Coffee With Elly

If you read it on the internet, it must be true, right? Following are some recipes I have personally tried recently, with a quick review. Sourdough pancakes If you have a sourdough starter that you sometimes feed then forget to use, this us a quick way to use up 2+ cups, at least! One batch would feed my five kids, if I added eggs to the menu for breakfast. Maybe double it if you have big eaters of the teenage boy variety?  I think the consistency is kind of like buttermilk pancakes. They're not earth shattering, but kinda fun. Sausage, potato and spinach soup The sausage adds so much flavor, and the spinach makes it seem healthy. It's especially good to make you if have an older child to help chop up the potatoes! Super quick and easy salsa chicken I love Mexican flavoring and this recipe is a great way to add a lot of flavor to basic baked chicken. Easy + flavorful is really what thrills me in day-to-day fare.

Facebook informed me that my mother received these from my kids 4 years ago. Sweet memory.

For the sake of giving other people a reason to feel good about themselves, here's a rundown of my dinner menu last week: Monday: Supposed  to be pork stir-fry, but it turned into Pork Fajitas - which in my kitchen just means that I stir-fried with taco seasoning, rather than soy sauce! Served with tortillas and whatever taco-type fixings we had. Tuesday: Had "Freezer Meal" on the calendar and what I pulled out was Keilbasa with Potatoes and Peppers. Not a really huge hit the first time, and not any more this time, but not despised. They like German Potato Salad better, which is the same thing with different seasonings and without the peppers. :-) Wednesday: The menu said Baked Chicken, Rice, and Salad, but with piano lessons and and friends over in the afternoon it turned into Leftover Smorgasbord, which included leftover fried rice from Saturday's takeout dinner, leftover Keilbasa with Potatoes and Peppers, and asparagus for a vegetable. (Funny story: I only m...

I decided if I couldn't write a post, at least I'd post pictures from January. These were all from my phone, and it became apparent, as I scrolled through them, that I need to take more pictures of the boys! At the hotel pool on our impromptu vacation to Seaside on January 1 Waiting for lunch at Mo's in Cannon Beach I got this sweater for Elena from Target and everyone who sees her says, "Oh, that sweater looks so soft!" The picture my dad took, framed and gave us for Christmas! Playing dress up when friend, Addie, came over. Monica had fun doing her baby sister's hair. What fun to have a live doll?! On the tire swing with school friends Reading books with Grandpa Howard at the January family birthday party. This is me installing a new... er... card of some sort... in our aging treadmill. Works like a charm now and Judah loves to run/walk while watching documentaries about World War II

We celebrated New Year's Eve by freezing our posterior's off at the Oregon Zoo with the Shaws! We got to see the new elephant habitat, ate dinner on-site, then walked around to enjoy the Zoolights. Yours truly forgot the entire backpack full of cold-weather necessities, such as hats, scarves and, most importantly, gloves. It was sitting right next to the door when we got back home. I believe last year we went to the zoo for New Year's Day and I felt so proud of myself for bringing gloves and scarves for everyone. *sigh* Still, those who were warm (mostly the men-folk) had a great time, and those that were cold survived. I let Judah take pictures with my phone and some of these are his.  After the zoo we went home to our house and watched the new Mission Impossible movie with our friends and toasted the new year with some bubbly. So fun!

Another parent-less Christmas picture... Christmas 2015 Dear Friends and Family, We hope this holiday season finds you well and happy and rejoicing in the birth of our Savior! If you’ve wondered what we were up to lately, you are in luck! I have your answer right here! January  - The month started off with an overnight for Michael and Elly in Salem after a family wedding, kicked into high gear with the kids back to school after the holidays and saw the beginning of "The Great Rearranging" of the kids’ bedrooms. February  - February should've made me shiver, but instead it was a winner. Sunshine on my doorstep, the kids were all outdoors, yep. (To the tune of American Pie) March -  The Zoo and OMSI and downtown Portland. Monica saw Cinderella with a fun aunt and got to go on a field trip to the Portland aquarium. Friends from Richland visited. April -  Judah(11) to San Francisco with Michael's parents, Elly to her parents' with other kids during...