Holiday Seasons (2013)

Since the holiday season is coming I’ll write a little about how we have handled it at our house.

First, I didn’t grow up celebrating Halloween, so whatever Michael wants to do for Halloween goes 😀

Same goes for Thanksgiving. Since it’s one of “his” holidays.

Now Christmas is a little different. Luckily we are both Christian, so that helps. But there are still big differences.
In Norway we start 1st of December with the advent calender. Some have a chocolate one where you get one piece of chocolate every day until Christmas eve. Some have a long family tradition, my mom made a beautiful advent calendar when she was 14 that I grew up with every year. It hung on the kitchen door, every morning we would run up to the kitchen to see what was wrapped up. Sometimes a piece of Candy, a small toy or Christmas tree decoration. We also had a tv show every night that was a kind of advent calendar as well.
Every Sunday we light a purple candle in a special advent candle holder as well. Every Sunday has a special meaning, one for love, hope, peace, and belief.

We always decorated the tree on December 23rd. And it stayed up 13 days past Christmas.
We made a lot of homemade decorations. And we had the Christmas Star up top. It was always a real tree, sometimes we went out and cut down our own little tree too.

December 24th is the biggest day. Day starts off with watching TV, they always showed two specific movies we always had to watch. One is Norwegian called “Reisen til Julestjernen”, the other one is a czech version of Cinderella – “Three nuts for Cinderella”. Around 2pm we ate lunch – rice porridge. The leftovers are used to make dessert for the main dinner.
Sometimes we would go to Church in the afternoon. When I played in the orchestra we would play at one of the two services. And at 5pm we would listen to the church bells “ringing in Christmas”.

For Christmas dinner we had Turkey, served with potatoes, vegetables and sauce. For dessert we had “ricecream”. And my mom would always hide one almond in there, whoever found it had to keep it hidden until the end of the meal. Then we would guess who got it, and whomever found the almond got a price. Usually a candy pig made of marzipan.

Breakfast lasagna

I didn’t know what I wanted to make for breakfast today, so I started by cutting up all the fruit I could find. When my husband comes in I asked if he had any good ideas. And he did! And so the idea of breakfast lasagna came along. 

This made about 8-9 servings. I used an 8×8 glass pan. 

3 bananas

1-2 apples

1-2 oranges/mandarins

1 cup strawberries (frozen)

1 cup blueberries (frozen)

3 servings Oatmeal with chia seeds

1.5 -2 cups Cheerios

 First layer:
Mash one and a half banana with a fork, add a handful or two of cheerios and mix well. 

Second layer: Add a layer of cut up fresh fruit. 

Third layer: Add a thin layer of oatmeal. 

Fourth layer: Add cut up frozen berries. 

Fifth layer: Repeat the first layer. (Mashed banana with Cheerios)

Last layer: Top with the rest of the oatmeal. 

Bake in the oven at 350 F/180 C for about 20 minutes. 

Serve with more fruit on top if you want to.

Enjoy a delicious breakfast! 

Norwegian Seamen’s Church

I grew up going to church every Sunday, in Norway. The Norwegian church, Lutheran, was the most boring thing ever – I thought back then. It consisted of old hymns, hundreds of years old, a lot of them with a language a child didn’t even understand. The sermon was just long and boring, and as a child I didn’t understand much. In other words, to me, it felt like a really boring long talk with some absolutely not so popular songs that lasted forever (1 WHOLE hour!). I had to sit completely still, wasn’t allowed to talk, make noise or even sleep… Which is what I really wanted to do “early” on a Sunday morning. (Church started at 11 AM). None of my friends went to church either, and it was always a stressful morning with my mom trying to rush us all to get there on time. This made me think this is what churches everywhere was like, just long and boring.

Now, my husband also grew up going to church. He grew up in Chicago, in a Baptist Church with his father being one of the pastors. They also went every Sunday. He was a lot luckier than me, I think, he got to enjoy upbeat gospel music and an energetic congregation. He also look back at the experience as boring sometimes too, sometimes service lasted for 2-3 hours, and sometimes they went to the early service that started at 9 AM. I guess I can understand that he didn’t always love going to church too. 

I guess, bottom line is, I think no kid really enjoys going to church all the time. I think at some point throughout your childhood everyone would appreciate a break from church. And I think most people like change sometimes, or, I don’t know, but I know both me and Michael enjoys change once in a while. 

