Go Pick a Switch

I really hate disciplining my kids. I really don't like having to think about what the appropriate discipline is. I don't like to see them cry and be upset. I don't like having to deal with them during their grounded time. And I feel like I end up as much grounded as them, and maybe even more.

Growing up I didn't get disciplined much. But then I didn't really do a whole lot to be disciplined for. I remember my mom threatening sometimes. When I was little that meant pulling the string with the attached ball off of those cheap paddle ball toys. But I don't ever remember being spanked. The most clear recollections I have was when I was a teenager and I would lose phone privileges (that's landline phone, with a cord, for those of you who don't remember...). Oh, and that one time, when I was 11 and I shoplifted something from a store. I was grounded for a year. Yep, you read that right: a YEAR.

Now that I have kids of my own, I have expectations. And I think I clearly communicate those expectations. And I don't think they're unfair. And I do expect that they will be met. My wish, if I got those, would be that I would never have to discipline them at all. That they would understand why I set the expectations that I do, and that they would follow my rules.

Do I think that's realistic? No. But we're talking about wishes here people.

I think one of the parts of trying to create decent human beings that I struggle with the most is the appropriate punishment for the crime. I've known people who have gotten all kinds of different punishments. My dad would tell stories of he and his brothers lying over his parent's bed waiting for the belt. I had a friend that, when his kids would act up, he would recall his own childhood, "Go pick a switch. And it better be a good one or it will be worse," his Momma would say. And then I had friends that could get away with murder, and consequently let their children do the same.

So what punishment do you pick?

When the kids were little, Brandon and I would send them to their rooms so that we could calm down, and collectively decide on a punishment. We were die hard in our efforts to be consistent and to present a united front. Today is no different (well, sometimes we yell. Sometimes, when your kid has made such a stupid mistake that you are completely flabbergasted, you yell. You might yell something at her like, "What the fuck were you thinking!?!?!" And then walk to the other room to cry.) even though we are co-parenting in different households now.

Ultimately, even if there was some yelling, we try to sit down and have an honest dialogue. We try to help the kids see our point of view. To help them understand where we are coming from. Maybe why we were so mad. And we always, always tell them that we love them. And we care about them. And that we worry about them. And we just want the best for them.

Some people might be shocked to have witnessed our most recent conversations regarding discipline. Sitting at the dining room table are me, Brandon, Mike and Lilly. Because we are mature adults. And all of us have a stake in this. And all of us have an interest in seeing the kids succeed.

We turned it over to her. We asked her what she thought we needed to do to help her be successful in making good decisions, and improving her judgement. We brainstormed ideas of goals - each of our goals FOR her, and her goals for herself - over the next three years. We talked about how, if those goals are important, then every decision, no matter how critical or insignificant, should be run through a quick question: does the decision I think I'm going to make get me closer to my goals? If the answer is no, then it's not the right decision.

This isn't a concept reserved exclusively for kids. I don't know many adults that wouldn't benefit from applying this same process to their own lives - mine included.  The point is, discipline for the sake of discipline is rarely effective. I should know. A generous portion of my time is spent with "big" kids, who have found themselves in a situation as a result of poor decision making, where I am battling with their employer over the appropriate level of discipline. The thing is, when you simply punish a person (kid or adult), a smack on the ass or a couple days off work, won't fix the problem. It takes a comprehensive review of the root cause of the poor decision in the first place, and a discussion WITH the person's input, to develop a plan to grow and change so that they don't end up in the same position again.

There is no perfect disciplinary recipe book. If there is, I've never seen it. Like the rest of parenting, we'll just continue to stumble through, screwing them up in our own particular way.

The Holy Grail....I Think I Found It!

Me and my big ideas. I’m always searching. Always on the lookout for something awesome that could make a difference in my world. Sometimes because I’m just curious, and sometimes out of necessity.

My Crock Pot has been something of a monkey on my back since I got it. First, I wanted a programmable Crock Pot, and I got one. Except it isn’t programmable on the front end, only in its cook time (start in the morning when you leave and then it holds your food on warm until you turn it off). Second, it cooks FAR hotter than I believe a Crock Pot should cook on low heat. Third, the handle slowly started to crumble – not a huge functional issue, but a pain none the less. Fourth, I must’ve slammed it down on the counter a little too hard one time as one of the legs is dented in so that I must put a kitchen towel underneath so that she stays level during use. Mostly, I just needed a new one.

