Told You I Was Making Soup

I had to.  I was so sick of my kids using their forks as weapons it was my only option.  Plus, I'm always craving this soup... even in the middle of a heatwave with a broken air-conditioner.  (Well, I did refuse to make it last Friday night when our a/c was out of freon. Again. But if someone else would have stood over the hot stove in my 91 degree house, then I would have had it that night too.)

Because it's one of my favorites and because it's so easy to make, I thought I'd share it with you.  And you can wait until the weather cools to make it or, (like me) make it regardless of the weather. 

So, here's my chicken tortilla soup.

The ingredients are:

Chicken Broth
Rotel (I use mild because I have young kids, but feel free to use something a bit spicier... I would if I could.)
A bag of frozen corn
A block of cream cheese (You can half it if you're the healthy type.  I rarely am.)
A lime
Adobo seasoning
Shredded Cheese
Tostitos Hint of Lime Chips (These have become a favorite around our house.)

And not pictured: a pound of skinless/boneless chicken breast

Let's address the chicken first. I cook it one of two ways. 1. If I don't want to clean any more than absolutely necessary, I throw the chicken in the the broth and let it boil until cooked, pull it out, chop it up into bite-sized pieces and then throw it back in.  2. If I'm in a hurry and don't want to wait for dinner, I throw it on the George Foreman grill and then chop it and throw it in with the rest of the ingredients.  Do whatever makes sense to you.

Now, for the soup.  There's no real measuring in this recipe, more of a dump and go method. Add the first three ingredients.  Cut the cream cheese block into pieces before adding it in so it will melt faster.  Squeeze in the juice of one lime.  Add Adobo seasoning to taste at the very last.  (Sometimes, if I feel like it and I have it on hand, I add in a drained can of black beans, too.  I didn't have it on hand last night.)  Make sure you add the chicken at some point or another, heat to a good temp for you and then you're ready to serve.  (I told you it was easy.)

Garnish with your chips and cheese.  Sometimes, if I have guests or just feel like being extravagant (I mean creating more clean-up when I say extravagant), we'll also garnish with sour cream and slices of avocado... not last night.  Still, pretty good.  Hope you enjoy!

Dog and Cat

Most days, my kids are like this.  They have fun together and play together well.  They love each other.

And then there are days that are more like this. 

Jesse and I were talking downstairs this morning and we could hear Diego and Eliana getting louder and louder upstairs. My husband didn't know what I was referring to when I mentioned that I was afraid they were going to end up like the Gingham Dog and Calico Cat today.  So, I shared The Duel by Eugene Field with him.  (I'll share it with you too, just on the off chance that you're not familiar with it either.)

The gingham dog and the calico cat

Side by side on the table sat;

'T was half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)

Nor one nor t' other had slept a wink!

The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate

Appeared to know as sure as fate

There was going to be a terrible spat.

(I was n't there; I simply state

What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went "Bow-wow-wow!"

And the calico cat replied "Mee-ow!"

The air was littered, an hour or so,

With bits of gingham and calico,

While the old Dutch clock in the chimney-place

Up with its hands before its face,

For it always dreaded a family row!

(Now mind: I 'm only telling you

What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue,

And wailed, "Oh, dear! what shall we do!"

But the gingham dog and the calico cat

Wallowed this way and tumbled that,

Employing every tooth and claw

In the awfullest way you ever saw---

And, oh! how the gingham and calico flew!

(Don't fancy I exaggerate---

I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning, where the two had sat

They found no trace of dog or cat;

And some folks think unto this day

That burglars stole that pair away!

But the truth about the cat and pup

Is this: they ate each other up!

Now what do you really think of that!

(The old Dutch clock it told me so,

And that is how I came to know.)

I ended up going upstairs and separating them- told them to go to their own rooms and play alone.  It wasn't the first time today (or the last) where they were driving each other crazy... or maybe it's me they're driving crazy.  Today I have heard them yell "Take that!" numerous times as they thrust their forks at each other.  (I think we're having soup and using spoons tonight.) I know some days are like this.  That it's part of being siblings, but days like today make me tired and sad that they aren't loving each other.  So, what do you do on days like today when you're afraid your kids might eat each other up? Or if you don't have kids of your own, what did your parents do?  I'm taking advice today.

The Pie (and Friday Favorites)

Well, here it is!  If you read yesterday's comment, you'll know that mom invited herself over.  (I didn't mind.) My dad came too (it is his favorite kind).  Pretty good, but it always helps to have fresh pie cherries to begin with. 

