Monday, August 12, 2013

healing chicken soup {a recipe}

A summer cold has hit our house, and I just happened to buy a one-pound bag of ginger root. Not because I knew what to do with that much, but because I wanted a tiny piece to grate into my tea. I could only find it already pre-bagged in one pound bundles and it was cheap, so I figured what they hay. After a few internet searches that left me feeling uninspired I came across this one and inspiration struck.


Here's what I did:
First take
1 onion, sliced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
about 8 ounces of ginger, sliced (with skin still on)
4-5 small gloves garlic, crushed
whole chicken, rinsed
1-2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
Then add
1 cup of rice
2-3 carrots, sliced diagonally
1 small zucchini
1 cup of frozen peas
a handful of baby spinach
salt and pepper to taste

Add all the first ingredients to a 6 quart stock pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then turn down to simmer, covered, for a 2-4 hours depending on how early you think to start dinner. Take soup off heat and remove chicken, allowing to cool. Pour broth through a sieve and discard ginger and veggies. Remove the meat off the bones and shred. Bring strained broth back up to boil and add sliced carrots, rice, zucchini and spinach. Add chicken and serve when veggies are tender and rice is cooked (about 20 minutes). I didn't have a sliced fennel bulb on hand but feel that if I did, adding it would have been perfection. Also, I only added back about 2/3 of the meat and saved the rest to toss on top of salads for lunch throughout the week.



Wednesday, August 7, 2013

attics and pinterest and stuff

So... my husband and I are taking a class at our church right now, called Timesavers Marriage, and we took this "time style" quiz. It was no surprise that my "time style" is Dreamer. Right mom, right? So that is why, even though we just moved in and haven't even painted our living room yet, which means we haven't hung photos on the wall, and we may not have even finished unpacking everything, and we have ZERO budget for things like large renovations and won't for years and when we do the kitchen is no. 1 on the list, I have already decided that one day we will build stairs to our attic and add dormers. And if you follow me on pinterest, you'll see some awesome inspiration pins for how to use the space, and also lots of other pins for ridiculous projects and makeovers that I have no intention of ever doing, but the photos are so pretty I couldn't help but click "pin". Somehow that dang site tends to suck the hours out of my day, often times wasting all of what could actually be productive moments while Milo-man naps. But hey, if we ever win the lottery, at least I know how I want my attic. ;)
here are two of my favorite ideas:

from the nato's: attic renovation. before and after pictures.  because one day we'll build stairs up to our attic. and dormers.
source


Attic converted to year round 'camp' indoors -- perfect for parties, sleepovers, or date nights.
source

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

insta-life

we ate a meal at the table for the first time last tuesday. that's how smoothly things are going right now. BUT i've gone to the gym twice. TWICE! in a row(ish) even. i'm considering going again. that'd be huge. I recently realized how quickly this summer is slipping by and we're thinking we'll lay low for the next few weeks until Labor Day weekend brings the very last summer event our way before school starts.