5 things

I hope you don’t mind if we return to the land of food blog for a bit.  Nothing like 6 inches of snow or boys home sick from school nudges me into the kitchen to try out some new recipes.  'Cuz some days digging out the car for a trip to the store feels far more cumbersome than digging in the pantry and pulling together what you’ve got.  

Here's 5 of my kitchen favorites from the week: 

1.  Diana Krall {Holiday} on Pandora, non-stop.  

{Yes, that is a turkey in a football uniform hanging on the fridge and a Bionicle dancing to Harry Connick Jr…those are some of my favorites too.}

2.  Jalapeño-Goat Cheese-Prosciutto-Cream Cheese Dip…need I say more?  

Ok.  Yes, I do...

Roast 5-7 jalapenos (cut in half, take the seeds out, drizzle with olive oil, roast at 400 for 15 minutes.) Chop them well.
Blend jalapenos with 4 oz. goat cheese, 8 oz. cream cheese (softened).
Place in baking dish.
Top with 2 oz. prosciutto ham, chopped.
Bake at 350 until prosciutto is crisp (15-20 minutes).
Serve with tortilla chips.

3.  Homemade Hot Chocolate 
This is one of those recipes I came across in desperation after promising boys playing in the snow hot chocolate when they came in…only to realize we were out of the powdered mix.  So because I would rather google and make than bundle and scrape...  {Edit: Thanks LKL for pointing out the irony of having prosciutto on hand, but not hot chocolate mix :) Confession: We're a little obsessed with that dip, and it's easy to throw together for company, so there's usually prosciutto in the freezer.}

I used this recipe, but increased cocoa powder to 3/4 cup and used sucanat instead of sugar.  I also made our hot chocolate with half whole milk-half coconut milk, and no one seemed to mind :)  

4.  Trail Mix Cookies

*Vegetarian*Gluten Free*Dairy Free*SO Yummy!

½ cup peanut butter 

½ cup almond butter 

{You could use all peanut or all almond butter, or a mixture of what you have}

1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup packed sucanat or brown sugar
½ cup raisins
½ cup oats {I use GF}
¼ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup maple syrup
1 large egg
½ tsp vanilla
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 350⁰F.  Place all of the ingredients together in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix on medium speed until the ingredients are well incorporated. Drop generous tablespoons of dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes until cookies are set, but still soft.  Remove from the oven and let cool on the cookie sheet.  Makes 2 dozen...which are gone way too fast!!  

Source: http://onceagainnutbutter.com/Sunflower_Butter_Recipes.html (adapted with what we had in the pantry)

Try to snatch a few before all the hungry critters do!

 5.  Not sure what to call this...Stovetop Potpourri?

We’ve been peeling and eating lots of oranges these days, and I’ve been saving the peels in the fridge, then putting them in a pan with water, 2 cinnamon sticks, some whole allspice and cloves.  Set to simmer, and sit back and enjoy the wafting scent of a Winter Wonderland.

6.  Ok, maybe one more...

Because it's truly the little things that brighten a day. 

The boys have all had colds this week (hence all the oranges...)  Jack literally lost his voice yesterday.  Poor guy, that's rough for a 7 yr. old!  But, I can't say I mind all the cuddles and...boy, our house is quiet! :)  

Wishing you and yours a lovely weekend, full of your favorites! 

Or, if you're home caring for sick ones, full of noticing and enjoying the little things...

It is not how much we have, 

but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. 

~ Charles Spurgeon

salsa-time!

First day of school...oh my, this is the longest day ever!!!  3:40 cannot come soon enough!  And, that may be all I can say right now about school, until I pick up my boys, go out for ice cream {as promised - we're easing our way off of vacation-mode}, and see how it went.  Then, I can share more.

For now, I'm trying to distract from this quiet house and share with you one of my favorite recipes for this time of year.  

homemade salsa for canning
16 c. tomatoes, peeled
2 c. green peppers
3 c. onions
8 yellow peppers (the small, banana kind)
3 T. salt
1 c. cider vinegar
4 buds garlic (buds, not cloves)
3 T. sugar
hot peppers (I like a mixture, like 3 jalapeno, 3 serrano, 1 poblano)
bunch of cilantro (add at the very end - the more, the better... I think)

Before you proceed any further, make sure you have tortilla chips on hand...

