chicken fajita soup.

i got this recipe from the book The Food Nanny Rescues Dinner.

this was really, really good.  my children were not fans because of the visible green chiles and onions.  oh, such joy to have picky eaters.  zach on the other hand, loved it and slurped it like a little birdie right from Chris' spoon.

white chicken chili serves 6
1 lb. chicken, diced and cooked in skillet
1 T. oil
1 small onion, diced
5 tsp. garlic (i know this seems like a lot, but trust me it's not overpowering)
1-2 (7 oz.) cans green chiles
2 (15 oz.) cans Great Northern or other white beans
4 C. chicken broth
1 tsp. chicken bouillon
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 C. sour cream
3 C. shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
cilantro
tomatoes

cook chicken and set aside.  in a large skillet, heat oil, add onion and garlic and saute until onion is translucent.  add chicken back into skillet, along with chiles, beans, broth and spices.  simmer for 45 minutes.  add in sour cream and cheese and stir until melted.  top with cilantro and fresh chopped tomatoes.

pic from here.

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.

only one word to describe these.  YUM. that's it, you have it- the perfect fall treat!

i honestly can't remember which site i pulled these off of....sorry to original recipe owner.  i did make enough "tweaks" that i feel safe confidently saying that this is my recipe now...hahaha...{ahem} sorry, was that rude?

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins makes 12 muffins
15 oz. pumpkin puree
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 C. dark brown sugar
1/2 C. canola oil (i did not try applesauce here- my suspicion is that it would make these "stickier," whereas, with the oil they were the perfect moist, fluffy cakey goodness)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 C. flour (could easily do 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 C. mini chocolate chips

preheat the oven to 425. bring pumpkin and spices to a simmer in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally, until puree thickens- about 5 minutes.

pour into mixing bowl and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.  whisk in brown sugar and oil, then slowly add in eggs.  mix well to incorporate.

in a separate mixing bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Whisk slowly into pumpkin mixture.  (if you are doubling this recipe, which i always do, then this will give you a little mini work-out.  hooray! burning a few calories before inhaling more!)

stir in chocolate chips.  

spray muffin tens generously and fill each cup as full as you can.  i try to get it just rounded above the brim, which makes for nice tall muffins.  who likes flat muffins?  we shun them around these parts...just sayin'...

bake for 13-14 minutes.  pull out and try to wait a few minutes before attacking...these also freeze beautifully! whenever i make muffins or breads i always at least double and freeze the other half.  they are perfect to pull out for snacks (just let thaw on the counter) or for gifting/giving to neighbors, bringing to someone in need or when invited to someone's for dinner!

pic from here.

enjoy!

butternut squash soup.

i got this recipe from my friend Charlotte's blog, which she got from allrecipes.com.  i made it for a vegetarian friend who came over for dinner (and for myself, since i like butternut squash soup and no one else in my family will even look at at).

i made a few alterations to the recipe, using a bit less onion and adding in a little more chicken broth because i thought it was just a bit too thick.

picture from here.i also served mine with roasted pumpkin seeds on top as garnish...

butternut squash soup: serves 6-8
4 T. chopped onion
4 T. butter
6 C. squash, peeled and cubed
3 1/2 C. water
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp. marjoram
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened (could use less)

1) saute onion in butter until tender.  

2) add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, pepper and cayenne.

3) bring to a boil and cook 20 minutes, or until squash in tender.  puree in blender with cream cheese and reheat through if necessary.

this year's canning bounty.

some of my friends think that my house always looks perfect.  here's proof that it often doesn't.  whenever i have a big project going on it consumes almost the entire house.  what's the down side of having a large kitchen- LOTS of counter space to fill up with junk!  can't wait to have a garage again!

this is what my kitchen looked like during the two weeks that i was busy canning!

this year i tried some new things to can and was quite pleased!  chris' parents gave me a bag of apples, not enough that i wanted to make applesauce, but i wanted to make good use of them.  so, intro apple butter!  i grew up eating apple butter and loved it, so when i came across this crockpot recipe i knew i had to try it!

canned apple butter
40-50 apples
3 C. brown sugar
2 T. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. allspice

Rinse apples well, core and quarter, leaving skins on.  Boil in large pot with about 2 inches of water on the bottom and lid on. Steam until soft.  Process into applesauce (can use blender or food mill).  

In crockpot blend 5.5 quarts of the applesauce with 2 C. brown sugar, cinnamon and allspice.  Mix well.  Heat on high 2-3 hours.

