Easy "potato" card

How about making this cute, cheap and easy to make "potato" card. Potato serves as a stamp after you can something from it with your craft knife or even a paring knife.

Draw a shape.

 Use a knife to cup the shape. Be careful!

Put some acrylic pain on it.

Stamp and decorate the card as you wish.

Soup week

It was supposed to be a soup week. But as always there were a few hold backs.

Monday - White chili
Tuesday - Split pea soup
Wednesday - Chicken tortilla soup
Thursday - Lentil soup
Friday - Hearty cream of chicken soup

On Monday, when I was about to cook dinner, I discovered that I didn't have any white beans. I usually always do. Beans are a staple in my house. I did have dry white beans, but seeing that it was half an hour before dinner, I had no time to cook the beans. So we ended up having a regular chili, that turned out delicious.

On Tuesday, I did make split pea soup. We don't eat bacon often, so having a soup with bacon is a treat. Unfortunately, half of that delicious crispy and salty bacon doesn't make it the pot :) Husbik (aka my husband) took the leftovers to work, and when he came home complemented my soup again.

On Wednesday, our family went to the nursery to look at the trees, so we ended up eating out.

On Thursday, I felt like pure vegetable, so we had steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots with mashed potatoes and delicious grilled lemon chicken.

On Friday (aka today) I am making Chicken tortilla soup. So good!

It's been very hot the last couple of days, so I guess I should be surprised that my soup week didn't quite work out.

Here is the recipe

Split pea soup with bacon

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic

3 potatoes

2 bay leaves

1 ½ cup dried green split peas, rinsed

6 cups water

½ lb cooked ham, diced

6 slices bacon

Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped fresh parsley

Cut bacon into small pieces.  Dry-fry bacon in a large saucepan until crispy. Remove from bacon from the pan with a slotted spoon.

Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the fat in the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute longer.

Add the split peas, potatoes, water, and bay leaf, raise heat to high and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 50 minutes hour. Add diced ham and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Using a blender, puree HALF of the soup until smooth and creamy. Return to the pot with the soup and reheat if necessary until very hot.

Ladle into warmed soup bowls; sprinkle with crumbled bacon and parsley over tops. Serve. 

Chicken soup with rice

My kids and I had so much fun eating today's dinner. Daddy was with us too, but he didn't know what we were talking about. We checked out "Chicken soup with rice" book at the library and have read it a couple of times during last week. Today we made a simple chicken soup with rice. It was so simple, I am not even going to post a recipe here. However, the kids loved eating the soup. During dinner we made up different verses using the line "chicken soup with rice" just like the book did. Needless to say, the bowls were cleared.

Go and have fun with your food. Eat it together with your children. Nutrition for the body and family time for the soul - dinner doesn't get much better.

Christlike attributes

Today in Young Women we discussed how much need we have to develop Christlike attributes in us.

In 2 Nephi 31:16 we read:

"And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved".

To find true happiness, we need to live according to the plan that loving Heavenly Father prepared for us. Who lived the plan perfectly? Of course, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

My goal for this week is to learn more about Christ's attributes, so I can concentrate on developing them too - sincerely living, loving, and forgiving like He did.

I will use the a lesson from "Preach My Gospel". If you want to do it too, here is the link: http://lds.org/languages/additionalmanuals/preachgospel/PreachMyGospel___13_06_ChristlikeAttributes__36617_eng_013.pdf

Delicious Russian cookies with Dulce de leche

Формы для приготовления этого печенья бывают разные. Стандартная форма ОРЕШКИ. У нас форма,из которой получаются грибочки, белочки, и шишечки.
Наша форма используется на газовой плите или электрических комфорках, но бывают и электрические формы.