Peel the tomatoes by placing them in boiling water, then plunging them in cold water - the skins come right off. Chop veggies, or let the food processor do the chopping. Place in a large pan. Simmer for 1 hr. (If you can this, I simmer less, like 30 min.) Break out your best zumba moves. Taste and tweak to your liking (you can add chili powder, more salt, more peppers, etc...) Don't forget to add the cilantro! Can or freeze.

To peel the tomatoes, place them in a pan of boiling water, stir until the skins begin to crack, then plunge them in ice cold water.  The skins peel right off.

 After all these years, my motto for canning is: 
"A few twinges of regret (coupled with some "why do I do these things???") equals a whole year of gratitude."

1 batch down.  3 to go... 

Oh, and I'm the kind of person that has to do the math on to see if it's worth it, so I added up what we spent at the farmer's market:

Bucket of organic tomatoes: $5

Onions: 50 cents

Green pepper: 50 cents (it was huge, so 1 was enough)

Hot peppers: $1

Yellow peppers: $1

This made 15 pints of salsa (plus close to a pint we ate making it :)

$8 for 16 pints of salsa.

That's 50 cents a jar!

It's worth it, people!

Have fun salsa-ing :)

{Because, if it weren't for the little things like canning salsa, I may have been happy to just pause our life a week ago and never get on with the year...but today has come.  So, we see THIS is the day the Lord has made, to rejoice and be glad in it.}

introducing the newest addition to our home...

The hunt for the perfect bathroom vanity turned out to be right in front of our eyes!  I checked craigslist daily, had my list of antique shops in surrounding areas ready to tackle, when the name of a place in town came to mind one morning.  I packed up Jude to check it out, and there were THREE we would have been happy with.  This was our favorite, and we got a really good deal!  (I think it's from the 1850's - any appraisers out there know?)  
We will chop off the legs to make it the right height for a vessel sink.  
So, now we are looking for a little something like this on top,


something like this on the bottom,

something like this beside, for trash,

something like this for the knobs,

and maybe a little subway tile on the wall.

I like aspects of this picture: the mirror, the sink, the simplicity, white honeycomb tile paired with white subway tile and dark grout on both.  But it's a bit too stale for me.  Throw in some bright curtains, an old chunky dresser, a creamy color on the walls, and we're in business!  
Really, anything will be an improvement :)

Before I continue our bathroom hunt, I have a birthday boy turning EIGHT in 12 days.  I have a couple of these to make...

And, most definately more of these to make...

Jalapeños cut in half, de-seeded, stuffed with goat cheese, topped with prosciutto.  Baked at 350 until it looks like this.  You could substitute cream cheese if you don't like goat cheese.  I never thought I did until I had these. (Thanks Robyn :)  Now I'm hooked! 

fresh homemade salsa

, 

Our family loves us some salsa! And really, can you listen to salsa music without craving it? I don't know. I can't. 


We started canning our own (recipe found here). It has become a fun tradition on an August eve to gather our harvest and fill our kitchen with the aroma of fresh salsa.  Bag of tortilla chips on hand is a must!  Last summer we canned 40-some jars of salsa. We eat lots of black bean soup, chicken black bean soup, which both call for salsa. And, we are down to the Final Four. I am saving these for a super-easy-need-a-snack-for-a-group-quick kind of moment.

Until we have a bounty of tomatoes, we haven't given up our addiction to salsa. Here's what we've been making. I'll whirl it all in the food processor, taste, and tweak to our liking. But here's the gist...

Fresh Homemade Salsa
30 oz. can diced tomatoes OR fresh tomatoes, chopped
1/4 of an onion
1/2 of a green pepper
1-2 cloves garlic
a bunch of of cilantro (as much as you like - we like it really cilantro-ey)
jalapeno (1/2 to whole - depending on how much spice you like)
juice of 1/2 lime
salt to taste (1/2 - 1 teaspoon)

Put in food processor, pulse to chop and combine.  

Tweak to your liking.  Olé!

Spring Break!!!  

We are taking off for a few days - nothing tropical or adventurous, just some time away with my boys.  Before then, Florida is coming to me tomorrow, and I can't wait to see them!  Tonight, our life group surprised me with a pre-birthday bash - complete with decorations, mirassou, gluten-free tiramisu, brownies, cookies, and minorrah candles - love you girls!