Cookin' and Knittin'

So....I have been doing a fair amount of cooking lately. In an effort to "conserve" cash we cut out all take-out and all restaurant dining (no fast food either)-this has been since September. Even though I really like to cook, things have been getting a little boring around here. Sure the kids are happy with the 6 main menus I have been putting forth, but my husband and I, not so much. Enter Mom2my9 over at 11th Heaven's Homemaker Haven. I have been reading her blog for awhile now and am so-o-o impressed. She makes everything seem so easy and she has 9 kids. I have 5 and sometimes I feel so out of control!!! Anyway, she posted an entry over the weekend about planning and starting the prep for meals ahead of time. She even posted her menu - crockpot teriyaki chicken, rice, 'Chinese Buffet' green beans and Asian Salad. I decided right then and there to try it - I had almost all of the ingredients anyway, so I gave it a go. It was delicious and an unqualified success!! Everyone ate and had seconds of all of it - ALL OF IT - EACH KID - I still can't believe it! So I decided to make another dinner tonight:

Tortellini Soup

Homemade Bread

Fresh Cut Veges

Again - they all loved it. I'm not sure what has changed??

Recipe for Tortellini Soup:

1T butter

4 cloves of garlic, minced

9 cubes of vegetable boullion

9 cups hot water

19 oz pkg cheese tortellini

1-14oz can stewed tomatoes Italian style

1-small box chopped spinach

Grated parmesan cheese

*Melt butter and saute garlic for 2 minutes

*Stir in hot water and vegetable cubes

*Bring to a boil and reduce heat

*Add tortellini and cook until just tender

*Add remaining ingredients and simmer 2 minutes

*Serve with sprinkled parmesan

**ENJOY**

Along with the cookin' comes the knittin'. Always knitting at the end of the day :o) The bear above is for our new baby cousin who is almost 4 months old.

Started: 11/14/08

Knitting Finished: 11/18/08

Rest Finished: 12/6/08 - I hate finishing!

Needles: US7

Yarn: Bear: Vana's Choice - Color #130 Honey

Jammies: Knit One Crochet Too Fleece - Color #1293

Mini Bear for another cousin - this one has a keychain clip attached at the top

Started: 11/28/08

Finished: 12/06/08

Needles: US00 for bear - US1 for scarf

All of the thread is Royale Classic Size 10 Crochet Thread that was laying around. A long time ago a friend's mom gave me a whole bunch of this thread in all different colors and being the pack rat that I am, I kept it even though I didn't have any plans for it. Well - now I'm glad I did keep it!!

Another mini bear for above cousin's sister - also a keychain bear.

Started: 11/20/08

Finished: 11/28/08

Needles: US00 for bear, US1 for scarf

Same random batches of thread as listed above.

I still have a few more bears to sew together and embroider faces on. I am kind of all "bear'd" out now though and it is very tough to make myself finish these. It took me more than an hour to sew one bear together last night and I didn't even get to the face - I am unmotivated!!

Here are all three bears together to show the size of the mini bears. They really are fun to make :o)