Pioneer Woman Wanna Be

So, yesterday I got in a very domestic mood and decided to try my hand at a Pioneer Woman style blog. Most of my friends know that I love to cook, but taking pictures along the way proved to be a little bit challenging (i'm a messy cook!)
I decided to make up a new recipe for a homemade tomato soup. I took the idea from my new Pioneer Woman cookbook, but for those of you who know me well, you also know that I never follow a recipe. I like to change things up with ingredients that I know my family will like. So, here it goes...
1 medium white onion
1 stick butter
6 Tbsp sugar
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can chicken stock
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 Tbsp minced garlic

I started by chopping the onion. After God, Chad, and my kids, my Rachel Ray knife is the love of my life. I couldn't do life without it! We have a date every night around 5:00... chop, chop chop!

Then I melt 3/4 stick of butter in the bottom of my soup pot.

I add the onions to the bottom of the pot and cook until they are translucent.

I add 2 cans of diced tomatoes. Here is another love of my life. Although, it's much farther down the list than my knife. This is my Pampered Chef spoon. She's great for stirring soup!

Then, I gradually add one can of chicken broth. Ok, right here I'll go ahead and share my thoughts on "off brands." There are some things in life where you can buy the "off brand." Chicken broth (and any canned things for that matter) is one of those things where, in my opinion, you can save a little cash and get the "off brand." Toilet paper, electronics, and coffee are not!! Can I get an amen!?

Then I added 6 Tbsp of sugar. I added a little more than that and it ended up a little too sweet for my liking.

As it begins to simmer, I add one bouillon cube.

Here is my pepper. Up until a couple of years ago, I had always used regular pepper from a shaker. Then I was introduced to fresh ground pepper, and wow... there is a big difference! It has much more pop!

Here I add the pepper to taste. Chad loves black pepper so I use it liberally.

Then I add 2 cups of heavy cream. Don't look at me like that. I never said this was a low-fat soup!

Then I go back to my faithful wood cutting board and Rachel (my knife) and chop the fresh parsley. The Pioneer Woman puts basil in her soup, but my grocery store was out of fresh basil and I'm not a big fan of dried basil leaves so I just left it out.

Here I added the garlic. We love garlic at our house so I almost always have it on hand.

Then I add a little salt to taste.

I go ahead and add a little more pepper. Did I mention Chad likes pepper?

When I got to this point I decided it needed a little meat so I added some turkey bacon. I haven't tried it but I was also thinking chicken and artichoke hearts would be very yummy too!

Here's a little tip I picked up from Rachel Ray.... throw your trash in a big bowl as you go and then you don't have to keep walking back and forth to the trash can. You can just make one trip at the end.

So, here's the finished product. It turned out really good. Feel free to steal this recipe, or if it doesn't tickle your fancy feel free to throw it out. My thoughts on Pioneer Woman style cooking?? I love the cooking part, but I hate the stopping and taking pictures part. I think I'll just stick with the cooking...

Mommy's prayer...

As I sat here and cried my eyes out for 2 straight hours watching George Clooney's Hope For Haiti tonight, a million things ran thru my mind. With Cohen asleep in his room and Channing dozing beside me on the couch, I couldn't help but think about the kind of man and woman I hope for them to be someday. So tonight i prayed this prayer over them and had a precious time with the Lord in the midst of it all. I don't want to forget tonight. I'm writing it down so that I can have it for years to come.

"My dear sweet Cohen and Channing...
I pray that you will walk initmately with the Lord all the days of your lives. And because you are walking with Him, I pray that you will bear his fruit.
That you will see others with His eyes, the way He sees them.
I pray that you will both fight for justice for those who can't fight for themselves.
I pray that you will be leaders among leaders and that you won't wait for someone else to take on a cause, but when the Lord asks you to go that you will be bold and go.
May you both be relentless in your fight for the hurting, the broken, and the poor.
Use every spiritual gift and talent He has given you to fight this fight, for I can already see that he's given you both so many.
Hang on to His promise that if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you will be filled. He never goes back on His promises!

Oh Heavenly Father, give Chad and I all the discernment and wisdom we need to raise children who are selfless, who put others before themselves and who serve others with the passionate joy of the Lord."

2 months already?!?!

We had Channing's 2 month appt today. Here are the stats before I forget...
Weight: 9 lbs, 9 oz- 25th percentile
Length- 21 3/4 inches- 25th percentile
Head- 15 1/2 inches- 60th percentile

As you can see from these pictures, she's starting to get the baby chub around the neck... Oh, I could just eat that up!

Later that same day I walked into the living room to find this. "Hello sister, let me show you how to use this toy." I kidd you not. It was exactly like that! I had to grab my camera!

After he saw that I was in the room and listening into their brother/sister conversation, he stopped talking. I think he got embarrassed. I'm going to have to sneak up on him more often.

Just givin' a little lovin'!