Hmmmm???

Well, I wouldn't want to leave anyone out. I keep it simple on purpose, really!

Creamy Carrot and Potato Soup

The weather we've been having lately is perfect for soup. Unfortunately, I feel like death warmed over. I'd post a picture to prove it, but I wouldn't want to discourage you from returning to my blog in the future. I did, however, muster up enough energy to prepare a nice soup for supper tonight. It's one that I don't really have a recipe for, I just add stuff and taste...but I'll do my best to walk you through it.

Warning....this makes ALOT of soup!!!

Ingredients

5lbs russet potatoes
3 stalks of celery
1 medium onion
4 large carrots
2 garlic cloves
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
10 cups water
3 chicken bouillion cubes (I use Knorr)
2 cups milk, half & half, or heavy cream....whatever you like
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions....Okay, here we go. First, rough chop the carrots, onion, and celery and put them in the food processor. Using the pulse button, chop the vegetables to very small pieces. Don't over chop, you don't want juice. In a hot soup pot, add the olive oil and butter (yes, both)..then add your veggies you just chopped. Stir that around and add a pinch of salt to sweat the veggies a bit. While that is going, peel and chop the potatoes into bite size pieces. When the veggies have begun to cook down, add the chopped garlic and stir. Your house should smell heavenly by this point!! Add the chopped potatoes, water, and bouillon cubes, another heavy pinch of salt and some pepper. Bring the soup to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Just when you can't stand it any longer, test the potatoes. They should be really mushy before we proceed. When they are nice and mushy, drain off some of the liquid. Ladle out big chunks of the potatoes and return them to your food processor. (You could blend them in your pot if you had one of those fancy hand held thingies...I don't.) Blend the potatoes until creamy and return them to the pot. Add the milk or cream and adjust seasonings to your taste. Heat the soup through and enjoy. Sometimes I like to add crushed red pepper flakes and hot sauce (after I take some out for the kids.) Also sour cream, bacon bits, and cheese are really good toppings.

I hope you can decipher through my babbling and attempt this soup...it's really good and hearty on a cold night. Some crusty bread and a salad make it a perfect meal. Or....skip the bread and salad and have it with grilled cheese sandwiches....that's what I did!

I'm still here!!!

Don't hit the panic button, yet...I'm still here!! It's been a very busy month for us in the Bonini house, and unfortunately the holidays won't give us a chance to slow down anytime soon, either. Josh has started basketball and the girls are going full force with cheerleading. They have their first competition this Saturday in Sarasota. Ty is doing well, too. He's having a great time in preschool. They recently brought horses to the school as part of their farm unit. Ever since, Ty has been reminding me daily that we don't have a horse.




My brain has been so foggy lately, I don't really have anything to write about....so how about some recent pictures??

Ty as Thomas the Train......he's so cute!

Katelyne as Sharpay (High School Musical)....what a stretch that was!!

Erin as a cat.....quiet and playful!!

Joshua as Indiana Jones....whew, is he handsome or what??

Erin at Cypress Gardens....she was the only one who wanted to pet the goat.

The big kids and I took an afternoon and went to Cypress Gardens, we had a great time.

This is what happens when you let your daughters do your hair.....scary isn't it???

And this is just too cute for words!!!!

Tasty, Healthy Pancakes

(This is not a picture of my pancakes. 4:30am is way too early to take pictures! Picture courtesy of flickr.)

We love pancakes at our house. They're fast, cheap, and the kids love them. Unfortunately, if we're not careful, they can pack on quite a bit of sugar and loads of empty calories. My favorite, basic pancake recipe comes from Hillbilly Housewife. It's delicious on it's own, but I've altered it over the years to make it both kid and mom approved. The final product is light, fluffy, and a bit sweet, with loads of texture and flavor.



Healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes



2 eggs

2 c. milk

2 Tbsp. oil

4 Tbsp. sugar

2 c. whole wheat flour

1 c. white flour

1/4 c. milled flax seed

1 tsp. salt

3 tsp. baking powder



Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil, and sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together the remaining dry ingredients. Add to the egg, milk mixture and stir until well blended. Don't over mix. You may need to add a bit of milk at this point. Here in the South, it all depends on the weather. I like my pancake batter thick, but not too thick! Using a 1/4 cup, I can fit 6 pancakes on a well oiled griddle. Cook until the top is bubbly and the sides are no longer shiny. Flip the pancakes, and cook the other side until browned. This recipe makes 18 pancakes.



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You can do just about anything you want with this recipe. I've omitted the flax seed and used only white flour before. They taste great, but you lose all of the heath benefits. I've also used only whole wheat flour. Again, they taste great, but are a little less moist. My kid's favorite is when I grate granny smith apples right into the batter. Delicious!! Around Thanksgiving, when it's actually cool here, I'll add mashed sweet potatoes or pumpkin puree and cinnamon. Tastes like pie....YUM! For a fun weekend treat, add chocolate chips to the top after you've spooned them onto the griddle. They are so packed full of whole grains, omega 3's, and fiber, you won't feel guilty at all, and you're children will think you're the coolest!



