our jewel is growing up

this morning, our jewel made chocolate chip banana muffins all by herself. the only things i did were get the ingred. from the hard to reach shelves and spoon the finished product into the muffin pan. she measured everything out and mixed everything up.  the best part was that she was neat!  the only casualty was an egg and that was my fault - i told her to crack it a little more.. :)

now we have a basket of goodies to take to my sisters'.

happy new years!

cross posting again...

i just laughed when i saw my man's post regarding our jewel's new game:

too lazy to write...

so i'm linking to my sister's so you can see what we did during our christmas break.

fitness goals for 2011

by the end of 2011, i'd like to be able to do:

• 10 pull ups
• 5 handstand push ups
• pull a car
• run a marathon under 4

my secret indulgence

growing up, we'd eat PB&J on toasted white bread with a bowl of campbell's chicken noodle soup.
oh, how i did love that on a cold winter's day.

well, we were in the store the other day and our jewel said, "mama, can i PLEASE have some bread?" not in the oliver twist kind of way, but in the 'mama, you never let me buy bread in the store kind of way'.  well, tis the season... i figured, it was christmas so i would indulge. and indulge we did, i even let her pick out white bread?!! gasp!  she said she wanted a PB&J sandwich just like her classmate had.

then she wanted tuna fish - in a can! another gasp!

so when we got home, she got her PB&J.   oh my my my!

the next day, i made some chicken vegetable soup to go w/ and the whole family had a canned tuna fish sandwich, with store bought mayo, on white bread... w/ non-grass-fed chicken soup. at least the vegetables were organic and the chicken stock was homemade.... whew! there was something redemptive in there!

i just know, one of these days our jewel is going to roll her eyes at my meal and sigh, "oh mom!" but until then, we'll treasure these little treats sparingly :) ha ha ha

dreams that make you smile in the morning

i had the best dream. i dreamed that i did 45 pull-ups. UNASSISTED! it was such a site to watch :) yes, i watch myself in my dreams. i woke up this morning feeling so great! 

so ready for my workout this morning! GOOD MORNING, indeed!

juice gone bad

my man is in for a really bad experience right about.... now.

this morning's juice of kale stems, carrots, apple, and ginger is NOT a good combination. even i'm having a hard time swallowing this one :(

cookie exchange

cookie exchange last night.
what do you think? do i have enough cookies?  i saw these really cute bags at hallmark - big enough to hold all the cookies and then some :)

i also made some appetizers that seemed to be a hit:

spinach artichoke dip:

1 C thawed spinach (make sure the juices are all squeezed out)

1 C marinated artichoke. drained and rinsed from it's juices. 

1/2 C mayo

1/2 C sour cream

1/2 C mozzarella

1/2 C parmesan reggiano  

preheat oven at 350.

mix all together and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes 

breadsticks and marinara sauce:

i got the recipe from Our Best Bites - except that i played w/ the flour ratio of white to wheat. i made two batches - one that was 50/50 white to wheat and one that was 60/40 white to wheat. they were both about the same as far as taste goes. i would have to say i was a little disappointed that they didn't rise much. my kitchen just wasn't warm enough and i even brought in a space heater.  i should have used a warm oven but i thought of that after the fact :(

the marinara sauce was pretty standard:

1 can of crushed tomatoes

some EVOO, salt, garlic, parsley, oregano, and parmesan reggiano

we put this in a fondue pot so that it stayed warm

Veggie platter

i don't know about you, but with all the cookies and other not so healthy stuff, i had to have something w/ live enzymes in it. the dip not so healthy though :(

veggie dip:

1/2 C mayo

1/2 C sour cream

1 tsp dill

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp salt

mix well and fridge until time to serve.

we took this picture post everyone getting their cookies - can you believe how much is still left? people made 2 rounds and there was still just a ton left! 

TIP: perhaps you're thinking - what do i do w/ all these cookies? if i eat them all i will just keel over from all that butter.  might i suggest sharing them? i made extras of my cookies and between that and the cookies i brought home, i made a couple of plates for ladies who couldn't make the cookie exchange at the last minute and also bags of cookies to share w/ my neighbors.  it's a great way to break the ice if you haven't really talked to your neighbors in a while.  of course i saved a plate for my family that went STRAIGHT INTO THE FREEZER! 

