Pasta e Fagioli

This is something I ate all the time on my mission...it's a sort soup/pasta dish constructed mainly of Beans, Pasta, and Potatoes. It's a true Poor Man's Food in that it can be prepared for around $3.00 (as long as you already own some spices...a bottle of Basil can cost $5.00, and Extra Virgin Olive Oil is pricey, too), it's easy to prepare, and tastes wonderful.

I've used a few recipes since I've been home. This one is the best I've tried, by far. The key is to mash the beans...don't leave that out or it's not the same.



Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)
Ingredients
-2 cloves garlic
-2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-1 stick celery
-1 Carrot
-1 Large Tomato, peeled and seeded
-2 medium potatoes (or one large), peeled and
diced small enough that two or three can fit on
a soup spoon
-4 C chicken stock (I just use reconstituted
bouillon...but I reconstitute it before I add it
to the soup)
-2 cans small beans (Borlotti, if you can find them)
-200g small pasta (I like ditalini rigati best,
but you can use tubettini or whatever you've got
at home...but a small, salad style pasta works best)
-1/4 t Cayenne pepper, or 1 small fresh chili pepper, chopped fine
-2 fresh basil leaves, or 2 tsp dried basil
-Fresh ground black pepper
-Extra Virgin Olive Oil (again)
fresh grated Parmesan cheese (optional)


Process
Okay....so that's your ingredient list. Peel the carrot.
Chop the carrot, celery, and tomato into small cubes. You
want the carrot and celery really small. Peel the potatoes,
and chope them into small cubes, but larger than your carrots
and celery. Put the 2T olive oil in a pot with a thick bottom,
smash the garlic with the flat side of your knife, and add it
to the oil. Sautee it until it's lightly brown, being careful
not to burn it. Once it's brown, add the rest of those
vegetables. Sautee them for 5 minutes. The tomato will try and
stick to the bottom of your pan...just don't worry about that too much.

Add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, and let it simmer for five
minutes. While it's coming to a boil, drain both cans of beans.
Mash one of them with a fork or something. After the vegetables
have simmered for five minutes, add the beans, pasta, basil, and
cayenne pepper/chili. Cook it gently until the pasta is al dente,
about 8 minutes for ditalini rigati...Make sure you don't overcook
the pasta. Pasta tastes immeasurably better when it's been cooked right.
Serve it in a bowl with a trickle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, fresh-grated
Parmesan cheese, and fresh ground black pepper. It's pretty dang good!

Here's a printable version.

We got it!

We finally got some pictures of Marcella's teeth. So here goes.

Here is the first one she got on the bottom.

Then came this one on top.

Still one on top, but hopefully the other one on top comes in soon.

TaDA! Here they are both at once and we got them on Camera! YEA!!!

My Night with Marcella

Can you believe how big Marcella looks in this picture? Her hair looks longer than I think it is. It is CRAZY how much they grow in such a short of time. I was really trying to get a good picture of her teeth, but much to my dismay she covered them with her tongue again. She looks so different when she laughs now that she has a couple of teeth, especially since she has one on the bottom and one on the top. Her second top tooth is coming in so she will have 3 teeth in about a week.



This is what happens when I don't pay attention to her. She is a fast climber. The biggest problem is that when she finally climbs up on something, she likes to stand up, clap, and say, "Yay!!" While doing so she gets a little wobbly and then cries, mainly because she is scared she is going to fall. What can I say though...I am a sucker and keep letting her climb. She actually at this momment is keeping me company while Jon is working th TV feed of the Grizzlies Hockey game. Hopefully she will sleep in tomorrow since it is soooo late (cross my fingers).





So any guesses on what Marcella ate for Breakfast? If you guess right you might win a prize. She even shared with her Baby. (Those of you who already know are diqualified.)



Marcella still loves her baby. She now will put her baby to sleep and then come over to me and say SSSSHHHHH. It's pretty funny. I hope all of you are having a wonderful evening.

I have another recipe I would like to share. Just to warn you, I usually make 2 pans, but like I said last time, I always double it and then wonder why I did because I eat it all. This is one that Jon even likes, so it has to be super good. Jon doesn't like baked goods all that much. I hope all of you enjoyed the popcorn.

