The most amazing husband

My husband is amazing. I had to have a special post just for him because he can do anything, just ask Shelby. He will work on something until it is just to his liking. Lately, he picked up a car that ran but not great and he fixed it and actually made a profit! It's a VW squareback, just like the one that he drives but older. Here is a picture of the beast.
It might not look like anything to you but to us, it looks like a good investment. I am so blessed to have a husband that can look at something like this and see potential. I know that we will never be on the street or go hungry because he has this amazing gift. And, he is blessed with patience (something I don't have very much of).

His next project was something that truly amazed me. He picked up this snowmobile (broken) for $35. His friend gave him another snowmobile with a bad motor and he put the two together to make one great machine. The coolest thing about this was: He did it in less than a week. It was a lot of hours of work but he started it on Saturday and finished it in time to go riding on Thursday night. The best part was he didn't breakdown!
I can't express how much I love this man. How could I not? He's amazing!

Brussels Sprouts and Baked potato soup

The other night I broke down and finally cooked some Brussels Sprouts. I got this reaction from Jordan, "This is Soooo Good!" That was sarcastic of course. The reaction I got from Shelby was, "This stinks!" Then she didn't eat any of them. I thought they looked good and I thought they tasted okay but they hadn't been touched since then. Here is a picture of them.
The recipe I used was really simple. I just melted some butter and added garlic then I put the sprouts in with cut side down and added some pine nuts and salt and pepper. Today I was reading a recipe that blended up the sprouts and put them in baked potato soup. I have a great recipe from one of my old roommates, Kristina, so I decided to break it out. We used to call this soup Heart attack soup. I'm afraid we can't call it that anymore.

Here is the recipe:
3 baked potatoes
1 pound of Bacon
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 flour
3 cups of 1/2 and 1/2
1 cup of milk
1 Tb. Chicken bullion (not cubed)
1/2-1 cup shredded cheese
1 small onion
1 cup of sour cream

Instructions:
Bake potatoes at 350 degrees for 1 hour, allow to cool. Cook bacon and crumble. Saute onions in butter. Add flour bring to boil. Gradually add 1/2 and 1/2, milk, and bullion. Stir until thickened, add cheese and sour cream, cut potatoes in bit size pieces and add to pot. Add bacon and potatoes, add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on stove until thoroughly combined.

This serves 6 people.

Now for the picture of it. I know it looks gross in the picture but that's just because I can't take good pictures.Okay, the variation is: I didn't put sour cream in it (because I didn't have any), I didn't put 1/2 and 1/2 (once again because I didn't have any), I only put in 2 TB. of butter. Instead I put a can of evaporated milk, the brussels sprouts puree, and more milk.

I think it tasted great. According to Jordan he could still taste the brussels sprouts. I was so excited about how it tasted I had to run right next door and have my neighbor taste it. She also got Bountiful Baskets so she and her family had to endure eating the sprouts. She said that she couldn't taste the brussels sprouts so I think I will have to blend some up and freeze them for the next time I have a soup to hide them in. Anyway, this post is for her. She asked for the recipe.

Anyway, if you're wondering about my eat from your pantry challenge you will just have to wait a little longer. Just know that I am still under budget but getting worried. I'm keeping a log of all of my grocery purchases. Using coupons really helps. If anyone is contimplating using them, I say go for it, you have nothing to lose!

Update on "eat from your pantry"

Well, so far so good. Of course it is only the second day of the month. I just had to share this really cool thing called Bountiful Baskets. My sister first emailed me about it and then my next door neighbor did it two weeks ago and said it was great. So, I decided since I'm trying to eat healthy and with less month I thought we would try it. The first time it costs $18 plus $1.50 handling. But, after that it costs $15. You get about $50 worth of fruits and vegetables. I filled my laundry basket full of the stuff that I got. Luckily a man who was helping there offered to carry my basket to my car. I don't think I would have been able to make it to my car that was parked about 1/2 mile away. Anyway, here is a picture of all the stuff I got today.You don't get to choose what goes in your basket so if your family isn't adventurous I don't know if I would chance it. Most of the stuff is normal but I don't know if I've ever fed my family brussel sprouts or a radish. Oh well, we're going to start eating them.

Here is a picture of one of my helpers. She sits on the counter a lot, especially when I cook. She likes to be where the action is and she is happy to be where she can see me.


Here is my other helper. They both like to be in the kitchen. Can you see Shelby is holding a cookbook? She likes to hold something. It doesn't matter what it is.