Cajun Gumbo

This past weekend we attended a Cajun Fest at a friends house. They had a Shrimp Boil, the host also made jambalaya and a cajun pasta, there was plenty of white rice and cornbread to pair with the dishes. There was also plenty there for those that weren't cajun fans, such as chili, sloppy joes and other sides.

The host, knowing mine and Tim's love for cajun food, had asked me to make my Gumbo and I was happy to do so. I have since had many requests for the recipe and figured this was the best way to share. Through the years I have found what I love in my gumbo and other things I don't (like bay leaves).

New Orleans Gumbo

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/2 cup Flour
2 large Yellow Onions, chopped
5 Celery Stalks, chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped
1 Clove Garlic, minced
8 oz Tomato Sauce
1 lb Fresh Tomato, chopped
2 cups + 1 cup Chicken Broth*
1/4 cup water
1 tsp Cracked Peppercorn
1 tsp Ground Mustard
1 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1 1/2 tbsp Slap Yo' Momma Cajun Seasoning**
1 tsp Granulated Garlic
24 oz frozen Okra
1 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
3 lbs of raw peeled shrimp***
28 oz Andouille Sausage or Polska Kielbasa, sliced
1 Rotisserie Chicken shredded
Cooked White Rice

 In a large stock pot brown the flour and oil, stirring until it makes a light brown roux. Add the vegetables and saute' until they are soft. 

Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, chicken broth, water, Okra and seasonings. Simmer on medium about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. During the simmering process if the roux appears to be thickening add the extra cup of chicken broth. 

Add the chicken and sausage and simmer for another 20 minutes. 

If you are serving right away then add the shrimp and simmer another 15 minutes. However, if you are making this a head and are transporting in a crockpot to the location then transfer the Gumbo to your crockpot, put on warm and add the shrimp to sit and simmer for at least 4-6 hours. 

Serve over a bed of white rice. 

Serves about 10 - 12 people.

* You can use chicken, vegetable or seafood broth. I sometimes make use my homemade boths. 

** I use the mild because we have children that can't handle the heat but before Tim and I had little ones we used the Hot Slap Yo' Momma's. I do find that we can spice it up a little with the Cheyenne Pepper if you want it spicier.

*** there are times I use fresh and other times I use frozen

Minneapolis Vacation 2019

It looks like I am blogging once a year, after an amazing vacation. This year we didn't want anything to costly or far like the last two. We decided to cut costs we should go see my brother in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has lived there for 13 years, of which I had only visited 3 previous times. In those years he has never had a siblings full family visit.

We started planning this in January and originally planned the trip for June. We figure Tim's busy season would have slowed by then and our vacation would be done and over and could enjoy the summer. Well, June approached and with all the rain and flooding we have had Tim's busy season was just picking up. After talking to Bryan we decided to come the fist 6 days of August. It did give us something to look forward to all summer but I also felt like we were wishing out summer away.

So August 1st approaches and we hit the road bright and early. On the way we made several stops  and got to see a lot of fields and wind farms, something we say on the way to Colorado a few years before. BUT there was one thing I spotted that I knew we would have to try out on the way home...

We arrived to Bryan's apartment about 6:30p where he was in the parking lot waiting for us. Once the car was unloaded and re-arranged we wasted no time and loaded back in the car, this time Bryan was driving, and headed to his favorite place to get a Juicy Lucy. I have had one of these burgers before but we were both super excited to have Tim and Carter try one. They are so amazing they come with warnings.

The burgers didn't disappoint. Tim and Carter demolished them.

Friday we were up early and out the door by 9am and headed to The Mall of America. Carter was in awe and wanted to walk into every store, Oliver and Evan wanted to enjoy the theme park. The mall is a lot to take in but we went with a plan. We got tickets to the mirror maze, which Carter and Oliver didn't want to leave. 

It was a definitely an experience, and Oliver and Evan ran into a few mirrors. I ended up sitting out with Evan after a few rounds. Once they were tired of that we headed to the Crayola Store to try out the Crayola Experience. We spent over 3 hours in that place and still didn't finish the experience. If you are going with little ones I highly recommend this experience.

