Parmesan Mushroom Rissoto

This is good. Creamy, ricey, cheesy good.

1 package of assorted mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms rinsed
4 cups chicken broth (homemade is best)
4 T butter
2 shallots
1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (or another 1/2 cup of chicken broth)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a medium sized pot. Saute the shallots for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the rice and stir it with the butter and shallots. Add 1 cup chicken broth, salt, pepper, mushrooms and 1/2 cup wine and stir until the broth and wine are absorbed. Continue adding chicken broth 1 cup at a time. Stir until it's absorbed before adding more. This will take about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the cheese. Keep covered until ready to serve.

We ate it with pork tenderloin and green beans sauteed with garlic.


This recipe is modified from Ina Garten's wild mushroom risotto
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/wild-mushroom-risotto-recipe/index.html
Her's is better. Mine is cheaper (and still good).

Decoupage Plates and Bulletin Board

Before my daughter was born, my mother-in-law and I made these cute decoupage plates for the nursery.

This one's my favorite:

To make these you need:

1. clear glass plates (look at thrift stores or the dollar store)
2. pictures or fabric
3. mod podge
4. foam brushes
5. background acrylic paint
6. black acrylic paint
7. plate hanger and ribbon

Clean your plate with soap and water and let it dry. Cut your picture or fabric to match the flat circle in the middle of the plate (a compass, or a bowl or coffee can with the same circumference helps). Put mod podge all over the picture using one of the foam brushes. Put the picture on the back of the plate and smooth out bubbles. Let it dry. Paint over the back of the plate with the background color (mine was green). Let it dry. Paint over the background paint with black paint to give it a finished look. Let it dry. Attach plate hanger and ribbon.

In a couple months I'm planning to make plates with some vintage Christmas cards I bought on ebay. They will be perfect for Christmas cookies! Only 112 days until Christmas!

I have really enjoyed these plates, but it's time to change things up. My daughter is in preschool now, and we need a place to display her masterpieces (other than our already cluttered refrigerator). I found a cute framed bulletin board at TJ Max and personalized it with fabric, felt and yarn. It was easy to make, and she loves it!

Getting Away From the Box

With two small kids around, macaroni and cheese is a necessity of life. We try to stick to the organic type, but I still feel a little guilty about feeding them something with powdered cheese.
What is that stuff?
Yesterday, I made baked macaroni and cheese, and my 3 yr old and husband both approved.
You may be thinking that mac and cheese is not really healthy.
But in the South, every meat-n-three restaurant I've ever been to always lists mac and cheese as a vegetable. I think they may be on to something...

The recipe I used was similar to this one:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1694205
except I added a chopped onion and bay leaf to the milk mixture and let it simmer while the pasta cooked. Then strained the milk (to remove the onion) before adding the cheese and pasta. If you want to make it more vegetable-ish - you can add broccoli, a can of diced tomatoes, spinach, etc.

Chicken Spezzatino

For dinner on Monday night I made chicken spezzatino.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chicken-artichoke-and-cannellini-bean-spezzatino-recipe/index.html

The recipe I followed was slightly different from this one and didn't include artichokes or pancetta, but I'm sure adding those would make it even better!

I like this recipe because, it doesn't take all day - like most soups/stews. I also made it faster by using little baby carrots instead of peeling and chopping big carrots. If you look very closely, you might see that I used garbanzo beans. That's only because my 3 yr old was playing hopscotch on the bean aisle, and I grabbed the wrong can. The recipe I followed actually called for kidney beans. Grocery shopping with small kids is like trying to ride a bike and juggle at the same time, and I like to think we are just as entertaining.

Song for Sunday and Miracle for Monday... even though it's Tuesday

This last Sunday we sang a song I've always liked, but it has gained more meaning to me recently.

The song is "A Shield about Me".
It comes from Psalm 3:3, and I'm sure many people can personally apply it to their lives in different ways.
"Thou, O Lord, are a shield about me; you're my glory and the lifter of my head."

Now when I hear this song, I think of my beautiful friend Rachel who survived a serious car accident a couple months ago.

photo by jenmphotography.com

She was riding in a Jeep with some friends and was not wearing her seat belt, and they were rear ended on the interstate. She flew out of the back window and was thrown down the road about 25 yards. She landed by the interstate median and could hear her friends screaming for her. She didn't really realize she was hurt until she tried to stand up. She had bruises and road rash on her arms, head, and back and 3 pelvic fractures, but it's AMAZING she lived through it.

The car was totaled and her seat was crushed. Rachel is very tall and can't explain how she fit through the window. She felt as if an angel was watching over her and pulled her out. Also, a man was riding a bike down the side of the interstate at the same time as the wreck. He happened to be a doctor, and he stayed with her until the ambulance came. The doctors and nurses who cared for her after the wreck called her a "living miracle" and couldn't explain how she was doing so well. She did have a couple of difficult weeks after the wreck and had to use a walker for a while. Now she is walking well, and you would never suspect she had just survived a serious wreck. Most of her scars are hidden under her hair and clothes, but she does have one scar that is visible to anyone - a red heart shaped scar on her right hand.

I'm very thankful my friend and those who were with her in the car are alive and well!
God is so good!

Here is a picture of the car.

Here is a picture of Rachel still smiling after the wreck!

"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me; you're my glory and the lifter of my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me." Psalm 3:3-5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6_omT2JA4E&feature=related

Pillowcase Dress with a Ruffle

I had been wanting to make a pillowcase dress for a long time and finally tried it out a couple months ago. This dress is so easy and only took about an hour! I also made a matching doll dress.
Here are the instructions I followed:
http://alittleloveliness.blogspot.com/2009/05/make-pillowcase-dress.html
And here are the dresses I made!

I also made a pair for our friend, Contessa, but forgot to take a picture. :(
I planned on making several more, but since it is almost September... I'll revisit this project next Spring.

Song for Sunday

Today in church we sang Days of Elijah. At times, we sing a song that wakes us all up, and you can feel the energy in the room. Days of Elijah is one of those songs. It reminds us of the hope and joy we have through Christ. In the middle of the song, our spirit-filled song leader raised his hands and let out a "Whew!". He may not have planned doing that, but I thought it was the highlight of the whole worship service. (Though we have an excellent preacher, and the sermon was informative and thought-provoking as well.)

Here are the 1st few verses:

These are the days of Elijah,
Declaring the word of the Lord:
And these are the days of Your servant Moses,
Righteousness being restored.
And though these are days of great trial,
Of famine and darkness and sword,
Still, we are the voice in the desert crying
'Prepare ye the way of the Lord!'

Behold He comes riding on the clouds,
Shining like the sun at the trumpet call;
Lift your voice, it's the year of jubilee,
And out of Zion's hill salvation comes.

In a world full off pain, it's so good to be reminded that we are not forsaken.

"Behold, He is coming with the clouds..." Revelation 1:7

"Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Corinthians 15:51-57

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not proceed those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words." I Thessalonians 4:13-18

"Whew!"