Delish Soup

I made this soup today and loved it. Surprisingly, so did the rest of my family. That usually doesn't happen on any given night unless we are eating corn dogs or spaghetti, but even more surprising because it sort of reminded me of split pea, in a way, but I'm really the only one who likes that. So enough of that, here it is. I got this from Kalyn's Kitchen blog. You can google it, she has tons of amazing recipes. (I thought about taking a picture from her blog since I didn't take any, but is that legal?) Enjoy!

Crockpot Recipe for Red Lentil, Chickpea, and Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika

1 large yellow onion, diced small
1 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. Vege-Sal (or use 1/2 tsp. salt)
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 cup red lentils
2 cans chickpeas, rinsed
5 C chicken or vegetable stock (or use 3 cans chicken or vegetable broth)
2 cans petite dice tomatoes with juice (14.5 oz. can)
sour cream or plain yogurt for serving, optional

Heat olive oil in frying pan and saute the diced onion until it's soft and starting to brown lightly, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, smoked paprika, sweet paprika, dried thyme, Vege-Sal, and black pepper and saute 2-3 minutes more, or until spices are fragrant.

Add onion-spice mixture to CrockPot, then rinse out the frying pan with 1 cup of the stock and add to crockpot along with red lentils, rinsed chickpeas, and rest of stock. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until lentils are starting to soften and dissolve into the soup. (I cooked mine for 2 1/2 hours. Cooking time will depend partly on how old the lentils are.)

When lentils are starting to soften, add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes with juice. Cook for 1-2 hours more on high, or until the lentils and chickpeas are both quite soft. Then remove about 1/2 the soup to a bowl (or the large 8-cup measuring cup I had worked perfectly.) Puree the soup you removed using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. (If you're using a food processor or blender, be very careful with the hot soup, pureeing in batches if necessary.)

Stir the pureed soup back into the soup in the CrockPot; taste and add more salt or fresh ground black pepper if desired. Let soup cook about 15 minutes more, then serve hot, with sour cream of plain yogurt if desired.



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6 months have flown by

I've come to the realization that I'm a terrible blogger, but I want to change that. My sister uses her blog as a family journal and had the first 3 years of her blog turned into a book. I want to do the same. So I'm going to start here and go back and work on the last few eventful months.
Ila Jo is six months old! Half a year ago this baby was introduced to the world. It's hard to believe that much time has gone by. Everyone in this family loves her so much. I'm not sure what we'd do without her. Colby and Eva have perfected their baby talk. I guess Lilia uses it sometimes too.
I want to remember what she was like at six months.
-Ila doesn't laugh very often, but when she does it's always for one of her siblings.
-She loves being outside, whether it's sitting in her bouncer or going for a walk.
-She has been sleeping through the night since she was 2 months old.
-She is happiest first thing in the morning when I come to get her out of her crib. Biggest and best smile of the day goes to me every morning and I love being the recipient.
-Ila got her first tooth August 17th, and the second followed within the week.
-She rolled from her belly to back the same day she got her first tooth, but she doesn't care to roll around much yet. She's happy to lay on the ground and let everyone come to her.
-She has two girl cousins born 2 months to either side of her, and I have a feeling they'll be best friends as they grow up. Norah was born in January and Lola was born in June.
-At her six month appointment she was 15 lb 10 oz and 25.75 inches long. 50th percentile all around. Our average baby. :)
-She started eating solids at 5 months, and this time around I am making all of her baby food. It's so much easier than I ever expected it to be. Her favorites are butternut squash, peas, and plums.
-She's babbling, cooing, and grunting all of the time.
-She loves her daddy and stares and stares at him when he gets home until she gets his attention.
-She is a total people watcher.
-She is starting to have stranger anxiety. She liked the doctor at her appointment yesterday but cried when the nurse came in for shots and started talking to her.
-We all call her Jo Jo. (and Ila and Ila Jo)
Ila Jo is gorgeous and happy and I love her. Time better slow down a little so I can appreciate her as a baby as long as possible.

Easter





Blessing





2 months





2 months (taken by aunt Becky)





3 months





Ila and her great-grandma Christensen





4 months





Lola and Ila





Lola, Norah, and Ila





Pretty girl





5 months old and first time eating solids





6 months

The Many Faces of Colby

I was just looking through the pictures on my phone when I came across these gems.














