What a week!

I guess one can choose to look at the positives that occur and the picture above would be one - Christopher loves using his nebulizer and likes to wear the mask around the house.

Seems like Influenza A is pretty contagious (a reason, one would think, to include it in the vaccine) so of course I was not surprised to get the call at daycare on Thursday afternoon that he was running a fever.  I picked him up and took him straight to the doctor where they tested him for everything and took a chest X-ray since he was sounding raspy.  Ever seen the medieval looking chamber they use to keep them still?  Poor thing was stuck in there with his arms stuck up in the air.

So I was not too surprised to wake up on Saturday morning with a runny nose, that turned into a cough, that turned into a 101 fever with a few hours.  Wonderful but I suppose it cannot be avoided when you have the little guy coughing and sneezing on you.

Today is Monday and it was Madeleine's first day back at daycare.  Christopher and I are still running fevers so we were home today and will be tomorrow.  David so far has remained untouched, so fingers crossed that he manages to avoid this one.  In the meantime, I'm taking advantage of having another pair of hands to help as I snuggle deeper into my blanket, waiting until I can take my next round of meds.

Influenza A ... who invited you into our home???

I knew it was too good to be true.  After the last round of strep throat everyone was on the mend and back at daycare 5 days a week.  Yesterday Madeleine came into the kitchen wearing three layers of clothes and aksing where a blanket was because she was freezing.  She curled up in one of the recliners and was out cold in no time.  Not a good sign at 11 AM.

103.9 fever.  Here we go again.  A trip to the doctor involved some throat swabs, nose swabs and a finger prick for a blood test.  I figured she had strep throat again.  Nope, the flu.  Doctor's orders include Madeleine staying home from daycare the whole week - considered to be that contagious.  Sweet.

What ticked me off though, when I called daycare to let them know she's be out, her teacher said 'oh yeah, we have Influenza A and B in Pre-K'.  Really?  Where are the posted signs?  It would be nice to know what she's being exposed to.

So the rest of us are waiting, wondering who is next on the list.  After all, I've taught my kids to share and so far Madeleine has really taken that one to heart and shares everything!

Madeleine-ism's

I really need to keep better track of the stuff that comes out of her mouth!

Watching her brother screech as he runs laps around the island in the kitchen:  "Mommy, you should have told them at the hospital you wanted a quieter baby."

Driving by an empty farm yard on our way to work when it was below 0:  "Mommy, it is so cold outside they chickens can't lay eggs and the pigs can't lay ham."

General observation about her brother:  "Mommy, didn't you ask them for a neat baby at the hospital?  The one we got is too messy."

After the Superbowl:  "Maybe we need to get daddy a Patriot's shirt so he'll stop cheering for the Steelers.  They make him too mad."

Chicken Pastina Soup

My thermostat is telling me it is 54 degrees outside but I am absolutely frozen.  Christopher was generous enough to share his latest cold with me and I have a sneaking suspicion I am running a fever.  I searched the garage freezer last night and pulled out a gallon of frozen chicken stock and a couple of chicken breasts.  David chopped all the vegetables up and the chicken (suspicious of that as well) and I have a pot of this Chicken Pastina Soup cooking on the stove.

I found this recipe on the back of the box of Progresso's chicken stock and it caught my eye.  Pastina is a small pasta that looks like little balls.  Very small and it cooks in all of 5 minutes.  Growing up we would get Pastina with butter and Parmesan cheese - total Italian comfort food when it was cold out or when we were sick.  Prince is the company that made it and if you grew up in the Boston area then you know that Wednesday was/is Prince Spaghetti day.  I remember the commercial that they used to have - a little Italian grandmother yelling through the streets of the North End, calling Anthony home for supper.  But I digress.

It has only been within the last year or two that I have actually been able to find Pastina here in Iowa, so of course I have a supply in the cabinet just it case it disappears.  This soup is super easy to put together, with the most time consuming part being the chopping of all the vegetables.  If you don't eat it all in one sitting (makes 10 good sized servings) and store it in the refrigerator, you'll notice that the pasta tends to soak up a lot of the liquid.  When I reheat it I add in additional chicken broth (usually just a can) so it gets back to its soupy state.  Personally I don't have a problem with thicker soup but there are some people in this house that do!

