Kale and Butternut Squash Soup

I have had an idea for this soup floating around in my head for a while now. Recently, I made roasted acorn squash stuffed with sausage and it was awesome. Adrian loved it too. Basically, squash and sausage are amazing together. Here is the recipe I threw together yesterday, it was delish. If you like Zuppe Toscana (from Olive Garden), you'll like this soup.

Please, no awards for my stunning photography.

(That was sarcasm.)


Kale and Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 lb italian sausage
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 to 1 medium butternut squashed, peeled and cubed into 1/2 in pieces*
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup quinoa, rinsed (overnight soaking recommended but not necessary.)
5 or more leaves of kale, thick stems removed, roughly chopped
1 tsp salt or to taste
pepper to taste (you won't need much with the sausage)

Directions:

Brown sausage with celery and onion. Drain fat. Add garlic and butternut squash, saute for several minutes. Add chicken broth and quinoa and simmer until squash is tender and quinoa is translucent, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in kale.

*I used 1/2 of a squash only because I wanted to roast the rest to use in my oatmeal this morning. It was really good with this amount but I wish there was just a little bit more.

Eating a Rainbow

Gotta love grocery day! And this is only part of our produce for the week. The very best thing about switching to wheat-free and dairy-free is the variety and amount of produce that was added to our diets. Groceries are so much more inspirational when they have color!

Breakfast Chat

As we were eating our breakfast this morning Adrian told me, "These eggs are yummy! Thank-you!" And then a few minutes later, "These eggs are yummy! Thank-you!" -pause- "I said it again!" And then a moment later, "These are the best eggs I ever had!" They were good omelets, I sauteed onions then added chopped fresh spinach and chopped tomoatoes, some minced garlic, and a sprinkle of dried basil. A little feta cheese on top doesn't hurt either. Delish! Of course Adrian likes to wreck all eggs with ketchup but whatev.

Now, let me take a moment to tell you why this is so ironic; a few days ago I made the same exact omelet. I thought it was delicious and ate it right up. Adrian on the other hand, took two bites and told me, "I'm full, I don't want anymore." I was okay with that. Generally when he does that, he'll come back five minutes later exclaiming his absolute starvation and I present him with the rejected food (especially if it's something he has willingly eaten before, in this case he had). Sure enough, complained of hunger so I told him to eat his omelet. We happened to have an poolside invite that day so I was running around trying to get the house in order and get ready to go. While I was upstairs he said something funny about me throwing something of his away and I asked if he had thrown his omelet away...sure enough.

So, these are the best eggs you ever ate, huh?

Tomato, Tomahto

I kind of want to write an entire blog post about tomatoes. We went to the Marquette farmer's market again on Saturday. Jeff was working so this time it was just me and the kiddos and we got there towards the end. It had been raining off and on and all of the vendors were packing up even though there was still a half hour to go. Wimps. Anyways, when we went the week before we tried this AMAZING cherry tomatoes from one stand and brought a pint home with us which we quickly devoured like candy and on our chicken salad.

I asked what kind of tomato they were because they were so good, but the guy wasn't sure which one they were. He had 2 different varieties of these orangey-yellow cherry tomatoes and you could only tell them apart by taste. He told me to come back the following week and he would have both kinds (they were mixed together that week since he didn't have a ton of each yet) so I would be able to try them and figure out which was which. Oh my gosh you guys, I seriously can't get over these tomatoes. I like tomatoes but I don't generally like to eat them plain. I cannot wait to grow them next year just so I can snatch them off the plant and snack on them. Yum!

Anyways, I went back to his stand yesterday and he didn't have any. Not just because we were late, but he hadn't brought any at all. Instead, he had some bigger--but still smallish--tomato varieties. They were $2.50 for a pint and he had about 2 and a half pints left. He gave the rest to me for $2.50. This was the reason I wanted to go late in the first place. ;) These other varieties were every bit as good. In fact:

Jeff looked at me like I was crazy as he drizzled peanut butter onto his frozen strawberries.

Have you been to the farmer's market lately? I was pretty disappointed to hear that there are only a couple more weeks to get the local produce when we just started going.

