Simple Home and Happiness

I am in a moody place right now. I am in the middle of tax preparation (makes me want to scream), kids are in post-Christmas detox, baby boy still has yet to sleep through the night, and my husband is trying to help, but I mostly want to punch him in the face. My struggles are small in comparison to many but sometimes even the little struggles can feel monumental. I have cried simply because I am tired, because my back hurts from falling on the ice, because I have not gotten my way, because everyone needs something from me ALL THE TIME. I will get out of this funk. I will find the happy, and I will fight for it. Normally when I sit down to write, I try to think about what someone may need to hear to lift them up and I usually end up giving myself a pep talk in the process. But today there is no pep talk. Today there is just brutal honesty. Today I am tired, I am sad, I am frustrated. In this space, where I try encourage others, I want to let you know, that even the most ...

As I ran out the door to take a hot lunch to my seven year olds classroom today, I found myself thinking, "A better Mom would have brought a vegetable." Despite having baked four stromboli loaves from scratch, despite having been up since 4:30 a.m., despite having kept four children alive for another day, I somehow thought (however briefly) in that moment, that I wasn't good enough. Of course half way to town I shook myself out of it. I reminded myself that it wouldn't have mattered if I brought the perfect vegetable pairing or take-out pizza or casserole from a box. The only thing that mattered was that I was going to show up. I was going to bring a meal to a great group of kids, who could not care less what they were being fed. They were just happy to get food; kids are easy like that. I am sharing two posts that I wrote awhile back, because I needed the pep talk today. And maybe I am not alone, maybe you need it too. No matter who you are, no matter your ...

Its cold outside. Not just a little cold, like it dropped below zero and will not be going much higher for quite sometime, COLD. Soup weather? I think so. The hubs is not much of one for soups, unless they are a thick, hearty stew, that you can pretty much eat with a fork. So this is a soup I make for myself. Literally. I waited until every, single child, husband, attention demanding, creature in this house was in bed. Then I stayed up and made this for myself. It's what I do to unwind. Then I leave all the dishes in the sink to wind me up again the next day... but I digress. I hesitate to post recipes, because I am not a rule follower. I use what I have, I use what sounds good. I rarely measure. And soup is perfect for this kind of cooking. Soup is forgiving. So be daring, be brave, take this recipe as a starting point and jump. Here's a quick walk through of my version of an easy French Onion Soup with bacon! In a large pot fry up some bacon, always a go...