Weekend Fun

  Monday’s are always a bit hectic at the Ferguson household, more than usual when we’ve had a big weekend, which we did.  Now, when I say “big”, that means we had more than one thing to attend over the weekend.

   I know, I know, that may not seem like much to you, but when you have little ones to haul around, it can really take it out of them (and momma) to pack up and leave the house like that, sometimes missing naps (gasp!) or getting home and to bed late, in the process.  We try to limit our activities and use weekends to just play and relax at home as a family.

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A busy weekend means mommy pays for it alll day Monday, with whiney, needy children, and an over-stimulated baby…….

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  I actually can’t complain, they are playing nicely right now, but I am super tired! Maybe its just me who’s whiney and fussy?!  🙂

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  My Friday was spent making pies, 5 pies to be exact.  They were to be donated to Central Christian School for the German Supper fundraiser.  Avery was a great helper!  Good thing I only signed up for 4 pies, cause Dale kept one of the Custard Pies at home for himself. That thing was NOT leaving the premises! 

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  Overall, I’d say they turned out pretty darn good for only my 2nd attempt as a pie baker. (not counting pies with graham crackers crusts) I have a super easy, flaky & delicious, push crust recipe, that I used.  For those of you as intimidated as I am at the thought of making a pie crust from scratch, and rolling it out all nice, this crust is the answer to your problems! (Maybe I could try to put it on TK soon?)

  I only had one disaster, and it occurred when I poured the egg mixture for the Custard pie in the par-baked crust. My counters slope, and I was an idiot and set the just-from the-oven crust on the burner, rather than getting out a trivet and working at the center island.  It overflowed all over my stove top, and I mean ALL OVER, running down all the different burners and making all the knobs sticky. You know how flimsy those dumb disposable pie plates are, I spilled more trying to pick it up and move it off the stove.  All this with an exhausted baby bawling in the background to be fed and put to nap.  Not my finest hour to say the least!  I survived, and after we got the kiddos down, Dale and I had a nice popcorn, ice cream, stay-at-home movie date.

  Saturday began at 5:50 am.

Yes, you heard me, 5:50 to the minute. I know this because I groaned and said, “What TIME is it?”, while rolling over to consult my alarm clock. The grizzly bear I share a bed with just grunted.

  Can someone PUL-EASE teach our children what “Sleeping In” means? 

  Breakfast is not served before 7, so they know to play quietly until then.  When it is time to get up, this is the scene that greets us….PRECIOUS!

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    We cranked up some oldies and jammed while we made breakfast.  “Lollipop” is always a favorite with the kids!

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   A Saturday morning tradition at our house, is daddy making breakfast for the family. He makes a mean omelet and is the best pancake flipper around!

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We were out of syrup, so we had to get inventive and just do powdered sugar and fruit.  The kids thought it was great that way!

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  Avery promptly licked off all the sugar before declaring she was done. Yeah, we pretty much informed her otherwise. 🙂

Later, after the 2 middle’s went down for nap, Destiny, Nana and I headed to the school to drop off my pies, and help serve from 2:30-8. 

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  Paxton came along, as is necessary, when baby still seeks nourishment from momma throughout the day.  I wore him in a front pouch and about fell over after a few hours of wearing him.

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That’s over 18 lbs. of adorableness pulling my shoulders forward! Thankfully, after a nice snooze in there, some sweet ladies from church took their turn toting him around the gym, showing him off and giving my poor back a break. 

Here are a few photos I snapped before we got insanely busy:

 026This is the main course served, called Verenka. Totally a German/Mennonite thing! Think delicious fried dough pouches, surrounding “curds” (looks like ricotta cheese) and smothered in an amaaaazing ham gravy.  I don’t know how many thousands they made, but the line was long and they could barely keep up.  What a great problem to have!

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These are New Year’s Cookies, something Central is famous for. The school has a booth that sells these at our State Fair each year.  Think donut with raisins, except BETTER! They made nearly 4,000 of them, and sold every single one.  I was bummed I didn’t get one!  Guess I’ll have to wait until September, when the State Fair comes to town!!

     A darling Polka Band entertained us with live music throughout the day, it was SO fun!  One of the gentleman told me they’d played together since 1970.

