My second PRINCESS

She is every bit as much a princess as her big sister.  She loves her big sister, even if she is scared of her sometimes.  She mimic her and especially me.  She makes the same goofy faces I make at her right back.  She is so cute and such a darling.

We all love her but Evan does not really pay much attention to the girls.  The are just there to him.  When Faith was little he made her a heart sigh for her crib, that came out of nowhere.  That is sorta the same thing that happened here.  He made Gracie a Princess crown out of nowhere, just because.

Maybe he thinks about them more than I give him credit for.  We had fun having her wear it..





He even snapped the pictures of us to show it off.  I love them all so much, my princesses and my sweet wonderful boy.

Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup Copy

everyone loves Panera, I do.  But I do not like going in there.  It is full of business people in suits on breaks actually at all times, many of them hold their informal meetings there. Well I am never childless.  I go in and the kids are screaming bouncing around grabbing everything, being kids.  And boy does that bother everyone else who is not a stay at home mom.  it is only 15 minutes from my house so I drive by it many times each week.  I do not usually stop because there are two good Mexican restaurants right down the road, closer that are $5 for a great lunch and I can go in sit down with my kids and have a nice time.  Panera I spend $10 a lunch and because of their clientele's annoyances I eat it in my car.  But still I drive by and often long for their yummy food.  Here is a copycat of their broccoli cheese soup. 

ingredients:

3 tablespoon butter, melted
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup flour
4 cups half-and-half
4 cups chicken stock or bouillon
1 pound fresh broccoli
2  carrots, finly shreaded 
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
16+ ounces grated mild cheddar cheese

directions:

Saute onion in butter. 

And remember 1 large onion will reduce great.  Set aside. 

Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add the half-and-half (making another roux and most importantly DON'T burn it). Add the chicken stock whisking all the time. Simmer for 20 minutes. 

Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat until the veggies are tender for 20-25 minutes. If you would like now you can pour in batches into blender and puree. But at the moment I have no blender and I like the broccoli pieces so I skipped this part.  Also this is why I finely grated the carrots.  If you are going to blend in you can julienn the carrots   Return to pot over low heat and add the grated cheese; stir until well blended. Stir in the nutmeg plus salt and pepper to taste and serve.

If you are going to put this in a bread bowl I would suggest you add a little more flour to make it a tad thicker, but if not enjoy!

happy Fastnacht Day 2013!

A year I have been waiting to celebrate this glorious day.  And it is finally upon us again   It Fastnacht Day in Pennsylvania and anywhere else you celebrate it.  I enjoyed it thoroughly last year being pregnant.  They tasted better than ever.  They are still great this year but when you are eating for two they have double the goodness.

For those of you who don't know or don't remember Fastnacht Day, is a fatty doughnut treat served traditionally on Fastnacht Day (Shrove Tuesday), the day before Lent starts. Fasnachts were made as a way to empty the pantry of lard, sugar, fat, and butter, which were traditionally fasted from during Lent.

Basel, Switzerland conducts an annual fasnacht festival. The Pennsylvania Dutch territory surrounding Lancaster, Pennsylvania, celebrates the custom as well. Most chain supermarkets in the eastern Pennsylvania offer fasnachts.

In parts of Maryland, the treats are called Kinklings, and are only sold in bakeries on Shrove Tuesday. The German version is made from a yeast dough, deep fried, and coated or dusted in sugar or cinnamon sugar; they may be plain or filled with fruit jam. Pennsylvania Dutch fasnachts can often be potato doughnuts, and may be uncoated, powdered with table sugar, or dusted with confectioner's sugar.

Welcome Fat Tuesday!  These are not your normal doughnuts because they have so many more times the fat, which = oh so much more delicious.  My favorite are the glazed.

No more left here.

I had bought 2 dozen fastnachts on Monday, yes you would think over kill but as it turns out...Nope!  The 7 of us devoured them.

Yes all of us even Gracie.  She LOVED her first Fastnacht Day.







Faithy she was all about stealing them.



Ahh you caught me!



So you caught me with two.



Sure I am not supposed to be eating them in here.



But MOM!



I am hooked I tell you, I can't stop.



Shall we talk about all of your hang ups now?

3 Meat Gumbo

Mardi Gras is upon us quickly, tomorrow.  Here is a great New Orleans dish to get you in the mood and satisfy your soul. Yum yum yum.  Plus a great way to clean out your fridge.  You probably have most of what you need.

