Blender Cheddar Soup - Tasty Tuesday!

Yeah.. you read that right. I make soup (sometimes) in my blender. Granted, I have an absolutely awesome blender that will do things like this - and quickly, but it's doable without a blender, too.

Even though it's starting to get warmer, I'm still enjoying some of my favorite cold weather foods, just not always the heavier ones. Soups? Perfect, especially paired with biscuits or fresh bread.

Blender Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:
3 c chicken stock
3 T white wine (ok, so I sometimes go with a dark beer, too)
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery
2 Granny Smith apples
2 potatoes, baked
1/4 t dried thyme
1/4 t nutmeg, fresh grated is best
1 1/2 c cheddar cheese
White pepper, to taste
2 T butter ONLY for the non blender version

Directions (blender):
Bake the poatoes as you normally would. Once baked, cut into quarters or so, but leave the skins on.

Add the chicken stock, wine (or beer), onion (peel it first but no need to chop), garlic (peeled but not chopped), celery, apples (cut into chunks just large enough to allow you to cut out the core), potatoes, thyme, nutmeg, and white pepper.

Slowly bring the blender to high speed. Leave it at high speed for seven or so minutes - you want to see the steam starting to not just build up inside your container but escaping, as well.

Lower the blender's speed to a fairly low one. Based on how your blender is set up, either remove the entire top or just the middle part of it so that you can start dropping in the cheese. Once the cheese is added, blend another 20 or so seconds - not too long, or it will start to get gritty with the cheese. You just want it melted.

Add your pepper to taste, and serve immediately.

Directions (non-blender):
Bake the potatoes as you normall would. Once they are baked, cut them into chunks - size isn't specific, as you'll puree them later.

Chop your half onion into smallish piece. Chop your garlic, as well. Melt the butter in a heavy soup pan. Add the onion and then the garlic. Sautee 2-3 minutes. Chop the celery and apple, then add them. Continue to sautee the mixture, stirring periodically, until the onions are turning translucent.

Add the chicken stock, wine (or beer) and baked potatoes. Add the thyme and nutmeg, as well. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

When you puree hot liquids, be sure you are holding the lid on and use a folded hand towel to do so to protect yourself in case of mishap. Filling your (regular) blender no more than 1/3 full for safety reasons, blend the soup in batches - or if you have an immersion blender, go ahead and put it to the test. You want the soup pretty smooth at this point.

Return the soup to the soup pan if necessary. Slowly add the cheese, stirring with each addition to ensure that it is fully melted prior to adding another handful. Stir constantly. This will ensure that you don't get a glomp of cheese in your soup.

Add a few grinds of white pepper and taste. Add additional pepper as needed. Serve immediately with bread. Suggestions are above.

Yum! Enjoy this and more with Blessed with Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Let The Memories Begin!

The wee ones and I (and my parents) spent this past weekend in Orlando at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. We all had a fantastic time, and I have a ton of write about the actual conference, but there are some moments that just need to be captured ... now. Ones that have nothing to do with the conference, but ones that occurred only because we were blessed enough to attend and to have the joy of the wee ones with us.

The wee ones didn't know we were going until Wednesday night after dinner, when I sat them down to explain what we were doing. While they were tired, they were still happy to be going.

*video to come soon - YouTube doesn't want to upload it*

I love that they thought I was pulling them from school for St. Patrick's Day. The Irish in them is coming out.

As we sat at the gate, awaiting takeoff, Little Miss began to grow impatient. Look, Mommy! We're moving!
Mmmm, nope, sorry, Peanut. We aren't moving quite yet.
YES, Mommy. We are moving. Just look! she insisted.
Oh Sweet Pea, that's not our plane. That's the plane next to us that's backing up, I tried to explain gently.
Mommy, we are moving. I just know we are, she wouldn't give up.
And that's an argument I'll let her win... knowing secretly inside that I was right.

As we headed toward the Grand Floridian on the Magical Express, Little Miss leaned over to my mom. Grandma! Pinch yourself. You have to make sure this is really real!

