broccoli cheese soup

unfortunately winter has hit home. in my opinion, it has been way too cold outside. i found a recipe for broccoli cheese soup and knew it was a must for dinner last night.

ingredients:

10 oz. frozen chopped broccoli

2 cups chicken broth

2 tbsp. butter

1/3 cup chopped onions

2 tbsp. flour

2/3 cup milk

1 cup cheddar cheese (we ran out, so i also used a 4 cheese blend)

salt and pepper to taste

Simmer frozen broccoli and chicken broth over medium heat for about 15 minutes. I used a muddler to smash the broccoli. Next time I would like to run it through a blender to get a more consistent soup...or one of those immersion blenders would work perf.

In another pan, melt the butter and saute the onions for 5 minutes. Add the flour to the onions and stir, it will look like a pasty substance. Then stir in the milk until thick. Add to broccoli and stir well.

Add cheese and stir until melted, this step is pretty quick! Season with salt and pepper.

yummy. i recently made potato soup...which is another good winter option!

lima bean wreath

recently i saw all things thrifty's post on her lima bean wreath. i was inspired...look at this picture.

while mine didn't turn out as beautiful, i am proud of my version.

i followed her tutorial to a tee.

including the unfortunate tumble from the door...

merry Christmas from the karls.

laser pointer

this is my first attempt at shooting a video and posting it to the blog.

i got millie a laser pointer the other day and she has been trying to catch the elusive red dot ever since. even after we have stopped playing with it, she runs around the house trying to find it.
great way to get exercise with her...because its just too cold for us to go on a walk.

staff Christmas party

first of all, i want to start this one off my saying how thankful i am for the job the Lord has given us. justin and i adore working with college students and the people we work with.

last night, our staff team did dinner at cypress inn, its one of the best places to eat in tuscaloosa. it is on the river...the view is so beautiful and the food is pretty good too :) it is always great to hang out outside of meetings or work stuff! we are so blessed to have 4 other full-time staff and 3 student staff who love us and have been so welcoming during our transition to life in west alabama.

back: Brant, Jeff, Justin
front: Kate, Rachel, Allison, Me, Catherine, Christie

after we stuffed our face at dinner, everyone came over to our apartment to do our secret santa gift swap and play games. we took the opportunity to encourage one another and say why we appreciate each other! such a fun night with friends.

this was my first attempt at making biscotti. not a huge fan of the result...but it was decent. maybe i don't love biscotti because others said it was really good...or they might just be trying to be nice :) I used a Biscotti recipe found on All Recipes.com and changed it up a little bit.

Adapted Recipe for Biscotti:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup white sugar

3 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3 eggs

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup (or more) toasted, chopped almonds

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, beat together oil, eggs, sugar and vanilla until well blended. Combine flour, powder and almonds, stir into the egg mixture to form a heavy dough. Divide dough into two pieces. Form each piece into a roll as long as your cookie sheet. Place roll onto the prepared cookie sheet, and press down to 1/2 inch thickness.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire rack until cool enough to handle. Slice each one crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place slices cut side up back on baking sheet. Bake for additional 6-10 minutes on each side. Slices should be lightly toasted.

4. After cooling, melt chocolate chips and dip biscotti slices in the chocolate. Freeze until chocolate hardens.

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Christmas crusade

last night at crusade, we had a tacky Christmas/senior night celebration. we were blessed to hear from three graduating seniors: Kate, Rebekah and Lauren. the Lord totally spoke through each of them as they shared what He taught them during their years at alabama.

yesterday, we spent two hours decorating cookies at Christie's house. they turned out so precious, even though i am not skilled at decorating with icing at all. after the meeting we munched on the cookies and watched Home Alone.

tacky staff girls.

i am currently cleaning for our staff Christmas party that will be at our place tomorrow night!  can't wait.