Weather, Weather

Sweet peppers aren't quite in season locally yet so I'm using frozen peppers in my chili that is smelling oh-so-delicious simmering on the stove.
We're headed to the farmer's market and the park (same place) in a few minutes while we wait for our supper to be ready. We walked to the store to get canned tomatoes this morning and stopped to throw rocks in the lake on the way back. It is a perfect day! Weather-wise that is. Otherwise, my littlest dude is a little under the weather and my middle-sized dude is...being an almost-3-year-old. The park is usually pretty good for taking care of the bad side of that! (How sad is that pot? The handle melted a long time ago and the handle of the lid is broken. I only need to send in the broken lid and they will send me a whole new pot--found that out in November--and I still haven't sent it in.)

I hope it's beautiful where you are, too!

A Gluten-free, Dairy-free Recipe

I recently committed to eating wheat-free and dairy-free. We've been eating wheat-free at home since Adrian is intolerant to wheat and we eat very little dairy since he doesn't tolerate a lot of dairy either. (Sorry if I'm repeating myself for the 17th time.) I was already preparing myself to make the switch when I was pregnant thinking that there was a good chance that Isaac would have the same intolerance's. Sure enough, he started getting eczema, just like Adrian, while I was eating wheat and dairy. I cut it out and his skin is clear again. The dairy is much harder than the wheat but we're figuring it out. The key is completely changing the way we cook. I can substitute only so much before it completely changes the taste. So, one day while I was trying to decide what to make for dinner (menu planning? what's that?) I starting throwing something together. Jeff called it Orange Root Soup. I called it delicious. See recipe below.

Today, we are sweating in our apartment dreaming of our hopefully-not-as-sweaty house. That we should be moving into next month!! We are super excited to have found a house and we're in the process of all that needs to be done before we can call it ours. I really know what I'm talking about, huh? I think we're waiting for an appraiser now so that's about where we are if you know anything about buying a house. And I don't. I just know that there are walls that want to be painted. And no wood paneling. And no sun streaming in the windows first thing in the morning making our home a million degrees. And a nice, neat little yard to play in. And a deck with plenty of room for a kiddie pool. Haha! I would jump in there right now if I could.

Anyways, while I try to figure out what to make for tonight's supper (we just had this soup last night) so we can maybe go swimming in the lake before it starts to storm again and since my baby is waking up from his little 3-hour afternoon nap, here is that recipe:

Orange Root Soup

Olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1/2 tsp rosemary, crushed
1/4 tsp thyme
4 c chicken broth
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 c chicken, cooked and cubed or shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Cook onions, carrots, and celery in oil over low heat until onions are caramelized.
Add rosemary and thyme, Cook and stir for one minute.
Stir in chicken broth, chicken, and sweet potatoes. Simmer 10 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft.
Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Enjoy!

Black and White

Third time's a charm. I finally made a shirt for Adrian. You saw the first attempt. The second attempt looked too feminine. The third attempt is currently on his body and it's my favorite so far.

Nice mug shot. He is so cranky right now, he's headed to my bed to take a rest, I hope he falls asleep even if it is after 4. It took me about 8 hours to make this shirt because I had to keep stopping to rescue Isaac from whatever torture Adrian was currently using on him. (This picture is so goofy, he didn't have any pants on so I was trying not to get his undies.)

I swear that top stripe is straight, the neckline is so tight (looking) when the shirt first goes on but it will open up after wearing it for a little bit and look more normal.

We tried out a new restaurant this past weekend and I had salad for the first time ever. I feel like such a big girl. All three of us solid-food-eaters had burgers and you could either have a mixed greens salad or potato salad on the side. Cold potatoes just seem wrong to me so I decided to try the green salad since the server mentioned a maple vinaigrette. It was so good! I can't stop thinking about salad now. I'm all, "Oh! Is this why you crazy people love salad so much?" So much so in fact, that tonight we're having burgers and salad with whatever vinaigrette I whip up. I think I'll throw in some sliced almonds and dried cranberries too. Can't wait!