Chicken Pastina Soup
http://www.progresso.com/

1 tablespoon butter or margarine
2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium) 
1/2 cup diced carrot (1 medium) 
1/2 cup diced celery (1 medium stalk) 
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 cartons (32 oz each) Progresso® chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon gray salt or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 dried bay leaf
1 cup uncooked acini di pepe pasta or other small round pasta (8 oz)
2 cups chopped, lightly packed mustard greens, spinach, Swiss chard or other greens
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

In 5-quart stockpot, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add chicken, onion, carrot and celery; cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

Stir in tomatoes, broth, salt, pepper and bay leaf; heat to boiling. Stir in pasta; reduce heat.

Cover; simmer 15 minutes. Stir in greens just until wilted. Remove bay leaf. Serve with a twist of additional freshly ground pepper and sprinkle of cheese.
10 servings (1 1/2 cups each)

Kitchen Helpers

This would be one reason why it is so hard to cook a meal when I get home from work ...

Hot Crab Dip

I'll admit it - I am a shopper.  OK, I am a big shopper but, in my defense, I rarely ever pay full price for anything.  I have been known though, to stock up on things when they are on sale, hence the good sized storage room with shelving units we have downstairs.

I have about 6 cans of crab downstairs on the shelf and I knew I had a recipe for a hot dip somewhere that would use up 2 of them.  It is just as added bonus that it also uses up 2 of the 5 blocks of cream cheese I have in the refrigerator.  In my defense, I didn't buy the cream cheese just because it was on sale.  I had planned to make a cheesecake at Christmas but the sides of my springform pan are MIA.

This one is a snap to put together but it does taste best warm.  I mix this up beforehand and store in the refrigerator.  When the first guests arrive, I spread it in the pie plate and then bake.  I once tried keeping it warm in a crockpot but it dried out pretty quickly.  I serve with whatever crackers I have on hand - usually Wheat Thins.

Hot Crab Dip
Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cookbook

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

2 cans  (6 oz. each) crabmeat, drained, flaked

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese

1/4 cup sliced green onions  

1 tablespoon  horseradish

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix all ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. 

Spoon into 9-inch pie plate or quiche dish.  Bake 25 to 30 min. or until lightly browned. Serve with assorted crackers.

Antipasto Squares

Superbowl Sunday is rapidly approaching.  While I couldn't care any less about the game this year, we are having a few friends over to watch the commericals game, which means I get to search through my recipe files and come up with some appetizers and some main dish to eat.

The appetizer part is pretty easy.  I have a few different ones that always go over well and it's always hard to decide what to make.  If anything, I am one that always makes too much, but I figure it just means I don't have to cook for the rest of the week.

This one is thinly sliced meats, cheese and thinly sliced roasted red peppers, baked in a crescent roll crust.  It is easy to mix and match the ingredients to suit your taste.  Sometimes I use all provolone cheese or substitute prosciutto for the ham.  I've also added a touch of garlic powder and a little Italian seasoning to the egg mixture, but honestly most times I don't change a thing.

Antipasto Squares
www.allrecipes.com

2 (10 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1/4 pound thinly sliced deli ham
1/4 pound thinly sliced provolone cheese
1/4 pound thinly sliced Swiss cheese
1/4 pound thinly sliced Genoa salami
1/4 pound thinly sliced pepperoni
1 (12 ounce) jar roasted red peppers, well drained, cut into thin strips (I lay them on paper towels before I start)
3 eggs
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Unroll one package of crescent roll dough, and cover the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Prebake the crust for approximately 5 minutes (this has helped issues I had with the bottom layer getting a little soggy).  Layer the ham, provolone cheese, Swiss cheese, salami, pepperoni, and red peppers, on top of the dough.

In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly, and stir in the Parmesan cheese and black pepper. Pour 3/4 of this mixture over the peppers. Unroll the second package of dough, and place over the top of the peppers. Brush with the remaining egg mixture. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove foil, and bake another 10 to 20 minutes, or until dough is fluffy and golden brown. Cut into squares. Serve warm, or at room temperature.