7 Quick Takes: Random Friday Thoughts

7 Quick Takes: Random Friday Thoughts

Here's another fast link up

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Seriously, sometimes I feel like I'm cheating at this whole blog thing. I'm probably taking the easy way out linking up, but it's such a great spring board for jumpstarting posts! So... thank you to all those creative enough to start link ups, so I can participate and not have to think up an entirely original post...

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I think baby has DROPPED! Meaning I've started to waddle, or at least, I think I'm waddling. Of course my doctor will probably tell me Monday that no such thing has happened, she won't arrive for weeks, and I've just gained more weight- resulting in my new waddle :)

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I read a little post on FB today about one woman's journey to "unplug" herself and her family. I decided to get my smallest toe wet in this area by suggesting a card game tonight with hubby instead of the usual 3 episodes of Chuck or White Collar. We played this game:

My parents got it for us for Christmas and it's a lot of fun! Hubby won by two points... which means he will agree to play this game again in the future ;)



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I've been trying really hard to keep Fridays meatless. My mom gave me a vegetarian cookbook for my Birthday and it's for the crockpot! I LOVEEE my crockpot. I came home for my hour lunch today and was able to throw together everything for dinner and eat my lunch before I had to drive back. Alas, I did not keep the day meatless (instead gave up chocolate... which I think is harder at this time in my life), but helped hubby keep it that way!

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We had Potato Cheddar soup with frozen biscuits from Schwans. Those biscuits cannot be healthy, but they taste oh soo good. I once suggested I make my own biscuits and freeze them instead of spending the extra money on the Schwans ones. Hubby dolefully looked at me and then asked, "When they don't taste as good, can we go back to buying the Schwans ones?" He is so lucky he loves the rest of the food I normally make him ;)

Anyway, here is the recipe, because it was so easy and delicious!

Ingredients:
2 lbs unpeeled red potatoes, cut into small cubes
3/4 cup chopped carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup half and half
1/4 tspn black pepper
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

What you do:
1. Put veggies and broth in crock pot and cook on low 6-7 hours.
2. Stir in half and half and pepper. Cover, cook on high for 15-20 minutes. Turn off and stir in cheese until melted.
3. Serve with bread and enjoy!

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I am the world's worst procrastinator. My lack of a hospital bag at almost 38 weeks pregnant provides testimony to the extent of my procrastinating abilities. The fact that I'd also rather blog about how I don't have my bag together instead of just walking upstairs and throwing some clothes together probably also speaks volumes. Too bad I can't also just procrastinate away the anxiety resulting from the lack of said bag....

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I've been indulging in the ultimate teeny-bopper Christian novel series: The River of Time Series by Lisa T. Bergren. It's cute and completely unbelievable, but, hey, sometimes you need an easy, mindless flick to read. There is a bit of Bella'ish obsession with the main character regarding her love interest, but the time travel and medieval time period have made up for that so far ;)

Thanks for joining my ramblings, but for more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Delicious Butternut Squash Soup

Disclaimer: I wrote this post about two months ago, so the commentary is out of date, but the recipe is still good!

So I have about three or four recipes that I've put on a list to share on the blog, and they've sat there for about two months! However, one of them I just have to get on here now before fall is over. It's a little time consuming, but you can make lots, freeze some, or just eat it all week!

Butternut Squash Granny Smith Bisque

Ingredients:
2 Medium butternut squash
1 Vidalia onion or sweet onion
1 carrot or handful of baby carrots
1 large granny smith apple
3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup apple cider
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tblspn maple syrup
2 tblspn butter
1/4- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 tblspn apple cider vinegar

How To:

1. Peel squash and chop up into cubes. Discard "guts". Put in large pot, cover with water by 1 in. and boil for 20 minutes or until soft. Drain water and mash.

2. Dice apple, onion, and carrot. Saute in soup pot with butter for about 3-5 minutes. Dump into large pot with squash. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, syrup, vinegar, and cider. Saute in large pot for a couple minutes.