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  We love Christian education and want to support our school however we can! I can’t wait until the year it’s possible for the whole family to help at this event.  I think they’ll love it, and what a valuable lesson in serving others, and in understanding that attending a Christian school is a privilege, one that comes with a high price tag!

So. Worth. It.

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     During nap today, I’m working on some yummy recipes to share with you this week, so stay tuned!  🙂 

Happy Monday!

~T  Fergusons2  For my new readers,

   I wanted to give you heads up on how things work here at 4littlefergusons. I post every M-F at 8 am, because I am anal, and being scheduled and organized makes me happy.  🙂   (This may all change this summer when all 4 of my little Fergusons are home all day and we spend more time playing outside, but for now, that’s the plan.)  I typically write about what we are up to for the day, a recipe we tried and deemed a “keeper” the night before, or something I feel the Lord has laid on my heart to share with you.

   I hope you’ll keep coming back to visit, I love your comments and look forward to them! You bless me🙂 

~Tonya

Korean-Style Noodle Bowls

Yesterday was an exciting day in the land of All Things Ferguson.  Not only was it my 100th post, which due to exhaustion of recent sleepness nights thanks to 3 of my 4 little Ferguson’s, I was only semi-excited about, BUT I also had my largest blog day EVER. 

EVER!!!!!!

  Funny how God works, because yesterday’s sleep-deprived post, just happened to be the post that over 2,000 people came to read. 2,040 visitors as of 9:30 pm last night to be exact! I have never hit over 300 before now, which is great by me, but really Lord, did it HAVE to be that post that the multitudes visited?  

  Oh well, I’ll take it, and count it for the blessing it is. I can see by the numbers, they stuck around on the site long enough to read the About Me and About Us pages, as well as 4 little Ferguson’s, 4 Big Miracles.  Besides, here’s the low-down about this subject….

  This blog is a peek in my world.  And like true life, sometimes it’s happy, sometimes it’s sad, sometimes it’s funny, and sometimes it’s exhausted and uninspired.  Sometimes exciting things are happening, and sometimes I do nothing but laundry all day long.  These post can’t always be amazing, and I am ok with that.  I blog for me, for my kids. I aspire to print off the entire blog one day, bind it and give it to them.  What a fun way to remember all the great things they did and said! 

  So why all the extra traffic you ask?  Well, it was due to the fact, that one of my recipes was featured on Pioneer Woman’s Tasty Kitchen step-by-step food blog, by my TK friend of Eat, Live, Run, a blog I frequent thanks to her yummy recipes & beautiful food photos.  Now THAT is a way to celebrate 100 posts, it made my day! Thanks Jenna!!!!  🙂

  So, on to the recipe you clicked on here to see.  Oh man, was this ever GOOD! I am talking like, P.F. Chang’s good!  This is based off a great recipe my friend, Sarah sent me!! (Thank you, Sarah!)

Korean-Style Noodle Bowls

(click on title to print)

Salt and pepper

1 box (13.25 oz) whole wheat spaghetti

One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated

4 large cloves garlic, pressed                                                                                                      

1/2 c tamari or soy sauce

6 T honey

4 T tomato paste

4 T rice vinegar

2 T sesame oil

1 t Sriracha hot sauce (do 2 t. if you like heat)

[found in the ethnic section of your local grocery store, it’s Dale’s FAVORITE hot sauce]

2 T oil

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken meat, cubed

1/2 bag cole slaw mix

½ red pepper, thinly sliced

2 cups sliced mushrooms, sautéed in butter                                                                    

1/2 cup chopped carrots                                                                                                                  

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

  Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente.  Drain and place in large serving bowl.

Combine in a small pot, a splash of water, the ginger, garlic, tamari, honey, tomato paste, vinegar, sesame oil and hot sauce whisking until smooth and heated.  Pour sauce over noodles and keep warm.

Get all of the remaining ingredients ready for a quick stir-fry. 

  In an oversized skillet, saute mushrooms in 2 T butter, remove from pan.  Add 2 T oil, and heat over high heat.  Add the chicken cubes and stir-fry until browned, about 3 minutes.  Add the cabbage, carrots and bell pepper and stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the green onions and toss for 1 minute.  Add back in the mushrooms and empty skillet contents over noodles and top with sesame seeds.  Serve immediately.

