Chicken and Spinach Pasta Soup

 Originally I had planned this soup for Christmas Eve.  Since we have a wonderful dinner of snacks with my mom (and it was amazing) I wanted something light but tasty for a late lunch.  Well, I had many things on my list for Christmas Eve that had to get done and making soup did not make the cut!  Instead it got put off for a bit and I finally made it about a week ago.  This Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup did not disappoint.  Granted, my recipe is not the same as the original!  I had "cream cheese" on my grocery list and, thinking it was for my bagels, I bought Honey Pecan Cream Cheese.  Oops - it was for this soup and should have been plain!  So, I totally tweaked it and instead of cream cheese I threw in a handful of fresh parmesan and I added a full cup of heavy cream instead of just the 1/2 cup.  As it cooked it seemed like it needed more moisture so I added 2 cups of milk.  It was perfect.  We did not miss the cream cheese at all and I think the soup might even be better without it!  

You can find the original recipe HERE

Declutter 365 vs. Snails Pace Decluttering

 Organizing and de-cluttering are an on-going project for most people.  Just ask my mom who I think is now on her spring cleaning for 2052 because she cleans and rearranges so much.  (But her house is always clean and organized!!) Well, the more people you put in less square footage the harder it is for everything to have a home and stay there.  When we first moved into our house we had an empty room.  For real.  Then we added a bed so we had our room, an office, and a guest room.  The guest room sat empty most of the time. It also held my library (which I loved).  We added one kid and really didn't lose much.  The guest room/library went away and instead we had a nursery.  My books lost their home and eventually I sold them all (and I still miss them!).  We added kid # 2 and we lost a room.  We no longer had an office - it became the 2nd bedroom, then the playroom, the classroom, and the playroom again.  All of that office stuff had to go somewhere!  

I fought the clutter bug for years and finally feel like I'm getting it under control since my kids are getting older and they have less merchandise needed (swings, jumparoos, mounds of toys and more.) This year I'm really focusing on that word, Purposeful, and trying to make sure that everything in our home has a  purpose - being more "brutal" with cleaning things out.  

There are two different blogs/Facebook pages I follow.  The first is Declutter 365. 

You may remember me referring to the calendar that comes from this site.  In this case, the author has created a calender with daily declutter missions.  It takes you through your entire home through the year and, if you follow her plan, the spaces will be decluttered and organized.  I've been following this the best that I can for the last few months.  There are pros and cons.  The pro is that it is laid out for you so you don't have to think about what to do, you just read the task and do it.  The con is that it doesn't always apply to my home or my room.  I found that I skipped a lot of days because it didn't fit into my "space." 

The second one is Snails Pace Transformation

This site takes the idea a different direction.  The author provides you with a spreadsheet for 52 weeks.  It is your job to chose 52 areas in your home to declutter.  Then, work each week on that area.  She also assigns some rules like you can work ahead but you can't get more then two weeks behind without catching up.  This concept has really spoke to me because I could take what I learned from Declutter 365 and use it as I create my own 52 week list.  I spent the last few days doing just that - creating my list starting with Nate's room and ending with the basement.  I even counted weeks so I would land in the kitchen during the summer when I have more time to spend on cleaning since there isn't school. Another thing I liked about this concept is that the author talks about the fact that doing this process is yearly - it isn't a one time fix it all.  The idea is to come back through it each year and make tough decisions and simplify things more.  I also find that as I simplify things, I shop differently and ask for gifts differently - I think about how the items will fit into my space first.  

I know I talk frequently on my the posts about goals (I was going to say goal posts but that made me think of football!) about declutting or deep cleaning so I thought I'd share my inspirations.  I also love Flylady - especially for her cleaning checklists and "15 minutes on a hotspot" ideas.  

The tale of the Rubik's Cube

 There once was a cube called Rubik's

It's meant to be solved in a moment.

There are two kids that each got one

They tried to match sides just for fun. 

They heard the tale of an Uncle

Who had rapid fast hands, yes he did

He could solve that crazy cube

He was one super fast dude!

A trip to a wedding took place

Of course Mr. Rubik's came along

Why? Because Uncle Jeff would there

And all those boys could do was stare.

He took that cube in his hands

Announced, "Get that timer ready"

 And It was with great resolve

That splendid cube he did solve.

Now, several years later

One boy in particular kept trying

To reach the same level as his Uncle

And solve that cube which is a struggle

The day has arrived and the cube has been solved

Not once or twice - but now over and over!

But have no fear, that first cube solved by Jeff

Now has a special pace on the shelf. 

The words have been uttered

Words of clear adoration

"Don't touch that cube over there!"

It was solved by my Uncle with care! 

(I am so not a poet - but this was fun!) 

2021 Weekly Photos #2

 Yes, I'm a day late but I still wanted to look back over this past week! 

We had a super quiet week.  

