Last Weekend

Last weekend we drove a few hours to visit Sarah's family. This was to be an especially special visit because Isaac's great-grandmas drove 12 hours to come see baby Isaac, their brand new great-grandbaby. Laura did a great job taking such lovely photos of the weekend's festivities.
                                    




Isaac also had pears for the very first time last weekend! He was not enjoying his cereal anymore, so one of his great-grandmas said (saraphrased), "I got all of the grandkids and great-grandkids fruit for Halloween instead of candy. I got Isaac baby food. Want to try mixing in some pears or bananas?" He loved it!
                                                       



One of the fun parts of the weekend was getting to see all of the cute critters again. :-) Bo is cautiously wanting to sniff Isaac's foot. Sonny is posing handsomely for the camera.
                                             


                                                             



Saturday evening we had a bonfire. The weather was great! A bit overcast, cool and the rain waited until later to grace us with its presence. We roasted hot dogs and s'mores and enjoyed other goodies as well. We've had Isaac's first bonfire planned for months.
                                          

Good-byes were hard...but we're all looking forward to the next visit!

                                                        

Another {Co op Friendly} Recipe!

I was perusing Pinterest and came upon this lovely lil blog: Little Magnolia Kitchen. She shared a yummy looking red beans and rice recipe and I just had to try it - and it could be done in the crock pot!

How easy is that?

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The delicious recipe is super easy and Little Magnolia Kitchen has even included some step by step photos to make the process even easier. I didn't have any red beans on hand so I used kidney beans. I soaked them in water for 6-8 hours and then added them to the crock pot (good thing, too because I misread the recipe and put the crock pot on low for 7 hours rather than on high!). Definitely include the Tony Chachere's seasoning - if you don't have it in the cupboard, it's worth popping over to the grocery store and picking it up. I served this over brown rice and it was delicious. You know me, I made as much as our crock pot will hold so we'll be eating this one dish meal for a while (or putting some in the freezer). 

A Cup of This, a Tablespoon of That

It's nice being back at the seminary and being able to use the grocery co op - especially after living in the Chicago area for a year! The food co op is basically a grocery store for seminary families. There are many items available, everything from pasta and bread to onions and potatoes, milk and cheese.

Lately I've been busy striving to utilize the co op as much as possible. That goal has led me to the following recipes:

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Cream of Sweet Potato Soup was definitely a hit! I paired it with a yummy cheesy bread and fresh green beans. This soup also tastes delicious with some feta cheese sprinkled on top. Very filling.

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Curried Acorn Squash Soup was another good soup. To be honest, I liked the sweet potato one better, but this one was okay. Actually, if I had bacon like the recipe suggested the soup probably would have been just as yummy as the other! This soup was also paired with fresh green beans, feta cheese crumbles and a yummy bread.

When I made these soups on Tuesday I doubled or tripled the recipe so that they'd last through the week. I think I've decided that Tuesdays (food co op day) will be my cooking day. If I make a big enough batch I'll put some in the freezer for those days when I don't feel like cooking or if we have guests over and need another side dish or additional main dish.