Merry Christmas!

tis the season for baking

we have a cookie exchange tonight that another lady and i are hosting...
so yesterday i made 3 different types of cookies:

butter spritz cookies
whole wheat ginger snaps
whole wheat cookies

the last cookie did not turn out well at all, but i just looked at the recipe and i realize in my haste i used wheat germ instead of wheat bran, so that could have been the culprit...

i also made the veggie dip for the veggie platter, the marinara sauce for the breadsticks. today i'm off to make the artichoke dip and the breadsticks.  here's hoping the breadsticks turn out well. i've never made this recipe before... here's keeping my fingers crossed :)

crazy is as crazy does

last night i met up w/ the local running group for a nice, leisure run, along some nice rural roads. sounds lovely, doesn't it? rolling hills, barns, the peaceful river by your right side, with the occasional train chugging on the left, the stars and moon over your head... except, it was dark, there was no sidewalk, and when the cars zoomed by, you prayed they saw your tiny headlight, there were spots of black ice and it was bitterly cold.  i thought to myself, this seems crazy, but somehow when it's with a group of 15 other people, it doesn't seem crazy - just fun.  a "fun" event they've been doing every year - called the jingle run down to the bar for some pizza and wings.  then on to a beautiful restored mill for cookies and coffee.  it was just gorgeous. the pictures don't even do it justice.    it was a fun night had by all.

venting on p90x

it's been two years since i've done this workout but i was feeling too lazy to run outside in the cold so i pulled this out. can i just say that after 2 years, i still find this guy really annoying? is it just me?
i mean really - two tickets to the gun show? who says that?!!!

by the way, i did the back and bicep one today and while i think my biceps got a workout, i didn't really sweat and that's kind of my test on any workout... did i sweat?

so here's my two cents. if it's cold outside and you just want to get something in, put the video on mute.

the problem with going casual

is that i  never want to have my picture taken because i didn't doll myself up enough for a camera shoot. i'm looking back over the course of this past year and not ONE usable family picture did i find. so sad! it's so unfortunate too, because i really wanted to get my parents a really cool canvas print of us but i didn't have a family picture to put in it. so this month, i'm going to make an effort to get dressed up more. wait! i lie. i actually have no intention of taking the time to put on make up and look good.  hummmm. maybe i'll just designate a day where we all dress up and then go picture galore....

oh! the price we'll pay for paper memories

goodbye november

before we let christmas decorating take over, i wanted to record our thankfulness tree. our jewel wrote something she was thankful for each day of november (some days were catch-up days with 3 leaves).



don't tell her but i kind of rearranged a few of the leaves so that they looked a little more ascetically pleasing but for the most part, i let her put the leaves where she wanted.... i know, my type A can't just let things alone!

celebrating 6 twice!

our jewel's birthday falls close to thanksgiving.
so after our thanksgiving gathering, we enjoyed birthday cake with the whole family.

my sister make the cake with our jewel's two favorite colors :) it's nice to have a sister who's willing to do that for you, huh? it's even better that she's good at it.  unfortunately, my sister had to make the 5+ hour drive down w/ the cake... which also meant that she had to make it a few days in advance - which all to say made for a hectic week for my sister.  thanks, sis!

Happy 6th!

our precious jewel turns 6 tomorrow. to celebrate, we took her to see mary poppins in the big apple.
she absolutely LOVED it!  the adults enjoyed it as well... surprisingly.  it was such a sweet moment to see our jewel enthralled by the acting, the singing, and all of the theatrical effects!

happy birthday, my dear one!

eating right

my man and i started a detox - ok, detox in the most loose sense of the word... but then the weekend rolled around and that just went down the drain.  so, then the plan was to go on the plan during the week and then have more flexibility during the weekends, but then last night i didn't feel so hot and all i wanted was broth and all the broth type stuff we had was ramen... so that went that... but we're starting it again today.

i've been an advocate of the weston a price's diet for years now (advocate doesn't mean i have the will power to follow it all the time, but i do believe in it and do try).  i thought mercola does a good job of succinctly summarizing it so i'll cut and paste his paragraph here as well as link up to his page.

The main points of a weston diet are as follows:

• The foods were natural, unprocessed, and organic (and contained no sugar except for the occasional bit of honey or maple syrup).
• The people ate foods that grew in their native environment. In other words, they ate locally grown, seasonal foods.
• Many of the cultures ate unpasteurized dairy products, and all of them ate fermented foods.
• The people ate a significant portion of their food raw.
• All of the cultures ate animal products, including animal fat and, often, full-fat butter and organ meats.

When he analyzed his findings, he found that the native diets contained ten times the amount of fat-soluble vitamins, and at least four times the amount of calcium, other minerals, and water-soluble vitamins as that of Western diets at that time.

Their diets were also rich in enzymes because they ate fermented and raw foods (enzymes help you to digest cooked foods), and their intake of omega-3 fats was at least ten times higher than in today's diet.

