Piano Toddler

Joshua likes playing the piano, but he doesn't really play it by himself ever. He's a duet kind of guy.
Examples:

Josh read it

Joshua loves reading. His favorite book is anything with a moon in it, especially Goodnight Moon. We have read that book so many times he can "read" it himself. Ok, so he really just goes to random pages and talks about whatever is on that page. With other books he "reads" the book by saying "wawawa" and it's so funny.
Here's a video from a few months ago with Joshua saying his favorite parts of Goodnight Moon:



Here's Joshua reading a book by himself:

New Years' Fireworks

Dave was working for New Year's Eve this year so we celebrated a couple days later, still within the 3-day law for fireworks. We got out our sparklers and a few other fireworks and went outside to show Joshua. Joshua loved them and was talking about them for weeks afterwards. We were outside maybe 10 minutes and our hands were hurting from the cold, so we went in and turns out it was like 2 degrees outside...whoops. We had to run Joshua's hands under cold water to warm them up. Still fun. We got some mediocre videos of his first experience with sparklers:

Pillow Fight!

I started watching my niece and nephew some mornings so my sister-in-law can sleep since she works at night, and it's been fun watching them play with Joshua. D is 8 months older than Joshua, and T is about 4 months younger than Joshua. It's been really great that they play together because I get a ton done actually, since Joshua doesn't need me every second. Here's a great video I got of Joshua and Talia playing together on our new couch last week:

Say What??

It's really fun to witness your child learning new words. Joshua has some doozies that just do not sound like the words they are supposed to. Here's a video of my favorite one. It's blurry because someone got their sticky fingers on the lens, but you can clearly hear the 5-syllable oatmeal. :)

White Chili Chicken Enchiladas

Well, hello! It has been a while! I apologize.
One of my NYRs is to only eat out once per month, including Dave not eating anything from the restaurant he works at 5 days-a-week. Luckily, salads have been quick and easy to mix up. Just throw some lettuce, veggies, sunflower seeds, bacon bits, and some cut up cold-cuts. That reminds me, I keep forgetting to boil some eggs for salads...
Some days I feel up to cooking actual meals. I tried out a new recipe today. It's a mash-up of white chili and chicken enchiladas. At chili cook-offs, I always love the white chili the best. It's so good!--sprinkle with cheese, dip in a few tortilla chips...yum. I also love enchiladas and enchilada casseroles. Top those suckers with some sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes, and you've got a full meal.
I decided to make some enchiladas for dinner tonight, and I made it early so I could send some to work with Dave. I had the brilliant idea to add a few ingredients to my usual enchiladas to make them resemble white chili. I just added White Northern Beans and sour cream. Here  is the full recipe:

White Chili Chicken Enchiladas

3/4 C white rice (brown rice could be substituted If You're Feeling Healthy [IYFH here on out])
1 14 oz can chicken broth (1 3/4 C water IYFH)
1 chicken breast (about 12 oz), cooked and shredded*
1 10 oz can green enchilada sauce
1 10 oz can cream of chicken soup (there are substitution recipes all over pinterest IYFH)
1 15 oz can White Northern Beans, drained
1 C sour cream (light sour cream IYFH)
5 or 6 medium sized flour tortillas (corn or whole wheat IYFH)
shredded cheese to taste (I used cheddar, but would be better with mozzerella or mexican cheeses)

Cook rice on stove or in rice cooker using 1 1/2 C chicken broth (reserve remaining broth in can). Combine shredded chicken breast, enchilada sauce, cream of chicken soup, beans, and sour cream in large bowl. When rice is finished, add to mixture. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line bottom of 9" x 13" glass baking dish with enough of mixture to prevent tortillas from sticking. Roll remaining mixture into tortillas or layer with torn tortillas like a lasagne. Top with shredded cheese. Bake at 400 F for half an hour, or until cheese has melted and enchiladas are heated through and tortillas are slightly crispy. Serve with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sour cream.

*I boiled my chicken until it reached 165 F internally then shredded it in my Bosch mixer with the cookie dough paddles. You can also use a drained can of chicken in a pinch.

Yummy Rolls like Grandma's

1/4 C warm water
1/4 C butter, melted
1 C warm milk
1 egg
1 T honey
1/2 t salt
4 C bread flour (or 4 C all-purpose flour and 4 T gluten flour) plus or minus to right consistency of dough
1 package yeast (a little less than a T)

Dissolve yeast and honey in warm water and let proof while combining flour, salt, milk, butter, and egg. Once yeast mixture is foamy, add to flour mixture. Knead until elastic.
Let rise in greased bowl covered with saran wrap in warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour). Punch down and form into nice round mound. Divide into 16 sections and roll each section into a ball. Place in greased 9x13 pan. Cover and let rise until double in size (about 45 min). Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until golden on top.