One Amazing Soup!!!

Ok, I have to give the history of this...

I was at work and the ER Clerk heated up some soup for her dinner. Because she was sitting next to me, I could smell the soup and it smelled absolutely amazing!!!!! I finally asked her what it was and she said that it was Turkey Kielbasa soup. I asked her what was in it, so she gave me the recipe. As she told me the ingredients, the first thing that came to my mind was that I would have rather died than eat this soup as a little kid. I now call it the Child's Nightmare Soup, but I tell you, this stuff is absolutely amazing!!!!!! And you can do so much with it. Anyway, here's the recipe. And I'm telling you, don't knock it until you try it!

1Kielbasa sausage (or any type of sausage. I usually get the jalapeno sausage...the one shaped like a "C")
1 onion
celery
carrots
1 red bell pepper
1 can black beans
spinach
1 tsp oregano
4 c chicken broth

Brown sausage and slice vegetables. Combine in a pot along with oregano, black beans, and chicken broth (NOT THE SPINACH). Bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Throw in spinach (desired amount) and simmer for an additional 10 minutes. ENJOY!

I'm sure you can see how it got the name "Child's Nightmare Soup". The fun thing is, you can add what you want. I have added green peppers as well, and I found vegetable broth. So I combined vegetable and chicken broth and it tasted amazing! Of course, I always add crushed red pepper for some additional spice. I next want to try adding potatoes to see what that does. You could add corn, cilantro (if you wanted to ruin the recipe), mushrooms, whatever veggies you can think of. And I'm telling you, it tastes absolutely amazing!!!! If your kids ever complain about what you make, make this and they'll know that whatever you made before is much better! :) Feed this to them and they'll never complain again. But, if you eat it, you'll never want to cook anything else! Enjoy, and let me know if you try it (and what you thought).

Tongue Twister Anyone????

I got this app on my phone (called "Random Facts") and I got this one:

The hardest tongue twister in the English Language is "the sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick."

Say that 5 times fast! (I can't even say it one time slow without messing something up).

Spring Fever...and I Hate Ivy...and wind!

My my my...quite awhile since my last post. To be honest, there have been some busy moments, but I have also been somewhat lazy. While it is no excuse, I blame the time of year. January was actually not that bad, aside from my little bout with strep throat/tonsilitis/flu--whatever it was that I got. It started off with just an ache in the back of my throat. While I was at work, things just got worse. It got to the point where I could not swallow without having a whole-body cringe. I could also feel this huge bump on the right side of my throat. When I finally got a prescription for antibiotics (I absolutely love Amoxicilin!), I went home an went to bed. Now, I need to explain that through all of this, I never had a fever. In fact, my temperature stayed around 97 degrees (F). Anyway, around 2 am, I felt the stirrings in my stomach that warned of much unpleasantness. That's right...I began vomiting. Now, you can imagine how that felt when, to swallow, it required a whole-body cringe; nevertheless, it still hurt more to swallow. Anyway, it was difficult to stay hydrated because it hurt so much to swallow (and it would just come up shortly afterwards). Luckily, I had some Gatorade in the fridge (and I think it works better than Zofran!) Anyway, the vomiting stopped (yay!!) but my throat continued to swell and I was no longer able to talk (because it hurt). The best part of all of this...I was supposed to head down to Salt Lake for MY birthday dinner. Anyway, I missed it.

So, in place of my birthday dinner, I had the brilliant idea to watch "Anne Frank: The Whole Story". You guessed it...not a good idea.

Anyway, January started out great, but did not stay that way. And then February started. Let me just say...most people hate January, I LOATHE February. The only good thing about it is when it ends. This year, it was ok. The best part of the beginning of February was the chance to head down the New Mexico to see my brother and his family (my niece was baptized!!!) Although it was short, it was wonderful (and absolutely freezing!)

Here's my niece with my brother and sister-in-law. Such a good service!!

Anyway, after that, it was just any regular February. The last few days have been beautiful!!! The sun was out, it was warm, and spring fever hit me hard! I had the brilliant idea to go out and do some yard work since I didn't have to work and it was supposed to be in the high-fifties. DUMB IDEA! It was windy (of course!) I decided to pull some attitude and kept working. In my backyard, the sides are engulfed by ivy and the back is all shrubs. I discovered on one side of the yard, there is a set of stairs (I thought it was just dirt). So, I began pulling ivy...and pulling...and pulling...and pulling. I even found a couple rose bushes, which was tragic because I think the ivy killed the bushes (now I am really at war with the ivy). Anyway, after I ripped my hands up (yanking on ivy vines), I began to rake up the debris, which lead to me raking the entire back yard. At this point in time, the wind got stronger and so everything just scattered. I continued with the attitude and kept working. At the end of the fight (yes, I did win), I filled 6 bags (30 gallons) with debris, cleared off the steps, trimmed one rose bush (it will need many prayers), and raked the back yard. It does look pretty good, but I think I have about 10 years of work ahead of me, with just the ivy.

Anyway, this post turned in to be much more than I was planning. I'll have to take some pictures of my work so you all can see what I'm talking about. Anyway, I just hope that Spring is around the corner. I know I will pay for this, but I hope that March comes in like a lion so that it goes out like a lamb. I am done with cold, wind, and being couped up in the house. I am ready to tackle my yard and make it amazing!