Homemade Cheesy Potato Soup

I am such a slacker. I was so going to post on here everyday for a whole year. Best laid plans....

Well, tonight my house is pretty quiet. The 10-year old and 7-year old are at their cousin's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese in Layton. The 13-year old just got home from Klondike Scout camp this afternoon so the house was pretty quiet last night also.

I made some super awesome cheesy potato soup for dinner tonight. It was all I could do not to eat 4 bowls of the stuff. I only ate 1 bowl and 1 piece of whole grain bread. Pretty good for me. I've noticed that since I started eating smaller portions, I'm not able to eat as much as I could before. My body is compensating for the smaller amount of food. I'm almost back to the weight I was before it got too cold outside to run or ride the bike anymore. The build your own book camp workout that I've been doing is really working. Makes me want to keep working out. That's a good thing!

Here's the recipe (I don't really use a recipe, I just make it up as I go) for the Cheesy Potato soup. Some of the amounts are estimates because I don't measure some things.

potatoes (russets 7-8; small, red 14-15), peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small onion, diced
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter (or a combination of olive oil and butter)
5 Tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups milk or cream (I use 1% milk because I don't want it to be too fattening)
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
dash cayenne pepper

Place potatoes in large pot. Cover with water. Bring to boil and boil for about 10 minutes (you want the potatoes soft, but not mushy). Drain and transfer to a bowl. In same pan, melt butter. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, until very soft. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne to taste. Sprinkle flour in butter and cook for 1 minute (this helps so it doesn't taste like paste). Add broth and milk. Cook over medium high heat until it starts to thicken. Add potatoes and check seasoning. Add cheese and stir to melt. Delicious with whole grain bread. You could add broccoli to this also and it would be delicious. I've also made it with bacon and used some of the bacon fat in place of some of the butter.

Super easy and super delicious. You can change the amounts of the butter, flour, and liquid to make as much or as little as you want. Just make sure it stays at 1 Tbsp. butter + 1 Tbsp. flour + 1 cup liquid. Basic white sauce. Play around with seasonings also and make it your own.

Hope everyone enjoys the post tonight.

Jazzercise

Two days in a row! Yeah me!

What a Monday, is all I have to say!

I woke up around 4:50 a.m. (yes, that is in the morning!) and went to a 5:30 a.m. Jazzercise class with my friend Brenda. It was a lot of fun. I would keep going but its all the way in West Jordan and not very close to my house. I really liked the class feel, though. Maybe I will see what kinds of classes they offer at the fitness center and sign up for one. For right now, I will just keep doing my boot camp workout. I think I might try to do it for longer tomorrow. Get in a really good workout.

After I got home, I took the kids to school and came home to do laundry. Monday's at my house are laundry days. I always do laundry on Monday. Some people will tell you to do a couple loads a day so it doesn't get overwhelming, but doing laundry everyday seems overwhelming to me. I'd rather sort it all and get it done all at once instead of dragging out all week. I will admit that I do one or two loads later in the week. Usually school clothes for the boys. For me, laundry all on one day is less stressful!

Oh, and I haven't taken a shower all day. I think I earned a bubble bath!

Tapioca

Well, G Mom hasn't been rocking lately. I haven't posted in a couple of days. It's been a little busy around here. Grocery shopping and double dates and science fair projects and Ikea shelves. Here are some pictures from the fun things we've been doing.

Cameron's science fair project. He organized the experiment with some friends and his dad and they went and shot some guns to see what the effect on your heart rate would be. The only part I helped him with was cutting and pasting.

We got a bookshelf to go under Cohen's bed to put all his stuff on. I was tired of having it all over the floor. He has books on the bottom and toys on the top shelf. His shoes and other things can go on the very top. Makes for a fun little space under his bed.

Cameron decided he wanted tapioca pudding for dessert, but he didn't want to wait for me to make it. So... he made it himself. He is such an awesome kid!

I made the whipped cream, but he did the rest. And it was delicious!

2 pounds!

So the working out and watching what I eat (no snacking, no eating after 8 p.m.) has started to show. I'm down 2 pounds since Sunday! Yeah! I like that kind of improvement. And I haven't had a soda in a week and a half. That is amazing, cause I loves me some Diet Dr. Pepper.

