Monday, January 6, 2014

Hi, and Happy New Year!

Hello Friends, and Happy New Year! 

It's been, let's say, a wee bit longer than planned since the last time I blogged. I am so sorry! Apparently, my mind needed a bit of a blogging break, so I gave it one. And while I stayed on social networks, I didn’t take too many photos or post too many updates. A bit of an unplugged season, I guess. All in all, the mental rest did a body good! In the meantime, it was a busy fall and holiday season, and life sped on. 

Football games were lost … and won! [War Eagle!]



Trees were lit … and taken down … last night. Ha! We held out until the Epiphany. That's my excuse :)


We saw pretty lights …


And city lights …


I may have turned 30. [How's that for the downplay of the year?!]


And we just capped it all off with a weekend in the mountains with good friends to celebrate other good friends. 


What have you been up to these past few months? I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season. 

As always, the New Year is bringing some New Starts in the Lehmann household, including early mornings at the gym (2 for 3 so far. Today, it was 20 degrees outside, so the bed won in the end) and reconnecting with our home cooking skills. It will be time to start thinking about bathing suits again before we know it, so I am trying to get a head start on fitness now, while mid-winter social plans are quiet. 

Yesterday, in efforts to banish the cold already seeping into town, we cooked up a batch of Italian Wedding Soup. Extremely fitting as we had just returned home from said wedding in the mountains, this soup was the perfect cozy soup for a chilly winter day. Since it's homemade, you can keep things low-sodium and low-fat depending on the type of meat and amount of pasta you throw in. Plus, it tastes amazing. Hard to beat that. Below is our recipe – we loosely adapted things from a recipe we found online, enough that it is now "ours" :) 

Happy New Year, everyone! Looking forward to a fun 2014 ahead! 

Lehmann Italian Wedding Soup
Serves 4-6

1 small onion, finely diced
2-3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 lb. ground beef (80-20 blend or your choice)
1 c. Italian breadcrumbs
2 eggs
3/4 c. chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1-2 tsp. each salt and pepper, to taste
3 boxes low-sodium chicken broth
1 c. pastina
1 c. baby spinach 

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender and translucent. Set aside to cool slightly as you prep the other meatball ingredients. Combine beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley and salt and pepper in a large bowl; add in cooled onions and peppers and mix with hands. Form small meatballs (half inch in diameter) and place on wax paper on a baking tray. Place meatballs in freezer for 15-20 minutes.

While meatballs cool, heat up broth on the stove in a large pot. Bring to a boil and carefully add in the meatballs, a few at a time. Simmer over reduced heat, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add pastina and cook an additional 5 minutes, folding in spinach towards the end. Enjoy!
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2 comments:

Mom said...

Glad to "see" you back! Here's to the new year and new beginnings!

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