The Recipe Binder traveled over the Pacific (Night Two of New Dinner Recipes)

The first glance at my recipe binder is not a pretty sight......dis-colored, smudged, food grimy stains, bulging at the seams...........
It has sat on my counter when the bowl and beaters did not match- absorbing the flecks of liquid (or mashed potatoes) that were sent flying.  It has been opened and shut hundreds of times as new recipes were crammed in leaving the binding flimsy.  It has sat on 8 different kitchen counters as we moved over the years. When we moved to Hawaii, I could not bear to put it in the container with the rest of our house hold goods to be shipped across the Pacific so instead packed it in my luggage.  It's been 38,000 feet in the air, it's made it's way through airports......It's sat in rental cars, hotel rooms, and a cruise ship (we took an Alaska cruise just before moving to Hawaii- It was in the same luggage that went to Alaska and then off to Hawaii)- Besides my Bible, I have never hauled a book/binder around with me more!

The recipes inside are precious- Some coming from Matt's family, some coming from my family, some coming from friends, some from Pampered Chef, Taste of Home, Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman), or cooks.com.....For the most part, the recipes that make their way into this book have been personally tried and deemed delicious by my family.  Night 2 of some new recipes I tried this past week is now added to the recipe book- It was so good I passed it on to my sis and her family as a meal (except I substituted the 7 up biscuits for Buttermilk Biscuits).
The Broccoli Cheese soup is creamy and a wonderful way to end a winters day.  The 7-up Biscuits (found on Pinterest) are easy to make (plus a nice addition served warm with the soup).

ENJOY!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1 whole onion, diced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups whole milk
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 4 heads broccoli, cut into florets
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups grated cheese (mild Cheddar, sharp Cheddar, Jack, etc.)
• 2-3 cups diced ham (Steph added- not in the original recipe)
• Chicken broth, if needed

Directions

Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat, and then add the onions. Cook the onions for 3 to 4 minutes, and then sprinkle the flour over the top. Stir to combine and cook for 1 minute or so, then pour in the milk and half-and-half. Add the nutmeg, and then the broccoli, a small dash of salt and plenty of black pepper.

Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the broccoli is tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Stir in the cheese and allow to melt.

Taste the seasonings and adjust if needed. Then either serve as is, or mash with a potato masher to break up the broccoli a bit, or transfer to a blender in two batches and puree completely. (If you puree in a blender, return the soup to the heat and allow to heat back up. Splash in some chicken broth if needed for thinning.)

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7UP Biscuits

 

2 c Bisquick mix
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c 7up
1/4 c melted butter
Preheat oven to 450º

 

Cut sour cream into your Bisquick mix, then add 7up - it will make a soft dough. Now sprinkle your counter with a little Bisquick mix then add dough and pat it out.
Melt butter and pour it into a 9" square baking pan. Cut your biscuits up and arrange them in pan on top of melted butter.
Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

I Want to remember...UPDATED

2 things: UPDATED
I want to remember that today my sister Jodi was induced with their 5th child (name to be announced after his birth- but from what my inside sources tell me their daughter Sienna choose the name). Jod was induced at 38 weeks (today) because the history of LARGE babies.  After her doctor did some testing to see this little guy's size it was determined he was following the lead of his 3 brother's before him........BIG!  When I sign off tonight, she (J) has been laboring all day and progressing at a snail pace (poor thing) but being a trooper about it all- Thank you Lord for Epidurals and an even bigger Thank you Lord that the result of labor is a precious baby!  Hang in there sis he is almost here.....UPDATED BELOW THIS PICTURE

Jodi

Very soon after I posted this my sis had her baby- The following text was sent out announcing the birth:
'Please say Happy Birthday to Toby James.  He is beautiful, he is healthy, and Jodi is holding him contentedly.  He will give his brothers a run for their money at 22 inches long and 10 lbs. 14 ounces.  Praise the Lord.  Thank you for your prayers, they were most definitely heard!'

 Also want to remember that today our Ellie is 18 months old.......Ellie you are such an amazing blessing, a gift from God, and a joy
Really quick, a few mile stones this month are:

• you say 'toot toot' when anyone around you (including yourself) farts
• you give knuckles to your dad and brothers
• given the chance you will eat bar soap while in the bath
• you choose riding on your daddy's back over riding on your horse hee haw
• your shoe size is between a 3 & 4, you weigh just under 20, and you are 29 inches high
• anything citrus gives you diaper rash
• inspired by your Auntie Molly (who's twins are about 6 weeks younger than Ellie and can say please and thank you) mommy taught you to say 'please' and 'thank you' (I also thought I was being all 'up with current parenting' by teaching Elle's to sign language the word 'please'- come to find out I taught her to sign 'more'- Sorry Christy W. we are not signers over here......but if a child ever needs nursed until they are at least 2 years old look me up...........bahahahahahahaaaa!!!