Today was Costco day at my house. I was going to buy Turbo Tax because there was a coupon for it, but I forgot. And I gave them my coupon with all the other coupons I used today. Good thing all the coupons have the same bar code on them so I will go back and buy something else with a coupon and get Turbo Tax and the coupon should still come off.

Just a warning to any kids out there, don't fall asleep in class. My 13-year old fell asleep in his English class and woke up with his name and a bar code on the back of his hand. I thought it was pretty funny and I couldn't get too mad because I used to fall asleep in English when I was a junior in high school.

Crazy Boys and A Recipe

Yeah, I skipped a day. Not much happened yesterday. I watched a very interesting movie last night. Shutter Island with Leonardo DiCaprio. They did a really good job of making it look like a movie that was made in the 50s. It totally had the feel of an old Hitchcock movie. The storyline was interesting but it had a lot of unnecessary language in it and the longer I watched it the more I was saying "Why am I watching this?".

I've decided that I have some pretty crazy kids. Cohen got this Doodle Pad for his birthday and last night I found it with this written on it. Pretty funny I thought.

The boys had the day off from school today because it was Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Cameron and Cohen were having a ton of fun this morning before lunch playing together. This is one of the fun things they decided to do.

I also tried out a new recipe tonight for dinner. Chicken Carbonara Deluxe. It was delicious. The recipe was from Betty Crocker. They have some wonderful recipes. Here it is!

1 package (7 ounces) spaghetti
8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 cups cut-up cooked chicken
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream

1. Cook and drain spaghetti as directed on package.
2. While spaghetti is cooking, cook bacon in 3-quart saucepan over low heat 8 to 10 minutes , stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove bacon from saucepan with slotted spoon ; drain. Drain fat from saucepan, reserving 1 tablespoon in saucepan.
3. Cook onion and garlic in bacon fat over medium heat about 3 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is tender. Stir in spaghetti, chicken, cheese, and whipping cream. Cook, stirring occasionally, until heated through. Toss with bacon.

We had this with a big salad. It was amazing!

Bubble Baths

Worked out again this morning. That makes 4 days in a row! I tried not to work my arms too much today because they hurt so bad after the last couple of days. But now my calves are killing me. I really hope this is all worth it. I even skipped the bread with my soup tonight and had salad instead. Yeah me!

I was able to stay in my pajamas all day today. But I wasn't a total, lazy bum. I cleaned off the kitchen counter and loaded the dishwasher. I cleaned my bathroom and it's looks so pretty!

My husband and 13-year old went to Lee Kay today and shot some guns. It was for a science fair project my 13-year old is doing. He wanted to know if a person's heart rate would go up when they shot a gun. They used a handgun, a rifle and a shotgun. He had a couple of friends helping him and also his cousin. There were 5 people total who shot the guns. Some of the boy's heart rates didn't change hardly at all when they shot the guns but the others changed quite a bit. Now all he has to do is write up his information and get his display done. I hope he gets a good grade on it.

The best part of my day was at the end. Bubble bath!!! Wonderful hot water & Black Raspberry Vanilla bubble bath. It was all I could do to not just fall asleep in the tub with all the yummy smelling bubbles. Sure helped with the aches and pains from my workout and cleaning I did today.

Tricep Dips

I hate trying to exercise in the winter when it's too cold outside to run or ride a bike. I don't do well with DVD's because my 3-year old always wants to watch something different than the workout DVD that I'm watching.
I signed up for a challenge on Studio 5. It's a 10-pound weight loss challenge and it's for the month of January. The instructor who is over-seeing the challenge sent me this wonderful "Build your own bootcamp" workout. I've been doing it for the last two days and my arms are killing me. Push-ups and tricep dips and planks. I usually quit things like this after a few days but I'm determined to keep going with this and loose the weight, even if it takes me longer than a month. I was doing so well over the summer, but when the weather turned cold, I stopped working out as hard. And the holidays killed me. Everyone wish me luck! I'm gonna need it.

Nothing good happens when the mom is sick. Just had to get that out there. I have first hand knowledge of this from previous times when I was sick and also from today. I thought I was doing good when I went to bed (lights out, head on pillow) before 10 p.m. last night. Then I woke up this morning with a headache. Usually this happens when I don't get enough sleep. But I had plenty of sleep last night. I didn't think I felt too bad so I did some exercising. I had to stop before I wanted to because the headache was slowly getting worse.