Good Morning, Sunshine!

My latest breakfast:

I really struggle with finding tasty, filling, and healthy breakfast ideas. I really, really wish I liked eggs, but the truth is, I really don't. I can handle a veggie and sausage/bacon stuffed omelet every once in a while and quiches are good every month or so. As for hard boiled eggs: I could probably eat one every six months. Eh. I recently tried steel-cut oats which I really like. They have more protein and a chewier texture than rolled oats. I first heard about cooking quinoa like oatmeal quite a while ago and finally tried it a week or so ago. I soaked it overnight in coconut milk and cooked it in the morning, just like oatmeal. I added cinnamon, a lot of cinnamon, I really like cinnamon. I sweetened it with a bit of agave nectar and topped it with raw almonds and bananas. It was pretty good, still very quinoa-y, but definitely bearable and it left me feeling a bit more full than oatmeal does. The next day, I topped it with almond butter and bananas. It was really good! The almond butter covered the quinoa taste more than the whole almonds. I found a new breakfast (until I get sick of this too). I think it would also be really tasty with toasted coconut flakes.

If you have any great breakfast ideas that don't include eggs as a main ingredient, please share!

'Round Here

It's funny how it's so hard to sit still when you really have to. I'm still in recovery mode, but man am I ready to be done! The weather is getting nice again and well, actually, our apartment is a disaster. There are so many things I would rather be doing than "taking it easy." I have to keep reminding myself that Isaac isn't even 2 weeks old. It's not like I've been waiting around for a month. And really, I'm not pushing it because I know I'll regret it if I do. Jeff's been doing laundry and washing dishes for me without complaining (much). ;) He's pretty awesome. Between work, working out, chiropractor appointments and picking up the slack around here, he's pretty busy. Read: no time to relax whatsoever. And all I've been doing is sitting on the couch...

Baby Isaac has been such a good baby, so far. I can count on one hand the amount of times he's cried for a reason other than being hungry. We've got nursing down and he gets right back to sleep at night after a feeding and diaper change. Which only happens 2-3 times a night, by the way. I honestly couldn't ask for a better baby. (I'm pretty sure I said that with Adrian too...let's hope the trend continues.) He's had more and more alert periods and I love to watch him looking around (at what??) and the happy look on his face when Mama's talking to him.

As for Adrian, he's adjusted better than I thought he would. He's been awesome about playing by himself (like usual) and cleaning up when we ask (for the most part). He wants to hold Isaac All.The.Time. It's so often it's almost annoying. Aaah, and I hate to say that because I'm glad he's so interested and is a pretty good big brother (for the most part).

He's been the little entertainer lately. It's making me realize how big he is. Yesterday he kept saying made-up words and even went so far as to say "_____ means a cow...." I can't even remember what he said or what the made-up word was but I had to chuckle that he was trying to tell us what it meant when we kept telling him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

His sarcastic "Really?!" is pretty funny, too.

BTW, I tried out this chocolate bar recipe that I had pinned and it just might become a staple around here. It ends up kind of chewy in the freezer, I was hoping for something with more of a crunch but it's pretty good anyways. And practically guilt-free.

Low-guilt??

"Zooming Cars on the Couch"

"Zooming cars on the couch," playing Words with Friends, and a quick haircut. The man of the house is back to work. It's been a pretty slow day. Adrian is dressed now although I'll admit that it didn't happen until right before the nap that he's not taking.

Speaking of naps, they have been a real struggle lately. I'm not ready to give them up especially when I know he's not ready to be done with them. At least he stays in his room for an hour or so while he's supposed to be sleeping. I did hear him singing "Happy Birthday" a while ago, I wonder who that was for.

We took a tour of the hospital yesterday (we're going to a different hospital than we did last time so I can have a vbac) and I was telling Adrian that when we get our new baby he would be able to go there to see him and Mommy. We've been talking about the baby A LOT lately. He's already told me several times that it is his baby. We'll see how that goes. I always wonder what's going on in his little head. I'm sure he thinks this baby is going to be a fun playmate and has no idea how little he will be. I was hoping to show him some babies in the nursery while we were there but they were all with their mamas.

