Oh, hiiii! It's been a while, I know. Again, life got in the way. This little thing called a j-o-b, the holidays, and exams are a few of my excuses.
No need to talk about the job, as it is well, just that a job and it pays the bills, has great perks, and I'm very thankful for it.
Is it really December? I feel like everyone is saying that, but seriously wow time flew by. Let me back up to Thanksgiving because I think a lot of you will be shocked by our Thanksgiving this year. Wes and I were fortunate enough to enjoy Thanksgiving with both of our parents and one sibling (Missed you so much Brit and J). Mom and Dad hosted us, my brother in law (really, he can be referred to as my brother because I love him dearly), and my mother and father in law (same as above goes here). Wes and I came up with this idea because we wanted to be with everyone and didn't want to have to pick one family over the other. We sprang it on Mom and Dad and their two month old house. We had no idea how unusual it was to have both families together for a holiday until we told people and got their reactions. Maybe our family is different and we didn't see an issue until "outsiders" made us concerned. No concern was necessary as it was a perfect Thanksgiving with the exception of W having to study to gear up for exams. I hope this wasn't the one and only time we celebrate a holiday like this. Thanks Mom and Dad for opening your brand new home to everyone, allowing us to catch your deck on fire (true story), and giving us all the opportunity to gain 5+ lbs with the abundance of delicious food. (Sorry no pics)
Exams started right after Thanksgiving and they end in just a few days. Hallelujah! I can't believe we almost have one semester under our belt. Yes, this is a we thing because I watch W study :) That is creepy. I really don't stare at him. Anywho, holy dedication and determination from this boy. Go boy!
Since I can't go a post without mentioning food/cooking, I must say I've been cooking up a storm lately. It is my outlet. My outlet for organizing, planning, thinking, and trying to please others as I love to see W's reaction to the meal. Since the end of October, we've had at least one soup a week and I don't think we've had any repeats. Here are some of our favorites:
White Turkey Chili (used leftover Tgiving turkey and a can of rotel in place of the jalapeño and red pepper)
Bean and Chicken Sausage Stew
Baked Potato Soup
Two Bean Soup and Kale
Butternut Squash Minestrone (I can't find the recipe for this best W really liked it)
Chili - We've struggled here. I've tried vegetarian and beef chili and can't find the perfect one. Send your favorites my way, please.
Along with soups, my goal was to try one new recipe a week. Many of the soups took care of this goal but I continued to aim to try new recipes. Here are some of our recent non-soup favorites:
Cornbread (add 1/2C to 1C of corn kernels to the batter and we say it's the best semi-healthy cornbread recipe)
Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta (per W it got a 5. this makes sense to you if you remember me talking
here about our ranking)
Fajitas (per W "these might be the best fajitas I've ever had." Hooray! We cooked them on the grill, used chicken and cheated with a box of fajita rice)
Chicken and Rice Casserole (used leftover Tday turkey. This was a favorite of mine. It was comfort food)
Italian Drip Beef (I hate the name, but holy deliciousness.Make sure you top with cheese (havarti or provolone) and place it under the broiler. You're welcome. We've tried both recipes in that link and the Italian Drip is the way to go.)
Athenian Pasta Primavera (Would be a great Spring or Summer meal.)
Here's a final one for you that is great when sweet potatoes are on sale for $0.28 like they were the other week. No need to buy pumpkin pie spice, just use nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon or google a substitute.
Sweet Potato Pecan Bars (click on the link and scroll down)
I feel the need to explain that I am not saying my cooking is spectacular, wonderful, unbelievable, yum, etc by my comments above. It is the recipes that are delicious and yummy. I simply follow a recipe.
A few things to note about some of the recipes and ingredients above:
- If a recipe calls for beans, we use dried beans that I've soaked, cooked, and froze. I try to avoid the canned beans now because of all the sodium and other unnecessary ingredients. If you plan in advance, it is just as convenient as canned beans.
- Butternut Squash...what a pain. Cooking and peeling it is annoying and I didn't find much enjoyment in it. Neither recipe above used an entire one so I froze the remaining amount of squash and used it for the second one. Worked just as well.
- Wherever a recipe calls for all purpose flour, I use whole wheat and you can't tell a difference so why not.
- Along the lines of the flour, we use brown rice, not white.
If you're still with me, stay warm and enjoy the excitement of the holidays!
A