I was able to go to Costco and pick up a few things before I started feeling really lousy. I met this really good-looking guy there and was able to have lunch with him and my little guy. I love when I get to have lunch with my husband in the middle of the day.

These are the two good-looking guys I was able to have lunch with today.
(This is not a picture from today.)

It was a good thing I did not have to pick up carpool today. I spent the afternoon on the couch, trying to sleep while Cohen watched Star Wars (again). When the boys got home from school, I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in my room, on the bed, covered in a blanket, with a fleece jacket and a hoodie on trying to stay warm. Oh, and I still have the headache.

Nothing good happens when mom is sick. (But dad did do a really good job keeping everyone from killing each other.)

Ham Fried Rice

No post for yesterday, because it was Tuesday and it was boring. Except for Cub Scouts. I am the Bear den leader; that would be 9-year old boys. We had our den meeting yesterday and we made placemats for our Blue and Gold banquet next month. And I brought popcorn for a snack. Holy cow! You would think those boys never get popcorn. And then I remembered that they are 9-years old and boys. Duh!

Today was Wednesday. No really, you ask. Yes, really I say. The fact that it is Wednesday means volunteering at the kids school. Mainly for Colby's teacher. I say teacher and not class because by the time I get there, Colby's class has moved on to other things and the 5th grade class his teacher has is in the classroom. They call me Cookie Monster. This is because the first time I came to the class, I wore my Cookie Monster t-shirt and they always call me this now. Even the teacher!

Wednesday night means Ham Fried Rice (well, every other Wednesday). I made up a recipe for it years ago and we've been eating it ever since. I will end today's post with my recipe for Ham Fried Rice.

Ingredients
4 cups Turkey Ham, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
2 cups sliced carrots (I like to use the baby carrots because they are small already)
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
4-6 eggs
ginger, to taste
soy sauce, to taste
sesame oil, to taste
3 cups uncooked medium grain rice, cooked according to directions (you want sticky rice when you make this)

I like to make my rice in a rice cooker. You can make it however you want just don't use instant rice. While the rice is cooking, cut up your ingredients. Add turkey ham to hot wok and cook until browned well. Remove ham from pan. Add eggs and scramble. Return ham to wok with eggs and add carrots and onion. Toss to combine. Add ginger to taste. Add rice. I usually don't use all the rice that has been cooked, but you can add as much or as little as you want. Toss to combine and pour soy sauce over mixture. Use as much soy sauce as you think you need. Drizzle with sesame oil. Stir to combine. Enjoy!

Hope you like the recipe.

Mystery Package

So I have a Facebook account. I've had it for a while now and I love to be able to keep in touch with people I don't get to see a lot. Like friends from high school and relatives that live far away. I have an aunt who lives in Alaska. She's one of my most favorite people. She posted a status on Facebook that the first 5 people that commented would receive something handmade from her. Then those people were supposed to post this as their status and do the same.

Yesterday, this box came in the mail for me. I hadn't ordered anything (besides checks, which were in another package) and I didn't recognize the handwriting at first. Then I remembered that she said she was going to send the handmade items to those people who commented. I couldn't get the package open fast enough. If you knew my aunt, you would understand why I was so excited. She is an excellent knitter and she quilts like a pro. I couldn't wait to see what she had sent me. Here is what I found in my box.

Mystery package? Whose handwriting is that?

At first, I didn't notice that it had come to me all the way from Soldotna, AK. That would have been a dead giveaway as to who it was from.

Oh, what did I get? What did I get?

So much fun stuff in one box. A couple of dishcloths. I LOVE these things. They wash SO good! A pair of hand-knit socks. I can't wait to try them out. And some homemade Pumpkin Spice cookies, which I have found out today are so good they are evil. I will either need to hide them from myself or make the boys eat them all when they get home from school before I can eat anymore.

I love my Aunt Donna and I am so thankful she took the time to send me such a thoughtful gift. Thank you Aunt Donna!

Alfredo Sauce

I really think I will start posting on here in the morning. I'm having a really hard time remembering to do it at night.