Now if I could just find a tasty, healthy syrup that the kids will like!

I've got my eye on you!!

Fall is fast upon us, and I love it. Fall in Florida isn't your typical leaves turning, harvest event. Stuff just dies. Do you live in Florida?? Can I get a witness? So, one must pretend to be surrounded by such lovely picturesque fall "thingys". Here are some fall aprons on eBay that I've got my eye on.

I love this one, because it's everything beautiful about fall that you just can't find in central Florida. It reminds me of raking leaves into a pile only to jump into them...and do it all over again.

This one is great because not only is it fall colors, but they've incorporated roses which aren't your typical fall fare. Very feminine!






Isn't this one adorable? I liked this one because of the apple and pumpkin harvest theme. Plus, black is slimming. Yes, even on an apron...trust me!

A Typical Day

I thought it would be fun if we shared what our day looked like. Here's a typical week day for me:



Morning Routine:

4:30-4:45 Wake Up (That takes awhile some mornings!)

4:45-5:15 Shower, Get Dressed, Fix Make-up and Hair

5:15 Sort main basket of clothes and start 1st load of laundry

5:30 Start Breakfast, and put away clean dishes

5:45-6:00 Wake up older kids (It takes them a few minutes, too!)

6:00 Eat Breakfast

6:00-6:30 Big kids brush teeth, fix hair, put on socks, shoes, and glasses

6:30-6:50 Wake up Ty, get him dressed, fix hair, and give him a cup of milk

6:50-7:00 Brush Ty's teeth, big kids round up book bags, and get in van

7:00 Take kids to school



Mid Morning Routine:
(I don't have specific times for these routines)

Devotions

Daily Chores

Focus Task of the Day (Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, etc.)

Finish/Fold Laundry

Lunch

Computer Time

Make snack for kids

Afternoon Routine

(Begins around 2:30, when the kids come home from school)

Supervise homework

Clean up snack dishes

Put away laundry

Supervise kids chores

Begin supper preparations

Evening Routine:

5:30 Supper

6:00 Clean up supper dishes, kids help with clean up

6:00-7:00 Family time (play outside, board game, or watch TV)

7:00 Begin showers (Basically 15 min. per child, as one comes out, another goes in!)

7:45 Ty's prayers and bedtime

8:00 Girls' prayers and bedtime

8:30 Joshua's prayers and bedtime

8:30-9:00 Finish tidying up the house

9:00 Collapse on couch with a cup of coffee and watch something mindless

10:00 My scheduled bedtime :)

My days do vary at times, especially when I have to run an errand, or the girls have cheer practice during the week. This is a pretty typical glimpse of my day, though. I would love for some feed back from everyone. What does your day look like?

Sometimes you have to say "sorry"

Parenting is hard. I won't sugar coat it. I'm a fleshly, vile, sinner. Saved by the grace of God, but a sinner none the less. I'm not always sweet. I don't always smile and respond in a gentle and kind manner. I lose it sometimes. I won't shift the responsibility of my actions to a horrid childhood, or some other lame excuse. There are some days when I'm not proud of my actions.

Today was one of those days.

My daughter was being especially challenging this morning. She didn't get up when she was told, she didn't want to eat what I had prepared for her, and then threw a fit while I was doing her hair.

I didn't respond to her very well. Instead of letting natural consequences take their toll, my voice rose, I was stern. I could have allowed her to sleep too long and miss the bus, thus ruining her perfect attendance. I could have allowed her to not eat, thus going to school hungry. I could have allowed her to not have her hair done, thus going to school looking scraggly. (Okay, that's my issue, it probably wouldn't have bothered her one bit to have unkempt hair.)

But instead I lectured to deaf ears. When that approach didn't work, I increased the volume and toughened the tone. When that didn't work, I threw my own little hissy about being unappreciated and sent her out the door very upset with me and crying. (I'm really laying it all out here, ladies.)

I was heartbroken all day. I couldn't believe I had been so harsh. I replayed every detail, every word over in my mind. Wishing, praying I could take it back. A good part of me wanted to go to her school and take her out of class to apologize, but I knew that wasn't feasible.

I decided there are battles in the morning that I'm not willing to fight. Yes, she needs to get out of bed when asked, but I could be more accommodating about breakfast. What's the big deal if she eats a piece of toast with peanut butter instead of an egg, anyway? She's in the fourth grade. If she wants to do her own hair, I should let her. Even if it doesn't look the way I think it should. She can handle it.

2:30pm arrived and the kids were home from school. I just knew she would still be holding a grudge from this morning. Instead, do you know what she did? She brought me the brush and asked me to put her hair up for cheer leading.

My heart was pierced by her forgiving spirit.

I happily took the brush, and with tears streaming down my face, apologized for this morning's fight. She apologized, too. Both of us crying at this point, we hugged, and hugged. I held on for so long, I just didn't want to let her go.

I know we're the parents, and what we say has to "go" for the most part. But our children have the potential to really teach us some of life's lessons, if we allow them the opportunity.

Sometimes you just have to say you're sorry.