2011 Christmas Letter

America has voted, and the results are in.  The WINNERS of the Leininger Family Awards for 2011 are as follows…

(cue dramatic music)

The award for DEDICATION goes to…JON!

This year Jon has shown immense dedication as he woke up in the 5 o’clock hour nearly every day to work on his masters degree in Systems Engineering, then head to his full-time job at Lockheed Martin, sometimes commuting to DC, returned home to have dinner, play with his girls, help put them to bed, and then continued to study, often late into the night.  His dedication paid off, and in November, he completed his degree from Johns Hopkins University!  He continues to show his dedication to God, his family, and his job, as he serves with the young men at church, makes time to help around the house and hold regular dance parties with the girls, and work hard at his job every day. 

(cue more dramatic music)

The award for BRAVERY goes to…SARAH!

Sarah has been brave in 2011, doing many scary things like grocery shopping with two small children, potty training Olivia, sleep training Anna, tackling New York City with both girls by herself, and flying across the country with both girls, also by herself!  She also showed bravery by entering the frightening world of counting calories, giving up sugar for two months, and running regularly with the girls and family’s newest addition, BOB (our super-fab double jogging stroller).  It paid off, as she shed all the baby weight and then some! 

(cue even more dramatic music)

The award for INDEPENDENCE goes to…OLIVIA!

Olivia (2.5 years) has declared herself independent this year as she has learned to use the potty, dress herself, and even mastered getting into and zipping up footy pajamas without help!  She is so independent, that if someone helps even a tiny bit with a task she is trying to complete, she will start over.  From the very beginning.  She can feed herself, set the table, call people on the phone, and talk in sentences.  She also loves to open Anna’s bedroom door when she wakes up, to greet her with an enthusiastic “Hiiiiiiii, Anna Boo!”  In addition to her fierce demonstration of independence this year, Olivia loves to collect rocks, wear “pretty skirts”, dance and sing, play with “choo-choo trains”, and be with friends.  She enjoys her nursery class at church, but desperately wants to join the bigger kids in Primary. 

(cue…nevermind, you get the idea…)

The award for GROWTH goes to…ANNA!

Anna (one year on 12/28) has shown tremendous growth this year!  Besides more than tripling in body weight, she has gone from a milk-only diet to eating table foods, is sleeping through the night (mostly), loves babbling and making talking sounds, and has gone from completely helpless, floppy baby to rolling, sitting, crawling, and most recently, walking!  She has grown a head of hair, her eyes finally decided on hazel, and she has three little teeth with plenty more on the way.  She wants to be big like her sister, and loves to play with baby dolls, put on necklaces, and sit on the potty seat.  She has changed more this year than anyone else in the family, and will probably never change this much again in a 12 month period. 

Congratulations to the winners, and thanks for tuning in to the Leininger Family Awards, 2011!  We would like to remind you that the Leiningers hope you and yours are enjoying this sacred celebration of Christ’s birth, and send their love.

Merry Christmas! 

Lentil & Quinoa Stew

I love fall!  Gorgeous colors, sweater weather, and my birthday.  We've been extra busy this fall since we flew across the country to celebrate my 30th birthday with my family.  It was a fantastic trip, and included some much needed sibling and cousin bonding time. 

Now that we're back home, and getting back into the swing of things, I have been back to whipping up my healthy creations for fall.  This Lentil & Quinoa stew is awesome.  Easy and good.  My husband loved it, and Liv, who usually eats nothing but cheese and bread at dinner, tried it willingly. 

I love lentils, and I've been looking for more ways to use quinoa (a super healthy grain from South America), so this cozy meal was perfect. The combination is super hearty, and really delicious.

Lentils: admittedly, not the most visually appealing legume.  Nice fall color palate nonetheless. 

Here's the recipe!


What's in it:
1 lb. bag dry lentils, rinsed
1 C. uncooked quinoa (you can use more if you want!)
1 C. carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 Tb. minced garlic
1 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more, if you want it spicy)
2 Italian sausage links, browned (I remove the sausage from the "skin" and brown it in a pan, like I would ground beef)
6 C. chicken broth
4 C. water
salt & pepper to taste


How it's done:
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot, and cook on high for 4-5 hours until the lentils are soft.  That's it.  So easy.  So yummy.  So healthy.  Just go make it. 


PS  This recipe makes a very large amount of soup.  We eat the leftovers, and I also freeze some for an easy meal later.  You could easily half the recipe, but I like to use the entire bag of lentils at once. 