So, based on that here's our weekday plan:
breakfast and dinner: liquids - ie. smoothies, juice, etc.
lunch: solids but have to consist of the above. 

So, what does that mean for us?

here's what we're eliminating:

1. all breads from our diet since they are pretty much processed unless i make whole wheat bread, but since i'm trying to stay off of gluten, i haven't made any lately.  
2. caffeine - my man doesn't appreciate this one since his love affair w/ espresso.
3. refined or processed anything - this basically means that i have to make everything from scratch. no crackers, no cookies, not even flour tortillas :(

what can we have:

1. fruit
2. veggies
3. meat, poultry, fish
4. nuts
5. legumes

i'm still trying to figure out the whole liquids part. while smoothies are great, if it's mostly fruit then that's a crazy amount of glucose hitting your system all at once and that's not the best way to go... so i'm still working on that one.  this morning i kind of cheated and had eggs. we'll see how this goes. 

a man's perspective

i saw emilly clark's post done by her hubby and i just had to laugh at some of the items on his list of how to be happily married to a decorator.... esp #7, only because i've seen the look on my man's face when i've come home w/ something that just looks awful.. or when i've said, hey! let's go pick something up!  i'm so blessed w/ a patient man who's willing to put up w/ all of my decorating ideas :)

no grain bread update

the bread turned out pretty good - i think this would taste really good w/ some natural PB and jam.  the only thing is that the bread doesn't rise. it's definitely more dense than a loaf of regular bread, but it's pretty comparable to a loaf of 12 grain in terms of density.  also, i may cut back on the salt next time; maybe 1/2. it was really good when it came out of the oven. i'm going to go have a slice w/ my chicken soup :)

 

as a follow up, my man and our jewel gave the cookies and bread two thumbs up. however, my man commented that the bread was a little dry and so would be best w/ something else, ie. jam, eggs, etc... 

cinnamon cookies recipe (no grain)

i saw a recipe for cookies using almond flour on this site.
i made some modifications and here's what i ended up w/:

cookie recipe:

1C almond flour
1/2C rapadura
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2tsp ground cinnamon

1/16 tsp ground ground clove

Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Stir together flour and Sugar. Blend in oil, egg, vanilla, and remaining spices until well mixed. Form into 1-inch balls on a cookie sheet and flatten each with a fork. Bake for 8 minutes or until set but not brown. Allow to cool for 2 minutes on baking sheet then remove to wire racks to cool.

they came out pretty small and the batter only made one baking pan of cookies, but it tasted pretty good and i would definitely make it again. it makes me want to make another cup of tea to go w/ it.

no grain bread

i'm on a roll people, i'm hooked on the almond flour! you know, i've been trying to go gluten free for a while, but i felt like having to say no to bread just wasn't worth it. i figured, that i was just going to suck it up and deal w/ the side effects because well, i'd rather be in pain if that meant i could have bread... well, i saw this recipe for bread and this might be the turning point to going gluten free :)

Gluten Free Simple Bread
2½ cups blanched almond flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1 tablespoon agave nectar
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, then add agave and vinegar
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry
4. Scoop batter into a well greased 6.5 x 4 inch loaf pan (this loaf pan may have been discontinued. Stay tuned...)
5. Bake at 300° for 45-55 minutes on bottom rack of oven; until a knife comes out clean
6. Cool and serve

Makes 1 loaf (about 12 slices)

* Note: i will be substituting the agave for honey.

No grain apple cinnamon muffins

I saw a recipe for no grain banana muffins and got a craving. however, i didn't have enough bananas, so decided to make apple cinnamon instead.

i tweaked mine a bit and here's what i ended up w/:

2 1/2C almond flour (freshly milled from crispy almonds - see her recipe). i set mine on the finest settling on the mill
1/4 C coconut oil
1/2 tsp B.P.
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 eggs
* i would have added 1 tsp of vanilla extract if i had any.
2 apples peeled, cored, diced
1 handful of craisins

preheat oven to 300 degrees. mix all together in mixer and spoon into muffin. this was enough to fill a one-dozen muffin pan. 50 minutes at 30 degrees.

note: this was really moist and quite tasty! i knew it was a keeper when my man asked if he could take one to work this morning - and he NEVER takes food (since they serve breakfast in the office).

technology bah!

the search engine on blog doesn't work and i can't figure it out. any clues anyone?
can't i just wave my wand and say ta-da?!

