Hubbard Mushroom Soup

Okay so I had to share a fun soup I made tonight! I have a base cream soup recipe I vary so there's really no actual recipe for this, let me know if you have questions :)

I had a quart bag full of cooked (pureed, I think) Hubbard squash from last year that had been in the freezer. Threw that in the crock pot with about 2 cups milks (mixed with 2-3 T. flour to thicken as it cooked) 2-2.5 cups water, spices (dashes of chalula, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, white sugar) and veggies (diced fresh mushrooms sauteed in minced garlic and butter and diced onions and celery sauteed in a bit of butter until translucent). Put on low and let it sit all day until about 1/2 hour before eating then added a few cheese ravioli (freezer from Costco) that needed to be used, not enough for a pasta meal. And a little shredded parmesan on top just before serving.

Oh my! It was tasty. I literally licked the crock pot putting the leftovers away and helped myself to a small tupperware container full instead of putting that one in the fridge, haha!

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm always on the look out for good cookie recipes, I hate when cookies turn out yucky (my last try weren't even redeemable with vanilla ice cream, which is saying something!) My husband has a good choc chip recipe but it never seems to consistently turn out right when I try it and I really wanted something pretty fail proof. So I was thrilled when Lee brought cookies over last week that were so yummy. Here's the recipe (and I'm sure she will be humble and want me to add that she got the recipe from a co-worker a few years ago who used it for his base recipe for peanut butter cookies and oatmeal as well--so I'm excited to try those variations too--but since you don't know him and you do know Lee you can always think of these are HER cookies :) ) 

I was going to ask her if she ever halved the batch but it's hard to do 1.5 eggs and I hate messing with the protein/binding especially when first trying a recipe, so I made the full batch (it's just a lot of butter and shortening!) but after doing it once and freezing half the dough in ready-made balls I realized why ever make less than a batch this big for ease of future cookie baking :)

1 cup shortening
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 - 5 1/2 cups flour*

Cream shortening, butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix. Add salt and baking soda then flour (at least this is how I did it!). *Add enough flour so you can roll them in your hands to shape into balls  (for me it was the full amount). Can do less flour and add oatmeal as well. Bake for 8-9 minutes at 350 degrees (I didn't them for about 10 minutes, when they barely started to turn golden and crack on top). If frozen I did for closer to 11-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

Finding Balance

I listened to a great question and answer session yesterday online from Sister Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society (women's organization) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have been seeking to find more balance as a mother, here are a few of the points (paraphrased, ideas that I gathered from what she said) that really hit a chord with me:

• Expectations (I would add, often unrealistic) we have for ourselves make life harder for us
• The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the key to finding balance
• Spend some time in the scriptures each day. Consistent time in the scriptures is the key. I love that she shared she doesn't necessarily set a certain amount of time or program for her study, that it varied from day to day, sometimes it was just a few minutes but she made sure everyday she was in the scriptures.
• Prayer
• She gives a great analogy of her mother-in-law who worked different work shifts in hard physical labor. She said as mothers we cannot work all 3 shifts, 2.5 maybe, but we need down time as well. S
• he said as a mother, the most important shift of the day is the afternoon shift because that is when all the children are coming home and they are needy. That is when you need to be "on call" at the "top of your game". I often start to lose steam and get distracted, especially when dinner prep time hits. This was a good reminder for me to be at the crossroads, as President David O. McKay has said.
• What you focus on is what you get. Wow! I need to reevaluate what my focus and time are being spent on because sometimes I am frustrated with myself and the direction life is going but if I'm not focusing on the best, most important things no wonder I'm feeling discontent and displeased.
• As we focus on what matters most, the unimportant melts away. 
• we will never be able to catch up! :) invest in things that are most important. It is often hard for me to determine how to spend time and get "everything" done but that's not possible, some things will need to go undone and hopefully I can learn to let that be the things that actually don't "need" to get done.
• She shared a very heartfelt, emotional story about her daughter asking why it took her mom a few weeks to come help after she'd had a baby. Sister Beck she did not remember what she had that was so pressing that she could not come to her daughter sooner, but that she knows she was doing the best she could at that time.
• Without the Holy Ghost you can't prioritize at all.
• look for opportunities to do things in tandem, I liked that suggestion (cleaning out closet with her granddaughters). priorities--focus on essentials.

Assemble a cold-weather car kit

My dad sent me this is an email (not sure the source) and I'm trying to keep up with email clutter but thought the information was important to record somewhere...I have a few of these in my car but I need to add a few more things to be more prepared.

If you are likely to be driving on desolate, rural roads or areas prone to snow and ice, it is recommended that you carry a cold-weather car kit. In this kit, you should pack the following items:

• Coat (in case you have to walk), blanket, gloves and warm clothes
• Paper towels
• High-energy, non-perishable food and water, or sports drinks
• Flashlight, flares, and a first-aid kit
• Bag of abrasive material for traction, such as sand, salt or non-clumping kitty litter
• Snow brush and scraper
• Snow shovel
• Working and fully-charged cell phone to call for help

By following these tips, you will be less likely to have problems during the winter.

Pumpkin Bread

During law school my husband had what he and his friends called "Happy Wednesday" where they would each take turns bringing food to share. One of his friends, Ruth Checketts, brought this. Chris, of course, adapted the recipe some, and it is phenomenal! A must-have each fall (last year he didn't make it once and I was sad, so this year I've made it once, so at least we've had our annual batch!)

3 cups sugar
1 cup oil (Chris does 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup butter)
4 large eggs, beaten
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin*
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice (Chris does 1 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp salt
2/3 cup water*
1/4 tsp cayenne (Chris added)
1 tsp vanilla (Chris added)

Combine sugar, oil, eggs; add pumpkin. Sift dry ingredients [I never do...]. Add to first mixture. Add water. Pour into 3-4 loaf pans (or 6 mini loaf pans). Bake approximately 1 hour. If doing 6 mini loaves, cook on cookie sheet; may overflow. [Though it did not when I did it recently, may depend on how much batter you actually end up with.]

*When I made this recently it tasted great but the baked consistency was a bit soft and did not hold together as well as I would have liked. Our best guess is we had medium eggs and maybe should have done less water. When I mentioned water in the recipe, Chris was surprised, so we need to look for a more recent copy of his modifications because he thinks he may leave the water out completely but use more pumpkin. So you may have to experiment with that a little!