Do Yourself a Favor… {Make this soup!}

Posted by Nat on Feb 1, 2012 | Comments Off on Do Yourself a Favor… {Make this soup!}

Warning…  this post has a lot of bird-walking.

Sweet Potato Chowder, folks!  I’m tellin’ you.  Nom nom.

This chowder is so good that I started writing the post before I even tasted it.  Yeah, I know.  What I like most is when a soup you cook for just about 30 minutes tastes like it’s been cooking all day.  This one tastes just. Like. That.

Here is the one picture that turned out well.  Good thing it’s a closeup of bacon.  (If you’re vegetarian, don’t leave! I think this recipe would be delish sans bacon, too.)

This is like a “twofer” deal because you get the original recipe and my own adaptation.  Why my adaptation?  I don’t like chilies or peppers.  Isn’t it funny that my last name is Chiles but I don’t like chilies?  🙂  I always want to spell it chillies.  Or Chili’s like the restaurant.

Anyhoo, I pinned this recipe recently on my Food & Drink board.  Man, that board is getting crazy.  I need Pinterest to start allowing drag and drop editing with boards because mine are a bit cluttered.  I digress.

Here is the original recipe from Real Simple:

My problem is that chiles really don’t sit well with me, both in taste and digestion fun.  I just don’t put them in my food.  And the taste of any pepper- red, green, yellow… makes me want to gag. However, if you look at that recipe, you’ll see that it has quite a bit of chile and pepper action going on.   I knew that if I didn’t substitute anything else in for the chilies and peppers it would be pretty colorless and bland.  I also love a good, creamy chowder, so here’s my new, adapted version of this soup:

Nat’s Sweet Potato Chowder

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound thick-sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 large white onion, diced
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 13-ounce cans chicken broth
• 2 14-ounce cans corn
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8-12 oz. frozen peas, to taste
• kosher salt
• Greek yogurt for serving

Directions

1. Cook the bacon in a large stockpot over medium heat until it begins to crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Spoon off all but 1 tablespoon of the drippings. (I found that when I spooned off the grease it was exactly 1 tablespoon.  Just sayin’.)
2. Add the onion to the bacon and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the onions are tender, 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the sweet potatoes and chicken broth and simmer, covered, 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
4. Stir in the corn, peas, milk, and ½ teaspoon salt and cook until heated through.
5. If desired, plop on some Greek yogurt.  Enjoy!

New Garage Door

Posted by Nat on Jan 27, 2012 | 2 comments

We’re getting a new garage door today.  I’m super excited!!!!!!!!  No really.  For reals.  Why so excited, you ask?  Well, the current state of affairs is rather dismal.  Here’s our current garage door: 

(Please disregard our cracked and dirty driveway.  Our driveway is huge.  I want a leaf blower.)

Now, granted it does actually enclose the garage to keep out animals and sunlight, but that’s sort of where the love ends for me.  This door is rotting.  If you stand IN the garage when the sun is out you can see the sunshine coming in through little cracks in the wood.  But it gets even better.

This garage door does not open on it’s own. Nope.  So we have to lug it open.  It’s frickin’ HEAVY.  And even better than that…  when it rains, it somehow sucks in all the moisture like a sponge and then it doesn’t stay open, so if you have to open it, you have to be able to get what you need out AND hold it open at the same time.  Neat.  It also, as you can see below, does not close flat, and the lock with which one would secure it shut to keep out robbers… doesn’t work.

Farewell, garage door. Today you will meet your demise.  You will be replaced with a lovely, white garage door that has these lovely transparent things called windows.  It will have a magical button I can push.  When I push the button, it will open and close at my command.  It will have a keypad.  It will be….marvelous.

I can’t WAIT to show you the after pics!  We are doing some special stuff this weekend so I will likely not post until Wednesday or so.  Hooray!

Jane’s Family Rules

Posted by Nat on Jan 26, 2012 | 2 comments

Yesterday I introduced you to my wonderful friend, Jane.  Jane’s birthday is in May.  It is now January.  Why does that matter?  Well, it was in May that I told Jane that I’d make her a set of family rules for her home.  And just this past weekend I finally actually gave them to her!  Granted, I did have a baby in July, and Jane did have to come up with the rules (a fun, but daunting task).  Here they are in all of their Mod Podged glory (and please note:  I REALLY need/want a new camera- ours is getting tired):

What I loved about this project, aside from the fact that I got to make this for someone I care about so much, was that I knew Jane would want something slightly different than my family rules.  I welcomed the challenge.  The one I made for our family is definitely my style- loud, colorful…a bit busy.  They fit me and my family to a ‘T.’  And with the color scheme in our kitchen, they work.  I love how they *pop* off the wall and people notice them when they come over for the first time.  Jane has different decor than we do (she has a smokin’ 80s kitchen while ours is still smack-dab in the swanky 70s) and has always liked certain colors.  I wanted to make her Family Rules “look like her,” and to go with her family and her home.  I think I did a good job.  She seems to like them, anyway.  I need to get over to her house and take a picture because all of these photos are in my home.

