Sunday, January 27, 2013

Over the weekend we...


Fed the babes some carrot!



She doesn't even know what's about to hit her.





The gentlemen to the right feeding the babe? That's my husband. He can disassemble and reassemble an iphone in 4 hours or less. And he looks like that. So Yeah, you can be jealous. It's ok.




  
  Despite the massive amount of carrot you see dribbled down her      belly here, I do think some made it into her mouth. I think.

This is the first of many feedings for this little rascal. Hope she likes carrots! Maybe she will do a little better next time when Mommy isn't sticking a camera in her face. SO much pressure to perform!


Perfected some of My Yoga Moves... Namaste!



I've been working on this move for a LONG time, and it's only just recently that I've been able hold it for a legitimate about of time. I still have a lot more work to do though. It's hard because you have to have the strength before you can work on the balance, and I only just acquired the strength recently from carrying around a 20 pound baby everywhere I go. It's done wonders for my biceps.





My goal is to be able to hold a handstand longer than my sister Bethany, who has long been the hand standing champ of the family. (I mean no one even gets close.) She was a gymnastic so it's not really fair, but I will catch you someday Bethany, mark my words! Consider this a challenge. ** After you have your baby of course


Worked on my new Knitting project...



A "baby boy" blanket for my sister Melissa. Started working on it the second I found out the sex of her little babe! I was going to keep it a secret, but I think she reads this blog so SURPRISE! (Sure hope I get it done in time.) It was inspired by these blankets. I found this website and thought I'd died and gone to heaven! 



Made 3 New Recipes...





I got this recipe off Pintrist and I totally love it. It is super healthy and easy to make! 


This recipe is from good ol' Martha. It's a Mexican Corn and Poblano soup. I didn't quite char the chiles well enough due to some stove problems, but I loved the flavor and texture and I will defiantly make it again... I'll just get the chiles right this time! 



This is supposed to be a White Bean and Mustard Green Soup, but it was White Bean and Kale Soup up in my hizzouse. Martha can be so dramatic sometimes. She likes to give you recipes using ingredients you have never heard of, nor can you get- using appliances that are rarely seen in an average kitchen. But sometimes you can break it down enough to see what is possible and what's not, and you can find some real gems and this is one of them! Kimo told me that this is one (if not thee) best soup I've ever made! Oh yeah. I changed out the Mustard Greens for Kale- but you could do collard greens or something similar if you like. (Or maybe you'll get lucky and actually FIND mustard greens!) And I changed out the farro for Barley! I couldn't find these two items, but maybe you can! Good luck! 


And... Hung out with this little doe-eyed Beauty all Weekend!


Hope You all had a Good Weekend!!!!!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Soups, Socks, and Sewing. ( Part II- Socks and Sewing)



Little sockies for the Babe.





      I wanted to knit some Christmas Stockings, but I knew there were a few tricks to knitting socks so I thought I would make some baby ones and then I could learn on a smaller scale. I found this pattern and started knitting away! This is what I ended up with, cute huh! I used an adorable ombre yarn for the first pair. And they were just so cute I had to make a second pair. (FYI, still haven't made the Christmas stockings yet.)




And now if they would only stay on her darn feet!


I sewed these letters for Olive! I got the tutorial here on pintrist! This is a project ANYONE can do. (Even you Bethany.) I know because I did it. I know nothing about sewing, like at all.  But the beauty of this project is that you can mess up and it's ok because it looks like cute and funky when it's not perfect. I put little magnets in them so she can play with them on the floor, or on the fridge, or on a little chalkboard. (I think I'm going to get this one from ikea.) They took me a couple weeks to make, but you might make them faster because I am sure you all actually know what you doing and don't accidentally sew through your fingers. ---yes I really did that, and it was SUPER painful. Good luck to any homies who attempt this project! 











***Special Thanks to Mary, Haylee, and Heather who let me use their scraps to make these since I don't have any spare fabric laying around because I never sew. (And really thought I never ever could, but really I wouldn't consider this sewing)



Saturday, January 19, 2013

Soups, Socks, and Sewing. (Part I- The Soups)



    I've been telling my sister Melissa that I would give her some recipes for a while. So here goes! Here are 4 hearty, healthy, but most of all DELICIOUS soups. It's been BONE cold here, so I've been making soups non-stop over the past month! I find a lot on pintrist. Some work out, and some don't. Here are some that did (at least for my flavor palette.) 




This is supposed to be a chicken stew, but I have never been one for a lot of meat -especially chicken. So, I'll leave the recipe on here and you can decide for yourself what to do. (Bonus of leaving out chicken is a significant cut in cooking time.) In the summer I'd use my heirloom tomatoes in all these recipes that call for canned tomatoes. You just drop them in boiling water until you see the skin split, pull off the skins, and chop them up. It depresses me to talk about those heirlooms since I don't have them anymore. They ruined me for life, they are so delish. Next year I think I will can them so I can enjoy them all year long! Anyhow, I've made this soup a bunch and it's super easy (unless you are Callie Tybur) haha jk... and it's really good! Enjoy.





Let me start by saying, I am aware that this does not look so appetizing in the photo. I'm not really that great of a photographer, let alone a food photographer. (these photos might look better if little ol' Annie Hancock didn't skip town) *sigh* And after making these soups I just want to EAT them and not take pictures of them haha ---guess I'm not so great of a blogger Anyhow, this soup is supposed to be a replica of the smashed pea and barley soup from CPK. I had it there and I just loved it, I really like barley- especially in soups. I didn't think this was quite as good as the one I had at the restaurant, so I would try adding a lot more of the spices and carrot and pepper. I always think that spruces up a soup. It was really good though none the less, and healthy!