So since we have grown up, been out and about, adults and on our own we have finally found our place. We have tried a few different churches in our time as a married couple and a family. And we have exhausted just about every “excuse” not to go to church. Before we had kids I remember it was so hard to even try to get up early enough to go to church. To actually get out the door before noon, on a Sunday, it just seemed impossible. Any time before 10 AM was too early to wake up!
 Then it was finding a church that we both liked, one church was just a little too black and I felt like an outsider. Other churches was so itsy bitsy tiny that we felt like the only ones there, and some where just a little too white again… There were always some “excuse”, or something not quite right everywhere we seemed to go. And to not go on for too long I won’t even get started on trying to find a church in Utah – we’re just not Mormons… 

 

Now though, I guess we have grown up enough to get over all the excuses. The kids get us up early every day of the week anyway. We feel extremely lucky if we sleep past 7.30 AM! And we are in a big city again with choices and more people and thus, more churches to check out. 
We have actually found the perfect middle ground, I think. In San Pedro a little south of Los Angeles there is a Seamen’s Church, a Norwegian church. We went there to visit when we first moved to the LA area a year ago, just because it was Norwegian. I have always loved meeting other Norwegians in America, someone else to talk Norwegian to. And, of course, they have the “Grocer”, a little shop where they sell some imported goodies from Norway. Some black licorice, chocolate, soups, fish products and so much more. That little piece of Norway to help you miss it a little less (or more…).
The church is open almost every day of the week, and they have different events too. Not necessarily christian either, but somehow related to Norway/Norwegian. 
I started going for their “Småbarnstreff” which is a playdate for young children who’s not in school. The moms sit around and talk and gossip while the kids get to run off some steam in the backyard. We enjoy Norwegian waffles, open faced sandwiches (Norwegian style) and coffee or “saft” (lemonade). It is an awesome meet, both me and Aeris love it! 
After a while as we got to know the people who live and work at the church we began to feel as a part of the church community. Everyone there is so welcoming and friendly we immediately felt at home there. Now we have some of our closest friends at the church. 

We really like it at the Norwegian church, the service is just perfect at 1 hour long every time. The songs and hymns are a good mix of some of the good old classics and more modern versions. Not as energetic and upbeat as good gospel music, but not that boring that we fall asleep.
We all get a good input of Norwegian, with some English sprinkled in between. They also have Sunday school that Aeris loves being a part of. They sing children songs, play a game, draw pictures and read stories from the Bible. Aeris has made lots of friends, and everyone loves helping her, play with her and watch her. She just enjoys all the attention! I love how including they are and that they speak a lot of Norwegian to her 🙂 

One of my favorite parts is after service, the Church Coffee. The church offers a great spread of food, cake and other snacks. They make so much good food! Everyone there are such nice people, and we always meet new people too. Aeris runs around with all the other children, plays and has so much fun. We get to sit around and talk to other adults (!!!), we get new friends, get to talk Norwegian, Michael gets to practice his Norwegian and pick up a few new words. All around, we just love our new way of spending our Sundays! 

Tomorrow I look forward to testing out another event they have some Mondays, “Strikkis & Svettis”. I have been told they start out with an easy, fun work out, like line dancing, a walk or something else fun. After the “svettis” part they start knitting. I assume there will be all kinds of talking and gossiping going on, and I’m hoping to learn some new knitting tips 🙂 

Church is also an awesome excuse to dress the kids up in cute little dresses 😀 Enjoy!

 

Me and Kamilla dressed up in church.

 

Family church picture. The girls dresses are made by their Bestemor (Grandmother) in Norway. Aren’t they pretty?

 

At Sunday School

One of the fun toys they have at “Småbarnstreff”

 

 

What do you eat for breakfast?

We always eat breakfast. But what we eat differs a lot. Right now I am eating a sheep milk blueberry yogurt with oat flakes in it.
I can’t eat lactose right now, Kamillas belly don’t like lactose, so since I breastfeed I have to stay away from lactose. And as long as I eat mostly at home it’s actually much easier than I thought.
I have found lactose free milk, almond milk – we even tried flax milk(!), but that wasn’t that tasty, Good for cooking, but not for drinking straight.
I learned that goat and sheep milk does not contain lactose, so goat cheese and yogurts are really good and very tasty. Also, thanks to all the vegans/vegetarians there are a lot of dairy free products in the vegan section as well. Some products are better than others, but a lot of tasty options! I have also decided I’m going to stay away from eggs a little more, as it seems like Kamilla reacted when I ate eggs for breakfast last week. So that limits my breakfast options a little more…
Here’s a list of some of the breakfast staples of our family;
– Eggs, bacon/maple sausage, pancakes, toast or French toast. (Now without eggs for me)
– Yogurt
– Oatmeal with yogurt or fruit puré/smoothie
– Knekkebrød (flat bread cracker) with cheese, jam, leverpostei (braunsweiger) – Omelett (will miss this treat)
– Cottage cheese with fruit
– Slice of bread… Grilled cheese, lunchmeat sandwich, banana & jelly, peanut/almond butter & jelly…
– Tortilla wrap… Cheese quesadilla, lunchmeat & lettuce, leftover tacos…

Do you have any suggestions we can try?