A shot of the handle on my ghetto Crock Pot with the gangsta lean

In spending some time searching for the Crock Pot of my dreams some other appliances passed through the Google indexes – some of which I had noticed before only briefly, and some that I had never heard of. I was looking for a number of things in a slow cooker:

1. A machine that would take whatever I dumped into it in the morning and make it into a delectable meal by the time I got home from work.
2. A machine that was programmable…ON THE FRONT END! I want to put my food in the pot, and if it only takes 4 hours to cook, and I’m leaving at 8am, and returning at 4pm, it will not start cooking until noon.
3. A machine big enough to cook a roast that is several pounds.

And then I noticed the Instant Pot. I quickly scrolled through article after article on Pinterest. I searched through recipes, through what to do if you’re a beginner, I Googled what it would cook, how it could be used, how big it was, what you could put in it, how easy it was to figure everything out. And when I was done with my research, I KNEW that the Instant Pot was what I wanted. I quickly added it to my Wish List (something I’ll write about another time).

The battle ensued between Mikey and my Momma as to who was going to present this culinary treasure to me on Christmas. My Momma emerged the victor – though Mikey will likely reap most of the spoils. My parents got me the Instant Pot, a lid, and a cookbook to help me start making delicious, healthy meals.

I pulled it out of the box on New Year’s Day and read the entire manual. (Yes, I’m THAT person.) After reading the manual, and a few articles from Pinterest on how to start out, I cooked myself some water – a first step in preparing the machine for other gastronomic magic.

In our house we try to eat healthy – as healthy as possible. And we love to snack on hard boiled eggs. Side note: Did you know hard boiled eggs provide good fats, are naturally high in protein, contain good amounts of vitamin A & D, and is only 80 calories? When I found a recipe to cook hard boiled eggs in 5 minutes – YES PLEASE! Incidentally, being a pressure cooker, the Instant Pot should help us keep out of restaurants so much. To demonstrate how much time it saves: It will cook dry beans in under an hour!

I followed the very simple instructions on how to cook the eggs: 1 cup of water in the pot, add steamer tray, place eggs in, close lid and set timer. That’s it. The recipe promised perfectly cooked eggs, with shells that peel off easily. And it did not disappoint! No more ugly deviled eggs!

I haven’t had a chance to cook anything else in my Instant Pot yet (spent the following day zoodling (more on that later) but I’m ready to roll. I seriously can’t wait to put my ol’ Crock Pot on the Buy Nothing site….and maybe my rice cooker too!

Menu #5 of 2013

Well it's easier to make a menu when you get to carry over a bunch from the previous! I'm kind of excited about this menu because there are many times that we get to the end of the menu and I've either put off all the things that take a little longer or I just don't feel like cooking the couple of things that are left. That's the dilemma right? Trying to make sure you have 2 weeks of stuff you actually want to eat. It's just so fun in the beginning of the menu period when you have 14 delicious meals to choose from. When you are down to two time-intensive meals, both of which are not what "you feel like tonight," it's much harder to resist running to a restaurant.

So here's Menu #5:

• Thai Peanut Wraps
• Chiken Broccoli Packets
• Flank Steak with Chimichurri & Homemade Sweet Potato Fries
• Crockpot Zuppa Toscana
• Tortellini Soup
• Steak w/Chicago Marinade & Baked Potatoes
• Italian Chicken & Noodles
• Shrimp Scampi
• Salmon (AGAIN, I actually made this last week) with Roasted Vegetables
• Baked Eggs & Hashbrowns
• Hamburgers & Buffalo Cauliflower
• Pesto Pasta with Chicken Sausage
• BBQ Pork Fried Rice
• Chicken Fajitas & Mexican Rice

Tonight we had the Pesto Pasta and it was delicious! And fast! I really recommend this one. The kids were immediately saying this one was a keeper and Logan doesn't even like pesto. We didn't hardly modify the recipe so here it is, copy and pasted from Gimme Some Oven: (my notes are in purple)

Pesto Pasta with Chicken Sausage & Roasted Brussels Sprouts  

Ingredients

• 1 lb fresh brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and any yellowed/browned outer leaves removed, then sliced in half
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 lb (16 oz.) orecchiette (or any pasta) [I used whole grain medium shells]
• 4 chicken sausage links (I used spicy Italian), sliced into 1/4" thick coins [I used 5 - Aidell's Apple Chicken Sausage from Costco]
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup pesto
• Parmesan cheese, for serving

Method

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl, mix together brussels sprouts, 2 Tbsp. olive oil, salt and pepper. Gently stir until well-combined.

 

Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then spread the brussels sprouts on it evenly. Roast for about 20-30 minutes, stirring once partway through, or until they are crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside. (My batch of tiny sprouts only took about 12 minutes to cook.) [We cooked ours for 15] Remove from oven and set aside.

