Sick Day, Soup Day.

I am home today with yet another sick child. This year has been filled with illness, thankfully nothing too serious, but still- where is the health? We have tried the natural remedies, but with a change in daycare and first year as a school teacher I think the germs have been just too strong. My husband has used all of his sick days for the year. FOR THE YEAR. It's February. Goodness.

As we have had sickies in the house I decided to make some soup the other day and of course I have to share this amazingly delicious and simple recipe. The red lentils have a lovely coral color and are so versatile and cook very fast. ( no need to soak) I used to purchase them at a special Mediterranean  marketplace but now Goya also carries them.

I also use organic Better Than Bouillon. It is AWESOME and economical. The little jar can make up to 9 quarts of stock. I always like a weaker stock so often it will make more.

I also often double this recipe as it is very difficult to eat just one bowl :)


Lovely Lentil Soup

2 Onions Chopped
4 Garlic Cloves, minced
Olive oil to cook the onions and garlic
4 tbsp of tomato paste ( feel free to omit)
2 Tsp Cumin
2 tsp Cayenne ( omit if you don't like spicy foods)
Salt and Pepper
2 cups ( about a pound) of red lentils
2 quarts of veggie or chicken broth ( I use Better Than Bouillon)
4 cups water
chopped carrots
2 lemons
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

Cook up the onions until golden brown. Add garlic. Add tomato paste, cumin, cayenne and S&P, cook for a few mintutes. Add broth, water, lentils and carrots- Cook for 30 minutes on medium heat. Remove from heat and squeeze in lemon juice and fresh cilantro or parsley.

Serve with pita baked with fresh parm and herbs, crusty break or a salad.

Enjoy!

Forgiveness

Today my vacation ends officially. I could just cry, but I won't.

It was filled with nothingness thankfully. Nothing eventful happened.

I actually went to the grocery store.... alone. Sigh. I cooked, cleaned and folded copious amounts of laundry. I wrote a large paper paper for my Content Area Literacy class and read some Gatsby.  I even thrifted a little. Ok a lot. Savers, Goodwill and Salvation Army in one day! I had some wine, ate some good food and listened to the radio. I danced in the kitchen and licked the spoon.

My oldest turned four and my littlest now says "this" and " yesh."

I wanted to catch up on lesson planning. I wanted to be ahead, but I don't think it is in my nature. I am not a planner. I get stuff done, but I am not a planner. I am learning to forgive myself for this.
I forgive myself for taking a break. For relinquishing all that I had to do for a few hours and being peaceful and quiet.

I know the next few weeks will be a whirlwind- and I will meet the challenge head on. Bring it. 

Happy New Year and New Projects

Happy New Year to you and yours.

Let's make resolutions shall we?

This year I'd like to get fit, get organized, and get more creative.

I started with today. A few weeks ago I saw a dog bed made from a vintage suitcase. I loved it and said, this. I. can. make. I have this thing where I will never purchase anything I can make. So. I made it. Today. I neglected my motherly duties ( the kids were safe, warm, fed and of course happy)

Here it is:

No tutorial, sorry. The littles won't allow. Get yourself a vintage suitcase. Decorate it. Add legs. Simple as that. There are tons of tutorials out there so really I don't want to reinvent the wheel here. You can do it. Go forth and create a beautiful place for your doggie to nap. 

Do you like it? If so, please consider joining the sweet people to the left.

Have a safe New Year's and see you in 2013! ( I thought we'd be like the Jetsons now!)

High End Ceramic Owls for $1

I was throwing a Woodland themed shower and needed to find some cute decor. I wanted some modern looking owls and I have seen some beautiful ones at Pottery Barn and West Elm for waaaay too much money. My first place to look for party goods is Dollar Tree. There are so many treasures lurking deep in the store. You can pretty much find anything there for party decor. Really you can! It's important to look broadly. Think in shapes and colors.



I found this oddly colored owl ( seriously does the Dollar Store not consult anyone on colors of anything?!) He has some great little features but is a bit crazy looking..... look deep into his eyes...

A little coat of magical spray paint.... 

Tada! He looks like a million bucks huh? Yup, only 1$.  

They are currently at the Dollar Tree stores now, go get some! 

I'll be posting some more shots from the woodland shower soon. Stay tuned! 

30 Minute Mozzarella Cheese

This year the husband and I decided that we needed to stop buying each other gifts for birthdays. It was more out of necessity because really who doesn't like getting a beautifully wrapped box with something pretty inside? So- I had to get creative, real creative. 

For Valentine's Day I got him a Jamaican Cooking class at the local tech school. He loved it. He has really been into cooking lately so I figured we could do some sort of cooking together. To curb costs I had a friend watch our 3 year old. I decided we were going to make mozzarella cheese! People thought I was crazy, loopy and a bit insane but it worked! ( and was DELICIOUS.) 

The photos for this post are a mix of both the first batch made in a controlled climate ( one infant, 2 adults, our eyes focusing just on the boiling pot) the second batch was made by me with 2 screaming children at the bewitching our of 5 PM on a Friday. Yeah, so clearly the first batch was better. 

The second batch wasn't as smooth as the first. It tasted fine when melted but just didn't look the same. 

I will not pretend to give you directions on how to do this, I will leave it to the professionals. I will say though that it is EASY. ( as long as you pay attention...) 

Be sure to check out these directions from New England Cheese Making: You will need two special ingredients other than non UHT milk (locate the best fresh milk you can find not heated to ultra high temps)  citric acid and rennet tabs. For around $15 you will have enough for 30 or so batches. If you live locally you can find these ingredients at the Homebrewers Emporium in West Boylston. They feature an array beer, wine and cheesemaking products. Great little shop! 

Here are a few little photos of the process. It is really interesting seeing how cheese comes together. We look forward to making hard cheese next!

milk, rennet tabs, citric acid ( I used Trader Joes for the second batch I think I should use a fresher milk next time!) 

milk curdling 

yuck! 

my helper 

straining the whey

more straining 

microwaving to remove the water, then we stretch !

 Yummy Whole Wheat Pizza