New Adventures For Us

So we have almost been living with my parents for 15 months. It has been hard but to be able to see the progress with our new house makes it very exciting and worth it. Everything started on May 13th and now a few months later it is roofed and most of the windows are in and time for the doors. From almost the beginning Dustin's dad and Dustin have been doing most of the work themselves. It's very rewarding to know that you put so much hard work into your own house, but in reality they both have jobs and are very tired. We go out there almost everyday and walk around the different rooms, I just can't hardly believe it's ours. So it's a 3 bedroom one story house, with a cathedral living room and is going to have floor to ceiling windows looking to the back. It also has a dining nook, vaulted master bedroom and great attic space. We will also be covering it with log siding(my favorite part). This may sound like a lot but the other new and exciting thing is we started a small Christmas tree farm. We planted 90 Christmas trees in the back corner of our lot in April and we will be adding to that number every year. We hope to sell these in 5-7 years. We currently have Fraser Firs, Scotch Pines, White Pines, and Blue Spruces. It takes me an hour to water them every other day, especially with how hot it has been lately and no rain. We are reading and trying to learn as much as we can about being Christmas tree farmers, we joke about it all the time, but so far we are having fun with it. Besides that Sophie just started a preschool(CMO) at Asbury Methodist and is going Tuesdays and Thursdays. She will be 3 in October!

Back view, the upper windows in living room aren't in yet

A Scotch Pine

Building Update

We moved into Windy Hill the first week of June and have been living with my parents for 5 weeks and it has been going good. The Greenhouse has kept all of us busy, mostly watering. Sophie spends a lot of the day outside either playing with the animals or playing in her newly built playhouse that her Uncle Barry built her. The building process has been a lot slower then I thought it was going to be, but I’m impatient and just want to start digging a hole or something! We just hired an architecture firm

( HAUS) that a friend of mine from high school works for, so he will be helping us out a lot in the next couple of weeks. On one of our recent phone calls he called me Molly llama:) I hadn’t heard that one for a while. They will be drawing our plans and doing our site plan and also getting our building permits. Building a house is definitely a lot harder then what it seems and if you can stay married during the process then you can get through anything (haha). Speaking of that, Dustin and I will be celebrating our 4-year anniversary next week. We are going to make a short trip up to Michigan and stay in a Bed & Breakfast. We are going to do the beach thing and possible go zip lining. Here are a couple of pictures. One of them is Sophie’s new playhouse and the other one is of a sunflower that is growing on our new property. 

Well it’s been quite a whirlwind in the Crabtree family the past couple of months.  We decided that we would put our house, located in Prince’s Lakes, up for sale. It has been such a great place for us and tucked quietly in the woods. 

My parents live on a small farm and have a cornfield that is 4.5 acres, that was available for us to buy and to build on. We knew we couldn’t act on anything until we sold our house. So we spent a couple of weeks painting a few things and then met with our realtor and put it on the market. We sold it in 11 days and were asked to fix nothing in the inspection. We also got close to 8 weeks before we would have to close. 

We are now less then a week from our closing date. It is very bittersweet boxing things up and moving a lot of things to a storage unit. Sophia has been here with us for a year and a half and we’ve made so many memories. We are going to be moving in with my parents until our new house is built. It’s also very exciting to plan out your needs and wants in a house. It is going to be our “dream house” and we plan on being there indefinitely. I am going to be blogging the whole process so check back often for updates. We have the Septic flags out now and know what kind of a system we need. Here are a few pictures of the ground, which will be changing a lot in the next couple of months.

                                            Taken from the road, front of property

                                           Back, middle of property looking at the road

                                          Back of property looking toward my parents

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio, e Peperoncino

This is the kind of meal that makes you stop and think that the simplest foods are often the most wonderful. With only a few ingredients that are staples in most pantries, you can create a beautiful, flavorful meal from scratch. Spaghetti aglio, olio, e peperoncino is a traditional Italian pasta dish. It's well loved by many because it's so easy and inexpensive to make. This is a perfect solution whenever you're in a bind. We thought this was really good and I think it would also be good as a cold salad.

