the ears to get rid of the mullet :D). He screamed the whole time and so I didn't spend enough time making it even. But I think it looks a million times better! It took some getting used to, but now he looks so grown up and adorable. Gone is the CRAZY hair! When I look back on pictures, especially the one below from right before we cut it, I can't believe we even let it grow that long. It was insane, but now I love it!

Before 

After!

He wasn't too thrilled

Finally big enough to wear the onesie I made for Shenli!

Thanks Becca for the adorable onesie!

Roy is 3 Months

The first two months with Roy went by so fast, and now it has taken forever it seems to get to month 3! Roy is becoming more and more enjoyable every day. Here are some fun things about him this month, and of course a whole bunch of pictures!

• He weighs just over 10 lbs, and is in the .85th percentile for weight (yep, less than 1 percentile!). He's such a little guy. He weighs less than any of our friends' babies, even the younger ones. But he's healthy and happy, and still growing, so I guess it's okay!
• He sleeps through the night every night - about 10 hours. He does wake up at night and cry, but he always puts himself back to sleep.
• His hair just keeps getting better! I think we'll cut it soon, I'll have to post those pictures too. :)
• He can sometimes roll over from his tummy to his back. He tries to do it every time we put him on his tummy, and he gets really sad if he can't make it all the way over.
• He coos and smiles all the time now, and it's the best. We spend all day trying to make it happen.
• He stays awake for 1.5 hours at a time, and then sleeps for 1.5 hours. He does get a little grumpy toward the end of being awake that long, but he is happy again if we hold him.
• He is formula-fed 100% now. Of course there are pros and cons to every kind of feeding, but we are loving the formula! It is so nice to make sure he's growing and to take less time feeding him.
• He is learning so much these days. He follows things with his eyes, he is starting to reach for things to grab, and he wants to stick everything in his mouth!
• And last but not least, just one funny story. The last two nights, when he wakes up in the morning (or last night when he woke up at 5am and was crying so loud that I went to check on him), he has turned himself around in his bed 180 degrees! His head gets stuck under the changing table part of the pack n play, and his feet are where his head was! It's so cute, and I guess we need to start giving him a little more room in his bed. It's strange he never moves like that while he's awake, but it's just adorable to see when he's asleep. :)

Orange and black for halloween

Halloween spider hat - face #1: Scared

Face #2: Curious

Face #3: Happy!

Visit to the doctor for some shots 

Learning to sit up, with some help from pillows

Three-month pictures

He almost always has his hands in his mouth these days - both of them!

Chicken Stir Fry

This is the best stir fry I have ever had. I love stir fries of all kinds, but this is the best! The recipe is from Shenli's mom, and I wrote it down when she taught me how to make it, but at the time I remember thinking "I know this is a terrible place to write it down, but I'm sure I will remember it later!" And...I have no clue where I wrote it down now. So I'm trying to recreate it from memory!

The cool thing about this stir fry is that you can make it with chicken for a full meal, or leave out the chicken (just start at the part where you put in vegetables), and have it as a delicious side dish for any other Asian meal! Also, I am not putting exact measurements for most of the things below. It can be made as big or small as you need, and you can use as much or as little of everything as you think tastes good.

Chicken Stir Fry
Recipe: Alicia Lund (adapted by Eliza Lund)

Chicken breast(s)
Corn starch, for chicken
Oil, for the pan
Minced garlic
Soy sauce (Alicia recommends Kikkoman for cooking, but La Choy for eating)
Oyster sauce
Sesame oil, optional
Cornstarch mixed with water (about 1 tsp cornstarch in 1 cup water)
Additional water
Vegetables - broccoli, carrots, pea pods, bell pepper (I prefer red), zucchini, etc. Anything is possible!

Cut the chicken breast into thin, long slices and coat with corn starch (about 1 tsp for 1 chicken breast - it doesn't have to fully coat the chicken). Heat 2-3 tsp of oil in a large fry pan to medium-high heat. Add the chicken and stir constantly to fry the chicken until it is cooked through.

Cut up the vegetables. Alicia cut up the broccoli into small pieces, but left the stems fairly long. The carrots get cut into thin thin slices, cut on the diagonal. Pea pods can be left whole or cut in half for smaller bites.

Add the vegetables, garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sesame oil to taste to the chicken. For enough food to feed two people, I usually use about 1 tsp soy sauce, and 1-2 Tbl of oyster sauce. I don't usually use sesame oil, but it will give it more depth of flavor. I also use about 1 clove garlic. But as Alicia taught me, tasting it is the most important, and you will get better at knowing how much sauce you need to get a good flavor. Also add the cornstarch mixed with water to thicken.

Stir fry the vegetables and chicken until the vegetables turn bright and the sauce thickens. The vegetables will still be crisp. If you need to, add more sauces for flavor, or more cornstarch/water to thicken, or more water by itself to thin the sauce. You want the sauce to be slightly thin still by the end. Once everything is to your liking, serve immediately with rice.

Here are some additional things that can be done, that I don't do every time. It just depends on if you need to:
-You can add the vegetables in order from what cooks slowest to fastest. Broccoli is considered a fast-cooking vegetable, by the way, since you want it to still be crisp.
-If the vegetables aren't cooking fast enough, you can put the lid on the pan and steam them for a bit. This will help the vegetables finish cooking without drying out the chicken or burning the sauce.