I haven't shared any delicious recipes in awhile and I was just positive that you needed some, am I right? Right!
First up is a dinner recipe : Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Chicken and Quinoa Soup. I have never ever been a sweet potato fan but since this winter, I have been developing a whole new appreciation for them! Especially in soups:) They are delicious and good for you! The only thing I didn't add was the chicken, as we only eat meat one to two times a week. We didn't miss it! The texture is so not soup but rather "stew" like. I was admittedly a little worried about if it would turn out, as my last crockpot quinoa recipe was a total gloppy disaster. No worries with this one, it was done perfectly in 4 hours and a hit! Served with homemade wheat bread.
Next is Strawberry Pie! You may have seen my delicious picture of my beautiful pie from my last post and if you missed it...well, you'd better go look! I added a thin cream cheese layer because it keeps the crust from becoming soggy, plus it's delicious! I combined 3 different recipes to make my own combo.
Strawberry Pie with Cream Cheese Layer
Pie Shell (store bought if you must, homemade if you can!)
2 lbs strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 TB cornstarch
1/3 c water
1 tsp vanilla
1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
3-4 TB sugar
1 1/2 TB milk
Preparation:
1. Make your pie shell. Or take it out of the box. Bake it per directions and cool. I baked mine on 400 for 12 min with beans in the shell. Then took the beans out, pricked it with a fork and baked it another 6.
2. While pie shell is baking, wash and dry strawberries and cut off hulls. Take 1 1/2 cups of the strawberries and puree them. Slice the rest and set aside.
3.Combine puree, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 TB cornstarch and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan and whisk. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and whisk steadily while mixture cools down; approx. 5 minutes.
4. Beat cream cheese, 3-4 TB sugar (depending on preference of sweetness) and 1 1/2 TB milk in a small bowl until smooth. Spread on bottom and a tiny bit up sides of cooled pie crust. Arrange sliced strawberries over the cream cheese layer. Pour strawberry syrup over the top, covering all the berries.
5. Cool in fridge for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!!
I was going to post another picture of it just for your enjoyment (and mine) but alas, blogger is once again not cooperating. So go look at the last post!
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We are headed to Chi-town this weekend for a quick little visit with a few friends. We can't fit in all the visits we want because it's a short trip but it will still be fun and it will give us an excuse to go again! My main priority was keeping our promise to the boys to go back and visit and let them see friends...especially Samuel, who left behind 2 best friends. Thankfully, both boys were available and their moms and I have been working out some fun plans for them when we arrive on Friday!
And next weekend, we go camping! Woohoo!
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Nasty Flu Shot and Recipe!
Yesterday at their doctor's appointment, Eliana and Zakkai received their flu shots. (Samuel got his awhile ago.) I always wonder if they are really worth it but thought, especially with Eliana being in preschool for the first year, it would be a good idea. After her reaction to it and hearing belatedly that they aren't even working that well this year, I wish I hadn't done it!
This was how Eliana was all afternoon yesterday. She stopped using her arm immediately after getting the shot and as soon as we got home started crying and didn't stop. After a half and hour of not even being able to put her down, I finally laid down with her in our bed and stroked her head until she fell asleep. She was a complete wreck even after a little nap!
Right before Awana, I was able to get some Tylenol in her and she hung out with me last night instead of going to her Cubby class. Poor baby!
This is how her arm looks today! The red marks are from the band aid (sensitive skin anyone??) and the bruise from the shot. The problem is she is old enough to remember how bad this made her feel so I have a feeling we'll have to do the nasal mist next year or nothing at all!!
She started out a little grumpy and sore this morning but improved a lot through the day. I thought she looked so cute today! This is a cute reversible pinafore top I made for her last year.
The other side is gray but she wanted to wear the pink side, of course!
I made a delicious dinner tonight for the first time so I wanted to pass it on! We were quite low on food at the beginning of this month so I took a good chunk of this month's budget and spent it at Costco, leaving a small amount left for each remaining week in December. I was perusing the internet for low-cost, yet delicious meals and found this one from Better Homes and Gardens.
Chicken With Parmesan Noodles
Ingredients:
9 oz. angel hair pasta (or how much ever your family uses!)
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
2 TB butter
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used chicken tenderloins.)
6 TB pesto
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (the recipe calls for finely shredded but I used grated out of the can!)
Olive oil (optional)
Fresh basil (optional)
Directions:
1. Prepare angel hair pasta according to package directions.
2. Melt 1 TB butter in large skillet and add carrot slices. Saute until just beginning to become tender, 3-5 minutes. Add chicken and cook on med-low heat until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in 4 TB pesto and cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
3. Drain angel hair when cooked and stir in remaining TB of butter (or leave out!), 2 TB pesto and a few TB of parmesan cheese. Serve with chicken mixture and more Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil, if desired and sprinkle with fresh basil. Enjoy!
*I cut up the chicken in bite-sized pieces and served the chicken mixture over the pesto noodles for all of us except E, who suffers from the common young child "don't let my food touch" syndrome:)
We sprinkled a little more Parmesan cheese on top and served with a side of broccoli and everyone raved about it! I didn't use pepper (I never do!) or the extra olive oil or basil. It was still really great! I wasn't sure about the carrots, as it seemed like an odd addition to the meal but the pesto made everything taste so delicious. Mmm! This is definitely a keeper!
This was how Eliana was all afternoon yesterday. She stopped using her arm immediately after getting the shot and as soon as we got home started crying and didn't stop. After a half and hour of not even being able to put her down, I finally laid down with her in our bed and stroked her head until she fell asleep. She was a complete wreck even after a little nap!
Right before Awana, I was able to get some Tylenol in her and she hung out with me last night instead of going to her Cubby class. Poor baby!
This is how her arm looks today! The red marks are from the band aid (sensitive skin anyone??) and the bruise from the shot. The problem is she is old enough to remember how bad this made her feel so I have a feeling we'll have to do the nasal mist next year or nothing at all!!
She started out a little grumpy and sore this morning but improved a lot through the day. I thought she looked so cute today! This is a cute reversible pinafore top I made for her last year.
The other side is gray but she wanted to wear the pink side, of course!
I made a delicious dinner tonight for the first time so I wanted to pass it on! We were quite low on food at the beginning of this month so I took a good chunk of this month's budget and spent it at Costco, leaving a small amount left for each remaining week in December. I was perusing the internet for low-cost, yet delicious meals and found this one from Better Homes and Gardens.
Chicken With Parmesan Noodles
Ingredients:
9 oz. angel hair pasta (or how much ever your family uses!)
2 large carrots, thinly sliced
2 TB butter
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used chicken tenderloins.)
6 TB pesto
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (the recipe calls for finely shredded but I used grated out of the can!)
Olive oil (optional)
Fresh basil (optional)
Directions:
1. Prepare angel hair pasta according to package directions.
2. Melt 1 TB butter in large skillet and add carrot slices. Saute until just beginning to become tender, 3-5 minutes. Add chicken and cook on med-low heat until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in 4 TB pesto and cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
3. Drain angel hair when cooked and stir in remaining TB of butter (or leave out!), 2 TB pesto and a few TB of parmesan cheese. Serve with chicken mixture and more Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil, if desired and sprinkle with fresh basil. Enjoy!
*I cut up the chicken in bite-sized pieces and served the chicken mixture over the pesto noodles for all of us except E, who suffers from the common young child "don't let my food touch" syndrome:)
We sprinkled a little more Parmesan cheese on top and served with a side of broccoli and everyone raved about it! I didn't use pepper (I never do!) or the extra olive oil or basil. It was still really great! I wasn't sure about the carrots, as it seemed like an odd addition to the meal but the pesto made everything taste so delicious. Mmm! This is definitely a keeper!
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Recipes!
I have a couple of great soup recipes to share that I have made in the past couple of weeks. In order to make it to the blog, it must be family-approved and these are:)
First is Red Bean Soup with Andouille Sausage
2 TB. unsalted butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
8 cups chicken broth
1 ham hock (I did not use this)
1 1/2 cups dried red kidney beans, soaked in cold water 1 hour, drained and rinsed OR 4 cans kidney beans (which I used to save on time!)
1 bay leaf
2 parsnips or 2 carrots, diced (I used carrots)
1 sweet potato, diced
1 medium regular potato, diced
1 pound Andouille smoked sausage or other smoked pork sausage, cute into 1/2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
Preparation: (The recipe calls for crockpot but I forgot so I had to make it on the stovetop and it worked fine!)
1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Place in a 5 or 6-quart crockpot. Add broth, ham hock (if using), kidney beans and bay leaf (never used one in my life!). Cover; cook on HIGH 2 hours.
2. Remove ham hock; discard. Add parsnips or carrots and potatoes. Cover; cook on HIGH 2 hours.
3. Add sausage. Cover; cook an additional 30 minutes or until heated through. Remove and discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.