Chicken Enchilada Casserole/Pai

I made chicken enchiladas today for dinner and ended up making dinner for tomorrow as well.
Instead of using all of the ingredients to make enchiladas, I used what was left over to make this delicious pai casserole thingy. If you have a suggestion for a better name – let me know in a comment!

So, to the recipe;

Start like you did making the enchiladas (see the enchilada recipe here). Boil chicken for about 20 minutes. Make the enchilada sauce. Mix it all together with cheese.

Now, instead of making wraps and enchiladas, mix in some vegetables (I put corn, carrots, peas & green beans). Now pour everything into a pai form and top it with a thin layer of sauce and cheese.

Now you have two choices, you can.bake it in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 400 F / 200 C.
OR
Wrap it up and set it in the fridge for the next day. Then bake it and serve for a super fast dinner 🙂

Serve with crunched tortilla chips on top, guacamole or avocados and sour cream.

Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas made from Scratch

Start by researching what you want to make… Oh wait, that’s why you’re here?

Next, tie your youngest to your back, preferably in your home made Mai Tai carrier. (I will put up a guide to making one soon)

Back to making chicken enchiladas:

Here is what you will need:

– 2 Chicken breasts
– 2 tbs butter or Oil
– 2-3 tbs flour
– 1-1.5 cups/5-7 dl Chicken Broth
– 4oz/120 ml Tomato paste
– Chilli powder
– Sugar
– Spices (whatever you like to use.. Oregano, onion, garlic…etc…)
– 10+ Tortillas and/or Egg roll wrappers
– 8oz/250 gram Shredded Cheese

Start by boiling the chicken breasts for about 20 minutes

Make enchilada sauce:

Melt butter
Mix in the flour
Make chicken broth in a separate pot (I use bullion & water, can use regular chicken broth too)
Mix in tomato paste and chicken broth to a good sauce consistency
Mix in chilli powder, spices and a pinch of sugar to taste
Let sauce cool

While sauce is cooling down, cut chicken into shreds. I use a blender, if you own a food processor that will work too..

Mix the shredded chicken into the enchilada sauce.

Mix in the cheese (I used lactose free cheese made out of almonds today). Make sure you remember to save some for the top!

You will end up with a good thick paste. Now it’s time to roll up the wraps. Today I used both tortilla and egg roll wraps – it turned out great!

Make sure to put a layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan before putting in the wraps.

Fill the pan with wraps and top everything with a layer of sauce and cheese.

Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes at about 400 F / 250 C. Just til the cheese is melted.

Serve by itself, with a salad or top it with guacamole or avocado and sour cream.

Some tortilla chips are good on there too.

Enjoy!

See what I made with the left overs here!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!

This is where we will be posting random thoughts, ideas and “stuff” from our life, and maybe sometimes others..

First, I will tell you a little bit about us.

We are a mixed family, in every sense of the word.. My name is Ingvild Leah, I am right now 26 years old and I grew up in Norway – a small country in northern Europe. My husband is Michael, he is 31 years old and he grew up in Chicago, Illinois – that’s in America if you were wondering 😛

We have two of the most beautiful children in this world 😛 (I have the right to be a proud mamma, right?) Our oldest is born in January 2012 and our littlest baby was born in June 2013. You can see more of us over at our family blog here.  

In this blog you will see some posts from me, and some from my husband. I will write a bit about how it is to be a mom, a wife and a young woman. How it is to be a foreigner, how it is to live in different parts of America, and a lot of other random thoughts – mostly related somehow to parenting! My husband will be writing about some of the same subjects – but from a man and fathers view. I hope that some of you will enjoy reading about our lives, and maybe take a way some good tips or advice. Or maybe you will want to try one of our recipes? I am sure there will be a lot of good recipes on here eventually! I’m making chicken enchiladas later today, so come back for a great recipe with pictures in a little while!

Have fun! Enjoy the read 🙂

Ingvild