 

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, turning occasionally, until nearly-browned, about 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic, and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes until the garlic is fragrant and the sausage is browned.

 

Cook the pasta according to the package directions. (I begin heating my water while preparing the brussel sprouts, and added the pasta to the boiling water just after beginning to cook the sausage.)

 

Once the pasta is cooked, drain the water (reserving 1/4 cup pasta water), and then toss together the pasta, pesto, cooked sausage and garlic, and brussels sprouts. Add in some of the reserved pasta water if needed for extra moisture.

 

Serve warm, and sprinkle with freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.

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2.2

BLTA's & Mushroom Soup

Like many American's my family loves a good BLT. I mean, it's bacon, do I need to say more? The hubs and I have always liked our BLT's with tomato soup but my dear girl isn't much of a fan. When I found this recipe for Mushroom Soup I knew we had to try it - and what better to pair it with than a delicious BLT(A) - my way!

Mushroom Soup
Click on the link for the recipe I re-pinned. I only made super minor modifications

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups of white button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 3/4 cups of baby portobello mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 c porcini mushrooms
1/2 c portobello mushrooms (gills removed) diced small
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 c vegetable stock
2 Tbsp flour dissolved in 2 Tbsp water
2 c half-n-half
Dash of nutmeg
Fresh cracked pepper
Wondra for thickening

1. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. Add butter and lightly sauté garlic on medium heat.
2. Add in mushrooms, thyme, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes.
 

3. Add in chicken broth. Stir occasionally until broth boils, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
4 Add diluted flour in, and stir constantly (while simmering) until the mixture thickens. Season with salt and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. Finally, add half-n-half, and bring to a simmer. Turn heat off.
6. Serve hot in your soup bowl. Add freshly ground black pepper.

I specified the mushrooms I used and liked and also left out the choices of dried vs. fresh thyme (I aways prefer fresh herbs and I happen to have a ton of thyme growing outside). I also try not to use heavy whipping cream anytime I can avoid it. I LOVE LOVE LOVE vegetable broth and use it often in place of chicken broth. Usually I buy the Knorr brand vegetable broth cubes. They dissolve quickly and easily and have great flavor. Also, I generally totally shy away from the use of nutmeg - for some reason I can taste it in almost anything and, for me, it overpowers a lot of dishes, but I did use just a pinch and it really worked.

BLTA's
I know you probably know how to make a BLT. But I like to put a little twist on all of the sandwiches I make - just so you know I made it :)

Ingredients:

1 lb bacon
4 large leaves of iceberg lettuce
3 lg Roma tomatoes
1 lg avocado
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
mayonnaise
sea salt & pepper to taste
8 slices multi-grain bread

1. Cook the bacon. I don't know about you but I hate when I bite into a BLT and the bacon all falls out the back. I've seen this technique across the internet for weaving and baking bacon for burgers and so I tried it for our BLT's and it works amazingly well.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Separate bacon into 4 groups of 4 slices. With the four slices stacked on top of each other, cut one third of the bacon off.

Next, line a large aluminum pan (with a lip) with tin foil. Place each of the four bacon slices next to each other. Using the pieces you cut off weave the bacon through, starting by alternating one piece over, one piece under to make a woven piece of bacon the size of your bread. Repeat for each of the 4 bacon groups.

Put the pan in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

2. Slice tomatoes. Sprinkle with fresh sea salt and lemon pepper

3. Peel the avocado and place in a bowl. Mash with a fork until it looks something like a really chunky guacamole. (Simply slicing avocados and adding them to your sandwich will have the same "fall out the back" effect as the bacon and again, I hate that!) Add the lime juice, the garlic powder and salt & pepper to taste.

4. Toast bread.

5. Take the bacon out of the oven and drain on paper towels.

6. Assemble your sandwich by spreading some of the avocado spread on one side of the bread and mayonnaise on the other. Lightly sprinkle oregano on the mayonnaise. Add tomatoes to the avocado side, and lettuce on the mayonnaise side. Place bacon weave on the tomatoes, close the sandwich and cut at an angle (perfect for dipping).

Like I said, I know we can all throw together a BLT. I just like to give mine a little bit of flair!

Going Granola...according to my Mom

Mom: (On the phone while I'm at work) "I'm at your house and I was going to throw a load of clothes in for you but I can't find your detergent."
Me: "It's in the cabinet over the washer & dryer in the glass jar."
Mom: "This powder with the yellow waxy things in it?"
Me: "Yes. I make it myself. It's much less expensive and is helpful for the environment (less plastic containers)."
Mom: "What are you doing? Are you going all granola on me?"