 Once we left that store we were all starving so we headed to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. where we got to sit and rest before doing more walking. We finally called it quits about 5p and headed home. We were all tired of walking that we decided to stay in and watch movies. Bryan made us the most delicious mexi-dish and spend the remainder of the evening relaxing.

Saturday was another early morning. Our first destination was Foshay Tower, it used to be the tallest building in Minneapolis. We got to see the city from 30 stories up. It was a beautiful sight. We also enjoyed the little museum that was at the top of the Foshay Tower that gave us the buildings history. Once we completed the tour we headed to the restaurant at the bottom called Keys  Cafe. Bryan and I were the most excited about this place because this is where we got these Ruben Balls we have spoke about for a year. See, we ate them last year when I went to visit him and we loved them so much that my mom surprised us with them at Christmas. SO we were very disappointed when we found out that they no longer made them... Tim says the looks on our faces was priceless. We still enjoy the food, service and atmosphere.

After leaving the Cafe we needed to walk off our food so we headed to the Stone Arch Bridge. It used to be a train track turned into a walking/running/biking path. It is built of all stone and has the most intricate arches. This bridge crosses the Mississippi. It was a nice walk with a lot of bikers and runners. Evan got to see a few princesses (brides) and in the end we enjoyed some Kona Ice (shaved ice). Evan started to get a bit cranky after this so we decided to head back to Bryan's place for naps, which Evan, Uncle B, Tim and Carter all took naps (I may have gotten about 20 minutes in there too).

When we woke it was raining and were worried we weren't going to get to finish our sight seeing. We finally decided to head to Black Sheep Pizza until the rain quit. This place is AMAZING! Out of three pizza's there were only 2 pieces left, that is how good it was. The rain actually let up before we arrived to eat so once we were finished we headed to Sculpture Gardens. Where the boys got to enjoy the art, a art piece that was also a swing and a lot of ducks and geese.

When we left here Bryan suggested we walk to this ice cream place up the road from his apartment. We aren't a family to turn down ice cream. He was right, it was only a few blocks (city blocks) from his house and all up hill... but we made it. Sebastian Joe's Ice Cream is the best ice cream in the world... by the Keller's opinions. We each got different flavors and they all were equally as amazing.

Once we got back to his apartment it was basically bed time and no one was fighting to lay down.

Sunday was a lazy morning and were able to take out time getting ready. About noon we headed out the door to a Twins v. Royals Game. Once inside the stadium we headed to the sport shop because Carter and I wanted a hat and we couldn't leave without getting Olive and Evan a foam finger.

 With the Twins in first place we knew this game wasn't going to disappoint.. and it didn't. They won 3-0. This was Oliver and Evan's first MLB game and they did amazing. After the game we headed to the two story Target Store, which happens to be my favorite place to visit when I got to see Bryan. It is like a mini mall and carries SO much more than ours here in Illinois. After the Target tour we headed to Bryan's friends house to swim. They boys played so hard that when we left at 9p Oliver and Evan didn't even make it out of their subdivision before falling asleep. We couldn't get them to wake to bath so we let them be, obviously changing them into jammies.

Monday was the day we said "until the next time" to Bryan and headed home. We made many pit stops but there was on that was planned and that was in Waterloo, Iowa at the John Deere Museum. The boys, including Tim, were in heaven. 

They had hands on items, displays of old engines and tractors, cut outs that told stories, a drawing board to draw your own tractor, a time clock to punch to show the date and time we were there, and designated tractors to crawl on. We spent a good hour to hour and a half here and the boys talked about it for another hour after. We finally made it home about 8p and we were whooped.

I purposely took off Tuesday to unpack, get the yard back in order and get laundry caught up because school starts a week from today and I wanted to not have to worry about vacation stuff.

The Kitchen and Dining room Before...

Hello Blog Land! I literally have not visited with you in over two months. I promised myself I would always record the weekend and even that fell by the wayside. 

A few years back I started spending January - March redoing a room in the house. First was the Boy's room, which I know I never revealed BUT it still isn't reveal worthy. Last year I redid the Master Room, which I also never shared because it too isn't ready. I am actually waiting on better weather so I can refinished the pieces that are needed to complete the room. 