it's a snacky kind of day

our jewel stays home w/ me on mondays...
it's cold, wet, and dark outside, so we spent the day in - doing school and making lots of food in our pjs :)

in the background, we're dehydrating some nuts, to make crispy nuts and we have the crockpot going w/ some kale bean soup for dinner (i just threw in some potatoes, carrots, 1 onion, 2 1/2 handfuls of kale, 1 cup of pink beans, salt, pepper, bay leaf, and some parsley, 5 or 6 C of turkey stock, oh and a dash of paprika and some cajun seasoning because i wanted it peppery). for brunch, we made sweet cornbread , and jello.

it did congeal like jello - but it was more like soft jello. you can't cut blocks or shapes like you would with the store bought jello but it was the perfect school snack.

and for a really simple snack, bananas w/ all natural peanut butter and chocolate chips.



what can i say, it was one of those snacky kind of days.

healthy jello

i really am not a fan of that artificial jello sold in the grocery stores. there's no nutritional value in it. but i saw a recipe for it on the healthy home economist site, so i thought i'd give it a go.

it's basically 3C of fresh juice - from a juicer. i made it w/ apple juice.
whisk in 1 1/2 TBL of gelatin (dissolved in a few ounces of boiling hot water). pour into a glass container and store in fridge overnight.

simple, fresh, and no artificial food colorings in your jello!

* note, i tried this w/ strawberries and pineapple before pureed in my vitamix blender and it didn't go over well... so i'm going to stick w/ the juicer.

it's time to PRAY, people!!

for the past several years, i've tired and tried and tried to find a toothpaste my man would like that is also healthy.

we've tried:










there have been others, but i'll just highlight these.. mainly to say - i've been on a LONG mission to find one that my man will like. the above all are fluoride free (fluoride is a chemical that is often found if most toothpaste that is actually quite toxic). but even the ones above have glycerin in some of them and glycerin can impede the remineralization of your teeth and in the long term, lead to cavities. a long story to say that i have found a new alternative to toothpaste, but i've already asked my man and he emphatically rejected even trying it. but i told him, that's ok... i'm just going to start praying about it and we shall see! buhahahahaha!

if you're daring, it's basically, 3 parts baking soda, 1 part sea salt. mix, shake. put a small amount in the palm of your hand and add just a little hydrogen peroxide until it makes a paste. put on toothpaste and brush. (note, can't use hydrogen peroxide if you have metal fillings in your teeth). if you want to read more about it, check out this guy's website.

here's a tip.

i'm making a cake out of a mix! gasp! i know, it's so bad for you. but right now i'm craving chocolate like no tomorrow. so i made the cake, but instead of vegetable oil (so bad! i want to tell you to throw it right in the trash, but i won't be so bossy- ha!), i used coconut oil. have i told you the benefits of using coconut oil? it does well w/ heat - unlike other oils that go rancid when you cook it (sunflower, canola, vegetable oil, even olive oil, etc). i also like it because it adds just a hint of coconut flavor to the cake... making it more flavorful and rich. this is the abbreviated version of the benefits of coconut oil. if you want a better explanation - i don't blame you - then check out what mercola says about it.




chocolate icing:
in a double boiler:
mix 3/4C semi sweet chocolate morsels
3 TBL butter
1 TBL raw honey

mix frequently until melted. then pour over cake. yum!!

as a follow up, here's our jewel enjoying her cake the next day. it was still really good (but not nearly as good as when it came out of the oven). she said she should get a big piece because it's ALMOST her birthday.

fall dishes

don't you just love fall?!

i couldn't wait to start cooking fall dishes!

crock pot it! sausage soup:

1 lb of left over hot italian sausage, sliced
1/2 onion
3 stalks of celery
1 carrot
4 C chix broth
2 bay leaves
salt, pepper
2 tsp parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2C northern beans

throw together in the crock pot and let it do it's magic.
* note - i love cooking the beans rather than getting them from a can. they really are so much healthier for you and it's easy peesy! rinse beans, then i leave the bag of beans in a crockpot w/ lots of water (about 2 inches past the beans) all day. i pore out that juice, rinse again, taking out the bad beans, and then set the crockpot on medium overnight. in the morning you have cooked beans. i put some in my soup and the rest i'm saving to make hummus/ greek platter for our church potluck. they freeze really well!

the other meal i made this week that turned out well:

roasted sausage and vegetables:
slice up 3 mild italian sausages
1 large russet potato
1 large sweet potato
2 carrots, cut in big chunks,
1/2 onion, cut in big chunks

put all in a large oven ready pot, get your child to put on some plastic food friendly gloves and then let them do the rest:

mix together 3-4 TBL lard (i used some grapeseed oil and some chicken lard i had on hand), salt, pepper, minced 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tsp dried parsley, 1 tsp thyme, 1 tsp rosemary, and really whatever other italian herbs you want to throw in. and then pour the mixture over the vegetables, making sure the veggies are evenly coated w/ the oil mixture.

