Love at First Bite

Last night we had a homemade version of the Olive Garden's Pasta e Fagioli soup. I was pretty excited to find this copycat recipe online and had been meaning to try it for a while. It turned out pretty good, so I thought I'd share with other soup fans out there:

Ingredients:

Salt
Pepper
1 teaspoon of Oil
1 pound of ground beef
1 cup of onion, finely chopped
1 cup of carrots, slivered (I bought a bag of shredded carrots)
2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes with juice
1 15.5 oz. can of Red Kidney Bean
1 15.5 oz. can of White Kidney Bean
32 oz. of Beef Broth
1 1/2 teaspoon of Oregano
1 teaspoon of Parsley, freshly chopped
1 teaspoon of Tabasco sauce
26 oz of Spaghetti Sauce
1 or 2 cups of salad pasta (small tube pasta)

You'll need a big pot.

Directions:

Saute onions in oil until they start becoming translucent in color. Add beef to pot and salt and pepper to taste. Add carrots, celery and tomatoes and simmer for about 10 minutes. Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Add beef broth, oregano, Tabasco sauce, spaghetti sauce and parsley. Simmer in low/med heat for about 30 minutes. Add noodles and simmer for another 15 minutes or until noodles are tender. It makes about 5-6 qts. of soup.

Serve with Garlic Bread and sprinkle some parmesan on top!

The recipe asks for fresh parsley which I used, but since it asks for only a teaspoon of it, I'll use dried parsley instead next time. Also, next time I'll add some fresh minced garlic - I think garlic would go great with that recipe.

Enjoy!

Um... You're Coughing On My Kid...

Happy New Year Everyone {Only 29 days late}

So much has happened this year already! We've moved {again} to a bigger place, got a new president and Ian's got his first flu of the year: compliments of the coughing lady in church last Sunday.

I get that we all go to church, among other things, for the spiritual enrichment that can come from a sacrament meeting but, common sense tells me I'm excused from attending my meetings anytime I'm sick with a nasty, highly contagious flu in the dead of winter.

Oh the humanity!

This sister in church was visibly sick: coughing up a storm, sneezing and blowing into her sleeve. Right next to us. Annoying. Even more annoying was realizing she was still there for the third hour, spreading germs in relief society - all I could hear was her coughing.

There was a little sign on our old Lehi ward Nursery's door. It read:

Mary had a little lamb, she also had the flu.
And when she left our Nursery, the others had it, too.
So anytime your kid is sick, please keep her home with you.
So the other children in our Nursery can be happy and healthier, too.

Pathetic that we actually had remind parents NOT to bring their sick children into Nursery. It should be a no-brainer.

Poor Mr. E has been completely miserable since waking up with a fever a few days ago. He's been coughing, sneezing and had to miss preschool this week.

Sorry if I sound a little crass, and while I can't be 100% sure he actually got it from "sleevy", I'll never understand what possesses someone to come to church, or any other public place, while being that sick. Especially church where there are lots of babies, little children, elderly and other people with weak immune systems who can be seriously affected by it.

The Best Things in Life Are Not Things

We were eating at a sandwich shop (jimmy john's) the other day and noticed this story on the wall. I thought it was interesting - one of those stories that puts things in perspective. Here's the story:

A wealthy investment Banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The Banker complimented the Fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Fisherman replied, ‘only a little while.’

The Banker then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish?

The Fisherman said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.

The Banker then asked, ‘but what do you do with the rest of your time?’

The Fisherman said, ‘I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.’

The wealthy banker scoffed, ‘I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.’

The Fisherman asked, ‘But, how long will this all take?’

To which the Banker replied, ‘15 - 20 years.’

‘But what then?’ Asked the Fisherman.

The Banker laughed and said, ‘That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions - then what?”

The Banker said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”