Sunday, April 18, 2010

granola bars and cherrios.

hockey is playing. it's raining and grey outside. becks is napping, peyton is practicing her letters and for the first time in what seems like a week, in what has been a really long week, i can feel that feeling. you know the one, when the house is clean, the kids are quiet, the husband engrossed in a detroit red wings game...i think it's called calm. free...for a minute. content that the family is all together even if we are all ignoring each other doing our own thing!!

feels good.

i guess the only thing that would make this moment any better is if i had thought about dinner in advance and i had it bubbling away in the oven perfecting itself to satisfy hungry bellies. no such luck. today we may just eat granola bars and cherrios for dinner!

i realized recently that my kids adore cherrios and granola bars in the morning. regardless of me trying to be rockstar mom in the morning (i'm not a morning gal) and offering pancakes and sausage, i didn't say healthy mom, my kids opt for either a granola bar or a bowl of honey nut cherrios with a banana on top. i wonder if that is verging on breakfast neglect. lol.

i mean, weekends are the special times when we can stroll out of bed and make a big batch of pancakes, scrambled eggs with every item of veggie we have thrown inside, and bacon for the bacon monsters that live here in our home! weekdays...not so much. we brush hair & teeth, throw in some love to fill our girl up before she heads off to school learning to be independent, yank shoes on, wave goodbye, kisses, beckham dances in the driveway and...done. it's all very chaotic and rushed and i guess bacon just doesn't fit in.

maybe someone can give me some super cool breakfast ideas that work for your kids. i would be forever grateful!!!


i know i am behind in my blogging this week. i promised myself earlier today that i will document more next week because there is always so much to share and to remember!

such as some of the fun we had this weekend...the highlights (i just heard the commentator on espn say that!)
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gido & sito came to visit (love the comments i received last week on your own gido and sito's:) us and to beckham that
means a corvette ride in 'godo's corbette!'

then, daddy took the kids swimming...
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and i enjoyed my new tulips...have i said they are my favorite flower? how happy they make me?

they do. go get some. i'm tellin' ya...happiness. any fresh flower on my table would do it. they beg for candles and a
a home cooked meal at night and good music and a running dishwasher by day!

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a while i was listening to some feel good jams and while my babies played in the water, i prepared dinner in the most amazing
light. it's golden-ness was seeping through the blinds of my kitchen windows and i was torn between feeding my family
or taking photos of my tulips. since i love doing both and i figured we had to eat, and with that i give you the recipe for
thee MOST AMAZING soup i have ever tasted. i adapted it from a recipe i read a long time ago by giada...
she's amazing and she has a new line of cookware and food at target!

when i spotted the sign on the endcap, i was in line waiting to checkout. i pushed, shoved, and crawled my way out
of the line i was just waiting in FOREVER, cranky, tired kids in tow...and checked out all of the goodies.

and although i wanted all of it, i settled on some beautiful mixing bowls and a can opener. not real exciting, but
check it out, because if you need anything...she has it at target.

my version of tomato soup:

lite extra virgin olive oil

large onion, rough chopped

3 ugly tomatoes, diced small (can use regular, but the ugly or the beefstake are worth the extra money 'cause unless you grow
your own, these are pretty good in comparison.

about ten slices (or 5 ounces) pancetta (italian ham found in your deli), rough chop.

a big bunch of fresh basil or about 1/2 cup roughly chopped.

6 cups of lower-sodium chicken broth.
you can also use homemade stock (i was to lazy), or 6 cups of water and three knorr's chicken boulion cubes ('cause
that's the way i roll when i forget to pickup broth) use whatever you have.

sea salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, less if kids are eating this.

1/2 cup of mascarpone cream cheese.

heat oil in pan, add pancetta and cook until it slightly crispy. add onion and cook until they soften up. add the broth,
and all other spices and basil. bring to boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer. add 1/2 cup mascarpone cream
cream cheese to the pot, stir. simmer for about 15 more minutes on the low side. i simmered mine for about 30.

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peyton, no more bread until after dinner. (i snuck a pic of her sneaking some bread and butter) busted!
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use a soup pot or your dutch oven.
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i served this soup with a grilled cheese bread. whole grain baquette (any bread would do but i forgot to buy fresh bread)
spread a bit of butter on both sides, place in pan, melt cheese ( we used american, but swiss on rye bread would be
great too!)
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piggy plate optional:) kraft singles for my kids.

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during dinner, peyton and i tried to teach beckham the importance of flowers in a girl's life. he wasn't listening...
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"oh, tulips mommy?"
yes, sweetheart, girls like to get tulips.
"okay, mommy." like a good student.

oh, then the golden goodness lit up my kitchen and it was beautiful. so we talked and peyton danced, and beckham played
with his shadow and laughed with daddy...
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then, just when i thought we were in for the night, beckham heard a plane outside and wanted to investigate in his pajamas...
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no plane, but this gorgeous sky!

they heard lily playing outside, so they hopped on their bikes and headed down a few houses to see what was going on...
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lily just turned two!!! happy birthday, sweet girl. we love you!

they played catch, ran a few races up and down the block, and posed for photos. it was a fun night cap!

we headed home when the sky turned an orangey magenta. it was a really pretty night and i'm glad we were outside to
enjoy it.
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next post needs to be a catch up post. until then, here is one from our camping trip here. what an amazing park.
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this tree we found down one of the hiking trails. i think it was called big oak trail. maybe not.


