Channeling My Nonnie....

My grandmother, Nonnie, was one of the best cooks I've ever known. She was a cook of the 1950 and 60s when it was important to use each grocery item to it's fullest potential, often making an onion, or a pound of ground beef serve two different purposes. Freezing, stretching and "doctoring up", in her words. I learned how to cook, in part, from watching her. Her process was "a little of this, a dab of that" and it wasn't uncommon for her to stray from a recipe and use "to taste" more than one time when writing it out to share with her friends. SO SO many of her "old faithful" recipes, like deviled eggs and orange roughy went un-written and I kick myself to this day for not asking her to write them down while she was here. When she passed away, I was fortunate enough to receive her Recipe Box containing years and years worth of traded, clipped and hand written recipes, something that was more special to me than my other cousins receiving a piece of her jewelry. Cooking was just one of many things that made Nonnie and me kindred spirits....

Tonight I made a recipe for Stuffed Bell Peppers that I found on pinterest. The finished product, ended up amazing, but I found myself going through the process and tasting, dabbling and adding my own spin on the actual ingredients and quantities. When I finished the last taste of the mixture, it TASTED like Nonnie, if that's possible! I have no idea how I somehow stumbled upon a random combination of ingredients that she would have used, but I swear that somehow she channeled through my fingers, into my spice cabinet and controlled each dash until it was up to her standards.

Now, I realize that "Cooking from Heaven" may not be the world's next best-selling cookbook, or even a plausible concept, but I like to think that I shared a little kitchen bonding time with Nonnie this evening. And because of that, I decided to make sure the recipe was written down to share with any and everyone from Nonnie and Me. :) Enjoy!

Stuffed Bell Peppers
1lb ground beef
2 8oz cans of tomato sauce
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2c white rice
1/2 c sugar
1tsp salt
2tsp creole seasoning (or more "to taste"-- I have no idea how much I actually put in :) )
1/4tsp pepper
1/4c Italian Blend Cheese
4 large green bell peppers, rinsed, de-seeded and with the tops cut off

1. Make white rice according to package directions
2. Brown ground beef with onion and garlic and drain
3. In mixing bowl, combine 1 and 1/2 cans tomato sauce, and the rest of the ingredients (besides the peppers) and mix.
4. Stuff bell peppers with mixture and place in an 8x8 baking dish
5. Mix the last half can of tomato sauce with 1/2 can of water and pour over the peppers, making sure that the bottom of the baking dish gets covered.
6. Cover peppers with foil and bake at 375 for an hour.

What a Difference A Year Makes

For a very long time, years would pass in my life and I'd find myself at the same place I began the previous year.... career wise, relationship wise, family wise..... Now, not that those places were terrible for me, but I longed for growth, for change and most of all for love. After seeing about 5 years go in and out with me relatively in the same position, I began to think that years were nothing... not possibly enough time to be life changing... surely that would take three or four....
Ohhhh how I was so wrong. God shook up everything I thought I knew and literally handed me the life and the relationship that I had so longed for. (side note** this does not equate to everything being perfect, in fact, far from it!)

In a matter of a day, I met the man I now call my fiance. He was, or so I thought, just another match.com date after a miserable series of failed ones.... but we had an incredible phone conversation (and I hate the phone) so I figured it was worth a shot :)

At the end of the date, I knew I liked him enough to put the moves on him ;) hahahah!

In a few weeks I knew I loved him.

In three months I knew that I wanted to be with him forever.

Now, if there has EVER been ANYONE who lives life by the book and follows the rules, it's me. If there is EVER anyone who would be cautious and guarded with their heart, it's me. If there is EVER anyone who didn't believe that love could cultivate that fast, IT WAS ME. BIG TIME. But I guess as the saying goes, God doesn't give you what you want, he gives you what you need.
And what he gave me was a love so undeniable that I had to abandon my rules and just.... Love.... Trust....LET GO. and it's been the most wonderful, happy, life-changing three hundred and sixty-five days of my life.

Shane, you are my rock. You are my realist. You let me know when I'm being a jackass and a control freak and I do the same for you :)  You are my snuggly. You are my big spoon. You are my reminder to be thankful for everything that we have. You are my reminder that I am stronger and more capable than I think I am and You are strong for me, when I can't  be. You are my taste-tester. You are my shopping partner. You are my partner in crime, and you are my partner in FAITH. You are my LOVE.

Here's to one year, and many, many more!!

One for the Books, Chicken Noodle Soup

One of the dishes that my mom consistently knocks out of the park, in my adult years is Chicken Noodle Soup. She is a complete soup lover and is quick to whip up a batch for football parties, or just quiet nights at home. I've come to crave her chicken noodle soup at various times, since moving away and have tried several times to make it (unsuccessfully, I might add). She uses Bear Creek soup starter and I don't know if it's just my resistance to following a recipe or what, but it's been a fail every time. Edible and decent, but not my mom's. I'm pretty sure that once, I ended up with enough soup to feed Pharoh's army. No really, an army, I promise. Regardless, I kept trying and failing until I just decided "scrap Bear Creek soup starter. I'm over it. I'll just get mom to freeze me a batch for emergencies!!" Until I ran across a scrumptious looking picture on pinterest.....
Now, I mentioned before that I have a complete intolerance for recipes, as they are designed to be used. My cooking process usually goes something like this: do a google/ pinterest search for what I want to make, check out the various recipes and combine a little of each until the recipe is tapered to what I think will taste the bestest! Then I go off the base ingredients and throw a little of this, little of that into the dish while I'm actually executing the process. I know how to recreate it in my mental file, but measurements are kindddaa obsolete but I rarely make anything in the kitchen that turns out less than fantastic so I'm sticking to my guns! (humorous side note**I did not realize that this process SIMPLY DOES NOT cut it for baking purposes. I'm perhaps the worst baker on the planet. Chocolate chip cookies? more like grease balls with chocolate chips.... Betty Crocker box mix please!!)
It's rainy and cool out this week and one of my favorite things about soup is that it makes just enough for me to split it into 2 batches for my lunches and Shane's during the week, plus, if you used reduced sodium cans, it's really not bad for you either!
Cheap? CHECK. Healthy? CHECK. EASY??? CHECK aaannnd CHECK!

I assembled my ingredients said a quick prayer that it would turn out sort of like my moms and started doing my thing! Turns out, it was so yummy and close to my moms that I immediately tried to quantify what I had used so I could write it down and save it, not having to rely on my "mental file" which sometimes has a problem with retrieval..... At only 224 calories per serving, this one is a big time winner. Hope you enjoy it as much as the Babe and I have! I just had my first bowl and if it weren't for me trying to be healthy, I would have had another....

Just Like Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup

2 boxes of 99% Fat Free and Low Sodium Chicken Broth (1.86/ box at walmart, totaled 8 cups)
1 can reduced sodium cream of chicken soup
1 3/4 cup egg noodles
1 can yellow hominy (walmart was out of corn. I actually ended up liking the hominy)
1 can vegall (mine was kroger knock off brand)
1 1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups boiled and shredded boneless skinless chicken breast (this was about 3 breasts for me)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper (but we go heavy on pepper-- may want to start with 1 tsp and add as you like)
2 pinches of dried rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
(all seasonings are subject to your particular taste!)

Boil the chicken, shred and set aside
Meanwhile, put all other ingredients except for the noodles in a large stock pot and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 min to an hour. depending on how long you want/ or have time for.
When you're ready to add the noodles, bring the soup back to a boil and add the noodles until they're tender, about 7 minutes.
Reduce heat back to simmer and serve (or divide into containers for lunches!)