Super Bowl Village

As if you didn't already know, but Indy is hosting the 2012 Super Bowl and the festivities started this past Friday.  Saturday we took a family trip downtown to visit Super Bowl Village.  We really just made a large walking circuit of downtown.  It was neat to see Georgia Street's improvements and were excited to see all the people enjoying our city!  We also watched several people do the zip line over Capitol Ave--we're going back Thursday and really want to do it!

Here are some pictures of our afternoon.

All set to brave the streets!

On the Circle to see the famous letters

Hmmm, what do I want?

On the heated benches like on NFL sidelines (we think)

Stopping by Lucas Oil Stadium

Gary plans to go check out the ESPN set up on the Pan American plaza this week, too.  We walked past and saw them setting up, but Gary plans to watch some of the radio broadcasts, maybe.  Like I mentioned, Gary and I will be back on Thursday afternoon while Eliza is in daycare.  We hope to do some people watching, zip-lining, and just enjoying the atmosphere!

34 Weeks!

Our sweet baby girl turned 34 weeks today. She is still not crawling, but is rocking on all fours more frequently.  She can say "mamama," "bababa," "dadada," and has even thrown in some "blah blah blah"!  She's the sweetest baby.  Today is just one of those days where I couldn't stop looking at her and saying "I love you!"  *sigh*  There is nothing like being a parent.  :)

Skyping with Aunt Alissa!

Modeling new headband.  check out my teeth!

I'm such a happy girl!  Modeling another new headband.

Headbands are handmade from Holly's Bowtique, a local to the Rochester-area business.  I love Holly's stuff, and it makes me happy to support her business!

"Who's Cooking Soup?"

So says Creed on an episdoe of the office--we can't remember which episode, but Gary and his friends used to quote this line often.

The answer?  Us!  Again.  We tried another new soup recipe this evening.  This time I found it on pinterest.  (pinterest is like an internet bulletin board--it's awesome for things like recipes!).

The recipe originated here and is called Southern Chicken and Corn Chowder.  Here's how it went down:

First, we Gary chopped the veggies that would form the base of the soup--carrots, celery, onion.  We added those to a soup pot with olive oil, and added minced garlic (we buy the huge plastic container of minced garlic and go through one surprisingly quickly).

Those cooked down for about 5 minutes, when we added a diced jalapeno.  After that cooked for a minute we added 2-3 diced chicken breasts (raw).  This is when I took over the cooking process!  I added a good amount of freshly cracked pepper (we use a five peppercorn blend from Penzey's spices) and some salt.  The recipe didn't call for salt or pepper anywhere--an oversight in my opinion.  This then got covered with water, about two small water glasses full, and simmered for 20 minutes to cook the chicken.

Then we added two cups of milk + two TBs of flour and two cans of creamed corn--the recipe called for 20oz of frozen, but we just used 2 14.5oz cans instead.  And we added the 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme called for in the recipe.  It simmered again for 20 minutes (more like 30-40).

At this point, we both tasted the soup.  It was good, but just tasted like canned corn.  So, Gary suggested we add some Tabasco Chipotle hot sauce.  We did, probably a TB worth?  Not sure.  We also added more salt, just a couple pinches.  Still, it was just missing something.  So I thought maybe we should add some lemon juice--sounds crazy, but it just needed some acid/brightness to cut through the richness of the soup chowder.  We only added about one quarter to one half a teaspoon, I'd guess, but it really helped.

The final product:

Bowl of chowder and small salad

The final verdict?

It was a good meal once we doctored it up.  The original recipe provided a good base, but was just "ok" in overall flavor for our taste.  Also, next time I would shred the chicken instead of cube (or just leave it out entirely!).  I also really wanted potatoes in this--I just always think of corn chowder with potatoes.  Every time I spooned up a chunk of chicken I was really disappointed it wasn't a potato!

We'll keep eating it the next couple days and it was worth it.

UPDATE!  I forgot about the bacon called for in the recipe!  Now, as blasphemous as this may sound, I don't really care for bacon anymore.  So we subbed diced pancetta.  We rendered/browned it and added it to the chowder before the final simmer.

A few more pictures!

We've been stingy with updates, so here's some more pictures to start off a new week!

HI!

family self portrait fun!

choices, choices

give me that hat!

Seasons 52 Inspired Steak Chili

Seasons 52 is a great restaurant-concept.  It is a national chain that changes its menu four times a year with the seasons.  It also has a biweekly special menu using seasonal (theoretically) ingredients.  Also, all the dishes are 475 calories or less! I first ate at a Seasons 52 one year ago in Miami, FL.  I ate at Seasons 52 a second time here in Indianapolis.  The food on both occasions was flavorful and light, while still being very filling.

This most recent trip, I ordered the Piedmontese Beef Chili.  It was amazing--like a cross between chili, black bean soup, and chicken tortilla soup.  So, Gary did some sleuthing and found this recipe from a Seasons 52 chef in Schaumburg, IL: Three Floyds Buffalo Chili.  Now, this recipe calls for Three Floyds beer (side note: we've been to the brewery for the fabled Dark Lord Day.  Ask anyone who went with us; it was a bust but a funny story to tell!) and buffalo meat.  But the bare bones of the recipe seemed to be what I had at dinner last weekend, down to the cilantro sour cream garnish.  So we decided we must make the chili and yesterday we did.

Instead of buffalo, we used steak.  The recipe called for seasoning the meat and refrigerating over night.  Then, Gary browned the seasoned meat in batches.

