Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Cream of Carrot Soup

Today I am going to share with you, a family soup recipe.
My mother in-law gave me this recipe the first year we were married.  Since carrots are one of the cheapest things to buy in the fall, this soup is budget friendly and delicious.



Cream of Carrot Soup

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups carrot
3 cups of chicken soup base
1/2 cup long grain rice
1/2 tsp salt
1tsp thyme/basil (depending on your taste)
Add any herbs and spices that you like, this soup really takes on flavour and it's great if you want to add nutmeg or cloves for fall flavour.
2 cups milk

Sautee onions in butter until golden. Add carrot until coated with butter. Add soup base, herbs and rice, cover and simmer until carrots are tender. Add salt.  And puree (Usually I can do this in 3rds without it overflowing on me.  Put back in the pot, and add milk. Feel free to garnish with whatever fresh herbs you have around.

This soup is pretty filling.  The rice makes it more than just 'soup' (since my husband needs more than just soup for dinner) and I serve it with some garlic bread or fresh buns... YUM!

Enjoy!



Monday, September 17, 2012

Grace at my House

A good friend of mine and I read a book together last year.  We called each other once a week, and talked about what we read and what was going on in our lives. The book was called 'Grace based Parenting' by Dr. Tim Kimmel.  I recommend this book to all parents, but especially Christian parents as it really speaks on the basis that we, as parents, need to be able to show the same grace as our Father shows us, to our children.

I made this as a reminder that God has given us his grace so I can make mistakes, and so can my kids.


Monday, September 10, 2012

This Emotional Mama.

It doesn't take much to make me cry.  I am an emotional woman.  I cry over "Ontario" commercials, and "Our heritage" commercials.  I cry when my kids amaze me, and I cry when my kids upset me.  I cry when I think about my friends who live far away, and I cry when I think of my friends near by.

I cry.  A lot.

Two weeks ago I was feeling a little sick.  I was laying on the couch and talking to Miriam.  I was crying because I love her.  Lucy was sick too, and I cried because she loves me!



Last week, I went to sign Seth up for swimming.  I was concerned that his level would be full, and he wouldn't get to go, but there was one space left.  I almost cried.  *Almost - because there was a line-up of people behind me and I has to hold myself together.

After signing Seth up for swimming, and getting the final spot, Miriam asked to watch the kids who were swimming in their lessons, which you can do upstairs in the same building.  When we got upstairs there was figure skating sign-ups.  I asked Miriam if she would like to do it, and she answered with a resounding "YES!".  So I signed her up.

As we were leaving the pool/ice rink facility I told Miriam we would go buy her skates very soon.  She requested pink skates.  Knowing that I wasn't going to any fancy stores to purchase her first pair of figure skates, I told her that the skates would be white. She then requested 'PINK LACES!?!'
 There I was, sitting in my car, crying again.  I used to figure skate. I used to have white skates with pink laces. She really is MY daughter! (I know this, but she is so much like her father, it's SCARY!)

We bought her skates on Friday evening, but she fell asleep on the way home.  First thing in the morning she asked to put her skates on!


So she wandered around the house for about an hour with her new skates, with pink laces!

And finally, as many of you know, Seth played Rugby this year.  He finally found a sport that he likes!
Yesterday was their final festival of the year, so he got a medal and a trophy, and also scored 4 tries!


Again, I held back the tears because of a crowd, but I was just so proud!

Now, I think I have always been fairly emotional.  I had a little teddy koala bear when I was a pre-teen,  and teenager.  It fit nicely in the palm of my hand, and I remember using it to wipe my tears as I fell asleep at night sometimes.

And DON'T think that I am sad all the time.  I am really not!  But when I get all excited, and I'm ready to explode, I generally explode through my tear ducts.  I cry all the time, and I am ok with it, although I can start to see the panic in Seth's eyes if he sees me crying, which makes me laugh, and cry at the same time, which is really unattractive, as I wimper and snort and turn red.

My point is, if you aren't an emotional person you might never understand why a friend of yours cries all the time (especially men wondering this about wives)  but sometimes, us emotional, criers, just need a good cleansing cry to feel better!  It's ok, don't fear, don't run and hide, but do I understand the shock and panic that could overpower you to run the other direction!!

Are you an emotional person too?