We tried spaghetti squash yesterday! I've been wanting to try it after hearing several people say it tastes just spaghetti (when you make spaghetti with it, that is). It's super easy too. I cut the squash in half, roasted it face down on a greased baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes and then scraped it out with a fork. It comes out just like spaghetti pasta. I served it with my Mom's spaghetti sauce, it was delicious! Honestly, the only real difference was the texture. It was slightly less soft...as in a little more crunchy, but not quite crunchy. Give it a try, you'll see what I mean! It definitely made for a guilt-free meal. It's probably a little more expensive than buying regular pasta although we buy the rice pasta anyways, so it wasn't a huge difference cost-wise. (And as Jeff pointed out, it's probably more expensive this time of year.) Yum! We'll definitely be doing that again.

Southwestern Pot Roast

Jeff and Adrian while camping in Traverse City. Swings are a favorite.

I am quite possibly the worlds worst grocery/meal planner. This morning, I was trying to decide what to make for supper considering I would need to walk to the store before lunch to pick up whatever I would need. A brief flash of Mexican-style food crossed my mind so I flipped through the Magnolia Lane cookbook to find something suitable. I decided to make Southwest Pot Roast (recipe by my aunt, Tricia Johnson) since I already knew that it tastes good and that I had a roast in the freezer. Um, yeah, the freezer. About that...
Since it's a slow cooker recipe, I just put it in the slow cooker with the beef broth on low and ran to the store with my little man to get the rest of the ingredients. Everything else is now nestled in with the beef so I'm crossing my fingers that it's thawed and will cook splendidly!
In other news, I'm into my second trimester and I feel great! Adrian likes to randomly tell me he's going to be a 'big brudder' although I'm not sure he knows what that means. We talk about having a baby live here and he always acts like that's really cool and then goes and throws a doll or something. Okay, I might have made up that last part but he does play with dolls more often than he has in the past. He's learning to sing to them and give them kisses. He gets as far as 'Jesus loves me [mumble, mumble]...'  Aaah, so darn cute.
Well, I'm off to do something creative. I've been thinking about making a fall garland out of felt and I think today is the day!

I thought I had posted this recipe already but I can't seem to find it so, if you're interested (and you should be, it's really good!) here it is (with my notes included):


Southwestern Pot Roast

4 lbs lean roast, trimmed of visible fat (I have made this many times with pork and that also tastes amazing)
1 c. red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 c. [fat free] beef broth (I always use regular and to be honest, this time I used beef bouillon)
3 T. chili powder
1/4 tsp of cayenne (I'm a complete wimp when it comes to spicy foods so I always substitute paprika)
1 (16) oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I always use black beans because I love 'em and probably a lot more than this because, like I said, I love 'em!)
4 c. frozen corn kernels (I completely forgot to add this one time and it just wasn't the same, the corn adds a nice subtle sweetness.)
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp black pepper, to taste

Season roast with salt and pepper and sear in a frying pan. Put roast and all remaining ingredients except corn and kidney beans into a crock pot on low all day (8-10 hours). During the last 1-2 hours, add the corn and kidney beans.

Tricia's note: This is great with a baked potato on the side (the sauce tastes great on potatoes). For leftovers, it's also great wrapped in tortillas. This is the best pot roast I have tasted so far is healthy to boot.

My note: although this is a low fat recipe as is, we like to add a [rather large] dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheddar. Yum!

It snowed today

One of these days I'd like to start meal planning again...
I was really looking forward to making a roast today using the same recipe as the shredded beef at my wedding. Until my pregnant brain forget to put the roast in the fridge yesterday morning and then stared down the still-quite-frozen hunk of meat this morning until I finally decided it wasn't going to work out today. I'm still trying to figure out what to make for supper tonight as I listen to the spunking and crying from a certain 2-year-old who wants me to put his blanket and pillow and lovey back into the crib. The crib that held all of those things until the same 2-year-old threw them onto the floor. He's tiring out...I think.

