As it should be....

My Big Guy is guiding me by faith this year, I am constantly aware of his observations and the way he sees it. The family put out one of the nativity scenes the other night. As important as it was for the Big Guy to make sure the three kings were on the stairs in anticipation of their journey, I didn't even notice how he's laid out the manger scene. We had to stop in the middle and cut out a star (this is something I remember doing with my mother, to make sure there was a star to guide those kings. I remember her patiently making a tinfoil covered star with me.) When we put the star on the top behind the angel, I noticed.

Every figure is facing inward, focusing on the Christ Child.

Counting the Days

The season of Advent is here. The Big Guy has been eagerly anticipating Advent and the changing of the church season, counting down the weeks till it is purple in church. Of course, now our church uses beautiful blue vestments for Advent. The first week of Advent their was neither blue or purple, just white. White for the celebration of the Little Bug's baptism.
Now we count the days......

The family calendar (I made it while a graduate student), so it's been in our lives for 10 years.

Mommy's calendar - a gift from a friend for the family, but I'm hoarding it!

Our German purchase, complete with lots and lots of glitter that is finding it's way all over the house. Including the Little Bug's face!

The Big Guy's very own, a gift from Nana and Grandad when he was younger.

This is how we count the days.

Thanksgiving Week’s Menu

Monday – pasta with pumpkin, sage and sausage, bread and salad
Tuesday – Salmon, sweet potatoes, green beans, mashed potatoes (make the mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving)
Wednesday – Chicken with caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar, brown rice, peas
Thursday – Thanksgiving
Friday – Out for Pizza and Beer
Saturday – it's usually pizza night, but leftovers tonight, make Turkey Stuffing Bread for sandwiches
Sunday – Brunch (I have no idea but muffins from the freezer are on the menu, and scrambled eggs)

Thanksgiving

We're working Thanksgiving around our funny eating habits this year. Here's what is on the menu….

• *Bacon wrapped roasted turkey with sage, onions and apples (I usually use oranges too – but citrus is on the no-no list. So is bacon but that is not negotiable here)
  
• *Gravy made from pan drippings (I'm going to attempt to use flour to thicken, I've always used corn starch, so we'll see). I'll be using turkey stock from the freezer that I made the last time we had roasted turkey breast
  
• Refrigerator Mashed Potatoes – make ahead
  
• Pepperidge Farm Herbed Stuffing with onions and celery (I usually add mushrooms too – but my brother doesn't eat those) I'm going to use turkey stock from the refrigerator
  
• *Butternut Squash with nutmeg and honey (I use maple syrup but that's on the no-no list, sometimes we make Miss Mary BoBo's Bourbon Sweet Potatoes) – make ahead
  
• *Steamed green beans with roasted almonds – use microwave
  
• Rolls (either Betty Crocker's or No-Knead Challah made into rolls) – he can eat the flour, just not the yeast so no rolls for him – make dough ahead
  
• *Cranberry sauce (made with honey for the husband) I made this up already and am pleased with how it turned out, maybe adding some cinnamon sticks and allspice next time – make ahead
  
• Nana's Cranberry Relish (Nana made this and is bringing it, and it's actually her Mom's recipe) – make ahead
  
• Relish tray with pickles from our pantry
  
• Butter
  
• Apple Pie with cheddar cheese (says my Gramps "Apple pie without cheese is like a hug without a squeeze") – make ahead
  
• *Dairy Free Pumpkin Custard with Rice Dream Ice Cream (This is essentially a pumpkin pie filling cooked without crust in custard cups (we're making and exception here and using refined sugar since I haven't experimented with the right texture and honey, molasses or agave syrup) – make ahead
  

*it fits into the modified elimination diet

Now that I'm done thinking this all out, I need to finish up a little shopping, clean the bathrooms, and hide the pile of papers on the hutch. The 22 lb turkey has been defrosting since Saturday.

White Chicken Chili - sort of

My go to white chicken chili recipe is off the back of the white bean can. Shredded chicken, canned green chilies, white beans.... 10 minutes later you have white chicken chili. Yesterday I strayed in order to make it fit into what we are eating. And I remembered to soak a bag of white beans overnight.
I threw a quart of organic chicken stock (the only ones on the market I can find without added oils, gluten or yeast - have you ever read the label on the back of the stock can), two cups of soaked white beans, one finely chopped onion, two tsp cumin, two boneless chicken breast, and celery ribs no one eats (the ones with the leaves on them) into the crock pot and let it go all day long. After pulling out the chicken and shredding it it made a nice soup, not too thick since I left out the flour for thickening. The big guy actually ate three bowls of it. With a nice green salad with cucumbers we had a hearty meal.
My crock pot is getting lots of use lately cooking up a pot of beans. The last few Saturdays I've cooked up a bag of garbanzo beans to use in hummus (much less sodium and pretty economical.) I've frozen them in two cup portions to use in recipes.

Another elimination diet triumph

Chicken browned and then baked with sauteed onions and balsamic vinegar served over brown rice
Green beans tossed with chopped almonds ( Rosemary Roasted Almonds Recipe - MyRecipes.com)
Steamed carrots with honey and olive oil
Dessert: pears sauteed with honey and olive oil (they would have been divine served with vanilla ice cream and a little bourbon!)

What is left in the garden?

Swiss chard

More Swiss Chard

Jalapeno and Bell Peppers

Skeletons of sunflowers

A few stray zinnias

She's always hunting for something, mostly the rotten flesh of lemon cucumbers which we just couldn't bring ourselves to deal with this year.