Roof Restaurant recipe for Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - ksl.com

Roof Restaurant recipe for Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - ksl.com

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!

Imagination...

So, of friend of mine at work has a bunch of books that she has been lending me over the past couple of months. This all started when I told her about a conversation I had with a friend of mine. The conversation went something like this:

Me: My friend told me about this girl he was interested in who was married before, sealed, to her husband who died of cancer. She had three children who were obviously sealed to her and her deceased husband. My friend was curious what would happen if he decided to marry her; he could not be sealed to her because she was already sealed (and a woman can only be sealed to one man). On top of that, any children they had would be sealed to her, but not to him.

My Friend: That is a sticky situation, and one that no one can logically explain. Even still, things will work out as they should because God is perfectly just and perfectly merciful. It's interesting you bring up this subject because there is a book series by an LDS author that centers around this topic. I'll lend them to you.

Me: That sounds great!

Anyway, true to her word, she brought the books in. She warned me they would be on the somewhat romantic side (and that they were...almost nauseating!) but that it had a good story (which made up for the nauseating romance). As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a bit of a sucker for love stories. It wasn't soon that I found myself hooked on this story. Luckily there were only 3 books to the series, but it still swallowed up the bulk of my free time.

Have you ever read a book that has such an effect on you that you feel the characters are real and are close friends or that you actually witnessed the scenes? I remember reading Harry Potter (particularly Order of the Phoenix) and getting so angry and frustrated at Dolores Umbrigde and wanting to throw the book; feeling the intensity of Harry's emotions in the Forbidden Forest as his parents, Sirius, and Lupin join him as he makes his way to Voldemort. Well, these books seemed to do just that...and maybe a bit more. The characters in this LDS fiction series became so real that, once the series was over I actually felt like a good friend had moved away. I then was given another series by the same author with a reappearance of the main characters from this first series. It was great! I felt like I was having a reunion with a long lost friend. And then, in the series, one of the characters dies. I still have three books left in this second series that I don't really want to read now...because my friend (the character) is now dead.

Now, I have an idea as to what some of you are thinking..."THEY'RE JUST BOOKS! The characters aren't real and you are being weird!" I agree...partly (believe me, I tell myself the same thing). However, I think media (books, music, movies) have a way of allowing you to feel emotion that you may be lacking in reality. I also believe the media has a way of taking what one feels and providing some sort of explanation that one could not come up with themselves (this sounds all very psychological, but it makes complete sense to me). I guess that's one reason why it is so important to be careful what kind of media you choose to fill your mind with. I think it has much more of an effect on us that we even realize.

Why this post? First of all, I think it was a way for me to process both the books I just read. Also, it was a sounding board for me as I tried to figure out the huge effect of the series. One thing is for sure...I need to get a person to talk to. It's nicer to have something talk back! ;)

Christmas Preparations

I really love this time of year. There really is magic that seems to be in the air (and yes, it's even stronger than the ever-present inversion). My sister and brother-in-law (and little nephew) were able to come out for Thanksgiving and the beginning of the Christmas Season. On the Monday after Thanksgiving, we went to see the lights at Temple Square. It was FREEZING!!!!! Needless to say, we were only there for maybe about an hour. We were, however, able to snap a few shots of the lights (although, as my brother mentioned, they are still the same as they were last year and the year before that and the year before that...) Anyway, here is a nice family shot...I think it turned out great (and no, we don't have a shot of us at this location).

The only things missing from this photo are 7 nieces/nephews and 4 siblings :(
We did very much miss the two other Slack Families who were unable to make this trip. Love you guys!!!!

This shot turned out great

 After our time at Temple Square, we went back home for a nice roaring fire along with some hot chocolate (made with milk...and Whole Milk nontheless!) It was so much fun. It was sad to see my Sister and Brother-in-law head back home the next day.

Anyway, since it was now time that I could put up my Christmas decorations without causing World War III, I put up the tree and strung the lights. I then spruced up the fireplace :). I had a friend at work who asked if she could decorate my tree, to which I said yes. She and her two kids came up to decorate it (and it was really cute! Her kids were so excited it made me laught. It was a lot of fun!) Anyway, it is gold and red and I really love it!!! I included a picture with the lights and one without the lights on.

As you can tell, I am still missing a tree topper and a tree skirt. No worries, I am still on the look out for the appropriate ones. However, at this point, I think it looks amazing! :)

Here's a picture of the fireplace. I tried to do a picture with the lights on, but it really did not show up well. I love the garland...it's gold as well :). I also am expecting a wreath (real) that will provide the nice pine scent. I gotta have that for Christmas :)

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! It really is my favorite time of year and I hope it is an enjoyable one for all! I am including a link to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional because I found it very inspiring. As most of you, if not all, understand, it is about an hour long, but well worth the time. Enjoy :)

http://lds.org/broadcasts/watch/christmas-devotional/2010/12?pid=692245596001&pkey=AQ~~,AAAAjP0hvGE~,N-ZbNsw4qBrw7kwhMdnhxO2ZFGj6dA4f&lang=eng

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I hope everyone has a very happy and enjoyable Thanksgiving!!! I am lucky enough to be spending it with the majority of my family but am sad that the other members of my family will be unable to be here with us. I will miss them!

I hope everyone travels safely and that you all enjoy the tasty food (but don't over-do it).