Yesterday I decided to start fall cleaning, considering I never really got around to spring cleaning, it sounded like a pretty good idea! I shined up the living room and that's about as far as I got. That would be the easiest room in the house, by the way. Then, this morning that 2-year-old that I've been talking about dumped dirt from my money tree onto the floor. Gee thanks. He also figured out how easy it is to move little step stools all around the kitchen and dig in everything his heart desires. I'm glad I caught him playing with the serving spoon in the sink before he put it back in the drawer.
Aside from that, I was able to get out of the house two evenings in a row without Adrian. Thanks hon! Okay, so both days were planned by someone else but hey, it was fun to visit with some of the ladies I haven't seen for the past month or so.
I feel like I'm all over the place today so that's all for now. And btw, Adrian did calm down, I was able to sneak his lovey into arms reach without him seeing me and that must have done the trick. I know you were wondering.

Banana-Nut Baked Oatmeal

I was searching for a recipe for baked oatmeal the other day and couldn't find one with just the right ingredients so I made up my own. I had overripe bananas and pecans on hand so I made Banana-Nut Baked Oatmeal.
Here is my very rough recipe (as in, I didn't measure much so I'm guessing here but hey, it's oatmeal!)

The night before:
Soak 3 cups of old fashioned oats in 3 cups of liquid (you could use milk or water, I used a mixture of rice milk and water because that stuff is expensive!) Refrigerate.

In the morning combine,
3 mashed, overripe bananas
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain yogurt (flavored varieties would work as well but we make ours so, plain it is!)
1/4 cup ground flax seed, optional
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder OR 1 tsp baking soda (I went the soda route but most baked oatmeal recipes call for powder)
1/4-1/2 cup honey (I probably used 1/4 cup, with the sweetness from the ripe bananas it was just right for us.)
oat mixture
pecans or other nuts, optional

Mix it up really well and pour it into a 9x13. Sprinkle nuts on top if you didn't mix them in. (I mixed mine but I wish I had put them on top, I had to 'dig' through Adrian's oatmeal before I gave it to him to make sure there were no nuts.) I used a glass dish so I baked it at 325 for about 35 minutes. If you use a different pan you could bump the temp up to 350 and I would guess that it would only take around 20 minutes.

 Adrian and I loved it! I think Adrian ate half the pan...which is only slightly more than what I ate. ;)

Fresh Fish

If you haven't checked out my giveaway (below) you have until 10 pm (eastern time) to enter!

We had a pretty low-key weekend here. The weather was PERFECT so Adrian and I made it to the park several times. If this past week is any indication of what summer will be like, we are going to be the 'tannest' kids on the block!
 Jeff went fishing one morning with my cousin Tom and brought a small Coho Salmon home. I broiled it using my Mom's recipe for Asian glazed salmon. Oh yum! I wish I could eat it again right now! Even Adrian loved it!

Here is that salmon recipe if you're interested (it's also in the Magnolia Lane cookbook):


Asian Glazed Salmon

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Dijon-style mustard
1 lb fresh or frozen salmon fillet, 1-inch thick
3 Tbsp rice vinegar

For glaze, in a small bowl, combine brown sugar, soy sauce, and mustard. Set aside 2 tablespoons of brown sugar mixture for sauce. Thaw salmon, if frozen. Remove skin from salmon, if present. Rinse salmon, pat dry. Place fish on the greased unheated rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 inches from heat for 8-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork, carefully turning once halfway through broiling time and brushing with glaze during the last 2-3 minutes of broiling time. For sauce, stir together rice vinegar and reserved brown sugar mixture until sugar is dissolved. Serve with salmon.

Jeff is planning to go fishing again tomorrow so I'm crossing my fingers that he catches a few more!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I recently commented on a facebook post from Kiwi Magazine about my chicken noodle soup. One of the editors contacted me about sharing my recipe. We eat this stuff a lot so I've had ample opportunity to play with the ingredients and spices. However, I have never taken the time to write it down until now. (Yeah, I do remember posting a recipe a long time ago but please disregard that, I'm sure it's completely different than this one.)