Night 1 of New Dinner Recipes

The positives of having the ache, fever, chill, headache flu is that while confined to either your couch or bed one can still accomplish things (where as, while having the stomach flu, making it to the toilet IN TIME consumes the entire sickness- hogging any other accomplishments that may come from being checked out of every day commitments for a day or two...).  All Thurs. afternoon and most of Fri. I found myself in the fever, chill, headache flu predicament-   By Fri. morning it was time to multi task- Along with letting the flu virus finish it's course I decided to recipe plan a weeks worth of new dinner recipes (something I have been meaning to do for awhile but could not seem to find the time to do).......
We tried the first one today and it was delicious and easy- I will share each one as we try it (want to make sure it is good before passing it on)-
I found this first recipe on Pinterest from a blogger named  Pineapple Grass.......... We had it today after church and it was YUMMY!

Buffalo Chicken Stromboli

Serves 4, or 2 very hungry eaters. I sliced into 8 strips to serve at a party.

I used shredded chicken instead of turkey, and a premade pizza dough. This is a fantastic stromboli. LOVED it!

Dough:

I used a canister of premade pizza dough, but the blog linked above has a recipe for homemade, if you prefer

Filling:

1 lb. boneless chicken breast

1/4 cup red hot sauce (I used one that was not hot but still had spice)

2 T. butter, melted

1 cup diced onions

3/4 cup bleu cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella

Oil, Parmesan, and fresh parsley for topping

Cook chicken on a grill, in a skillet, or by poaching. Once chicken is cooked through, shred or dice into 1-2″-1″ cubes and combine with Frank’s red hot and butter. Increase the amount of Frank's if you prefer a spicier dish.

Pre-heat oven to 425˚ with a baking stone (if you have one).

Role out pizza dough into a 16″x10″ rectangle with the 16″ edge parallel to your body. Leaving a 1″ border, spread chicken over dough (drizzle a little of the extra Frank’s over the chicken-about 2-3 T). Sprinkle Onions, Bleu cheese and mozzarella on top of that (the amount of cheese is really up to you). Beginning with the side closest to you, begin to roll the stromboli away from you. When finished, seal each end edge and the long edge by pinching the dough. Cut three-four slits in the top and brush with olive oil and sprinkle with fresh parsley and Parmesan  Slide onto baking stone (or sheet tray) and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the filling begins to bubble out and the crust is golden. Let cool slightly before cutting.

10 lb New Born Babies, Howling Dogs, & Christmas Caroling

What's in my head

• I keep thinking about Christmas lights and what is the best stratagy for lighting the outside of our house next year.....buy them the day after Christmas at an amazing discounted rate or (like I talked about in my last blog post) HIRE THEM DONE- or should we put them up at all??
• My sister Jodi is about to give birth to her 5th child- An average weight of her children at birth is over 10 lbs (I think the highest delivery weight for one of her kiddo's was 10 lbs. 8 oz.)- by the size of her stomach this pregnancy I am guessing this will be her biggest baby yet- She has 3 boys and 1 girl.........This pregnancy she is carrying a precious boy......................Jod, I am guessing he will weigh 10 lbs. 11 oz. and be 22.5 inches long with a birthdate of Dec. 23-
• Ellie and I went Christmas Caroling with our Church this past Sun. There is something so special about riding on a wagon (sitting on hay bales) behind a John Deere wishing people 'Merry Christmas' and singing them Christmas songs about Christ's Birth- 
• Lastly- It's been a struggle with my dog Oklie since Ellie has been born- Oke has struggled remembering that she is not the baby anymore in our family....she used to sleep with us, but over the past year or so we decided that she needed to sleep in her own bed by our bed.  It has been off and on but lately somewhat constant, she will get up in the night and either paw at the side of our bed or walk around in our bedroom (which wakes us up)- Late last week, after being woke up by her at 1 a.m. it was obvious that we needed to try something different.  My mom had an extra porta crib- Oke's bedding went in it, along with her water bowl and the whole thing went down stairs at the very farthest end of our house (on the other side of our TV).  After putting her in it and shutting the lights off (leaving her a night light on) I made my way to bed.....I shut my bedroom and covered my ears with my pillow when she started howling and figured the howling would stop eventually and she would get used to her new 'bedroom'- It ended fairly quickly and a full nights sleep for Matt and I followed.......In the morning I was walking by the boys bedroom and saw that they had brought the porta crib she was in up to their room and she was sound asleep in it.  I asked them about it when they got up- Eli said he could not stand hearing her howl and figured she just wanted to be by somebody so he brought her to their room- that is where she has been every night since!  Very cute!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Tues.

This is my sister's last baby (Caleb) at 3 days old- He weighed well over 10 lbs at birth.......
OUCH!

Remembering Pearl Harbor

I wrote this post Dec. 7, 2012

Today, the 71 years would read 74 years, but other than that all would stay the same.