Does everybody hate 9 a.m. church, because I LOVE it. I love having the afternoon to do whatever I want. When we had church at 1 p.m., I was always a frazzled mess by the time we got there because I would spend the entire morning keeping my kids occupied with appropriate Sunday morning activities. I am also not one to sleep in very much. I would usually wake up around 7:30 a.m. and then lay in bed thinking about all the things I could be doing. I would much rather take a nap in the afternoon.

We had a wonderful time with some friends of ours last night. The Darling's invited up to their home for dinner and games and we had a great time. We had one of my favorite things; Swedish pancakes only we had them in a way I've never had them before. A savory version of the delicious things. Chicken and beef, with alfredo sauce (that I made!) and cheese and all kinds of other yummy things. There were also strawberries and whipped cream or butter and syrup for those that prefer them the "breakfast" way. What a wonderful dinner!

Then we played a game called Genesis about the creation of the world. It was pretty interesting. Might need to play it a couple more times to see if I really like it.

Here is how I make my Alfredo Sauce:

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter
4 Tbsp. flour
4 cups milk or cream or broth or a combination of these
ground pepper, to taste
dash nutmeg
freshly grated Parmesan cheese (not powdery, sprinkle kind)
kosher salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Add flour and cook for a couple of minutes so the flour taste cooks out. Add pepper and nutmeg while cooking butter & flour mixture. Add milk all at once, whisking constantly to incorporate. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Add cheese and whisk until melted. Add salt, if needed. You may add more milk if you want your sauce thinner.

You can increase or decrease the amount you make by changing the amount of butter, flour and milk you use. Always remember, one Tbsp. of butter + one Tbsp. of flour + one cup of milk. Everything else stays the same. Super easy!

Oh my feet hurt so bad! What a busy day! Does the fact that I never had a chance to take a shower mean I was busy? I sure hope so. I would feel bad if I never took a shower and I didn't accomplish anything either.

The storage room has been cleaned up and rearranged and all the food from the case lot sale has been put away. We were able to rearrange some things so that nothing is on the floor that doesn't need to be there. I also threw out a bunch of stuff that we don't use anymore. I love getting rid of stuff and making room for other things. It makes me feel good.

I was able to sit down for a little bit in the afternoon and play with the boys. We played Lego Batman on the Wii. They love to play to Wii.

Made spaghetti for dinner and ironed clothes for church tomorrow. I think that is what finally did my feet and legs in. Very tired and ready to be done for the day. But I wasn't so tired that I couldn't make a necklace and bracelet to wear to church tomorrow. I'll try to post pictures of them later.

Storage Room

I did it again. I went to bed and didn't post on my blog. Maybe I should post in the morning instead of at night.

I was able to do a couple of my favorite activities yesterday.
First, my 3-year old and I went to Harmon's for one of their case lot sales. We love the case lot sale and try to go every time they have one. My husband built me a wonderful storage room in my basement so that I have somewhere to store all that food. And all our stuff.

Food Storage

Stuff Storage

Upright freezer for all that frozen stuff

So my goal for the day is to straighten up this room and take all the food we bought yesterday down and put it away.

The second thing I was able to do yesterday was go on a date with my husband to Ikea. This is one of my other favorite stores. I love their cafe. It has some really good food for a very reasonable price. Plus, it is so fun to just wander around and look at the different displays. My husband and I also have a game that we play whenever we go to Ikea. How many pregnant ladies can you find in the store? Last night we saw 6. Each sighting must be verified by someone else. I am easy to entertain!

As I was laying in bed at 11:00 p.m. last night, enjoying the fact that the lights were out before midnight, I realized that I hadn't posted to my blog. Sorry folks! 6 days into my new blog and I've already skipped a day. I will try to be better in the future. More blog post coming later today.

Costco

Every other Wednesday at my house is Costco day. I love Costco! Ask anyone that knows me. I LOVE Costco! They have some yummy stuff at that store. Mango salsa, turkey croissant sandwiches, 4-packs of Laughing Cow cheese, Baby Bel cheese, huge bagels, chicken bakes, cashew clusters, big bags of chocolates, soft black licorice, crusty bread, cheesecake, pulled pork, Oregon chai, hot dog and a soda for $1.50.

