A Little of This, A Little of That

Here's what we've been up to on these colder days:

Painting cars and anything else that gets in the way...

Taking the baby out in the stroller...

...on second thought

Awww, what a good brother...

New "party pants" made by me...

Liam

Casey, pointing out the animals

Two satisfied customers

Reading some of my favs from when I was a kid...

A stack of new dishcloths just for me (made by me)...

Trying out some new recipes from this great site, like these cottage cheese pancakes (I added peaches to mine)...

...we also made the Spinach Muffins, Graham Crackers, and the Chocolate Zucchini Bread from that same site.  Good thing I've got my little helpers.

And of course we've been playing in the snow too...

Casey with their buddy Cody

Casey

Liam

Hmmm...what to do next?

Apple Quinoa Cake

Well I hate to say it but it tastes as healthy as it sounds and looks better than it tastes...don't get me wrong though, it's still "eat-able" (as Rob says it), just don't get your hopes up if you're calling it "dessert".  I got the recipe here if you'd like to give it a try...and if anything it's a healthy snack to feed the kids if you don't like it!

Cold Snap

Last week was really cold (minus 30 cold)...even the herd of elk near our house were huddled up.  But we survived it with the help of some good soup and hot springs to warm us up.

I've been wanting to make this corn chowder ever since my friend Chloe made it for us for lunch one day a little while ago.  It's sooo good, and really easy to make. And at least one out of two liked it!  

Casey chowin' down on mama's bowl of corn chowder.  (Apparently Dada's was too hot, Liam's was too cold, but Mama's was juuuust right.)

And, I'm not gonna lie, there really isn't a better way to spend a minus 30 day than sitting in the hot springs...we're way too lucky to live here!

Here's the recipe for the soup.  It doesn't make a huge pot, so if you want left overs or have lots of hungry mouths to feed, you might want to double it up.

Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

1 green pepper diced

1 onion diced (I used 3 cloves of garlic instead)

1 cup cubed potato

3 cups frozen corn

2 cups of chicken broth

1 cup of cream or milk

1 Tbsp flour

2-3 strips of bacon cooked and chopped

salt and pepper to taste

How To:

In a pot, cook pepper and onion/garlic until done.  Add chicken broth and potato and bring to boil.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Add corn and simmer 10 minutes.  Whisk flour and milk together then stir into soup and simmer a couple minutes. Stir in cooked bacon at the end.

Keep warm! :)

Mountain Mama Pizzeria

I was over at a friends place a couple weeks ago and she made the BEST homemade pizza.  It had been a while since I made pizza, (dough and all) so the other night my kitchen turned into a pizzeria.  I used this recipe (click here) for a whole wheat thin crust, which turned out great.  As for the toppings, I used a basil pesto for the sauce along with chicken, cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and mozzarella cheese.  All I can say is, "Yum".

Now, I know what you must be thinking..."Ummm... doesn't she have twins?  Why the heck doesn't she just pop a Delissio in the oven and call it good?"  (Well, we do have those on occasion)  But I'll let you in on my little secret....I have really good help.  Not some live-in Nanny or anything, ( although that would be nice) but my handy hubby (to be)...which is really the best kind of help there is. He entertained the boys while I created in the kitchen.  I couldn't have done it without him.  And we both reaped the rewards from our efforts with some ding dang good pizza for dinner.

Bon Appetite!

Lindsay

Winter Has Arrived

A winter storm has forced us to hunker down and snuggle up.  It's cold, snowy and windy out there and we want no part of it.  So we've been keeping warm indoors and doing what babies and Mama's should be doing...laying bare bummed by the fire (the babies, not me...that would be weird), playing guitar, and baking cookies of course.  This winter weather doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon, so I guess we better get used to it. 

Liam up front Casey behind

Liam and Casey

Little bum bums Liam and Casey

Getting serenaded

Best whole wheat chocolate chip cookies ever

I found a really yummy recipe for whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (click here).  Just a bit of a healthy twist on a classic comfort food. I couldn't even tell they were made with whole wheat flour...although I guess with enough butter and sugar you can make anything taste good.

Stay warm!

Lindsay

My New Fav Recipe

I found this recipe (click here) for some yummy granola bars that you must try!  I've been wanting to make my own granola bars for quite some time now, but just couldn't find the recipe I was looking for.  Then I stumbled upon this one which sounded pretty good...except for the dried cherry part, so instead I used raisins and chocolate chips...a little more my style.  The next time I made it, I added sunflower seeds as well, and this time I mixed in a scoop or two of peanut butter.  That's what I love about this recipe, you can switch things up and add what you like.  It would also be a fun one to make with kids.  So try it out!

 Cut up some apple to go with it and pour a glass of milk and
you've got yourself a great healthy snack.

Enjoy!

Lindsay

Melanies Potato Soup

   A while ago Rob was looking through the deep freeze in the garage and came across a tub of neapolitan ice cream...I was so excited, until I realized it wasn't neapolitan ice cream at all but was the potato soup my sister had made when she was visiting this summer. (No offence Mel, it's not that I wasn't excited about the soup, it just wasn't ice cream.) 
   So anyway, the other day I finally pulled out that potato soup from the freezer.  It was one of those days where I had no idea what to make for dinner, didn't have much food in the cupboard and just didn't feel like making anything anyway.  Potato soup to the rescue! 
   Crackers just wouldn't cut it for this kind of soup...so I mustered up the energy to bake some homemade cheese biscuits (and I'm not talkin' bisquick here.).   About four years ago Melanie gave me this recipe.  They're way better than bisquick and just as easy...I believe those were her exact words when she told me about them.
   After being inside most of the day I felt the need for some fresh air.  So we took our soup and biscuits out to Gap Lake for a picnic.  I'd like to say I got to enjoy my soup nice and hot while enjoying the mountain view in front of me but that wasn't the case. Instead I scarfed it down lukewarm while trying to tame two crying babies and a whiny dog and take a few pics on top of that...but I enjoyed it none the less.

Daddy and Casey checkin' out the view

Potato Soup

A little surprise visitor came by to see us just as we were packing up to leave.

Thanks for the soup Melanie!

Lindsay