Chicken Noodle Soup (with Homemade Egg Noodles)

bones and skin from whole chicken
4 medium carrots, cut into large pieces
3-4 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
1 large onion, cut into large pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
2 Tbsp sea salt, or to taste
1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp basil, or to taste
pepper, to taste
2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
1/2 recipe of egg noodles (recipe included) or 1/2 lb of egg noodles from the store

Place ingredients thru pepper into a large saucepan (I use a 5 1/2-quart saucepan). Add water to within 1 1/2 inches from top. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 1-2 hours. Some additional water can be added if it evaporates. Strain ingredients, return liquid to saucepan. Discard bones, skin, and bay leaves. Slice or chop vegetables and return to pot.
Meanwhile, make egg noodles (recipe from Pioneer Woman):


2 whole eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Combine eggs and flour, knead several minutes until dough is smooth. Add flour as necessary if dough is very sticky. Let rest for about 20 minutes. Shape dough into a rough rectangle (there is no need to be precise). Using a rolling pin, roll dough as thin as you can. Use a pizza wheel or long, sharp knife to cut noodles into 1/4-inch strips, then cut strips to desired length. Fill a medium saucepan with salted water, bring to a boil. Add half of noodles, return to boil, and boil for about 5 minutes. Strain. (Remaining, uncooked, noodles can be dried or frozen for later use.)
Add cooked noodles and shredded chicken to vegetables in large saucepan. Once chicken is heated through, the soup is ready to be served! We like ours with fresh homemade whole wheat bread!


Now, I'm a little nervous about sharing this even still. I already sent it to the editor so hopefully it tastes great...it's hard to figure out exact amounts when I never bother to measure. The last few times I made it I tried to make a mental note of the approximate measurements so let's hope I'm close! If you make it let me know how it turned out! I, in turn, will follow this very recipe the next time I make it. Even though I'm scared. (I'm my own worst critic, I know! I'm sure it's fine!)

Enjoy!

ETA: The editor replied saying that they won't be posting this recipe in the article she was working on. They were looking for quick meals but she'll hold onto this in case she can use it in future food articles.
Omitting the cooked chicken, this is the same recipe I use for broth.

Oh Yum!

I may have posted this before but Martha Stewart's Salted Caramel filled Chocolate Cupcakes are ridiculously good! I tried to find the original recipe on her website but I couldn't find it, here is where I found it. They are easy to make but very time consuming. I made the cupcakes the day before and then filled and frosted them the next day. Yum, yum, yum....I made them once about a year ago and they came to mind when I was trying to figure out what to make for the Super Bowl. I think mine turned out better the first time around. This time, I decided to try Ina Garten's caramel sauce recipe instead of the one included with the cupcake recipe. It was awesome but I didn't put enough caramel in each cupcake so they just weren't as good. I also didn't have any semi-sweet chocolate for the frosting and, of course, didn't realize it until it was too late. I ended up using Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting. I added extra milk to thin it so I could just dip the cupcakes rather than spreading the frosting. Except...I added too much milk so it ended up looking really sloppy. Oh dear. But really, if you follow all of the original recipes it turns out great! (Hey, I never claimed to know how to bake!) Also, the first time I used the right frosting recipe and it was thin enough (at first anyway) to dip the cupcakes and  they looked  really nice. I don't really get into fancy frosting because I'm horrible at it so this little trick is nice to know!

My Kitchen

In the midst of making my pie pizza several days ago, I was struck by how much color I have in my kitchen. And color makes me happy. It's not a wonder why I love to cook so much! (And ew, yeah, I have carpet in my kitchen--the downfalls to living in a rented space!)