  Take a bite, and marvel at your fantastic creation! Pinch yourself to make sure you aren’t dreaming…..

Yup, you just made something THAT delicious!

For dessert I made CHEESECAKE BARS. [Read that:What I had for dessert, after the kids went to bed, while watching the Bachelor, was a delicious Cheesecake Bar.]  

YUMMY!  

  The dessert that is, you didn’t think I meant Bachelor Brad, did you?!

Scandalous!  Winking smile 

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  I found this recipe here on The Country Cooks blog.  I love her site, she has great recipes! 

   Now don’t get me wrong, I love No Bake Cheesecake like nobody’s business, but sometimes you just need the texture of a baked cheesecake!  You know, the kind you make in a springform pan. 

  Alas, I have no such pan, so I was very happy to find this baked version I could make in my 8 x 11 baking dish. (Brandie used a lined 8×8, which I also do not own.) Oh, and I was a rebel and did not line my dish as directed, just lightly sprayed it.

  My favorite part was how much crust there was!  Look!  It’s as thick as the cream cheese part and just plain FANTASTIC! 

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  I used the canned cherries I had on hand, because I was too lazy to thaw the Blackberries we have in our freezer from last year’s Blackberry patch.  Maybe next time?  And YES, there will be a next time!!

  Go on, make these recipes for supper tonight, you know you want to! 

 And go buy the Rice Vinegar, Sesame Oil, and Sriracha, don’t try to substitute, you’ll be sorry you did!  It’s SO worth getting them, and I know you’ll use them again.  Especially if you make Pioneer Woman’s Simple Sesame Noodles sometime, a GREAT side dish for a Chinese night, with Sweet  Sour Chicken and your favorite stir-fried veggies.

  And if your husband loves hot stuff like mine does, he’ll be putting Sriracha on EVERYTHING!

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According to the back of the bottle:  “It is excellent in soups, sauces, pastas, pizzas, hot dogs, hamburgers, chow mein or on anything else to give it a delicious, spicy taste.” 

  I swear the only thing Dale hasn’t tried it on is ice cream………yet!

Happy Cooking!

~T  🙂

Korean noodles

Big Blue Ball

  Today is a milestone in the life of The 4 Little Ferguson’s blog!  Drum roll please…….

 

  This, my friends, is my ONE HUNDREDTH post!

    Unfortunately for you, I have nothing inspiring, or over-the-top AMAZING to write about today in celebration of this being post #100.  But, this is a blog about my life, and in keeping with the 4 Little Ferguson’s theme, I have a Paxton story for you.

That’s fun, right?! 

 No?

Yes? 

Either way, it’ll have to be good enough for today, because I have a fussy baby who needs his Momma, 3 of the 4 little Fergusons have been getting up several times a night (each), I am beyond tired, and I am not feeling inspirational at the moment!!! 

Sorry. 

Grouchy moment passing….ANNNNND WE’RE BACK TO SUNSHINE! 🙂

 Just the way I like it! 

  Next we’ll throw our arms around each others shoulders, and sing an inspiring round of Kumbaya! YIPEE SKIPEE!

  Ok, not really. 

Without further ado, mood swings or campfire songs, here is my Paxton story:

My darling 4th little Ferguson has a new obsession with my big blue exercise ball. 

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  It’s probably not even fair to CALL it an exercise ball, since no exercise has ever been done on it.  The kids think it’s a cool toy to play on.  Tylan in particular likes to play the “run as fast as you can and roll superman style across the top of the big ball until you crash into the chair” game.  Avery gets out her pink ball to play too.  The big one is too “Scawey” for her.  (read that “scary” in 2-year-old talk) 

  I find it quite humorous that Paxton is obsessed with this ball, since it was purchased specifically for my pregnancy with him.  I spent many, many hours on it, rocking back and forth to relieve my backaches from lying around all day.  (6 1/2 months of my pregnancy were spent lying in my recliner, having contractions & missing out on life outside these 4 walls.) 

