Potato cheese soup

I can't take credit for this recipe. This is Bobby's recipe and he makes it better than I do. 

Ugh, I said it.

There is definitely something going around lately. Everyone I know is sick. 

Bobby has been in bed For 4 days and counting.. I decided to spoil him and make him his delicious soup.

It takes a while to chop up the veggies so make sure you give yourself enough time to prep. 

Potato Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups medium cheddar cheese 

1 pint heavy whipping cream2.5 cubes unsalaried butter1 large onion1 bunch green onions 3 stalks celerySalt Pepper tobasco4 tbsp flour4-6 large potato1-2 large carrots1-32oz and 1 small can or 48oz box of chicken broth/stock1 slab of ham steak

Directions:
Chop 4-6 large potatoes in cubes
Shred 1 to 2 large carrots
Add them to 1 32oz box plus 1 small can of chicken stock and start to boil. 
Bring down to simmer for 20-25mins

Meantime:
Chop 1 large onion
Chop 1 bunch of green onions
Chop 3 stalks of celery

Sauté this in 1 ½ cubes of unsalted butter until soft. Season with salt, pepper and a dash of Tabasco. Add to the potatoes and carrots and chicken stock.

In same pan that you sautéed the onion mixture add another cube of butter and approximately 4tbls of flour and make a roux…. Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until flour is cooked out… add a bit of the chicken stock to thin out and add to other mixture.
Add 1 pint of heavy cream.

Chop up one slab of smoked ham  - bone in. 
Heat through… and just before serving add 2 or more cups of MEDIUM cheddar cheese. 

This is one of my all time favorite soups! We decided we are going to make this soup a Christmas tradition. Every year on Christmas morning we will open presents and have a bowl of Bobby's potato cheese soup (I hope Bobby is making it). I recommend pairing this soup with Cheddar and Scallion Bread. Guess what my next post is?? Another soup!! DUH. 

Tomato Basil Soup with the BEST grilled cheese sandwich

Lately, I have been obsessed with looking up soup recipes.  REALLY obsessed. 

I pinned about 10 soup recipes that I wanted to try. I should be dieting with the wedding coming up and all but when I saw the title "The best grilled cheese recipe" on Everyday Occasions I knew I had to make it. 

Tomato Basil Soup

Ingredients:

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2-14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes

1-14 oz. can of whole tomatoes

2 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)

1 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup of heavy cream

3 tablespoons of fresh basil, julienned

parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, saute garlic and olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute- being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes one at a time, squeezing them into the pan to break them up. Add the juice from whole tomatoes, as well. Add the chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer  for 10 minutes. To finish, reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil. Serve topped with parmesan cheese or grilled cheese sandwich.

The BEST grilled cheese recipe
makes 4

Ingredients:
8 slices of Italian bread
1 cup of extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2/3 cup of provolone cheese, shredded
2/3 cup of swiss cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons of butter

Divide the bread into 4 stacks of 2 pieces. Butter the tops and bottoms of the sandwiches. In between  the slices, divide up the shredded cheeses. In a hot skillet- or cast iron pan/griddle works best- grill the sandwiches on medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side until they are brown and the cheese has melted.

Pair this delicious soup and grilled cheese with your favorite reality TV show.
(My favorite is "Gypsy sisters" or "The Voice". Don't judge me.)
A cozy night in with the remote = one of my favorite nights.
I ran an extra mile the next morning because I had two grilled cheese sandwiches :/
I will definitely make this soup again. Next post will be ANOTHER soup recipe.
Like I said earlier, I'm obsessed with soups!

Crockpot Corn Chowder

There is nothing better on a chilly night than a warm bowl of soup. 

Lately, it's been cold... and by cold I mean California cold. About 65 degrees. 

I decided to try a soup recipe I found on Pinterest before Summer gets here. 

This Corn Chowder was delicious and very simple to make.

Crockpot Corn Chowder

Recipe from The Crockin' Girls

Ingredients:

6-8 potatoes (peeled and diced)

1 Can cream corn

1 Can whole kernel corn

2 Cups chicken broth

8 Ounces diced ham

1 Cups diced onions

1/4 Cup butter

2 Cups half and half

Directions:

1. Place potatoes, both cans of corn, chicken broth, ham, and onions in slow cooker.
2. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
3. Mash the mixture to your desired consistency and then add the butter and half and half.
4. Cook for an additional 30 minutes on high, and you are set

(I shortened the time and cooked on medium until my desired consistency)

This recipe inspired me to search for more soup recipe's.
Next up is tomato basil soup, yummy!!