This year BIG things are happening in the Keller house... or should I say TO the Keller house. I had been wanting to repaint the dining room from the ugly yellow to a clean gray and white for some time now. Presidents Day 2018 was the day it happened and I fell in love....then snowballed into re finishing the kitchen cabinets AND countertops. Which was decided on a Friday night at 7:30 P.M. when I just started ripping wallpaper off the walls. 

I promise by the end of the summer I will reveal both the Master Bedroom AND the Kitchen/Dining Room's. I do post teasers to my IG so your welcome to check them out. 

In the meantime I will leave you with my dining room/kitchen before's. (insert pukey face)

There was a hole in the wall where the Great Uncles had their tv stand because they used our living room as a "pool room" aka junk room. We were initially going to put shelves there so never filled it in... then we decided against it after kids and was left with a gray/mud and tape spot for over 5 years. Don't get me started on the yellow. I didn't live with my husband until after marriage, although I painted the whole house he demanded on picking the colors, which I hated the whole time but thought anything was better than the kelly green walls and tractor wallpaper that was in the room prior to it being yellow.  I would just give him time with his colors and them "poof" change them 5 years later. 

Then there is the kitchen, which is separated from the dining room by a 9' opening and 2 short walls. It was covered in UGLY wallpaper... which we didn't remove during the time we removed the ugly tractor wallpaper because it was "tolerable". Even though it did not match and was uglier than sin we dealt with it... until the dining room was looking cute and the kitchen wasn't even attempting to blend in... this is where kitchen resurfacing commenced. 

The wallpaper vanished in a weekend, the top cabinets are already resurfaced, we are currently working on the countertop resurfacing and then we will do the bottom cabinets. In this process I may also have to re-paint our fridge because she works great but is off-white and everything else is white... plus our butcher block, table and chairs, bench and coffee bar will all be getting facelifts.

I will be posting on all of these things throughout... So check back every now and then to see what is new... and you are going to what to know why I fired my husband. 

Twinners Weekend Fun... and their Birthday

Once a year we plan a weekend get away with Tim's twin and his gf/fiance'/almost wife. We decided last year that we are going to start doing them during their birthday weekend, meaning we moved it from August/September to January. This year we stayed to Devils Kitchen Cabins in the Carbondale, Illinois area. Tim and I had stayed there before so we knew what was in the area. We got down there Friday evening about 8p where we enjoyed a soak in the "hot pool" and many games until well into the morning. Tim and Matt were literally the last ones awake. 

Saturday we were up and out of the cabin by 11a. The plan was to follow the Southern Illinois Brewery Trail. There are three loops to the trail so we were doing the green loop. We started with the brewery furthest away and made out way back... out first stop was The Hop Brewery. 

They had only been open since October and the place has so much potential. They have a huge game/beer garden that will be fun during the summer/spring months and their staff is very polite and knowledgeable. After that we headed to Route 51, this place was amazing! 

The facility could hold hundreds, there were a few hotel rooms attached and the decor was super cute. Seriously, my favorite part were the homemade electrocuted table tops. 

I mean, how cool are these tables?

After 51 we headed to Big Muddy where we got excited about the Peanut Butter Cup Beer, which was good, but the rest of the place we not all that impressive. 

Where there is a beer named after a historic site 10 minutes from 

your home you drink a pint... When you find out it is the last

of the only 10 gallons made you praise that pint because

you don't know when or if it will ever be made again.

Once we left there we headed to Mollys. It was decorated like an old irish pub. I decided at that point that I couldn't fit another craft beer in my gut without bread or crackers so I opted for their non-alcoholic homemade root beer. The guys were using the "its out birthday" excuse to get out of going to the last place... which at the time Lacey and I were not happy about but in the end probably a good choice. Once back at the cabin the guys grilled steaks while Lacey and I baked the potatoes and put together a ceasar salad. We soaked in the "hot pool" for a bit, sang happy birthday (for the 10th time that day), ate some homemade chocolate cheesecake and played more games. The guys pooped out early so Lacey and I headed to bed too. 

Sunday we were up, packed and headed home by 9:30a. We stopped at Hourboughs in Carbondale for breakfast before actually heading home to our little guys. Once home and unloaded we went to Tim's parents to grab the boys.... only to find Oliver cranky and Evan running a low grade fever. We spend the rest of the day napping and cuddling the boys before having to get Carter from his dads.... where we got the news that Carter doesn't want to play baseball. I can't force him to play but I really feel he is going to regret this decision. 

