Adventures in finger foods

Last night the cooking bug hit me and I went bananas. I made a spinach and tortellini soup recipe from the Sara Moulton Weeknight Meals cookbook that my brother in law Luke and future sister in law (yay!) Lacie got me for Christmas. Sara is the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine and this book is her take on quick healthy (mostly) meals for busy week nights. This soup was suuuper easy and really yummy. Seeing as how I got THREE cookbooks for Christmas, word has clearly gotten around that I like to cook :)

I also decided to take charge of Madelyn's venture into finger foods since our big girl has decided she's far too advanced for baby food, and all she wants to do is feed herself. A while ago Matt's mom gave me Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook about strategically "hiding" veggies in food that your kids love- pancakes, cookies, mac and cheese, etc. As a whole I completely disagree with this because I feel like children just need to learn to eat veggies, BUT, if they are already doing so like Madelyn, why not take advantage of their love of carbalicious treats and add some extra nutrition in there? I made her some pancakes with sweet potatoes in them (surprisingly delicious) and then began to make apple carrot muffins when my blender went kaput on me and quit pureeing the carrots. Hence, I was left with a kitchen covered in carrots and nothing to show for it. Another day I'll get to those. My plan is to freeze both items and just defrost as necessary. I love the idea of having a freezer full of good healthy food that is ready to go- especially on those super busy days.

Our weekend is going to be a busy one, and it looks like this:

Matt: Clean up yard, touch up paint on ceiling, new locks on kitchen windows, finish fixing hole in dining room ceiling, clean garage.

Me: Feed Madelyn, play with Madelyn, ooh and aah over Madelyn, and organize the house while she naps.

Can you tell who has the easier weekend coming up?

Luke, our family realtor :) is coming down Saturday to take pictures of and list the house (!!). I don't know why I'm so excited, you think I'd be stressed, but instead I'm just bursting with anticipation and hope.

Please send lots of prayers our way that the right buyers find us- and soon!!