another warm and fuzzy list from mama koala:
1. holding hubby's hand.
2. my 2 year old son wanting to sing songs with his baby sister.
3. jj heller's song, your hands.
4. baby girl giggles to daddy.
5. my fluffy, samoyeds.
6. nutella.
7. good friends just a phone call away!
8. the movie, elf.
9. my son and how he sings jingle bells everyday.
10. my son and i covered in powdered sugar after baking.

with lots of love! heidi
xo

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

fresh mozzarella and campfire smoke.

what part of my being makes me think it is completely okay to leave three overflowing laundry baskets, like stacked as high as it would go before gravity would take over making my mess messier, of soiled laundry in the laundry room? 'soiled' pretties up 'dirty!'

this past weekend we went camping and we have the campfire 'aromas' infused into every piece of clothing, sheet, and sock that was packed for the trip...which was lots because i like to be prepared for any sort of clothing 911 for myself and both kids.

anyway, my general rule of thumb is to go do something fun rather than clean something up. yes, i know i sound like a slob....scout's honor...i kinda am... a slob. not really, but maybe. yeah...probably. not really.

i love clean. clean floors, dustless drapes and wood. sticky-less windows, mold-free abodes. in that sense, i am a freak because i have a slight phobia of all things...bug. so i'm really good at the deep clean stuff. well, mostly. maybe not so much, but kinda.

but the clutter is another monster that i am in constant battle with. laundry, mail, and magazines top this list. i tend to think people spend too much time worrying about house errands. okay, i'm envious of the mama's that do because, let's face it, their homes always look picture perfect. a place to celebrate, sit and relax, so in the end i guess it's good to worry about getting these things done. which is why i have been cleaning for days because i am trying to become better at this part of being a grownup.

i'm rambling. it's only because i have been doing laundry since sunday and on my last load, my husband dropped a new 'soiled' one into the basket!@#

case closed. i went to the book store to peruse new hardcovers, oprah's new food and god book, the cookie counter where i purchased only coffee, and of course the beautiful and always inspiring...children's book section. book heaven.

it's good to be back!


we had the most DELIGHTFUL time camping with family last weekend. de-light-ful. it was beautifully perfect. it was lots of work to get packed up and ready, but it was so worth the time and effort.

The family is one of nature's masterpieces. ~George Santayana

my kids literally freaked out when the 'house truck' pulled into the driveway. they didn't stop smiling and it is always a learning experience to live life through their eyes because everything is so much more exciting to them.

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we made it to heartland, florida around 8pm, just in time to spray our bug spray, dig out the new mag flashlights and begin preparing dinner!

the kids' excited squeals and excitement could hardly be contained as the guys hooked us up with running water and lights in the rv's.

first off, jenn and i wanted to make really good food over camp fire for the entire weekend. good, fresh food. so we planned out a menu and a grocery list and it was so much fun.

jenn, an amazing cook, rocked out homemade pizza with fresh mozzarella, basil, tomato sauce, and fresh tomatoes. we are talking garlic infused olive oil brushed on the pie first and then the goodies piled on top and cooked in our camp site. it was so amazing with the homemade ceasar salad...and red wine.

hot dogs on the grill hold a special place in my heart, but this...this was heavenly and of course everything tastes better eaten outside.
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the next morning before our hike...
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in the golden backlight our babies played...
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wish i knew what they were talking about....
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the newest member of the family...sparticus!

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i have so many more photos to post. too many, but i'll try to weed out my faves. oh, these kids and their cousins make us so happy. when we are together like this, we never fail to count our blessings because we know these kids will grow up to be amazing adults one day...
and take care of us...ha. kidding.

jeff's goulet'
as promised, a family favorite that jeff's sito used to make for his dad. i call it goulet' and i'm really not sure if that is correct, but it is an old recipe and jeff has perfected it. it tastes fresh and healthy and it's beautifully vibrant to boot!

a pound of lamb or more depending on the meat eaters of your family! we actually use chicken breast instead.

one green and red pepper, diced
one small onion diced.

freshly diced up home grown tomatoes are best but if your like me and don't have a garden yet, one can of PETITE diced tomatoes will do. no need to drain (petite is my contribution. it's the right thing to do!)

salt and pepper chicken to taste

cook in a pan or wok. first saute chicken, peppers, and onions in olive oil until chicken just about cooked through. add tomatoes and let simmer for twenty minutes. i love simmering things longer than 'needed' because i think it melds the flavors together and i use this as a general rule of thumb for most of my cooking but i am not a professional chef so i could be making this all up!

while the goulet is simmering, you can prepare linnie's rice which takes twenty minutes to cook.

i use a medium-sized soup pot. it's my go-to pot and my oldest wooden spatula/spoon. swear it makes it taste better!


melt a half stick real butter, smoosh a few handfuls of vermicelli noodles, drop into butter and let them brown to the point where you think they may burn, and then quickly add two cups of beef broth and then another 1/2 cup of water, and one of these knorr's beef bouillon cubes. reduce heat to lowest setting, cover and do not remove lid until timer beeps.
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seriously, this is so easy and so good. we eat ours with pita bread and butter. sometimes we don't use our forks. we use the bread to scoop
up the goodness!



enjoy. please tell me how you liked it. good or bad, i want to hear!

with lots of love,
g'night!
again, sorry for spelling and grammar errors. i try not to proofread:)