“Don’t eat poop or snow”

My 3 year old has been distilling his knowledge to me. I think he’s close to writing a best-seller.

Last night he told me “Mommy, don’t eat poop or snow.” Duly noted. Boogers are still fair game though.

We’ve talked with him about eating snow, he’ll pick it right up off the muddy car to eat, the gnarly sidewalk…it’s gross. So, that I understand. Where he got the poop part of the advice from, I don’t know. I’m trying not to think about it. I’m hoping he just had an epiphany and he didn’t learn it through experience.

This kid’s going places.

Last night he also mentioned his first imaginary friend, yay! I thought this might be an interesting part of his development. What kind of fanciful creature would his sharp little mind conjure up? Guess what his imaginary friend’s name is…go ahead. Can you guess? It’s…

Other Mommy.

I… don’t know what to think of that. My husband finds it to be hilarious and got a good chuckle out of it. Fine, it’s fine. Maybe Other Mommy can wipe his a** next time he needs a pull up change. I’m not bitter.

Kielbasa Stew (or Bean Stew if you Prefer)

One of my go to recipes is Kielbasa Stew. It was modified from a recipe I found on a can of beans, originally called “Cannellini Florentine,” which is odd in that there are more kidney beans than cannellini beans. I guess cannellini sounds more appetizing? At any rate, my husband suggested adding kielbasa, because, why not. I also took out some ingredients that didn’t add any flavor or texture to the soup, which made it an easier and cheaper meal to make.

This soup is hearty, yummy, and pretty cheap to make. It’s good after 20 minutes, it’s good when it’s simmered in the crockpot, and it’s good as leftovers. It almost makes a lot, so if you’re entertaining, just make (or buy) a nice loaf of crusty bread to go with.

The kielbasa can be omitted, and you can replace the chicken broth with veggie broth and you’ve got yourself some hearty vegan fare. You can also replace the spinach with kale if you’re an absolute monster who hates delicious things.

Kielbasa is pretty cheap, and usually there’s a two for one deal at my grocery store, so I always pick up a couple kielbasa (insert “just like college” joke here). As the saying goes, a kielbasa in hand is worth two in the fridge. I think that’s right.

Kielbaaasaaaa

And away we go…

Kielbasa Stew (or Bean Stew for the vegan crowd)

• 1 onion diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 package kielbasa (I usually go for the Turkey version, the horseshoe link size that’s always with the bacon), sliced into coins. Omit if you’re doing vegan option
• 3 cans chicken broth (veggie broth for vegan), this is flexible too
• 1 can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can light kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can cannelinni beans, drained and rinsed
• brick of frozen spinach, or handfuls of fresh spinach, eyeball it

Brown the kielbasa in a soup pot, 5 quart size should be fine. Set the kielbasa aside and saute the onion and garlic in some oil (whatever kind you want). Once the onion is soft, add back in the kielbasa. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the spinach is soft.

You can adjust the broth and spinach to your liking. I find it easy just to plop one of those frozen bricks in there.

Here’s some I had left night for leftovers. There’s not as much broth because when I made the soup I just used some leftover broth, so it wasn’t as much as normal. Still tasted fantastic!

Refer to it as “rustic” and people will think you’re really fancy. And yes, I grossly mistreat my butcher block counter top.