There are only 4 of us in my family. But with my husband being a big guy, not to mention working a dirty job, and having an 8 year old son, I do a LOT of laundry. I have been a Tide girl for a long time, particularly the liquid version, but about a year ago I came upon homemade laundry soap on Pinterest and decided to give it a try. I'm just getting down to my final glass jar of my second batch and thought I would pass my experience along because it really does work and it really is inexpensive!

I could hardly believe the claims - lasting for months upon months of laundry loads - but even still, I wanted to check it out. While I'm not the most frugal girl, and I'm not the most environmental nut, I do like to save money and keep plastic out of the environment as much as possible.

And so last April I tried the recipe I found on Pinterest. I would link to the original recipe I used but there are TONS of them and they are all about the same.

Here are the things I used in the first batch:



This picture is the property of simplelifeandhome.com

 

It took me 5 months to use it all! At 2 tablespoons per load it really goes a long way. The initial cost of the products listed above when I purchased them was $20.19! I don't know about you but I have never gotten away with $4/month for laundry detergent. And it works!

 

When I went to make the second batch I decided I really missed my fresh Tide smell. Since Tide doesn't make a powdered fabric softener, I went with Purex Crystals Fabric Softener and, because soccer season was upon us, I also added a box of Ultra Clorox 2 for Colors.

 

So, here is the complete list of the ingredients for the kind I like the best:

 

1 - 4lb 12oz box of Borax (You can find Borax in the laundry aisle. It is also good for your carpets)

1 - 3lb 7oz box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (found in the laundry soap aisle)

1 - 3lb container of OxiClean (found in the laundry soap aisle)

1 - 4lb box of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda (You'll have to get this in the baking aisle)

1 - 55 oz container Purex Crystals Fabric Softener (found in the laundry soap aisle)

1 - 49.2oz box Ultra Clorox 2 for Colors (found in the laundry soap aisle)

2 bars of Fels Naptha soap (found in the laundry soap aisle. You could also use Zote)

 

Here's what you'll need to do:

 

First you'll need at least a 5 pound bucket to mix all of the ingredients together in. Ideally you'll probably end up using this bucket as storage so make sure it has a lid. I keep the detergent in a smaller glass container in the cabinet and then refill from the bucket as necessary.

 

Next, you will want to shred the Fels Naptha. There are different suggestions floating around the internet on the best way to shred the Fels Naptha. In my experience and opinion the fastest, easiest way is to put it through your food processor. The first time I had Brandon shred it with a cheese shredder and while he's much faster than me, it was still hard work and took a little while. The second time I ran it through the food processor and was done in less than a minute.

 

Now, mix it all together and stir! Be careful where you are doing your pouring and mixing. When the borax, washing soda, baking soda, etc. come rushing out of the box it can create quite a cloud of soap dust (which doesn't taste very good either I might add).

 

Use the detergent just as you would any other powder detergent. For everyday loads you only need about 2 Tablespoons per load. I add an extra if I'm washing soccer uniforms, or other really dirty stuff.

 

Call it granola if you like, but I am quite happy with this method. And I'm totally down with anything that saves me money!

 

 

Menu #2 of 2013

After a December of stopping at the store every evening on the way home from work, or eating out, or eating whatever junk we could throw together I am SO happy to be back to meal planning. I've been following my first menu of 2013 almost exactly and it has been great. Made the menu and bought all the ingredients - all I have to do is pick which recipe I want to make. While some of the recipes I make take some time and effort I always feel like I spend as much time or more just figuring out what to make when I don't have a menu. Besides, trying all of these new recipes is fun, I enjoy putting them together and, so far, almost everything has been really tasty!

As has been my modus operendi lately I pulled many of these recipes from Pinterest. Don't get me wrong, we have favorites at our house - those trusty old standby's that always hit the spot - but I love experiencing new tastes! So here's menu #2:

• Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole
• Greek Quesadillas & Greed Salad
• Tofu Pad Thai (Lilly LOVED this recipe)
• Flank Steak Rolls & Ratatouille
• Tuna Melts & Baked Pickles
• Enchiladas (see here's one of those favorites)
• Shrimp Fried Rice
• Crockpot Zuppa Toscana
• Chicken Tiki Masala with Brown Rice and Naan
• Lasagna Rolls & Caesar Salad (I found a homemade Caesar dressing that is delicious!)
• Mushroom Soup & BLTA's
• Mexican Haystacks
• Crockpot Honey Apple Port Roast & Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Garlic Aoili
• Mississippi Roast (tweaked my way, of course)

I've been considering posting all of the recipes (maybe on a different page of my blog?) and/or creating a shopping list. Is there anyone out there that reads my humble little blog that would benefit from that? When I create my own shopping list I only write down the things I don't have on hand - and I usually have A LOT of things on hand (my friends say that they will be coming to my house in case of the Apocalypse).