I had purchased Disney Trading Pins for the wee ones from eBay prior to the event and presented them with some prior to their first day at the park. As I explained to the wee ones how pin trading worked, their faces lit up even more. They had so much fun finding people to trade pins with, and Mister Man even insisted on sharing his pins with some people who had lanyards but lacked pins.
Mommy, I'm giving them my favorite pins, he told me, seriously.
Your favorites? Why are you giving your favorites away? I inquired, mildly concerned but now understanding why some of my favorites were no longer on his lanyard.
It's a sacrifice I'm making, Mommy. I want other people to be happy, so I'm sacrificing my favorites for Lent.
And my heart melted. And broke. I did explain that it was my sacrifice to get the pins for him, and that I wanted him to enjoy them. We'd find something else to sacrifice instead. I only wish I'd discovered this before the last event of the last night of our conference.

Little Miss has a really hard time walking anywhere. She simply doesn't have a first or second gear and instead just goes goes goes. At the pool, this is a challenge for her, especially when she's supposed to walk from the pool deck to the water slide stairs. She succeeded most of the time, but ... not always.
But, Mommy! The wind made me do it, she tried to use as an excuse for running one time. No, I didn't buy it.

So, Mommy, Mister Man wanted to know, I really want to go back to Epcot because it's cool, but when we're finished with it, can we spend the rest of the day at Hollywood Studios? He sure knows the right person to ask. I'm all about maximizing our days and times in the parks. My parents? My mom would be good with one day at a park and done. Once you've ridden the rides, you've ridden them, right? Even my dad is getting tired. He's a smart kid!

Mommy, Mommy! Look at this! At Disney, they make me my own dessert plate that I can eat. And look at the Hidden Mickey's on my plate! she bounced in her seat. Gotta love the Disney chefs who go above and beyond for anyone with allergies or sensitivities to food.

I love the precious moments that experiences like this provide us. I love that I've been able to share the Disney Social Media Moms conference with them, and I have so much to share. Soon. But as always, family - for me - comes first.

College Classes You've Never Heard Of

This week, we had teacher conferences for Little Miss. We went, as we had some questions about things on her report card and recommendations for summer school. As always, her teacher went through Little Miss's work and discussed her in general before asking if we had any other specific questions.

As we went through her artwork, I had to giggle. While I was able to sort of translate the first one (only because I knew what she was talking about because it's one of her favorite things to do when she goes to my parents' house), I was completely stuck trying to figure out what the majority of the rest of her writing was ... trying to say.

Her teacher? No such issues. She simply flipped a page in the portfolio and read it like it was typed in a large font book. She didn't pause or wrinkle her brow or anything.

Now, my handwriting isn't exactly the neatest thing out there. I can read some pretty messy handwriting, but oh wow. I was truly impressed. Little did I know that teachers had a subset of classes on deciphering childish handwriting of mispelled words. True talent.

I went sledding at my grandma's house. To go sledding right into the bushes.

I were (sic) at the airport, and our plane went to Florida without us, so we stayed overnight. (She's referring to this incident.)

I ate with my carpool buddy. (My Spanish isn't near good enough to translate that to what she wrote below it, but it says the same thing - Patty? Anyone?)

At Least I Know It's Genetic

On Saturday, we had dinner at my parents' house. While my mom doesn't really like food, she does try to cook for at least my dad and me when we eat. That night, we had a beef thing from Trader Joe's and rice that she made. Or sorta made.

For whatever reason, the rice didn't turn out for her "the way it normally does" - or so she claimed. When the buzzer went off, the rice was still semi-hard and plenty of water remained. She turned the stove back on, and eventually served us the mostly cooked and only slightly watery rice.

After dinner, she was clearing the table and nearly slipped on an ice cube. Once she'd set those dishes in the dishwasher, she came back to pick up the escapee.

Oh, this isn't an ice cube! she exclaimed. This is one of the lenses to my glasses. I think.

She pulled her glasses from where they were tucked into her sweater and peered at them. Huh, one of my lenses did fall out. No wonder everything's been so blurry tonight. I knew there had to be a reason I couldn't read the instructions on the rice.

Ahem.

Apparently it truly is genetic. And it only gets worse. Oh the things I have to look forward to!

Wordless Wednesday

So I was headed to pick up the mail this morning and found an extra special gift sitting next to it.

USED, people. USED.

My neighborhood is going to heck in a handbasket.

Cherry Applesauce Muffins - Tasty Tuesday!

We love baking in our house - as I've discussed more than once. And while Mister Man is pretty good about wanting to eat the same breakfast day after day (oatmeal made with milk and a few dried cherries added to it), Little Miss requests more variety, and she's ready for some new options beyond pancakes or waffles or omelets or cereal.

