Adventures in Cooking

I know today is Friday, but I don't have five related pieces of information that are worth sharing.  Instead, I am sharing a recipe I came across and made last night.

Have you ever had one of those days?  You know, the kind of days where everything that could go wrong, did?  That was my day yesterday.  I could tell you all about it, but I am pretty sure it would just come across as me complaining.  Let's just say that I am glad today is a new day.  Hopefully my kids realize it is a new day also.

Despite how horrible yesterday was and the fact that I spent about 85% of the day crying (hormonal much?) I still was able to make this delicious soup.  That should tell you how easy it was.  If a hormonal, crying, crazy, pregnant lady can make this while her children are losing their minds, you can too!  It was so easy and so delicious. 

Here is it.

Broccoli Cheese Soup. 

Now I have not ever had Panera's broccoli cheese soup, but my sister is a huge fan and I am anxious for her to try this and tell me how it compares.  Jason and I both LOVED it.  Seriously, it was pretty yummy.  And I think we were both a little surprised at how much we loved it.  Especially considering I was cooking it while in the middle of a pretty crappy day.

You should try this soup....now.  For reals, go make this soup.  You won't regret it.

Couple of side notes.....I don't like onions, so I never, ever, ever use as much onion as a recipe calls for.  Second, I found I didn't have to cook the butter/flour/salt/pepper/milk mixture very long for it to thicken up.  Perhaps I had the heat up too high???  Whatever the reason, it was pretty thick in under five minutes.  Lastly, the tip for the broccoli at the very beginning is exactly how I cooked my broccoli.  I know that microwaving veggies takes a lot of nutrients out, but yesterday was the microwave your veggies kind of day.  Oh, one more thing (even though I just said lastly)...it really doesn't make much more than four servings, so if you want more, double it.

Let me know if you try it, and if you like it.  It will make a regular appearance on our dinner table.  Happy cooking!

Our first Christmas celebration

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with Jason's mom in OKC.  Even though we only spent the day there, we managed to pack in a lot of fun!

First, we opened presents.  Isabelle got a V-Tech digital camera.  She took over 300 pictures while we were there and burned through the batteries completely.  Here are some of her pictures.  Please keep in mind that a. she is three and b. the camera is 2 mega pixels. 

even though half of my face is cut off, this is still probably the best pic of me from the entire weekend!

Whoo Hoo....Dad's butt!

Grandma, or Deborah Jill as Isabelle calls her.

Molly's mouth.  Gross.  (the picture, not Molly)

Molly got a new baby doll, which is good since we have another one like it that the girls fight over constantly.  Now they each have their own and there can be peace in the house.  HAHAHA.  Now they will just find something else to argue over!  She loves her big baby and for reasons I don't understand only wants her with her clothes off.  Why do kids do this?  It is so strange to me. 

ANYway.  After naps and lunch we decorated Christmas cookies.  Isabelle was a master decorator and probably could have continued to decorate well into the night.  Molly was only interested in eating the cookies.   Here are some pics of the cookies, Molly, and sweet Belle working very hard to decorate them all by herself.

This is before the cookie decorating had begun!  Isn't she adorable?

Isabelle with one of the cookies she did all by herself.

My very good looking husband!

Just a few of the cookies we frosted!

We also had a delicious steak dinner followed by a very energetic dance-off between Isabelle and Molly.  Needless to say that when we loaded into the car to come home they were pretty tired!  I told Molly to close her eyes and she did and went right to sleep.  It took Isabelle a little longer, but she was out before we got home also!

So the Christmas season is off to a bang here at our house.  Next up Christmas morning with just the four of us.  It might be my favorite part of the holidays.  I love being able to create traditions for our family and seeing the girls react on Christmas morning.  I also love Jason's cooking and spending time with my girls and my wonderful husband.  We are starting some new traditions this year and I am looking forward to telling you all about them!

What are your holiday plans?  Any great traditions you have that you think I should know about?

Friday Five...totally random

Today is Friday....but you already knew that didn't you?  There has been a lot taking place around our household.  Some great, some not so great.  So in honor of the Friday Five...I thought I would document five totally random things.

1.  Isabelle and Molly have started playing a very funny made up game.  In this game, Belle takes Molly to class.  By class, I mean that Belle walks with Molly into the kitchen, or in front of the front door, or in front of the garage door, or in a bedroom and drops her off at class.  Isabelle then walks off and Molly starts fake crying.  At this point, Isabelle comes back in and tells Molly that everything will be okay and that she will be right back and that Molly needs to stay and, "learn Jesus."  It is pretty adorable and the game can last quite awhile.  Molly's fake crying is pretty funny and the "learn Jesus" cracks me up.

2.  I got my first flat tire EVER yesterday.  I was on the highway and talking on the phone and next thing you know, flat tire.  Luckily, Jason came and was able to change the tire and take me to the tire store to get a new one.  There was no replacing the tire with the GIANT metal chunk in it.  Speaking of the chunk...my mom says I should have been paying more attention to the road and then I would have been able to avoid a chunk of metal....I say that no one would have seen it or been able to avoid it. What is your opinion?  And don't let the fact that I was on the phone influence your decision, please.  I am a great multi-tasker.

3.  I am making something from pinterest this weekend.  Wanna see?  I thought so.

I linked to the website it came from in case you want to make one also.  It is made of felt and that way your kids can "decorate" the tree as many times as they want...you know, because felt sticks to felt.  My mom was kind enough to go get me all the supplies today, so now I just have to get busy making the ornaments and presents.  Oh, and I am totally addicted to pinterest these days.  At first, I thought people were crazy to spend so much time on such a ridiculous website...but then I downloaded the app, and now I find myself wasting an absurd amount of time pinning.  Good news is I am actually using it for some good...like making a fun craft.

4.  My husband has a girlfriend.  Her name is Siri.  In addition to that, I am now officially the least cool person in my entire family.  Everyone has an iphone but me.  Not everyone has the brand spankin' new one like J, but everyone has one.  Except me.  Sad thing is, I am not eligible for an upgrade until May.  So I have like six more months of being super uncool.

5.  Tomorrow begins our season of Christmas celebrations.  We are headed to visit J's mom to celebrate Christmas with her.  Every year it gets a little harder to plan all the different get-togethers and every year we start earlier and end later in the month.  Most years we also celebrate once in January.  Crazy. 

Hope you all have had a wonderful week.  Hope your weekend is fabulous!  

This is how I do it

Recently a couple of different people, at different times, have asked me, "How do you keep your house so clean?"  And after I pick myself up off the floor from laughing, I tell them it is all one big act.  Yes, I do like a clean house, and yes, I do spend some time each day cleaning some part of my house...HOWEVER, my house usually is not clean and is in fact, one giant mess.

So in the interest of keeping it real, I thought I would share some photos I took of Isabelle's room this past month.

the first view....notice all the play food, the books and the stuffed animals everywhere....oh and the tipped over rocking chair

Isabelle thought it was great that I was taking pics of her room

view of her shelf...which somehow miraculously stayed somewhat organized...the puzzles were still in place which usually they are on the floor also!

So see there....my house isn't always clean.  In fact, the floor in the living room often looks exactly the same as Isabelle's room looks in these pictures. 

Being a parent has taught me a few things (surprise, surprise) and one of those things is that having a messy house is not the worst thing ever.  I will admit that there are still days when I am totally nuts about my house being clean.  On those days I have to remind myself that my kids being happy and having time to spend with them while they are little and still like me is more important than the house being spotless.

With that being said, if I know you are coming over to visit, I will most likely work like a crazy person to make sure you think my house is clean!