pop into oven 475 (preheated) for about 45 minutes.

this would go really well w/ this danish red cabbage:

DANISH RED CABBAGE

1 medium red cabbage, shredded
4T butter
1T sugar
1 t. salt
1/3 c. water
1/3 c. vinegar

last 10 minutes:
1/4 c. red currant jelly
2T grated apple
1/2 c. juice from pickled beets (optional)

Mix all together and bake, covered, in 325 degree oven for 3 hours (stirring about every hour). Add jelly and apple and juice from beets and bake another 10 minutes or so.

Best made ahead and reheated the next day.

fall is for discovery

we went for an afternoon walk by the canal and through a park.
isn't it so inviting?


it was a precious mommy/ daughter time. we talked about trees, ivy plants, berries, gardens, friends, school...

halloween costume 2

this year's halloween was busy w/ two different church festivities. she had a blast at a trunk or treat. it was a perfect, crisp fall halloween day.

fighting a losing battle

the other night, i argued w/ my man.

i started to yell "so do you have an answer for me?"
my man: what?
me: "are you going to answer or are you just going to stay silent?"
my man: silence
me: "are you going to answer me?"
my man: what are you talking about?
me: my question, are you going to answer it?
my man: i don't know what you're talking about
me: "that's what i thought!"

the post-worthy factor? i was asleep the whole time. my eyes were closed. i didn't recall any of it when i awoke the next morning. and apparently, i even sat up in bed to argue w/ my man. how scary is that? poor guy!

my man also commented that in the past when he's just tried to ignore me, then i start to yell even more, so apparently, i respond to his answers. and if he doesn't answer my question right, then i get mad too... this makes it challenging for him, since i don't actually say what the question is and i don't tell me either!

it's just a losing battle!

halloween costume 1

at the last minute, she decided this is what she wanted to wear to tonight's party...



what cracks me up is that she didn't feel like carrying around the bowl and whisk - i don't blame her...
but then the chef's hat was making her head itch, then before i knew it, she took off her apron too...

we started w/ a pastry chef and ended w/ a little girl really tired but glad to have been part of the festivities.

hiding place

i just found our jewel's secret hiding place:

table redo

so we finally finished the table and chairs. it only took a year too :)

this table set has been in my family since the 80's. i remember growing up with this set, using it for eating meals, doing homework, making egg rolls, having serious family discussions, etc. fond memories but i'm kind of sick of the oak, 80's look. sooooo, here's the before picture of the chair:


so back in july 2009, i recovered the chairs to look like this:


and then that's how it stayed for about a year.... until september 2010, we finally started in on the table:


here's the finished chair:


here's a shot of the finished table. unfortunately it's not a good shot because i remembered that i didn't have any pics of the finished product after i had set the table for dinner and i really didn't want to reset the table just to do some pics. esp. when i've been noticing that the quality of pics from my camera seems to be deteriorating...


but there you have it. one more project off the to do list.

soccer fun

we went to see princeton vs. harvard in a men's soccer game w/ another family and the kiddies had such a blast.



their favorite part was being able to run out of the field after the game was over:

buckwheat noodle stir fry

for lunch today we buckwheat noodle stir fry - as the title above states :)

ingred

2 bundles of buckwheat noodles (cooked as per directions on the label)
1 carrot, julienne
1 onion, sliced
2 chicken breast cooked and diced
2 TBL soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 TBL EVOO

on medium high, add oil to pan. throw in the carrots and onions, cook until onions are translucent, add garlic and cook for 2 minutes. add in the rest of the ingred. and cook until the noodles are heated through. serve immediately. quick, easy, and really good for a lunch inbetween stuff.

autumn craft: pumpkin garlands

our jewel was talking about pumpkins the other day so during our monday homeschooling session, we made these during art class.



as you can see, the pumpkins were made by cutting strands of orange paper, then we attached little green form stickers for leaves and then added art pipe cleaner thingies for the stems.



here's a close up of one of the pumpkins.

it was a fun art session for both our jewel and me!

dresser redo

it's been project galore around here!

of course i forgot to take a before picture, but here's an after.

remember the homeschooling area? oh it was a mess! then it went through a few re-dos over the last several months (no pics :( though). and now it's this:



i got a dresser off of craig's list. i sanded, painted, and painted some more. i also painted the hardware black. i like how that turned out, but unfortunately my paint job isn't something to write home about. for now, it'll just stay until i'm ready to attack it again.
we put all of her school and craft items in the drawers so it's still easy access, but the mess is not visible to everyone who comes over. i'm not a fan of the art placement but we're working on a thanksgiving craft project that will fill in the area above the flowers. so for now, it'll stay where it's at.

gumbo recipe

i LOVE gumbo!
i know it's so bad for you - the roux, the bacon, but by golly it's just about the tastiest thing on a cool fall night. while it's simmering on the stove for another 2 hours, i thought i'd post the recipe.

