Garden Chowder

This soup is so good! And hearty too! And full of veggies! Perfect for a cold day (or for a mama with morning sickness - this was all that tasted good to me for a little while). And H likes it too!

I wish I could remember where I got the recipe from. Somewhere on the internet. I am not normally a measurer or one who follows recipes exactly, but I have found that this one is perfect when followed - it comes out just the right consistency.

Garden Chowder

• ¼ C Butter
• ½ C Diced Onion
• 1-½ C Potato, Peeled And Diced
• 1-½ C Broccoli Flowerets, Cut Into Bite Sized Pieces
• 1 C Carrots, Washed And Thinly Sliced
• 1 C Celery Ribs, Thinly Sliced
• ½ C sliced mushrooms (optional)
• 3 C Chicken Stock
• ½ C All-purpose Flour
• 2 C 2% Milk (do Not Substitute With Skim)
• 1 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• Salt and Pepper, To Taste

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the veggies until they begin to soften. Pour the stock into the veggies bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, but not mushy. Combine flour and milk, stirring until smooth. Pour milk mixture into the pot. Increase heat to medium. Add mushrooms.Bring to a boil, and cook for two minutes, or until chowder thickens; stirring constantly. Just before serving, remove from heat, and add the cheese. Stir until it completely melts. Season to taste.

I usually add just a little milk when reheating it to keep it from getting too thick.

This would also be delicious with other veggies - zucchini or whatever might be in season!

Yummy soup

Italian Sausage, white bean and spinach soup

1/2 lb Italian Sausage
1/2 of a medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes
2 cans white beans, drained
3 C chicken broth
1/2 a bag of frozen spinach
salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste

Saute sausage, onion and garlic until meat is cooked and onions are tender. Add all other ingredients. Stir, simmer about 30 minutes and season to taste.

Serve with a little grated Parmesan and Cheese toast (optional)

(All ingredients can be increased or decreased according to taste or what you have on hand. I don't measure anything anyhow...so it always comes out a little differently.)


We made this when we got back from our trip and the ground was covered in snow - it hit the spot!

There is avocado on the wall....

I came around the corner yesterday and found this!
Which means that somehow he opened the cabinet with the child lock on it, and opened the container of fruit puffs. I guess he was hungry?

I have always loved a clean house - and while I guess it doesn't look messy, our home definitely looks lived in! I wiped some avocado off the walls a few days ago (just about 2 feet from the floor, so I have a good idea who did it...), and this morning I was looking for a certain color of thread in my sewing box and found half of a carrot, semi-shriveled! Again, I'm pretty sure I know where that came from!
Who knows what little 'treasures' I will find tomorrow!



While we are on the topic of food.... I am going to ask for a little bit of help (from whoever, if anyone is reading this!!!). I am compiling all of my favorite recipes into one place. I have typed them up and printed them on cardstock, so they will be nice and sturdy too! But, I would like a few more... so, if you have a favorite recipe, or a recipe that you find yourself making regularly, please send it my way! Either leave a comment with it, or e-mail it to me! Breakfast, lunch, entree, side, dessert, cleaning products, play-dough....any well loved recipe, I would love to have!

Is it naptime yet?

Christmas at our house:

While most of the day was a blur of cooking, nap-times, diaper changes, hugs, family, and toys, we truly enjoyed the day.  It was made more special by having family here, and my favorite part of it was having N by my side throughout it all: cooking, unwrapping, preparing, cleaning, visiting, and making this special for H's first Christmas (which he won't remember...).
Santa was good to all of us this year.  Some of my favorite gifts:  gift cards for clothes, shoes, two books - One Yard Wonders and The Big A** Book of Crafts. 

But I know that you really want to see pictures of H, not hear me go on about my thoughts....

He really liked the feel of a lemon from my parents back-yard!

Sweet.

The real present under the tree.

My favorite of H's gifts - a train set from this etsy shop.  So cute, and very well made!

He is loving rolling them back and forth.  

Reading the note from AK -

she made him a great re-purposed cigar box for treasures.

 

Daddy playing with H and his new tool set from this etsy shop.

I am loving the natural toys!

GrandMissy playing with H.  Uncle Duane and Aunt Rebekah on the couch.

