Curried Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

Curried Carrot and Sweet Potato Soup

I love this soup with the addition of curry powder, but it is also great without it.  Try garnishing with fresh chives or parsley, and a dollop of sour cream.  This soup is even better when made a day in advance.

-2 Tbsp butter, divided

-1 onion, diced
-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
-1 tsp curry powder
-3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
-1 lb carrots, peeled and diced
-3 1/2 c water
-3 c chicken or veggie broth
-1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp black pepper
-1/2 c fat-free half-and-half



Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion; cook 5 minutes. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, and curry powder.  Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Increase heat to medium-high; cook 1 minute or until butter begins to brown. Add sweet potatoes, carrots water, broth, salt, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Remove from heat, puree using a blender or immersion blender.  Stir half-and-half into pureed mixture and serve.

{today}

we have several playgrounds and parks within a few block radius of us.  over the past few weeks Noah and I have started favoring one particular playground because it's the only one that is fenced in, so he can roam free without fear of running in the street.  Noah doesn't care for the swings too much, but he loves the slides.  we love this little spot, and the fact that we get to visit so often.

today I'm thankful for...

-such a mild December and January... beautiful weather, allowing lots of time outdoors
-some cooler weather moving in
-a good cup of Chai tea
-cozy warm boots (fake uggs)
-so many assorted parks and playgrounds within walking distance
-the chance to spend all day, every day with Noah, and to visit these fun parks
-a slower pace of life now that the holidays are over
-some slow time, not watching any other kids, and being able to devote my full attention to Noah and enjoying this age and stage of his life
-nap times, and the chance to use that time this week to create some gifts for loved ones
-the blessing and gift of a newly discovered pregnancy for our friends, and knowing that Noah will have another playmate in 8 months
-paperbackswap.com... receiving several "new to me" books from them recently, especially The Discipline Book, which I am enjoying reading right now
-the way the Lord is teaching and growing Jeremy and I right now, and that He's uniting us through it
-the smells of cumin, paprika, garlic, chili powder, oregano, and bay filling my house in anticipation of spicy chicken enchiladas and Cuban black beans for dinner tonight
-being "neighborly"... being able to pick up groceries from the store for our neighbors, and being able to borrow some salt when I ran out yesterday

1 Thessalonians 5:18  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread

Made this Pecan-Topped Pumpkin Bread from Cooking Light.  I think this has to be my favorite pumpkin bread ever, and the fact that it's light doesn't hurt either.  Here are the changes I made;

-used 2 c all purpose flour and 1 1/3 c whole wheat flour for extra nutrition

-left out allspice cause I didn't have it

-used 2 extra eggs instead of the egg substitute

Dr. Seuss Baby Shower

I had the privilege of throwing a baby shower for a friend from our community group. I decided that a Dr. Seuss theme would be super fun, and also perfect for the mom-to-be. Here's a recap of the shower...

I started by designing some invitations that fit the theme.... these are VERY basic, as I'm not good with computers at all.  I used MS Word, found some clip art images, came up with a rhyming poem for the details, and printed on plain white cardstock.

For the decorations, I used some onesies that I appliqued, a bunch of Dr. Seuss books doubling as gifts, and I made some bunting banners by copying pages of books onto cardstock, and then cutting into triangles and stringing on yarn.

the only request of the mom-to-be for her shower was to have a pinata... so I made one... I modeled him after the fish from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

And for a Dr. Seuss themed shower, I came up with some quick and easy bookmarks (ribbon on large paperclips) for party favors

And of course all of the food was themed after phrases and characters in Dr. Seuss books

Here's a closeup of the onesies that I appliqued as gifts, and doubling as decorations.  This is the state of Louisiana, with a heart for New Orleans.  I printed a google search image for the state, traced onto fabric backed with wonder under, ironed onto the onesie, and then stitched around the border.

This is Thing 1, from The Cat in the Hat.  I printed the logo onto iron on transfer paper, ironed onto white fabric, cut out, and sewed onto the red onesie.