So far this week:

We filed our taxes!
Jeff had a sore throat that has now been passed to Adrian and myself
Adrian has been unusually crabby--probably because he was getting sick
I am exhausted--also due to this sore throat stuff
I've been to the chiropractor. My tailbone has been out of place for over 2 years now and I'm finally getting it back to normal! Adrian gets scared every time we go, I think he believes the doctor is hurting me. He did better today than he has in past appointments, I think he would have been fine if he wasn't feeling sick.
We tried parsnips for the first time. Exciting right? They are in season so I gave them a try. I roasted them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme. They were okay, similar in taste to pumpkin seeds, oddly enough.
Adrian and I went sledding early in the week, he loves it! Snow in his face though, not so much!
I went to bible class by myself because my boys weren't feeling well. I had to work in the kitchen and some of the other ladies on my committee couldn't make it so I didn't want to miss it.
I was an auntie one more time! My sister Sara had a baby girl--oh wait, that was last week. Close enough!
Adrian clomped around in his boots. A lot. He can't put them on by himself so he is always asking me for 'hep, hep.'
I fixed a problem with our computer. It has been heating up very quickly when it's open and the fan is constantly blowing. Last night, I had it on for about an hour and it was so hot it felt like it could burn my skin! I checked hp's website and after downloading updated BIOS (whatever that is) it has stayed cool.
Adrian has played in his johnny jump-up. Yeah, I'm serious. I keep it under the couch so it's handy if babies come to visit. He found it one day last week and he keeps asking me to put him in it. He jumps and spins. What a nut!
I was told that I may inherit 5 million dollars from a 'relative' in some republic. I just needed to send him all my personal information to get things started. That was on a facebook friend request.
I neglected my blog. I'm hope you noticed. I think I'll be back tomorrow. Maybe once I wake in the morning I'll remember whether or not I made anything this week.

Just Something I Made

Otherwise known as "Feature Me Friday." I just decided to change the name.

I have a few other projects to show you but since I just finished eating it for the second time, I am going to share a recipe for split pea soup.

We went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving this year and on Wednesday night they had split pea soup. My Grandma invited us to eat with them (we were actually staying with my sister Amanda) but I declined because I don't care for peas so I just assumed I wouldn't like the soup. Once we arrived, Adrian seemed hungry so, I gave him some soup to try. He didn't like it so I ended up finishing his bowl and boy was it good! This particular recipe had potatoes and it sort of reminded me of baked potato soup. It didn't taste at all like plain old peas.

This recipe comes from the T Family Cookbook.

Split Pea Soup with Ham (Tricia Johnson)

2 1/4 c. dried split peas, sorted and rinsed

8 c. water

1 c. onion, chopped

1 c. celery stalks, finely chopped

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 ham bone or 2 lbs shanks

1 1/2 c. carrots, cut into 1/4 in slices

Heat peas and water to boiling in 4-quart dutch oven. Boil, uncovered, for 2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour. Stir in onion, celery, and pepper. Add ham bone. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 1 hour 30 minutes or until peas are tender. Remove ham bone; remove ham from bone. Trim excess fat and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Stir ham and carrots into soup. Return to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 30 minutes or until carrots are tender and soup is at desired consistency.

I also added cubed potatoes shortly after I added the carrots. Yum! Jeff was a little skeptical (he hadn't tried it at Grandma's) but he tried it and after a few bites I asked him what he thought. He replied rather enthusiastically, "I love it!" I'll definitely be making this again!



[she's] makin' a list...

> Grocery shopping without the little guy is super fantastic. Even if he is really good when I do take him. Thanks Kate!
> I hate making nisu, especially rolls (Finnish sweet, cardamom bread). For real. But I did because Jeff carpools with some coworkers that are nice enough to pick him up from our apartment on the days he doesn't drive so I can have a car during the day (they usually meet at someones house). I figure they could use some incentive to continue doing so.
> I have too much that I should be doing right now to actually type a real blog post.
> I made chicken pot pie for supper tonight and it took me until 4:15 to realize that I had yet to cook the chicken. A whole chicken because that's the only kind I buy. We eat at 5. Today we ate at 6:15.
> We also had bible class tonight at 7 which means that the dishes are still sitting in the sink.
> I just drank a cup of coffee and yes, it's after 10. I have sewing projects to work on so I'll probably be up for a while.
> Adrian has yet to fall asleep. I don't know what's wrong with him. If you know, please tell me. I suspect molars have something to do with it. In fact, Jeff just set him next to me. We'll see how much sewing actually gets done...