Remembering Pearl Harbor

71 years........

December 7, 1941

My family and I were able to make a trip to Pearl Harbor in 2009

Talking to the Veterans who had survived the attack was sobering

The quiet ride out to the USS Arizona was done with an unspeakable reverence

Standing on the memorial platform that over looked the sight and reading the soldiers names who had lost their brave lives was heart wrenching

After the visit to Pearl Harbor we made the 24 mile trek to

 National Memorial Cemetery (also known as Punch Bowl).....To me, the look and 'feeling' was a lot like that of Arlington National Cemetery only land wise, much smaller. The respect shown at all three Memorial's brought tears of thankfulness for our brave soldiers who risk their lives daily for the freedom of our Counrty. 

For those who have given their lives, you have not been forgotten- Nor will you be.

Thank you soldiers.

Thank you soldiers families.

 I am proud to be an American!

' In these gardens are recorded the names of the American's who gave their lives in the service of their country.......'

Pearl Harbor

Punch Bowl National Cemetery

Just Random

10 Random Thoughts

1. I was walking with Ryan a week or so ago- As we rounded the first corner in our subdivision the house on the corner immediately stood out........the Christmas lights looked amazing- they were on the house and in the yard....simple red and white lights that did not dangle but were fixed on the house. Two red and one white was the pattern- It reminded me of a ginger bread house. As I walked in awe by it I also noticed a small sign in the yard that read the name of a professional 'Christmas light' company-Outstanding Idea!! No digging around in the attic only to find the lights and spend most of the day untangling :(- I wonder how much having your house professionally lighted costs?
2. In an effort to learn more about making Jam, I was reading an article on the different types of berries that make a good jam and came across a Tayberry.......... 'A tayberry is a hybrid of a blackberry and a raspberry. Originally from Scotland, tayberry plants have large, sweet berries.' ............hummmm......I did not know that!
3. Laying on my night stand open faced and faced down indicating the last page I read is the book 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.' The book's name brings a smile to my face and makes me think of you Kelly W. and us sitting around the kitchen in the big house at Kipu Kai discussing books we have read :)
4. I have a longing for my boys to shoot a turkey, de-feather it before they bring it home, and I will cook it for them- In my vision of longing, I see all 5 of us sitting around our table eating something tough and stringy but being completely proud of it none the less.....Here's to my wild side :)
5. Ellie started saying 'Thank You'.....it comes out as 'tank-eeewww'
6. My sister in law Liz is one of the most beautiful people I know both inside and out- She has courageously battled and been victorious over an eating disorder- In her battle the Lord has taught her several truth's and given her incredible insight into the roots of where eating disorders began for her- If your interested, here is the link to a post she 'posted' today: The not so airbrushed truth- I love you precious Liz a beth and admire God's strength in you!
7. Every Christmas the same song takes my breath away and brings tears to my eyes.....'Mary did you know that your baby boy has walked where angles trod- when you kiss your little baby you kiss the face of God'
8. My cousin Becca is looking to re-home her maybe pregnant rabbit- If your interested PM me and I will pass the info on to her- On a side note, I wonder how many babies the maybe pregnant rabbit could possibly have? (hee)
9. Speaking of rabbits- I bought (at Goodwill) an adorable off white sweater originally from Banana Republic- It has a soft expensive feel to it so I flipped the tag over to see what it was made out of- Angora Wool
10. For a BEAUTIFUL listen click here........

Hope you are all having a great Thurs,
Steph





Lizabeth and I

Beard vs. Christmas Tree

When it comes to Christmas tree's, I would head on down to the local lot and buy our tree then decorate it so that when others either came into my house or drove by they would oooohhh and aaaaaahhhh over it's perfection
I also need to add that last week my husband did not shave for several days with his mind set on growing a beard like the guys on Duck Dynasty

I knew the battle needed to be carefully chosen.........both would not be won
I choose the battle of the beard
This past Sun. my clean shaven husband loaded up the fam to go search the mountains for the perfect Christmas tree- He promised both wonderful family memories and a tree with character (which means lop sides, sparse,and some rare abnormality :)
I also made him add to his promises that he would not take us four by'ing as we headed into the mountains or on a family 'hunting' trip because his practical mind would see it as accomplishing 2 things at once (the dead deer hanging out the back of the truck and the Christmas tree hanging over the top of the truck onto the windshield.......no thank you........but on total side note it makes me think about the movie 'Australia'- the part where Nicole Kidman is admiring the kangaroo hopping along side the vehicle she is in- you hear a shot- the next scene shows the dead kangaroo on top of the vehicle and a look of horror on her face)
It was a wonderful family time........

There it is :)

 



I will add more pictures of both our Christmas Tree hunt and our family tree decorating later- For some reason my blog will not upload anymore pics-