Homemade Gnocchi

This was a hit last night with my family (even Lily which is saying something) so since I was typing it up for myself anyway - I thought I would share! I was craving something different and delicious after roughly 2 weeks of scrounging and take out since my little surgery. Finally feeling better on my feet again (though I am not 100% recovered). Anyway, here's the recipe - my own experimental creation! Different enough from the various recipes I referenced to call my own :) Pillowy soft potato pasta with Alfredo sauce. Tomato and Bacon crumbles optional, but definitely a worthwhile addition! And it's a lot easier than the long instructions suggest :)

Gnocchi with Alfredo sauce

for the Gnocchi

2 cups mashed potatoes (do not over mix)

1/4 c. (or 1 large) egg, lightly beaten

1 c. flour or more to keep it from getting sticky

salt to taste

small amount of butter, if desired

Peel potatoes and dice into cubes before adding to boiling water. Cook for about 8 minutes or until fork penetrates easily, but before becoming too mushy. Scoop potato pieces out with a slotted spoon so you can save the water to boil your pasta in (though you can cook in fresh water if you prefer, but it will take less time to get your warm water boiling again). I added a tiny bit of butter to my potatoes and beat them slightly with beaters and then checked for lumps with a fork. Don't over mix. You want a nice fluffy consistency with no noticeable lumps. Let your potatoes cool. Now would be a good time to start your sauce and make preparations for other side dishes.

When your potatoes have cooled off mix in 1 cup of flour, egg, and salt to taste. Flour a large wooden cutting board and gently knead the dough adding flour a little at a time until the dough is moist but not sticky. (Mine were just slightly sticky) It should feel almost billowy. Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Gently roll each piece into a snake roughly the thickness of your thumb. Use a knife to cute pieces every 3/4th inch. Dust with a bit more flour. Make an indentation on each piece with a fork. You can find more detailed directions to shape them online, but my take is it doesn't have to be fancy, but it's nice to have them uniform and have a little texture to catch the sauce. 

Set each gnocchi aside on a floured surface until you are ready to boil them. They may get stickier as you let them sit, so wax paper with flour on top of that would be a good idea, as would grouping them by 20.

With your potato water boiling again, cook the gnocchi in batches by dropping them into the water about 20 at a time. Keep an eye on them - it doesn't take long. They will let you know when they are cooked by popping up to the surface of the water. I let them float there about half a minute more to make sure they were cooked through to the center - you can sample one to make adjustments. Have a large platter ready and use a slotted spoon to fish them out of the water. I sprayed my pile with a little olive oil before I added a newly cooked batch on top to keep them from sticking together. Continue cooking until all are done. Add your sauce and serve!

Homemade Alfredo sauce

3/4 a stick of butter

1 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. fat free milk

3/4 cup fresh shredded Parmesan (grated works too)

1 tsp. flour

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground pepper, if desired

In a medium sauce pan, heat butter until it melts then whisk in the flour and spices before adding the milk and cream. When it just begins to bubble stir in Parmesan cheese. Continue cooking on medium to low until mixture thickens and your pasta is ready.

I cooked 2 slices of bacon beforehand to crumble over this, and also added about a half a cup fresh chopped tomato stirred with a little olive oil and onion powder and heated in a small saucepan. I would have just stirred the tomatoes into my sauce, but I had objections from one of the picker members of my family so I kept it separate & customizable :)

I also served with a side of asparagus. My favorite way to get perfectly cooked asparagus is to cut it into 1 inch pieces and boil for only 5 minutes. Should be easy to puncture with a fork, still with a slight crunch, not mushy, Check with a fork, taste it, and rinse with cool water if you need to stop the cooking process fast.

Mmmm... so good! The leftovers were too. So nice when I hit on something even Lily is pleased with, and I got requests to make this again!