And then there's one of my favorite parts of the store; the books. I could stand and look at the books for hours. I am a self-proclaimed read-a-holic. In just a few minutes today, I found at least 3 books that I wanted to buy. This is a very bad part of the store for me to wander in. And I'm not just interested in books for myself. I find books for my kids and husband also. I always have to make a sweep around the books every time I go to Costco.

Like I said at the beginning, I LOVE Costco!

Turkey Biscuit Pot-Pie

I have been receiving emails from Betty Crocker for quite some time now. At the end of the year, they always send me an email wanting to know if I would like a free calendar with a new recipe for each month. Well, who wouldn't like a free calendar! This year, when I received my calendar, this was the picture I was awarded with for January. This is Turkey-Biscuit Pot Pie. Now I love a good pot pie just like the next guy, but this one is special. The biscuits around the outside aren't just regular biscuits. They have bacon and cheddar cheese in them! I am a firm believer that bacon makes everything better. So this Sunday, I am making this for dinner. Here is the recipe for all of you that would like to make it also.

INGREDIENTS
Filling
2 1/2 cups baby-cut carrots (12 oz.)
2 cups cut-up fresh broccoli
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or 1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
2 cups cubed cooked turkey

Biscuits
4 slices bacon
1 cup Bisquick mix
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (2 oz.)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1 cup water to boiling. Add carrots and broccoli; cook about 4 minutes or until carrots and broccoli are crisp-tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion; cook about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Beat in flour with wire whisk. Gradually beat in broth and sage. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. Stir carrots, broccoli and turkey into sauce. Spoon turkey mixture into ungreased 2-quart casserole.
3. Place bacon on microwavable plate; cover with paper towel. Microwave on High 4 to 6 minutes or until crisp. Crumble bacon; place in medium bowl. Add remaining biscuit ingredients; stir just until blended. Spoon biscuit batter around edge of turkey mixture.
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until biscuit crust is golden brown.

ENJOY!!!

Salt Lake Temple

I received a beautiful picture of the Salt Lake Temple from my wonderful husband for Christmas. After I put away all the Christmas paraphernalia from the mantle this afternoon, I placed the boys school pictures back on it and hung up my new picture. I LOVE the way it looks. How appropriate to have it hanging in between the pictures of the boys.

From another angle.

First day back at school for 3 of the 4 kiddos. All I have to say is 6:30 a.m. came way too early this morning. Especially since the youngest wouldn't go to sleep last night until after 11 p.m.

Other than being extremely tired this morning, I think I had a productive day. Most of the laundry is done and the Christmas decorations have been taken down. I even got the new Christmas tree to fit back in it's original box without too much effort. I still need to clean the family room so that it doesn't look like a tornado blew through.

Oh, I also made a trip to the doctor's office with my youngest boy. He's been coughing since Friday morning and yesterday woke up with a fever and a snotty nose. Still had all these symptoms this morning. so we went to the doctor. After listening to his chest and breathing for a bit, the doctor said he wasn't breathing very deeply and he had some crackling on his right side. Said he had a little bronchial pneumonia and gave us a prescription for an antibiotic. He also told us we could give him some Robitussin Cough & Cold (the kind without an antihistamine) and some children's Tylenol.

Dad took him for a "ride" to get him away from the tree I was trying to take down and when they returned home, he was asleep. And still is. I'm hoping he stays asleep all night, although he does need to have another dose of medicine.

First post

I've decided to start a blog about my experiences and adventures as a mom of 4 energetic, smart, precocious boys and wife to an amazing husband.

Today, we started a new time at church. 9 a.m. seems early and it is when your 3-year old won't go to sleep the night before. But, I love this time. All I have to do in the morning is get myself up and ready and the boys up and ready (with assistance from the husband). There is no trying to keep 4 boys occupied for 4-5 hours in the morning with Sunday-appropriate activities. Plus, there is always to added benefit of a nap in the afternoon. There are also activities that I like to do that I am able to do on Sunday afternoons. I love making jewelry. Namely bracelets and necklaces. I made the ones in the above pictures yesterday to wear to church today.

Tomorrow is laundry day at my house. I sort all of our laundry on Sunday night, then I can put a load in the washer if there is something specific that needs to be washed for Monday morning i.e. school clothes.

I'm hoping that as I post to this blog, followers will find something they can use. I would love to post recipes that I like and information that I've found that I think is fun and useful.