Risotto and Mac n Cheese

I know some of you are wondering if I still cook.  I do, I promise.  I have proof.  It just takes me so long to sit down and blog.  Usually while the kids are napping, I'm cleaning the house or doing some prepping for dinner.  Or let's be honest.  I may or may not be staring at the back of my eye lids.  BUT, I have two gems to share with you.  Let's start off with this delicious mac n cheese!!  It was so good.  Really, anytime you add bacon to something, it turns out deliciously!! And you can't go wrong with caramelized onions! :)

Butternut Squash Mac N Cheese

from pinch of yum

• ½ box whole grain elbow macaroni (about 2.5 cups dry)
• 1 cup canned butternut squash puree
• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
• ¼ cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 oz low fat cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ cup onions, sliced thinly
• 1 large crispy apple, chopped or grated
• 4 tablespoons crumbled bacon

Instructions

1. Heat butter in a skillet over low heat. When melted, add onions and let caramelize for at least 30 minutes for the best flavor. Keep heat on low/low-medium.
2. Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and return to pan over low heat. Add butternut squash, chicken broth, evaporated milk, and cream cheese. When combined, add in salt.
3. Add onions and apples to the pasta. Stir to combine and add a tablespoon more broth or milk if needed.
4. Just before serving, mix in cheese and stir until melted. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon bacon.

 Enjoy!

The other recipe was my favorite!  This Risotto was so tasty and once again...bacon.  Mmm!  The kids loved it.  It was actually my first time making risotto and I made it with brown rice so the texture was a little off.  But the taste was still there.  This is a must make, people.  Make it!

Sweet Pea and Crispy Bacon Risotto

from diethood.com

• 6 slices bacon
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups white long grain rice
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 can (15 oz.) sweet peas, rinsed and drained
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Instructions

• Place the bacon in a large frying pan and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, or until as crispy as desired, turning once.
• Remove bacon, drain on paper towels, and crumble it; set aside; do not discard bacon drippings.
• Put the chopped onions in the same frying pan and cook until softened, stirring occasionally; about 3 minutes.
• Add the garlic and rice; continue to cook until rice is translucent, stirring frequently.
• Pour in half of the chicken broth; stir and cook until almost all the liquid is absorbed.
• Pour in the rest of the broth and continue to cook until all liquid is absorbed.
• Repeat the same process with the water.
• Once the water has been absorbed, pour in half of the heavy cream and continue to cook, stirring frequently until all liquid is absorbed.
• Pour in the rest of the cream, stir until two-thirds of the liquid is absorbed.
• Stir in the peas and continue to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through.
• Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.
• Add bacon and shredded cheese.
• Serve immediately.

Adam and I have been fighting over him taking all the good food to lunch with him.  He's been leaving me with nothing.  I hate eating a sandwich and like a hot lunch.  But one day I looked into the pantry and saw we had some chips so I thought I would survive yet another peanut butter and jelly with the kids.  I opened up the bag and this is what I got out of it:

Who does that??!!!
(Adam???)

I still love him.  Even though he starves me.  I love these pictures he took when he took the girls to the zoo.  Kyle and I stayed home.  But they had a blast with their daddy. 

Our family's favorite...the mingos.

 And I had to share this one last picture of Kyle and his friend Rhett sharing a swing at the park.  So sweet.  Love to all!

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Applesauce on the walls

I don't even know where to begin.  It feels like I've been trapped in the house for a very long time.  Let's see...my mom made the girls matching dresses and Kyle a shirt.
 

Emilie is SOO 2 and will not cooperate at all.  For anything.  She likes to hand me her shoe and yell, "there's somebody in my shoe!" instead of there's someTHING in my shoe.  Don't correct her though.  You'll get the death glare.

 Since my last post we had Easter!

 We don't tell the kids that the Bunny brought them the baskets, he just hides our eggs.  We just say the baskets are from us.  But really, they didn't care WHO they were from.  They just cared about what was in them!

 Adam's parents are school teachers and their spring break usually falls around Easter so they came down for a week and brought along Grandpa and Grandma Huhnke.  We enjoyed a nice Easter service and that evening we had a wonderful ham dinner.  Adam's mom made the girls' dresses for Kyle's baptism and the girls wore them again for Easter.  It's been so crazy, I haven't had a chance to introduce you to Amanda's new fiance, Nick!!  He will be joining the family in November!

