Recipe of the month

One of my new year's "resolutions" (for lack of a better word) this year is to be better at getting a good dinnner on the table for my family each night. I am becoming a really great recipe collector, and love recipes that are practical, feed my whole family, and don't use a lot of exotic ingredients that are not found in my pantry. Since I have collected some great recipes lately, and to help you all get dinner on the table too, I have decided to post at least one dinner recipe each month. I won't post them unless we've tried them and my family actually eats them. And of course, I will give credit where credit is due! I'd love to get your feedback if you try them! So, without further ado, here is a great January recipe to keep you warm. Kudos go to my mother-in-law Jackie for this awesome recipe.

Comforting Chicken Soup

2 quarts chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream

4-6 cups dry noodles (country pasta)

2 cups cut up chicken or turkey

sliced carrots

sliced celery

small onion, diced

parsley flakes

Boil 4-6 cups dry noodles with 2 quarts chicken broth together with carrots, celery, and parsley flakes and cook until tender. DO NOT DRAIN. Add chicken. Cream together the cream of chicken and mushroom soups and the sour cream, and add to the soup. Mix into the noodles. Heat until warm but DO NOT BOIL!

I use the "Country Pasta" from Sam's, it comes in a big bag and the noodles are very good. My MIL says they are only available in the winter, so go get some! Add some warm rolls and you have a happy family! My SIL tells me that leftover turkey is great in this soup, we've only had it with chicken. Happy eating!

Seriously?!?!

He's eight. My little man, that is. And it's January in Colorado. And it was like seventy degrees outside today. Playing outside is a given, right? His aunt called to invite him to the park, and I had to say no. He's EIGHT YEARS OLD, and he has been doing his homework since we got home at three. And he's still doing it. And he's not close to finished. And he is a quick study. I feel like the worst mom in the world, denying him of this beautiful afternoon. And I am really starting to wonder about this CSAP crap. You see, he's a third grader, so this will be his first year taking the test. The overabundance of homework is attributed to the test. I would like to strangle the test! My little boy, (who I am admittedly trying to keep young as long as possible), doesn't get to be a kid today because he's got way to much freakin' homework. AAHHH!! I guess I am a little more bitter about it than I realized. And don't even get me started on my tirade about how the district has decided he no longer qualifies for services with the speech/language pathologist. The kid is working his tail off, heaven forbid they give him a little bit of help. Oh, and by the way, he hasn't uttered one word of complaint about not getting to play outside. What a kid.

P.S. Forty-five minutes later...he is finally done. He came racing down the stairs to ask permission to go out back. He's been looking forward to it quietly all afternoon. I just told his sister no, and when I told him this he just sat down on the stairs and started to cry. So I said, "Hurry up, put on your jacket, and go shoot some hoops. And oh ya, I'm proud of you."

Leave of Absence

Well, that's what I am calling it anyway. That sounds better than "unintentionally failing to pay any attention to my blog whatsoever for almost two months". I am not exactly sure what happened, but December FLEW right by, and here we are. You may have wondered, but we are all still present and accounted for. Our holidays were wonderful, although they sped by much too quickly. My computer is having some serious issues, so I hope there will be Christmas pictures sometime soon, just not today! Meanwhile, life goes on as usual. So, a belated happy new year to all of you, and here's to catching up! I'll put blogging on that list of resolutions I am so great at keeping...