Shook recipes

TWO CHEESE ZITI

3 c uncooked ziti or small tube pasta                                 Topping:
1 T butter                                                                          3 T dry bread crumbs
2 T flour                                                                            1 1/2 t butter melted
1/2 t salt                                                                            1/4 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 t pepper                                                                       3 T Parmesan cheese
1 3/4 c fat-free milk
3/4 c shredded cheddar cheese (fat free ok)
2 T Parmesan cheese

Cook ziti according to package directions.  Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, melt butter.
Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth; gradually add milk.  Bring to a boil;  cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted.
Drain ziti; add to sauce and stir to coat.  Transfer to a shallow 1 1/2 qt baking dish coated with nonstick
spray.  Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

In a small bowl combine bread crumbs and butter; stir in cheeses.  Sprinkle over ziti.  Bake uncovered, for 5-10 minutes or until heated through and topping is lightly browned.
5 servings.


Here's one more that I really want to try soon:)

SWEET POTATO MINI-FRIES

1 lb sweet potatoes (about 2 small)
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 t kosher salt

Preheat oven to 475.  Line rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper.
Cut the sweet potatoes crosswise on a slight diagonal in 3/8 in thick slices   Put the sticks in a mixing bowl
and combine thoroughly with the olive oil and 1 t salt.  Spread the sweet potatoes out in one layer on the
baking sheet, making sure to scrape all the oil and salt from the bowl

Roast for 20 min.Using a spatula, flip the sticks over and continue cooking flipping once or twice more until
the fries are nicely browned, about 10 min more.
Note:  they get crispy around the edges but stay moist in the middle.

Rutherford Baked Chips/Crisps

At our house, we like to snack. Those of you who know Kurtis well know that he eats about six small meals a day and we are finding unique ways to bring healthier snacks home. We are quite inspired by the farmer's market and always coming up with new ideas based on what we pick up there.

This is just a basic guideline,
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oven-dried apple chips (and potatoes too)

makes about two dozen 

If you’re baking two trays at a time, be sure to rotate the pans halfway-through for even cooking. And if you decide to make potato chips, just give them a sprinkle of sea salt—no oil necessary.

1 medium to large apple, sliced paper thin
Silicon lined baking sheets
(if you don't have silicon, parchment paper or spraying down a bit of cooking oil will do the trick)

Preheat oven to 225ºF. Place apple slices single layer on a silicon-lined baking sheet. Bake for one hour until crisp and dried.
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If doing this with a potato, just follow the same instructions with the potato. And, of course, don't forget about kale chips, which can follow the same recipe as well! At our house, we like to add spices to the produce from cinnamon right on down to paprika or just plain old salt and pepper. Be creative and get those taste buds rolling!

If an hour seems like too much time to wait, I have been guilty of upping the temperature in the oven and cutting the time in half. Be mindful of the things you are baking if you do this as they will go from crisp to a bit black pretty quickly on the higher temperature, but most of the time I find it to be super successful.

Enjoy your food and share with others. It's amazing what memories a great meal together can have!
Love to all,
Mary and Kurtis

Favortie Recipe from the Rivers

A recently discovered favorite at our house:

Homemade Wheat Bread for Beginners (or Cheaters with a Bread Machine):

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F.)
1 tablespoon milk (or almond milk)
2 tablespoons oil (canola oil)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons dry yeast (get this in bulk from Sam’s or Costco)

Put all ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. Set on dough cycle.
When dough cycle is finished, take dough out and shape into a loaf in a greased bread pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20-45 minutes (until doubled).
Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

This came from Money Saving Mom, is delicious, easy, and saves us money on dairy-free bread. 
You can also roll out the dough after the dough cycle and spread honey on it, add cinnamon and sugar and make a yummy cinnamon swirl bread. 

Yum--warm bread. 

Welcome Gus

Hi everyone,
As I think most of you know I got a puppy at the beginning of February. Winter Moon's Augustus (Gus) is now 17 weeks old and weighs 26.1lbs. He is as tall as Shona and is going to be a BIG dog. His dad was around 100lbs so his breeder estimates he will be between 80-100lbs.

Gus is my service dog candidate meaning hopefully he will be taking over for Shona once he is ready. Shona is now working full time since Benny was diagnosed with epilepsy. She does a nice job but will be ready for retirement when Gus is ready to work. He has a little bitty vest he wears now and has been to one public outing so far.

