End of Summer Risotto

Do you love Risotto? Do you love Summer?

Well friends, let me tell you…… if the answer was yes to either one of those questions, you WILL LOVE this recipe!

For some reason, I have always loved veggies. That’s not to say that I eat them all the time, or I’m a vegetarian (I tried to be a couple of times and FAILED MISERABLY!………….BOTH ………TIMES!)

I just haven’t met a vegetable I didn’t like. I have asked my mother what she did differently during her pregnancy with me, but she wouldn’t give me the secret, so alas, I have not been able to recreate this my own kiddos.

I have to say that while this wasn’t a hit with all 3 of the kids, it WAS with one and Mom and Dad. (*So maybe I got the pregnancy secret down with one of the kids and not the others, right? LOL!)

For some who aren’t familiar with risotto, it is basically rice that you cook slowly and add liquid and other ingredients too that in the end, becomes a rich, creamy, thick rice dish. In other words, YUMMY!

I cannot claim this recipe for my own. I got it from one of my go to Cookbooks, Cooking Light: Good Mood Food.

I always seem to tweak my recipes just a little, so it never ends up exactly like the original, but that’s ok with me. 😉

I really think you are going to love this!

Here you go!

Recipe: End of Summer Risotto

• 6 cups of water

• 1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 3/4 in. pieces

• 1 3/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

• 2 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup uncooked Arborio Rice

• 1 cup Frozen Shelled Edamame

• 1/2 Kosher Salt

• 1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

• 2 oz. (1/3 – less- fat cream cheese (about 1/4 cup)

• 1/2 Teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 oz. Shredded Parmesan (about 1/4 cup) * You can find this in the pre-shredded packaged cheese in your grocery store.

• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or * Dried Thyme works just fine! Just remember to reduce the amount. Dried is stronger than fresh.

Directions:

– Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a saucepan. Add asparagus, and cook 2 minutes. Drain. Bring 2 cups water and chicken broth to a simmer in a saucepan.

– Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add olive oil, and swirl to coat. Add onions; cook 4 minutes. Add garlic, and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in rice, edamame, and salt; cook 1 minute. Stir in 1 cup broth mixture,; cook 4 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining broth mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed before adding more ( about 20 minutes total.)

– Stir in asparagus, cream cheese, and pepper; cook 1 minute.

– Spoon risotto into a large serving bowl, OR * 4 individual bowls if main dish. Top the large bowl with 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese or 1 Tbsp. of the parmesan if you are serving in individual bowls.

– Sprinkle with Thyme.

SERVES: 4 if serving as main dish, and much more if serving as side.

SIDE NOTE:

I loved this so much, I had it the next day with left overs! For dinner the night before, we served it with Grilled Chicken. So for left overs, I made it a single bowl full of yumminess!

I ended up with left over Risotto, Grilled Chicken, and added Wilted Kale over top. I love pepper too so I got a little heavy handed on that end, but oh my word!

So So Good!

Hope you enjoy!

XoXo,

Esther

Tags: Cooking Light, Creamy, Recipe, Rice, Rich, Risotto, Summer, Vegetarian

09.12.

Laundry Room Make Over Series: DIY “WASH” Sign

I have been wanting to “Spruce” up my Laundry Room for a while.

I didn’t want to break the bank in the process though, so I decided I would do it in fazes. This is the first post in a series of posts I will do as I update it. 🙂

I had seen the letters “W A S H” on someone else’s Laundry Room wall and I decided to do it myself. I think it was Kathryn from Do It On a Dime, which is a Youtube channel, but she also has a blog that she started recently to go along with it. LOVE her! She has great tips for ……. you guessed it, Doing things on a Dime, or on the cheap. You can check out her youtube channel here, and her blog here.

So, first off, I went to my local craft store, AC Moore and bought the unfinished wooden letters. They were 2 for $5.00, which I thought was pretty good.

I also picked up a can of Rust-Oleum’s Painter’s Touch Spray Paint in a Metallic Aluminum Color for $6.99. My walls are painted Stonington Gray by Benjamin Moore in the Laundry Room and instead of painting them a contrasting color, I wanted them to have almost an “embossed” look, so I chose a color as similar as possible to the wall color.

I sprayed them with 2 light coats of paint and it covered VERY VERY well.

This was the end result, which I’m really happy with.

However, I might move the letters because since I did the letters, we have decided to do a few more updates to the Laundry Room, which I am REALLY excited about.

I will make sure to do updates on it as we progress through the work.

While I was at it, I decided to take a White Wired Trash Can I purchased at the Dollar Tree and spray it too.

While you might not be able to tell a huge difference on photo, it did spice it up a little and not make it look so “Dollar Tree”ish. Did that sound bad? I hope not. I was definitely happy with the fact that I was able to get more uses out of the one can of spray paint and still had some left to do other projects!

Stay tuned for more updates on the Laundry Room Makeover!