Saturday and Sunday - We enjoyed a great weekend of relaxation and football.  

Monday-Friday - We just enjoyed a quiet week.  Our friends were here doing school but Josh and Nate didn't have school to do so I think they enjoyed that a lot.  I did a lot of reading :-)  It was nice to be able to curl on on the couch with a blanket and a book and read.  

On Friday we even had some snow and it was pretty! 

This little guy just loves that we are home 99% of the time.  

You can't seem them but there were some gigantic flakes falling throughout the afternoon :-) 

Weekly Menu

 I know it's only week 2 but I am already trying to be much more intentional with meal planning and this is not just with dinner but also with my breakfast and with lunch.  If I don't specifically plan easy breakfast and lunch ideas, I struggle with eating healthy.  It takes more work on the planning side of things as I have to actually remember to plan those parts but when the stuff is in the fridge, prepped and ready to go, it makes it so much easier to quickly get my food!  

So here's the plan for the coming week

Friday - Dinner at my mom's this week. 

Saturday - Take out Friday Saturday (there are Saturday football games again this week!) 

Sunday - Lunch:  BBQ Cups, Fries and Onion Rings and veggies and dip (ok, I'm the only one that will eat the veggies but that's ok)  Dinner:  (Breakfast) Ham and Cheese Quiche, roasted veggies, and Fruit and Dip (our favorite!) 

Monday - (Pork) Pork Tacos with Mango Salsa (this is a new Slow Cooker Recipe), beans, chips and salsa and Salad

Tuesday (Beef) Since I made BBQ Cups on Sunday for lunch, I'm going to slip in another family favorite today that has no meat - Stuffed Shells.  I'll add parmesan green beans and garlic bread to round it all out. 

Wednesday - AirFryer - Crispy Chicken and Pickle Sandwiches and Daddy Fries - I might try to do these in the Air Fryer too.  (might as well jump in with both feet HA!) 

Thursday - (Chicken) Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas.  Beans, Chips and Salsa and Salad.  

I sent to the grocery store yesterday and was reminded why I stopped planning meals that called for specific ingredients during this pandemic - the grocery store is not carrying near the variety they used to carry and there are lots more empty shelves!!!!  For example - I needed Jumbo Shells for my Stuffed shells and there were NONE.  All brands were sold out (Seriously?) I ended up getting manicotti shells but still - I should have just planned Spaghetti HA! 

I'm on a Cookbook Kick

 

I've always enjoyed cookbooks but since the creation of Pinterest and the easy search of all things food I found that I used that search option much more than cookbooks over the last few years. 

Well, Darryl got me "The New Frontier" cookbook by The Pioneer Woman for Christmas and it brought back that love for an actual book when searching for recipes. 

I also got an air fryer for Christmas and, ironically, Nate had given my mom the Air Fryer cookbook as a gift.  Needless to say, I ordered myself one right after Christmas too! 

This quickly sent me down the rabbit hole of cookbooks on Amazon where I found Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines and a Slow Cooker book both which have great reviews.  I have quite a few friends that post recipes from the Magnolia Table book as well so I'm confident I'll find some "keepers".  

I also have Taste of Homes "365 Days of Cookies" in my Amazon cart.  I'm looking forward to adding that one to my collection in the near future! 

Cookbooks become like old friends with pages that are "dog eared" along with splatters and handwritten notes.  I look forward to breaking in all of these cookbooks in the coming weeks. 

What We are Eating - Sweet Potato Casserole

 I did not do a great job at taking individual photos of my food!  So, this photo shows both my Green Bean Casserole and Sweet Potato Casserole. 

Today I'm going to talk about my Sweet Potato Casserole.  It is amazing. 

I found this recipe years ago on a blog I followed called Comfy in the Kitchen. 

I love that it uses real sweet potatoes that you cook in the oven and then scrap the goodness out to mix with everything else. 

I love that it has two toppings.  Now, the recipe tells you to do diagonal lines of each type - the streusel and the marshmallow - but in this house some people only like marshmallow so I do half and half.  The lines make it look fancier HA! 

You van find the recipe HERE: 

Sweet Potato Casserole

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 1 hour 40 mins

Total time: 2 hours 5 mins

Serves: 10

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups cornflakes cereal, crushed
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Clean and pierce sweet potatoes and bake for 1 hour or until tender
3. Let stand until cool to touch (about 20 minutes)
4. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
5. Slice open sweet potatoes and take out insides, place in a large mixing bowl
6. Beat mashed sweet potatoes, granulated sugar, and next 5 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth.
7. Spoon potato mixture into a greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish.
8. Combine cornflakes cereal and next 3 ingredients in a small bowl.
9. Sprinkle over casserole in diagonal rows 2 inches apart.
10. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
11. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.
12. Sprinkle marshmallows in alternate rows between cornflake mixture; bake 10 minutes.
13. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.