I'm sure you're all surprised that she's my child who's interested in something else, right?

Muffins are a good alternative for us, especially ones that aren't so super sugar laden as many are. I got a little creative this weekend, and the results were delicious. Fortunately for me, I doubled the recipe so we have plenty - including some to freeze and bring out later. (That's why my measurements in the pictures look so big by the way!) Yes, I did make these dairy free - easily - but you don't have to!

Cherry Applesauce Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour*
3/4 c unbleached white flour
1/2 c wheat bran
2 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 c brown sugar
1 t cocoa powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t ground allspice
1/2 t ground nutmeg (grate your own - it tastes so much better!)
1/4 t salt
1 c dried cherries
1 c applesauce (I used unsweetened, and the muffins were fine)
1 1/4 c milk (I used rice milk to make it dairy free)
1 egg

* If you don't have whole wheat flour, you can use all white flour, but you'll have to add an extra 1/4 c to the amount listed (2 1/2 c total).

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together until they are a uniform color and consistency. Be gentle with your whisking so that you fluff the flour and other
ingredients to make beautiful muffins.

Whisk together the wet ingredients (applesauce, milk and egg) in another bowl. I use my extra large liquid measuring cup to avoid dirtying yet another dish (yes, I really am that brillian - or lazy!).

Add the cherries to the dry ingredients and mix it up. I use my (clean) hands for this, which also helps separate the cherries so they no longer stick to each other. Once this is completed, make a well in the center.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a large spatula to very gently fold them together until they are just combined. Do not overmix them to avoid having holes form inside your muffins and to keep them from being rubbery.

Pour the batter into your muffin tins. Make sure they are greased or use muffin papers. Fill them about three quarters full or a little more. If you end up a little short on muffin batter for one batch, put just a little water into each of the empty cups so that your muffin tins don't warp. Over time, they will if you bake them empty.

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool in the muffin tins for 10 minutes before removing them to cool completely.

Yum! Enjoy this and more with Blessed with Grace and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Devious, Yes. Smart? That's Still Up In The Air....

This morning, I was awakened at 5:45 (that's really really early for me, if you're wondering) by Mister Man's cry as he ran into the bathroom that he thought he was going to throw up. That is not, needless to say, how I wanted to wake up, but it had its desired effect.

The good news is that no, he never did throw up. *knock on wood*

As I brought him back to his room, I noticed a light on under Little Miss's door. After I put him into bed, I opened her door to discover her reading in her bed. Yay, she's reading. But boo - she complains when I come to wake her up that she's really tired and can't get ready for school.

I explained that 5:45am is way too early for her to be up and reading when she knows she needs more sleep. While she wailed and threw herself across her bed, moaning that she couldn't fall back asleep and it was just impossible. I sighed and explained that she needed to try, and that I'd turn her sound machine back on. Her light switched off, and I went back to my own bedroom.

A moment or two later, I heard her bedroom door close. I knew that meant she'd once again turned on her light and started reading - because I can't see her light on when her door is closed (in her mind). I debated the merits of being a good and consistent parent with the lure of my nice warm bed before sighing and trundling myself back down to her room.

Once inside, I explained again that she needed to try to sleep and was not allowed to read right now. In fact, if she read again this morning before wakeup time instead of trying to sleep, I was going to have to take her books out of her room for the day.

Turning off the light switch, confident that she wouldn't risk losing her books, I slipped back into my room and closed my eyes. And I heard her door shut again. My debate waged once again before I headed down the hallway.

This time, her light was on the dimmer - because maybe it was the bright light that warned me she was reading. Ummm, no. She looked up in genuine shock as I opened her door before hurtling herself atop the book she was reading in a vain attempt to keep me from removing it - and the other four books she'd stashed in her room. I explained very firmly that those books were not to be brought back into her room.

I went back to sleep. Almost. There was a suspicious creak in the hallway. Groaning, I debated once again pretending that I hadn't heard anything before sneaking into the hallway myself.

Little Miss had no light on this time. And she hadn't brought the book into her room. And she hadn't closed her door, tipping me off.

Seriously, one day, this girl is going to be the death of me. And yes, she did once again complain at 7am that she was really tired and wanted to go back to bed and sleep some more.