Apple (Pie) Sauce

It's a rainy day, and Olivia decided not to go to the library, so we needed an at-home activity.  Since we went apple picking last weekend, I decided to make apple sauce.  My neighbor, Megan, gave me the recipe after she taught it to her son's preschool class last year, so I thought I would try it out with my little helper.  It was a VERY toddler friendly recipe, and we both had a great time!  Best of all, it turned out to be absolutely delicious, and had no added sugar. 

Here's what it did have:
8-10 medium apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1" chunks (I actually only used 6 apples.  I'm stingy with my apples.)
3/4 C. water (since I only used 6 apples, I only put in about 1/2 C)
 2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 tsp. cinnamon

Here's how it went down:
I peeled, cored, and cut the apples while Olivia watched.  Then I let her put all the apple chunks into the pot.  She loved this.  So did Anna, who kept trying to eat all the chunks she dropped on the floor.  I had to save that poor toothless baby from choking at least three times. 
 
Then I measured out the other ingredients, and let Olivia dump them into the pot.  She helped me to stir everything up, and then I put it on the stove on high heat, stirring more, until it started to boil.  I covered the pot, turned down the heat, and let it simmer for about 25 minutes. I checked it after 20, but the apples didn't seem quite tender enough, so I left it on for a bit longer.  I think cooking time will vary depending on what kind of apples you are using. 

Liv, in heaven mashing apples. 

When the apples were nice and soft, I dumped them into a plastic bowl, and Liv helped me mash it all up with a whisk.  The recipe said to use a potato masher, but I don't have one, so whisk it was.  This makes a chunky apple sauce.  It you want a totally smooth one, throw it all in the blender.  That's what I do when I make apple sauce baby food for Anna. 


When we were done, we immediately sat down and ate it for lunch.  It was so good it tasted like apple pie!  We even put it on top of ritz crackers to get a little "crust" effect. 

This will be gone by tomorrow.  Yummy!

It can be served hot or cold, but I loved it hot!  I think we'll heat some back up, and have it for dessert tonight!  YUM!

Roasted Butternut Soup

I LOVE butternut squash!  My husband hates it.  If I could change one thing about him, I would make him love vegetables as much as I do.

Anyway, much to his dismay, I am on a mission to make a butternut dish that he actually likes.  And I think I finally found one.  I wanted to make a delicious roasted butternut soup, but I couldn't find a recipe that I liked, so I made one up.

Here's what I used...

1/2 - 1 medium butternut squash (I roasted a whole one, but only used half...will probably use the whole thing next time to make more soup, and enhance the butternut flavor)
one handful of baby carrots
one onion
1 C chicken broth
1 C light cream
1 tsp nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste

Here's how I did it:

Throw your veggies on a tray and roast until soft & caramelized.  About 45 min-1 hour at 400. 

 They should look something like this. 

Scrape the flesh of the squash out of the skin.  Put squash, carrots and onion into a pot with the chicken stock.  Cook, covered over medium heat, about 10 minutes.  Place entire mixture into the blender, and have at it until smooth.  Return to the pot, add cream, nutmeg, and salt & pepper to taste.  Simmer until heated through.  Serve with some crusty bread, and try not to die of deliciousness. 

This one was a double victory, because not only did Jon like it, but my toddler ate it.  And she likes veggies even less than Jon does.  And is more stubborn, and has worse table manners, too.

Enjoy your veggies!!

Zucchini Lasagna

I made some fantastic lasagna the other night.  Only it didn't have any noodles.  So my husband said it wasn't really lasagna.  Even though he liked it a lot. 

So, subtract pasta and add veggies, and lasagna becomes pretty darn healthy. 

And all you do it swap out the ingredients and proceed with your favorite lasagna recipe. 

Here are some instructions for creating zucchini "noodles"...
Cut ends off the zucchini, and then slice the long way into thin slices.  Discard the end slices that are mostly skin.  (I used about 3 medium zucchinis for one lasagna, and could have probably used another one.)

Pat the zucchini slices dry with a paper towel.  All the extra liquid will make your lasagna watery otherwise. 

You can stop there, but if you really want to make sure it's not runny, continue by laying zucchini slices on a greased baking sheet, lightly salting them, and baking them at 350 about 10-15 minutes. 

Then layer up your lasagna and bake as usual!  Yum! 

Burger and Fries: the Super Food edition

You know how sometimes it's just a burger, fries and shake kind of night?  And you know how a burger, fries and a shake are probably the worst things you could put in your body?  The other night, I came up with a super-food alternative.  Not that you should never indulge in the real thing.  But this was fun, delicious, and SO healthy! 

Here's the menu:
Black bean cheeseburgers
Oven baked sweet potato fries
Blueberry-banana smoothie

Super Foods!  Da-da-da-DA-da-da!

Looks good, right? 
And because I love you, here are some recipes...

