Monday, November 29, 2010

Lentil Soup

When I think of the chilly days of Fall/Winter, I always think of warming up with a bowl of hearty soup. I love soup recipies, I love making soups and, most of all, I love eating soups! To put it bluntly...I just love soup!

One of my favorites is Lentil Soup. Lentils are such amazing little things. They are easy to cook, have an indefinite shelf life when dried and are a great source of protein. Every vegetarian needs some lentils in their diet...but, in my opinion, they are so tasty everyone needs some lentils in their diet!

Lentil Soup


1 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups dry lentils
5 cups vegetable broth
pepper to taste
dash salt
1 tbsp lemon juice



In a large soup pot, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat then add your onions, carrots, and celery. Cook and stir until onion is tender.


Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, thyme and basil. Cook for about two more minutes.



Add the vegetable broth, lentils, pepper, bay leaves and salt/pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat. Let simmer until lentils are soft, which is about 45 minutes to one hour.


While cooking, these lentils will  soak up a ton of  the broth and goodness!


Lastly, remove bay leaves and stir in lemon juice before serving. Enjoy!

Easy-Bake Oven Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! I just love this time of year because there is so much to celebrate and such excitement in the air!

Chris and I drove out to Leesville to spend this Thanksgiving with my family...and it was just as crazy as could be expected! The Wednesday before the big day my mother's oven went out but, without missing a beat, she ran out and bought not one, but two toaster ovens.


It took a little longer to cook all of the dishes than we originally planned but it was delicious nonetheless. We will always remember this as the "Easy-Bake Oven" Thanksgiving!

Being the "difficult" ones as my family claims, Chris and I had to cook some of the dishes separately. Mainly just the dressing and gravy. So...my mother cooks a gravy with chicken broth, giblets, etc...


 and then I cooked a gravy with vegetable broth...which was delicious...


Regardless....look how cute we are in matching aprons!


This was our first Thanksgiving with my sister's boyfriend in attendance and he has sealed his place in our hearts forever. He made his family's mac-n-cheese...which was downright sinfully amazing...


My great-grandmother's dishes really made the table special! Beautifully set by my mother...


Lastly, the spread! We were STARVING when the easy-bake-ovens finished cooking everything...but it was all worth the wait! Dressing, Sweet Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Corn Pudding, Mac-n-Cheese and more...yum, yum, yum!



What favorite dish did you enjoy this year?

Friday, November 26, 2010

Black Friday!

The most dreaded day of the year....

We have our day planned out...what does your crazy shopping day look like?


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Pumpkin Bread Breakfast

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the fun, family traditions.Like most, our traditions are always by accident. We do one thing that everyone happens to enjoy once and the next thing you know, we are doing it every year. This is how "Appetizer-Only Christmas Eve" and "Wahoo Family Tournaments" began...just to name two. Being the day before one of my favorite holidays, let me share one of our Thanksgiving traditions..."Pumpkin Bread Breakfast"...

A few Thanksgivings ago, my mother was channeling Betty Crocker and decided that, in addition to cooking the entire Turkey Dinner, she was going to also spoil us with a Pumpkin Bread Breakfast. We all loved it so much, that it is now expected every year. Being the nice daughter that I am, I have volunteered to take this off her plate this year. So, last night I whipped up three loaves of this delicious, very easy to create, semi-homemade, yummy-tastic dish...


1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger


First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Rub a touch of oil onto three of your 7x3 inch loaf pans, then sprinkle with a little flour.


In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended.

When complete, pour into your prepared pans.
Lastly, bake for about 50 minutes. Just to check, use the toothpick test to make sure your loaves are thoroughly cooked.
 
We typically enjoy with a little cream cheese spread, which I might skip tomorrow, because it is tasty either way! But...of course it is tasty, look at the ingredients, this is borderline sinful! Although I love this dish, I couldn't eat it every day. That is why I save it for "Pumpkin Bread Breakfast" the morning of Thanksgiving!

This is one of my favorite Thanksgiving family traditions,
what is one of yours?

Friday, November 19, 2010

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows


I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited...

We are going to see it Sunday and I literally cannot wait!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Fountain of Youth

Do you know those moments when you have a realization so life-changing that you are instantly excited and happy? Well, one day a few years ago I stayed home sick from work and had one...while watching Oprah.

It was one of those episodes that the audience members are just ticked they picked to visit during "that show" (being the one she didn't give anything away or have anyone famous sitting next to her). It was highlighting these women who were in their 40s, 50s or older who looked like they were in their 20s or 30s. I was intrigued. Oprah introduced each woman, had the audience guess their age, had them reveal their true age, and then had the camera man focus on the shocked, and I mean SHOCKED,  faces in the audience. She then asked each woman their secret and nearly all declared MOISTURIZING as their secret weapon. How simple...How obvious...How ingenious!

As a result, I've been obsessed with lotions and oils ever since. Who doesn't want to look younger?

All of this build up is leading somewhere, I promise. In my efforts to stay ever so moisturized, I've discovered really horrible products and really great products. While wasting time in TJ Maxx recently, I stumbled across the brand Bella B that had this adorable bee on the packaging that was obviously pregnant and I fell for the marketing immediately! They had two different products there and I went home with both.
Come to find out Bella B Bodycare is all-natural and formulated specifically for expecting and new mothers. They use clean, natural formulations free of petroleum, mineral oils, lanolin, parabens, artificial preservatives and sheep-wool by-products. And of course, no animal testing! So far so good...

The first product I tried was Body Buzz, an all-over body firming cream to help fight cellulite naturally. They market it for post-preggers, but I'm using it now and loving it! It has a really clean smell and applies easily.

My next new obsession is their Tummy to Toes, which is a cream to help those tired legs and feet. Each night(ok...early evening) as I jump into bed, I give my feet a quick rub with this stuff and it is heavenly! That nasty strong menthol smell that most foot creams have is not the case here! My feet go to bed happy and wake up refreshed!
After a little research, I found that Bella B products can be found easily at  most Wal-mart, Target, and similar stores. I'm on the look out for their Tummy Honey Butter to help prevent stretch marks, their Mama Soak for refreshing and relaxing baths and more! Preggers or not, these products are great for you and, seemingly, the environment. Enjoy!

Don't you love it when you stumble across good products!

Monday, November 15, 2010

I can explain, I promise!

It has been a VERY long time since I have had the opportunity to blog, but I can explain, I promise!

I won't blame it on the craziness of football season or the general hustle and bustle of the Fall because there is another reason for my lazy blogging...


Yes, we are expecting and couldn't be more excited! This picture is a little old, I'm currently 15 weeks and our due date is May 13, 2011. We saw the doctor last week and everything looks healthy.  We even got to record the heart beat on our phones so anytime I'm feeling a little nasty, I just listen to that little beat and I'm instantly on cloud nine!

I'm really looking forward to blogging about my journey of growing a "green" baby! Stay tuned for the updates on challenges, tips/tricks and just plain joys of pregnancy. AND, if you have any advice, please share!

Now that I can eat things aside from bread...I can't wait to tell you all about the new recipes and restaurants Chris and I have been trying...not to mention the new eco-friendly make-up line I discovered...or pictures from our October trips...or an update on our DIY home renovations...oh my goodness, so much to catch you up on! STAY TUNED!