Home Renovations part 8 milliion

If you recall, I claimed to have finished painting my office/library/puppy room. Well, here are some pictures. We finally put the futon in there. Thank God Jody and Lucy were able to help me. We wound up having to take it partly apart to get in there. That is not such a fun thing to do, and we hadn't taken it apart since the big move from IL to TX. You can't see from this doorway picture, but I've got some book shelvves in there too. Hello, this IS my library too!

The reason for the big futon move? For the cost of a lunch (I'll make sure it is a nice one!) I got a new couch and chair. Lucy had gotten a family couch and chair recovered, so she was ready to get rid of her old one's - for some reason they didn't need garage furniture !?!?!?!? They brought them over today, and we are happy campers and the Jersey house! I knew I wanted a couch in my living room, but I had forgotten how much I wanted one. Here is the current look. I may rearrange, especially if I get some othter furniture I"m looking at.

Butter Bean Soup with Smoked Turkey

This evening I made a really easy and yummy soup. Yup, soup again. It has been cold out. I almost lit a fire. It was a good night for soup, tea, and a fire while sitting under a fleece blanket on the couch with my two exciteable footwarmers.

Ingredients

1 tbl olive oil

1 yellow onion coarsely chopped

3 cloves carlic, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried thyme

3 cups chicken or vegetable broth (or more as needed)

1 carrot, peeled and diced

3 cups frozen lima beans, thawed

1/2 lb smoked turkey breast, cut into 1/4 in. dice

chopped green onion

1. Heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and sautee until soft. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for about 1 minute ensuring that the garlic doesn't brown.

2. Add broth and carrots and bring to a boil. Add beans and turkey and simmer uncovered until the beans and turkey are warm, about 5 minutes. Stir occaisionally.

3. Add hot water or broth if the soup is too thick. Garnish with green onions.

I made some changes and substitutions. Most importantly, there wasn't any smoked turkey at the store. I was going to get some rom the deli but decided to just use turkey smoked sausage. Obviously I used 5 garlic cloves because you must automatically increase garlic consumption. I just used 4 cups of broth off of the bat.

Overall, VERY easy and quick, and yummy! I have a couple of servings for leftovers later in the week and I actually plan to eat them. I will definitely eat this one again. I'm sure using sausage instead of actual turkey breast is part of why it is so wickedly delish! Maybe I'll try it with the regular turkey next time. Plus, the ingredients cost less than $10 for 4 servings of soup. :-) Add in some bread and you are all good!

I've got another turkey and bean soup to try out sometime soon. Mmmm.

Everlasting love

I have found that missing part in my life. It is a grocery store! Our new Kroger opened up this week. It is absolutely amazing. It is almost twice the size of our old Kroger. I used to have to hit Kroger, Super Walmart, and the Corner Market in order to catch all of the things on my list. A bad side effect of liking fresh food, natural foods, and cooking for yourself. Today I found heaven. I'm in love. The produce department has expanded significantly - probably twice the size of the old one. Plus, the meat department has some better looking options, and there is seafood other than just catfish!!! I look forwad to making salmon later this week, or maybe some Amanda Young Tuna special! There is a whole natural/healthy foods section, including feezer cases. I almsot wanted to cry. There were more Kashi and Amy's meals than I had ever seen in one place. They even had the Kashi version ofHot Pockets. They EVEN have Barry's Irish Tea, which Abby says she has only seen in Ireland!! In honor of the extended produce department, I made some boring produce!

Kate's DC Broccoli
Take your broccoli and chop the florets off of the head. toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder (or garlic chips) to taste. Roast in the oven for 7 minutes at 375. Stir and roast for 7 more minutes.

The end result is crunchy and tasty broccoli. Just don't let it burn, apparently that is gross!! It is crunchy as though it was steamed, but full of flavor without covering it in cheese. Mmmm. I could have eaten the entire pan!

Saturday is as Saturday does

We had an all around Saturday sort of day. This morning the ladies of the house all gathered on the couch to watch the U of I -OSU football game. Unfortunately it didn't turn out as I would have liked. Fortunatley, we held our own except for all of those turnovers. If only they could learn to play well I would see lots of wins in our future - because they have the raw talent, that is for sure.

After the disappointment of the loss the other ladies were devastated. I tucked them in to sleep away their misery. Meanwhile I headed back to the dreaded office for another coat of paint. I think it is the last. Later on I hung new blinds in there. It is actually looking halfway decent. I'll post pictures once I get the furnitue in there. For now I leave you with my sleepy furry children. After they have been tucked into bed they are likely to stay asleep like that for a surprising amount of time.

