Chicka Chicka Soup Please

Laela and I both woke up this morning with some good old fashioned snot-o-rama.  I think hers is from the vaccines she got on Friday (they said cold like symptoms would occur a few days later) and that mine's just from being a bit run down, but regardless, we're both cranky and in the mood for some tlc and chicken noodle soup.

Here's how to make a pretty fool-proof chicken noodle soup:

Ingredients:

• 6 cups chicken stock
• 3 large carrots (chopped into chunks or diced, depending on your preference.)
• 2 stalks celery (chopped or diced, depending on how you preference.)
• 1 medium onion finely chopped (I prefer vidalia)
• 1 small bunch chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 ounces egg noodles
• 1/4 cup freshly cut dill leaves, chopped
• 2 Tb butter
• 3 Tb all purpose flour
  

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the chopped garlic and saute until fragrant, 1 minute more. Whisk in the flour and stir frequently until it coats the vegetables and makes a paste. Cook until it reaches a pale blonde color, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock, making sure there are no lumps.  Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes to thicken and develop the flavors.

Reduce the heat and add the chicken and the noodles. Do not boil the chicken or it will become tough. Add the dill and simmer gently for 10 more minutes.

Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and serve.

  *Note:  If you like peas or corn in your soup, feel free to add as much as you want.  Also, I prefer more noodles than chicken, So I sometimes make more noodles than the recipe yields.
 
I hope this soup helps you as much as it helps my stuffiness!

She's ONE!!!

One.  A little over a year ago, I gave birth to the most perfect little girl in the world.  Well, maybe I can't speak for the whole world, so I'll just say in my world.  And Kyle's world..and our parents, and I'm pretty sure that list goes on a little bit, but I digress..  I gave birth to this perfect, smiling (so what if it was gas?  New parents don't care, it's their baby and she's smiling!!  Whooo!), chubby cheeked little creature that filled me with so much love and emotion that I thought I was going to burst.  Thankfully, I didn't burst and I got to see her grow into this adorable little toddler who loves to jump in the waves at the beach, zoom around the yard while carrying one of her little purses, pat and hug her baby dolls, and pig out on pretty much anything and everything in front of her.  It's amazing how three months ago she was cruising furniture and crawling, still sticking everything in her mouth, and now, she eats off a plate like a little lady (we're still on frisbee watch, don't worry!), drinks with a straw, and likes to eat her food on her own.  As I write this, she's sitting at her little table, playing with her wooden Montessori peg toy, pushing the beads up and down the wires.  It's firsts like this that tug at my heart strings with both pride and sadness as I watch my beautiful little girl become an independent little person.  She amazes me everyday and I just can't believe how quickly the time goes.

Anyway, now that I've totally mushed out, I'm ready to get back to business.  I had big plans for Laela's first birthday, and while I didn't get to do everything I'd planned because of time constraints, visitors, and Kyle leaving on a business trip for a few days following our vacation, I'm pretty happy with how everything turned out.

Ms. Laela had a yummy pumpkin birthday cake with buttercream icing.

I think she enjoyed it, don't you?

I made some basic chocolate and vanilla buttercream cupcakes for the partygoers.

I also made some lemon sugar cookies with royal icing.  I was a bit rushed, so they didn't come out as exciting looking as I'd planned, but everyone seemed to think they were pretty good.

For the favors I made chocolate covered pretzels.

I really tried to keep the decorations more fun and whimsical instead of pink thrown up.  We had butterflies, dragonflies, bees and ladybugs hanging from the trees and plants in our yard.

We even decorated the gift table...

It was a great party.  We had a wonderful time, and it was really fun to see Laela smash her cake and toddle around with her little buddies and our family and friends.

See you Wednesday for Laela and my next foodie adventure!

A Much Needed Break

This has been one crazy summer!  Weddings galore, baby showers, Kyle getting promoted, barbeques...the fun just hasn't had a chance to stop.  Unfortunately, a lot of this fun has kept me from being able to post as regularly as I'd like (and let's be real, being a full time Momma takes up a lot of time too).

After our good friends Ali and Jimmy's wedding this Sunday, we're taking a much needed vacation- no phones, no computers.  I'll be back full throttle starting September 20, posting every Monday and Wednesday. 

I hope everyone is enjoying these last sweltering days of summer!!  See you in a few weeks!