He is all puppy meaning he is a bundle of energy. Somedays I'd love to give him away as he will not listen. However, most days he is a good boy. He just starting sleeping in bed with Benny and I. Not sure how much Benny appreciates that but I enjoy it. We'll be running out of room as he grows. We are going to puppy class right now and his training is coming along. Although sometimes it appears like he knows nothing. Puppy brains sometimes forget al their knowledge.

Gus, Benny and I live together at my apartment. Shona lives with my parents. So the three of us enjoy spending our time together. We just built a small fence for the boys and that makes potty breaks much easier and more enjoyable for both Benny, Gus and I.

I think that is all I have to update on. Here are a few pictures of Gus:

The Rivers Ripple

Ahh, here we are three months out.  Wow, time flies! 

We can happily report that we found and bought a house that we love, successfully sold our old house (what a drawn-out process that was!), and are finally back into a routine. 

Dan returned recently from a trip for work to SXSW in Austin.  He's keeping busy at work with website updates, redesigns, app updates, and etc!  Dan has played a few gigs with a local band and is on the lookout for opportunities to play. 

Sarah has picked up extra hours at Via Christi Rehab in January, and will be added to the ViaChristi Rehab schedule at St Teresa (close to home) every few months.  She's very happy that the whole house showing/selling is over and that we have a nice new home to organize and personalize.  (I just love organizing!!)  With the potential food allergies for Kinley, Sarah has delved into some new recipes and cooking and enjoys those experiments (more new ones have made it into the rotation).  We are excited for spring and fresh air.

Olivia is a busy three year old.  She loves her new room and is happy to have her castle back.  She has recently given up her nap most days and gone to a resting time.  We are preschool "shopping" for her for in the fall.  She took swimming lessons through the Y Sept-Jan and made good progress on her confidence.  We need to get her enrolled again soon. 

Kinley is an active 14 month old.  Her current loves are her baby doll, the stroller, anything that you can put in/out or on/off, and having books read to her.  She's beginning to do more actions to songs and use more words.  She lets her wishes be known.  At this point, allergy testing revealed no food allergies to cow's milk, soy, or egg so we've been exposing her to them.  However, we might be back at square one since the past few days have increased with allergy symptoms again.  We shall see.

Brisco loves the new house, sleeping in various places, and trying to steal as much food as he can from Kinley. 
All in all, we are doing well.  We look forward to spring and continuing to get the house decorated and arranged to meet our needs/wants.  As Sarah is able she will update (and throw in a few catch-up posts) on the blog: theriverscurrent.blogspot.com

Family Picture--January 2014 (don't worry, there are hard copies coming)

Ava’s first year.

The biggest news around here is that Ava is one! She’s walking everywhere – at a very fast pace. She voices her opinion, just like she laughs, cries, and everything else – loudly! She is super cuddly. She says “hi”, “mama”, “dada”, “anna” (Adelynn), “buh buh buh” (bumblebee) and “ah duh” (all done), she loves patty cake, bumblebee and peek a boo. She instigates lots of these games or sound effects that she wants you to copy. She can tell by listening to conversation when someone is leaving and she will start to wave, even if the word “bye” is not ever used. She’s a champion waver. When she sees a lion in a book, she roars. When she sees a dog in a book, she whispers a “woof”. She attempted “meow” tonight when she saw a cat in a book and it was adorable. I hope she picks that one up soon. She already pretends a little bit. She uses things as phones and says “hi” into them. If she gets a brush she will brush her own hair or mine – and we never taught her that. She’s a smart cookie. She’s still as wiggly and happy as ever. When she’s quiet, I never worry about her. It just means that she’s reading books somewhere. Unless Adelynn comes running. Then it means she’s playing in the toilet water. When she sees me coming she automatically makes her sound for “yuck!”  because she knows I’m going to say that… but she simultaneously leaves her hand in the toilet.

Her party was on Saturday. She wasn’t real interested in her gifts until they were open. She shocked us all when she was dainty about her cake. She’s normally an aggressive and messy eater. So when she only dropped 2 pieces on the ground, and then picked them up and ate them – leaving no mess at all – we were pleasantly surprised. She didn’t even need a bath. The time change was that night, so the girls crashed hard. Having them go to bed early worked out perfectly since we lost an hour. We also didn’t have any responsibilities at church in the morning, so we slept in, went to 3rd service and then home!