To Make on Stovetop:
1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Add parsnips or carrots and sauté another few minutes. Add broth, beans, potatoes, sausage and salt or pepper.
2. Cook on medium-low until beans are soft. If using canned beans, about 30 minutes. If using dried beans, 1 1/2-2 hours. Very tasty!
The other recipe is for Black Bean Soup. (I combined two recipes and found one that I like the best so far!)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs/stalks, diced
Oil or butter for sautéing
2 (32 oz) containers of chicken broth (I use the low-sodium, natural kind)
1 bag of dried black beans OR 4 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cup salsa (or more if you prefer)
Preparation:
1. If using dried beans (which I did), do a quick soak: Rinse beans, boil with 4 cups of water for 2 minutes, cover and remove from heat for 1 hour. Then proceed to soup!
2. Sauté onion, garlic and celery in oil or butter until tender. Add beans, salt, cumin and broth. Cook on medium-low until beans are softened. That will be 30 minutes for canned beans, 2 hours for dried beans. (Mine took the full 2 hours!). Stir in salsa and heat through for a minute and then enjoy!
Funny sidenote: I didn't realize I had accidentally used "medium salsa" instead of the mild that I usually buy until we all started eating. Eliana said, "My ears are spicy!!" It was a tad on the spicy side but everyone still loved it!! I have made black bean soup several times and this was the best recipe yet!
Have a great night!
First is Red Bean Soup with Andouille Sausage
2 TB. unsalted butter
1 large sweet onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
8 cups chicken broth
1 ham hock (I did not use this)
1 1/2 cups dried red kidney beans, soaked in cold water 1 hour, drained and rinsed OR 4 cans kidney beans (which I used to save on time!)
1 bay leaf
2 parsnips or 2 carrots, diced (I used carrots)
1 sweet potato, diced
1 medium regular potato, diced
1 pound Andouille smoked sausage or other smoked pork sausage, cute into 1/2-inch pieces
salt and pepper
Preparation: (The recipe calls for crockpot but I forgot so I had to make it on the stovetop and it worked fine!)
1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Place in a 5 or 6-quart crockpot. Add broth, ham hock (if using), kidney beans and bay leaf (never used one in my life!). Cover; cook on HIGH 2 hours.
2. Remove ham hock; discard. Add parsnips or carrots and potatoes. Cover; cook on HIGH 2 hours.
3. Add sausage. Cover; cook an additional 30 minutes or until heated through. Remove and discard bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.
To Make on Stovetop:
1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and garlic. Cook and stir 5 minutes. Add parsnips or carrots and sauté another few minutes. Add broth, beans, potatoes, sausage and salt or pepper.
2. Cook on medium-low until beans are soft. If using canned beans, about 30 minutes. If using dried beans, 1 1/2-2 hours. Very tasty!
The other recipe is for Black Bean Soup. (I combined two recipes and found one that I like the best so far!)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery ribs/stalks, diced
Oil or butter for sautéing
2 (32 oz) containers of chicken broth (I use the low-sodium, natural kind)
1 bag of dried black beans OR 4 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cup salsa (or more if you prefer)
Preparation:
1. If using dried beans (which I did), do a quick soak: Rinse beans, boil with 4 cups of water for 2 minutes, cover and remove from heat for 1 hour. Then proceed to soup!
2. Sauté onion, garlic and celery in oil or butter until tender. Add beans, salt, cumin and broth. Cook on medium-low until beans are softened. That will be 30 minutes for canned beans, 2 hours for dried beans. (Mine took the full 2 hours!). Stir in salsa and heat through for a minute and then enjoy!
Funny sidenote: I didn't realize I had accidentally used "medium salsa" instead of the mild that I usually buy until we all started eating. Eliana said, "My ears are spicy!!" It was a tad on the spicy side but everyone still loved it!! I have made black bean soup several times and this was the best recipe yet!
Have a great night!
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Success Night and Trail Walking!
On Thursday night, the boys had Success Night at school, where the kids get to show off their classrooms and hard work to their parents! They couple the Success Night with the Book Fair to lure families in:)
First we stopped by Mr. Z's classroom! All of the kids had worked hard to create their "twin," who was sitting at each of their desks. Eliana got a kick out of this and insisted on carrying Zakkai's twin around, who was the exact same height as her. That lasted until she stepped on his leg and "broke" it. Happily, he has been surgically repaired and we even found him sleeping in Zakkai's bed yesterday! haha.
Zakkai worked on a poster about tornadoes at school. He did a great job learning the facts and drawing very tornado-y pictures!
This is Zakkai's "grassapillar" that he made. They do so many things at school! The walls were filled with projects and artwork from the kids! Zakkai also showed off some of his math skills on the computer. He's a smart kid!
In Samuel's classroom, he had a huge list of things he wanted to show us! First was a flower on the window that featured a picture of Samuel with Ben when he came to be the Mystery Reader a few months ago. Samuel adores his daddy.
Another thing Samuel wanted to show us was his passport. Each kid got to pick the country they would like to visit most and explain why!
This was Samuel's answer:) Told you he loves his Daddy!
And this was his "wanted poster" that cracked me up! It was about Alexander, who used to be rich and was wanted for $1,000,000 for "hiding money under his bed away from his mom." haha!
Today it was a lot cooler out (in keeping with our latest up, down, up, down weather patterns) so we put on coats/sweatshirts and found a beautiful trail nearby to hike down!
A little glimpse of my three guys through the trees:)
It was very peaceful by the creek! There was no one on the trail we picked and it was so nice to just walk together in the peace and quiet and take in the budding trees and gently flowing water.
Eliana forgot about her "tiredness" and demands to be carried once she found this huge stick that was twice her size! (half of it isn't even pictured!) She dragged that stick as far as she could and then that got the boys finding sticks and helping with hers.
All three of them walking with her stick! They had a really fun time finding huge sticks to drag along and were disappointed that we didn't let them bring the sticks home:) It was a really nice afternoon in the sun! Probably one of our favorite trails yet.
I've tried several new recipes this month since I am so carefully menu-planning and trying to cut costs. I've found some really good, simple ones, too! Here is one I wanted to share.
Ham and Broccoli Pasta Toss
1 lb short pasta, such as penne or rotini (I used both!)
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup diced ham
1 1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
2 TB olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Italian dressing, optional
Preparation:
1. Cook noodles according to package. During last 3 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli to the boiling water. Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, add the ham pieces to a large serving bowl. Cut the tomatoes in half and add the pieces with the ham.
3. Peel and mince the garlic and add it to the bowl. Add the basil and stir to mix well.
4. After pasta and broccoli are drained well, add them to the bowl and toss well. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and Parmesan cheese. Toss until well-mixed. If desired, serve drizzled with Italian dressing for added flavor!
We ALL really like this really easy dinner! It was really good the next day for leftovers, too! I will definitely be adding this to my list of meals for rotation. Easy and cheap!
First we stopped by Mr. Z's classroom! All of the kids had worked hard to create their "twin," who was sitting at each of their desks. Eliana got a kick out of this and insisted on carrying Zakkai's twin around, who was the exact same height as her. That lasted until she stepped on his leg and "broke" it. Happily, he has been surgically repaired and we even found him sleeping in Zakkai's bed yesterday! haha.
Zakkai worked on a poster about tornadoes at school. He did a great job learning the facts and drawing very tornado-y pictures!
This is Zakkai's "grassapillar" that he made. They do so many things at school! The walls were filled with projects and artwork from the kids! Zakkai also showed off some of his math skills on the computer. He's a smart kid!
In Samuel's classroom, he had a huge list of things he wanted to show us! First was a flower on the window that featured a picture of Samuel with Ben when he came to be the Mystery Reader a few months ago. Samuel adores his daddy.
Another thing Samuel wanted to show us was his passport. Each kid got to pick the country they would like to visit most and explain why!
This was Samuel's answer:) Told you he loves his Daddy!
And this was his "wanted poster" that cracked me up! It was about Alexander, who used to be rich and was wanted for $1,000,000 for "hiding money under his bed away from his mom." haha!
Today it was a lot cooler out (in keeping with our latest up, down, up, down weather patterns) so we put on coats/sweatshirts and found a beautiful trail nearby to hike down!
A little glimpse of my three guys through the trees:)
It was very peaceful by the creek! There was no one on the trail we picked and it was so nice to just walk together in the peace and quiet and take in the budding trees and gently flowing water.
Eliana forgot about her "tiredness" and demands to be carried once she found this huge stick that was twice her size! (half of it isn't even pictured!) She dragged that stick as far as she could and then that got the boys finding sticks and helping with hers.
All three of them walking with her stick! They had a really fun time finding huge sticks to drag along and were disappointed that we didn't let them bring the sticks home:) It was a really nice afternoon in the sun! Probably one of our favorite trails yet.