Ингредиенты:

1. 2 яйца
2. 1/2 ст. сахара
3. 250 гр. маргарина или сливочного масла
4. цепотка соли
5. 1/2 ч.л. соды
6. 1 ст.л. уксуса
7. 3 ст. муки
8. грецкие орехи или пиканс
9. 1 банка Dulce de Leche (сваренное сгущенное молоко - продается в то же отделе, что и обычное сгущенное молоко)



Приготовление:

1. Масло растопить на огне, добавить сахар, соль, перемешать, остудить.
2. Добавить соду, погашенную уксусом, яйца и муку.
3. Тесто перемешать до однородной консистенции.
4. Из теста сформировать небольшие шарики, положить в нижнюю часть формы, прижать верхней частью и выпекать на низком огне до золотисто-коричневого цвета. Проверяйте часто, чтобы не подгорели. (После нескольких попыток можно лучше знать, сколько теста нужно ложить для каждого печенья, чтобы оно не вытекало по краям и не было слишком толстым. Я форму ничем не смазываю, так как в тесте много масла и оно не прилипает.)
5. Печенье вынять из формы и дать остыть. Обломать излишки теста для крошки.
6. Для начинки: измельчить остатки печенья для крошки и перемешать с измельченными орехами и Dulce de Leche.
7. Заполнить половинки печений начинкой и склеить.

Пальчики оближешь!

Our favorite Crockpot chili

I have never tried chili until I came to the United States. At first I wasn't too keen on chili, but a few years ago I made my own chili inspired by Robin Miller from Food Network. Everyone in my family loves it. We make it anywhere between twice a week to once in two weeks. Sometimes I make it vegetarian, and sometimes I add lean ground beef. It required minimal preparation and tastes yummy.

FOR VEGETARIAN VERSION, DO NOT ADD MEAT (and replace chicken broth with water)

Phelps Chili
Phelps favorite chili recipe – it is yummy and healthy!

Ingredients:
Each can is 15 ounces
1 lb ground beef, browned
2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup chopped onion
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ jalapeno pepper, minced (can use more if you like)
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
Can add some chicken broth if not enough liquid from tomatoes

------------------------------------------------
Monterey jack cheese (or you can use Cheddar cheese)
Chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and ground black pepper

In a slow cooker, combine all ingredients until the line.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Just before serving, top each serving with shredded cheese and cilantro.



Bon Appetite!

Homemade baby food (vegetables)

I make homemade baby food all the time.

This doesn't mean that I don't buy any commercial baby food. Sometimes commercial baby food is a great option. For example, my baby loves mango smoothies. Mango's are pricey and not always ripe enough. Also, when you are on-the-go, commercial foods are great, because they are sealed and won't spoil.

For most days, it is easy and cheap to make and serve baby food at home. I usually make pureed sweet potatoes, yams, squash, green beans, and carrots. I make a lot and then freeze them for easy meals. I don't freeze fruits, because I prefer them not cooked so they retain more nutrients. I just keep fresh fruit on hand.

Here is how I prepare carrots (this method works for other veggies).

First of all, you need a steamer. I believe everyone need to have one (not just for making baby food). It is very inexpensive.

So put it in your pot and fill the pot with water until it reaches the steamer.

Peel your carrots. (I buy a huge bag of organic carrots from Costco for $5.49. And make sure you use a vegetable peeler, because it saves a lot of time)

Cut up carrots into more or less equal pieces. I didn't do a very good job this time, so it took a little longer for thick pieced to become soft. Steam the carrots covered on medium heat until they are soft. Make sure you check if you have sufficient water in the pot, because it can burn. I burned my pots plenty of times, especially when the pot was small and I was destructed by something.

Put steamed carrots in the blender and fill the blender halfway with liquid from the steamer. It is better then water, because it has some of the nutrients from carrots. Blend until smooth. While blending, you might need to add more liquid.

When it is nice and smooth, fill clean ice trays (I bought them specifically for freezing baby food) with puree and stack them in the freezer.

When it is frozen, get them out (I slide a knife on one side of the cube to easy it out) and put them into freezer bags. It is wise to write what it is and prep day on the bag. Squash and yams, for example, are almost the same color. On the picture, I have a bag with pureed sweet potatoes.

When it is time to eat, take as many cubes as you need and thaw. I place mine into a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for about 1 minute.

My baby loves homemade food. I love it too, because with very little preparation, I have healthy vegetables for my baby's meals every day.

Try it yourself.