Baby Steps

I loved this article that popped up on my blog list today. Sometimes I feel like I can't get anything done beyond the basics. Just taking care of my kids and keeping up with the laundry and dishes, homework and meal planning and preparation, add in showering and that can pretty much be all my time right there. Throw in a random health problem in the family and I pretty much want to go to bed when my kids do. I know it won't always be this way - I'm a mom to young kids! There's just a lot more hands on involvement in taking care of their needs, and it can be pretty exhausting! We're also very limited on space and $ -so my creativity can be pretty limited a lot of the time too. It's hard to want to get out a sewing project for instance when I don't dare leave it out around my littlest one (not that there is anywhere to leave it out), it takes a while just to get out, and I'm already wiped out by the end of the day...and I know I just have to put it up again before I go to bed! And if I try to stay up too late to work on stuff - I just don't feel as good or as patient with my kids the next morning. I may try and fake it, but if by some miracle my family doesn't notice...I feel the difference - and I don't like it. Some projects just aren't practical for me right now and I don't even make an attempt. But I believe that the more we try to do the more we are able to do. I liked a lot of the points she made in the article. Like how when you loosen your expectations it's a lot easier to try something new. Sometimes I need to downplay the perfectionist all or nothing streak in me to commit to something. It made me feel motivated to attempt a little more with my little bit of free time at night and maybe make a dent in my list of things I want to make and do, however little by little it takes me to actually get one done!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had a little family party today at my parent's house to celebrate the little bit of Irish in us and just to get together! The little girls were having so much fun I got some cute photos of them to share. Lily is such a party lover, and just loves her cousins so much! She was looking forward to them coming over all day, and yesterday actually - from the moment my mom decided to have the party! I had out some Irish dance music I checked out from the library and she was practicing her steps to everyone and getting some ideas of what Irish dancing was like from me and her Grandpa. ...Making plans for an Irish dance festival in the front room. She said: "Mom, watch this - I know all 3 Irish dances!" and she showed me her three different ways of jumping and kicking her legs out and holding her arms. It was pretty cute and funny - that's my Lily! Too bad she fell and hurt her knee and spent the first part of the party begging to be pushed around in a stroller like an invalid. Aujinay was so sweet to oblige. (Lily felt better and forgot about it halfway through, so they ran around the backyard like wild things and did do a little dancing by the end.) In honor of St. Patrick's Day I thought I would share what is probably Lily's longest Kindergarten journal entry so far. (It's just supposed to be 1 or 2 sentences practice writing.) She comes up with them all on her own and she wrote this one about a week and a half ago. She did ask how to spell leprechaun, but pretty much took it on her own from there. Great job, Miss Lily! (Snuck a video of her reading most of it, even she had a little trouble making out some of it.)

It begins: 6 little leprechauns sitting in a tree. 1 fell out and hurt his knee. Mama called the doctor and the doctor said: No more leprechauns sitting in a tree. 5 little leprechauns sitting in a tree. 2 fell out and had an icecream...Lily can take it from there :)

My two cuties ready to party!

Cousins on the swing

Sierra joining the girls in Hide and Seek "..5,6...Here I come!"

Audrey, Auji, and of course, Bunny Boo!

Hope you all have a great Monday! I do love green!

Putting My Feet Up

Well, finally putting my feet up! It's harder than it sounds. I've been waiting to take care of my uncooperative toenails for too long. Even though it feels way better to have them up at the moment - it's hard for me not to get up and wander about putting things in their place (why I don't know - things don't stay there for long anyway!), and even harder for me to wait and ask for someone else to do something for me - I'd much rather just do it myself! But I have high hopes of going through photos and doing other things I rarely get a chance to sit down for long to do. Maybe I will finally blog about my kids birthday parties from last year just before they have another one!

Peace!

This is part of a message I shared some months ago with my visiting teaching sisters. In my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are called to serve individual sisters to make sure everyone has someone to turn to when they need it. I already had this all typed up in a letter I sent to my sisters one month and I thought it was worth sharing on here too. --As much for myself as for anyone!

Here is the message from the church - the rest are my thoughts related to it:

Someone shared this list with me and it came to my mind when I was putting together this message. --I'm often a worrier - always planning for the worst case scenario and stressing when I should be enjoying the moment. When I read this list I thought it sounded wonderful! Wouldn't it be great to live life with that attitude of peace?

12 Symptoms of Inner Peace

1. An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.

2. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.

3. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.

4. A loss of interest in judging other people.

5. A loss of interest in judging self.

6. A loss of interest in conflict.

7. A loss of the ability to worry.

8. Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.

9. Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.

10. Frequent bouts of smiling.

11. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.

12. An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

Jesus Christ is The Prince of Peace! He is our ultimate example. He lived a perfect life - though that didn't bar Him from hardship and pain. He suffered more than anyone on earth, as much as all of us ever have! He chose to - for us! He always chose the right path, the path that leads to eternal happiness. He has peace and happiness because of the kind of person He is and it can never be taken away from Him. Sometimes it's hard for us to tell what the right choice is, and for us to have agency Heavenly Father can't command us about every little thing. It wouldn't make sense to. We aren't all meant to end up exactly the same. We weren't created to be robots, diversity is beautiful and makes life interesting! Heavenly Father doesn't want us to be exactly the same, but he does want us to end up in the same place, with Him, clean, and compatible with one another so that we'll be happy living there together. We can become that way not by following some gigantic complex textbook with all decisions for all circumstances laid out for us, --but by following the commandments, and the example set for us, serving others as the Savior did, trying to be humble and teachable and pattern our lives after His. We can learn more about Him through reading our scriptures, prayer, and trying to follow His ways, serving others more than ourselves. That is the way we will obtain true happiness and inner peace!

Talking Up a Storm

Well, we officially have 2 chatterboxes in the family! Sierra has been saying more new things all the time, and with all the talking my girls do I am often reminded of the phrase my cousin Casey repeated (in her cute southern accent) running around the airport seats at the end of a visit back when she was probably close to Lily's age and the medical alert bracelet commercial and Urkel made famous the line: "I've fallen and I can't get up!" --"I'm talkin' and I can't shut up!"..."I'm talkin' and I can't shut up!" ...Sometimes I feel like I could never get too much quiet...but I do love my cute girls and I'm glad they are good communicators, and I have hope there will come a day when they will learn to ask only for what they cannot do themselves and not repeat things over and over, or whine! Anyway...just wanted to remember some of the things Sierra says a lot these days.

