January 2015 - Starting with a clean slate

A new year has begun and this year, rather than starting with a long list of resolutions, I want to start with a clean slate and see where it takes me.

Today it took me into my fridge, freezer and pantry. 

I needed to take a closer look at what I have on hand in the food department as this new year starts, and I also want to truly challenge myself to stretch what I have to the fullest. Looking at the list it might seem like I have a lot of food, and there is, but some quantities are very small. 

The challenge now is to try to use up a lot of this food over the next couple of days and then I will post an updated list and some new pictures. Take a look below for today's details!

Today I Made Time

As I take a look around my house this evening I see scattered toys, a pile of dishes and the mountain of laundry that was supposed to be done today...on laundry day. I see towels and bath toys on the floor in the bathroom, yogurt smeared all over a highchair and pastel colored high heeled shoes tossed over by the bookshelf.

Then I take a closer look and instead of scattered toys I see the Duplo cake my middle daughter made me and the stuffed bear my son dragged around hugging today, I see the book I read to my son and the kitchen items my daughter "bought" and tucked into a bag.

Instead of a pile of dishes I see the remains of the homemade lunch my daughter happily brought to school and the dinner my kids all sat down at the table together and enjoyed. 

Norwegian Sweet Rolls (Boller)

Ok, so time and time again I have tried to make these traditional Norwegian sweet rolls and most of the time they have turned out rather blah. But, this recipe might be the key to success....at least this last batch was fluffy and soft and perfect in my opinion! They are not overly sweet, but they are not meant to be savory dinner rolls either. 

And sorry, but the measurements are metric....

Boller

Ingredients:

500g all purpose flour (plus a little extra if dough is too wet)
100g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
100g salted butter, a little soft
3 1/4 dl milk (2% or whole)
6 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

Creamy Beef and Bellpepper

I was in the mood for Beef Stroganoff last night but did not quite have the right ingredients, so I came up with this alternative recipe. It was flavorful and creamy and I will definitely make it again! It also works well with chicken cut into thin strips.

Creamy Beef and Bellpepper

Ingredients:

Canola or Olive oil for sauteeing
1 lb lean beef cut into strips (stirfry cuts are great)
2 large bellpeppers (I used red)
1/2 large leek
12 oz fresh mushrooms
1 1/2 cups beef or chicken broth, divided

Lentil Soup Kit for the freezer

A while back I posted a recipe for lentil soup in the slow cooker. Today I once again made a batch of this, but I also made several "kits" and put them in the freezer. I usually just make a gigantic portion of the actual soup and freeze it, but now my freezer is full so this worked out better. 

Lentil Soup Kit

Chop, in small dice:

- 1-2 large carrots

- 2 medium stalks celery

- 1/4 - 1/2 medium onion

- 2 slices bacon

Morning Person?

It is early in the morning when I am writing this and it is quiet at my house, therefore I decided to ponder for a bit....

I had a discussion with my husband the other day about being a morning person or not. We both agreed that, despite loving my sleep and usually waking up very last minute, I very functional pretty darn quick in the morning. If one of our kids wake up and cry for one of us, it takes only a few seconds before I am at their bedside. This may or may not be a mix of my mommy hearing, my ability to snap to it quickly and a wish and hope that if I am quick enough then maybe, just maybe, he/she will not wake the rest of the house. 

Spring has Sprung, Summer has Slipped Away and School is about to be in Session!

Yes, I know we all say the same things, but here goes.....Where did summer go???? I feel like it was just yesterday that school let out and the thermometer inched its way up and up and we got ready to tackle our summer "bucket list". 

Ok, so we do not have an official bucket list but I have a million things inside of my head that I think we should do, or places we should go. But, in all honesty, I think we did maybe a handful of those things...and that is even counting one of them twice! (We ate cupcakes from an actual cupcake place! Two times! Which might not seem like a big deal to most people, but to people with allergic children it is a relatively big deal :))

Back to the whole summer is gone concept....this year the summer ending is marking a brand new phase in our life. We are officially elementary school parents, and I am scared out my mind! I know this sounds absolutely silly, but I am convinced I am twice as nervous as my daughter who is way up there on the nervous-like-no-other scale. I told my husband that I think it is due to the fact that I did not grow up here and elementary school in Norway is very different than here (or at least it was when I attended it).