Weekend Recap

Friday My parents stayed the night with us. My mom took Ty & I to Sam's. I love that place. I could get carried away with buying in bulk. Chesley came over and we all played Apples to Apples. Ches and Ty had a good time challenging in each in Wii Sports. It was quite amusing.

Saturday We went to my nephew's first birthday party. He is such a cutie.

Wearing his new hat from my parents and opening his tractor from my sister.

Sunday Ty and I had a relaxing day at home. We went to a few furniture stores, but had no luck. I want a comfy reading chair for our living room.

Monday Our school was closed today in honor of MLK day. I have spent the day at Target, catching up on shows, cleaning, etc. Ty is on a psychiatry rotation and had to work today. He is working with troubled teens. He sent me this text today, "The kids are calling me the sexy intern. You should be worried." haha!

I could get really used to these long weekends!

Books and Comfort Food

Ty bought me a series of books by Francine Rivers, called Mark of the Lion for my birthday.* One of my favorite books is Redeeming Love written by Rivers, so I was very excited to receive these. There are three books in this series and I am on the last book. They are full of history and center on Rome when it was at the height of its power. It took me a while to adjust to the first book, because it contained so much historical and background information. A little different than my vampire books and chick lit.

The last time we were in our hometown my MIL made a chicken and dumplings recipe from the January issue of Southern Living. I was a little hesitant when she told me this is what she was making. I had made chicken and dumplings last winter and it turned out awful. This recipe was so different than the one I tried and it was YUMMY. It definitely hit the spot.

I forgot to take a pic of my dish, so you will have to make do with an iPhone pic of my magazine.
Why is my magazine so wrinkled, you ask? Well, someone in my house might have spilled a thermos of coffee all over our coffee table and it wasn't me.

This is an easy version of the classic recipe.

1 (32 oz.) container low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 can reduced-fat cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 (10.2 oz.) can refrigerated jumbo buttermilk biscuits
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced

1. Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high; return to a low boil.

2. Place biscuits on a lightly flowered surface or on wax paper. Roll or pat each biscuit to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1/2-inch wide strips.

3. Drop strips, 1 at a time, into boiling broth mixture. Add carrots and celery. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent dumplings from sticking.

*My birthday was in November. I didn't want to cause confusion since I had blogged about two of my birthday presents two days in a row.

Legally Blonde the Musical

My brother bought me tickets to see Legally Blonde the Musical for my birthday.

Of course, Chesley was the obvious choice to take with me. Ty, notsomuch.
We bundled up and headed downtown to eat at an organic mexican restaurant beforehand. Who knew organic and mexican food could go together?!

(My shirt was purple, not blue like the 1st pic makes it look.)

The musical was very cute and we couldn't stop singing one of the songs, Omigod You Guys. In fact, I have been singing it so much that Ty just sang a line. haha! I should add, I only know one line and it is the title. Ty has been a little annoyed to say the least.

Thanks for the thoughtful gift Derek!