A Week of Valentine's

I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day. A day that if you have a guy in your life they are "made" to do something for you. I think that they should always do something nice for you. Although the longer that I am married I am understanding why so many other women love this day. I was watching a show yesterday and the host was telling a woman, a man does not "forget" Valentine's Day. He is just cheap. Now I am not saying Chris is cheap. He is just lacking in being creative with the money he has. So this year I started early. I sent him a link for free dates ideas and also a link to something I would love if he had the money. We will see if anything happens. 

So just because Valentine's Day isn't the greatest for myself that doesn't mean I can't have fun with the girls. I cut out little hearts and have been putting them up on their bedroom door with cute little sayings on them. We have spent time getting the cards ready for school. Avery has been working on writing her name. She has gotten pretty good at it. Although she spells it "Avert" lol. That "Y" is still a little hard for her! I have been crafting and I showed Whitney how to stitch the blanket stitch. She is making her boyfriend a present. It's an elephant out of old Valentine pj bottoms I had gotten her years ago. Tonight, Avery and I will put together the butterfly cards I made with Whitney when she was in preschool. 

I have been cooking a lot more lately. I found a recipe on Pinterest that showed carrots in the shape of hearts. So I HAD to do that. Turns out they are not as easy as I thought. Everyone still loved them though. This is what I made. 

Chicken Riddle Soup, 
from "Kids in the Kitchen" Cookbook from Pampered Chef. 

Cute right? :)

This is what you will need;

1 small onion

2 medium carrots

2 celery stalks

2 tablespoons snipped parsley

3/4 pound chicken

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 garlic clove

2 packages ramen-chicken flavor

5 cups water 

Cut onion, peel and cut carrots.(for the hearts, cut v-shape out of top then peel to shape into hearts) cut up celery, mince the garlic. I put all of this into a soup pot. I cooked them until they were softened. Then added the seasoning packets and the water. 

I cooked the chicken in a pan after cutting them into cubes. Once they were done I added them to the soup pot. Bring soup to a boil then reduce the heat to low and cover. Simmer for 15 minutes. 

Break noodles into small pieces, this part was fun!!! Add them to the soup, increase the heat to medium. Cook until the noodles are tender. 

Just before serving stir in the parsley. 

OK you may have noticed that I crossed out the parsley and the salt. I didn't have parsley and to tell you the truth. I wouldn't have added it if I did. My kids do not like green things floating around the soup. Add it if your kids are not weird like mine! Then I didn't add anymore salt. If you have ever had the ramen you know that it has enough salt in the seasoning packet. 

Thanks for letting me share! I hope this all make sense if not. Blame the lack of coffee!! OR just post a comment if you have any questions. 

Always and Forever,

Just Kim