Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

This past Sunday Andrew had a leader training with all of his small group leaders at the Church. He had the same gathering last year, and since I was leading a small group at that time I got to go. I made a veggie chili last year which was a small miracle because I was 7 weeks pregnant and took a 3 hour nap between church and the training. Although I am not leading anymore and wasn't planning on going to the training I wanted to make a soup for Andrew to take. Below is the recipe!
Love this tasty olive oil from Trader Joe's

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients

  • 12 good tomatoes (organic if possible)
  • 1/2 extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 good-quality balsamic vinegar
  • 12 large garlic cloves peeled 
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste whisked w/a couple TBLS water
  • salt & pepper
  • 2 cups lightly packed fresh basil
  • 2 cups cold water/veggie stock
  • pinch red pepper flakes
Preheat the over to 450 degrees

prepare the tomatoes by washing them with cold water and patting them dry with a clean towel. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and place in a large bowl. Mix the tomatoes with 1/4 cup of the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, all the garlic and a good amount of salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes. 

Roasted tomatoes w/garlic and balsamic

In a large soup pot over medium heat the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Add the onion and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Saute until the onion us soft but not browned, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add whole basil leaves and saute with the onions for a couple minutes.

Carefully add the roasted tomatoes and garlic along with all the juices from the roasting pan to the pot, stir to combine. Next add the tomato paste mixture and the stock/water (whatever one you're using). Let all the ingredients simmer for lightly for 10 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. If you're using salted stock, go light on the salting. 
pretty pot of almost-soup
Puree the soup in a blender, starting out on slow speed and gradually increasing. The mixture should be pretty smooth aside from little specs of basil. If you have an immersion blender that would work as well. Let the pureed soup simmer for a minute longer until the flavors blend a little more. 

Not the best picture but you get the idea
Serve it up and enjoy with some toasty bread our a gooey grilled cheese! Cheers!

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Isaiah John 3 and 4 months

So I completely blew off doing a 3 month post for Isaiah. He turned 3 months old on December 13, right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. He developed SO much during his 3rd month of life! Below are some pictures to tell the story...


Cutest little troll ever!
Isaiah got to meet our dear friends who we met in Pasadena while Andrew was in Seminary. Ms. Sophia loved little Isaiah! It's a good thing because her and her little sister Maddie are about to have a baby brother in a couple weeks :) We love that Josh, Lauren and their sweet kids live in Nashville and have family in Atlanta! Andrew and I went and visited Lauren in the hospital when she had Sophia and now she's holding my baby. Crazy!

Andrew's brother Timothy came for Thanksgiving! It was so fun to have him and watch him spend time with little Isaiah. We enjoyed our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3!!
Uncle Timo helped us pick out Isaiah's first Christmas tree!

I love my Sophie teether!
Little Isaiah Facts at 3 months old:

Eating: He LOVES to eat (well, drink really) and he takes in about 8 oz 5 times a day!

Activity: Loves laying on his play gym and looking at the little animals above him!

Big happening in his 3rd month: He rolled over from his back to his stomach once! The consistent rolling didn't start until 3.5 months old

Sleeping: We lucked out big time in this department! He sleeps 10 hours a night and takes three 2-3 hour naps a day.

His big discovery this month: He found his feet and loves to grab them whenever I'm changing his diaper. He also LOVES to suck his thumb. Apparently the pacifier doesn't hold a candle to his thumb.



Four Months...

This happened really fast! The holidays hit, my parents arrived, and all of a sudden we had a 4 month old in our midst! Andrew and I both loved this age. He was, over all, just a really happy baby! And this was a really big month for us because it included his first Christmas! We were all getting really excited as Christmas approached because my parents and little brother were coming to Atlanta. I plan to do a Christmas recap as soon as I put more photos on my computer. Here are lots of pictures showcasing his 4th month!

He's such a happy little guy!

He loves his mittens that Gramma and Grandpa sent him! He leaves them on and they really keep his hands warm. 

Gramma and Grandpa

Dressed up for Christmas brunch at Ms Laura and Mr Kevin's 

Clearly he's so excited about taking our family Christmas picture! 


 Cousin Mia with baby Isaiah! She loves him :)
Wearing his new pjs from Uncle Demian and Aunt Bridget. 


 
He is so squishy and I can't get enough of his mini rolls. I don't have a full body shot of his Christmas pjs, but I thought they were so cute! I realized three days before Christmas that I didn't have any pj's for Christmas morning. Thanks to Amazon Prime they arrived just on time. They would be perfect for a girl too. So I'll just tuck those away for a later date ;) 

My favorites on my bday :) At Octane in Grant Park


Hated saying good bye to this one

 Daddy's boy 

This kid loves to talk! Check out this picture. He wouldn't stop talking to smile for a second!

The Bumbo is being used lots now. His neck strength really increased this past month,

Little Isaiah Facts at 4 months old:

Eating: Still loves to eat! 

Sleeping: Isaiah is officially a stomach sleeper. He still sleeping through the night, about 11 hours per night and three 2-3 hour naps per day!

Growth: 

Height: 26.3in (up 5.3 inches since birth) 90%
Weight: 14lbs 13 oz (up exactly 7lbs since birth) 48%

Diapers: He is in cloth diapers full time, finally! He looks so cute in them and we have a wide variety of colors! 

at his 4 month check up
Activities: He still loves his play-gym. Looking at all the animals and trying to put them in his mouth is so exciting to him. He is also rolling over a ton now. 

The laugh: he loves to laugh and it's the cutest sound ever. He's ticklish so it's fun to tickle his neck and hear his giggle. 

Over all he is such a happy and easy baby. We couldn't feel more joy to be his parents!