Attempting to be a Super Mom

This restaurant that we, and I believe most people in Lawrence, love released the recipe to one of their famous soups in April and we finally got around to trying it.  It was A-MAZING! Free State Brewing Company Cheddar Ale Soup Ingredients: 4 tablespoons salted butter 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/4 cup minced yellow onion 1/4 cup small diced red bell pepper 1/4 cup small diced green bell pepper 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 cup Free State Ad Astra ale 3 ounces cream cheese 3 cups cream 2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon white pepper 1 teaspoon hot sauce Fresh parsley and thyme to taste 6 ounces grated Alma white or yellow cheddar cheese Directions: In 1 tablespoon butter, cook onion, peppers and garlic until onion is transparent. Add remaining butter and flour, stir well and cook mixture on medium-low heat for 5 minutes, stirring often. Add beer in small increments, mixing smooth after each addition. Cut cream cheese into smaller chunks and add to mixture. Mash and stir c...

I got this recipe from  Food Network  and it turned out great.  I'm not usually a fan of cranberry sauce but I really liked this one. Cranberry Sauce Ingredients: 1 lb Cranberries, cleaned and dried 2 cups sugar 1/3 cup water 1 cinnamon stick 1/2 tsp ground allspice 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1 orange, zested and juiced Directions: In a medium saucepan, combine the cranberries, sugar and water.  Stir to make sure it's all mixed well.  Cook over medium heat until boiling.  Add the cinnamon stick, nutmeg, and allspice, stir and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for an additional 5-7 minutes.  Some cranberries will burst and some won't.  Add the orange zest and juice.  Allow to cool before serving.

I made these for Thanksgiving and they were so good!  I can't believe how amazing they turned out.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of them. Cinnamon Apples Ingredients: 4 to 6 apples, peeled, cored and sliced 1/2 cup, firmly packed light brown sugar 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 2 tbsp water 2 tbsp butter Directions: Toss the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a zip lock bag and shake it up, making sure to coat the apples with the mixture. Cook the apple mixture with the water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the apples are tender. You can serve them warm, or like we did, eat them cold. Enjoy!

I'm a little late on that, I know.  I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.  Nothing is better to me than spending time with people you love and delicious food.  We had a wonderful and really relaxing day.  I did all of my cooking the day before so I could relax.  Thanksgiving morning, Shawn got up to play football with his friends and the kids and I laid in bed and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  We spent the entire parade waiting for the Buzz Lightyear balloon which turned out to be about one of the last things in the parade.  Ben was so excited to see it.  Then we went to Terry's (a family friend who is pretty much family) and had a wonderful lunch/dinner with Shawn and Terry's families.  It was wonderful.  Friday night, we had dinner at Terry's house again.  Yummy leftovers! This coming week I have a few goals...  Get my car tagged, come up with ideas for our advent calendar, try at least one new recipe, wor...

I promise you haven't been forgotten.  I've got 2 crafts and an update to post and every time I think I'm going to have a little time to do it, something else comes up.  I thought I would have time tonight, but now we have tickets to the Jayhawks game.  I'm not complaining, I'm excited to go, I just wanted to give a quick update to say I haven't forgotten the blog.

Yay!  My power cord finally came last night.  We purchased a spare as well, so hopefully I don't get caught like that again.  Does anyone else have problems with their laptop power cords fraying near where it plugs into the computer? Halloween came and went.  We did some fun stuff to celebrate.  As shown in an early post, we made and frosted sugar cookies.  We also made rice crispy treats with Halloween sprinkles, carved pumpkins, did a ghost craft with cotton balls, and roasted pumpkin seeds. These are the kids pumpkins. Ben and his "scary" pumpkin.  Me and Shawn's pumpkins. We did 3 different kinds. 1. Cinnamon and sugar 2. Seasoning salt 3. Salt, garlic powder, and curry powder. The day before Halloween, one of Shawn's cousin's got married, and we went to the wedding in Omaha.  Ben was sick, and I was worried about the car ride.  It wasn't too bad, but Ben didn't do well on the ride home.  Sha...

I promise I have not forgotten about my blog.  I have so much a want and need to post about, but my lap top power cord bit the big one, and I'm trying to find the best deal for a new one.  I have a desk top set up in the office/sewing room, but with 2 small children, it's hard to sneak away for long enough.  If I'm lucky Ben naps, and that's what's happening now, but he only naps one or two days a week.  Like I said, I haven't forgotten, it's just going to take me a little bit, at least until we get the new lap top power cord.