So, after I got the mid-morning call from the school telling me I needed to come get Big Girl (she is sick) I envisioned myself as my GPS whenever we miss a turn along our route…

“Rerouting” it says.

Yep, that’s what my day has been like… actually, that’s what the past few weeks have been like – personally and professionally.  It’s been one of those MONTHS.

Rerouting…

But it’s OK.  I’m adjusting. I’m adapting. I’m surviving. (and sleeping really well at night. All this adapting makes a girl tired!)

So, today, I think I will focus on right now…

Right now: I’m nursing my sick one, making her favorite foods, keeping her hydrated and entertained (thank goodness for NetFlix streaming)

Right now: I’m enjoying a cup of a new tea I discovered at my retreat last weekend. Light and refreshing. Like Spring in a cup.

Right now: I’m wishing I had the luxury of time to curl up and read (or knit) and sip some of that tea for hours on end… and realizing I would probably be so utterly bored if I really did have that kind of time.

Right now: I’m thankful for the warm weather, tired of the rain and gloomy days, and wishing (at the same time) that we had some really cold weather and snow (Yes, I know that is a little nuts)

Right now: I’m marveling at my girls’ creativity – these are their pottery creations they painted last week on their day off.

Right now: I’m also marveling at the girls’ teachers and their creativity. Look at what Little Bit did for math this week – well, math and science. How cool?

Right now: I’m utterly hooked on Downton Abbey and watching the first three episodes of the new season over and over and over again. I can’t wait until the next episode.

Right now: I’m thankful for rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. I just don’t have it in me to cook dinner tonight. I’m thinking rotisserie chicken, rice and a salad works.

Right now: I’m trying to plan ahead, realizing that it is probably futile with a sickie in the house… but trying to plan nonetheless. I can’t help it. It’s genetic.

Right now: I’m listening to the 9,037th episode of Phineas & Ferb blaring in the living room and remembering to be thankful she is happy and occupied rather than annoyed at the sound of such a silly show.

Right now: I’m missing my momma and wishing we lived closer so we could sit together and enjoy a cup of tea and conversation whenever we wanted.

Right now: I’m going to go be with my baby.

I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Rerouting…

or when someone is not feeling well (like I’ve had around here off and on for the past week or two)

it’s a good time to turn to the foods you know will not only fill you up but that will comfort you and make you feel good, too.

Big Girl has been under the weather today. So, my initial menu plan for Asian Chicken stir-fry was probably not going to be a good choice. She’s got a tummy bug and any kind of Asian food is not a good choice when you have a tummy ache.

So, enter Plan B – soup. 

Potato Soup, to be exact.

I absolutely LOVE potato soup, but don’t eat it very often since my surgery. It’s pretty much a carb-fest (which is why it is so good) and my little tummy doesn’t like a carb-fest very often. But with Big Girl’s tummy needing something soothing, I decided to make her some.

As a matter of fact, Potato Soup was my food of choice as a girl. We had a family friend that would make it for me whenever I asked and I absolutely loved it. I’ve never had a match to what she used to make. It was just the right mix of creaminess and chunks of potato. Absolutely divine.

I found a crock-pot recipe on Pinterest (I love that website!) and edited/altered to suit what I had on hand and what I knew my family would like.

All I can say is YUM.  It is sooo good. I can’t wait to serve it to everyone tonight. (that’s black bean soup in the baby crock pot – I’m trying out a new recipe and will post when I get it mastered)

I’ll toast some bread in the same fashion my family friend used to make – she would cut bread slices into “fingers” and toast them until they were golden brown and crispy.  Then you dip those into the soup – heaven. Absolute heaven.

Topped with some cheddar cheese and a sprinkle of pepper, this is simply divine. This is the closest to Mary’s soup I’ve ever had.

Comfort food at it’s best.

