Comfort in a Bowl (aka: White Chicken Chili recipe)

It seems that in the past month, at least two people are sick at any given time in our house. That's a lot of germs, folks. That's a lot of demands for comfort food, also. To be frank, I'm a little tired of chicken soup, so I've been trying to develop a taste for other comfort foods in my family. This recipe is a sure winner. Everyone loves it, and it's easy to make.

White Chicken Chili
2-3 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded (if we've got leftover chicken from a roast, I use that, otherwise I boil 2 boneless breasts and shred it after cooking)
1 bag of great northern beans, soaked and cooked(or 2 big cans of northern beans or other white bean)
1 onion, chopped
1 stick, plus 2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cups milk or half and half
2 cups chicken stock (or 1 can chicken broth)
1 small can green chilies
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt & pepper (to taste)

Condiments: sour cream, monterey jack or sharp cheddar, avocado, tomatoes, cilantro or whatever else you fancy

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large pot (I use this cast iron dutch oven) over medium-high heat.
2. Add onions, stirring several times to coat with the butter. Allow the onion to cook down until golden, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove onions to a separate plate, and add remaining stick of butter to pot.
4. Once butter is melted, slowly add in flour while constantly whisking (this is making a roux)
5. very slowly whisk in the milk/half and half until the mixture is thick and well blended, then very slowly whisk in the stock
6. add in the onions, chicken, green chilies and spices
7. reduce the heat to med-low and let simmer for 20-30 minutes (or reduce to low and let it simmer for an hour or so)

Serve with condiments and enjoy!

Meal Plan Monday

Last week's meal planning made my life so much easier, so I'm definitely on board again for this week. Here's what I've got planned:

Monday: White Chicken Chili (recipe coming soon)
Tuesday: Veggie Lasagna
Wednesday: dinner at church
Thursday: Breakfast Dinner (eggs, bacon, pancakes and cottage potatoes)
Friday: homemade pizza bar (I make the crust and prep the toppings, then each boy gets to create his own pizza) We do "Family Night" on Fridays, where we all make pizzas together, then either watch a family movie or play board games.
Saturday: Mushroom Risotto
Sunday: Meatballs with Gravy (aka: homemade tomato sauce for you non-Italians, LOL!)

Menu Plan Monday

In the constant effort to simplify my life and get more out of my days, I'm once again going back to a menu plan. I'm confident hopeful that this will drastically reduce the amount of time I spend thinking about dinner.

Monday: French Dip sandwiches, mashed yams and garlicky broccoli
Tuesday: Veggie Tortilla Soup
Wednesday: Dinner at church
Thursday: Spinach stuffed chicken breasts with cider gravy
Friday: homemade veggie pizzas
Saturday: kids to Gigi & Pop-pop's, mama and papa to NY for a wedding (woo-hoo, a night away!!)
Sunday: grilled cheese and homemade veggie minestrone
Sunday:

The one in which we talk about eating locally...

It is 98 degrees outside my window here in Pennsylvania right now. A hot, muggy, sweltering 98 degrees - and it's only 8:53 am as I start this blog entry. It's suppossed to go over 100 today. As I sit here with a damp hankerchief wrapped around my neck (truly the best way to cool yourself off on a day such as this!) I am consciously stopping myself from cursing this heat and humidity (especially after the fall preview we got last week.) I'm trying to focus on the positive of this inferno. It will be short lived - school is starting next week and surely fall is just around the corner. And, it's making my tomatoes grow.

And grow they are! The bounty of tomatoes parading through our kitchen these past few weeks has been nothing short of miraculous. Clearly, Mother Nature is loving my committment to eat local this year, and in her effort to support this endeavour, she's sending forth the most delicious tomatoes.

I'm sure by now, you've heard about the Local Food Movement. If it hasn't already, the word locavore will surely pop up in your news reading before summer is over. If you're interested in doing the local food thing, this Eat Local Challenge post is a great overview to start with. I've adopted the locavore pledge outlined in that post:

• If not LOCALLY PRODUCED, then Organic.
• If not ORGANIC, then Family farm.
• If not FAMILY FARM, then Local business.
• If not a LOCAL BUSINESS, then Fair Trade.
• If all else fails, at least don’t eat at McDonald’s!

If you're not sold yet on the benefits of eating locally, watch this:

I encourage each of you to try to have at least one local meal this week. With summer's bounty upon us, there's no better time to taste the flavors of your local markets and see their wonders for yourself. As for me, I'm off to eat my heavenly little bounty:

Abundant Tomato Salad

1 garden tomato, roughly chopped (I used an heirloom brandywine picked from the garden this morning)
1 handful of fresh arugula, ripped into bite sized pieces (from the farmer's market)
1 clove garlic, smashed and chopped fine (from the farmer's market, though it wish it were from brother-in-law's garden becuase his garlic is outstanding!)
4 ounces fresh mozarrella (that recipe will come on another day!)

2 tablespoons good olive oil
splash of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Toss it all together and let it sit for a bit to meld (10 minutes or so) and eat with some fantastic rustic bread

It's heaven in a bowl.