Sierra says:
Right there
Different one (she asked Mike for a different one when he was about to recycle a slightly dirty bib, and always wants a cup without a lid or a different sippy cup than the ones I usually give her)
Vitamins (only it sounds like almons) then she specifies orange, pink, or red (she asks for them several times a day)
Crackers (quawqua)
Breakfast (Bweckfiss)
Yogurt, eat it!
Stwabewy
Share! (meaning: give it to her, of course)
Counting to 9 (Lily taught her that)
3...Blastoff! 3...Blastoff!
some of the ABC's
Bubble Bath
Tickle Monster
sings: 'Hoppy Bird day to Gwama!', "Row, row, row, boat," "Round and round" (wheels on the bus) and once something she made up with 'Jesus' in it that was so adorable!!
The other day at church she was saying to herself: Up high, side, side, down low, slow
She says 'Church' when she sees a dress
Come on and Comin'! (she always wants to come when one of us is going somewhere)
Yeah, Okay!
She is the most excited kid ever when it's time to brush her teeth. "Brushteef Ok-AY!!!"
No thankyou!! No thankyou!! (with vehemence) Mike was just saying after hearing her say this how some of our manners teachings have backfired with this little one because her polite words come out sounding so sassy! --Like how she also always says 'Excuse you' instead of 'excuse me.'
She calls her big toe "Mommy toe" and her little toe "baby toe" (Mike's idea) Yesterday Grandma asked her which one was her Daddy toe, and she pointed to her other big toe and answered "This one!"
The last couple of days Sierra's been stringing together full sentences like: "I want some of that!" only without taking any breaths between words :)
Sometimes after she sees Lily do it she'll will pretend whisper in your ear.
Sierra will repeat almost everything back to you if you ask her to - and it's not too long and intimidating. One day she was repeating back everything Lily said and making Lily quite annoyed! It ended like this: "Lily: Stop it!!! Sierra: Stop it!" And sounded so much like an exchange between older kids it had me cracking up! Now I often hear Lily telling Sierra: "Ok, Sierra - You can repeat anything I say now!" -I think Lily knows there isn't much she can do about whether Sierra will repeat her or not, but as long as Lily has bestowed permission then she won't have to get mad about it when it happens. :) Now Lily uses Sierra's repeat-after-me-abilities for laughs and enjoys teaching her new things  to say - they are the cutest sisters!

 (warming up after getting soaked on the way home from school on a rainy afternoon -

these photos make me think of me and my sister when we were little)

Sierra is such a darling when she says 'Mommy!' in the most affectionate tone and smooshes her face into me and gives me a great big hug! She can be so serious at times - her facial expressions are just priceless!

But she still smiles a lot too! The other night she was sitting in my lap waiting for(ever like usual for) Lily to come back from brushing her teeth and telling me all kinds of things about her day, repeating the words she knows to express her thoughts - like how she was 'scared, scared' of the fire 'truck' sirens that were 'loud' and how she wanted the little 'girl' she met at the park to 'share' her 'bottle' of 'wawa'. Then we talked about how we don't share drinks or things we put in our mouths with other people, but we do share toys. I could tell she totally got it, I don't think she got the whole sharing concept and am not expecting her to be a pro toy-sharer after this one brief chat, but I could see the understanding in her eyes and in what she said back to me when I talked about not sharing cups or things we put in our mouths. It's just amazing to me how much she is growing! I can't believe she is going to be 2 in a few short months! (My baby!) The time really goes too fast!

Some pictures from the last month or so...

This one's a slideshow of my cute character!

 Our Valentine's day dates for lunch at the Yellow Deli - one of our favorite places!

Whispering in her Daddy's ear :)

Looking so little in the big people chair!

My adorable dates!

and one of me!

Sierra is a champion high heel walker - better than her mom will ever be!

Pretty good in Cabbage Patch doll shoes too!

...and Littlest Pet shop sunglasses!

Cute sisters!

My big five year old!

 Playin' with mom at the park while Lily is off with her school friends

Doing wheels on the bus

("I pity the fool!")

Looking oh so prim and proper :)

Update: Last night Sierra had her arms folded so cute ready for family prayer that Mike asked her if she wanted to say it. She said yes, and Lily - disappointed because she wanted to say it - offered to help her. Sierra leaned back with arms folded against a pillow and Lily's shoulder and I prompted simple phrases, but it wasn't really until Lily whispered them back to her that she started saying/whispering them back. After the prayer she said excitedly "Father, Father 'gin!" (Heavenly Father again) like she wanted to pray again. Tomorrow, we said. It was so sweet! Moments like those make it worth all the trouble :)