It’s also amazing that Adelynn is almost 4. Today was a windy one and you bet she was flying her kite everywhere this afternoon. She has been going to preschool 1 morning per week since November. She’s LOVING it. We had parent teacher conferences a couple of weeks ago and her teacher couldn’t say enough good things about her. She said she’s a model student and wishes she could have her in class every day. She’s not old enough yet, but next year she will go more than one day and her teacher will get her wish She is writing her name and recognizing her numbers. Every morning she checks the weather on my phone and tells me what it says. One day she said “It’s a 3 and an 8!” She always gets excited about the weather – no matter the temperature. And she gets excited the mail. (If you follow my blog, you already know this.) When we were cooped up in the house quite a bit in the winter, she would always ask if the mail was coming – like it was an event. She got a new dress recently and when people ask “Did Mommy get that for you?” She says “No, the mail brought it.” She basically thinks the mailman is Santa Claus. We do the Dolly Parton Imagination Library too, which means each girl gets a free book every month in the mail until they turn 5. She thinks the mailman brings those too. He has no idea how awesome she thinks he is.

Since this is the last year that Ava won’t have an opinion on her birthday décor, I chose to do what I wanted. Which was a vintage theme that included burlap, lace, coral and blue. You can’t see Adelynn’s dress in pictures very well, but it’s vintage too. My friend Ashley sent it to her from a designer consignment store in DC. So, naturally, the mail man got that for her too.

 

Pam did a great job on the cakes! They look exactly like I pictured.

Most of the party guests.

The first and last gift Ava had any interest in opening.

She was mostly just interested in her cousin Brody’s toy. (He was taking video)

Bella was thrilled to have lots of lap options. She chose my brother Kyle’s lap for a while.
Party table! On the small left table is a place to write birthday wishes to Ava for her scrapbook. In the brown bags is a candy-coated, pink popcorn. Dave actually helped me make the majority of those brown bags. Who knew he was so handy with a glue gun?! I made everything else, including the banner and table cloth/runner. It’s also hard to tell, but on the back right is a shutter with pictures of Ava clothespinned on it. There is one from each month of her life.
Getting coached by big sister.

Thanks to Grandpaparazzi Randy for sharing these pictures with me! I was a little preoccupied.

If you didn’t get a scrapbook page and want one to fill out, let me know and I will be sure to get you one. I’d love to give her as many as we can.

Ava’s first year recap is on my blog.

Let's Not Talk about The Campaign for a Minute

First off, I'm going to try and keep this short. Usually I feel I'm pretty wordy, so I'll try to avoid that.

The campaign is in low-gear right now since it just got started. If you want to help the biggest thing right now is spreading the word: share my website (www.chrisforhutch.org) or my Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/chrisforhutch) with people in Kansas and especially the Hutchinson area. Really, it's that easy!

But, I promised I wouldn't talk about that, so instead some brief comments:

First, what will I do if I don't win the primary election? Right now I have two major options. One is a list of possible groups that I think I would like to work with and that I think might like to work with me. These groups include political ones, disability advocates, Silicon Prairie (start-up news for the KC-Omaha area), and the like. My other major option is grad school. This year I had another four programs lined up for application, though I ended up only turning one in. Texas A&M's interdisciplinary philosophy Ph.D. should get back to me by March or April. If they accept me, I'll make contact and tell them what I'm doing...then beg them to defer my admission. Should that work out, then I'll just have to kill the time between November and December (if they defer until the spring semester) or November and August. What would I do with that time? Well, hopefully the first option I laid out!

Second, what am I doing besides the campaign? Right now, not much. I watch a lot of Netflix (mostly TV shows that didn't last more than a season because that's how long it takes me to get bored with a lot of them). I have a reading list of books related to the campaign and not, and I love my birthday gift of Jack London's The Sea Wolf. Also, the Chromecast I received has been enabling my Netflix habits! I help out "The Columns," Westminster's student newspaper every once in a while as they fight to keep SGA from cutting them out of the budget. Mostly just sharing tactics learned from The Sustainability Coalition's effort last spring, but also trying to encourage them explore electronic options instead of print.

Otherwise, I just drink a lot of coffee and look forward to what needs done next.