I hope you’ll give it a try sometime. (And I’ll be sharing the Black Bean Soup recipe soon, too – it’s yummy but I’m still working on consistency. Once I get that right, I’ll post the recipe)

Here’s the Potato Soup recipe:

Crock Pot Potato Soup

1 32 oz bag of Southern-style hash brown potatoes (the chunked kind, not shredded)
1 box of chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup diced onion (I used the frozen diced ones)
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 2 cloves if you use fresh)
Salt/Pepper
1 package Low fat cream cheese (not fat free) (should be room temp)

• Add all ingredients (except cream cheese) to the crock pot.
• Cook on Low for 6-8 hours. (If you are going to be home, start it on high for about 2 hrs and then drop it down to low for the remainder of the time)
• About an hour before serving, put the cream cheese in the soup. Use an immersion blender to mix the cream cheese into the soup and to puree the potatoes.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you could scoop out some of your soup into a blender of food processor and mix the cheese into that soup and then add it back to the crock pot and mix it all together.

Serve with shredded sharp cheddar cheese, diced cooked bacon, diced scallions (if you desire) and toasted bread “fingers.”

I didn’t do much on my Project Life last week – I took pictures and collected things, but I was out of town all weekend, so my plan of working on the week’s pages every Saturday was not going to happen. I have everything figured out, just need to print my pictures and slide them in the pockets.

That’s one of the things I love about this type of scrapbooking. Even when I get behind it doesn’t feel overwhelming. I know that I can catch up pretty easily. 

I’m trying out a journaling program called Oh Life – you can set it up to email you every day to remind you to post a quick entry. You just respond to the email and the entry is logged. Super simple. I’ve done a few entries – some days I have nothing to say – but it helps when I sit down to do my Project Life because I have something to refer back to.

I also use my calendar to keep track of happenings – I jot down a few notes and then I also have our schedule there to help jog my memory if I get way behind. That was how I was able to do four months’ worth of catch up in just a weekend not too long ago.

I do have the pages from the week before last, so I thought I’d show those to you today:

This was the week both girls were sick – and we were socked in with rain. So, that is what my journaling is about mostly – sickness and rain.  And the bottom right picture are the biscuits I made for breakfast that the girls didn’t eat – heart-shaped biscuits. They were yummy – the girls just didn’t feel like eating that day. (strep and tummy bugs will do that to you)

I included a New Year’s card from a friend, the church bulletin for the week, and the kids’ report cards in some smaller page protectors. 

And on the back is Big Girl’s justification as to why we should let her get a kitten for her birthday (not!) It was too cute not to save.

I still have to print Saturday’s picture and put it in there and add the journaling for the second half of the week.  The bottom left is a sweet card my friend sent me that I wanted to save.

So, that’s my week.

I’ll get caught up on last week and this week on Saturday, I hope. I have to go get some more printer paper – I ran out! (that’s part of why I’m behind!)

You can see more Project Life pages over on The Mom Creative via her Project Life Tuesday link up.

So much so that I am starting to wonder if we all need arks to get around or if maybe God is trying to tell us something? (like clean up your act!?!)

I’m back at home after spending a beautiful, relaxing and peaceful weekend at a women’s retreat in NW Georgia. It was at the WinShape Retreat center on the Berry College campus. Absolutely beautiful.

This is the grounds of the retreat facility. The buildings used to be dairy barns and they have retained the rustic ceilings inside and created beautiful meeting spaces and lodge rooms for the guests.

Every time I go I hate to leave. It is so peaceful and the staff is so welcoming. You feel cossetted in a cocoon of loveliness the whole time you are there. It is a perfect place for a retreat.

This was my second year attending the retreat. Last year we were blanketed in snow and it was freezing.  This year, we had rain and gloom but the temperatures were pretty mild.

I actually went for a walk on Saturday afternoon – in the rain, initially, and then it cleared up. I walked to the “Old Mill” that was the original grain mill. It was waaay back in the woods, but well worth the walk (even in the rain) as it was beautiful to see.

I wandered around campus for a while, enjoying the scenery and then went back to my room for an epic nap. The kind that songs should be written about – it was that good. 

The afternoon and evening were spent with some very special ladies and then Sunday morning we had one more session and headed back home to our families. I hated to leave and yet at the same time I couldn’t wait to get home to see SuperMan and the girls.

Now I’m back to reality and have been kicked out of the cocoon until next year.

I need to figure out how to sustain that “retreat glow” a little bit longer…

http://www.drawastickman.com/ 

Happy Friday!