Ingredients
3 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 pound cajan sausage
1/2 pound ground beef
4 pounds chicken thighs, skin removed
1 tablespoon Emerill's Essence or Creole seasoning
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 chopped onions
1 cup chopped okra
2 chopped anhiem peppers
1 jalapeno pepper seed intact
1 Serrano seeds removed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
3 bay leaves
9 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves 
White Rice
Hot sauce


Directions
In a large enameled cast iron pan or Dutch oven  heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and ground beef, cook until well browned. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Set aside.



Season the chicken with the Emerill's Essence and add in batches to the fat remaining in the pan. 



Cook over medium-high heat until well browned, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, let cool, and then refrigerate until ready to use.

Scrape the pan to release the goodness, flavor hides in the scrapings.  But leave them in there loose.



Combine the remaining 1/2 cup oil and the flour in the same pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring slowly and constantly for 20 to 25 minutes, to make a dark brown roux. 




Don't worry about the scrapings they add flavor.  Worry about burning your roux.  It is easy to do and ruinens everything, stir constantly!


Add the onions, ocra, and  peppers and cook, stirring, until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the reserved sausage, salt, cayenne and bay leaves stir and cook for 2 minutes. 



Stirring, slowly add the chicken stock, and cook, stirring, until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Add the reserved chicken to the pot and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.



Remove the pot from the heat. Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken thighs from the gumbo and place on a cutting board to cool slightly. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Pull the chicken meat from the bones and shred, discarding the bones and skin. Return the meat to the gumbo and stir in the green onions, parsley.

Spoon rice into the bottom of deep bowls or large cups and ladle the gumbo on top. Serve, passing hot sauce on the side.


Delicious.  A wonderful way to warm your insides and get ready for Mardi Gras!

Vegan Rice Dip

I have been  trying to find a good Spanish or Mexican rice for the longest time.  One more like restaurant style than not.  I have tried every box recipe and have not like any.  I have tried so many finds on the internet and none come out with the taste I like.  I saw this rice recipe the other day and tried it.  It was not what I was looking for as far as a Spanish or Mexican rice but was a good vegan, very filling rice with lots of fiber that tasted great with chips.  I started with their basic recipe but I changed it to fit our style.  And what we had in the fridge/freezer that needed to be used up.

Ingredients:

2 medium onions, diced small
3 medium carrots, finely diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or diced small
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup corn kernels, drained
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 tablespoons onion powder or granulated onion
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon dried cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or granulated garlic
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups beans, 1 15 oz can black beans and 1 15 oz can pinto beans, drained

Directions:
1. In a large pan, saute onion and carrots in oil over medium heat until onions begin to look translucent and carrots are tender-crisp.

2. Add garlic and lemon juice saute for 1 additional minute.

3. Stir in corn, rice, water, and seasonings and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

4. Gently stir in beans. Cook until heated thoroughly.

This side dish is great with tortilla chips and cilantro   I thought it needed a little bit of a sauce too so I added a touch of jalapeno ranch sauce with it also.  However then it is no longer vegan just vegetarian but if you are okay with that it tasted great.

What to wear?

I mentioned before that I am helping plan a wedding.  Planning a wedding is fun when you are not paying for it.  I look online and in magazines and say oh awe wouldn't this be pretty?  And if she likes it she pays the bill for it.  During the holidays we kinda took a break from it they are busy enough.  Who would ever plan to get married then.  I can't imagine adding that stress into that season.  Right now we are planning a September wedding.  Its been interesting.  Her ideas are far from mine but that's okay it will still be fabulous.

She called me up the other day saying "I got hair appointments for us the morning of at 9 AM do you know what what you want?  The hair dresser would like us to send her pictures so she has an idea."

Do I have an idea?  No.  I have not even thought about it.  The only thing I have thought about is I don't want to be pregnant for her wedding, and I am staying on task for that goal.  Although it does not matter anyways.  They are having the ceremony and reception at a church so there can be no alcohol.

But as far as my hair I have no idea.  I don't even know what dress I will be wearing.  I don't even know what weight I will be at?

After I had Grace 6 months ago I lost the normal 20 pregnancy pounds just from having her but that left me with still a good amount to lose.  But since I was so involved in school I never made it to the gym so I never lost that weight.  Then I was put on a bad birth control that should have had no side effect but had quite a few and my weight kept climbing back up.  I regained all the lost weight.

Source: broadwaymdebera.tumblr.com via Hannah on Pinterest

In December I went off that birth control and thought the pounds would fall off but they didn't.  They went up still for two more weeks.  Then they stopped.  I was not losing anything even though my apatite went down some and I started paying careful attention to what I ate, but at least I was not gaining anything.  Being sick for these two week yes that helped.  I was able to knock off a pound a week.  Coughing like a serious smoker must work out those abs.