I've tried several new recipes this month since I am so carefully menu-planning and trying to cut costs. I've found some really good, simple ones, too! Here is one I wanted to share.
Ham and Broccoli Pasta Toss
1 lb short pasta, such as penne or rotini (I used both!)
1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup diced ham
1 1/2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
2 cloves fresh garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
2 TB olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Italian dressing, optional
Preparation:
1. Cook noodles according to package. During last 3 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli to the boiling water. Drain well.
2. Meanwhile, add the ham pieces to a large serving bowl. Cut the tomatoes in half and add the pieces with the ham.
3. Peel and mince the garlic and add it to the bowl. Add the basil and stir to mix well.
4. After pasta and broccoli are drained well, add them to the bowl and toss well. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and Parmesan cheese. Toss until well-mixed. If desired, serve drizzled with Italian dressing for added flavor!
We ALL really like this really easy dinner! It was really good the next day for leftovers, too! I will definitely be adding this to my list of meals for rotation. Easy and cheap!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Fruit Roll-ups and Prayers!
Well, I did it! I made homemade fruit roll-ups. Or fruit strips. Or whatever you call it.
Ta-da! It was actually SO easy. I followed a recipe here. Basically, you puree 3 cups of fresh or frozen fruit, a few TB of honey and a couple tsp of lemon juice, pour it into a saran wrap covered baking pan, spread it around and baked it at 170 degrees for 6 hours. That's it!
The kiddos each ate two, I ate some scraps (cut off the edges to make it nice and neat) and I rolled up the rest for later! I would probably add a little more honey to the mixed berry combo because it's a teeny bit tart but other than that, delicious!
I want to please ask for your prayers for my 10 year old nephew. He is very sick and has been in the hospital since yesterday. The most recent update this afternoon is that he has a rare strain of pneumonia and that/or motrin use caused him to have a really bad reaction causing blisters and sores on his face/mouth. I am not going to say the name of the Syndrome so you won't be tempted to look it up like I did. It's truly awful and very serious! He is on oxygen, morphine and an IV and is having a rough day with all of this. He will not be allowed to go home until he can get off the oxygen and can start eating and drinking. Please pray that he heals quickly and that there is no lasting damage to his eyes or his lungs. And also for my sister and the rest of the family. This has been exhausting for all of them!
The kiddos and I spent a long time this afternoon trying to find the perfect funny get-well card to send to him to brighten his day. Not as easy as it sounds! We ended up sending a silly video card, hoping to bring him a little smile. Thanks so much!
Ta-da! It was actually SO easy. I followed a recipe here. Basically, you puree 3 cups of fresh or frozen fruit, a few TB of honey and a couple tsp of lemon juice, pour it into a saran wrap covered baking pan, spread it around and baked it at 170 degrees for 6 hours. That's it!
The kiddos each ate two, I ate some scraps (cut off the edges to make it nice and neat) and I rolled up the rest for later! I would probably add a little more honey to the mixed berry combo because it's a teeny bit tart but other than that, delicious!
I want to please ask for your prayers for my 10 year old nephew. He is very sick and has been in the hospital since yesterday. The most recent update this afternoon is that he has a rare strain of pneumonia and that/or motrin use caused him to have a really bad reaction causing blisters and sores on his face/mouth. I am not going to say the name of the Syndrome so you won't be tempted to look it up like I did. It's truly awful and very serious! He is on oxygen, morphine and an IV and is having a rough day with all of this. He will not be allowed to go home until he can get off the oxygen and can start eating and drinking. Please pray that he heals quickly and that there is no lasting damage to his eyes or his lungs. And also for my sister and the rest of the family. This has been exhausting for all of them!
The kiddos and I spent a long time this afternoon trying to find the perfect funny get-well card to send to him to brighten his day. Not as easy as it sounds! We ended up sending a silly video card, hoping to bring him a little smile. Thanks so much!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Cheap and Yummy!
Yesterday Ben was home, as his hours at work are shorter now, and so he, Eliana and I got to spend some time together! It was strange being just the 3 of us. Eliana definitely didn't mind the extra attention:) We had to hang around home for awhile so that our maintenance guy could do the yearly home inspection and then we made a trip to one of our favorite libraries and Goodwill. Ben scored several Shakespeare books (he is a VERY well-read individual!!) and Eliana and I found a few little treasures, too. We found a few good children's books to add to the prize bucket, a couple canning jars and a pair of summer shorts for Samuel. I also found this adorable set of Alphabet flash cards:
I must've had my phone turned the wrong way because both pictures are a little off. Oops! They are brightly colored on one side...
And have cute old-fashioned pictures on the other side. They are really sturdy and cost only .99 for the set! Eliana has been having fun with them.
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So far my first month of budgeting is going SO well!! E and I did our 2nd grocery shopping trip today and once again made it just under $100! I even found a couple of really good deals! I am not a couponer, as I mentioned in my first budgeting post, but I went ahead and checked to see if anything I was buying had a coupon and found one at Target for noodles and for pasta. I was thrilled to see they were already on sale so I grabbed 7 boxes of various noodles for $.78 each and got 3 jars of spaghetti sauce for only $2.12! Stocking up on things like that will only help my subsequent shopping trips be even cheaper!
I was much better this time about sticking strictly to my list. Last week really opened my eyes to how easy it is to impulse buy. I practically put blinders on this time and forced myself to keep walking and not even be swayed a tiny bit by the sweet 3 year old voice saying, "Can we get that?" every few minutes. I am feeling really good about this so far. We were out of eggs by Sunday night and worked hard to ration our milk so we had a little left this morning. We are going through about 2 gallons a week! This is really helping us be aware of how much/how often we eat and really appreciating what we have around the house.
And get this: (READ CAREFULLY) Budgeting meals do NOT have to be boring!! Really. So far, we have all really enjoyed the meals and I have tried several new things like Broccoli Rigatoni (SO good!), Mexican White Bean Soup (It made enough to freeze some, too!), and tonight's meal Bean Burgers on Pretzel Buns with Roasted Veggies. I will share some of the other meal recipes soon! Here is the Pretzel Bun recipe I used. They were great! Next time I would make them a little ahead of time because there was a lot of preparation going on at the same time. I would also double the recipe and freeze some. Yum!
The bean burgers were great! I started with an original recipe on allrecipes.com but changed it up a bit. It made enough for all us for dinner, a couple for leftovers for lunch tomorrow for B to take to work and 19 more to freeze.....that's right. 19:) My freezer is getting stocked with all of these extra meal portions!!
I cook up 2 lbs of dried beans this morning (and afternoon) and froze a couple of quart jars of them and had enough for all of the bean burgers!
Bean Burgers
1 lb. dried pinto beans, soaked, cooked and drained (follow directions on bag!)
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
4 eggs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper
3/4-1 cup flour
oil for cooking
cornmeal
Preparation:
1. Saute onions in 1 TB oil until nicely browned, stirring often. Set aside.
2. Put well-drained beans in a large bowl and mash, mash, mash!!
3. When beans are well-mashed (or as mashed as you want), add in eggs, breadcrumbs, onions and seasonings and mix very well. Add in flour 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture is just stiff enough to form into patties. It will be a very soft mixture and your hands will get messy!!
4. Heat oil in skillet (we used our cast-iron skillet). Sprinkle cornmeal on a large plate or cutting board. Grab a handful of bean mixture and lightly pack into a ball. Gently press the ball into the cornmeal on the plate to form a pattie. Repeat on the other side.
5. Fry the bean burgers in the skillet on both sides until cooked through. Serve on a bun with cheese, lettuce and tomato. YUM!! They were a huge hit with everyone and I am so happy that the extra work of making them all resulted in 2 bags of frozen burgers for later meals!!
I served the burgers with a side of roasted broccoli and cauliflower, which was delicious!
Who said cheap has to be boring??
I must've had my phone turned the wrong way because both pictures are a little off. Oops! They are brightly colored on one side...
And have cute old-fashioned pictures on the other side. They are really sturdy and cost only .99 for the set! Eliana has been having fun with them.
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So far my first month of budgeting is going SO well!! E and I did our 2nd grocery shopping trip today and once again made it just under $100! I even found a couple of really good deals! I am not a couponer, as I mentioned in my first budgeting post, but I went ahead and checked to see if anything I was buying had a coupon and found one at Target for noodles and for pasta. I was thrilled to see they were already on sale so I grabbed 7 boxes of various noodles for $.78 each and got 3 jars of spaghetti sauce for only $2.12! Stocking up on things like that will only help my subsequent shopping trips be even cheaper!
