My House Debra

Mom and I have been down a bit with some congestion and flu symtoms: Thought you might enjoy a soup that is pretty good for what ails you. And while I'm at it another soup that some of you have been asking me for .... it's not the best for when you're sick though.

Italian Chicken with White Beans:
1 cup chopped onion ( 1 large)
1 cup chopped carrot ( 2 med)
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery (1 stalk)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 pds skinless, boneless chicken tenders/ cut in small pieces
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1 15 oz can white kidney (cannellini) beans rinsed and drained.
In a 4 quart slow cooker cominbine the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Place chicen pieces on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a med bowl combine undrained tomatoes, broh, and Italian seasoning. Pour over mixture in crock pot. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3.5 hours. Makes a wonderful soup.



Italian Peasant Soup:
1 pd Italian sausage links, casings removed and cut into 1 inch slices
2 med. onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pd boneless skinless chicken breats, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cans cannellini or white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained ( I use Italian Style)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
6 cups fresh spinach leaves, chopped
Shredded Parmesan cheese, optional
In a Dutch oven or soup kettle, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add onions and garlic, saute until tender. Add chicken, cook and stir until no longer pink. Stir in the beans, broth, tomatoes, basil and roegano. Cook, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add the spinach and heat just until wilted. Serv e with Parmesan cheese if desired. Yield 11 servings.

Your Mom as well as many of my friends and fellow forum members are deeply involved with current issues and bills that face our Legislature. Our Governor just spoke out this week in favor of the "common ground" initiatives that are being advanced by the Gay community. These intitiatives will pose a strong threat to our State Constitutional Amendment that states: that marriage in the State of Utah can only be defined as a union between a man and a woman. Governor Huntsman is now on record as being in harmony with giving Gays the status of "civil unions" which would do a great deal of legal harm in the definition of marriage. What you see below is a picture of a Press Release that was sponsored by Eagle Forum as well as many other pro family advocacy groups which the United Women's Forum is a part of as well as many legislators and ecclesiastical leaders. Many of us were there. It is a busy and frantic month : because we have to be on the alert to respond to concerns at the drop of a hat. I check my e-mails daily to keep on top of things.

It's been a wonderful week. We started with snow... and now the sun is melting it away. Hope you enjoy the pics and seeing my life through my eyes. Love Deb and Mom

Marsh hadn't been available to hang out with me on or near my birthday so we finally caught up with one another this Wednesday. We just hung out, went to lunch and then stopped off at Nelson's Yogurt. We had a fun time.

Mom and I have decided to join "Q" a quilting class being offered by Christie Elkins in our Ward. We are going to be working with Annette Haag (left) Sandra Burton (M) and then there is Mom and I (taking the picture). We are going to begin with a 20 block baby quilt and move on from there. We had only gotten back home for a minute when Audrey called and has the funnest fabric place she found on the internet. It is going to be fun working with Audrey on a quilt for her new little one. This one will be my practice effort.

One day this week, Joy decided that she wanted to cut her hair. Sara was a bit dubious about it since if she cut her hair she wouldn't be able to be quite like (Lori, in Oklahoma) anymore. But Joy thought it would be alright. We found the hair-cutting supplies downstairs in the bathroom drawers and Sara began to trim. The pictures here are of the cutting day and a day or two afterwards when Grandma flipped it up for her with the curling iron.

Sometimes the final rays of light are the most beautiful of all. One of the night's this week I was in my bedroom looking out the arcadia door as the sun was going down. There was a shaft of light that came from the earth and shot up through the sky vertically. It was the most awe inspiring sight I had ever seen. I tried to quickly get it captured on the camera... but I don't know if it shows the true vertical shaft that I saw. It was amazing!!!