  In fact, I’d be willing to BET my big blue ball, that the stretching and rocking I did on said ball the night before Paxton was born, was what put me into labor!  I seriously felt it happen people; I felt him move off my pelvic bone, and knew it’d only be a matter of time.  4 AM the next morning, POP POP, I heard my water break and 5 hours later I was holding my darling little (BIG) 10 pound 3 oz. baby boy. (thus the nickname: “Tank”). 

  Trust this 4th time momma, and go buy a big blue ball before your next pregnancy, you will  LOVE IT, and your aching back will thank you!  Besides that, all the labor-inducing benefits of walking are achieved while sitting and swaying on your soft smooshey comfy ball.  All this while watching a girly movie on tv in your air-conditioned house….now really, how can you go wrong?!   Plus, here’s an added bonus: you can pretend you will use it to get back into shape AFTER the baby is born.  Worked for me! (the pretending that is)

    Back to the Paxton part of all this.  I ADORE how big Paxton’s eyes get as this GI-NORMOUS ball is rolled towards him.  He gets super excited, breathes really fast, and reaches his arms as WIIIIDE as they can go, trying to get them around the ball to bring it to his mouth. (Everything goes in the mouth at this stage you know.)   So stinkin’ cute! 

I have outlined the process in a series of photos below…..

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  Have I mentioned that my 6 month old little man is SO close to crawling?

  It’s an outrage I tell you, these baby’s that refuse to act their age!

Silly lil’ Tank, don’t you know your supposed to be my baby FOREVER?

Happy 100th blog post!  Thanks for stopping by to peek into my world each day, it’s an honor to welcome you to my home.

Total visitors since October 2010?? 

10, 563. 

Wow. 

You guys ROCK!

~T

 

“Man Casserole”

  The Beef Stroganoff Casserole recipe I am sharing with you today is one of Dale’s favorites.  Not to be confused with actual Beef Stroganoff (great recipe to come later), this is more of a casserole, and a MANLY casserole at that! It got dubbed “Man Casserole” when my oh-so manly husband declared it DELICIOUS, despite being a bit anti-casserole.  🙂

 No noodles in this dish, but an amazing layer of glazed & seasoned bread instead.  This is baked on top of hearty beef, mushrooms & French Fried Onions layer. (all coated with cream of mushroom soup, YUM) 

  Yummy comfort food, and a winter staple around here, so I thought I’d better share it quick before it warms up too much and we all start switching gears to lighter spring/summer foods. 

  Speaking of SPRING, look what I saw today in my front flower bed…..YIPEE! 🙂

Stroganoff Casserole   Aka “Man Casserole”

(click title to print)

Man cass (4)

 

2 lbs. hamburger

2 containers of baby bella sliced mushrooms

1 can French’s onion rings

1/2 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

2 cans organic cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream, divided   

2- 16 oz. cans refrigerator biscuits (slightly flatten and cut in 1/2)

2 eggs

1 tsp. celery salt

  Brown hamburger and season well.  When cooked, scrape in the bottom of your Pampered Chef rectangle baker.  (bigger than a 9×13) Butter sautee mushrooms in same skillet, scrape over beef and stir together.  Top with ½ the onion rings.

In a small saucepan, heat soup and ½ sour cream, pour over meat mixture. Top with remaining FF onion. Flatten and cut each biscuit in half and place on top of onion ring layer, like a puzzle. (you will have some left)

Mix ½ cup sour cream, celery salt and egg. Pour over biscuits only. Bake 375* for 25-30 minutes. 

 Serve with steamed green beans for a simple and delicious meal!

It may look ugly, but it is DEEEELICIOUS!

Happy Cooking!

~T

 

Tylan’s 4 year old Photo Session

  Again, going with the SAVE theme this month, I decided to forgo Tylan’s 4 year old photo session with Whitney, who I LOVE to use, and take them myself.  She has done every session of Ty’s since he was a newborn.  This is a sad sacrifice for me, but I know God will honor my obedience.

  Here are the photos I was able to get of him.  Gotta say, some ages are harder than others, and this just might be one of Ty’s harder sessions.  I got LOTS of fakey “Cheese” smiles or he wanted to tilt his head to his shoulder every time the camera came up to my face. 

Oh well, gotta love it!  🙂 

~T

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