I was much better this time about sticking strictly to my list. Last week really opened my eyes to how easy it is to impulse buy. I practically put blinders on this time and forced myself to keep walking and not even be swayed a tiny bit by the sweet 3 year old voice saying, "Can we get that?" every few minutes. I am feeling really good about this so far. We were out of eggs by Sunday night and worked hard to ration our milk so we had a little left this morning. We are going through about 2 gallons a week! This is really helping us be aware of how much/how often we eat and really appreciating what we have around the house.
And get this: (READ CAREFULLY) Budgeting meals do NOT have to be boring!! Really. So far, we have all really enjoyed the meals and I have tried several new things like Broccoli Rigatoni (SO good!), Mexican White Bean Soup (It made enough to freeze some, too!), and tonight's meal Bean Burgers on Pretzel Buns with Roasted Veggies. I will share some of the other meal recipes soon! Here is the Pretzel Bun recipe I used. They were great! Next time I would make them a little ahead of time because there was a lot of preparation going on at the same time. I would also double the recipe and freeze some. Yum!
The bean burgers were great! I started with an original recipe on allrecipes.com but changed it up a bit. It made enough for all us for dinner, a couple for leftovers for lunch tomorrow for B to take to work and 19 more to freeze.....that's right. 19:) My freezer is getting stocked with all of these extra meal portions!!
I cook up 2 lbs of dried beans this morning (and afternoon) and froze a couple of quart jars of them and had enough for all of the bean burgers!
Bean Burgers
1 lb. dried pinto beans, soaked, cooked and drained (follow directions on bag!)
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
4 eggs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 TB Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper
3/4-1 cup flour
oil for cooking
cornmeal
Preparation:
1. Saute onions in 1 TB oil until nicely browned, stirring often. Set aside.
2. Put well-drained beans in a large bowl and mash, mash, mash!!
3. When beans are well-mashed (or as mashed as you want), add in eggs, breadcrumbs, onions and seasonings and mix very well. Add in flour 1/4 cup at a time until the mixture is just stiff enough to form into patties. It will be a very soft mixture and your hands will get messy!!
4. Heat oil in skillet (we used our cast-iron skillet). Sprinkle cornmeal on a large plate or cutting board. Grab a handful of bean mixture and lightly pack into a ball. Gently press the ball into the cornmeal on the plate to form a pattie. Repeat on the other side.
5. Fry the bean burgers in the skillet on both sides until cooked through. Serve on a bun with cheese, lettuce and tomato. YUM!! They were a huge hit with everyone and I am so happy that the extra work of making them all resulted in 2 bags of frozen burgers for later meals!!
I served the burgers with a side of roasted broccoli and cauliflower, which was delicious!
Who said cheap has to be boring??
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Homemade Yummies!
Well, this week is rolling right along! Hard to believe it's Thursday already. Eliana and I completed our first successful "budget cut" shopping trip and boy was it an eye-opener! I had NO idea that I was such an impulse buyer. I really thought that I only got 2 or 3 things extra each time and that it wouldn't add up to much. At the very least, this experience has really gotten me to examine my habits closer and challenged me to be more careful. More on that later.
I made my first homemade snack ~ graham crackers!
They smelled SO good as they were baking! The graham crackers were a hit with everyone. It was a little hard to roll them out as thin as they should have been because of the dough (very stiff) so I can work on that to improve for next time.
And there will be a next time! Here is the recipe I used. I had to used light brown sugar since I couldn't find any dark. I may even cut down on the sugar a bit next time because it was sweet enough with sugar and honey. Very tasty! Can you imagine how good s'more would be??
Next up, homemade fruit roll-ups!
Sweet girl:)
She scared awake super early this morning by the booming thunder. She cried and cried for awhile about the "scary funder." Ben brought her in to snuggle with us for our last few minutes of precious sleep. But it was too late. The continuing thunder stopped her from being able to go back to sleep. Which stopped us from going back to sleep. Bummer!
Needless to say, she is slumbering peacefully for a rare nap at the moment:)
Samuel and I have been coming up with pictures for him to bring to school for next week, as he is "Star of the Week." He specifically requested a picture of him with his Thomas trains (special memories!) and family pictures. We had fun walking down memory lane.
Man, when I look at the boys and how much they have changed, I can hardly believe it. Staring at those pictures of little Samuel with his chubby cheeks and little boy joy over trains bring a little lump into my throat. Those were precious days!
Zakkai is not in any of these pictures because he was....otherwise occupied:) Ben finally gave him a MUCH needed haircut last night. I will try to sneak a picture of him today, if I can. He has stick-straight hair and when it grows too long, he begins to resemble a scarecrow with a mullet. Poor kid. We always feel terribly guilty until we cut it!
Happily, the scarecrow is gone and Zakkai's adorable face is back again!
And I want to wish a very happy birthday to my favorite Grandpa in the whole world! His unshakable faith is an inspiration to all who meet him, especially Ben and I. We are so thankful to have his love, his wisdom and his encouragement. We are praying this year is so much better than the last few months. Love you, Gpa!
I made my first homemade snack ~ graham crackers!
They smelled SO good as they were baking! The graham crackers were a hit with everyone. It was a little hard to roll them out as thin as they should have been because of the dough (very stiff) so I can work on that to improve for next time.
And there will be a next time! Here is the recipe I used. I had to used light brown sugar since I couldn't find any dark. I may even cut down on the sugar a bit next time because it was sweet enough with sugar and honey. Very tasty! Can you imagine how good s'more would be??
Next up, homemade fruit roll-ups!
Sweet girl:)
She scared awake super early this morning by the booming thunder. She cried and cried for awhile about the "scary funder." Ben brought her in to snuggle with us for our last few minutes of precious sleep. But it was too late. The continuing thunder stopped her from being able to go back to sleep. Which stopped us from going back to sleep. Bummer!
Needless to say, she is slumbering peacefully for a rare nap at the moment:)
Samuel and I have been coming up with pictures for him to bring to school for next week, as he is "Star of the Week." He specifically requested a picture of him with his Thomas trains (special memories!) and family pictures. We had fun walking down memory lane.
Man, when I look at the boys and how much they have changed, I can hardly believe it. Staring at those pictures of little Samuel with his chubby cheeks and little boy joy over trains bring a little lump into my throat. Those were precious days!
Zakkai is not in any of these pictures because he was....otherwise occupied:) Ben finally gave him a MUCH needed haircut last night. I will try to sneak a picture of him today, if I can. He has stick-straight hair and when it grows too long, he begins to resemble a scarecrow with a mullet. Poor kid. We always feel terribly guilty until we cut it!
Happily, the scarecrow is gone and Zakkai's adorable face is back again!
And I want to wish a very happy birthday to my favorite Grandpa in the whole world! His unshakable faith is an inspiration to all who meet him, especially Ben and I. We are so thankful to have his love, his wisdom and his encouragement. We are praying this year is so much better than the last few months. Love you, Gpa!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Thirsty.
As I am writing, the aroma of baking pizza is filling the air. Not a bad smell! We have been trying to branch out with our tastes and try new things now that we have our awesome pizza stone, which Ben adores. It improved our crust so much! Tonight we are trying Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza with a white sauce and spinach. It is as delicious as it looks! mmmm. Definitely a keeper.
Zakkai is doing much better, except for a worsening cough. He was still pretty sick yesterday morning and threw up 2 more times but after sleeping for awhile, his fever broke around mid-morning. Yea! He perked up a lot and was able to eat a little soup by lunchtime.
He woke up with a ton more energy today but still has a sore throat and his cough sounds absolutely terrible right now. I really hope he won't go into bronchitis or something:( So far, everyone else is holding strong!
Samuel just told Zakkai that he sounds like barking seal. I nipped that one in the bud because it brought back bad memories of my family (okay, my sisters) making fun of me for my terrible cough when I had pneumonia in middle school. It was a horrible cough and took forever to go away. I really hated being told it was a "man cough." It makes me shudder in sympathy to hear my poor boy!
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I am listening to Ben share his heart with our boys. They read a Bible story together while the pizza was cooking and talked about "real food." Not just pizza or food for the body but food for the soul. With all of these things we have been through and struggled through (and are struggling through), we will have so much to teach our children. We will have real ways to prepare them for life at our finger tips. How to hang on, how to cling to Jesus when everything else is falling part.
When YOU are falling apart. Because chances are, it will happen. Sometimes God chooses to allow us to be brought to the brink. The place where you have absolutely nothing to depend on, nowhere to turn, no one to call out to...but Him. It's an absolutely horrible place to be, especially when you're in it. But at the same time, I reluctantly suppose, there is a raw, painful beauty in your desperate need to cry out to your Savior. Your saving grace.
There is thirst. And thirst makes you search for water; living water. So, I guess that's where we are now. Thirsty. There are some verses that I found about a year ago that really spoke to us.
Jeremiah 13:7-8
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. 8"For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes. It's leaves will be green; it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit."