Family time is fun time

Last Friday I headed up north to South Bend, IN to visit with my cousin Abby, my cousin-in-law John, and their adoreable daughter, Nora. It turned out that it was family weekend! Every year my Aunt Barbara and Uncle John come out to visit the family in November. Turns out - that was this weekend! They came in Thursday, and left Sunday - meaning we had a super family filled weekend.

On Saturday afternoon Aunt Jean, my Grandpa's cousin, and her daughter Aunt Ann came over to visit. I hadn't seen Aunt Jean since Grandpa's wedding in 1989, and I had never actually met Aunt Ann. It was really good to get to see/meet them. They are just as sweet and fun as I could imagine anyone in my family being. Plus, my parents came over for the afternoon. Their arriva was a little late - they forgot about the time change going from IL to IN again :-) However, we did get some time in as a total family. We realized we had 4 generations of Shoeflin women in one room - so we took a picture on this momentous occaision.

I have to add in a food note at this point. We had soup and bread for lunch Saturday. Abby made two absolutely delcious soups that I've always wanted to make - Butternut Squash Soup and Sausage Lentil Soup out of the Barefoot in Paris cookbook. It was fabulous. I'll definitely be making them in the future - although the sausage lentil soup could feed an army!

The rest of the weekend was great. We didn't do anything specific, but focused on enjoying our time together as it is always limited. On Monday I went to campus with Abby. She taught and went to class while I did some work in her office. More importantly I played on campus. I did a short walk around campus and took in some of the sites. It was a little cold, so I didn't go out on a walk around the lake or do too much exploring. This was my fourth trip to South Bend, however I had never actually made it into the Basillica, so I finally got that checked off my list. It was nice to go in there, sit with my thoughts while someone practiced on the organ. It really is a gorgeous campus! Here are some pictures from campus.

On Tuesday I stayed at home with Nora for a couple of hours while Abby and John were both at work. We had lots of fun playing with nesting dolls and reading. Plus, she went down for her nap very easily! We headed over to the Mishewaka brewing company to grab a late lunch after Abby got done with her seminar. I had to bring my southern charm into play, so we brought a baby.. into a bar.Mmmmm. Fried Pickles - how can you go wrong?!?!

Unfortunately, the fun had to end, as I headed home on Tuesday night :-( Family - I miss you already.

Speak Now, or Hold Your Peace for 4 Years

I’ll never forget my first presidential election, November 2000. I voted absentee – but made sure to get my vote in. I went to bed at some point after Al Gore conceded the election. The next morning I woke up and the world was not as I expected.

I just want to encourage my loyal blog readers to go vote. I’m going to speak much like my parish priest did this weekend. I’m not telling you who to vote for as that is none of my business – but go VOTE! It is our duty, responsibility, and privilege as American citizens. Even if you don’t live in a swing state, get out and have your say. No one should lose his or her ability to have an opinion and to speak it. This year’s election is certainly a historic event. Wouldn’t you like to be able to tell your grandchildren that you were a part of this event.

Happy Halloween

Well, it is a day late, but happy Halloween. I hope that everyone enjoyed it.

Let me tell you, my subdivision is a hotbed on halloween. Kids from all over town seem to come into the 'hood to trick or treat - it is happening. This year we went for a minimalist approach to decorating. Enough to let them know we were open for business, but not so much that it will take weeks to un-Halloween the house. Check it out.

We all know how exciteable those darn puppies can be. I decided that the best course of action was to leave them in the back yard all day. This is a weekday treat for them, and I'm sure they spent half the day barking at tree limbs, playing chase, and rolling in the dirt. The other half was definitely spent sleeping. My hope was that they would be very tired out and less than excited by the doorbell. You know I'm just silly for thinking that one. They were really excited and seemed to know that something was going on. So, I wound up putting my chair on the porch and sitting outside and handing out candy so that no one rang the doorbell. After about twenty minutes they calmed down. Daisy went and laid in her crate and Madison would lie in the doorway, then get up and run out back, and then come see who was at the door. She was quite cute and stole the show at Chez S-D-M.

It was really fun to see some kids I actually know in the neighborhood. My friends Setha and Hallie came by with their adoreable daughers. I liked getting to give candy to kids I knew as opposed to jr. high kids who weren't in costumes and were so rude that they just stuck their bags in my face and didn't actually acknowledge my presence verbally. The only bad thing was that I didn't get enough candy! I thought I was somewhere Near OK, but I ran out 30 minutes before trick or treating ended.

Last night I went to a party hosted by my friends Denise and Jay. Let me tell you, they know how to throw a Halloween party! Their house is amazing, and so well set up for a fall party and bonfire. The food was amazing and I was totally impressed by everyone's costumes! Here is mine :-) See if you can guess what I was dressed up as? It was really fun to get to hang out with everyone I hadn't seen in a while (especially Christina) and to meet some new people.

I hope you all had Happy Hauntings. Time to start prepaing for Turkey Time now.