Black Bean Burgers
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped veggies (I like sweet peppers and corn)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Sautee onions, garlic and veggies until tender.  Add black beans and cilantro and season with salt and pepper.  Mash slightly.  Form into patties, and cook stovetop, or on the grill.  Make sure you use cooking spray, or they will stick!

Melt cheese on top, and add mayo, lettuce, and tomato on a bun (I used a potato roll).  Yum!  And for any carnivorous husbands (or wives) out there, this does not taste like meat!  It tastes like a really delicious way to eat beans.

Sweet Potato Fries
 2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into "fries"
2 Tb olive oil
Adobo seasoning

Toss sweet potatoes in olive oil and adobo seasoning (or use another seasoning of your choice...lots of possibilities!).  Spray baking sheet (I always line with foil) with cooking spray and arrange fries on sheet.  Bake at 350 40 minutes or until crispy. 

Blueberry Banana Smoothie
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 ripe banana
2 cups milk
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup agave nectar (optional)

Toss it all in the blender, and blend away! 

Black beans, sweet potatoes and blueberries are all "super foods".  Aka, SUPER good for you.  So have your burger, fries and shake guilt free!  Yum!

Choices

I'm not sure if there is anything more fulfilling in life than watching your children make good choices.  While I am rather inexperienced in this area, Olivia is learning to make good choices more and more.  Usually they go like this: 
-"Olivia, do you want to sit nicely in your stroller, and go to the park, or do you want mommy to carry you, and go straight home."
-"Umm..stroller."
-"Good choice!"

Recently, though, she has made a couple of choices that have made my heart glow with happiness. 

She has a special stuffed "ducky" that she sleeps with every night.  She loves her ducky.  We are also in possession of a run-of-the-mill rubber ducky that both girls like to play with in the bath tub.  The other night after bath time, the rubber duck had found its way to Anna's floor.  As I sat rocking Anna, Olivia and Jon read some stories together next to me.  When they were done reading, Olivia exclaimed: "Olivia's ducky!"  Seeing the rubber duck on the floor, I replied, "That is Olivia's AND Anna's ducky.  You both share the ducky."  After a moment, Olivia ran into her own room, returned with her special stuffed ducky, and gave it to Anna.  She ran back to her own room, and cried softly, but didn't return to reclaim her toy.  I immediately realized my mistake: she had been talking about her stuffed duck, and I responded by talking about the rubber duck.  But I was immensely touched that she was willing to share her prized possession with her sister, even though the thought of sleeping without it, apparently brought her to tears.  It was especially meaningful and surprising since I find myself asking her to share with her sister many, many times a day, usually without optimal results.  We thanked her so much for sharing, and told her that Anna was done using her ducky and that she could have it back.  


The second good choice she recently made blew me away.  Saturday, we made a day of visiting the LDS Washington DC temple, Jon and I taking turns participating in ordinances there, and watching the girls outside.  Olivia loves the song "I Love to See the Temple", and asks to go there on a regular basis.  While Jon was in the temple, the girls and I walked on the beautiful grounds, and Olivia said repeatedly "I go a temple!"  I replied that we were at the temple.  But she persisted, "I go a temple!  Doors!"  Since children are not permitted into the temple until age twelve, that was a bit of a problem.  So I kept reminding her that we were already at the temple, and finally distracted her by going inside the Visitor's Center instead. 
Our plans for that day included a trip to the nearby Cafe Rio for dinner, and then returning to the Temple Visitor's Center to watch a flute performance by our good friend.  As we loaded the car to head out for dinner, Olivia was heart-broken.  Apparently, the distractions had only been temporary.  "I go a temple!  Doors!" she sobbed.  It was then that I remembered that I could take her inside the lobby of the temple, and that she could use the bathroom or drinking fountain there, and sit in a small waiting area.  Desperate to calm her, I promised, "When we come back, you can go inside for a minute, after the concert!"  She was appeased.  But after the concert ended, it was late, and we were very aware of the hour-long drive home.  Some friends had brought cupcakes, and invited us to come share.  So, knowing we didn't have time or energy after a long day to do both, I gave Olivia a choice.  "Olivia, we don't have very much time, so would you rather go inside the temple, or have a cupcake with your friends?"  Upon hearing the word "cupcake", she perked up and said "ohhh...nummy!" (and since having a cupcake is a very special treat for her, I was sure she would go for it) but she paused, and decidedly said, "I go a temple!"  So I took her into the lobby of the temple.  And we talked about what a special place the temple is.  And she never once asked about the cupcakes.  And my heart melted. 

I feel so blessed to have such a sweet daughter who is learning to choose the right, one day at a time.  And since she is two, and fiercely independent, these moments are absolutely priceless.