Stir again and reduce heat down to low, vent lid with a wooden spoon and cook overnight or for 8-10 hours.

Add remaining applesauce and 1 C. brown sugar, mixing well.  Cook on low for another 2-3 hours.

Puree until smooth (if applesauce was still a little chunky).  Fill 1/2 pint or pint jars and process in a hot water bath canner for 10 minutes.


i got about 16 1/2 pints out of this and have been able to give several away to family and friends as gifts.



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i canned potatoes, carrots, applesauce, cranberry applesauce, corn, beets, tomatoes, peaches and pears this year.

carrots: 25 lbs. 
potatoesZ: 60 lbs.
peaches- 4 boxes
pears- 3 boxes

i discovered some interesting carrots along the way, and just to amuse myself, gave them funny names:

"the nubbin" 

(like, as in friends!)

               "the right angle" 

                "twisted sister" 

                "the corkscrew" 

peaches- 36 quarts

beets- 6 pints 

(next year i plan to do much more and grow them in my garden!)

election results. i love the leaders of my church!

The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the following statement today: 

We congratulate President Obama on winning a second term as President of the United States.

After a long campaign, this is now a time for Americans to come together. It is a long tradition among Latter-day Saints to pray for our national leaders in our personal prayers and in our congregations. We invite Americans everywhere, whatever their political persuasion, to pray for the President, for his administration and the new Congress as they lead us through difficult and turbulent times. May our national leaders reflect the best in wisdom and judgment as they fulfill the great trust afforded to them by the American people.

We also commend Governor Romney for engaging at the highest level of our democratic process which, by its nature, demands so much of those who offer themselves for public service. We wish him and his family every success in their future endeavors.

See the statement on MormonNewsroom.org: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/statement-on-election-result
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I feel so thankful at this time to be a member of the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints! I felt very disappointed at first last night when i saw the results of the election polls.  i felt like as a country we were let down.  but then i took the time to listen to President Obama's winning speech.  i do not hate this man.  i do not like some of the choices he has made or things that have happened in our country {our NOT HAPPENED, for that matter} during his last four years as President, but i do know that God is at the helm.

as Latter-Day Saints, we KNOW that we live in the promised land here in North America. we are blessed to KNOW of the divine plan and that the Savior will come again to reign in His glory upon this land.  

i KNOW that many changes are going to come about during my lifetime and the lifetime of my children, and no matter WHAT happens in our nation, i KNOW that i am EXCITED and look forward to the things that i will be a part of as a member of HIS church.  i feel a GREAT STEWARDSHIP to prepare my home, prepare my family, TEACH my children, LOVE and SERVE others and do all that is asked of me by my leaders.

we do not have to fear what is ahead if we listen to counsel that is given by our Prophet, apostles and local leaders.  

i love that our Prophet has asked us to pray for our President and National leaders.  i love that our Prophet has asked us to pray for this land.  i love that our Prophet has congratulated President Obama and Governor Romney on both of their efforts and successes.  

TODAY I AM SO THANKFUL to have the TREMENDOUS GIFT of the GOSPEL of our SAVIOUR, Jesus Christ.  so many are without it.  i am proud to be an example of what HE teaches.

family fall walk at rigby lake.

another beautiful fall sunday afternoon spent on a family walk.  we went to rigby lake which is closed for the season but still open to walkers.  it was so awesome being there all by ourselves!  the kids wanted to explore the island, so we skipped rocks and let them walk around the entire perimeter of the island.

after playing on the beach for a bit we headed over to the playground, where daddy taught zach how to climb up the slide! olivia tried monkey bars for the first time and brady showed us his skills on the high monkey bars!

we took a walk around the lake on the paved trail that runs along the river. it was beautiful and we're planning on coming back in the spring with our bikes.

at the end of the path it runs along a horse pasture and we enjoyed watching them and feeding them some hay

ratatouille.

this dish was so flavorful and so simple.  i think it is beautiful as well!  i made it back at the beginning of september when a good family friend, terry from maine came and stayed with us for a few days when she brought her kids, mattie and lee out to byu-idaho.  she is a vegan and i loved the opportunity and challenge to cook for her and try some recipes that i'd been wanting to make.

this is a wonderful chance to use up your garden's bounty as well!

ratatouille: serves 6.

1) sautee eggplant, zucchini and summer squash in olive oil and garlic and italian seasoning blend.  

2) layer with thick tomato slices over a little homemade marinara sauce.  