H is his Daddy's son!  I always am watching and expecting him to get overwhelmed and overstimulated when there are a lot of people around and a lot going on.  But, like N, that is when he turns on and shines!  He just loves to make people smile, and happily goes from person to person and toy to toy!

Leonard got a gift too!

Some cat-nip filled fish made by SweetHart, and a necktie from GrandMissy.

Another fun thing we did today was open H's gift from SweetHart and PopHart while talking to them on the webcam.  Technology is wonderful!  It was great for them to be able to see them open his Little People Farm set while being many miles away!

We finished the day by heading to Nanny's house.

He loved seeing even more family, and my cousin Challie who H is smitten with!  Every time he sees her, he gets very coy and flirty!

Playing with the cutest gator named "Cordy Roy."  

I really want it for myself, but N says I can't keep it....

It is soooo cute though!

The gator also goes perfectly with the book Uncle Bryan and Aunt Sheri gave H:  The Cajun Night Before Christmas.  I highly recommend it if you live in the south or are interested in Cajun culture, or if you just want a fun spin on a well known story!

All in all, we had a wonderful Christmas, and a wonderful first Christmas for H!  All of us were pooped by the end of the day, but it was worth it!

"'Twas the night before Christmas

An' all t'ru de house

Dey don't a t'ing pass

Not even a mouse.

De chirren been nezzle

good snug on de flo'

an' Mama pass de pepper

t'ru de crack on de do'."

....

Merry Christmas to all

'Til I saw you some mo'!"

A few of our favorite things...

I have definitely been a little behind in posting lately!  With a Christmas Market behind, a little boy who crawls faster every day, I sent off my last Etsy order yesterday, trying to get Christmas together for our little family, I haven't had much time to do things like blog posts, or if I do have the time, I just want to sit still for a few minutes!  Last week was a crazy one too!  I realized that within one week, N and I had 6 performances, 4 rehearsals, 6 church services, and I'm sure a few other things - which is very normal for us at holiday time, but this is the first time we have gone through all of that with a baby!

So, here are some of our favorite things:

Chewing on celery with Daddy

Discovering ornaments for the first time!

This is one of Mama's favorites:

That little sliver of light that comes through in the mornings.

Mama's favorite 'green' cleaner:

Hehe!  I couldn't resist!  This is a recipe for my favorite all purpose cleaner...

(all measurements are approximate - I don't measure mine, and it works fine every time!)

1/4 cup vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 Tablespoon borax (optional)

a dash of dish soap

2 cups of hot water

A few drops of tea tree oil (optional)

(this just smells nice, and has disinfectant properties - we had it for the diaper wipe solution that we use for H's cloth wipes)

Put all ingredients in a spray bottle, and happy cleaning! (I just pour everything in a squirt bottle - unmeasured - and fill the rest with hot water)

I love using this as it is - 'green,' I don't have to worry about chemicals if I use it around H, and it does a much better job than other cleaners!  I use this to clean the counter tops, tables, and even mop the floor with it!  There were some spots on our OLD kitchen floor that never would come up, and I put a little of this on it, and the spots came right off!

Because cooking/doing the dishes/etc has become difficult due to a baby who likes to try to get into the dishwasher, pull things out of cabinets, and use drawer nobs as teethers, I wanted something in the kitchen that he could play with.  I eventually want to make a set of alphabet letters for the fridge, but for now, we have a jungle!

My mama (H's SweetHart) drew these little monkeys for H as a little artwork for his room, but I took them and scanned them, printed them on some fabric paper, and sewed them together with a little batting and felt, and voila!  A jungle!  The tree and leaves are made out of felt and two layers of batting, the critters (5 monkeys, two owls, a mama opossum and her babies, and two snails) all have one layer of batting and felt on the backs.  They all have between one and four magnets (depending on their size) sewn into them (no parts to come off and become a choking hazard).

 

H likes to take them off, bring them to Leonard, chew on them, and look at them.  For now, this is enough, but I hope that one day he will actually play with them and create stories.  Mama also sent me some sheep, deer, and a camel that I think will be used in a forest in the future....

Other things Mama loves:

 

squeezable baby cheeks, arms and legs, N, seeing Leonard sleeping on the bed 23 hours of the day, having home-made bread (I'm going to make a sour-dough starter today), egg-nog ice cream with our ice cream maker, Christmas trees, making things, tutorials on the internet, the fact that N will be off work for two whole weeks!!!