SWAMPED!!

SWAMPED!!!

We received a complaint from an anonymous frequent reader that it has been several weeks since we've posted. Every time we post, we are apologizing for our absence. Alas, we are mustering up energy to update you on life and food. (We are so exhausted we accidentally posted on Chelsea's old blog. Look there for a repeat post!)

School has been hectic. Chelsea's mornings are nearly flawless, while the afternoons provide challenges with defiant children. Funny enough, those challenging children were once my kindergarten students (dodged a bullet there!) However, despite those two afternoon classes, Clase de espanol es muy bueno, amoebas. Chelsea has been doing pilates and making super sweet lattes. She's also been working really hard planning for her school year and studying for the GRE. BTW, THAT'S THIS UPCOMING WEEKEND! We are leaving The Valley tomorrow to go to San Antonio and Austin for the Labor Day Weekend. We will stop in San Antonio Friday and Saturday because Chelsea takes the GRE on Saturday. We are confident that it will go well. She is currently out for the count (our principal has subtly implied that female teachers should wear uncomfortable heels because they are more professional than flats. Her feet hurt.) But the lattes are getting her through!

5th grade has its ups and downs. We've taken a quiz and a test and the results weren't pretty. One student, when given the definition for "Physical Properties", instead of using the words in the word bank to match with the definition, he decided to write in "SCIENCE"... definitely not one of the choices. They do, however, enjoy experiments and we've done the acetone/styrofoam cup experiment which they loved. Overall, they're better than the little ones.

On to food matters. I have gone back to making bread. After a month and half hiatus I finally found the time to make some dough and bake some bread. As you may recall, the last attempt was ok, but "kneaded" (get it!) a lot of work. There's actually no kneading involved, BUT I took Mary's advice and added an 1/8 cup more flour and the dough was no longer sticky and easy to work with. SUCCESS!!! I'm still trying to get the outside to brown a little and since Sunday, I've made 2 loaves, one of which I took to work and had my co-workers try. They liked it, one thought it was too salty which I agreed with. Here are some pictures!

Tonight, Chelsea found a sweet recipe on Cooking Light's website for one of our favorite dishes: risotto. It's a recipe for risotto with fresh mozzarella, basil, and grape tomatoes. We tweaked it by cutting out the basil (we couldn't find fresh basil) and we used parmesan cheese instead of mozzarella (it's kind of pricey), as well as spinach. What we ended up with was very delicious. It tasted like something that should be unhealthy, but with the ingredients we used, it turned out to be relatively healthy. Anyways, we dropped the ball on the pictures, but here is the recipe.

• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 1/2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 5 ounces parmesan cheese

PREPARATION

Place vinegar in a small, heavy saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until slightly syrupy and reduced to 1 tablespoon (about 4 minutes). Set aside.

Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

Add rice; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, and cook 1 minute or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly.

Stir in 1 cup broth; cook 5 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total).

Stir in half-and-half, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in tomatoes, basil, and cheese.

Place about 1 cup risotto into each of 6 shallow serving bowls; drizzle each serving with 1/2 teaspoon balsamic syrup and 1/2 teaspoon oil.

Et Viola, a delicious recipe. Until next time friends!