  


































This is my minestrone soup. I got the basic recipe from my sister-in-law  Angie, who graciously brought dinner for KC and I after we had our baby. (Both my sister-in-laws did, they are awesome.) Ok, let me just start by saying I used to HATE it when people would just tell me rough recipes like oh just put a little of this and a little of that (namely my mom) and in my head I was screaming TELL ME EXACTLY HOW MUCH! Cause cooking can be scary you know? And things can go from bad to worse real fast. And I've had my fair share of those, and I'm sure there will be plenty more in the future. Now that I can cook a little better I can handle it when people give me recipes this way, but if YOU can't, then skip this- because it's a whole lot of that going on. I won't feel bad.


Minestrone Soup 

Every time I make this soup I put something different in it, and it always turns out good! So you can make mistakes, or change the veggies, or throw whatever in there, or even leave things out- and as long as you dont forget the spices, you are good to go. Here is the rough recipe.

(You can reduce or increase this recipe based on how much soup you want, I normally just add things till my crockpot is full.)


Base of 4 of 5 cups of water with equivalent chicken bouillon cubes 
1 onion
2 or 3 small zucchini (or squash)
1 or 2 cans of kidney beans (if I am doing a big pot I do two, if not than one, also it just depends on how much bean you like)
2 or 3 carrots
a big handful of green beans
a big can of tomato sause
4-5 tomatoes flash boiled with the skins removed or a big can of chopped tomatoes
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
You can add fresh basil and rosemary or dried, I normally do dried- but you have to have fresh thyme. It makes the whole soup. I buy those little containers and then I slide them off the sprigs with my fingers. Lots and lots. No need to chop them up. Add as much pepper as you want, I add a lot sometimes because I like the warmth of it. 
Chop and dump all these ingredients into a crockpot for about 5 hours, or until all the veggies are soft. Or you can put it in a big pot on the stove for half an hour to an hour. Enjoy. This really is the best hearty and warming soup. I've had so many people say they love it so I wish you success with it.

(You can also add chicken or noodles. I prefer just the veggies, but I think it would be easy and good to add those as well.)





This last soup is from pintrist and it's a shrimp and rice stew of sorts. I loved it so I thought I would share it with you. I eat it with a big splice of bread as my fork. SO GOOD. (anytime you add carbs to something it makes it better.) Hope you guys enjoy these soups! Love all your guts-es!





    

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Letting Go.

    Well, I know it's the middle of January but believe it or not I am just now taking down all my Christmas decorations. It was a result of being lazy, working on too many other things besides keeping my house up *you will see those soon*, buying new Christmas stuff on sale after Christmas that I just HAD to put up (even for a couple days), and lastly because I wanted the magic of our first Christmas as a family with Olive to linger a little longer. 







 







We had a little P.F. Chang's Reunion this weekend. (My old place of employment before I was a so-called "responsible adult.") Holy Crap I miss these ladies. It was so fun... as you can see in these pictures. It reminded me of the old times when we were all wild banshees and we went 80's dancing like every week. *sigh* those were the days! I almost forgot I was a mommy with a little babe waiting for me with her grandma. almost. And you may not believe it but 4 out of 5 of these babes is a mama! Ok, maybe you believe it, this IS Provo. But gosh, aren't these girls hot mammas?








Lastly, I want to pay a tribute to Grandma Anna Atkinson, who passed away today at the ripe old age of 96.
She was a very beautiful person who I've had the honor of getting to know over the past 5 years. 
She lived a very humble and gracious life. She had been a widow for 50 years when she died, she lost her husband with 4 little children still to take care of after already having suffered the loss of one of her daughters. 
I felt a connection with Grandma Atkinson as soon as I met her, and I had many heartfelt conversations with her that I will remember till the day I die.
When I found out she died today, I was surprised. I knew she was sick and would pass soon, but I think it's always a surprise when you hear that someone you love dies. I thought about it for a moment, and I think the instinct is that we want to be sad, but I wasn't. I just thought about her walking into the loving embrace of her husband, and all I could do was smile. I know for a fact there is no place she would rather be. I know she is happy. Well done thou good and faithful servent. You are very very loved.


October 14th 1916 - January 16th 2013

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Another Carlson Wedding!
My little sister Candance got married in the Logan Temple on December 7th.



      7 down... 1 to go! 
       Get in line boys, get  -  in   -  line.




The Happy Couple.


Look at how beautiful all my sisters are!!! 
**the single one is to my left


See how little rascal bones has a got a fistful of her Mama's hair? Little Monkey's got to hold on somehow right?


OK, here is something you should know about my family. We are all crazed lunatics. (we get it from our dad.) So, fair warning to lucky number 8! A series of things happened before this picture that resulted in my 7 month pregnant sister on the ground! But, being the crazies that we are... we find it all hysterical! Really though this weekend was fun, just being with my family. Big families are not for everyone, and don't get me wrong at times you look around and you think WHAT is going on??? But I wouldn't have it any other way. We are not an extremely sentimental family, we just like to have a lot of fun. So what better way to end a family wedding than a big soccer game and some "hang time" on indoor trampolines! And yeah. That is really what we did right after my sister's wedding. Anything that is a game or competition in any way, you will find us there. A few Christmases ago we were all sitting in the living room doing nothing. This is NOT ok. My dad found a stick and had each of us spinning around the stick in circles. This turned into a competition of who could do the most turns around the stick. This is completely normal. I love my family.






My adorable little bro. He has 3 kids!! I know, right?



Look at Olive's red hair! Who knew? 
(FYI this is only 1/3 of the cousins)


My good friend Annie Hancock took all these pictures, if you want to see how amazing she is go to AnnieVisuals.com.


   sidenote: GO SEE LES MISERABLES!! If Hugh Jackman doesn't win an oscar for that role than there is just no justice in this world.