I’ve actually made another set to send to a church auction (post forthcoming) and have realized:  I LOVE making these things.  A lot.  So get ready for some giveaways and some fun because I think I may have found at least one path to my creative life- we’ll see!

J is for Jane

Posted by Nat on Jan 25, 2012 | 1 comment

This post is in preparation for tomorrow’s post.  You need some backstory.

Do you have a Jane in your life?  I do.  My Jane is rad.   (Hey, Jane- if you’re reading this, grab your tissues just in case.)

I met Jane in Texas in 1999.  She and I were teaching at the same school in Dallas.   At first we just sort of said hello to each other at meetings, nothing huge.  I was a new music teacher, and she was a new 5th grade teacher.

Young. Carefree.  Single.  (And perhaps a bit tipsy.)

One of my first memories of Jane is a blur.  I was on a horrible date.  Horrible.  Awkward.  Painfully long silences.  For some reason he asked me to go dancing at a country dancing bar place, and for some reason I said,”Uh…okay.”  We each had a drink and then he asked me to dance.  He could at least lead, which was nice.  He was two-stepping me around the dance floor (albeit, with totally sweaty palms), when all of a sudden I saw Jane’s blurry face, her big smile, go by my line of vision.  “Hey!  You two know each other?!”  She had gone to high school with him.  Neat.  We stopped and talked to her for a few minutes and soon after, the date was over.  Funny how at the end of the evening, I thought to myself, “Well, that date wasn’t so great but at least I got to see Jane.”

I taught music to her class, and one day, at the end of that first school year teaching together, she brought her class up to my door and said, “I hear you’re looking for a roommate.”  The rest, as they say, is history.  We moved into a new building that used to be where the first Dr. Pepper bottling plant was in Dallas.   We had a few mutual agreements.  She wouldn’t hang her Aggie (Texas A&M) stuff in the main area, and I wouldn’t hang my SMU stuff, either.  Done.  Living with Jane was as easy as it was fun.  We had just the right balance of fun together and space apart.  I learned to leave her alone if she fell asleep on the couch (grumpy), and she learned that I do my dishes (eventually).

Me, Jane, and Kelley

A few months after moving in, Jane’s cousin, Kelley, called her up.  A few minutes into the conversation, Jane asked me if I’d want to move to San Diego with her and Kelley.  “When?”  “This summer.”  ……..”Okay.”  Leave the hot Texas summer for the breeze of the beach?  Done.  We embarked on an adventure that continues today, because…. we’re still here.  And we have *almost* seven kids between us (did I mention Jane is due any day with baby #4?  Yeah- she’s amazing.).  We’ve both gotten married, had kids, moved to different parts of town, but our roots are now here in San Diego.

What I value most in my friendship with Jane is that she teaches me without even realizing it.  Just by knowing Jane I have learned, for example:

• How to share (you don’t get Jane all to yourself- she’s too awesome.  She also doesn’t know a stranger.  So when you’re friends with her, you automatically gain oodles of other wonderful friends.)
• How to parent (Jane is an encyclopedia of motherly knowledge.  Since she had her first son, Luke, before I started my family, I get to watch how she does things and see what works for her.  Then I copy what works because she doesn’t mind.)
• How to love (Jane is a hugger. Not a fake hugger, but a real hugger.)
• How to stand up for what you believe in (Jane does not compromise her beliefs.  Love that.)

and of course…

• How to party (though we don’t do that nearly as much as we used to now that we have so many kids to take care of…dang it!)

If I went up to Jane and told her, prior to posting this piece, that I was going to write a blog post about how much I love her, and how wonderful I think she is, and how much her friendship means to me, she would a) turn bright red, b) tell me it’s not necessary, she doesn’t do anything that special, and c) immediately change the subject.  Jane is a person who focuses on others.  She does not like to be the focus of attention in any way.  Too bad, my sweet Janie.  I’ve just written a whole blog post about you and me, and how great you are.  I have loved being friends with you for so long. You are one of my longest held friends, and I am so blessed to have you in my life.  I’m so happy that we are both “stuck” in San Diego together.

