The Windy City

For six months, I planned my trip to Chicago for November. My husband would be in meetings for 3 days. I would sleep, read, eat, photograph, and shop. It would be three entire, glorious days to do whatever whenever. I was mostly excited to dine like an adult. No leftover bread crusts, no worries about allergens, no spilled milk.

Flashback to Halloween.... Dex gets a horrendous case of the stomach flu. It lasts for 6 days! Followed by Maddie. Then, Millie. I managed to escape the dreaded disease... Or, did I?

Oh no, I did not! Twelve, yes 12, days later, while on my long-awaited sabbatical, the symptoms manifested themselves violently. There was no dining, no reading, no photography, and very little shopping (much to my husband's pleasure.) However, there was plenty of sleeping.

I did manage to take 4 random photos with my phone which don't really even resemble the vacation.

I do have to admit that it was better than the trip I took to San Francisco a few years ago when I had the swine flu. And, the saving grace of the trip was the restaurant we visited just before we flew home. Slurping Turtle was delicious. Since I was still adjusting to consuming food, I ordered "Slurping Noodles" which turned out to be perfect.

I tried to recreate the dish and came pretty close. It was a quick and easy dinner and all the kids like it. 

Slurping Noodles

Copy Cat from Slurping Turtle, Chicago

2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon soy sauce or Braggs Liquid Aminos

1 Tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup carrots, match stick or thinly sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 cup napa cabbage, shredded

½ cup broccoli florets

8 ozs straight cut rice noodles or vermicelli

Shrimp, use your preferred size

3-4 green onions, greens only slice on diagonal

¼ cup cilantro,

French Fried Onion, garnish

In coconut oil, sauté carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage for 3-4 minutes over med-hi heat.

Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add shrimp, broccoli, and rice noodles. Simmer for about 5 minutes or until noodles are soft. Stir in green onions and cilantro.

Garnish individual servings with french fried onions. Slurp away.

Summer Memories

With winter quickly approaching, I thought I would reminisce about summer. We had a pretty great one and made so many fun memories. Here are just a few...

Las Palmas Pool in St. George

Dex's 1st season of baseball

Maddie at the Spanish Fork Rodeo in Papa's box seats.

Millie and Maddie on a hot, lazy summer day.

Sunset on the 4th of July.

 Bear Lake in July.

 Morgan County Fair in August.

 Maddie and Jesse showing off at the Duncans.

Millie's 1st Birthday.

Avery and Dex on the 1st day of school.

School shoes on, summer ends.

 The end.

Miss me?

I really enjoy sharing updates and ideas within cyberspace with willing and interested readers. I've missed updating more frequently. I hope to rededicate myself to spending a little more time emptying my brain onto my computer screen.

I snapped this photo this morning on a nice, brisk run. It's the first bundled run of the snowy season. I LOVE the mountains!