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She's 5!

Eva had a fantastic day!!! It started when she got to wear her new (to her) big blue tutu skirt and only got better from there.
She got to play wii, which is currently a strictly Saturday activity.
She got to help make pink cupcakes. (With pink frosting!)
She had a birthday party! We've decided to start doing bday parties every other year for the kids, starting at age 5. It was so exciting and so fun!!!
She got a Hello Kitty razor scooter!! And a big girl bike with no training wheels!!!! Now she doesn't have to ride Colby's boy bike.
And she got to stay up until 10:00.
What a lucky girl.
I love Eva so much. Honestly, when there is chaos surrounding me I can always count on Eva, at least, to listen to me. I'm not kidding when I say she keeps ms sane. She is a pretty exceptional little girl. She wants to choose the right, she is the greatest helper (especially with Ila,) and she is quite the fashionista! Our family would be lost without that girl.


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An Eva Milestone

My friend Tina and I went to dinner and a movie for our combined birthday celebration. When I got back in the car after the movie I had a message from Jason letting me know what I had missed while I was gone.
(Don't mind Jason's cinematography skills.)


We have loved Patty and Ernie's cul-de-sac. There are five girls and a boy that they play with for hours every week outside. So many of them know how to ride bikes sans training wheels and it has really motivated Eva. I am sad I missed it, but sooo excited for her. Earlier today she was saying how she wanted to learn to ride her bike tonight and she actually did it!! Yay Eva!!!!

Spokompton

We are on the road back to Boise and I got blogpress on my phone for Mother's Day, maybe this will help me post more often.
We were in Spokane this weekend visiting my sister's family. My niece was baptized this weekend and we got to be there for it. It was a such a great day. Grace has such a pure, sweet spirit. She such a good older sister and cousin. My kids had a blast, and of course, didn't want to leave.
The baptism was Saturday morning and then the kids played hard all day, despite the crazy Spokane weather. One of my favorite moments was dinner last night. The kids were all sitting on the ground eating pizza and Elliot started up a round of "If you love (insert name) raise your hand!!" it was so watching each one of them feel special and loved when it was their turn. The dads stayed home last night to watch the kids while Becky, my mom and I got to go to a movie. (Limitless. Weird, but definitely not boring.)
We had such a great time, the kids can't wait to see each other again over Memorial Day weekend at the cabin.
At the church after the baptism


All the older kids wanted to ride home together from the church








Lilia and Maggie playing

The girls all squeezed into Grace's twin sized top bunk.


Colby and Elliot this morning. They didn't want to leave each other. They kept calling each other "peas in a pod." Jason said they were walking around in the backyard holding hands and saying, "peas in a pod. Peas in a pod." And they were saying "bye pea in a pod," to each other until we pulled away from the house.


Overall, a pretty successful weekend. :) I love having family close.
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Ila Jo

It's about time this baby girl got a post of her own.

We welcomed sweet Ila into the world March 25 at 1:53am. She was our smallest baby at 7lbs 2oz. Jo is in honor of her aunt ("Peace Becky Jo") and her grandpa and great grandpa, who are both Joe.
So far she has been a complete angel. She has had 2 or 3 rough nights, but besides that she will have 3 four hour stretches through the night. I can't complain. Last night she even had a six hour stretch.
Her siblings adore her. I have the best little helper in Eva. She will get me anything I ask for and lives to hold Ila! She is the only one who doesn't get tired of holding her after one minute. Colby loves to nuzzle and kiss Ila and whisper to his baby. Lilia likes to just be close to her. I laid Ila on the floor a couple of days ago and Lilia just laid by her and played with her cheeks. Lilia is also a big fan of Ila's binkies, which is driving me crazy since she hasn't had a bink in months.
I can't find our camera from the hospital so all I have for now is pictures from my phone. (Mom and Tina, could you email me some of the pictures you got?) Thanks to Grandma Boise for staying with the older kids while we were at the hospital.
We're all in love with our baby. It always amazes me how quickly it seems like there was never a time before them....if that makes any sense. It's the middle of the night and I'm nursing, so lots of this post might not make sense.
Our first family picture with the babe, we never got one in the hospital.Funny thing, Jason took this picture tonight, after I had already typed this up.