First Day of School

You need to forgive the hair in the pictures.  We were using a different camera than normal.

Angela is starting Kindergarten this year.  She has Mrs. Lamb and she is super excited about the turtle in her room.  She also likes her purple hexagon and Elsa book bag.

 Aaron will be having his 3rd year with Mrs. Mowry and he will be a 3rd grader.  He will have some new classmates this year.

Andrew is my 5th grader.  He has reached the point that he says school is boring but he has a goal of straight A's.  He was super close last year.

 They wanted pictures with Daddy and the dog and each other.

Gnocchi

Image from pastaequipment.com

Gnocchi....I had never had it before but had recently seen a couple of recipes that made curious to try it.  Needless to say it was a hit in the Barbee house.  I bought some in the pasta aisle but they say you can also find it in the freezer section too.  If you are really inspired, you could make it from scratch.  I am not however that inspired.  The cooking time of this stuff pre-made is 2 minutes.  Okay.  I put together several recipes to make mine tonight.  So I am sharing...in part so I can make it again.

2 pounds gnocchi (this was two packages said 3 servings each) - Cook according to directions
1/2 pound of bacon cut into small pieces
3 cups spinach cut into small pieces (I have a little electric chopper that does this...if you are lazy don't chop it...my kids eat the little pieces...looks less like spinach)
1/4 cup of flour
3 to 4 cups of milk
1 cup very sharp cheddar cheese (most recipes call for parmesan...didn't have any)
1 to 2 tsp garlic seasoning mix (I like McCormick salt free)

Cook bacon. Remove bacon from pan  and set aside.  Add flour to pan.  Stir to make a paste.  Slowly add milk, stirring with a whisk.  Add seasoning.  Cook and stir until slightly thickened. 2 to 3 minutes before serving add back in bacon.  Also add spinach.  Just before serving add cheese.  Mix with gnocchi and serve.

This got rave reviews from the family despite the pasta looking funny and having lots of spinach in it.

A few Christmas pictures...yes I am behind.

These are our pictures from the school christmas concert.  Andrew had a speaking part this year and was thrilled because he got to dress up instead of wearing chapel clothes.  Aaron was excited that he was not in the first row.

 Cousins at Christmas.

 Christmas present adventures.

New Hanbok

Andrew was so excited about his new hanbok.  So here is our boy.

Cooking with Andrew and Aaron too....

Andrew has taken interest in cooking with me lately.  I think, mostly because it means he gets to do something with mommy.  And he is a do something with someone all the time kind of guy.  It has been fun to see him enjoy helping and being so proud of the results.  He loves to make his own eggs BY HIMSELF.  He has "taught"  Aaron how to do it as well.  He is my regularly dessert maker for Sabbath eve and sometime even for church pot lucks.  He picked out the dessert for this week.

We had a minor disaster awhile back, perpetuated by his sister.  He had made this dessert cookie pizza that included icing.  We had left it on the counter.  His sister climbed up licked the icing.  Normally this is not a big deal we would have rolled with it but it was for covered dish dinner.  This was not going to fly...so a quick replacement item was made.  Andrew however was quite distraught.  So we let him make it again for the next covered dish...minus the sister assistance.

 Now Aaron has started to get in on the helping thing too and Angela wants to lick the batter bowl.  Cooking has encouraged Andrew to try new foods, because even if he isn't convinced that he will like it, the fact that he put it in makes it better.  Cooking with my boys sometimes means dinner is a little late but the joy they get from helping is worth it (most of the time).

Leftover Potato Soup

I made this last night out of leftovers...the rest of the leftovers are going in a quiche today...it keeps coming back.

3 baked potatoes skinned and chunked (we had baked potatoes monday night)
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup chicken chunks already cooked(some on sale in the fridge section - rest went into quiche)
1 cup ham chunks(had lunch meat)
1 cup of milk with a 1/4 cup of flour dissolved in it.
1 cup of shredded cheese ( had italian mix in the house)

Place potatoes, broth, chicken and ham in the pot.  Heat to boiling.  Add milk mixture to pot.  Cook until it begins to thicken.  Add cheese.  Serve cheese is melted.  This took less than 20 minutes.

We had steak'ums on the side.

So tonight quiche contains, chicken, steak'um, broccoli (leftovers)  and cheese.

NOTE: Don't have baked potatoes throw them in the microwave and you will have them in about 5 minutes...stab them with a fork to prevent a microwave disaster.

Ham Roll Ups

Here is another left over creation...

3 cups shredded ham or turkey ham

24oz size container of cottage cheese

2 cups of mozzarella cheese, divided

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 tablespoon of garlic and herb seasoning(I like McCormick's salt free brand)

1 large jar of Alfredo/white sauce

12 lasagna noodles 

Cook lasagna noodles according to package.  Drain cottage cheese.  Mix cottage cheese, 1.5 cups of cheese, Parmesan, egg and seasoning.  Spoon and spread about 1/3 cup of cheese mixture onto the noodle.  Spread 1/4 cup of ham over cheese mixture.  Roll and place in greased 13 x 9 pan.  Repeat for the remaining noodles.  Pour Alfredo sauce over pasta, top with remaining cheese.  Cover and bake at 350 for 30 to 45 minutes.