An Empty The Fridge Sort of Day

Well, we were a bit busy today. Today Abigail was home since the schools had a day off today. And she had a friend over for the day. Yikes. It's been a little noisy here. Zander had a short nap, I suspect due to the noise, so he is most definitely not charming this evening. I have also had a slight tickle in my throat, and it just felt like a soup kind of day to me. I cleaned out the fridge today, and decided to try my hand at using some leftovers.

I think I did okay. Now I am sooooo not a leftover person. I will maybe eat them for lunch later in the week, or if it's something meaty I will make a pot pie or something. Today's challenge was something completely different. I always save the leftovers with the intentions to use them...but I usually never do. I just don't like them. Today I made "Leftover Chowder". I started with four lonely pieces of bacon, diced them, and cooked them. Then I cooked my mirepoix in the bacon grease. When the veggies were softened, I added 2 cans of chicken stock. After that came to a simmer, in went 3 different containers of leftovers, plus some herbs. In the leftovers I had mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, and cooked chicken. That all sounds okay, but then I decided I wanted more of a chowdery feel, so I added some milk and flour, let that thicken, and then I added about 2 cups of shredded cheese- some aged gouda that needed to be used, and some cheddar.

The soup turned out very good. Andy was surprised that I didn't use a recipe, and only thought I could have used more bacon. The kids didn't even touch it. I just can't figure out why they've become afraid of soup. They won't even eat something like chicken noodle soup. Go figure. So they feasted on drop biscuits smeared with butter and jam. Not the most nutritional for them today, but they are crabby, so I let them slide so that I wouldn't have to hear it. You know?

So I'm not sure how much of a chance I will have to post over the next few days. Tomorrow I am accompanying Abigail on a field trip to see Eric Carle stories on stage. That should be fun. Then on Wednesday Andy's mom is flying in to spend a week with us and help celebrate Zander's second birthday on Friday. We are looking forward to the visit. On a sad note, my grandmother is not doing well, and my parents are spending the week with her. Just a few weeks ago she felt perfectly fine, and now she is in a hospital bed riddled with cancer, and her liver is failing. It is very sad. My grandma has always been a fighter, and this is just not something she is up to fighting. So if you are a praying person, keep my family and my grandma in your prayers.

Ah. The sweet sounds of fighting children. I am off to get my two monsters ready for bed, and into bed. Hopefully I will be back tomorrow, if only for a short post.