first real snow. and making maple snow cream.

 - Just like shoveling snow, only tastier. 

today we had our first real snowstorm of the season.
and it's still coming down strong.
we have about 3 inches, with another 3 on the way.

husband and i went out to play in it this morning.
of course.
and remembered we wanted to make snow cream.
husband gathered up some snow.
and then we mixed it up.
and ate it.
yum.

check out the recipe (courtesy of hallee, the homemaker) and photos below.
ps. don't judge my cold weather pjams.

Snow Cream

1 Gallon Fresh Snow, preferably the kind that hasn't touched the ground, or car, or grass.
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
1 Tablespoon Vanilla
2 Cups Milk
1 Strong Husband to Stir, optional

Dump all ingredients into a large bowl.
Stir until smooth.
Eat. It. Up.

about to play in the snow.  whooohoo!

flying through the snow.

can you believe we LIVE here?!?!?!

shoes!

all our little cans, lined up in a row.

scooping the snow.

he can't wait to taste it.

adding the maple syrup.

1 Tablespoon Vanilla.  Thank you, Costco.

one strong husband.  mixing it up.

is it done yet?

yum!

we tried a new veggie.

i keep seeing things about artichokes.
and other than aunt sandy's new year's artichoke dip, i have never had them.
i checked with husband, and he had never tried one either.
we decided to have a bit of a dinner adventure last weekend.

we bought some artichokes at fairway on sale.
i washed them.
trimmed them.
and then cooked them in the microwave.
lots of blogs i read said to eat them dipped in melter butter...
but, that seemed to negate the whole veggie thing.

we ate them plain.
and decided it was a good adventure.
the taste was nice.
the texture was a bit wierd.
and it was too much work, for the little, teeny, tiny bit you get to eat.

are we missing something?

how do you eat your artichokes.

washing the little veggies.

after they had been trimmed, and were about to get cooked.

the heart.  it took a loooooong time to get there.

husband enjoying his 'choke.

me eating mine.

the aftermath.  bound for the trash bag.

husband was better at it than i was.  what precision!

a little obsessed.

i have a new obsession.
omg.
it is amazing.
it's a little thing called broccoli.
hopefully husband doesn't tire of it any time soon.
especially because it was on sale this week for 69 cents a POUND.

and it's not just any broccoli. 
it's broccoli with lemon and sea salt.

sweet, spicy, sticky chicken.  couscous.  lemon, sea salt broc.  notice my handmade napkins.

here's how it works.

1) steam yourself some broccoli trees.
2)  drain water.  put back in pot.
3)  squeeze a lemon over broccoli.
4)  sprinkle sea salt.
5)  add just a smidge of butter.
6)  mix it together.
7)  eat it up.

can you tell how good it all was?

snowday special :: raisin oat scones

we got about a foot of snow.  on top of old snow.

our front stoop

juan's air conditioner.

our neighbor's yard. so, so beautiful.

our street.  one of our neighbor has a back hoe.  whoa.

can you see the car???

husband with his shovel.  i used a broom.

i had another snow day on thursday of this past week.
husband had to go to work. 
so, after we spent 3 hours digging our cars out of the snow,
he went to work.  and i took a nap.

when i woke up, it seemed like a scone day.

i adapted this recipe from our good friend, martha stewart.
it's a good thing.

raisin and oat scones

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins (I used a little more!)
2 good tsp flax seed (yum!)


3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup yogurt or buttermilk ( i used yogurt, with a little bit of milk)


preheat oven to 400 degrees.
whisk together your dry ingredients.
in another bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients.
add wet mixture to flour mixture. 
stir until batter is evenly moistened.  do not over mix.
spoon out by 1/3 cup fulls onto parchment paper covered baking sheets.
bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
cool your scones for five minutes...then enjoy!

i took these scones into my office, and they were gone really fast!
and i got tons of compliments on them.

yum!  time to eat.

slow cooker green chicken chili

this winter, i have been all about making soup.
i especially love soup in a crock pot.
it keeps the house a touch warmer, and keeps us warm when we eat it.
i made a pot of this soup on our snow day last week, and then we took it for our lunches.

i love that it incorporates kale...which - btw,  is not sea weed, as my sister thought.

you can find a link to the recipe here.

soaked baked oatmeal with molasses

i am always looking for new recipes.
and new warm breakfast recipes.
this one passes the test for these reasons.

1)  you bake it, and it warms your house up.
2)  you bake it, so it's warm, and it warms you up.
3)  it's filling.
4)  it's good for you.

i found the recipe here.  her pictures are WAY better than mine.

i only made 1/2 of the batch.
as good as it is, husband and i don't need to keep eating it for the next three weeks.  
even only making 1/2 made a lot.  and we are still enjoying it a couple days later.

i had never soaked any grains before, it's supposed to help make them more digestible.
and we eat it with a little bit of honey, or maple syrup poured over it.  so good.

here is my picture...yum!