white chicken chili

This soup is so delicious... the recipe must be shared. 

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small white onion diced

6 to 8 small garlic cloves, minced

1 (7 ounce) can diced green chiles

2 (15 ounce) cans white beans, undrained

4 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne

1 cup sour cream (plus addition for topping, if needed)

3 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Chopped fresh cilantro

Chopped tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook and shred the chicken, set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook and stir until the onion is translucent. Add the chicken, chiles, beans, broth, bouillon, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. Simmer 30 to 45 minutes. Chili can be made ahead to this point and refrigerated or frozen for serving later.

3. Add the 1 cup sour cream and cheese, and continue cooking until the cheese is melted. Keep warm until serving.

4. Just before serving, add cilantro, tomatoes and additional sour cream, if desired.

JANET'S VARIATIONS:

1. I use home-cooked navy beans. Soak them the night before and boil the next day. I add the onion and garlic while cooking the beans and omit the oil/saute step.

2. I've made it without any meat and it's still delish!  If I have frozen corn, I will also throw that in.

3. I add avocado just before serving. yummy!

4. More cilantro is always best.

5. My kids love to crush corn chips in the soup.

6. I never make enough for leftovers. Must double the recipe in the future!

these hands

Our little girl has her hands in her mouth ALL DAY long. She tries very hard to suck her thumb, but she's not sure what to do with the other four fingers when her thumb is in her mouth and she often pokes herself in the eyes and scratches her chubby cheeks. And really, one finger just isn't good enough--- neither is five. She wants the entire fist, baby.

We've tried getting her on a pacifier, and she really does like it, but she can only keep it in her mouth for a minute before her fist knocks it out again. And nursing her is some kind of joke. The minute I get her hands out of the way to feed her, they magically appear again, right in her mouth. I literally have to tie her hands behind her back in order to get her to eat. But she doesn't like to be tied down, no she does not. She likes her hands accessible at all times. If she's wrapped like a burrito, she's crying.

I've started to realize that her hands are the reason she isn't getting any sleep. Even when she's extremely tired, she will wake herself up from a 5 minute nap to chew on her fists. It's been terribly frustrating. We've tried making her scream to sleep, but this baby will scream until the cows come home. We will literally have cows sitting in our living room with their hooves up on the recliner and this girl will still be screaming. She's a feisty little fighter. And I like her for it, but I just wished she'd sleep once in a while.

The last few days, we've forced her to sleep on her tummy and it's about the ONLY thing that will keep her hands out of her mouth... and I think it might be a good solution. I really need a solution to our sleeping problems.. I've been wondering if maybe she's uptight about something... if she's created this habit because she's nervous or anxious. But when my aunts came to visit, they brought me a DVD of her birth. It was amazing to watch. There were a lot of things I couldn't remember because it was such a difficult labor for me, but I learned so much about myself and about my little baby while watching it. One thing I was surprised to see is that the MINUTE she was born, her little hands were in her mouth. I thought she was hungry and I kept saying (even after I fed her) that she must be starving. But now I know it was a habit she developed in the womb.

I shouldn't be laughing about this (because it's NOT funny) but I was dilated to a 10 for FOUR HOURS and couldn't get her out because her little arm was up by her head. Thinking back to that struggle and knowing her personality now, I can guarantee you she was more concerned about doing HER THING. I can see her, in the birth canal, just chewing on her hands while I labored away. She is such a little stinker!

She has been a real challenge for me, but I have learned a lot over the past few months. Even though we've labeled her as our "worst baby" we still wouldn't trade her for the world.

my auntie loves me

Nancy and Julie bought tickets to Celine months and months ago. They came down to Vegas this weekend to finally see the show and guess what? Celine cancelled. Our poor aunties didn't get news of the cancelled show until they were already here. Such a bummer (for them) but SUCH a treat for us to have them visit.

They are such fun aunts. They love to play with the kids and love to coo at the baby. Our dog would literally go home with them if they would let her. Sunny loves Aunt Nance! They were kind enough to watch our kids so Aaron and I could go out (and we stayed out late!) While we were gone, they had a talent show with our boys and they are still talking about it. Julie whistled, Luke played the keyboard, Zack showed them his break-dancer moves, Ben did tricks on the trampoline, Simon did sommersaults and Nancy spun a basketball on her finger. They had ice cream and watched movies and had Taco Bell for dinner. Aaron and I also enjoyed our late night talks with them... we always have the best conversations. On Saturday morning, I talked them into coming to a yoga class with me and we all loved it. Jane, Nancy, Julie and I stopped at Tropical Smoothie Cafe and talked for a while. Most of our conversation was about Nancy's mom/my Grandma/the original Roma. We laughed so hard about the time Roma introduced Julie as "her lover" to family members. Grandma was always so outgoing and so funny. She loved to SHOCK people. I like to think I take after her.... and I am so proud to have my own little Roma girl.

These awesome aunties wouldn't let me do any dishes or make any food. They had a Sunday roast and potatoes cooking in the oven when they left. We love them so! One of the funniest moments of the weekend was when Zack came into the room where Nancy, Julie, baby Ro and I were talking. He was looking all suave and while holding out two finger guns he said, "Hey Ladies!" It was the catch phrase of the weekend and was repeated a thousand times. So funny!

Simon LOVES these two amazing women and sticks to them like glue. When Nancy asked him where he got his long lashes, he smiled and said "from Christmas." Simon knows he's loved and always acts super silly around them. They, of course, love him right back. The best kind of visitors are the ones who adore your kids.

mazel tov!

Aaron and I attended a Jewish wedding this weekend. It was beautiful and happy and romantic and very special. Only in Vegas can you have an outdoor evening wedding in February. There was glass breaking and chair lifting and circle dancing and delicious food. So glad I got to experience such a beautiful evening with the man I love.

ig'zostid

ex·haust·ed/igˈzôstid/

Adjective:	Drained of one's physical or mental resources; very tired. Completely used up.
Synonyms:	spent - weary - worn-out - tired

two posts in two days with exhausted in the title. but that's how I feel again today. Motherhood is a lot of fun. but it's super-duper exhausting. It's only 7:30 pm and all the kids are asleep. I don't think I can wait up for the hubs to come home from tennis. I am just too tired.

This past Sunday, my fussy little baby was being fussy. I took her into the mothers lounge in the church to feed her. Another mom was nursing her son in the chair next to me. She and I struck up a conversation that was quite pleasant. It was about St. George and how my husband and I want to move there sooner or later. Roma needed to be burped so I was a bit distracted for a minute. When I looked up to continue our conversation, I saw this exhausted young mom snoring away. Her head was back, her mouth was open and she was out for the count. I wasn't the least bit offended she found our conversation boring. In fact, I wished I'd had a blanket I could wrap around her and her nursing baby. I decided to tiptoe out quietly and let her sleep. Every time I've thought about it since, I've smiled. That poor exhausted mother. I know exactly how she feels.

Our little Romy girl doesn't sleep well. She doesn't take naps. She wants to eat all night long. She doesn't like her crib. She doesn't like me to set her down. ever. My arms and legs and eyes and brains are exhausted.