it's a blizzard!! the perfect soup for snowy days...

It's a blizzard! And a snow day for hubby and I! 

We have well over two feet already and it doesn't appear to be letting up any time soon! 

That used to be our stone wall! It's at least 2 1/2 feet high and we can barely see the top!  My handy husband has been out all morning trying to keep up with the snowfall.  It's a seemingly endless job!

He just came in to eat lunch with me.  We heated up our favorite chicken and wild rice soup! It inspired me to type out this blog and share this deliciousness with you! Hope you love it as much as we do! 

What you will need:

1 medium onion, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped 

4 stalks of celery, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced 

1 cup of uncooked wild rice

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried parsley 

2 lbs bone-in split chicken breats (about two) (I'm sure this would work with regular chicken breast too)

10 cups chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste 

What you do:

In your slow cooker, add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, rice, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, salt, pepper.

Top with your split chicken breasts, bone side down.

Add chicken broth.

Cook on high about 6 hours.

Remove chicken breast, fork shred, add meat to soup (discard bones and skin).

Remove bay leave.

Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve and enjoy!! 

..:chocolate chip banana bread muffins

Perhaps this is a strange thing, but I am addicted to baking though I rarely more than sample my finished product.

My love, however, is a different story.  He loves all things sweet and dessert-esque. He is slim and muscular despite his dessert for breakfast habit (he despises regular breakfast foods). 

Yesterday I think I was nesting! I decided store bought soup for lunches for this week was out of the question.  Instead I made my chicken and wild rice soup in the crockpot (look for that recipe later in the week!) for the hubby and I.  In the process, I decided the refrigerator was in DESPERATE need of a cleaning and, while I was at it, the freezer needed to be cleaned out for the freezer meals I will be making for after the baby arrives.  

After all of this, I decided I couldn't let my lovely starve for breakfast and I had four banana that were just going by.  I set to work to make the most delightful chocolate chip banana muffins. I only got about twelve muffins out of this because I used a muffin tin that was a little larger than a standard cupcake size tin. Here is the recipe:

Preheat your oven to 350.

You will need:

4 ripe bananas

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

1 pinch of salt

1 1/2 cup flour

1 cup or so of chocolate chips

Peel bananas into a large bowl, add melted butter, mash together until smooth.

Add sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Mix until just combined.

Add salt and backing soda and stir together.

Add flour and mix until all of the flour is combined (if the batter isn't perfectly smooth, that's ok).

Add in chocolate chips and mix until incorporated. 

Generously grease a muffin tin (they tend to stick to liners... I don't recommend using them).

Fill muffin tins about 3/4 of the way full. 

Put in preheated oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes (until tester inserted into the middle of the muffin is clean).

Place on cooking rack, eat, enjoy!

who doesn't love a good recipe...

Before I give you a delicious and simple weeknight meal recipe, let me first start with a mini freakout!

Ahhhhh! I am almost 30 weeks! Where has the time gone?! This baby boy will be here before we know it! 

I am having trouble getting up off the couch or out of bed, struggling to put on shoes and socks, have been dealing with those precious rib kicks (*sarcastic*), and had to do this:

Which I passed, thank goodness! However, I wouldn't trade that's experience for the world!!! Feeling so happy and so blessed every day!! 

Mommy and daddy are so excited to meet you, little one! 

It my everyday search for easy weeknight dinners (planning ahead for when baby arrives!!!), I came across a recipe similar to this one.

I switched it up a little bit and was pleased with the results! Super fast and super delicious! I made it with an Asian cucumber salad and regular salad with ginger dressing.  It was divine =) I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

Asian Scallion Beef

8 or so oz of beef tenderloin - thin sliced (I had a strip steak and used that instead) 

2 1/2 tbsp oil

3 or more stalks scallions - cut into 3" strips

1 onion sliced

3 cloves of garlic - sliced

1 tsp corn starch

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp Chinese wine (I used a Chinese rice wine)

2 tbsp fish sauce 

2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

3 dashes of white pepper (you could probably use regular pepper too)

1/2 tsp sesame oil (I used a hot sesame oil... We like it spicy!!) 

1 tbsp sugar

Salt to taste

Marinade beef for a minimum of 10 minutes in corn starch, soy sauce, Chinese wine mixture

Stir fry beef in heated wok or skillet until half done; Remove and set aside

Drain wok, add oil, stir fry onion and garlic

Add beef; Stir

Add sauce; Stir

Cook until done

Add scallions

Add sugar, salt, pepper to taste (I did not use all of the sugar)

Serve warm with steamed white or brown rice

**As a side note, next time I plan to double the sauce recipe.  My husband and I ate the beef over the rice and would have liked a little more juice! 

Enjoy! 

new year, new baby...

I can not believe it is 2015!

This is the year my darling husband and I will become parents for the very first time! 

It is finally sinking in now.  I have been trying to set up my baby registry (oh my gosh there are so many different products out there!) and that has proven to be more time consuming than I though!  I have decided to set up an Amazon registry and a target registry.  It has been utterly overwhelming, but so much fun! 

Over this holiday break, the hubs and I were able to start on the nursery.  Though I am limited in what I can do to help out, kitty made sure he was right there to pick up the slack:

I can't wait until this room is complete!  We have quite a bit left to do, but it is coming along! 

Also, we have decided upon two names! We will decided officially when he is born, but to have the two options picked out is so exciting!  It has been stressful as of late trying to decide on the right name for our little boy.  What a relief it is to have picked two names we both love! 

It is back to the daily grind for me today! Here is a picture of me giving in to a cup of coffee this morning.  I couldn't get through my 12 day ahead of me without it! 

Happy Monday xoxo