My brain is in high gear these days. A lot going on at work and a fun weekend ahead = busy brain for me. Thinking of all those things I need to do and shouldn’t forget meant waking up at 4 and never going back to sleep.

Now I feel like I have socks for brains. Warm and fuzzy but not much good for higher thinking.

It probably doesn’t help that I have the remnants of a cold. Thank goodness for EmergenC and vitamins to get me over it quickly and make sure it never got to be too bad of a cold.

So, it’s a short post today. Not much to share.

Here are some of my Project Life pictures for the week so far:

My usual Thursday stop at the Bank.  Say hello to Ms. Joyce, everyone. You can’t see her, but she’s back there behind that window. She is the nicest teller lady and takes good care of me and all my crazy business transactions.

And this is my new “assistant.” I think I’m going to call her “Helen.”

Say hello, Helen.

Helen is my new hands-free device so that I can talk on all these conference calls for work without having to hold on to my phone while I drive… or talk to my mommy while I sit in carpool line.  My sweet neighbor shared her with me and I love her. The kids are not so amused as they listen to all of my conference calls as we drive home from school (thank goodness there is a mute button) but hey, it keeps both hands on the wheel, and that is important, right?

I’ll be spending the weekend with some sweet ladies – I’m headed to a retreat. I need the retreat, that is for sure. Looking forward to no internet access and some quiet time for my brain.

How has your week been going? Is it as crazy as mine has been?

• not sure this soup has a name, but if it did, it should most definitely have cheese in the name of it. It’s kinda like Chicken Tortilla soup met cheese dip and had a baby and this is the love child.  Very good and great on a cold winter day.
• I made these biscuits for breakfast one morning.  The kids wouldn’t eat them (I think because they were both sick and I made them with whole wheat flour) but SuperMan and I loved them. (I made me-maw’s biscuits from this post)
• I made these sausage balls a while back (for Christmas) and they were a huge hit. The secret is cream cheese in the mix. Makes them very moist. And heck, if you’re eating sausage balls, what’s a little cream cheese? It’s not exactly diet food.

And here are some things I want to try but haven’t yet:

• I was planning to make these cheesy garlic biscuits for dinner one night (or, rather, with dinner. Not for dinner, although I could certainly get on board with cheesy biscuits for dinner.)
• And this pasta is called Angel Pasta. I’m thinking it looks an awful lot like an adulterated Alfredo, but I’m going to give it a try.
• And this cake just looks divine. I’ve already decided it’s going on the menu for the next get-together I have. Oh.my. I need an excuse to make it, have one piece and give the rest away.

What about you? Any recipes you’ve tried lately that your family has enjoyed? Any you have on the list of “to try soon?”

Join me on Pinterest for some fun!

But, I warn you… It is addictive.

I did a lot of work on my Project Life albums this past weekend. I wasn’t feeling well on Saturday so that was my way to keep quiet and occupy myself. I worked on the 2011 book (It’s almost done) and did my pages for last week in the 2012 book.

I thought I’d share the 2011 pages I worked on this week – a little from October, November & December. I think I am 95% finished with this book. Just a couple of blog posts to print and add to the album and a little journaling to finish. Which is good, because the book is bulging at the seams and I’m kinda tired of looking at it!

2012 is chugging along nicely. I’ll share the pages from last week in another post so this isn’t such a gigantic post.

Anyway, here are the 2011 pages I worked on:

and a closer view of the two pages: (sorry for the shadows from the window)

more from that weekend and the pumpkin carving:

Didn’t take many pictures in November, but here are a few…

And moving into December:

I’m finding I’m using up some of my old stash – like very old Creative Memories’ papers that were from who-knows-when and probably would never get used otherwise – and some random scraps of paper that fit perfectly in these little 3×4 pockets but are not much good on a 12×12 page.  Makes the project much more economical…

You can see more Project Life pages over on The Mom Creative via her Project Life Tuesday link up.

Related articles

• Project Life Tuesday: 1.10.12 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
• Scrapbooking in 2012 (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)

Big Girl had a sleepover last night – so I imagine she is sleeping in this morning after playing late with her friend.  Little Bit and I are having a quiet morning – I am making some chocolate bread for her breakfast and I’m sipping a banana pudding protein shake for my breakfast.

Life is good.