That's what we would really like to be. And haven't been. We haven't been able not to fear or be anxious or yield fruit in our year(s) of drought. And we recognize that and long to change. We are thirsty. Thirsty for life again. And God is answering those prayers little by little and we believe He will continue to. Even though it doesn't look anything like we hoped it would.
We will trust that it will be better than we hoped for because our Father knows what is best for us. And He sees the whole picture, not just the little 2 dimensional slice that we have in front of us. We just have to be thirsty enough to run to Him and cling to Him while we wait.
Thirsty.
Zakkai is doing much better, except for a worsening cough. He was still pretty sick yesterday morning and threw up 2 more times but after sleeping for awhile, his fever broke around mid-morning. Yea! He perked up a lot and was able to eat a little soup by lunchtime.
He woke up with a ton more energy today but still has a sore throat and his cough sounds absolutely terrible right now. I really hope he won't go into bronchitis or something:( So far, everyone else is holding strong!
Samuel just told Zakkai that he sounds like barking seal. I nipped that one in the bud because it brought back bad memories of my family (okay, my sisters) making fun of me for my terrible cough when I had pneumonia in middle school. It was a horrible cough and took forever to go away. I really hated being told it was a "man cough." It makes me shudder in sympathy to hear my poor boy!
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I am listening to Ben share his heart with our boys. They read a Bible story together while the pizza was cooking and talked about "real food." Not just pizza or food for the body but food for the soul. With all of these things we have been through and struggled through (and are struggling through), we will have so much to teach our children. We will have real ways to prepare them for life at our finger tips. How to hang on, how to cling to Jesus when everything else is falling part.
When YOU are falling apart. Because chances are, it will happen. Sometimes God chooses to allow us to be brought to the brink. The place where you have absolutely nothing to depend on, nowhere to turn, no one to call out to...but Him. It's an absolutely horrible place to be, especially when you're in it. But at the same time, I reluctantly suppose, there is a raw, painful beauty in your desperate need to cry out to your Savior. Your saving grace.
There is thirst. And thirst makes you search for water; living water. So, I guess that's where we are now. Thirsty. There are some verses that I found about a year ago that really spoke to us.
Jeremiah 13:7-8
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. 8"For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes. It's leaves will be green; it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit."
That's what we would really like to be. And haven't been. We haven't been able not to fear or be anxious or yield fruit in our year(s) of drought. And we recognize that and long to change. We are thirsty. Thirsty for life again. And God is answering those prayers little by little and we believe He will continue to. Even though it doesn't look anything like we hoped it would.
We will trust that it will be better than we hoped for because our Father knows what is best for us. And He sees the whole picture, not just the little 2 dimensional slice that we have in front of us. We just have to be thirsty enough to run to Him and cling to Him while we wait.
Thirsty.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Fresh Air and Waffle Treats!
Today we finally got to break free from our house-prison and get some fresh air again! Eliana and I ran some errands this morning and it was really nice to be out and about, even if she was having a bit of an emotional morning. I'm guessing her out-of-normal characteristic behavior at the store was partially due to the fact that her daddy was at home and she wanted to be with him! She started crying as soon as we were about to drive away saying, "My daddy will be sad wifout us!"
Little Miss was all smiles again as soon as she got back home and into Daddy's arms. Not that she would let him know it, of course! She plays hard to get with her Daddy and is very coy. No one is fooled though because she knows that she's had him wrapped around her itty bitty fingers since day 1!
I mentioned the other day that I had a great waffle recipe to share and I do! A few years ago, my dear friend (do 30-somethings say 'dear'??) sent me a recipe for a Coconut Lime Cake which is just SO good and a flavor combination I had never tried before. I was bored the other day, after a couple days of being house-bound and started browsing pinterest. I like pinterest but pretty much only look on it when I am suffering from total boredom!
Anyways, I couldn't even think of anything to browse and suddenly remembered I had a bag of limes in the refrigerator. Total impulse buy. I started searching recipes using limes and came across this recipe for Coconut Lime Waffles. Not only did the picture make them look drool-worthy but it was that same amazing combination from the cake!
I had just enough limes and shredded coconut left to make these on Sunday night for our usual breakfast for dinner. They were SO good! Very different from the usual same-old same-old waffle. The lime flavor is light and refreshing and the toasted coconut on top just put it over the top!
I would highly recommend you try it for a delicious treat!
Happy Wednesday.
Little Miss was all smiles again as soon as she got back home and into Daddy's arms. Not that she would let him know it, of course! She plays hard to get with her Daddy and is very coy. No one is fooled though because she knows that she's had him wrapped around her itty bitty fingers since day 1!
I mentioned the other day that I had a great waffle recipe to share and I do! A few years ago, my dear friend (do 30-somethings say 'dear'??) sent me a recipe for a Coconut Lime Cake which is just SO good and a flavor combination I had never tried before. I was bored the other day, after a couple days of being house-bound and started browsing pinterest. I like pinterest but pretty much only look on it when I am suffering from total boredom!
Anyways, I couldn't even think of anything to browse and suddenly remembered I had a bag of limes in the refrigerator. Total impulse buy. I started searching recipes using limes and came across this recipe for Coconut Lime Waffles. Not only did the picture make them look drool-worthy but it was that same amazing combination from the cake!
I had just enough limes and shredded coconut left to make these on Sunday night for our usual breakfast for dinner. They were SO good! Very different from the usual same-old same-old waffle. The lime flavor is light and refreshing and the toasted coconut on top just put it over the top!
I would highly recommend you try it for a delicious treat!
Happy Wednesday.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Weekend Celebrations!
Do you mind seeing yet another picture of a tree?? I think this is the last one. Maybe;) The peek season for trees is over, I believe, as lots of leaves fell with the rain and cold wind that blew in. This past weekend we were in amazement every time we went out! Can't remember a fall with such amazing, vibrant colors!
We all have varying degrees of colds over here. Ben probably feels the worst out of all of us, with a nasty cough that keeps him awake. I tried to drug him last night (with consent, of course!) but that only worked half the night. Hopefully he will get better rest tonight!
Since it is so chilly out, I have been enjoying making one of my favorite foods....soup! Soup is so amazing. Versatile, filling, hot and delicious! Last night I whipped up a homemade vegetable soup which turned out really good! Well...most of us thought so. Eliana isn't so keen on vegetables all mixed together. Makes it too hard to pick out the ones she doesn't like, I guess!
Here is the link for that soup: Vegetable Soup. It was pretty easy and great for leftovers today! I served it with Homemade Saltines. They are pretty easy and good if you don't over bake them:)
On Sunday, there was a special presentation at church for third graders, as I mentioned. The church sees it as a pivotal time in the kids' faith journeys and presented them with their own Bibles. The week before, they had a parent meeting where parents got to write in the covers of the Bibles and/or highlight any favorite verses.
Samuel was so nervous when he realized this presentation was happening in front of the church! He almost didn't go! But thankfully he calmed down enough and now he loves his Bible so much, that he has been reading it every night and morning!
The children's director, Sandy, who does an amazing job, had some words of encouragement for the parents and the church, then for the third graders. She sang them a little song that she wrote for them and then they called each child up and presented them with their Bibles. I got a quick little video of Samuel below. After they filed out, they went into the sanctuary (where another more traditional service is held at the same time) and they got prayed over. It was really neat!
After that, we quickly left church and headed over to our friends' church, where Baby C was being baptized. We were only able to make it to the last hour of church since ours started about the same time. It was a very beautiful service and afterwards, we went over to their house, where several family members and friends were gathered to celebrate. We loved meeting their families and seeing the love they have for each other. It was easy to see where our friends get their gentleness and sweetness from!
Our kiddos just loved experiencing that and Eliana has asked every day since if we can go back to Baby C's church "tomorrow!" :)
Explaining time to a three year old is like banging your head against the wall. Over and over:)
Have a great night!
We all have varying degrees of colds over here. Ben probably feels the worst out of all of us, with a nasty cough that keeps him awake. I tried to drug him last night (with consent, of course!) but that only worked half the night. Hopefully he will get better rest tonight!
Since it is so chilly out, I have been enjoying making one of my favorite foods....soup! Soup is so amazing. Versatile, filling, hot and delicious! Last night I whipped up a homemade vegetable soup which turned out really good! Well...most of us thought so. Eliana isn't so keen on vegetables all mixed together. Makes it too hard to pick out the ones she doesn't like, I guess!
Here is the link for that soup: Vegetable Soup. It was pretty easy and great for leftovers today! I served it with Homemade Saltines. They are pretty easy and good if you don't over bake them:)
On Sunday, there was a special presentation at church for third graders, as I mentioned. The church sees it as a pivotal time in the kids' faith journeys and presented them with their own Bibles. The week before, they had a parent meeting where parents got to write in the covers of the Bibles and/or highlight any favorite verses.