The one in which I anticipate fall...

I'm not sure what this week was like for the rest of you, but here at Casa de Locos Ninos (that's House of Crazy Boys for you non-Spanish-speakers) it was, well, crazy. The boys were crazy, I was crazy, but most of all, the weather was crazy. It was down into the lower 50's at night. Poor hubby went running Thursday morning and said he could see his breath. There was a crisp breeze blowing, and those hints of autumn were all I needed to push me to finish these socks (started the last time I felt 50 degree weather, on our vacation in June to Nova Scotia)

It's a pattern based on my own sock recipe with Barbara Walker's "Little Waves" incorporated on the ankle and instep. On our vacation, we stayed in a lovely farmhouse in Tatamagouche, NS. (whoo-wee, the drive up there from here was i-n-s-a-n-e!) Several of the days we were there, we visited Rushton Beach, which was a gorgeous little provincial beach on the Northumberland Strait (warmest water north of the Carolinas!) Watching the tide come in and out was incredible. The waves themselves were tiny, undulating - but the tide changed so fast and it was a huge change. We started the first day a good 10 feet back from the edge of the waves and by the time the tide came in (just a few hours later), I was scrambling to keep the edge of the blanket dry!

The pattern for these Tatamagouche Socks will be available sometime this coming week, along with a pattern for The Bruiser. The Bruiser is a boo-boo buddy - you keep him in the freezer and when the kids come in screaming with an injury, the Bruiser will help make it better (and hopefully make the injured one laugh a little.) Nothing heals pain better than laughter. And maybe some cookies!

And now, you'll all have to indulge me in a bit of shameless mama show off. Several of you readers have asked for recent pics of my guys, so I'm happy to oblige.

Here's AJ, just turned 8 and sporting his new Harry Potter glasses:


And Ethan, 6 and a half (can't forget the half!), participating in what has to be one of his very favorite summer sports: Watermelon Seed Spitting.

(Yes, that's C wolfing down the watermelon behind him. Love ya, honey!)

Gregory (aka: macGregor, Trouble #1)showing his decided non-Trouble side, gently feeding a sheepie at the 4H Farm


And finally, the Caboose: Rusty. Recently re-named Trouble #2, after a most horrifying fall down the basement stairs.


Yes, they look all sweet and innocent. Yes, I adore them. And yes, I am counting down the days till they start school!

The one in which they come to an understanding...

The cat and the babe, that is. Rusty's 6 months old now (we'll ignore the time warp that must have occurred for those 6 months to go thisfast, because surely it was just a week or two ago that I was bring that tiny little bundle of blobby baby home from the NICU)

Since Rusty's arrival at home, the cat (Lily Potter Belville) has wavered between indignation at the affrontery that is a newborn (the screaming, the smelling, the stealing of the good spot in mama's bed) and curiosity (if I lay on it, will it be a good pillow?)

We've fianlly, I think, reached the Indifferent stage. Rusty's not yet mobile, so Lily can plant herself just out of arm's reach and look at him with mild annoyance. To which he laughs back hysterically, like she might just be the funniest little creature to ever walk the Earth. It's entertaining all around; I adore the giggles that erupt from Rusty anytime Lily gets close to him. But poor Lily, she doesn't have a chance once this kid gets some skills and can chase her.

Yesterday's birthday festivities included a jaunt to IKEA where the kiddies got to play in Smaland (god, how I adore whatever genius thought up the IKEA Smaland!) and I got to play in the housewears. I was very, very good and came home with only a few trinkets.

Some plain bibs that are destined to be gussied up with embroidery from the insanely inspiring Design Collection for Kids which I found from reading over at one of my favorite blogs, SouleMama Stay tuned for in progress pics as I work on them.


I was sorely tempted to get some georgeous earth tone printed linen called Gribby, but it I didn't have a specific goal in mind for it, and I'm trying not to buy anything that doesn't have a goal. So, I put it back. If it keeps calling to me, I'll figure out a project for it and go back, I think. Isn't it pretty?

In knitting news..well, there is no knitting news. I've been....well, um, I've been...crocheting.

There, I said it. I've been crocheting. And I like it. Yes, me - crocheting. And liking it. I've been churning out granny squares like a mad woman. It all started with Alicia's ripple afghan. Oh, how her ripple sang to me. Called to me. But, then she started in with the grannies. And then I found the GrannyAlong and now I'm just in big trouble. I'm thinking of all the surfaces in my house I can cover with the granny. But the first up, I'm making a sweet blankie for a friend who is expecting a wee girlie early this summer. Don't these colors just make you picture a rosy cheeked little summer girl, sitting under a tree in the breeze?

The one in which I am (Officially) a Grown-Up....

Today is my birthday. My 30th Birthday. For the past several weeks, everyone around me has been making a big to-do, talking about how this is the end of my youth and I'm now most certainly "old." I usually stare them down for a few moments, then let my eyes wander to the wee boys who are usually running circles around us and finally, erupt in fits of laughter.

Old? OLD?! Dude, I've got 4 (4!!!) kids. Boys. I already am OLD.