I made something for Jane.  I’ll show it to you tomorrow.  🙂

Right Now

Posted by Nat on Jan 24, 2012 | Comments Off on Right Now

I have so many pending posts.  Photos just need to be edited and I need to get typing.  But I’m stuck.  I’m sort of in this place where I’m wrapping up my past and it’s a bit out of my control.  It’s hard to focus on the present when you need your past chapters to close.  I feel like one of those joggers you see at an intersection, jogging in place while they wait for the light to change so they can continue their run.

Patience is a virtue.  I, however, am not a patient person in all areas of my life.  But I will wait.  And soon I can completely let go of my past teaching life and move on into a more creative one (I hope).   I never, ever thought I’d be anything but a teacher, but here I am on the cusp of something else, and I have no idea what it is exactly, but it’s exciting.

I’ve spent most of my post-children-sleeping evening preparing documents and getting things prepared, and it’s amazing how much diving back into my world of teaching automatically sends my stress level to an old, familiar place.  It’s not something I enjoy.

I’m hoping that I can get caught up this week- the weekend ended so quickly that I haven’t had a chance to get grounded yet.  I have some great posts coming your way, though, including more Mod Podge and more food.  Yum.  I love food.

Make Your Own Coffee Creamer {Genius!}

Posted by Nat on Jan 23, 2012 | Comments Off on Make Your Own Coffee Creamer {Genius!}

My sister, Stephanie, is responsible for this one.  Thanks, Steph!

She can tell when I’m on a kick.  Lately I’m on a “make my own stuff” kick, as you may have read in my post about making my own laundry detergent.  Soon after that post, Stephanie texted me that she had tried making her own coffee creamer and it tasted pretty good.  She shared this link with me.   I immediately gravitate to all things chocolate, of course, so I decided to give the mocha recipe a try.   I also happened to have dry milk in my pantry (bread making) and hadn’t used it yet.  I had all of the ingredients (only three!) so I made it up.  I have to say…. I like it!

A lot of whether or not you might enjoy this creamer is, I think, going to be based on how much you need the cream experience in your coffee.  While it doesn’t give me that, “MmmmmMMMMMMMM!” experience that some of my favorite flavors of creamer give me, it still does the job of making my coffee taste less… like coffee.  And the cocoa is very nice- at the end it’s almost like having a cup of hot chocolate- nice!  What I like most is that it’s not made with high fructose corn syrup, it’s only three ingredients, and those ingredients are simple.  Sugar?  Yup.  Sugar is not going to kill me if I put just a few (okay, three) spoonfuls in my coffee.

If you like the experience of watching your creamer take over your coffee and change it from a dark, black mass of caffeinated sludge to a caramel-colored, smooth warm drink… this is not going to do it for you.  As shown above, your coffee will not look that much lighter.  But it does make your coffee taste… less like coffee and more like creamer.  There are other flavors listed on the link, but here’s the recipe I used:

Mocha Coffee Creamer

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups nonfat dry milk
• 4 teaspoons cocoa

Of course, I did add a bit of this and that helped with the creaminess.  Nom-nom.

Stephanie tried the orange flavor.  She said that she used Splenda and it was very sweet, but she still liked it.

Thanks, Steph!  And thanks, “desertgal”, whomever and wherever you are!

Keep it Happy in 2012

Posted by Nat on Jan 19, 2012 | Comments Off on Keep it Happy in 2012

I posted here about how I feel about resolutions for myself, and that instead, I would have a theme for this year.  I didn’t realize it but apparently I was right on trend, so I’ll be linking up over here at the Lettered Cottage to share my “word of the year” (even though I have three….).    I finally got to playing around in Photoshop, and this is what I came up with:

I chose teal, but I made a bunch so that I can change it up as the year goes on.  No one likes to have only one option, right?  I’m glad that I’ll have this in my entry way- I’ll pass it hundreds of times a day, so it will remind me to stay positive and be happy, dammit. 🙂

So friends, I give you an 8×10 “Keep it Happy” print.  Have fun.  Let me know what color you pick, or if you have another color you’d like to suggest, I would be more than happy to add more.  You should be able to click on the print of your choice and save it to your hard drive, but let me know if you have problems.  Happy day!