This is my first blog post with my new camera. I absolutely love it and can't believe what a difference it makes :)

Burlap Christmas wreath

Time to say goodbye to my Christmas wreath (now that it's March)

I bought a giant roll of burlap and wrapped a Styrofoam wreath. 

I had to gather the burlap and wrap it really tight.

I also found a small spool of red to make the bow. 

In exactly 3 and a 1/2 months I will be Mrs. Yvette King, so I decided to paint a K red and glue it on the bottom right. I was afraid it would be too heavy but it survived 3 months on the door so my little glue gun did the trick. 

I just put up my Spring wreath and I'm embarrassed to say that I cheated. 

There was a pink and green wreath at Michaels that had my name on it. I have a purple Easter flag hanging outside of the house so I think I'm going add some purple flowers and call it a wrap. 

Lazy, I know.

I like to call it Semi-homade decorating. 

Engagement Photos

A BIG THANK YOU to Angela Mae Photography for taking these beautiful pictures.
I had to get all 3 animals groomed and ready, including my fiancé.
It was a lot of work but everything came out great!
I knew the dogs were going to be challenging but I couldn't have done it without Bobby's cousin Natalie.
Thank god for her and that squeaky toy!

I did a 12 days juice cleanse and I couldn't wait for these pictures to be done so I could eat SOLID food. It's amazing the monster you can turn into when you're hungry, just ask Bobby. haha

Thank you to my future father in law for his beautiful bus. It's in PERFECT condition.

This picture above always makes me cry. I love my fiancé very much and I'm so thankful God brought us together (tear) 

Cheers babe! (no food + champagne = cheap date)

We had a fabulous time and after the session we went to 320 Main to celebrate and most importantly EAT! If you contact Angela don't forget to mention my name :) I will post some wedding stuff next. I am making a lot of things myself to save money. T-minus 4 months until the BIG DAY!

Wedding Diet..

The title says it all.

In 3 months I will be putting on a dress that is one size smaller than I am now.
I am extremely motivated to lose weight and get back to the size I was when I met my fiancé.

SIZE 4 HERE I COME!!

I'm training for my first 10k taking place Superbowl Sunday.

I hope I can make it to the finish line. Thankfully, my hunny buns will be meeting me in the beer garden when I am done. 

I will be posting some skinny recipes in the next few weeks. I found this fabulous website called  SkinnyMom.  Tons of motivated Mommy's working to stay healthy and fit. 

Fish, veggies and rice = boring everyday. 

Hope your having a fabulous week!!!

Goodbye 2012. You were fabulous.

December is always a crazy month. This year it was extra crazy! We hosted our first Christmas at our new home and although it was a lot of work, it was WORTH IT!

December 1st, 2012 we welcomed my precious niece Moriah into the world. She is perfect. 

We headed down to Chino, California to meet the new princess.

We were in the waiting room for about an hour and we all started to get hungry.

 We went to a local favorite JOEY'S BBQ.

I captured a cute moment between Bobby and my grandma hanging out at the bar. (upper left)

After dinner we rushed to the hospital to get a peek at my new cousin. She is beautiful. 

This was our first year celebrating christmas in our new home. We learned how to put Christmas lights up on the house... well, Bobby did. We need to invest in a sturdier ladder next year. We didn't realize how high the top of the house was.

Miss Mia King decided to sport her Martha Stewart Christmas sweater around the house. She is a diva.

Merry Christmas from FreeConferenceCall! I decorated my work desk with a real Christmas tree. I had leftover blue ornaments from our first Christmas in our old apartment. Everyone thought I was Jewish? Not that there is anything wrong with that but I decided to change up the colors. 

The leftover blue and silver were perfect for my desk!

PS. How amazing is my boss's wrapping? I didn't want to open the gift. It was adorable. 

We attended The Wolfchief's 3rd Annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. I love seeing my girlfriends from High School. There are so many things going on in our lives these days 

so it's so nice to catch up with one another.

I went to see the Nutcracker for the first time. Maybe I was tired that day but I wasn't really into it? Bobby and I snuck a flask in and we agreed the best part was intermission. 

Sorry Nutcracker. 

We are definitely play people.

I have more pictures of Christmas but I'm too lazy to upload them from the camera. 

My cousin Moriah was the center of attention. She loves to sleep on her belly. I finally found someone who loves to sleep as much as I do :) We both took a nap together. 

We had an amazing time with family and I'm looking forward to Christmas next year.