These cherries, reminded me of my friend Nicole and her little Etsy shop.  She makes some really fun stuff for your little one's hair. 

See why my pie reminded me of her?

And I think this beauty reminds me of orchids... she's made it in a bright magenta color too!

And this one, is just fun.  Do you remember playing pacman?  Or perhaps you're too young for that.

So, here's my cherry dedicated treasury this week.  Visit if you'd like a closer look at any of these sweet little things.  Hope you have a great weekend!

One Single, Solitary Cherry

During my childhood summers, it was a regular thing to take a trip out to some farm or another to pick cherries.  Cherry pie is my daddy's favorite and my mom makes the best cherry pie because she's awesome like that and she knows the simple truth that canned cherries don't even come close.  However, over time, it seems that the farms that we went to in my childhood have vanished or simply stopped opening up their farms to people to come and pick.  To make matters worse, I could not find pie cherries in a grocery store or farmer's market anywhere. 

So, three summers ago, I decided to take matters into my own hands and planted a cherry tree in my back yard.  I was so excited last spring to see the cherries begin to grow and thought at last, my day had come.  No such luck.  I walked out into my back yard one early June morning to find my tree stripped bear from all of it's beautiful berries.  This summer, I thought I'd be more cautious and watch the tree daily to make sure to go and pick as soon as they began to turn red, but again- fail.  And I found two broken branches.  Fat birds... or maybe it was the squirrels?  What I did find on the tree that day was one single, solitary beautiful cherry.  I picked it and began trying to think through what I should do with it.  (Pie cherries are rather tart and not very enjoyable by themselves.)

Then last Saturday, I ended up going to the farmer's market.  And what should I happen upon but Cherry Jam.  Made with those same pie cherries!  I snatched a jar up and my family has been enjoying it immensely this week.  Momma used to make cherry jam and preserves too. 

Then, just as we were about to leave we went by one more stand on the "ignored row," and low and behold... a pound of pie cherries, their last one.  My one lone cherry finally had a purpose- to join these others.  I left skipping to the car, my heart happy, and my birthday month complete.  Isn't their color beautiful?

And so I've been busy making a pie over nap-time today.  You know those extra scraps you have hanging off the side of your pie dish before you pinch the layers together?  You're supposed to bake those on a cookie sheet.  Then top them off with your favorite jam for snack time.

And how did the pie turn out?  Well, I'm still waiting for it to finish... so I'll show it to you tomorrow!

Mushroom Cupcakes

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this before.

And I know I've blogged about her before (that's my own little toadstool she's holding).

And if you were paying attention yesterday, you noticed that my sister has a thing for mushrooms and toadstools as well.  They're cute on their own.

But they're also a perfect match for garden gnomes.  (Or in Elisabeth's case woodland gnomes.)

So, for Elisabeth's church shower this weekend, I volunteered to take care of cakes.

Meringue mushrooms had to top each one of course.

Actually, my mom ended up making the cupcakes because sometime late afternoon on Saturday I realized I was supposed to go and see Gypsy with Elisabeth. (I'd seen it before in middle school and it depressed me as much this time as it did last time, so never again.) Mom made Coconut Icing to go on top so the green would look more like grass.  It's purpose was successful, but it did make it more difficult to get the mushrooms to stay in place. But very, very yummy... thanks, Mom!  The meringue mushrooms are not that difficult, but they are very time consuming.  They take a long time in the oven to dry out (2-3 hours in this humidity) and then there's the assembly.  It took me about an hour and a half to do around 50.  The good news is: you don't have to have the recipe book if you want to do them yourself.  Here's Martha's link... have fun!  (BTW, I did hear that on average these meringues have about 20 calories to them.  Mine had a lot of chocolate on them, so it might have been a bit more, but really not that bad.)

Bonus, the kids have decided they like mushrooms!

A Very Special Nursery

As the oldest in the family, it's easy to be resented.  (I know, I know, every birth-order place has its problems.)  But the oldest is always the first to do things that the younger ones can't do yet, the one who is usually left in charge when the parents aren't home, and the one who has a baby book that is actually filled out.  When the younger kids figure the last one out, that's the one they hang onto longest.  (That and the fact there's a only a polaroid picture of the seventh child at the age of three with the rest of the family and you can only see part of his face while there's an entire album of baby pictures of the first- actually I don't think Jesse is resentful about this at all, it's just his wife who is.)

