Broccoli Cheddar Soup

A here,

Last night I made the most incredible Broccoli Cheddar Soup. I have been craving it for some time so I went for it. I have never made it before so it was a bit of an experiment....and it turned out PERFECTLY! Here is what I did...

Into a small pot I put about a pound and a half of broccoli heads and filled it 2/3 full with water and sprinkled some salt on the broccoli. I put it on the back burner while I was doing this....

I melted about 3 Tablespoons of butter in a pot. Then added a medium onion that was chopped. I cooked the onion in the butter until they were translucent. About 10 minutes on medium high heat. When I thought they looked good I added 3 Tablespoons of flour. I mixed it all around until the flour was combined. I then added a can of chicken broth and a pint of heavy whipping cream. I combined everything and stirred it for about 8 minutes. I drained the broccoli and added it in. I let it cook for about 3 minutes to make sure everything was combined and warm. Right before eating I put in 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese and mixed it until the cheese melted (about 30 seconds!).

It was so yummy!!! The only addition I will make next time is serving it in bread bowls :)

Hope you try it out! Sorry for no pictures....

Until next time,
xoxox

House Update!! Finally!

L here!!!
So holy Shit Cakes its been soooo F-ing long since I have blogged!!
My house is so much further along since the last time I put up pictures!!  Well since the walls finally going up, we have had windows in siding done, roof on, electrical in, plumbing finished, septic is in, and all the walls are now insulated and ready for sheet rock!!

Whoop whoop!!

So damn excited you don't even know!!

so here are some pictures of the progress:

Walls up!!

 Roof Happening!!

 Siding and Roof going on!!

 Roof is going on and windows are in!!!

 Roof is done and siding is finished!!

 and finally the insulation is in and ready to be sheet rocked!!

this is all that has happened so far!! I will keep posting as the progress happens.
see you soon
L

Christmas Time!

A here,

Christmas has officially arrived this week :) I love when family gets together and we share memories that will last a life time. Holidays are my favorite for this reason alone. Today I am wrapping up the finishing touches on some presents and cleaning my house. Tomorrow we are headed to my brother in laws house for our annual Christmas Eve dinner. On Wednesday we will head up to my mom's to celebrate Christmas with her side of the family and B and S will join us later in the week. Then we get to celebrate my nephews birthday! Such a magical and wonderful week awaits. I won't be blogging this week as I my sole focus will be on family.

Until next time,
xoxo

Craft Time

A here,

I don't do a lot of craft projects but when I do I always think it's something I should do more often. It took me a couple days to get this done. If I would have had everything I needed to begin with it only would have taken an afternoon though! I didn't take any before pictures...and I'm a little upset that I didn't!

Here is what I just finished up:

 Please ignore my still unfinished, torn down wall!

Turned out pretty cute huh?! The big letters are cardboard that I painted with 2 coats of acrylic paint. Then the letters are the side are wood that I super glued after I painted them. I really really like them :)

Until next time,

xoxo

My Journey to Organization

A here,

This coming year I'm making a commitment to getting my life more organized. I like to think I'm pretty on top of my game when it come to certain aspects of my life...laundry, paying bills, appointments, keeping up on my house. These are all things I feel like I am in control of.

I'm just beginning the school process. My princess started pre-school this year and next year the little princesses will start. I decided to finish my degree and will be starting school again next month so any little things I can do around my house before then feels like an accomplishment.

My journey to organization started this week in my kitchen. I started with my pantry because it's a mess...I'll be honest with you I even cleaned up a bit before taking this picture because I was so embarrassed...

I try to keep all my baking supplies on the bottom shelf...you can see they are taking over and are a big pile of blah! 

Since I moved into my home 4 years ago I have been on the lookout for big GLASS jars that I can put my flour, sugar, and other baking supplies in. I finally found them last week :) Here is how I dressed them up...

 I have a Silhouette machine and I used it to cut out the words with a super cute font! I didn't show the process but I pressed the cling wrap on top of the words and removed the white back so I could stick them on the jars 

 This is before

And this is after! 

I am so happy with them :) They are huge and hold a ton! I got rid of the ugly looking bags in the pantry and now everything looks so pretty that I want to keep them on my counter but they are so big it looks kind of silly! 

So this is a little itty bitty step to me becoming more organized. One step at a time right? Maybe today I will clean up the pantry a little more and make room for these and I will try and finish the other glass jars. I will keep you updated on my organization process!

Until next time,

xoxo

Soccer...what else?!

B here..

So I recently had a rash of shit because I don't ever post on this blog..

Well, I don't claim to be as amazing as A with her canning and freezing and food stuff.  I wish I was, but I'm not.  And I don't have a new house to keep me busy like L..nor do I have a bunch of littles any more (thank the heavens) like S...so what do I have to offer?  

Soccer. Ass loads of soccer.  Soccer practice six days a week.  So much time sitting in a freezing cold indoor facility drinking a Starbucks.  I don't so much mind the Starbucks. 

So if you ever ask what I am up to after 3:30 on a weekday...the answer is usually - soccer.

Pretty soon though this will all be over and I will have to take up golfing and tennis just to keep myself busy.  I try not to think about how quickly it will all be over..that is a different post for a different day..

So here you go brats..a post about the shit that keeps me too busy to talk to any of you..hahaha!  

Love always,

B

Apple Bread

A here,

My MIL has the most fantastic recipe for apple bread. Whenever I have an abundance of apples in my fridge or even just a few that might go bad in the "next few days" this is the recipe I turn to. My kids eat it like candy...needless to say it doesn't stay in our house long. 

Here is the process:

 Butter and flour bread pans

 Combine sugar, eggs, vanilla and crisco oil

 Add flour, cinnamon, and baking soda...add apples when mixed

 Divide the batter into the pans

Bake, let cool, then devour.

There is only one pan because we ate the other one...yes, it goes that fast :)

Here is the recipe:

Mix with mixer:

1 cup crisco oil

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Add:

3 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

Mix well.

Add 3 cups chopped apples (about 3 medium apples)

Pour into 2 large loaf pans or 4 small - greased and floured

Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes (depending on how many apples you add - I always add at least 5 - this time will go up!)

Cool - invert pans

If you try this recipe I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do!

Until next time, 

xoxo