Sinful Brownies


1 pkg Carmels
2/3 C evaporated Milk
1 German Chocolate cake mix
3/4 C melted butter
1/2 pkg milk chocolate chips

Mix 1/3 C evaporated milk, 3/4 C butter and the german chocolate cake mix. put half of it in the bottom of a 9x13 pan and bake in the oven @ 350 for 6 min.

Put the unwrapped carmels and 1/3 C evaporated milk in a bowl and microwave until creamy, keep checking and stiring.

When the brownies come out of the oven, sprinkle the half bag of Chocolate chip on top. then spread the carmel. Take the rest of the cakes mix and put on top. I usually do this with my hands and pat pieces and then piece it on the top, because you can't spread it. it doesn't have to be completely covered. then bake for 15-18 min.

These brownies taste the best when they are completely cooled. So if you want to eat them the same day, I put them in the freezer for about 30 min, or sometimes longer. if you aren't in a hurry just wait to eat them the next day. They taste better the longer they sit, and they'll be more solid after a day.

Enjoy!

Our Trip to Gillet Wyoming

So as most of you know Greg got a job with Progressive Insurance and is currently living in Wyoming. This last weekend Jon and I helped move him up there. It was quite fun. Here are some pictures from our trip.




So we headed off around 9 am on Sat. (instead of the 5 am that we wanted to what can I say we were all way too tired.) We stopped in good ol Rawllins just for good times sake. (Really in honor of Jeff and Caroline and we needed gas.) Then from Rawllins to Casper was an adventure. The whole time we had been driving Jon had told me to put in a movie and watch something. So by this time, I finially decided to. I guess that he didn't like the movie though (who wouldn't blame him I was just watching special features of the Sisterhood of the traveling pants.) so he started singing and making up songs. It was quite fun. Then we started passing a bunch of historical sites and cool things that Jon wanted to stop and see. Much to his dismay Gregs cell phone was dead and we couldn't get his attention to pull over. So we missed stopping and getting a picture by sweetwater and Martins cove. Maybe this summer we can make a trip to see it. So when we finally were able to stop to see something and take a picture at Jons request this is what we saw.



Not only did it pose for this picture but it kept staying around, I think it wanted some food.




So not too much of a glorious historical site, but it was pretty cool to see all the oil rigs at work. We took these pictures about an hour and a half away from Gregs place.








These are the only two pictures taken of Greg's new place, so hopefully he will post some more when he gets the internet hooked up. It was a pretty big place, but I think he is going to move because the people below him smoke and so the smell goes up into his apartment. Well, we had a really fun trip thanks Greg and good luck with your new place!

Marcella

Here are a few pictures of Marcella. This one her hair is actually done and I got a picture before she pulled it out. Although you can't really see it. At least I know there are cute pigtails back there.




These ones were kind of fun. When we got rid of our Christmas tree there were pine needles everywhere. So Jon was sweeping our carpet trying to get most of them in a pile. So for the next few days Marcella was opssesed with the broom. She would try to sweep or smack anything she could with it. So here Jon is putting it to good use right before we took it away and hid it. (have you ever been hit with a broom unexpectedly?) She really likes hanging. It gave us a good laugh.





Here is Marcella's baby. I thought yea, she will like this doll for a while, but it will end up like the rest of the stuff she just plays with it every once in a while. Well I was wrong. On Tuesday we played with her baby, she fed her, rocked her to sleep, carried her everywhere. It was rather cute. Well she did it again yesterday so I had to pull out the camera and take a few pictures. She is starting to get the hang of how to wrap her up in her blanket.





Here she is taking a "nap" with her baby. We first had a bed for her on the floor and then she dumped out all her toys from her toy basket and put her in that. I guess that is more cozy than the floor. I missed the picture though.




Here she is putting on her hat. She loves putting that thing on, well trying, but it never stays on for more than a few seconds. So I hear "Hat, Hat, Hat" about 20 times a day. It sure is cute though.





Here she is rocking her baby. She will get in and out of her rocking chair like a billion times. She is pretty good at managing the baby and getting in her chair. I am amazed how many times she will get in and out in and out. She is so silly.