My own family is a great example of this problem.  Diego's babybook is filled out almost entirely, Eliana's book has a few pages filled in, and I haven't even purchased a book for baby on the way and am wondering if it would be worth the money.  Diego has baby pictures plastered all over the house, while most of Eliana's baby pictures have yet to make it into frames... in my defense, Diego's newer pictures haven't made it into frames since Eliana's birth, either.  My pregnancy with Diego was well researched, I knew the week and day I was at all times, Eliana- I kept track of the week and did a bit more research trying to figure out if there was any way I could avoid another c-section (didn't work). This time along, people ask me how far along I am and I can't answer with anything other than my due date.  My sister has given me a bad time about this... mainly because she knows what it's like to be the slighted third and whenever she sees my lack of frames of Eliana, or anything else that might make the younger child feel less important, she lets me know about it.

What she doesn't know about yet, is what it's like to be a mom of more than one.  It's never been my intent to slight the others, I just don't have the same time I had before. And that's the real matter, it's not that parents love the first more than the others, it's just that they have more time before they have more than one. And as much as I hate to say this, she's setting her first up for the same resentment as I did mine... except maybe worse.  You see, yes, my youngest child won't get his/her own room or a new nursery theme, but at least my third baby won't be hurt by the fact that I didn't design him his own fabric for his custom made bedding like her third will.  That's right. You read it right, she designed her own fabric for this baby.  Wow, it's awesome!  It's gorgeous and could make any child envious.

Here's a sample.

Here's what the finished product should look like.

Can you imagine what the rest of the nursery will be like if this is the effort that she's putting into the crib linens?  It's going to be incredible. Now, if she can just keep it up for the rest of her babies- Good luck with that, Elisabeth. (Oh, and even if you aren't able, I promise, they'll survive... Jesse did!)

Friday Favorites

I know, I know, it's been over two months since I've blogged.  But I warned you, and apparently it was more true than I realized at the time. What have I been doing during my regular blog time (aka. the kids' nap time)? Napping and growing a baby. (I'm at 18 weeks now.) Maybe I'm going to get past this tired stage now, maybe since I cried yesterday to my OB GYN's PA about how exhausted I am- I'm now over it, maybe now that I've cut my work hours by half I find myself with more time and energy, or maybe since I woke with a headache this morning and caffeinated myself- I just have energy for the day.  We'll see.

So for today, I'd like to talk about my talented baby sister, Elisabeth.  She's not much of a baby, and in fact, is expecting her own baby in two months.  Nevertheless, she'll always be the baby of my family and so she's stuck with the title.  Anyway, Elisabeth is an amazing artist, who started painting masterpieces around the age of 10... which made me realize that even though I enjoyed art and might have been better at it than the average bear, it was definitely not my area of expertise.  She's now a graphic designer but still does amazing water colors that I hope she starts to sell again some time soon.  On top of that, she's found yet another talent and passion... pottery.  My sister loves is obsessed with mission style, but has found that there are not many artists creating original pieces that fit into mission style homes, and so it has become her goal to create art to fill her home and others like it.  Whether or not you are as obsessed with mission style as she is, I bet you find it hard not to drool over her pottery pieces.  I was lucky enough to be blessed with a beautiful piece for Christmas (which I will not post a picture of right now, because I don't have one that will do it justice).  But what I will show you is some of her other pieces that are beautiful. And lucky for you, she's finally opened her own shop at Etsy to sell these gorgeous works.

This Bleeding Heart Vase is Gorgeous!

I can think of several people in my life with an affinity toward acorns.

Sweet Pine Cones

And this last piece got me thinking about Colorado.  (Well, that and the fact that my cousin, Emily, gets to go Colorado... lucky, lucky girl.)  Colorado's been on the brain a lot the past couple of weeks. It's my absolute favorite vacation spot- maybe it's due to fact I spent so many weeks there on family vacations growing up, maybe it's due to the cooler weather in the middle of the miserable Kansas heat, or maybe it's due to the majesty of God's handiwork.  Anyway, looking at this Pine Cone Vase made me want more things Colorado.  So, here's my treasury for the week, visit it in person so you can take a closer look at some of these sweet little things... most of them are relatively affordable... most. Not all.  And maybe if you're like me and have Colorado on the brain, but aren't sure you'll be able to see it in person this summer, you can at least have a little piece of Colorado in your home.

Love you and hope to blog again sometime soon... sooner than two months from now!