I think today we are going to go to a paint-your-own-pottery place. That’s the plan, anyway.  I guess we will see what time Big Girl comes home and what time I finally get around to showering and getting presentable!

I spent most of the weekend on the sofa, feeling rotten. I’m not sure if it was a bug (I think it was) or just fatigue from the week last week (probably that, too) as it was a doozy of a week. Both girls sick, insanity at work, and rain to boot.  I’m glad that week is behind me.

I did manage to cook an awesome dinner for the family yesterday, though. I stayed home from church so as not to share my germs with anyone and while the family was gone I baked some chicken and tried a recipe for the Pioneer Woman’s potatoes au gratin. Oh.my.  SOOOOO good.  And easy. And yummy. I only had a tiny bit, but it was worth every bite. I cut her recipe in half – it was way too big for our family when I only eat a tiny bite or two of potatoes, but it was super good. You should try it sometime.

Have you watched the Pioneer Woman show on Food Network?  It’s cute. I love the food, so that is why I watch. It’s kinda like watching her blog in real life, although she is much funnier on her blog. I think she is not quite comfortable yet in front of a camera. I guess that will come with time and practice. Her kids are cute, though.  They don’t seem to have a problem with the camera!

On other food news, I also made a very good White Chicken Chili recipe on Saturday.  I had a basic recipe from my neighbor and then kind of ad-libbed along the way.  It turned out really good. I’ve included the recipe below in case you are interested in trying it out.

I haven’t come up with my menu plan for the week yet. I’m still figuring out what I want to do. Trying to challenge myself to try some new things and/or some things I haven’t done in a while. I’m getting stuck in a soup/stew rut these days… which I don’t mind but I think the kids are getting tired of them.

Anyway, here’s the recipe. Hope you have a great day! I’m off to check the oven and see how the chocolate bread is doing and give my little one some more one-on-one attention.

White Bean Chicken Chili

2 cans white cannellini beans
2 pounds of chicken (I used boneless breasts)
water
2 Tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp + 2 more tsp ground cumin
2 tsp cilantro
2 Tbsp minced onion (dried) – or you can dice one small fresh onion
1 can green chile peppers
1 can tomatillos
1/2 jar tomatillo salsa (or salsa verde)
Houston House Seasoning

1. In a large stockpot, bring water to a boil.
2. Add chicken, 2 tsp cumin, a healthy sprinkling of House Seasoning & the minced onion & garlic.
3. Let it simmer until the chicken is cooked. (you just made your own broth!)
4. Remove chicken from the broth & set aside.
5. Using a large bowl as a catch basin, pour your stock through a strainer to remove any fat and other undesirables from your broth.
6. Pour your broth back into the stock pot and bring back to a boil.
7. Add the beans, cilantro, the remaining 2 tsp of cumin.
8. Shred your chicken & add back to the soup.
9. If you need to, dice your tomatillos and chiles. Add them to the soup. (I used my food chopper to mince them finely.)
10. Also add the salsa.
11. Let it simmer 30-45 minutes.

Serve with Fritos or tortilla chips, sour cream, and the rest of the salsa.

The kind where you have a bajillion things to do and the universe keeps throwing curve balls and even more things get added to your To-Do list – faster than you can cross items off the list.

Yeah, it’s one of THOSE kind of weeks.

Big Girl has strep.

Little Bit has a stomach bug. (at least I think that is what it is – watching her for signs of strep)

It’s rainy.

Work is insane.

Lovely.

But, I’m not freaking out.

I’m keeping my priorities in check.  Remembering what is most important and letting the rest get handled as best it can.

That’s all I can do, right?  And as long as my babies are taken care of, most of the rest will wait.

Last night I made a change to our menu – didn’t think Sloppy Joes were a good choice for two sick little girls. So, I made homemade chicken noodle soup instead.  As a matter of fact, I tried this recipe.  They loved it.

I’m thinking it will be lunch again today.

I also made them the cutest heart-shaped biscuits for breakfast this morning. Of course, they aren’t eating them (because it is THAT kind of week!) but they made them smile.

So, I’m off to be Nurse Mommy.  And multitask at the same time being the superhero at work.  It should be an interesting day.

Hope you have a great day.