* 1 pound bacon
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup oil (i used 1/2 oil and 1/2 chicken lard)
* 8 stalks celery, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 1 onion, chopped
* 3 cups of diced cooked chicken
* 3 quarts chicken stock
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
* 1 (10 ounce) package frozen okra, thawed and sliced
* 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
* 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
* 2 bay leaves
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 cup uncooked white rice
* 1 teaspoon brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Directions

1. Place six slices of the bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Set aside the cooked bacon and reserve 1/2 cup of the grease in the skillet. Whisk in the flour and lard until smooth. Stir in the celery, garlic, parsley and onion. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Transfer the sauce to a large stockpot or Dutch oven. Slice remaining raw bacon and crumble the cooked bacon; add to the pot. Stir in the chicken stock until well blended with the gravy mixture. Add the tomatoes, okra, and chicken. Season with Worcestershire sauce, hot pepper sauce, bay leaves, and cayenne pepper. Simmer uncovered for 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the rice and cook for an additional 30 minutes, until thick. Stir in the brown sugar and lemon juice.

** as a follow up, it's good, but next time i'm going to cut the worcestershire in 1/2. also, i think the amount of grease in this pot isn't sitting well w/ me... so i think i'm going to cut the bacon in 1/2 as well.

chestnut bisque

we finally got around to roasting the rest of the chestnuts from this trip.since the chestnuts weren't fully ripe, i went ahead and made bisque with these treasures.

INGRED:

1 medium carrot, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
2 tbsp. butter
2 lb fresh chestnuts, peeled
7 C chicken bouillon
2 apples peeled, diced
1 TBL dried parsley
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp sea salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried tarragon

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
Add carrots, onion, and saute until soft, about 7 minutes.
Add chestnuts and continue cooking 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add stock and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to simmer and add apple, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Simmer 15 minutes.
Add tarragon and continue cooking 5 minutes.
Puree the soup in a blender.
Return to saucepan and reheat.
Adjust seasonings as needed.

sorry this isn't a good picture, but i forgot about taking one and my man commented that he liked when i took pictures of the things i made... so here it is - left over soup in a "bad-for-you" plastic tuberware. while the picture doesn't make it look very appealing, we really enjoyed the buttery, creamy texture and fall-like flavors this soup had to offer.



while pizza bits may not be the obvious combo for soup, we enjoyed making these pizza bits. my man made some pizza dough earlier today . roll this out - note, will need a LOT of flour for the rolling surface and rolling pin - roughly 1/2-2/3C of flour. roll out in the shape of rectangle as much as possible. then use pizza cutter to cut about 3 inch strips, then cut the strips into 3 or inch squares. into each square put in a slice of mozzarella, a small tsp of pizza sauce. fold the ends down and then put into greased pie plate. brush w/ melted butter and sprinkle w/ parmesan cheese put into preheated oven of 400 degrees for roughly 15 minutes. wait til it's cooled as the melted cheese will be seriously hot! but once cooled, you can pull the bites apart and enjoy!

bookcase redo

we have this 9-cube bookcase that has followed us around since the beginning of our marriage. every time we've moved, i said we'd leave it at the dumpster when we move. well, 4 moves later, it's still with us.

i bought this from target for cheap. it's not real wood so i was hesitant to paint it, but finally thought i'd just go ahead and see what would happen, promising myself that THIS move would be it's last stop with us.
so it went white:



well, i kept it white for a while, but it was just a little too bland for me up against the white walls. so i decided to add a little color. i took some left over fabric that i had from redoing some chairs and using thumb tacks, i just put the fabric behind the bookcase:

a big improvement, don't you think?

