You know what I'll never understand? How people (like my son and his adorable friend Kyle) can have such bright and vibrant blue eyes that just catch your attention no matter where you are or what you're doing...having plain 'ol brown eyes I just don't get it- and how is it that I birthed this beautiful child? He looks nothing like me...oh and one more thought- ever since he was a baby I've always thought he at least had my nose because everything else is obviously Andrew - but now that he's older I'm having to come to terms with the nose not being mine either. He looks nothing like me- but I will say he's rather fiesty like his 'ol ma! I'm making a commitment to cooking more this Fall/Winter - not only to save a bit budget-wise but because we need to try new things. When summer started I was so stoked about eating more healthy until I soon realized that summer brings tons of hamburgers and hot dogs and chips and salads...not so good after all.
So first on the list~ homemade sausage lentil soup - my mom's recipe and one that is on the back of the Spokane Seed bag of lentils and peas (Andrew was sweet to include it on there when he redesigned the bags a few years back)

Here's what I did:

1. Brown 4 polish sausage links in a splash of olive oil, then add chopped walla walla onions until they are soft.

2. Then add 2 boxes of organic chicken stock and lots of spices (about 1 tsp of each) - Mrs. Dash, Rosemary, Oregano, Salt & pepper

3. On the other burner I boiled the 2 c. lentils for 5 minutes and then discarded the water and rinsed them (this helps remove the gassy coating apparently) and then added them to the soup.

4. After about 1/2 hr. I added chopped carrots, celery, and potatoes - cook the soup for 1 1/2 total hrs. (I did have to add about 2 more cups of water as the soup cooked, I think the lentil absorbed a lot of stock)

5. The wine in the picure is what I'm drinking...it doesn't go in the soup :-)

We're off to our first Curriculum night at school tonight and then soccer practice- I love this time of year! Anyone else have recipes they'd like to share?