catching up

I'm really behind on my blogging and want to catch up with our fun trip to Boone, Grandma & Pops Leon's visit, Kelly's visit, and capturing the other memories here ... but
before I do, here's some great things heard from the kids recently:

KG: where's Daddy?
Me: Kentucky
KG: Kentucky Fried?

after I prayed over C the little girl God has planned to be his wife, C: but Mommy I already know who is going to be my wife.

Little T tried his hardest but didn't quite make it to "No Hugs until Saturday". Today he says "every day is a day for hugs and kisses"

We've all been enjoying our Friday night movie nights- pizza & then a movie- some of our recent favorites- Benji, Charlotte's Web, and tonight we started The Black Stallion (although we probably should have fast-forwarded the whole ship sinking part- there was much weeping during that tonight. KG- where'd his daddy go?)

Tonight we had a terrific treat which the boys named "Smoothie Cream"- the boys  (& Papa) have always loved frozen bananas and I really stumbled upon a recipe for banana ice cream. Tonight after dinner I got out frozen strawberries for the kids- not quite so yummy & hard to eat so I thought I'd try strawberry/ banana "ice cream"- I pureed 1/2 frozen strawberries, 1/2 banana in the vita mix- I did add a tiny bit of coconut milk because I didn't chop the bananas or strawberries first and I was impatient.  Super yummy! Can't wait to try more flavors.

banana can be used as a base to get the creamy texture. I add frozen berries, frozen peaches frozen ANY fruit.. making sure you always have at least 1/2 the quantity of banana total. 
For a special treat I like to add chocolate chips, or make a chocolate ganache and pour it over like a sunday. YUM! and healthy :)

Baking Days

 We found a new family favorite at the Civil War Encampment: Hard tack!
The boys were super exited to make it, all enjoyed it for dinner, and KG wouldn't even cheese for the picture bc she thought it was so yummy!

Frying the hardtack in the bacon grease (although turkey bacon doesn't leave much grease!)

I got a little carried away making pancakes and waffles (I usually x4 the recipe but this time x8).

 At least I'll have them in the freezer for a long time!

Black Eyed Pea Hamburgers anyone?

Since they were a huge hit at home tonight, I thought I'd share this recipe. (And no, I'm not joking- the boys loved them- they asked for seconds and there were none left.) We've been working our way through the pantry. It's not super full like it was when Janelle visited. I thought I'd restock right it before our baby is born.

So today I decided to cook the Black Eyed Pea Soup in a Jar- but I lost the directions sometime and WAY overcooked the black eyed peas- into mush. "Waste not want not" so I googled "overcooked black eyed peas" and found several sites including these which I somewhat used:
http://veganaddict.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/buns-of-soul/ and http://recipes.pauladeen.com/index.php/recipes/view/black_eyed_pea_cake/ (actually I didn't use the Paula Deen recipe at all but it made me feel a little less like a crazy vegetarian :)

so here's my version: I mixed the black eyed pea soup spices with the mushy black eyed peas, added homemade spaghetti sauce, pureed vegetables, and a little bit of AP flour, then baked at 350 for 30 minutes (I flipped once in the middle.) When they were done, I put on whole wheat bread with a slice of cheese and a little BBQ sauce- quite a hit!! (Of course, I also made tortilla surprise with the rest of the black eyed peas/ pureed vegetables for another night!)

We had a good day back at church for the first time (despite a phone call to poison control for a little eaten hand sanitizer- everyone is fine.) And a cold rainy afternoon- I'm ready for Spring! And even more ready for James' return- 60 days or so!