3) bake at 350 until warmed through and then served over brown rice.  

delish way to use up summer veggies and a great vegetarian dish as well.

fall traditions.

i love fall.  the change of the season, making soup, muffins, yummy pumpkin-spiced treats, hot cocoa, sweaters, scarves and hats, decorating.  i love the crispness of the air, the brilliance of the changing leaves and landscape, the smoky smell of wood stoves wafting through the air.

i also love some of some of the traditions that we've established as a family.  

#1

since chris and i have been married, and during the times that we've lived in idaho we have always watched conference with his parents at their house.  it is wonderful gathering together in their family room and listening to inspired messages from our prophet, apostles and other leaders of the church.  i always feel so filled and driven to do better and make changes after hearing these messages.

this conference i wanted brady and olivia to be able to listen better to the talks, so i prepared sheets of paper with different key words for them to listen to each session.  every time they heard a key word they got to put a token in a jar and after each session they could use their tokens to buy things from the "conference good listener store."  

the kids earned stickers, Halloween socks, spider web decoration, puzzles, some craft kits, flash lights and candy corn.

this was a hit, and i loved how excited they were to fill their jars with tokens.  

i also printed out some bingo cards with the prophet in the center of each one (he was the "freebie" since he speaks during each session of conference) and then other random apostles.  when they saw one of the apostles they got to mark him with a peanut butter M&M (daddy got the leftovers because they are his favorite!)

#2

after the saturday morning session we have been going to a cute pumpkin patch in paul, a few miles from burley where chris' parents live.  the kids love picking out their own pumpkins!

                     

zach got to hitch a ride from grandpa who pushed 

him around in the wheelbarrow. 

                   

of course brady and livy had to join in on the fun!

we were in a hurry to get back for the next session, but grammie was nice enough to take a minute and snap a picture of us on the hay bales!!! this is as good as it gets with three squirmy kids who are hungry!

               2011

(VERY pregnant with Zach here!)

2010

#3

another "tradition" we started a few years ago was having our family pictures taken by one of my "besties" Charlotte.  She is an amazing photographer, especially because she can work with crazy small children, grumpy parents and take wall-worthy pictures in a total of 10 minutes!

i'm not going to post the family picture because we'll be sending them out with Christmas cards and i want an element of surprise, but here are a few others that were keepers.

                     

as a thank-you we took Char and the kids out for mexican (her hubs, jon couldn't make it).  here's the best pics we got with our four crazies....



we like garibaldi's because we can all eat chips, salsa and refried beans galore.  jane loved the beans and slurped them down faster than charlotte could keep her supplied! their food is really good too- i suggest the carne asada!!!

 proof that charlotte was there

i can never get a good picture of zach and jane together- but we have years to try!

the next day chris and i picked up our buds for a nature hike in the canyon.  char kept zach for me so he could take his nap.  i left chris in at the park with the kids for a bit while i visited  my friend, nichole who had a baby a month prior.  when i drove back down into the canyon i was met by chris and four eager kids to begin hiking!

the hike is a beautiful, easy one for kids with very rewarding views for minimal effort.  such a beautiful natural wonder that i miss now that we live in idaho falls.

                     
i had to edit this pic too- the shadows were too dark and completely eliminated sam.  he's in the pic now but looks like a ghost boy!

the kids were fascinated by this cave, and if it wasn't such a treacherous descent we would have tried to explore it a little

when we first moved back to idaho i couldn't believe that i gave up the ocean, lush forests, wildflowers and new england charm to move to "a desert wasteland."  over the past few years i have really come to truly love idaho.  i think of idaho as home just as much as maine now and see the different beauty that this climate and terrain has to offer.  everywhere you look you can find beauty.  it is different beauty than what i grew up with, but it is wonderful and always reminds me of our loving Heavenly Father who has clothed the land for us to enjoy.

although you can't see it in this picture, the entire face of this rock ledge is flowing with small waterfalls and red and green foliage.  it is spectacular standing in the canyon and looking around in all directions.  one of my favorite spots on earth.

these purple asters are my birth month flower.  i wish i could have better captured their dainty purple hue.

                   

                 

                


on the way out of the canyon we hiked down in behind the waterfall.  the kids loved the adventure of it and getting sprinkled with the spray from the falls.  

because i have a terrible camera, i had to play with this pic in editing just enough to make us out.  i kind of the effect it made with the spray in front of us and the sihlouette-ish look it lent to.

  sam and "my liv"

the kids enjoyed throwing pebbles off the side into the falls.

 two sweet girlies.