05/16/2012

1.  I made a great recipe tonight-- Broccoli curry soup.  At least, I liked it.  And the boys ate some, too!  Brigham ate a whole bowl.  Ben, however, did not try it.  :-) 
Here's how I made it:
One small onion diced.
Sautee in a soup pot with olive oil, 1/4 tsp cumin, and 2-3 tsp curry powder, until onion is soft and translucent.
Add 2 cups chicken broth, and 2 cups water.
Add broccoli.  I used two smallish heads of broccoli.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Blend until smooth in a blender.
Add one can lite coconut milk.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
I also added garlic salt and a little stevia (sugar substitute) at the end.

The curry flavor is quite mild and it is not spicy.

I also made apple-cinnamon pancakes for my non-curry-loving family members.  A bit of a weird combination-- apple cinnamon pancakes and broccoli curry soup, but everyone ate and was happy, so it's all good.

2.  I was less stressed out today.  I decided I wasn't going to stress about the boys finishing up their schoolwork before piano lessons.  As it was, Joseph was the only one who finished, and Brigham still didn't finish tonight, but oh well.  I am learning some things for how to make next year work better.  By the time my boys graduate and go off to college, I'll have it figured out.  :-)

3.  The 3rd builder came out again today with several subcontractors-- electrical, concrete, framing, plumbing, A/C.  We still won't get a bid from him for probably almost 2 weeks, but I think I can be very confident that whatever number he gives us will be accurate.  There won't be any surprises.  We got bids back from the other two guys who came.  The first guy's bid is $25K less than the other.  But he seemed the least exact of the three of them.  The other two asked questions and looked around the house and property more than he did, so I wonder if there might be surprise costs that would come up over the course of the building.  I'll have to see what this 3rd guy comes up with. 
I try to keep Ben apprised, and so far he hasn't put the kibosh on the project.  He doesn't have that much to say about it, though, which worries me.  I want him to be on board and involved, or at least interested.  I know his dream still is to find the perfect lot and either build, or add-on to an existing house.  He's been looking at some property down on Spicewood Springs Rd., which is a really beautiful area, but the land parcels are big-- 8-9 acres, and would need to be subdivided, if they even can be.  It seems so complicated, and so long-term.  If we did something like that, it would be (I'm thinking) at LEAST a year before there was something ready for us to move into.  And it would undoubtedly be a lot more expensive.  But I'm willing if he can find something that he really loves and would work for us.  I just don't know how long that will take, and I'm not willing to wait indefinitely.
I keep praying and feeling good about building, but I'm not sure he's there yet.