In love...

I discovered a new to me artist yesterday and I am in love. I knew I loved his voice on the radio but never put a name to it. Oh my, I am addicted to his voice. He sounds just plain yummy and the lyrics are really good too.

Jack Johnson


This past month has been a very 'off' month with sicknesses, neck pain, and dealing with emotions of my father's passing last month. Yesterday was the first day of spring and I am so happy. A new beginning. Although it is weird to move on with life and watch new things grow when everything in my life seems to have completely changed; it is comforting knowing that there is life and love in every new beginning.

On a different note; my gardening is going to be really pared down this year. :( I have come to realize that I simply can not act as if I am normal with the pain I am in. For the first time in my life I have realized how important it is to listen to my body. I have been dealing with neck pain for a long time due to my bad discs. The pain has really gotten severe over the past three years. I have been trying to find a solution other than prescription pain meds for these past three years. I was defeated last June when a nuerosurgeon in San Francisco told me that I had to many bad spots in my neck to do surgery. For the past several months I have been going through a pain clinic to help find some relief. Have done steroid shots and a facet joint block in four discs without any relief. The last resort is a facet rhizotomy scheduled in June. In the meantime, I am headed to my family doc because I am very concerned about the numbness spreading from one hand to now the next. The pain and fear of living in it is something that is very hard share and talk about. Seems way too self-indulgent for my personality.

Back to my gardening! Hubby will be redoing my garden for me, hopefully sooner than later. Although, it really isn't too late for our cool beach environment. If he doesn't get it done, I always have my pots everything can go into. He is the one that wants to redo the boxes. I want to give up because the gophers are stealing half of my crop and flowers. Have at it, babe. Yardwork isn't usually his thing. I would love to have a hobby that we share as a couple so wish me luck on sucking him into my trap. Now if only I could get him rested from all of the overtime he has been doing so he has the energy.

Oh my! Quite the chatterbox I am today. Coffee time is almost over and then it is time to get the kiddies off to school so I can try to clean up my neglected house. If you got this far in reading my whole post, thank you. Guess it was just time for me to get some things off of my chest.

Flu bug = Chicken Soup

Our house has been hit by yet another flu. Same drill: cough, congestions, fever, blech... In honor of our new unwanted friend, I have been trying to make chicken soup. Safeway had some whole chickens on sale for 50% off. The price of a whole chicken is ridiculous. I took it home and pressure cooked the chicken in a whole 30 minutes! Amazes me every time I cook with my new baby. Then I pressure cooked the broth. Have had the stuff for chicken soup ready to throw in pressure cooker for two days but this fever is kickin' my butt so today I am just gonna throw it in the crockpot and be done with. Too lazy to run to the store for egg noodles so I will be using fettuccine noodles. We will see how the kiddies will take to that one. I have been sippin the chicken broth. It is the best I have made in awhile.

Chicken Broth

Place a clean chicken, without gizzards, but with neck in pressure cooker. Cover with water plus one inch if space allows. (You aren't supposed to fill a pressure cooker over halfway.) Add a cut-up orange and some bay leaves. Bring up to pressure, lower heat to maintain pressure and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken. Strain the broth that is left into a bowl. Let chicken cool and then debone. Set aside for whatever you would like to use the chicken for. Place the bones back into the pressure cooker along with the strained broth. Add the following indgrediets: the tops (leaves and all) chopped, a couple of carrots, a handful of chopped cilantro, one inch piece of ginger, 10-12 whole cloves, 3-4 garlic cloves, peppercorns to taste, Italian seasoning and you can also add a chopped onion (I was out so I didn't use one and it still came out good). Bring up to pressure, lower heat to maintain pressure, and cook for another 30 minutes. Let cool and strain. Put in the fridge overnight and then you can remove the layer of fat on the top that forms. Use right away or freeze in separate portions for later use. I love homemade broth because it isn't full of sodium and plus it is thrifty using left over veggies in the fridge.

Now I must run off to the kitchen to throw the chicken and veggies in the crockpot! We like to use the traditional carrots and celery but like to add chopped mushrooms too. My kiddos have an aversion to green things (seasoning) that they can see floating in soup so I probably won't add too much seasoning but a few cloves of garlic and possibly another orange.

More Decluttering

Okay, so the photos are not perfect but I have come to realize that neither I am. The two coffee cups are good indication that this mama has had more than a pot of coffee today. This is my sewing space in my bedroom. The built-ins hold my sewing/photo stuff. I have hopes of making fabric baskets to make everything look nice and tidy.

Sausage Potato Kale Soup

I have been having so much fun with my new pressure cooker . I just ADORE her. My mom asked for a soup recipe that I brought her so I thought I would share it with you all as well. My girlie is sick right now so I need to devote time to her, will come back later with calorie calculations.


Sausage Potato Kale Soup
1 tube or 1 lb of low fat turkey sausage
½ – 1 yellow onion,diced
2-3 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
5-6 Big Yukon gold potatoes, diced (peel if preferred)
2-3 big cubes of chicken bullion
2-3 cups of thinly sliced/chopped Kale
Salt/Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Milk
*Note: These are all approximate measurements. Adjust as needed.

Instructions:
Brown turkey sausage until done. Drain and rinse well with hot water to remove all fat. Set aside.

Brown onion and garlic until done. Add diced potatoes, chicken bullion, kale,
and seasonings to taste. Add the cooked and drained turkey sausage. Cover the ingredients with water, plus and inch or two above. Bring to boil, turn down heat and cook until the potatoes are tender and the Kale is soft. This should take 30 minutes depending on size of cubed potatoes. Add milk to color and flavor soup as desired. I added about 1 ½ cups. Cook and additional 5 minutes to heat again. Serve and enjoy with homemade croûtons.

To pressure cook: Add everything but the milk. Bring up to high pressure, turn down to medium heat and cook for 15 minutes. Let pressure release naturally or hurry along by rinsing top with cold water. Add milk and reheat for 5 minutes.

Homemade Croutons: Dice heels and stale bread. Melt 1 TBSP butter or olive oil in a nonstick pan. Add 1-2 whole or minced cloves of garlic. Add the diced stale bread and stir fry til toasted. Spraying with nonstick spray if they become to dry. Sprinkle with salt and italian seasosonings. For an extra crunch, after stir fried in pan to flavor them spread out on a cookie sheet and toast in oven at 425 degrees.