Ingredients

7 ounces of spaghetti


2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, minced


1 1/2 teaspoons of chili pepper flakes


1/4 to 1/3 cup of extra-virgin olive oil


3/4 teaspoon of salt


1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook spaghetti according to the directions on the package, until it is al dente.

Strain spaghetti and place in a large serving dish.

Add minced garlic, chili pepper flakes, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and mix together well.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Skinny Taco Dip

This is a must have at every large get together. It's easy to prepare and disappears in minutes. Serve this low fat dip at your next party with your favorite baked tortilla chips. I also added jalapeños and fried up some ground turkey to mix in for an easy lunch!

Servings: 24 • Serving Size: 1/24th of dip • Points+: 2 pts

Calories: 59.2 • Fat: 3.6 g • Protein: 2.2 g • Carb: 4.7 g • Fiber: 0.6 g 

Ingredients:

8 oz 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese

8 oz reduced fat sour cream

16 oz jar mild salsa

1 packet taco seasoning

2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese

2.25 oz black olives

Directions:

In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sour cream, salsa and taco seasoning and mix well with an electric mixer. Spread on the bottom of a large shallow glass dish. Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, shredded cheese and black olives. Serve with baked tortilla chips.

Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole

Shredded chicken breast and broccoli cooked with noodles in a light creamy sauce topped with toasted breadcrumbs. A simple dish the whole family will love, even the little ones.

This is an inexpensive dish, you can make this ahead, then top it with the breadcrumbs and put it in the oven 20 minutes before you are ready for dinner.

Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1/6th • Points+: 8 pts

Calories: 313 • Fat: 9.9 g • Protein: 27.2 g • Carb: 31.2 g

Fiber: 4.4 g • Sugar: 2.6 g • Sodium: 256.7 mg (without salt)

INGREDIENTS:

6 oz Ronzoni Smart taste noodles (or no-yolk)

2 tsp oil

4 cloves garlic, sliced thin

12 oz fresh broccoli florets, chopped

1 tbsp butter

1 medium shallot, minced

3 tbsp all purpose flour

1-3/4 cups fat free chicken broth

1 cup 1% milk

12 oz cooked shredded chicken breast

4 oz shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar

cooking spray

3 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

2 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs (I used panko)

DIRECTIONS:

Cook noodles in salted water until al dente, or slightly undercooked by 2 minutes. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and cook on medium heat until golden, about 1 minute. Add the broccoli and a little salt, sauté and cover the broccoli for about 3 minutes on medium heat until the broccoli begins to soften. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly spray a 9 x 12 casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large pot, heat butter over medium-low heat, when melted add the shallot and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the flour and a pinch of salt and stir well, cooking an additional 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth until well combined over medium heat; whisk well for 30 seconds, then add the milk and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium heat, mixing occasionally until it thickens (about 6-7 minutes). Remove from heat and add reduced fat sharp cheddar and 1 tablespoon of the parmesan cheese; mix well until the cheese melts. Add the shredded chicken, noodles and broccoli to the sauce and mix well until evenly coated. Pour into a casserole dish and top with parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs. Spray a little more cooking spray on top and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes. Place the casserole under the broiler a few minutes to get the crumbs crisp and golden (careful not to burn)

Asian Glazed Drumsticks

These Asian inspired drumsticks are finger lickin' good! It's hard to believe they are low in points. So easy to throw all of the ingredients in and let it simmer for 20 minutes. The chicken was very tender and came off of the bone easily. I made rice with ours and put some of the remaining sauce over the top. Delicious!

Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 2 drumsticks • Old Points: 5 pts

Points+: 5 pts • Calories: 213 • Fat: 4.7 g • Protein: 27.5 g 

Carb: 12.7 g • Fiber: 0.4 g  

INGREDIENTS:

8 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed

olive oil spray

1 cup water

1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (more or less to taste)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

4 tsp sugar

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp ginger, grated

2 tbsp chives or scallions, chopped

1 tsp sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:

In a heavy large saucepan, brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with a little spray oil. Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 8-10 minutes, until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. (Keep an eye on glaze, you don't want it to burn when it start becoming thick) Transfer chicken to a platter and pour glaze on top. Top with chives and sesame seeds and serve.