Samuel was so nervous when he realized this presentation was happening in front of the church! He almost didn't go! But thankfully he calmed down enough and now he loves his Bible so much, that he has been reading it every night and morning!
The children's director, Sandy, who does an amazing job, had some words of encouragement for the parents and the church, then for the third graders. She sang them a little song that she wrote for them and then they called each child up and presented them with their Bibles. I got a quick little video of Samuel below. After they filed out, they went into the sanctuary (where another more traditional service is held at the same time) and they got prayed over. It was really neat!
After that, we quickly left church and headed over to our friends' church, where Baby C was being baptized. We were only able to make it to the last hour of church since ours started about the same time. It was a very beautiful service and afterwards, we went over to their house, where several family members and friends were gathered to celebrate. We loved meeting their families and seeing the love they have for each other. It was easy to see where our friends get their gentleness and sweetness from!
Our kiddos just loved experiencing that and Eliana has asked every day since if we can go back to Baby C's church "tomorrow!" :)
Explaining time to a three year old is like banging your head against the wall. Over and over:)
Have a great night!
Monday, July 22, 2013
Summer Doings
We've had a "sort-of" break from the terrible heat the past couple of days (as in below 90 degrees but still hot!). This morning, the kiddos and I (being car-less) headed out on a walk to our little downtown area to hit (not rob) the bank and the library. Unbeknownst to me, I got interviewed by a reporter on the way! Yeah, after five minutes of me being questioned about some possible new land developments nearby, I started to get curious about what the guy was writing down in his notebook so furiously....
So I questioned him for a change and he admitted that he was a reporter for the Tribune! I'm really savvy, right? ;)
Anyways, we had a nice, busy morning. I let each of the kiddos pick out 4 books because I had to carry them all the way home in my backpack and that gets heavy fast! I am so thankful that all three love to read so much!
Early on in our marriage, Ben and I bought this 7-in-1 game set and we pulled it out last week for the infamous chess-crushing game (oh, I'm sorry, did I say that outloud??) and the boys have gotten into playing some of the game! We've had several rousing rounds of Chinese checkers (I used to play with my sister a lot!) and Checkers. Zakkai and I played Checkers this morning during breakfast and he was surprisingly good! It won't be long before he's crushing me....
Here's my Moose helping me bake cookies on Saturday! It was her first time helping me cook and she loved it! I hope she loves to cook as much as I do someday.
Speaking of baking....we had to use up our fresh farmer's market peaches and what better way than a Peach Cream Pie! Mmmm....
Here is the cookie recipe I promised you that I got off of pinterest, my new favorite place for recipes! These cookies were SO good and very easy! Coconut Sugar Cookies. If you like coconut at all, you will love these. They were best fresh, the first day. Will definitely be making again!
Tonight, I was tucking my sweet girl in bed (for the second time) and she started telling me something that Samuel helped her with earlier in the day. She loves to tell me things when I lay her down now! I said, "Samuel is a good big brother. He takes care of you." She smiled and said, "Yeah. And Zakkai takes care of Daddy."
I said, "Oh, he does?" She said, "Yeah, and I take care of you!" She paused and added, "I will take good care of you, okay? You are so cute, Mommy!" Precious:)
So I questioned him for a change and he admitted that he was a reporter for the Tribune! I'm really savvy, right? ;)
Anyways, we had a nice, busy morning. I let each of the kiddos pick out 4 books because I had to carry them all the way home in my backpack and that gets heavy fast! I am so thankful that all three love to read so much!
Early on in our marriage, Ben and I bought this 7-in-1 game set and we pulled it out last week for the infamous chess-crushing game (oh, I'm sorry, did I say that outloud??) and the boys have gotten into playing some of the game! We've had several rousing rounds of Chinese checkers (I used to play with my sister a lot!) and Checkers. Zakkai and I played Checkers this morning during breakfast and he was surprisingly good! It won't be long before he's crushing me....
Here's my Moose helping me bake cookies on Saturday! It was her first time helping me cook and she loved it! I hope she loves to cook as much as I do someday.
Speaking of baking....we had to use up our fresh farmer's market peaches and what better way than a Peach Cream Pie! Mmmm....
Here is the cookie recipe I promised you that I got off of pinterest, my new favorite place for recipes! These cookies were SO good and very easy! Coconut Sugar Cookies. If you like coconut at all, you will love these. They were best fresh, the first day. Will definitely be making again!
Tonight, I was tucking my sweet girl in bed (for the second time) and she started telling me something that Samuel helped her with earlier in the day. She loves to tell me things when I lay her down now! I said, "Samuel is a good big brother. He takes care of you." She smiled and said, "Yeah. And Zakkai takes care of Daddy."
I said, "Oh, he does?" She said, "Yeah, and I take care of you!" She paused and added, "I will take good care of you, okay? You are so cute, Mommy!" Precious:)
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Taco Cups!
Life is certainly full with so many kiddos around here! Today I made my first outing with all 4 children (my three plus Baby C) and it went well, although it will take some getting used to! He is such a good baby so he makes it pretty easy. It was just a lot juggling bags and carseats and holding Eliana's hand, etc. We went to my MOPS bible study. Samuel could hardly bear to leave his skateboard for 2 hours but he managed:) For the bible study, all of the kids of the moms go in the same room with several workers. (I kept the baby with me). They said the boys took really good care of Eliana and were so gentle and loving to her:)
Then we got home and I fed the crew and as soon as Samuel was fueled up, he disappeared into skateboard world and I barely saw him til dinner! He thinks he's pretty cool stuff now:)
Zakkai is in and out all day. Along with all of the flies he lets in. Sigh. He finally came in for good in the later afternoon and had a rousing sleeping/kitchen game going with Eliana. They don't play really well together often because Z is such a "policeman" when it comes to her but today it was SO nice to watch the two of them together!
After the baby went home, I got Eliana in bed super early since she decided she didn't need to nap today and was a wreck by 5pm, and made one of my new pinterest dinners. Taco Cups! So easy, just a twist on tacos!
You lightly brush some tortillas with oil and push them down into muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes. Fill with taco ingredients and voila! Tacos with a fresh twist:) They were really good, too! The boys just loved them and accused me of making "fancy tacos."
Hey, as long as they are happy, I am happy! I will definitely be making them again. We love cheap and easy food around here!
Then we got home and I fed the crew and as soon as Samuel was fueled up, he disappeared into skateboard world and I barely saw him til dinner! He thinks he's pretty cool stuff now:)
Zakkai is in and out all day. Along with all of the flies he lets in. Sigh. He finally came in for good in the later afternoon and had a rousing sleeping/kitchen game going with Eliana. They don't play really well together often because Z is such a "policeman" when it comes to her but today it was SO nice to watch the two of them together!
After the baby went home, I got Eliana in bed super early since she decided she didn't need to nap today and was a wreck by 5pm, and made one of my new pinterest dinners. Taco Cups! So easy, just a twist on tacos!
You lightly brush some tortillas with oil and push them down into muffin tins and bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes. Fill with taco ingredients and voila! Tacos with a fresh twist:) They were really good, too! The boys just loved them and accused me of making "fancy tacos."
Hey, as long as they are happy, I am happy! I will definitely be making them again. We love cheap and easy food around here!
Thursday, June 20, 2013
In a Nutshell..
Seems like it has been a long week! I already dozed off after tucking the kiddos in bed and had to force myself to wake up so I can go to bed properly in a few minutes!
*Eliana is still doing pretty awesome with potty-training! She has stayed dry to/from VBS all week and this afternoon we made our first foray out into "public" to meet some friends at the park. I brought her little potty in the car and she was able to use it and stay dry over the 2 hour period! One funny thing that happened was Ben helped her put on some new panties after a minor mishap earlier this morning and he said, "Boy, her panties are so tight! Poor thing." About 5 or so minutes later, I was walking by and glanced over at her while she was playing and noticed she did look pretty stuffed into her panties. Something wasn't quite right.....I went over to investigate and burst out laughing when I realized Ben had put them on sideways! I'm not sure how he accomplished that but it was pretty funny.
*The boys only have one more day of VBS. They are so excited because tomorrow the parents get to come 15 minutes early to hear the kids sing songs they have been learning all week. I think they are going to sing at church on Sunday, too. I am so glad they have gotten to take part in this! The theme this week is basically following God through the ups and downs and staying strong. A good lesson for all ages!
*Some good news I forgot to share is that Ben is now under contract for a book! His dissertation is being published and he is hard at work revising his monstrosity of a dissertation for book form. If he meets all deadlines by Sept 1st, then his book should be out by November, which is just in time for the big biblical conference held each year where a lot of interviews are conducted! He jokes that his book will be multi-purposeful. Good for killing flies, curing insomnia or learning everything you didn't want to know about the Books of Kings:)
*I finally got back into crafting today after a long break. I have been very unmotivated in the past months to work on projects for a few reasons so it felt good to be back at my sewing machine. I'm working on a (hopefully) cute outfit for Eliana. And I hope this will get me going to work on some gifts for some upcoming babies!