XOXO,

Esther

Tags: AC Moore, Benjamin Moore, Cheap Makeover, Crafting, DIY, Do It In A Dime, Laundry Room, Painter's Touch, Rustoleum, Sign, Spray Paint, Stonington Gray, Wash, Wooden Letters, Youtube

08.20.

The Last One

As I sit here typing this post, he is sitting next to me, explaining the detailed issues between “Zig and Sharko” on Netflix.

“Oh no! Stingrays!” , he says.

A giggle follows as he scoots a little closer. He grabs his “blankie” and immediately goes for the gigantic hole that he has worked back into after the countless times his Nana has fixed it. (* You see, he loves the batting inside)

The blanket wiggles back and forth from his little fingers rubbing the soft aged cotton inside. At what point will this blanket completely disintegrate from the constant abuse? (I think)

By now, he is practically underneath my side and that glorious lime green blanket is lovingly rubbing my arm. I already knew that this would be the end result. Not a day goes by that I do not get asked, “Mommy, can I rub your arm?” Because I know it is a comfort thing for him, I always oblige. 🙂

Now…… I can’t seem to get rid of this lump in my throat.

Ugh! I knew this day was going to come, but still, I guess deep down, I could avoid it somehow!

My mind immediately throws me back to almost six years ago when I was sitting in my bedroom, telling Z we were pregnant. I had a plan and it DIDN’T involve being pregnant with a 3rd child at the time.

However, God had other plans for me. You see, God remembered how I use to sit and stare at Z and the girls and be so INSANELY jealous of the relationship they had. How I would be with them all day long and the moment that man stepped in the door, they would instantly go running to him like he was a Rock Star and not leave his side the entire night until bedtime. Or how we could be anywhere and they would want him before they would want me.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know my girls loved and do love me, but it’s different with their Daddy. You love both of your parents but there is something about a girl’s love for her Daddy. I knew that because of how I love my own.

Anxiety is now setting in…….

Will his teacher be understanding when he says he is hungry a MILLION times, when he just ate something 5 minutes earlier?

Will his teacher be able to resist his “pout face” he uses when he wants something?

Is she going to understand his bursts of energy?

What if he needs me? Will I feel it?

I asked him a few things tonight. First, “if your teacher asks you a question and your answer is yes, what do you say?” “Yes, ma’am”.

“Good! I said.”

“Ok, if your teacher asks you a question and the answer is no, what do you say?” “No, ma’am”.

“Great!”

“When Mommy misses you tomorrow, what is she supposed to do?” He paused…… Then he thought…….

“Ummm, go to the Grocery Store?”

So, there it is FOLKS!

I guess if you need me tomorrow and every school day after that, you can find me at the Grocery Store……. ALL…DAY….LONG. 😉

Tags: Kindergarten, Netflix, Pout Face, Teacher, The Last One, Zig and Sharko

06.11.

Showing Hospitality Towards Others: Veggie Garden Baskets

This is going to be a different kind of post….. well sort of. As you know, I love to blog about all kinds of things. Decorating, cooking, my “babies”. I don’t usually talk about my faith or mention God a lot, but lately, I have felt a tug on my heart to mention him more in the posts that I share.

Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to go all “Bible” on y’all. I wouldn’t dream of doing that!……. OR WOULD I? 😉

I mentioned before in a previous post about being Hospitable towards others. We are called to do this and I believe it is truly good for someone’s soul to show hospitality towards others. It is a natural thing to want to show others kindness. Showing hospitality is a kissin cousin of kindness.

Think about it!

Doesn’t it make you happy to see the smile on someone’s face when you give them a gift? It’s a joyous feeling when you truly see the look of excitement from them. The fact that you would take the time to think of them and make them feel special makes their heart so full.

Well, we have been blessed this year with a Crazy Growing…..Wild Looking……. (Like it is on Steroids)……. Garden.

We have veggies coming off left and right. As we sat there admiring the fruits of our labors, we thought to ourselves…..” There is no way we will ever eat all of this ourselves!”

Then, for a second (AND I MEAN SPLIT SECOND), we thought we could.

Then we thought about the MASSIVE 5 day bellyache that may cause.

Then, we had an idea!

Why not bless our friends and family like God has blessed us this Summer?

I thought this would be a great opportunity to show my BABIES how to show that same hospitality towards others…..

So, we grabbed our baskets….

Some ribbon, and cards and got movin.

We stuffed them full of goodies….

Added a quick note….

Plus a little tag secured by the ribbon. “Veggie-Blessed” was the best I could come up with. DONT JUDGE ME! LOL!

Then we took off and made our stops.

I loved the sheer excitement on my babies faces when they got to deliver the baskets to our friends. Some were home and some were not. I don’t know…… There is something fun about leaving goodies for your friends on their doorsteps. Thinking about the look on their faces when they see the gift that was left for them.

*SIDE NOTE: Make sure that you let them know there is something waiting for them on their doorstep just in case they have a garage. If they are like me, they don’t use their front door as much and might not see it waiting there for them! 😉