Thursday, December 26, 2013

I'm Back On Board

It felt strange not being able to upload pictures on Christmas. It's not like I had a whole lot of time, but I'm used to posting when things happen.

My boss man gave me a new MacBook.


It's not mine to keep, but I can take it home pretty much whenever I want. It's a nice perk for teaching! Luckily this one connected to the printers right away. I could send emails without messing with that to. It even cloned so my passwords are still here.

I have to back track. I didn't have time to post everything I wanted before my older laptop that wasn't very old got swiped from me.

Before Christmas I was completely stressed out.

Do you get stressed out before big events, or holidays?

I've heard it's normal for stress to rise before big events.

For one both boys asked for almost the impossible. Isaak asked for Santa to make Frosty come alive. Mica asked for Santa to bring a ring with his name on it for me. The last one is possible, but we didn't have a whole lot of time. I told Daddy to make it as simple as possible. He realized he didn't have the right amount of metal, had to order some, and it got done in the nick of time.

A husband and wife team have both been sick at my husband's work. He had to go in a lot more than usual just because they were gone, and/or sick. *Note to self - If I ever run a company do not hire two people from the same household. Daddy had to work Christmas Eve Day.

We weren't expecting him to have to work. I had to get a lot done as a single parent that day. It would have been fine had I known that he was going to have to work. He and I didn't know until the last minute.

The boys were bouncing off the walls with excitement. I was in the kitchen all morning.

You know what? It all got done like usual. Then I wondered why I was stressed to begin with.
  • I put a big plate of cookies together.
  • I made a cheese ball.
  • I washed up holiday grapes to take.
  • I boxed up presents, a jar of June Berry Jam for each family, and small banana bread loaves for Great Aunt Becky and Great Grandpa Kent.
  • I made a sweet potato soup that everyone seemed to like. I made way too much; by doubling the batch. It was the first time I made this particular soup. Next time I'll make just one batch. Grandma made a wonderful Chili and Cheesy Potato Soup. In the end we split the left overs up.


Curried Sweet Potato Soup


Directions

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice the sweet potatoes. Place potatoes in a baking tray and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil. Season with a little salt. Bake for 1 hour or until tender. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the remaining oil over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and celery and fry, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add garlic and fry for 30 seconds.
  3. Add the powdered peanut butter (optional), garam masala and curry powder. If you do not have garam masala just use extra curry powder. Fry, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 30 seconds. Remove the saucepan from the heat.
  4. Place potatoes into the saucepan and stir well to coat in spices. Add stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cover. Simmer soup for 15 minutes. Remove soup from heat and cool.
  5. Ladle soup into a blender and blend in batches until smooth and creamy. Place the soup back into saucepan on a medium heat.
  6. Add coconut milk and water and stir to combine. Simmer soup over a medium heat for 5 minutes.
  7. Divide soup into bowls and serve with chopped pecans, chopped walnuts, or pumpkin seeds (optional).
I liked that the soup was cow milk free, and sugar free. It makes enough for about 5 bowls.

3 comments:

Masshole Mommy said...

Oooh, a Mac Book. How nice. I have always wanted one, but alas - I need to hit the lottery first :)

Theresa Mahoney said...

That's cool you get to take it home with you! I get stressed out before big events, but it always seems to come together just fine.

~ Noelle said...

I don't really stress that much... but I do stress more while things are going on...
love that you got a new macbook :)

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