Here are the links for the recipes I used;

Passion Tea Lemonade for "Pink Yink Ink" (I did not add simple syrup)

(Dyed Green) Devilled Eggs and Onion Poppyseed Ham and Cheese Sliders for "Green Eggs and Ham" (from Green Eggs and Ham) (I used less than half the butter that the recipe calls for)

Salted Chocolate Caramel Turtle Cookies for "Yertle the Turtle" (from Yertle the Turtle)

Berry Blue Jello Jigglers for "Blue Goo" (from Fox in Socks)

Assorted Cheese Platter for "Trees Cheese" (from Fox in Socks)

Swedish Fish and Colored Goldfish Crackers for "Red Fish and Blue Fish" (from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish)

Chocolate Thing 1 and Thing 2 Cupcakes with Vanilla Almond Frosting for "Thing 1 and Thing 2"  (from Cat in the Hat)

Curried Chicken Pasta Salad for "Oodles of Poodle Noddles" (from Fox in Socks)

Plus some veggies to round out the nutrition, and some swedish fish and colored goldfish (for One Fish Two Fish...)

It was a great time... so sweet, special and fun!  We ate, chatted, played a Dr. Seuss trivia game, prayed over the mom-to-be and baby, swung at the pinata, and opened gifts.  And all the decorations, favors, and most of the gifts were all from stuff that I already had on hand, so it was easy to do a fun shower on a small budget.

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

My current drink of choice is a Starbucks Non-fat, No whip, Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate.  (plus or minus a  shot of espresso depending on the time of day).  The pairing of salt and caramel seems to be my current flavor obsession, especially when combined with chocolate.  I decided that I needed to learn to make this myself so that I can enjoy it more often, and for a fraction of the cost.  After some research, it seems that Starbucks adds Toffee Nut syrup to their version (which I don't have).  But my local Starbucks tells me they add vanilla.  So what I did, was to start with Pioneer Woman's basic hot chocolate recipe (using non-fat milk, and fat-free half and half, and no sugar).  I added 2 tsp of vanilla while stirring the chocolate.  I poured the hot chocolate into my mug, drizzled each mug with 1 Tbsp caramel sauce (you can use store bought or make your own), and sprinkled each mug with 1/8 tsp sea salt.  (Starbucks uses fancy gourmet smoked sea salt, but I don't have that).  You could top with whipped cream if you're not watching calories, but I do, and this tastes delicious without the whipped cream!  Then curl up and enjoy.  This is seriously the best thing I've ever drank!

BBQ Sauce

BBQ Sauce

Today Jeremy smoked his first brisket, which was delicious!  We have tried several BBQ sauce recipes to enjoy with the meat that he has smoked to date, and we have had a few flops.  So I thought I'd record our favorite, and now go to sauce recipe here, to save for the future.  The recipe below will usually get us through one large piece of meat, so halve or double the recipe as needed.  This sauce will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.

-1 c ketchup
-2/3 c apple cider vinegar
-6 Tbsp sugar
-2 tsp salt
-2 tsp chili powder
-2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
-2 tsp hot sauce

Whisk together all ingredients.  Chill for at least 2 hours prior to serving.

Turkey Noodle Soup

Turkey Noodle Soup

Chicken could easily be used here to make this Chicken Noodle Soup, but this was my way of using up the meat and broth from our Christmas turkey.  Jeremy smoked our turkey this year, so my soup has a complex smoke flavor to it.  If you don't already have cooked chicken and broth on hand, the easiest and cheapest way to have homemade ingredients for this soup would be to boil a chicken in water for an hour, shred the meat, cool the broth and skim the fat off, then use. 

-2 Tbsp olive oil
-1 onion, diced
-4 carrots, diced
-2 ribs celery, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tsp dried thyme
-2 bay leaves
-3 quarts stock
-1 bag whole wheat egg noodles
-1 bag frozen peas
-2 c cooked turkey, shredded or chopped
-salt and pepper to taste (I think I used about 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper, but my broth wasn't already salted)
-(optional) fresh parsley for garnish

Heat oil in large stock pot, over medium heat.  Saute onion, carrots, and celery 5 minutes.  Add garlic, thyme, and bay, saute 1 additional minute.  Add stock, and bring to a boil.  Add noodles, and peas.  Simmer 6 minutes.  Stir in turkey, salt, and pepper, remove from heat.  Sprinkle with chopped, fresh parsley and serve.