Yummy browned steak bites.

 Then, Gary chopped all the veggies.  An onion and many peppers.  He's very good at it.

In action.

 Look how pretty!

Gary  has mastered the fine dice.

 After cooking the onion, peppers, and garlic in the pot, we added 12oz of water instead of 24oz of beer.  I'm sure the beer would have added a good flavor dimension, but 1) I don't like beer, and 2) we only had a Sam Adams chocolate stout on hand--not appropriate for chili.  We then added chicken stock and the beef.  The soup then went into a preheated oven--yes, you read that correctly, the oven--for an hour.  We then added canned black beans and the chili went back into the oven for 15 minutes.  By this time we were dying to eat the chili.  It was a little thinner than the restaurant version, but it tastes amazing.

A little sour cream mixed in and ready to eat!

We had leftovers today for dinner, and it was just as good if not better today after letting the flavors meld more.  Yummmmmm!  A perfect winter soup/chili.

33 Weeks

This week Eliza doubled the amount of teeth in her mouth. She'll be crawling in a matter of days, we suspect. Friday morning Eliza visited Mommy's and Daddy's offices where she entertained everyone. I had one coworker say Eliza looks just like Abby. Another coworker said she looks just like me. We think she is a perfect combination of both of us!

Here's a recap of the week in pictures:

I'm cute and I know it!

Life is full of tough choices....

Mommy has new brown boots like me!

This crawling thing is harder than it looks.

TGIF!!!

32 Weeks Old!

Uncle Adam came over for a last-minute weekend visit!  He and Eliza wasted no time before playing!

Christmas Gems

We received our disc from Eliza's six month session.  We decided not to send out a Christmas card this year, but if we had, one of these pictures probably would have been on it!  I just couldn't pick one to share!

Don't these just make you smile?  

31 Weeks Old

Another weeks on the books!  Eliza had a follow-up Dr. visit on a Friday.  We got a clean bill of health!  Her lungs are clear and her ear infection is gone.  Great news!   We had a fun weekend.  On Saturday we went to a friend's baby shower (we can't wait to meet baby Parker!) and then had dinner guests.  Eliza got a lot of loving!

Eliza surprised us with a new form of babble--consonants!  We love hearing her "talk"!

7 Months Old!

Weight: 14lbs  7oz.  Down a couple ounces due to being sick, but nothing to be concerned about.

Length: We don't have a new estimate.  Probably around 26 inches?

Size: 3-6 month onesies.  6-9 month sleepers and pants.  Size 2 diapers.  She can actually still wear 0-3 month onesies, but we don't really use them anymore unless we're out of undershirts!

Eating:  after her appetite took a big hit in most of December with her illnesses, Eliza is back to eating more now.  She has tried sweet potatoes (made by mommy), peas, and green beans.  She eats veggie purees in the evening.  Eliza still drinks breastmilk, about 28oz a day--this seems to be increasing of late!

Movement:  still no crawling, but she's trying!  Eliza can move from sitting to her belly; very quickly if she sees a toy/camera/phone that she wants!  Instead of crawling, she scoots backwards, but only because she's trying SO hard to get forward.  Poor thing.  :)  She also tries to pull herself to a standing position, but can't quite, unless she is sitting in our lap (with her rear end raised up).  She thinks she's a big girl and once standing she'll let go with both hands and we'll have to catch her from falling!

Sleeping:  Eliza's sleep has been disrupted since she's been teething and so sick the past month.  She's still consistently sleeping 10 hours per night, but she also has been waking up several times a week.

Likes: Her new Christmas presents: the caterpillar teething toy, piano, and song book.

Dislikes: Being put down for naps, being put in the carseat (especially when picked up at daycare--she gets so excited to see us and so upset when we place her in the carseat!).

Milestones:  Her first tooth!  So cute!  Also, trying her new foods.  First Christmas and New Year!

Well, we're past the halfway point in Eliza's first year.  It doesn't seem possible.  Every day is something new, and we're so thankful that Eliza is starting the new year healthy and happy.

I don't let Mommy brush my hair unless I get to play with the hairbursh!

pretty profile

Can I have the camera?  Look how cute I am!

With my new owl purse

Playing dress-up!

Such a big girl

I love playing with Daddy!

Mommy wishes this picture would rotate, but regardless, look how happy I am!

Professional Photos

I've posted on here before about our photographer, Jessica Vaughn, and how great she is.  She recently updated her blog with a post about Eliza's six month session this past December.  The session was a week after we were in the hospital with Eliza, and you would never have guessed she'd been so sick such a short time before!  Anyway, we absolutely adore the previews we've gotten before and can't wait to get our disc in the next day or so.  We're going to have SUCH a hard time picking which photos to get prints of!

Jessica's Blog

Jessica Vaughn Photography (on facebook)

We can't thank Jessica enough for the memories!  We are already looking forward to Eliza's nine month session.  

7 Months: Coming Soon to a Blog Near You

A full 7 month post is coming up this weekend.  It's really tough to fit in a special photo shoot on a weeknight now that we're taking time to feed Eliza some purees.  Last night she celebrated turning 7 months by eating some peas!  It was messy, but she seemed to enjoy it.  :)

Mommy, let me help you.

See, I can do it!

Peas ALL over!

So it might be kind of hard to tell in these pictures, but Eliza had peas all over her hands, and then she wiped her forehead and eyes with her hands.  She had peas all over her face!  It was so funny!  Tonight we try sweet potatoes again!