A Weekend of Literally Doing Nothing...

This weekend we did absolutely nothing... kinda. Friday night we did head to Tim's parents to visit with his dad's friend Fred. We stayed until 10p where we headed home and went straight to bed. 

I forgot to mention we got a new cat... His name is 

Muddy Britches, from the movie Cars 3. 

Oliver named him but he loves Carter the most. 

Saturday Oliver and Tim went with Tim's brother to check his traps, Carter parked his butt on the couch for a Harry Potter marathon and I made grocery lists, went through the pantry, went through some clothes to donate to a house fire victim and took down some Christmas decor. When Tim and O came back I showered and we headed out to grocery shop. I hate going shopping only to grab fast food before heading home because you are too tired to cook... but that is what we did. Once everything was unpacked and everyone was fed we all settled on the couch to resume Carter's HP marathon. 

This kid HATES hair cuts. He literally started crying when we

pulled in the parking lot and repeating, "No, no hair cut"

However, our hair lady rocked because he cried the first few

minutes but then spent the rest like a big boy... and was happy after. 

Sunday Tim left early to goose hunt with my dad while the boys and I slept in... and they all slept until 9:30. It was glorious! When we got downstairs I made myself a cup of coffee and Oliver a cup of cocoa only to get to the living room and find Carter have the HP movies on...AGAIN! I got caught up on laundry, we took down ALL Christmas decorations and relaxed the rest of the day. 

So it was a weekend of not having to do anything but got a lot accomplished. What did you do this weekend?

Ringing in the New Year...

How is it the first week of 2018 is winding down. I hope this doesn't represent how fast this year will go because we have a lot of memories to be made... There were even a few made this past weekend.

Oliver got to go with Grandpa Keller deer hunting and Tim took off early to go. I just prayed I could get off early... which didn't really happen. I was able to catch the last hour and saw nothing BUT in a distance I hear a shot and 30 seconds later another. That could only mean two things, one of the two men shot twice or they both got a deer... well, they both got a deer. Oliver was one really excited little guy to msee Grandpa get a deer only to have his dad pull up to help retrieve the deer and have one of his own on the back of his truck.  We spent the remainder of the evening watching Tim and his dad clean the deer. 

Saturday I got up to help alone where I saw 4 bucks and a doe. The doe never came close enough so at 9:30 I called it and went in to warm up. I also got ready and headed to Tim's parents for their Christmas. About 3p I headed back to the stand in hopes to get a doe... considering everyone at my camp was going on their second deer. I saw nothing so headed in for the night where I met my boys at Tim's parents only to turn around to head home and to bed. 

Sunday, New Year's Eve, I was up early and out the door headed to my SIL's house for a surprise 30th Birthday Brunch. We left her house at 9:30 and went to Gamlin Whiskey House in St. Louis. I would love to go back for supper because I got shrimp and grits with an egg over-easy on it and it was amazing... and don't get me started on their bloody mary's, YUM!  Once we left there we headed to The Fountain. They specialize in ice cream... and ice cream alcoholic beverages. I got a chocolate ice cream martini and it was delicious. When we left there we headed back to my SIL's house where she had to turn around, change clothes and leave for more reservations with my brother. I got home about 5p where I spent the remainder of the night snuggled in with Tim, Oliver and Evan on the couch watching what ever movie they wanted to watch. I believe we were all asleep by 10:30. 

Monday we spent just laying around trying to stay warm and watching movies until my brother text asking us to come over for games and appetizers. While there we played QuikWitz and Deer in the Headlights. We had so much fun that we decided this was going to actually be out New Years Eve group... until our kids are old enough to not want to hang with us anymore. We got home about 11p and headed straight to bed.                 

Another Christmas Gone...

It is hard to believe that 2017 is almost over. It literally seems like just yesterday we were coming home from Colorado and I was fighting the thought that summer was almost over. Now Christmas is over and there is 5 days left in 2017.

