It's been a while since I've posted. It's been a busy week all in all. We totally changed our living room upstairs. Our TV has been on the blink for awhile now, and we've been saving for a couple of years. We decided that since the great deals were happening this month, we should just get a new TV now instead of waiting until the old one died. We figured it would die right after Christmas when all the good sales were gone. The boys got the old TV now downstairs, and that took a lot of rearranging too, and we've still got a lot to do, but man, am I ever tired. I ended up shampooing all the carpet and then I decided to move Levi into Noah's bedroom to make Levi's room into a play room. I happen to know that Santa is bringing them a blow up trampoline that is 80 inches in diameter, so we needed some room. I think it will be worth it when they can jump all day long and totally wear themselves out! Here are some before and after pics.
I also wanted to share with you Tanner's accomplishments. He recently received a Varsity letter in football and one in academics also. Here he is with the letters and his new varsity coat.
We had a friend sew them on for him and he looks great in them. I feel badly because sometimes being the "middle" child, Tanner gets forgotten. Ty gets a lot of attention because he is the firstborn and Levi and Noah get a lot of attention because, well, they just demand it at their ages. Tanner gets pushed to the side a lot because he's #2 in birth order and because he is potty trained and can feed himself fairly well :-). Congratulations Tanner on receiving 2 Varsity letters!
I LOVE WHITE TRASH! That totally sounds like a country song, doesn't it? (Which is why I don't listen to country).
White Trash- it is awesome! What is white trash? It is a simple, very tasty holiday treat. I make a batch of this every year and the only bad thing about it is that it gets eaten too quickly. It is great to bag some up or put some in a pretty container to give out as a small gift (or send to a college student).
Here is how you make it:
10 oz. mini pretzels
5 cups Cheerios
5 cups Rice Chex
2 cups SALTED peanuts
1 pound m&m's (usually I use plain, but I grabbed the peanut m&m's this time, so that's what we used today)
2-12 ounce packs of vanilla chips
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Mix first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Melt the chips and oil together in microwave (careful not to burn), toss all together until coated. Place on wax paper until white chocolate hardens.
Today was "visit Santa in Spencer" day! Levi was excited all week, and Noah was not too sure about it. He saw pictures of himself crying on Santa's lap last year and he kept saying that when he saw Santa "me cry". However, it turned out that he was very excited to see Santa after all. After shaking Santa's hand when he first arrived, they got to sit on his lap and tell Santa and Mrs. Clause they wanted BIG dinosaurs for Christmas. They got a bag of goodies from the jolly old elf too. Then we ate a cheap lunch at the kids' center, and got to go on a horse-pulled wagon ride. It was an awesome morning and one that makes me feel so good about the holidays!
Doesn't Tanner look like Noah in that picture of him wrapped up in tinsel?
Christmas time is especially hard on me and the older boys. Kevin passed away just a few days before Christmas and somehow the sadness of his death is intermingled with every holiday icon and decoration I see. However, having Levi and Noah and seeing their joy this time of year helps to heal some of the sadness. Thank God for the little ones in our lives!
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.
Souper - not super! It is definitely winter now - snow outside and cold. I'm not a winter lover - no secret there. But I do love soup! Soup is good. Soup is comforting. Soup is for dinner tonight! I am serving Stuffed Pepper Soup tonight.
Now, I did not know this until a few years ago, but apparently Stuffed Peppers are not a mid-west thing, at least not something the Anderson family makes. I grew up with a family that made stuffed peppers. As a child, I would gag and be very disappointed if my mother sat them on the table. I would eat the meat out of the pepper shell and hope my dad would not make me eat the green slimy thing they called peppers. Now that I'm older, I appreciate green and slimy and have grown to love stuffed peppers. Stuffed peppers turned into soup - awesome!
Can you tell Dan is thrilled? Actually, he does like this soup too (at least he says he does).
The first time I ever heard of this soup was when I ate at Hoss' Steak and Sea House (another East coast thing). I thought it was excellent. Then a friend of mine, Anita, told me she makes this every Christmas for her son. She shared her recipe with me and now I'll share it with you.
2 lb. lean ground beef
3 large green peppers
1 large sweet onion
2 cans 14 oz. beef broth
1 large can crushed tomatoes
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
Seasonings: salt, pepper, sugar (to cut the acid), thyme, and basil
Cook beef, peppers and onions. Mix all other ingredients together in your soup pot, except the rice. Boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Add rice and heat through. Serves 10.