I need to lose weight.  A lot of weight to get back close to little old me.  Although I do not expect to be my former tiny sizes I expect to be under the double digit dress size.  Plus the more weight you lose the more energy you have and Lord knows I could use a little extra pep.

I browsed a little through beautiful dresses I would love to wear thinking of the wedding but none fit her wedding.  When you buy a wedding dress and you are not the bride there are a few key points to keep in mind...
                     1. Dress for the wedding style.  Is it evening, formal, destination, garden, church?  What ever it may be you need to dress comfortable and appropriate to that setting.
                     2. Dress for your budget.  You do not need to spend a fortune on this dress.  A simple dress can go a long way if it is a garden or afternoon wedding.  The basic black cocktail dress can be very inexpensive too and goes a long way.  it looks great for formal and evening weddings.  You can even recycle it to a date night!
                      3. White is not a NO.  You can wear white too.  Your dress in no way will resemble the bride and if you want to wear white it can be a nice neutral color.  Particularly nice and acceptable for beach weddings.
                     4. Don't upstage the bride.  It is her day after all.

She is having a country wedding.  Country and a bit camo.  Yes I know.  This is not at all what she had been saying the past year and a half leading up to deciding to get married again.  She wanted to get married in her church and have a formal catered reception.  It sounded great and it was all she talked about.  Then we started wedding planning and she changed her mind.  She wanted to go for an outdoor barn yard feel.  WHAT?  That could not be more opposite   But as she explained herself I understood.  It sounded great.  SO we started planning an informal fall country wedding.  The ideas we were coming up with were so beautiful  mine more Martha Stewart hers more Real Tree (that is a camo, hunting outdoorsey sorta company if you did not know) but it was all working out to be a magical evening.  And then her husband, the groom chimed in.  When did they ever start getting a say?  I missed this.  But he did not want it to be country redneck and wanted it to be a the church.  Okay so his idea is great but that means scrap all the old plans and start new.

New sorta.  It is still going to be in September so still going to be fall country but indoors.  I can now wear heels as before it would have had to be boots.  Which brings us back around to the topic what am I going to wear for her wedding?

I found this cute site.  I really like it.  It has such cute casual dresses that average around .....$50!!  Yes!  It is called Modern Vintage Boutique and I found a bunch of contenders I think will be great.  I shared them with the bride but she was not as enthusiastic.  How should I take that?  Anyways  this is what I am thinking.  First ignore the model.  She is so pretty don't think oh that dress looks great on her but will this dress look great on me?  My favorite options are...



This lose fitting country dress.  I would not have to be at my optimal weight loss goal and I could wear it with boots, that I already have.

I like this baby blue dress but it is a lot like my Easter dress and I don't really need two of the same.



Well a lot a like by color and some lace.  My Easter dress is lace and tole and a Lauren Conrad dress.



There was another GREAT dress that was a serious contender but they no longer have already.  This is just looking over the last two days.  So no of these are decisive.  But if I can find my dress I will figure out my hair and I will be losing weight to fit in the dress.  The ball has to start rolling somewhere.

Sick on Super bowl Sunday

Our family is still being held hostage by the flu.

Source: tumblr.com via Kim on Pinterest

It has lasted and lingered and kept kids home from school, babies home from church, everyone home from AWANAS, but me with a lot of medicine I made it to school each night this week.  I even gave a presentation with no voice.  Maybe it helped add to the political effect.  Maybe I got my professor sick and we will have a sick day for him when I am feeling well and I can enjoy it!  I hope he does not get sick really. I hope no one does because this has not been a fun past two weeks.  Both my girls have is so bad right now they just cry continually, that gets old too.  Smiley has sworn off hot dogs because he ate one and through it up immediately, still being sick, now relates hot dogs to puking.  I can't blame him.  I hate hot dogs, always have.

Source: icanhas.cheezburger.com via Rhonda on Pinterest

But are these not the cutest?

There has been so much delicious food recipes on pinterest lately.  Mostly having to do with the Superbowl   Yah thats to today.  No we are not watching it no one here cares, AT ALL.  I might go grocery shopping then I bet the stores will be empty and I can fill up baskets full.  I do love food shopping around super bowl time.  They have the best deals on the worst most delicious food.  You stack up on soda, chips, wings, all the good stuff and it is a rock bottom prices.

Today I will clean.  The house desperately needs it after being sick for so long.  

Source: Uploaded by user via ♛Cookie on Pinterest