here's the finished product:

menu planning

on the menu for the week:

monday: duk mando gook


tuesday: going creole w/ red beans and sausage over dirty rice
wednesday: using left over sushi meat to make my version of korean wraps.
i started from an idea from this blog.
i have a package of pickled radish that looks like this:

into it, gets layered eggs cut julienne, carrots, cut julienne, and a piece or two of cooked sushi meat.
drizzle over it this mixture, cooked just enough to dissolve the sugar: 1/4C soy sauce, 1/4 C mirin, 1 TBL sugar
(oh, make sure you make this ahead of time so that it's cooled).
thursday: moo gook


friday: left overs

cool weather doesn't scare me

we've gotten to know a really cool couple in this part of town and they're quite the adventurous family. we're not so much but i guess it can be contagious... sunday after church, we hit the beach. barely going up to 60 degrees, wind blowing sand into your eyes, really high waves didn't seem to hold us back. was really pretty cool to see so many wind surfers... and the kids just had a blast. i don't know how they manage to ignore the cold, but they did.

we spent the day there, then wrapped up w/ dinner at a local restaurant, hangin' out at the dock, and enjoying the sunset over the new york skyline.

i guess it's nice to have someone who'll drag you out of your comfort zone sometimes. huh?

(on our way there, my man looks over to me and says - didn't bring the camera, did we?)... so i'm going to rely on our friends to pass along the digital memory.

snack week 5

i bought something i almost never buy - bread. so i think that our jewel may be having sammies for snack this week at school.

i made carrot muffins over the weekend, thinking that our jewel could enjoy them at school, but honestly they were a bust! i guess it's the risk of "health-ifying" recipes. so now i've got lots of healthy carrot muffins, no one will eat. do you want them?

chicken spinach risotto

my man put in a request for risotto last week, unfortunately it's taken me over a week to make it, but we had it tonight w/ a glass of pinot grigio and it was really yum.


roughly 7 to 8 C chix stock
1 onion
3-4 TBL butter
2 1/2 C arborio rice
1/2C dry white wine
1 bunch spinach
roughly 2C chix
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 C shredded Parmesan cheese

1. heat chix stock
2. in heavy metal pot, put diced up onion in 3 TBL butter. until onions are translucent
3. add rice to pot and stir constantly until rice is shiny
4. add thyme and 1 tsp sea salt
5. add wine stirly constantly and until evaporated
6. add 1/2C chix stock gradually into rice until evaporated before adding the next 1/2C
7. roughly 25-30 min.
8. at the end fold in the spinach until wilted, then add chix, and cheese

* note: keep eye on risotto, mixing constantly.

what makes a good morning

a run with a great running friend, followed by a quiet time spent drinking in His Word on a cool fall morning refreshes the soul.

Granola bars recipe

week 4 of schools means 4th snack recipe.

so this week, our jewel has granola bars in her snack bag:


Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour - freshly milled
1/2 tsp salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 C coconut oil
1 1/2 C rapadura
3 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups granola
1 cup chocolate chips
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13X 9 inch pan.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Beat well after the addition of each ingredient.
Slowly add in flour, salt and baking powder. Mix until well blended. Fold in granola and mix well. fold chips into batter
Spread dough into baking pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool before cutting into bars. Store in airtight container.

*my man wasn't the biggest fan - he said it was just ok but my jewel really liked it.
*of note, i first made this recipe w/ just the coconut oil but i think it really needs some butter to help w/ the flavor and texture, hence 1/2 coconut oil and 1/2 butter.

black beans and quinoa

we heard our jewel say, " i can't wait to get home to have some more quinoa!" and then i knew this recipe was a hit!

i generally modify recipes a lot, but this one was really good as is. the only thing was that i replaced paprika instead of cayenne and deleted the cilantro because i don't really care for it.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Directions

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

* i will note that my man wasn't a big fan but i loved it.
i put this on a bed of spinach and then topped w/ freshly made guac. and salsa.

thankful fridays

this week i'm thankful for

1. my sister who lives close enough that we can see her on a somewhat regular basis. on monday, we headed north and spent the day w/ my favorite nephew and niece. we went to lunch, we went grocery shopping. nothing especially dazzling, but then again that's probably what makes it so nice.

2. i'm doing bsf this year. i've done it before a few years ago so i'm glad that i have the opportunity to do it again. this year, we're studying the book of isaiah. not a light read, so it's nice that i'm doing it w/ a group of ladies.