How is it that your children can simultaneously make you feel so very old and so very youthful at the same time? It's one of the myriad gifts of parenting; when I'm feeling down and dreary, a quick game of tag with my boys envigorates me and reminds me that there's plenty of life left in these bones. But one roll of my 7 year old's eyes, and wham! I feel like I'm the crustiest old broad, so completely out of touch with the youngun's.

Of course, having 4 kids really turned me into a grown-up far faster than some arbitrary age ever could. Being MaMa to these fantastically interesting boys has taught me to meet their needs (without sacrificing my own)...to love unconditionally (and from a place in my heart I didn't even know existed)...to prioritize (and let go of the unneccessary ideas and ideals that hold me down)... and to multitask better than anyone I know.

Can you guess how many things I am doing in this picture? We're at the park, so I'm making sure three insane boys are not hurting themselves (or any other unfortunate kids who get in their paths). It's morning, so I'm drinking coffee. I've got the bub in the sling, so naturally I'm nursing (yes, after 4 kids, you get that good at nursing discreetly) And, of course, I'm knitting. Because without the knitting, I would be too crazy and far gone to be able to do any of the other things.

Today, I'm off to IKEA to spend some quality time looking for bathroom accoutrement for our soon-to-start renovations. I figure the birthday has got to give me some good juju and I'll find exactly what I need.

After all, you only turn 30 once.

The one in which spring arrives...

Sweetly scented hydrangea blossoms

Good Day, Sunshine! Handpainted 2 ply Farm Yarn

Wild Snow Crocus on the front lawn

Slowly, the signs of spring are creeping up all around me. Other telltale signs spotted in the wild in the past two days include sidewalk chalk strewn all over the driveway, empty magic bubble containers, and pasty white legs on boys who can't bear to wear anything but shorts once the thermometer gets higher than 50 degrees.

I hope that whatever part of the world you're in, the signs of your seasons are bringing you as much joy as spring's are to me.

The one in which I find (another) new bag...

C says that I have too many bags. I say that a girl can never have too many bags. There's the cute little evening bags (let's ignore that fact that I can't even recall the last time I went anywhere that an evening bag would even be questionably appropriate) There's the little something bags, just big enough to hold my favorite Aveda Lip Glaze (Color #261: tangerine tea), my keys, and the wallet I'm currently lusting after (The cute olive floral one in the pic)

But, since I generally have at least two kids with me at all times, one of which is in diapers (cloth, naturally) and the other who likes to toss assorted sundries like toys, food, sippy cups and shoes in my bag, those little something bags don't cut it.


Thus, the bulk of my bag stash is of the large variety. Totes, backpacks, messenger bags, a few Kecchi's, and one well-loved (and thrifted!) Petunia Picklebottom - these are the bags I turn to over and over. And now, I've got another that I am aching to add to the stash.

sigh Isn't it lovely? Naturally, I'll be reverse-engineering the pattern since, #1: I can never manage to follow a pattern, and #2: there's no way (NO WAY!) I'll be using the 19 hanks of Ultra Alpaca the original calls for (and I doubt very much that I'll be double stranding, which I'm guessing the original must do to eat that much yardage) Do you know how much 19 hanks of that yarn costs?!??! This is a diaper bag, people!

I think I'll play around with my trusty felting standby, Classic Merino. I've been perusing some of my treasuries for a few eye-catching peeries, but I'm considering just using Paton's Soy Wool Stripes, too (hey, will be much easier that way - instant color fun without the fuss)

Now to just decide the best way to break it to C that I am adding yet another bag to the stash...

The one in which it is established....

that I am a woefully inept blogger. Yes, it's been several months since my last blog post. It's not due to lack of good intentions. The road to my blog is paved with good intentions. I've got entire posts all thought out, planned down to the punctuation marks - in my head. It's the getting them on the page (er, is it considered a page if it's a virtual journal?) I'm not even going to bother waxing poetic about how I'm going to be better, blog more, and take more pictures. We both know that's not likely to happen with any sort of regular frequency. So, let's move on, shall we...

Spring is slowly arriving here in soggy Pennsylvania. The weather is warming up, I've pulled out the Crocs that I got for Christmas.
Oh, how I love these shoes. Comfy, cute, kicky. They make me smile when I catch a glimpse of them on my feet.

Spring's creeping arrival has also brought about my yearning to craft some cute warm-weather wear. Naturally since I don't have any wee girlies to dress, I'm furtively working on (you guessed it!) Girls' Dresses. The Perfect Summer Dress, to be precise.



That's Marnie's sweet girl in a dress I made last year. I am working on the finishing touches to the pattern, so it'll be available soon. (Not soon enough for an Easter dress, but definitely for Cinco de Mayo)

It's fun for me to get to play with girlie things like this, since I'm (as C puts it) an island in a sea of testosterone.

Lately, I have felt like the sea is battering down on my island beaches, and I desperately need some serious girl pampering to recover. Next week is my 30th birthday, and I'll (finally) be using last year's birthday gift - a day of spa pampering at Adolf Biecker, getting an Aveda facial, a swedish massage, and a mani/pedi. I feel spoiled.