*I talked to my mom today and she sounded pretty good, although a bit "puny" sounding. She says she is doing well and is ahead of the game. By early this afternoon, she had already had 2 PT sessions and had walked a bit with her walker. Her blood pressure was pretty low last night but it was back to normal today, thankfully. She should get to go home tomorrow.
*I made a different dinner tonight and it was really good! I needed something quick to go with our fresh farmer's market broccoli. I went off of a recipe that I found on pinterest. You prepare linguine noodles and while they are cooking, you sauté some minced garlic in a little olive oil for about a minute. Take the pan off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes. Then add some breadcrumbs to the pan and put it back on the heat. I used maybe 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs? I added a little bit more oil and mixed it up well and browned it over the heat for a couple of minutes. Added a little bit of parsley and then when the noodles were done and drained, added the breadcrumb mixture and tossed it all around with about 1 TB of butter. We added some parmesan cheese on top and it was SO good! Eliana gobbled it up and she can be a little finicky about dinner. I will definitely make it again.
It's been much easier to cut down on meat than I thought it would be. And it's been very helpful to our grocery bill!
(picture from famfriendsfood.com)
*Eliana is still doing pretty awesome with potty-training! She has stayed dry to/from VBS all week and this afternoon we made our first foray out into "public" to meet some friends at the park. I brought her little potty in the car and she was able to use it and stay dry over the 2 hour period! One funny thing that happened was Ben helped her put on some new panties after a minor mishap earlier this morning and he said, "Boy, her panties are so tight! Poor thing." About 5 or so minutes later, I was walking by and glanced over at her while she was playing and noticed she did look pretty stuffed into her panties. Something wasn't quite right.....I went over to investigate and burst out laughing when I realized Ben had put them on sideways! I'm not sure how he accomplished that but it was pretty funny.
*The boys only have one more day of VBS. They are so excited because tomorrow the parents get to come 15 minutes early to hear the kids sing songs they have been learning all week. I think they are going to sing at church on Sunday, too. I am so glad they have gotten to take part in this! The theme this week is basically following God through the ups and downs and staying strong. A good lesson for all ages!
*Some good news I forgot to share is that Ben is now under contract for a book! His dissertation is being published and he is hard at work revising his monstrosity of a dissertation for book form. If he meets all deadlines by Sept 1st, then his book should be out by November, which is just in time for the big biblical conference held each year where a lot of interviews are conducted! He jokes that his book will be multi-purposeful. Good for killing flies, curing insomnia or learning everything you didn't want to know about the Books of Kings:)
*I finally got back into crafting today after a long break. I have been very unmotivated in the past months to work on projects for a few reasons so it felt good to be back at my sewing machine. I'm working on a (hopefully) cute outfit for Eliana. And I hope this will get me going to work on some gifts for some upcoming babies!
*I talked to my mom today and she sounded pretty good, although a bit "puny" sounding. She says she is doing well and is ahead of the game. By early this afternoon, she had already had 2 PT sessions and had walked a bit with her walker. Her blood pressure was pretty low last night but it was back to normal today, thankfully. She should get to go home tomorrow.
*I made a different dinner tonight and it was really good! I needed something quick to go with our fresh farmer's market broccoli. I went off of a recipe that I found on pinterest. You prepare linguine noodles and while they are cooking, you sauté some minced garlic in a little olive oil for about a minute. Take the pan off the heat and let it sit for a few minutes. Then add some breadcrumbs to the pan and put it back on the heat. I used maybe 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs? I added a little bit more oil and mixed it up well and browned it over the heat for a couple of minutes. Added a little bit of parsley and then when the noodles were done and drained, added the breadcrumb mixture and tossed it all around with about 1 TB of butter. We added some parmesan cheese on top and it was SO good! Eliana gobbled it up and she can be a little finicky about dinner. I will definitely make it again.
It's been much easier to cut down on meat than I thought it would be. And it's been very helpful to our grocery bill!
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Chaos and Cookies!
I feel like the hours between 3 and 7:30pm are a whirlwind of noise, busyness, exhaustion and chaos! And that would be specifically, between school pick-up and bedtime!
For example:
While I was preparing dinner (recipe to come!), Eliana, who has discovered the wonderful joy of carrying a stool around and reaching light switches, faucets and other goodies, was going between the kitchen and bathroom turning off the lights.
While she was doing this, Zakkai was trying to read a book for homework and simultaneously, returning on all the lights E was turning off! He tries to "help" but easily frustrates his little sis with his hands-on bossing. To put it nicely:)
Then Samuel comes wandering in and bodily moves Eliana out of the bathroom, stool and all, which caused her to scream and melt down.
Fast forward 5 minutes and you have me trying to chop veggies and finish dinner as quickly as possible, Eliana hanging on my leg crying as loudly as she can for me to pick her up, and Zakkai trying to sound out words over the chaos.
A test in patience, to be sure!
Finally, I dispatched Z to the basement to see if Daddy could listen to his reading since I could not hear a word over Eliana's meltdown and put a quick hold on dinner prep to hold and calm down my wreck of a 2 year old. It did finally come together, thankfully, but it's no wonder that I feel wrung-out by the time we tuck them all in bed!! Usually, there is some homework drama with Samuel thrown in there but today he was actually really good about it. Thankfully!
I made a very delicious soup that I shared the recipe for here except tonight I added another can of beans (kidney), an extra cup of water and some more cabbage to increase the serving size since we eat a lot more now!! I am telling you that this soup is fantastic and everyone just gobbles it up! It's the second time we've had cabbage this week and we just love it! Who knew:)
I don't usually serve dessert during the week to control certain sweet tooths in the house but tonight my sweet tooth over came me and I made some cookies! Everyone got one after dinner (and one is enough to satisfy!) so I took some after cookie pics:)
I love Samuel's smile!
Eliana does love her chocolate:) She doesn't eat really rich sweets or baked goods or at least only small bits but 2 things she will never refuse are chocolate and ice cream!
I made these cookies:
Chocolate Butterscotch Clusters
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chow mein noodles (or more)
1/2 cup salted peanuts, optional *I actually food processed a handful of mixed nuts into small pieces and added it in instead
1. Melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave in 30 second increments and stir until melted.
2. Stir in chow mein noodles and nuts, if using, and stir until all is well-coated. You may have to add more noodles in if it's very "wet."
3. Spoon in heaps on a wax paper covered baking sheet and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Yum!
1 recipe makes 8 clusters.
For example:
While I was preparing dinner (recipe to come!), Eliana, who has discovered the wonderful joy of carrying a stool around and reaching light switches, faucets and other goodies, was going between the kitchen and bathroom turning off the lights.
While she was doing this, Zakkai was trying to read a book for homework and simultaneously, returning on all the lights E was turning off! He tries to "help" but easily frustrates his little sis with his hands-on bossing. To put it nicely:)
Then Samuel comes wandering in and bodily moves Eliana out of the bathroom, stool and all, which caused her to scream and melt down.
Fast forward 5 minutes and you have me trying to chop veggies and finish dinner as quickly as possible, Eliana hanging on my leg crying as loudly as she can for me to pick her up, and Zakkai trying to sound out words over the chaos.
A test in patience, to be sure!
Finally, I dispatched Z to the basement to see if Daddy could listen to his reading since I could not hear a word over Eliana's meltdown and put a quick hold on dinner prep to hold and calm down my wreck of a 2 year old. It did finally come together, thankfully, but it's no wonder that I feel wrung-out by the time we tuck them all in bed!! Usually, there is some homework drama with Samuel thrown in there but today he was actually really good about it. Thankfully!
I made a very delicious soup that I shared the recipe for here except tonight I added another can of beans (kidney), an extra cup of water and some more cabbage to increase the serving size since we eat a lot more now!! I am telling you that this soup is fantastic and everyone just gobbles it up! It's the second time we've had cabbage this week and we just love it! Who knew:)
I don't usually serve dessert during the week to control certain sweet tooths in the house but tonight my sweet tooth over came me and I made some cookies! Everyone got one after dinner (and one is enough to satisfy!) so I took some after cookie pics:)
I love Samuel's smile!
Eliana does love her chocolate:) She doesn't eat really rich sweets or baked goods or at least only small bits but 2 things she will never refuse are chocolate and ice cream!
I made these cookies:
Chocolate Butterscotch Clusters
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chow mein noodles (or more)
1/2 cup salted peanuts, optional *I actually food processed a handful of mixed nuts into small pieces and added it in instead
1. Melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips in the microwave in 30 second increments and stir until melted.
