Unstuffed Pepper Soup & Snow Ice Cream
This morning I jumped out of bed and got right into the kitchen. I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Then, I went right into making some more Valentine's Day treats. I made Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (I love these!!):
And Marshmallow Stuffed Chocolate Strawberries...yum!
Then I used some of the remaining chocolate to make hearts for some of the cupcakes I'm making for Stone's preschool Valentine's Day party tomorrow.
Today was a snow day....not meaning that school was cancelled....just meaning that we took advantage of the white fluffy stuff to have some fun! It's still chilly out today, but the forecast is calling for much warmer weather (Yippee!!). We had to act fast before the melting started! This icicle is huge!!
Poor little miss chicken had snow up to her butt today (well, not in this picture as the snow had been walked down already!
I also gazed intently at our new roping chute:
It reminds me that brighter and sunnier days are ahead....Summer is calling my name!!! :) Until then....back to the task at hand!
I'm an older mom (I'm 40) so I often get nostalgic about how fast time goes by. I love to take moments like this to spend time making memories with my son and my husband. What better way to do this than Snow Fun?!
If you have a side-by-side or a four wheeler and a sled.....you are in business! Just hook a sled to the back and let the good times roll!
Talk about some fun times! The horses were even intrigued at all the laughing!
I decided to climb on with Stone.....and share in the fun!
My hubby almost got this picture centered....haha! Bless his heart for capturing the moment anyway. :)
Stone and I wiped out.....and broke the sled.....so bigger measures had to be taken! I swear......we laughed and laughed and laughed.....I honestly don't remember the last time I laughed so loud and so long......it felt GREAT!!!
Shane saved the day by using our calf sled as our replacement.
Talk about one happy little boy......and a happy dog....Remi got to ride along. Tee and Sky were a bit unsure so they didn't jump on board!
We were wet when we got done....and cold, but the smiles were a mile wide.....and our stomachs hurt from laughing so much.....I love making memories like this! <3
I rewarded my guys with hot chocolate when we came in......and Snow Ice Cream! I followed a really easy recipe off of Allrecipes.com. Instead of milk I used heavy cream.....it was delicious. The guys loved it and there are leftovers in the freezer for later tonight. I like Ice Cream....don't get me wrong, but one or two bites is enough.....not Shane & Stone.....they could eat a gallon together....and I'm not kidding!
Snow Ice Cream
1 gallon of snow
1 TB of Vanilla Extract
1 cup of Sugar
2 cups of Heavy Cream
Mix until well blended. Enjoy….freeze leftovers.
After the Ice Cream was put into the freezer, I decided I'd better get the cupcakes done for Stone's Valentine's Day Party tomorrow. No special recipe here (this time anyway)......but we had a lot of fun decorating them!
Stone preschool classmates will hopefully love these! My mom commented earlier today that she can't imagine the time I spend on doing things like this. It's true....I do spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but it's my sanctuary......therefore, it never feels like work.....until I get to the "doing dishes part".....then it feels like the threshold of hell.....haha, just kidding.....well, kind of..... :)
So, it's the middle of the afternoon and it's time to start thinking about supper. Actually, I already know what we are having.....Unstuffed Pepper Soup.....and is it ever good! I ran across this recipe back in the winter of 2004. I've added a few more seasonings, but more or less kept it the same. I don't remember what little cookbook it came out of, but I have the original recipe card. Here it is:
I love the stains on it....and my scribblings. It's obviously "Excellent" in my book....and it's 4 points on the Weight Watchers point system (that was some time ago when I was focused on that)! Just to save on typing and time, I'm not going to type out the entire recipe since the recipe card is above.
I start out by browning the ground beef quickly adding the onion.
I then add the green peppers.
Today, I didn't have crushed tomatoes. All I had was diced. So, I improvised and blended them up!
Add the rest of the ingredients (not including the rice) and simmer for 30 minutes or so.
At this point, I add several seasonings to this soup that aren't called for (I do this all the time). Perhaps, they may be too salty for some, but this is what we like.
Lawry's Seasoning Salt, Salt, Pepper, Onion Salt, Minced Garlic, and Sugar. I use a teaspoon or two off all the seasonings except the Sugar. I used about a tablespoon of it to cut the acidity of the tomatoes. Mind you.....this is what our tastebuds like....you may want to make the soup the first time how the recipe is written (I do this with every new recipe I make). Then you will know how to doctor it up to suit you or your family's liking.
Then, cook up the rice....add it....heat through....and voila....an incredible soup to enjoy!!!
One thing about it.....this soup is AWESOME!! It's great the next day....or two....and it's superb frozen as well.
I hope you enjoy these two recipes.....and take some time out of the craziness to enjoy the small things in life.....for I truly believe they are the BIG things in the scheme of things. :) ~Cheyenne