Lily has been here six days now, and so far, so good! Shiloh continues to taunt her and she continues to tolerate it like a champ.
We are starting to see signs of Lily relaxing and coming out of her shell, ever so slowly. We have weeks and months of acclimation in front of us, but at this point we are really optimistic. 
Details to follow…she is a rescue and she is the sweetest and most grateful baby we have ever met.
This recipe actually originated with my great, great grandmother, Riley…well over 100 years ago. She used to make it for my grandmother, Dorothy, when she was a young girl.
Click this link for the original recipe, and below is the updated recipe I made tonight.
While it is always absolutely delicious when my grandmother makes it according to the original recipe, I wanted to update it a bit and boost certain flavors.
Start with a large covered pot. Stock pot size, preferably.
Optional; add any or all of the following, to taste:
Heat to a boil then reduce to simmer, covered, for about two hours.
This recipe makes a lot of soup, so unless you have a really large family, plan on plenty mass quantities of leftovers…possibly even enough to freeze and/or share with a neighbor.
It’s also very adaptable so if you’d like to make a vegetarian version, replace the beef broth with vegetable broth and/or water, omit the ground beef, and up the veggies. You could also add potatoes, rice, and/or pasta in order to make it heartier.
Don’t be afraid to play around with it! I do, every time, and so far I’ve never gone wrong.
Oh, and one more tip. The more you warm this over, the better it is.
Enjoy!
my very own "Hugh toon" by @gapingvoid!
I cannot believe it’s been 10 days since we’ve last updated! I cooked three amazing new recipes last week (all thanks to Pinterest, of course 
) which I have pictures of and every intention to post; just haven’t gotten there yet. But I will!
My work has really picked up recently, and we’ve been spending a lot more time outdoors with Shiloh since spring summer decided to make a bold, early entrance back in to our lives. So we’re good; just busy.
As you can see in the photo above, I was shocked and honored to learn that our very favorite artist, Hugh MacLeod (a.k.a. @gapingvoid) drew a customized “Hugh toon” just for me! Many many thanks to our dear friend Michael Long for that!! We have a “Hugh wall” in our living room with three of his prints and plan to add significantly to our collection. We have both been using his cartoons on our blogs and business cards for years; long before we even met!
A long-time family friend is throwing a bridal shower for me in May. We are keeping it very small; mainly family and a couple of close girlfriends. The shower will be near my parents’ house on Treasure Island, FL, so Todd’s parents will come over from Orlando for the weekend so that his mom can join us at the shower, and we can all enjoy spending some family time together before the wedding.
It’s shaping up to be a very nice weekend…we’ll also be celebrating Todd’s birthday, his mother’s birthday, his parents’ anniversary (49 years!), and Mother’s Day. Really really nice to be able to do all of that together.
I took a photo of the front of one of our notecards (they are foldover) with my iPhone, and for some reason between iPhone 4S editing and Picasa I’m having a heck of a time getting the colors to look right online.
They are much prettier than this…I’m really in to grey and yellow right now, and that’s what they look like in real life. Very pretty.
Mailey used Shiloh to demonstrate a “down” command technique tonight:
Spinach macaroni + cheese is another recipe I found on Pinterest. Last night Todd grilled pork tenderloins and I made this.
It was really good, and so easy!
My large muffin pan only holds six, so I made this as a casserole instead. Other than that, I followed the recipe to the letter (although I may or may not have used a little more cheese…) Oh, and we didn’t have any gruyere so I used parmesan instead.
Obviously, I used gluten-free pasta. We use Ancient Harvest, which is made from quinoa, and for this recipe I used their shells rather than the elbow macaroni, which they do make, as well.
Dinner is served!
Over the past six months I have become obsessed with virtual hoarding via Pinterest. Todd doesn’t mind this, actually…as long as I keep my “hoarding” limited to the web it works for us (i.e. it doesn’t clutter the house. We both despise clutter.)
Plus, he fully supports my “recipe research” a la Rachael Ray (one of my favs) as well as venues such as Pinterest because, as he says, he reaps the benefits.
Anyway, tonight I made a dish that’s new to us via a recipe I found on Pinterest this morning: chicken parmesan bake.
Here is the link to the original recipe, including a brief yet thorough instructional video, and here’s how I made it (gluten-free, of course):
Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp italian seasoning
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 jar marinara
1/4 cup chopped basil
8 oz mozzarella, shredded (Publix brand)
4 oz parmesan, shredded (Publix brand)
4 oz six cheese italian mix, shredded (Publix brand)
8 slices Udi’s white bread, brushed with melted garlic butter and baked at 350 for 14 minutes then cut into bite-sized cubes
Preheat oven to 350.
Drizzle the olive oil in the bottom of your baking dish and add the garlic, italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
Place the chicken breasts in the dish, and cover evenly with the marinara sauce.
Add the basil, then top with half of each kind of cheese.
Layer evenly with croutons and the rest of the cheese and bake for 35 – 40 minutes.
This dish had more flavor than just about anything I’ve ever made, and it really could not have been easier. Todd and I have most definitely agreed that this is a new staple in our repertoire!