2. Stir in chow mein noodles and nuts, if using, and stir until all is well-coated. You may have to add more noodles in if it's very "wet."
3. Spoon in heaps on a wax paper covered baking sheet and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Yum!
1 recipe makes 8 clusters.
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
100 days.
Zakkai is happy to share with you that he is 100 days smarter because he has been in kindergarten for 100 days now! Last Friday was the 100th day of school and they celebrated with some different activities like decorating these really cool glasses:)
Samuel refused to try on the glasses, even with Zakkai's most insistent pleas. But he was kind enough to smile for me:) He looks so old in this picture, wow!
The boys do journaling at school and different writing activities to improve handwriting skills and writing skills. Here is a recent sample of Zakkai's that makes me smile:
"Write About Your Favorite Breakfast Food. Why Is That Your Favorite?"
My favorite breakfast food is pancaks. They are serupy wen they have serup on them and they are delishes.
He's such a funny boy! He was also singing a really funny song tonight, 3 seconds before he fell asleep in front of our eyes, that goes to the tune of "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain."
"There's a continent that is very, very cold
I don't think you'll want to go there when you're old.
There's a continent that's cold
There's a continent that's cold
There's a continent that's very, very cold!"
Haha.
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Samuel recently declared that he would like to be an inventor when he grows up! Some of the first things he "might" like to invent? Skittles Ice Cream and Peanut Milk.
Mmmm....:)
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Tonight I made a homemade Tomato Bisque Soup. I am not at all a fan of tomato soup, call me crazy, however this was very flavorful and much, much better than nasty Campbell's and got 5 stars at least from my tomato-soup lovin' family!! Samuel has asked me to serve this every night and since I value his tried and true (and picky) opinion, I thought I'd share!
Creamy Tomato Bisque Soup
2 TB olive oil
1 stalk celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced (I used orange)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 1/2 lb. grape tomatoes OR 2 lg tomatoes, peeled (I used 2 lg tomatoes + 1 can diced tomatoes, drained)
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 c. chicken stock or broth, reduced sodium.
1 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 t. black pepper
1/3 c. fresh basil, diced (I didn't have basil so I used some parsley and italian seasoning!)
1 c.half and half, cream or whole milk (I used fat-free half and half)
2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation:
1) Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add and saute celery, red pepper and garlic for 2 minutes. Add zucchini and tomatoes and 1/2 tsp salt and cook 5 minutes.
2) Pour in chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes. If using grape tomatoes, they will start to pop. Press some tomato pieces against the side of pot to check for tenderness.
3) Remove soup from heat. Add sugar, salt, pepper and basil and/or seasoning. Cool 10 minutes.
4) Process soup in small batches in food processor or blender until desired consistency. (Do use small batches, I didn't the first blend and the whole thing exploded out of the blender and burned my hand!) Pour soup back into pan and warm back up.
5) Add half and half and Parmesan cheese and cook until heated through but not boiling. Season with additional salt and pepper, if you want and enjoy! I served it with garlic toast and it was a great combo!
Will be adding this to my favorite meals list which will make my crew happy!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Cheese!
The Blueberry Gang:)
It took a bit of convincing for the boys to pose for this picture. And boy, look at Eliana's face! Pretty much what she's been like the past 2 days. She doesn't handle colds well:(
Zakkai did GREAT last night being Ray-less and fingerless! He's pretty darn proud of himself. And I totally forgot to take a picture of Mr Z and his new bedtime companion, Ice Bird. Oops!
Eliana didn't do great but not quite terribly either. I feel bad taking pacis while she's sick but yet, at the same time, it seems like the right time. She was up about 4 times crying for me last night but settled back down easily until the last time, which was quite a bit early than her usual wake-up time. I felt really anxious about naptime since she's been fighting it so much. I tried to rock her and get her sleepy but gave up after about 30 min. She asked for her pacifier only once and got a little teary but it was over very quickly. I put her in bed and after lots of squawking and calling me for things for about 20 min, I went in and laid her down and tucked her in without saying a word and left.
That worked her up and she cried for almost 40 minutes:( Then, all of the sudden, blessed silence for the first time in four days! She only slept an hour and woke up crying and crying but bedtime went much smoother tonight and we are hopeful that once she gets past this sickness, she'll be content without her beloved pacis and sleeping much better!
I hope I make it til then. A cranky 2 year old is exhausting!!
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This morning I made a new recipe for breakfast that was a smash hit with all so I thought I'd share!
Amish Baked Oatmeal
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
fresh/frozen fruit
Preparation:
1. Combine first 8 ingredients; mix well. Spread evenly in a greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
2. Serve with fresh or frozen fruit!
I doubled the recipe and cooked it in a 9x13 pan. I am not at all an oatmeal fan but I loved this! Would be good with fruit baked in it, too!
It took a bit of convincing for the boys to pose for this picture. And boy, look at Eliana's face! Pretty much what she's been like the past 2 days. She doesn't handle colds well:(
Zakkai did GREAT last night being Ray-less and fingerless! He's pretty darn proud of himself. And I totally forgot to take a picture of Mr Z and his new bedtime companion, Ice Bird. Oops!
Eliana didn't do great but not quite terribly either. I feel bad taking pacis while she's sick but yet, at the same time, it seems like the right time. She was up about 4 times crying for me last night but settled back down easily until the last time, which was quite a bit early than her usual wake-up time. I felt really anxious about naptime since she's been fighting it so much. I tried to rock her and get her sleepy but gave up after about 30 min. She asked for her pacifier only once and got a little teary but it was over very quickly. I put her in bed and after lots of squawking and calling me for things for about 20 min, I went in and laid her down and tucked her in without saying a word and left.
That worked her up and she cried for almost 40 minutes:( Then, all of the sudden, blessed silence for the first time in four days! She only slept an hour and woke up crying and crying but bedtime went much smoother tonight and we are hopeful that once she gets past this sickness, she'll be content without her beloved pacis and sleeping much better!
I hope I make it til then. A cranky 2 year old is exhausting!!
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This morning I made a new recipe for breakfast that was a smash hit with all so I thought I'd share!
Amish Baked Oatmeal
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
fresh/frozen fruit
Preparation:
1. Combine first 8 ingredients; mix well. Spread evenly in a greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
2. Serve with fresh or frozen fruit!
I doubled the recipe and cooked it in a 9x13 pan. I am not at all an oatmeal fan but I loved this! Would be good with fruit baked in it, too!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Friday Nights!
We love our Friday nights around here! It signifies another (hopefully) successful week completed, the beginning of a relaxing (also hopefully:) weekend together and last but not least, it's our faithful pizza night! And we make a mean pizza, if we don't say so ourselves!
Last night we added some game playing to our pizza night! We pulled out my long-term childhood favorite game of Life, which the boys adore and played a rousing game while waiting for and devouring our yummy pizza. We all loved it so much that we're thinking of making game playing a weekly tradition, too!
We finished off our night with a delicious treat, which I am most definitely passing on! Snickerdoodle Blondies. (click on it for the link!) Served with vanilla ice cream. Yum and yum again! If you like snickerdoodle cookies, you will love these!! Enjoy.
Last night we added some game playing to our pizza night! We pulled out my long-term childhood favorite game of Life, which the boys adore and played a rousing game while waiting for and devouring our yummy pizza. We all loved it so much that we're thinking of making game playing a weekly tradition, too!
We finished off our night with a delicious treat, which I am most definitely passing on! Snickerdoodle Blondies. (click on it for the link!) Served with vanilla ice cream. Yum and yum again! If you like snickerdoodle cookies, you will love these!! Enjoy.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Yummy in My Tummy.
Feast your eyes....
Homemade Snicker's Bars. Oh yes. Amazing. Fresh. Rich. Bad for you but oh-so good for you:) I will be freezing these and bringing them home for Thanksgiving, if I can, to get them out of the house.
Otherwise, we will all come home a hundred pounds heavier!
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We would be so thankful for your prayers for Ben this weekend! It's a big weekend for him. He is presenting a paper tomorrow morning at a big annual Bible conference AND he has an interview Sunday afternoon!!! We could use all the prayers we can get!
Now I'm off to iron his shirts and do my own praying.....
Homemade Snicker's Bars. Oh yes. Amazing. Fresh. Rich. Bad for you but oh-so good for you:) I will be freezing these and bringing them home for Thanksgiving, if I can, to get them out of the house.
Otherwise, we will all come home a hundred pounds heavier!
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We would be so thankful for your prayers for Ben this weekend! It's a big weekend for him. He is presenting a paper tomorrow morning at a big annual Bible conference AND he has an interview Sunday afternoon!!! We could use all the prayers we can get!
Now I'm off to iron his shirts and do my own praying.....
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