This was my unsuccessful shot at trying to get a picture of her first tooth! Whenever you ask her to see her teeth, she will open her mouth really big and then stick out her tongue and point. I guess we need to work on that a bit. Her second one is coming in on top. Yea! She might be able to chew up some apples now.



Finally here we are snuggling almost ready for bed. Man I sure can't imagine why some people don't have kids, they are the best thing ever! I hope you all have a great day! Love ya!

Random

So I found a few pictures that I don't think anyone has posted, about putting in Mom and Dads tile floor. Wow, I learned a lot and I was only charged $5 an hour to learn how to lay the tile, it was Awesome! I really am glad I learned how to do that. It was hard work, but I think I will save myself a bunch of money when I build my house and can lay my own tile. I hope you enjoy these pictures, I am not sure if I have one of the finished project, but Dad might post some of his pictures soon, so you can go and look at his.



So I can't resist posting this picture of Marcella either. She is such a fun little girl. She now has a tooth! She doesn't have one in this picture, but I will post one soon of her first tooth that she got at 14 1/2 months old. We were beginning to think she was going to be toothless.

So my visiting teaching partner gave us some of the yummiest popcorn for Christmas, and I have made it 3 times since and even though it is only 8:45 am I am eating it. It is so yummy I just can't stay away. I am going to give all of you the recipe so you can try it and then let me know if you like it. Jon doesn't like it because he doesn't like sweet and salty things together let alone a lot of chocolate, but this is really good for all you kettle corn lovers. (Although I don't want you to be fooled, it doesn't taste anything like Kettle corn.) So here it is:

White Chocolate Popcorn:
1 Bag Butter Microwave Popcorn
1 Bag White Chocolate Chips or some White almond bark
Pretzels
Slivered Almonds

Pop the popcorn and then mix the popcorn with some pretzels and nuts and anything else you desire. I have added craisens and Marshmellows. So that is the fun part you add whatever you think will taste good. Then you melt your chocolate in your microwave and then pour it over your popcorn and mix together. It is sooo easy! I usually double it, but if you are like me, I always wonder why I doubled something because then I end up eating all of it. So just to warn you this is not a low fat, carb free, Cholesterol free snack. But it is delicous!

So I titled this random for a reason, because I thought I would just start posting and then write or add whatever I thought of so I hope you all don't get too Bored.




CONGRATS GREG!! We are so excited for you to start your new job. The only sad thing is we don't want you to leave. Marcella loves playing with Uncle Greg and we will be sad to see you go. We hope all goes well for you and we will have to come and stay with you for a few days this summer. Good Luck!



Here is the man who is as I speak, taking the GRE exam to get into Grad School, so if you read this soon, start praying for him. I am sure he will do great, he has been doing really well on the practice exams. We are just excited this day has finally come and will shortly be over. It sounds like he has a pretty good shot at getting into BYU this fall semester, so we will let you know when we find out. Well, Marcella is at Grandma's and Jon is gone, so I think I am going back to bed! Man, I don't think I have been able to sleep-in in ages! I hope you all have a great day!

Blessing, Baptism, and Christmas Program

We had fun with the McCann's and the Neuenschwander's when Grace was baptized and Hannah was blessed. We didn't take a lot of pictures, though. There was a luncheon after with about 23 different soups. They were all good.

Here's Lilly...she's sitting on my shoulders.

This is Hannah. She looks cute, eh?

We had a Christmas program on Sunday night. It was fun. We played instruments, ate food, reenacted the Nativity, and had a great time. David and Michelle came with their newest edition, Joshua.

Kanien and Marcella


Isaac

Brad and Matthew

Grandpa Wallin

Kristin

Jeff, Caroline, and Hannah

Jackie McCann and Great-Grandmother Hanson

Elizabeth

Hannah again

Marcella in a shepherd's robe (I think)

A Shepherd

Grace receiving riding instructions from Grandma Wallin

Everyone adoring Baby Jesus (Joshua)...you can see Kristin's flock of sheep on her back.

Hannah and Joshua...they're teensy weensy