3. Bring pot to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Use blender to puree until smooth.

5. If you are going to freeze some of the soup, take out what you want to freeze now.

6. Return your puree to low heat and add heavy cream.

Enjoy!

Note: if you want to use this for a meatless Friday or just vegetarian, make sure you use the vegetable broth instead of chicken.

Delightful Drinks

Happy New Year!
Is it just me or does it seem that everyone is hating on 2013, but completely assured that 2014 is going to be the best year yet? That is just the sense I've gotten from Facebook. I have my own theories on superstitions of how good/bad a year is going to be. 1) Even numbered years are always better than odd and 2) A bad New Year's Eve results in a good year.
Now, my NYE wasn't necessarily bad or good. The highlights are as follows: 1) I had a major allergic reaction due to a cat and dog being at the house I was at 2) I signed up for a half marathon at midnight (yay!) and 3) We made some delicious drinks- recipes to follow after this funny picture of a swaddled cat.

I'm not sure how popular Moscow Mules are in other cities, but in Omaha they are pretty much the hottest (hottest as in trendy terms, not temperature terms) drink around. I assume this is due to the rise in the hipster culture because it seems to have been dubbed as a hipster drink.  In case you are unaware, it is basically ginger beer, vodka, lime juice and a lime garnish. It's signature trademark is that it is served in a copper mug. It is light, refreshing, and flavorful without being too sweet (or bitter or sour or dry, etc.). 

My cousin made the drinks for us (and she happens to own copper mugs, which is essential for any hipster host), but I looked up the recipe and it is as follows: 

Moscow Mule: 

2 oz. vodka 

1 oz. lime juice

8 oz. ginger beer 

garnish with lime 

As is standard, even for the hipsters, champagne was served at midnight. A trick I use to jazz up our champagne is to put some berries in it. Last year I tried raspberries, but this year I went with the blackberries (mostly because the raspberries were $4.00 and the blackberries were only .99 cents). It is simple and easy to add the berries in. First, crush the berries in a bowl, then spoon them into the glasses, pour the champagne in, and make a toast! 

Voila! Your champagne is pretty, unique, and even more tasty! 

And there you have it. Two drinks to add to your hostess with the mostest repertoire.  Cheers to 2014!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Don't worry, I didn't forget that Christmas day already happened last week. We are just starting our Christmas celebration since Advent just ended and Christmas actually continues on into February (perks of being Catholic). What this means for me: it was totally ok that I didn't even get the Christmas tree set up until Christmas day, I can still add all the ornaments other than the three and giant angel currently on the tree without feeling guilty, I can still make my chocolate, walnut, cranberry bark, and I can still send out the Christmas cards to friends and family that didn't quite make it to the mailbox yet.

As pathetic as all that sounds, I actually was on top of a few things this Christmas. For example, Jeremy and I had most of our Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. However, this was more due to necessity rather than any grand planning on my part. We saw Jeremy's side of the family in October and my family for Thanksgiving, so I figured I should have all the Christmas presents ready instead of shipping them for Christmas, because we all know that would never end up happening and cost a small fortune. After having done the shopping this way though, I think I'll stick to it for the future. It was so much less stressful to casually shop for people throughout the year, I didn't have to brave the crazy stores right before Christmas, and I think I actually saved money with better deals and really taking the time to find gifts that fit each person.

Christmas at home was pretty quiet, but really nice. Jeremy and I got dressed up and went to mass in the morning. I made him take a picture to document baby's "first" Christmas. We really need a tripod though so we can take family pictures. I'm just over 33 weeks here!

Jeremy and I had already accidently figured out or found out almost all the gifts we were exchanging, so we tackily agreed to forego wrapping any gifts. It was slightly hilarious.

