If at first...: Busy weekend!

I quit 30 Day Shred. Whoa! Hang on there, buddy! It's just until tomorrow, I hope. I had to figure out how I can do it during the day instead of in the evening. There are just too many things going on in the evenings. The kids have homework, baths or showers, and dinner. Sometimes Jon comes home a little later than usual. It just didn't work.

Ok, so on to the busy weekend. Friday, Jon and I brought the kids to a Halloween party that was put on by his employer. They had a blast. The kids each got to pick a pumpkin, I mean actually go into a pumpkin patch and pick it! There was trick-or-treating and a candy hunt. There were pony rides and hay rides. It was almost like a little zoo. There were donkeys, mules, horses, a few kinds of cows and bulls, turkeys, ducks, chickens and pigs.

Saturday was filled with cleaning. I had so many dishes to wash. I had been neglecting them to Shred. Don't you love when the kids help clean up and end up tossing garbage all over the kitchen floor? I don't. You wouldn't believe what my kitchen floor looked like. The bathroom closet was filled with laundry, and a potty training Nickolas makes for some stinky undies. Gag gag.

Sunday I made another batch of potato soup. Huge batch. I have an ice cream bucket full in the freezer. Wait for the recipe. It's coming up later. Sunday evening I went with my sister and mom to my cousins baby/diaper shower. It was nice to be able to visit with family I don't often get to visit. Hey, and aren't pregnant women just beautiful?

Today I'm working on a chocolate cake. It, oddly, seems to be the most difficult cake for me to make. I've gone on to making up my own recipe for it. I also put a load of laundry in to help out the hubs, because that's his job and I messed it up yesterday. Oops. Dinner? Pizza dip or Sheppard's pie cups. I'll post the recipe sometime this week if we like it.

Here it is, the recipe you've all been waiting for:

Missy's Tater Soup

8 Cups Potatoes in about 3/4 in cubes
1 lb bacon cooked, chopped
1 lb kielbasa cut into chunks and cooked (I cut the rounds into quarters)
1 cup onion chopped finely
1 cup carrots sliced
5 cups milk (I use whole milk)
5 cups water
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chicken soup base
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper
shredded cheddar cheese (garnish)

1. Peel and cut potatoes, chop onion, peel and slice carrots, cut bacon into 1/2 inch pieces and cut keilbasa into chunks.

2. Cook kielbasa until brown, not burnt. Drain and set aside.

3. Cook bacon until crispy. Drain bacon and reserve 1 tablespoon bacon grease.

4. Boil potatoes until almost cooked through.

5. Saute onions in the bacon grease. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. I let them cook until they start turning a golden color on the edges.Set aside. (I add them to my kielbasa bowl.)

6. After the bacon has cooled chop it up a little more.

7. In a large pot, melt the butter and add the flour. Stir together and let it get bubbly. Quickly stir in the milk. Add the water and chicken soup base.

8. Stir some of the hot liquid into the sour cream. Add the heavy cream and sour cream mixture back into the large pot.

9. Add the kielbasa, bacon, onion, carrots and potatoes into the large pot. Cook over low heat until potatoes and carrots are cooked through.