Our Christmas started on Friday the 22nd and went until Christmas Day. Granted there was one down day in between our first Christmas gathering and Christmas Eve it didn't seem that way... the 22nd Christmas was celebrated at my mom's with my siblings, their wives and my nieces. This is one of our favorite gatherings because it is the first time we get to hang with our brother Bryan, who always come home from Minnesota. 

We get him all or ourselves before having to share him with like 30 other people. The kids look forward to it because they find out who their Secret Santa is... the cousins exchange names and it is a lot of fun, even for the little ones. This year we got to celebrate in pj's, which I have decided is the only way to celebrate Christmas... no fancy clothes or worrying about eating to much. 

This year's godfather gifts from their godsons

We spent the evening playing games and laughing, a lot. Tim and I planned on spending the night of all our boys crashed but Evan (and his twin cousin, Stella) were still going strong. We know we weren't going to get him to sleep so we loaded up about midnight and headed home. 

Saturday was a rest day but everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was in an extremely foul mood so we talked to no one and hid from everyone... then went to bed at 8p.

The twin cousins. Where one is the other is close

behind... and they could pass off as twins.

We had an early start on Sunday and wouldn't you believe it, that was the day our boys decided to sleep in. Even Oliver was still sleeping at 7a when we had to wake him. We were off to my Dad and Stepmoms house where my boys LOVE hanging out because there are actually boys to play with, my stepbrother has 2 boys. 

My Niece Baleyn and I.

We hung out there watching Christmas movies, playing gift exchange games and laughing it up. Before we knew it we were headed to see my Grandpa Zip for a few minutes before heading to my Grandma Ruth's house for Christmas with the Vasquez Family.

Grandma Ruth opening her gift.

 Here we visited with many relatives, did our sock gift exchange and the kids ran like crazy. 

These are going to be my lucky BINGO socks.

I started not feeling to good so we left there about 10p, the boys passed out about a mile down the road and Tim and I enjoyed the quiet 50 minute ride home. 

Monday Oliver woke us at 6:30. We asked him if Santa came, unsure and scared he ran into Carter's room to wake him and have him go downstairs with him to check. Once they saw all the gifts Oliver ran back upstairs and woke dad (Tim) up... and attempted to wake Evan up, who could have given two craps about Santa and presents. Oliver enjoyed the fact that "Santa" took two bites of two cookies and drank all of his milk. Carter, God love him, doesn't believe but plays along and it is just the cutest thing. We enjoyed the morning with our boys opening gifts and playing with them. I think they were all excited about their beach toys, trunks, chairs and vacation (hell, I am too and I wasn't even surprised with the vacation). 

We were at Tim's parents by noon for the Seboldt Christmas where I kinda laid low because my headache was still giving me lots of pain. 

We left there about 6p, drove around looking at Christmas lights before heading home and heading to bed. 

Tuesday I was lucky enough to be off work and allowed my boys to recover from their Christmas hangover in the comfort of our home. Where they played quietly with their new toys and allowed me to get a few things done. 

Like nap with Evan.

We really just took it easy most the day and about 2p finally changed out of our pj's... so when Tim came home from work he didn't thing we were bums all day. 

The weekend flew by but a lot of memories were made. Look out 2018, we are coming for you.

Weekend Wrap Up

I was off a half day Thursday through Sunday and all I really did was deer hunt. Out of all the family members hunting I saw the most but the only one who didn't get a deer. How that is I have no idea...I still always get really excited for those that get one, as if I got my own. 

Sunday afternoons hunt was the most memorable. I took Oliver who is always talking about hunting and "hunt's" everyday. He has gone with Tim twice in previous years, however this year he really started to get it, in a way. 

He was extra quiet but wouldn't stop asking to use my binoculars between playing on his Leapster. He sat very still and at one point took a nap. 

Unfortunately we didn't see anything and when we got back to the car Oliver says "Mommy, thanks for taking me hunting. I had fun." That alone made my hunting experience that afternoon the best one yet. 

Now he still got to see a deer. I checked my phone before leaving the field and I told him we got a text from Aunt Lacey saying she shot a doe. He started to get really excited. Oliver and I met Tim and headed to where Lacey was hunting to help bring it home. Oliver was so excited to get to see a deer (albeit dead) before the hunting evening was over. The remainder of the night he kept saying "you know I am a hunter".