We got together with some friends for dinner in their new home. I volunteered to make the ham, potatoes, and homemade macaroni and cheese. I used this recipe for the ham in the crockpot. It was delicious! The smallest ham I found was over 9 lbs, so I had to cover everything with tin foil instead of the lid and we are still eating leftovers. I'll include the recipe for the macaroni and cheese at the end. Our friends made some delicious apple pies, green beans, and cranberry sauce from fresh cranberries! After dinner we played Jeremy's new game, Ticket to Ride.

We both missed our families, but without all the craziness of traveling and emphasis on gift giving, I felt a bit more connected to the real reason for the season. I found time to reflect on the tiny child born in Bethlehem and his young, holy mother. It reminded me to pray more for our own growing family and to savor all the blessings we have received. I said a little prayer to our little one in heaven whom we lost last Advent season due to miscarriage and requested they pray for their new sibling arriving in a few short weeks. Overall, Christmas was beautiful and I wouldn't change a single nuance :) I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas day and continue to enjoy this gorgeous season of celebration!

Macaroni and Cheese (adapted from Martin's recipe)

Ingredients:
16 oz box macaroni
3/4 cup milk
1 1/5 cups heavy cream
1 cup sour cream
4 1/2 -5 TBLspn flour
3/4 stick butter (6 TBLspns)
4 cups shredded cheese blend (mine is a blend of cheddar, Monterey, and American)
3/4 tspn onion powder
3/4 tspn garlic powder
1/4 tspn salt (optional)
1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions:
1. cook macaroni, set aside
2. melt butter in a medium saucepan. When melted and bubbling gently, add flour and whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk and cream while whisking. Allow sauce to thicken (you can add more flour if you need to at this point).
3. Add sour cream and whisk until smooth.
4. Add 3 cups of cheese and mix until melted and smooth
5. Whisk in garlic, onion powder, and salt. Turn heat down to lowest setting and stir occasionally.
6. Place macaroni in a casserole dish (you may need more than one!), and pour sauce over it until thickly covered. Mix and add sauce as needed.
7. Sprinkle with leftover cheese and breadcrumbs.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese on top melts and is slightly brown.

This freezes really nicely in disposable aluminum pans. You could almost make it heartier by adding shredded chicken, real onions, and other veggies!

Slow Cooker Tortellini

Apologies in advance for the lack of photography. I haven't quite mastered the art of capturing delectable mushy food ( Crispy on the other hand I make look good right?). Therefore, I shall attempt to make this dish sound almost as delicious as it really is!

Confession: I found this on Pinterest; no claims to creativity here. But, I just had to share it because it is delicious, perfect for meatless Fridays during Lent (or whenever), oh, and did I mention it's easy? Ridiculously, wonderfully easy.

You will need:
A large slow cooker (6 quarts)
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 bag of tortellini (I used cheese stuffed)
1 block of cream cheese
2 14 oz  cans diced tomatoes
1 box or 4 cups of vegetable broth
Garlic powder and Italian seasoning to taste

What you do:
Pour the vegetable broth, drained tomatoes and block of cream cheese in the bottom of the slow cooker. Chunk up the cream cheese (Um, I used a big spoon, but however you are able to mush up sticky, mushy cream cheese into large chunks easily will work just as well)
Add the whole bag of spinach. Mix it up a bit to get all the spinach to mush down a bit (Lots of mushiness in this recipe). Then mix in your tortellini. Add seasonings. Cook on low for 4 hours. Stir up about 15 minutes before done and then again right before serving. Make sure all the cream cheese is mixed in.

The sauce should look nice and creamy. We served it in bowls since it was a bit more like soup the first time. It was a bit thicker the second time (haven't quite figured out why yet), but still just as delicious.

Review:
Hubby loved this, I loved this, guests have loved it the two times I've served it, so I would rate this recipe a success. Also, it took me literally about five minutes to dump everything in the slow cooker which is another bonus. Great for cold winter nights or when you're craving comfort food. Enjoy!