I totally dig Fall. I love everything about it! One thing I really love about it is making warm yummy soups. The pregs in me has been craving Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana, but I pretty much have no interest in going there. (Way overdid that restaurant on random dates in college.) So when I saw this recipe on Studio 5, I thought I would give it a whirl and make some of my own changes. I must say it was darn-tootin' good (well not literally), but honestly I liked it better than the Olive Garden's (as did the whole fam). Here it is, try it!

* 1 (12 oz) Jimmy Dean hot pork sausage (I actually used 1 (12 oz) reduced fat and 1 (12 oz) hot.
* 1 yellow onion, chopped (2 onions is the only way to go)
* 2 tsp minced garlic
* 2 cups chopped collard greens (I used Kale, I liked the texture better and I probably used about 3 cups total, next time I will probably still use more.)
* 1 (49 oz) can chicken broth, plus 1 (14 oz ) can chicken broth (Trying to cut down on sodium I used the large can and then water instead of the smaller can)
* 4 russet potatoes, chopped, skins left on (5-6 large russets)
* 2 tsp red pepper flakes (I did 1 1/2 tsp, but in making it again I would only use 1 tsp, the soup turned out a little bit spicier than I thought)
* 2 tsp Italian seasoning
* salt and pepper to taste
* 1 pint heavy cream (Use milk, I am afraid the heavy cream would make it way too rich to eat.)

Method:

1. Heat wok or large soup pot. Add sausage, onion and garlic. Fry until sausage is cooked through and onions are tender. Break sausage into small pieces as it is cooking. (DRAIN THE SAUSAGE and pat with paper towel. I honestly don't know how you could eat it without draining the fat!) Add chopped kale and stir fry 3 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth, potatoes and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer until potatoes are tender. Stir in milk and warm through. Adjust seasonings and serve. Serves 6-8 as a main dish. Even with draining the sausage grease, I suggest skimming the grease off the top if there is any!)

Enjoy! You might like her version better, but try one of them. It was SO yummy. I am especially thankful that I was able to cook, it's been a long time and this soup was pretty quick prep. Wow, three days of blogging in a row, I rock!

Today I am thankful for where I live. What a great nation we live in and what an awesome opportunity we have to vote! Big E, the Mr. and I trudged down to our voting location and stood in line. I am pretty sure the Mr. and I looked mildly homeless. I was wearing sweats, along sweater that's actually pretty nice, a T-shirt stained from dinner, threadbare slippers, hair in a bun and glasses. The Mr. was decked out in the ever fashionable outfit of jammie pants, stained sweatshirts, sandals WITH socks, and the ever present snot encrusted nose (the poor guy is fighting a bad one). Even though we looked a site, so glad we went and so thankful for where I live!

November

Every time I make a goal to blog more, I always fail miserably. Who knows, maybe I will this time too. But I really don't want too! Because I have so much to be thankful for, I am attempting to blog everyday about one thing I am thankful for. Here is day number one:
I am thankful for The Mr.'s laugh. It makes me smile immediately. It has grown into more of an adult laugh and it is so cute!

Things That Make You Go Hmmm....

Strange week here at the L household. Not necessarily bad, just odd....

SO we go out with some weirdo agent to look at homes this week. We saw an awesome bankruptcy and needed someone to show it to us as soon as possible. (We pretty much knew it wouldn't last long. Great house, Great Neighborhood). Well, it didn't last long at all, but onto the weirdness. So we actually saw two houses, the first one was the vacant bankruptcy, and the second was still occupied by homeowners. At the second home, we go into the Master Bedroom and Mr. McCreepo Real Estate Agent actually started opening dresser drawers. Um... excuse me? AND, when he noticed that the dressers were still full, he kept looking. Weird, creepy, total boundary steeper.

Second oddity: I lost my Chuck-A-Rama V card. It's true, I have never been until last night. It's perfect food for the Mr.: Pizza, cottage cheese, fries and raspberry lemonade. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. Way too many people though, and not the best idea to go while prego. I can't stand seeing genres of food mixed on a plate. Who eats lasagna, a taco, fried chicken and deep fried scones on one plate? That's right, Big E.

Not so much odd, but different. Sporting blackish/purplish nail polish. BFF M tells me I look emu, Big E says it's kind of hot. I think I will go with Big E on this one.

Here is my final weird, Glee. Let is be known that we have been followers from the VERY beginning. We saw the pilot when it was originally aired. Loved the music and laughed hysterically for the first half of the first season. Started to not love the second half as much, but we still enjoyed it. This season is really pushing it for me. Don't get me wrong, I don't think of myself as a prude (maybe I am just getting old, I mean how many years have I been 23 now?) but honestly what was the point of Santana and Brittany getting it on? Way disappointed. Come on Glee, let's get back to great story lines and music. I can feel myself drifting. I knew when I was looking forward to Parenthood more than Glee last week, that Glee would have to get much better and stop pushing the envelope for me. Now last time I blogged about something totally trendy and something that people are somewhat obsessed with (Twilight), I received the most comments on the blog. Might be interesting to see the response is this time (of my five readers ).

It's a........

ITS' A GIRL, IT'S A GIRL, IT'S A GIRL!Oh my flippity flippers! We are so excited to have a baby girl! Bring out the bows, flowers, clothes, ruffles, pink, purple, and brain squeezing headbands!
I love her already. She is VERY active, so much more then Mack. I already feel like she is quite the little survivor. I started bleeding at 5 weeks and went in for blood draws to see if the pregnancy hormones were rising, and they weren't. We were told to go home and prepare for a miscarriage. Thankfully, that never happened. The back was at it's worse from about 8-12 weeks, then we were told that abortion was always an option. What? Really? We were not comfortable at all with this Dr. and quickly found THE BEST Dr. in the world. Seriously, Dr. Porter is the best. How thankful I am for such a great man that also happens to be a great Dr..
I am so excited to be her Momma, for Big E to have a little girl and for Mack to have a new baby. I have already started dreaming about her. She totally rocks. I do love being pregnant, but March can't come fast enough, we want to meet her already!

Lame, I wrote a new post, but it isn't at the top. It's under and Then There Were Four. Blogger, what?

Then There Were Four!

Big E and I couldn't be more excited to welcome Larsen Baby #2! I am 13 weeks along and the due date is March 27. We will be able to find out the sex of the baby in three weeks. Big E believes it is a girl, I think that we might have another little boy on my side to complete our Jones basketball team.
We have been incredibly blessed with this baby. I re-herniated my stupid back before I found out that I was pregnant, but already two weeks along. It has been an adventure for everyone. We are so thankful for such great people around us, we have been so blessed. I am pretty much stuck in bed due to the crap back and a tear in the placenta (it's healing nicely though). People have been amazing. Two wonderful ladies in the ward take Mack two days a week. I had a cousin come clean my room, multiple offers to take Mack during the day while Eric is gone, people visiting and bringing books and yummy food. My brother comes up to watch Mack on the afternoons he doesn't work. It has been amazing and I have been in awe of the willingness of people to help. THANK YOU!
My family is the best! It really is pretty great that we are living with my parents right now, I don't know how we would do it without them. Big E is the love of my life. I couldn't ask for a more kind, loving, generous and understanding husband.
Once again, thank you so much to everyone who has helped us so far. At the end of the night Big E and I often talk about how lucky we are to have such amazing people around us, we can't begin to thank you enough!