 The kids enjoyed having Granny and Gaga staying at our house.  They got plenty of attention and spoiling. 

 Guess what else lands around Easter?!  Adam's birthday!!  The big guy celebrated early with his family and on the day, I threw him a party at...Taco Bell!!  Laugh.  Do it.  But I did it.  And you can't say it was a surprise party because nobody yelled surprise.  There were no decorations.  All his friends just happened to be dining there that evening and someone just happened to have a cake in their car.  Adam was pretty mad at me for that one.  But it was good to see everyone.

But then....we got the stomach bug.

Emilie got the worst of it.  She's been out of commission for about a week.  This look pretty much explains how she has felt all week.  Both Adam and I had the pleasure of being thrown up on. The stomach bug brought on some additional unrelated problems for her that are just now gone.  I'll be honest.  Our children have NEVER had the stomach bug.  Aubrie got sick once when she was about 1 year old and she felt better right away and nobody else got sick.  So it must of been something she ate.  I knew this stomach bug was going around.  During spring break, I purposely went NOWHERE.  I didn't want to chance catching the bug by taking the kids to fun places where germs would be generously shared.  So I found things to do at home to keep them busy. 

Super Mega Cheeseeeeeee

So Emilie had it Sunday and then not until Thursday did Aubrie get it.  I got ready for bed and went upstairs to check the thermostat and something told me to go check on Aubrie.  I peeked in and her eyes were open and she was groaning and then the smell slapped me in the face.  She managed to get sick everywhere.  I mean, her bed needed dismantled and I had to steam-vac the mattress AND box springs.  She ended up sleeping in our room on a blow up mattress and was up every hour.  The good thing that came from that was by the end of it all, she had learned to sit up and hit the bucket.  What a big girl!  (It's the small things, people.)

Adam stayed home on Friday to help with all the sickos and then it happened.  The big guy went down.  And folks, when this guy goes down.  It's bad.  It's a mutated version that could kill innocent women and children.  Luckily, he was pretty tough and was only sick for 24 hours.  Kyle and I were still in the clear...kind of.

Starting Monday, Kyle had a cough and congestion and by Thursday evening, he was running a fever.  So by Sunday, he was so beat down and his temperature wasn't going away, so we took him to the pediatrician and it turns out he has a double ear infection.  He's already feeling better and perking up after 24 hours of the medicine.  Check out those bottom teeth!!

But then it happened.  The Eagle went down.  I repeat, code red.  Eagle is down.  I got the bug on Saturday night.  Luckily it wasn't bad.  It is really weird.  Each of us were affected differently.  God had protection over us and thankfully we all didn't have it at the same time and could take care of each other.  I'm so happy that everyone is doing better and back on their feet!  I need to get out of this house!

It's just been crazy around here.  We are longing for a normal weekend!

So, I had applesauce on my walls.  It was 6 feet high.  Here's my side of the story.  I had the applesauce out and was using it to mix with an avocado and some ham for Kyle in the blender.  I set the lid on the top of the bottle and moved it aside when I was done with it.  Well, the girls saw the applesauce and wanted some so when Adam came home and the girls finished their dinner, he said he would give them some.  He grabbed the jar by the lid and launched it high and it hurled forward and fell on the floor and splattered everywhere.  Luckily the jar was plastic.  But it was EVERYWHERE.  In his defense, who just sets lids on jars, right??  In my defense, who grabs jars by the lids and launches them into the sky?? Needless to say, the next day I was mopping the floor and discovered the applesauce on the walls.  I was rather impressed how high it splashed!

When Adam's parents were here, he took the week off so he can spend time with his family and we both wanted to stain the fence.  We thought we would knock it out in 2 days.  bahahaha.  No.  We worked so hard for a full day, doing it by hand, we thought we were going down.  It was such hard work and we only got 1/5 of the fence done.

Adam came inside and took a shower and passed out on the floor while playing with the girls.  Emilie thought he needed a doll to snuggle with.

Our pathetic progress

So we did some research and rented a sprayer and the next day we knocked it out in no time using a sprayer.  We're such geniuses. 

Before

After

So much better.  Good project done. :)

I hope everyone else is doing well.  I hope you have stayed clear from the stomach bug and if not, I hope it doesn't hit you hard.  Stay home if you have it.  It's the one time in life you should NOT be a good sharer!  :)

Love to all! Pin It Now!