3. i made kimchi for the first time in my life -- all by myself. i was tired of buying kimchi in the store and it not tasting the way i liked it. i was tired of waiting until i went to see my sister or my mom to get my fix. so i sucked it up and finally made some. i was pretty excited to see how well it turned out. there are over 100 different varieties of kimchi and the one i made is a young summer radish kimchi much like this picture.


recipe:
1. i bought 3 bunches of the radish, washed and cut into about 2 1/2 to 3 inch pieces and peeled the outside of the radish. (this takes the longest because the washing seemed to last forever to get it nice and clean w/ no dirt). you need a really really big bowl for this.
2. generously sprinkle coarse sea salt over the radish and let sit over night. at least 12 hours.
3. drain the water (reserve about a cup just in case you need it for later).
4. make mixture of 10-15 garlic cloves (in my book the more the better but if you prefer garlic on the low side, do about 10), one 2 inch knob of ginger. 2 big heaping TBL of brined shrimp, roughly 3-5 heaping TBL of korean pepper flakes (kochugaru) - this depends on how spicy you want it. i made my pretty mild so that our jewel could enjoy it too. and 1 to 2 TBL of sugar. i used rapadura and it worked fine.
i like to taste the mixture before i add it to the radish just to make sure it's the right blend of salty and spicy flavor i'm looking for.
5. add about 1/2 C of the salt water left over the radishes to the pepper mixture.
6. add mixture to radishes. make sure it's well mixed.
7. ladle into glass containers. there should be enough liquid so that most of the radish is submerged in it. if there's not enough liquid, go ahead and add more of the salt water with a TBL of kochugaru.
8. let sit on your kitchen counter for a few days for the fermentation process to do it's work. the length depends on the weather. if it's summer, than it won't take as long for the kimchi to ripen - probably about a day or two. in the winter it may take about 3-5 days. mine has been sitting on the counter for about 2 days and today it was good to go and i put it in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process.

i've decided to link up to my sister's blog for this one since she actually took the time to take pictures.

out of the mouth of babes

the other night, during our Bible reading time, our family was reading through Judges 4. to refresh your memory, this chapter is about deborah, the prophetess, who along w/ barak pursues sisera. meanwhile, sisera seeks refuge inside the tent of jael. We each have our Bibles and my man was reading aloud. as my man gets closer to v.21, i see him kind of slowing down because he and i both know what's coming but our jewel hasn't a clue. well, finally, we get to v.21 and mid sentence my man stops. he hesitates. our jewel looks confused, like "why did you just stop like that? you're not done"... and before we could even figure out what we were going to do, our jewel decided she would just finish the sentence and so she read on... "he drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died." (v.21b). my man and i just keep looking at each other trying to figure out if we should talk about this, explain, ask questions... but our jewel didn't blink an eye. we could tell she didn't really undertand what happened... so we just let it go. all the while giving each other the knowing look ... next time, we pre-read before family Bible time.

giving thanks

during my run this morning, i thought about the importance of words. words are powerful stuff. they can move you to a feeling. in theater, it's called catharsis. in everyday life, it usually sounds like whining or complaining. at least, that's what i seem to be hearing a lot in the news these days. it's interesting the impact it has on others. it's like that saying, "misery loves company". but there's also saying that says "A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver". (pr. 25:11). and it made me think about how often we seem to say words based on what we see, rather than what we know. for example, you're having a rough day. the kids aren't behaving, the drivers on the road seem to be meaner than usual... and before you know it, it's "man! what's up with XXXX?" or "glory! what is your problem?!" or "why isn't stuff going my way?" it's our initial reaction. but what i want to say is what i know... i know that God is good. i know that the Bible is true. I know that while things aren't going the way i had planned, that Jesus loves me. so in the face of life's difficulties, i want to say what i know, not what i feel. this isn't about the power of positive thinking as tooted by the mass media. it's not about trying to change your circumstances by changing how you think. it's about speaking God's truth and letting our hearts follow suit so that we think, act, feel, and speak in accordance with what we believe.

in light of that, i started my thanksgiving list today.

i give thanks to God for:
1. new running shoes, where the cushion feels like running on clouds
2. great 70 degree weather with no humidity
3. my man who took our jewel with him to run an errand so i could go for a nice run
4. my GPS watch that has become my security blanket when i run.

i realize here there's a pattern to my thanks, but the list was made while i was running... hence the theme of running :)

chestnuts NOT roasting on an open fire

we went chestnut picking today. unfortunately, i learned after the fact that chestnuts aren't ripe until the end of autumn, not the beginning... so we ended up with lots of unripe chestnuts.. but the experience was still fun.

i was in for quite a surprise as i didn't expect this when i went:



aren't they pretty? but oh so prickly! i did not come prepared! i had measly work gloves but they were nothing to guard again these thorns. how the squirrels can penetrate these is beyond me!

but we persisted against the splinters and an hour later had a bag of these beauties.


we came home and roasted some. as i suspected, they're not ripe yet, but that's ok. they're still good. we roasted them by slitting a cross on the side and then putting them in an iron skillet with some butter until the butter melted. then they went into the oven at 475 for 5 minutes until they browned up and the cross split open, making them easier to get into.


but they do make a pretty centerpiece, don't they?