Cabin Fever!

Okay, I am done with winter. I can't wait until I can just tell Abigail, "go outside and play." I am dying to go on a walk. Old Man Winter, GO AWAY! Please :)

Attack of The Split Pea Soup

So, I made split pea soup yesterday and it was really yummy, but that isn't what my blog is about. Today, I got the soup out of the refrigerator to re-heat it for dinner. I set it on the counter and went in the living room to do something. Next thing I know, I hear Abigail screaming in the kitchen. She had climbed up on top of a 5 gallon bucket to get the pot of soup, I am not sure why she wanted the soup, but anyway. I come in the kitchen to find her with a face full of pea soup . She had dumped the soup on her head and fallen off the bucket. She was screaming because she had fallen and she had soup all over her and she couldn't see. I washed her face off and washed her eyes out. Apparently, her eyes were open when the soup decided to attack, so she was quite upset that her eyes were burning from the garlic, salt, and pepper in the soup. Who knew split pea soup could be so dangerous? I wish I could have taken a picture of her, but sometimes there isn't time for pictures during a crisis. I guess it is a good thing the soup was cold and I hadn't warmed it up yet.

I finally did it!!

After almost six years of marriage and dozens of failed bread attempts, I finally made a decent loaf of bread. Some of you may not consider this a very big deal, but for me it is. I have had such a hard time making bread, that I told Darin
if this batch didn't turn out, I would never try again. Sometimes I couldn't even make bread in my bread machine. It was soooo yummy. Below is the recipe that I used. This recipe is for 100% whole wheat bread. You know those wheat kernels you have in your food storage that you have no idea what to do with. Get a wheat grinder and make some bread using this recipe. Yum!

Ingredients

6 cups warm water
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup honey
8 cups freshly milled whole wheat flour (more flour needed later)
2 Tbsp. wheat gluten
2 Tbsp. salt
3 Tbsp. instant yeast
4-8 additional cups of whole wheat flour
*The amount of additional flour you will add will depend on the protein levels and moisture in your wheat.

Instructions

In your Bosch or Kitchen Aid mixer bowl, combine warm water, oil, and honey. Next add 8 cups of freshly ground wheat flour. On top of the four, add wheat gluten, salt, and yeast. "Jog" your mixer off and on so the flour won't rise out of your mixing bowl, then mix on your first speed until smooth. Next, slowly add an additional 3-4 cups of wheat flour, stopping periodically to test it Remove bread dough from the mixer and place dough in a large plastic bowl. Knead dough and slowly add 1-4 more cups of wheat flour until the dough is the right texture. The dough should not stick to your fingers. Do not add too much flour or knead the dough too long, the dough will become too tough. Form dough into 5 dough logs. Spray 5 loaf pans with cooking spray and place one dough log into each loaf pan. Prep. your oven by turning your oven to the "warm" setting, boil some water and place the boiling water on the very bottom rack of your oven. Turn your oven off once the oven is warm and place your bread loaves in the oven to rise for 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. You may need to replace the water every 30 minutes to keep your oven humid for best bread rising conditions. Once your bread has risen to your satisfaction, turn your oven to 350 and set the timer for 45 minutes. Start the timer from when you turn the heat on, not from when the oven gets warm. Bake times may vary slightly depending on the oven. This bread is delicious and surprisingly light for an all whole wheat recipe.

Be My Valentine

Last week I told Abigail that we got to make Valentines for the kids in her class at school. Every day since then she asks "Is tomorrow Valentine's day?" Well the moment came, we made frosted, cut-out sugar cookies for the kids in her class. They are celebrating Valentines day on Thursday because pre-schoolers don't go on Fridays. She is so proud. We had a lot of fun, but I think we will have to wait until Halloween to make more sugar cookies, they are kind of a pain to make.

I love that sweetie!

Dance Party 24/7

So, at our house Abigail's favorite thing to do is turn on her music (Hannah Montana, Spice Girls, or a movie sound track like Shark Tale) and dance. We have about three hours of dance parties every day. I would say the dance parties can be a little loud and excessive, but still pretty cute at the same time. I can't believe that I have to limit the amount of dancing and loud music that Abigail does each day, I mean, there are only so many hours a person can listen to "You can't touch this" before going crazy. The twins have started to join Abigail in her dancing craze and it is pretty funny. Enjoy!

Has anyone printed their blog?

I am considering printing my blog since it is really the only journaling that I do. Does anyone have any suggestions on a company that I should use? Any tips are welcome.

Disco Diva

A Few Cuties in Abigail's Dance Class.
Abigail - Dancing Her Pants Off - 2nd From The Left

Stretching Before Her Dance

PEACE

Disco Diva

Shake Your Grove Thang

We had a big snow storm on the day of Abigail's Christmas Dance Recital and the highways were shut down, so her Christmas Dance Recital was cancelled. Abigail had a little recital yesterday to make up for the Christmas recital being cancelled. Her class was the Disco Divas. They still have alot of work to do, but it wasn't bad for only three weeks of practice. I think they will be taking this dance to competition in March, so they still have a bout 6 weeks of practice to do. Here is a little video clip of her dance. Abigail is third from the left (the one still hopping when everyone else goes down to the floor). They are so cute!