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Here's a recipe I got from my Mom. It would be great with rice or is also fine plain (it might be from a South Beach diet book).

Place the following in a 9 X 13 pan:
- 4 chicken breasts
- 1 zuchini, chopped
- 1 yellow squash zuchini, chopped
- 1 C carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, yep, you guessed it, chopped
- 1 red pepper, chopped

Mix together and pour over chicken and vegetables:
- 1/4 C olive oil
- 1 t parsley
- 1 t marjoran
- 1 t thyme

Bake at 350 for 45 min, covered.
Pour over and bake for 10 more minutes.
- 16 oz. can diced tomatoes (I don't recommend letting your 2 year old dice the tomatoes)

These are the best. We first had them when my mom visited for Joanna's birth and have been making them ever since. You can refrigerate the dough for quick, fresh, hot rolls...ready in 30 min.

Dissolve in 1/2 C warm water: 1 T sugar and 1 T yeast.

Mix in bowl:
- 1/2 C oil
- 2 C plain yogurt
- 1/2 t baking soda
- 5 t baking powder
- 1 t salt
- 1/2 C sugar

Add yeast mixture and stir well.

Add 5 C flour (I use 3 whole wheat and 2 white) and knead until soft, adding more flour as needed.

Make into rolls and bake at 375 for 15 to 20 min.

Refrigerate dough in an airtight container.

Life is unscheduled and unpredictable with a newborn. This is hard for both Kirk and my personalities. One area of our little scheduled life that Samuel has thrown into some confusion is our morning routine. We like to eat oatmeal for breakfast but it takes time to make and thus Kirk is late for work. But something that my mom got us back into is granola. Quick, easy, delicious (especially if we have fresh strawberries to throw on top. So here's a recipe that I grew up on from the More With Less Cookbook. I have a batch baking right now and time to blog the recipe thanks to a WONDERFUL husband who has taken Joanna to the store. It's been a long, hard day and I'm tired of my job as Mommy.

Preheat oven to 325.
Mix together in large bowl:
- 1/2 - 1 C. coconut (I only use 1/2 C.)
- 4 C. rolled oats (I just use oatmeal)
- 1 C. sunflower seed
- 1 C. wheat germ (sold in the cereal part of the store, not the flour part)
- 1/4 - 1/2 c. sesame seed (I use 1/4 C.)
- 1 C. peanuts or chopped walnuts (I use 1 1/2 C. peanuts)

Bring to a boil:
- 1 C. honey or brown sugar (use 3/4 C. oil of you use brown sugar)
- 1/2 C oil
- 1 T cinnamon

Pour honey mixture over dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread on 2 greased cookie sheets (with sides). Bake about 30 minutes, stirring often. Watch closely at the last, not allowing granola to become too dark. Allow to cool undisturbed, then break into chunks.

This photo was taken at Kaufman park. I want to do a photo tour of St. Louis playgrounds. Check out more of the photos on my Facebook account.

Heidi requested the following recipe and I thought I'd put in on my blog since it's been forever since I've done that. I got this recipe from Heather Henning and we LOVE it. It makes a lot and freezes well.

Mulligatawny Soup
3 lb chicken thighs (Aldi sells a 3 lb bag of boneless skinless thighs)
3 T vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch ginger, grated
1 T curry (or more)
2 T water
4 C chicken stock
1/2 t salt
1/2 to 1 C heavy whipping cream

1. Cut chicken into bite size pieces (this takes FOREVER).
2. Heat oil in pot. Add onion and cook until golden brown.
3. Add garlic, ginger, and curry. Cook 30 seconds.
4. Add chicken and 2 T water. Cook until chicken looses raw color (3-5 min or more).
5. Add chicken stock and salt. Boil.
6. Simmer till chicken is cooked (20-30 min).
7. Add cream.

Serve over rice with toppings: bananas, apple, raisins, coconut, etc.

No, this is not a fudge maker, but an ice cream maker that I received from my parents for Christmas. It's awesome, as is this fudge recipe from my sister Rinnie's in-laws. Try it, you'll love it. I made it earlier this week and we've already eaten all but one peice (which is Kirk's) but I'm gonna eat it soon if he leaves it much longer. Everything, especially food must be divided equally in my mind. That's what I get for coming from a large family (7 total). When Kirk and I have BLT's, I cook extra bacon because I had to share the bacon with so many other mouths as a kid. I remember as a kid one of our favorite meals was porcupine meatballs. My mom would have to count how many meatballs there were so that each of us would get the exact same amount. And when we lived in rural Kenya, in Muruu, we would have to butcher a chicken (and that's a whole other exciting story) to have chicken for dinner (no frozen chicken breasts out there). For some reason us kids all wanted to eat the heart, so my poor mom would have to cut it up into 5 tiny pieces so we could each have some. Ahhh, how sweet those memories are to me.

We had this for the first time yesterday and it was a success. I found it while reading through the More With Less looking for new recipes. I made some chapatis to go along with it which of course made it extra yummy! It also has hardly any rice in it so could be used for the South Beach Diet (maybe even in a loose phase 1).

Bring 1 qt. (4 cups) water to boil in saucepan. Add:
1 1/2 c. lentils, rinsed (I used mung dahl)
Cook 20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. In deep skillet, saute:
2 T. margarine or butter
2 medium onions, chopped (I only used 1 1/2)
1 clove garlic, minced
Stir in:
1 lb. ground beef
Brown well. Dissolve in 2 1/3 c. reserved liquid (I had to add more water):
2 beef bouillon cubes
Add liquid to meat mixture; cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in:
reserved lentils
2 T. long-grain rice
1 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. ground cumin (I used 2 because I love it)
1/2 t. pepper
Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30 minutes, or until lentils and rice are tender and liquid is absorved (add more liquid if necessary). Check seasonsings and stir in:
1 T. cider vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar because I had it)
Top with parsley sprinkle. (I didn't)

Kirk and I have been on the South Beach Diet and an awesome exercising "for lack of better word, routine." So we've been having a lot of sugar-free chocolate pudding and jello for dessert these days. But, it can get old. Here's an awesome twist to the jello that's allowed on the diet...just don't eat the whole pie.

I used rasberry flavoring for everything and didn't put in any fruit because I didn't have any. Next time I'm gonna try using chocolate pudding instead of the jello and see if that works.

1 pkg sugar-free jello, any flavor
1/4 C very hot water
1 1/2 C plain fat free yogurt
1 tub crystal ligh or other sugar-free drink mix
8 oz light cool whip
1/2 C pecans (I used a bit more)
1 T margarine (I used cooking spray)
fruit, optional

Butter (spray) a pie plate with margarine. Crush the pecans in a food processor and pour into pie plate. Pat the crushed nuts into a crust. Pour hot water-almost boiling (or rather, boiled and then turned off because I wasn't ready for it yet) into jello in a large bowl and wisk together thoroughly. Add yogurt and whisk until well mixed. Gently stir in thawed cool whip and fruit just until blended (make sure you get all the stuff at the bottom mixed in). Pour into crust and refrigerate at least one hour.

*No, I didn't really put any in Joanna's hair. Just thought you might want to see a picture of her. We feel like we haven't seen anyone in a long time because she's been sick for 2 weeks and now has two ear infections.