Now, the only thing I do differently is that I add my rice after the initial boil. I think the rice absorbs much more flavor when cooked together with the other ingredients. Tonight, I did not want to dirty another pan by cooking my rice first, so I added more liquid to the soup and added my brown rice dry - worked just fine because I cooked it all afternoon. This soup definitely tastes good the first day, but will improve much more the next day. Another tip-add shredded mozarella on top of each bowl before serving, along with some homemade bread.
Do you have a favorite soup??? Please share!
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The best ideas often start as a single, simple thought.
We love any kind of pizza here at our home. But, since there are 6 of us, it can get a bit expensive buying pizza from Dominoes or Pizza Hut. I found a wonderful dough recipe and I make this once a week - usually on Wednesday night because that is Bible class night and the pizza is not as messy as some of my dishes, which means I can clean up faster and get everyone out the door on time (at least that's what we aim for). Here is my dough recipe:
1 cup warm water
2 tsp. yeast (or 1 packet)
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour
2 T. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
sprinkle as desired: garlic powder, oregano, basil
Mix in your mixer or by hand for about 5 minutes. Let raise 1 hour.
I put my mixing bowl inside another bowl that I have 1/2 filled with hot water and place a towel over it - it helps it raise faster.
This makes 2 crusts for me on my 15 inch round stones - thin crust.
I also make my own pizza sauce. I don't do the whole canning thing with tomatoes from my garden - please, I'm not that domestic! I open a can of tomato paste (6 oz), mix it with about 3/4 can of water, add garlic powder and Italian spices, a little salt and when it is the right consistency, spread it on! It is good sauce and the reason I know this is that I have the world's pickiest husband and he absolutely loves my pizza.
I bake it at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes, then switch the pizzas around in the oven and bake another 5-10 minutes.
Toppings? Well, that's the fun part. When you make your own pizza, everyone can have their favorite toppings in abundance! I use both regular and turkey pepperoni, fresh ground sausage, olives, cheese (of course), mushrooms, onions, banana pepper rings, red and green peppers slices, crumbled bacon. Yummy!
Since I'm doing the whole Weight Watchers thing again, I calculated how many points per slice my pizza registered. I use the turkey pepperoni, no sausage and lots of the veggies. For an 8 slice pie, it is only 4 points. I eat 2 pcs or pizza and have a huge salad. Great dinner and I'm stuffed. Feels like I'm not being good, ya know? Because as you all know, I like to be bad :-) (in the eating department).
Pork-it's what for dinner! At least about once a week in my house. I wanted to share this simple recipe with you'ins (that Western PA talk). Dan's sister made this for us after I came home from the hospital with Levi. She shared the recipe with me and it has become on of my family's favorites. It is so simple and easy and relatively cheap.
You buy Country style boneless pork loin ribs. I got these at the Spencer store. It was on sale for .99 cents per pound. Now I wish I'd gotten more! It has a little fat through it, but it is lean enough for me, and that's saying something (I hate visible fat on meat).
I cut the meat into cubes - about 2" or so. Season it with seasoning salt and pepper, and brown it in a skillet sprayed with Pam, on both sides. Then I stick it in the crock pot with a little water and cook it on high for 2 hours or so. Check it with a thermometer to be sure it is done. Drain off the water and use it for gravy if you want. Add a bottle of regular Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to the meat, toss it through, and you're done! Easy and delicious!
If you've never tried Sweet Baby Ray's sauce - it is really good. Don't let the title fool you - it is not "sweet" at all - that's just the name.
I serve this with mashed potatoes and a vegetable or salad. The guys here really "hog" it down. Sometimes I crack myself up! LOL
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Whether you think you can, or think you can't - you are right. (Henry Ford)
You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout, I'm telling you why . . . . . . Santa Claus is coming to town!
Oh, he's a spunky boy sometimes - takes after his Pa-Pa Nulph.
Here the boys are looking at the Fleet Farm toy catalog. Making a list for Santa.
The top of the list is a "jumper thing"- a round, blow up trampolene. Their crazy mother actually thinks this might be the answer for the jumping on the couch and bed thing. Plus, I'm just hoping it will wear off some of that energy - that is if Santa brings it :-). Dinosaurs are another thing that tops the charts this year. Walking, roaring dinosaurs. Dinosaurs that make loud noises while the tv is blaring, Ty and Tanner are yelling for them to be quiet, and Daddy is trying to ask me a question about dinner or something. . . . I'm feeling the weariness of it all already.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Love grows by giving.