Here's my family's review of Menu #1:

Steak and Shrimp - Baked potato - Caesar salad (New Year's Day).

This was the special at our local IGA and Brandon cooked them wonderfully!

Linguine with Clam Sauce.

One of my new stand-by's. I got this recipe from a Family Circle and I don't think I tweaked hardly anything. Everyone loves this one and the total cost for the entire meal is about $6.00 and it feeds the 4 of us plus one or two lunches the next day - depending on whether Logan is on a growing spurt.

White Chicken Chili.

Another stand-by. I picked this one because I can crockpot it for wrestling nights. One of my favorite recipes EVER.

Pork Carnitas Burritos.

We are having these tomorrow so no report yet.

Tofu Pad Thai.

I know a lot of people scrunch their nose up at the mention of tofu but it really can be quite tasty. I like to marinate it in an extra batch of the sauce for the Pad Thai and fry it until it is crispy. If you are hesitant I would encourage you to try it AND make sure you buy the extra-firm tofu - it has the consistency of chicken. The whole family loved this dish too and you can put it together in about 30 minutes.

Philly Steak Stuffed Peppers & Roasted Yukons.

Holy Smokes! These were delicious! I found the recipe on Pinterest - if you're on there you will probably have seen it. The problem is I used to work for a Philly Cheesesteak restaurant, run by a guy from Philly, who had his ingredients shipped from Philly and this recipe called for deli roast beef. I'm sorry but no proper cheesesteak, or cheesesteak-type food, can be made without prime sliced ribeye. That's what we made ours with and they were phenomenal.

Shrimp in Jalapeno cream sauce - Pinquito beans - Mexican Rice.

Another recipe we haven't quite gotten to yet. Maybe Sunday?

Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake & Veggies.

This is one of the first recipes I made in the new year and while Logan is not especially keen on pesto, I found these to be incredibly delicious, as did the hubs and Lil.

BBQ Kielbasa - Coleslaw - Potato salad.

Hubs and I are both working at the wrestling tournament this weekend so this will be a pretty easy dinner for Saturday night.

Quinoa Veggie Fried Rice.

I'm slowly but surely working this miracle food into our diet more and more. This was not my favorite recipe. I'm not sure I would make it again. It was ok, and everyone ate it, but it was not show stopping.

Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken.

The kids and the hubs really enjoyed this meal. I found it to be lacking in peanut flavor and think if I make it again I will use a different type of peanut butter.

Parma Rosa Veggie Primavera.

This is just a throw together recipe for me. We love the Knorr powdered sauce mixes you find near the taco seasoning. Parma Rosa is one of our favorites. I like to work at least one or two vegetarian meals into each week. This isn't because I have anything against meat, I think that vegetarian menus use ingredients in new and innovative ways and that is something I really like. For this one I chop up whatever veggies we have around - zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, onion, red bell pepper - toss in a bag with 1/4 cup of butter, garlic and lemon juice and roast in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes. Cook your pasta and drain. Make up the sauce according to package directions and mix all together. Top with Parmesan cheese. Yummy!

Breakfast for Dinner.

Need I say more.

Seasoned grilled chicken over Zuchinni & Roasted potatoes.

This is a dish I had at Applebees (off their 500 cal and under menu) and decided I could recreate at home. Everyone liked it and it was super simple and quick to make.

Quinoa & Sweet Potato stuffed Portobellos.

This was another vegetarian dish. I LOVE that my kids have a dinner such as this one and ooh and aah over it. I'm so glad that I do not have picky eaters. I guess it helps that in general I'm a pretty good cook, and they've tried things in the past they didn't think they'd like and have been wrong, and so in general they trust me when I tell them I think they'll like it. A definite keeper. Can't wait to enter it into my Reedy Family Recipe Cookbook.

Stuffed Acorn Squash - Veggie Rice.

This one got the boot this time because I could not find acorn squash ANYWHERE! This is a really good recipe - especially in the fall when the weather is just turning colder and the leaves are falling outside. (Ok, I'm nostalgic) I replaced it with mustard rubbed Shake-n-Bake pork chops, roasted asparagus and Kraft Mac & Cheese.

Crockpot Noodle Bake (Brandon asked that I not call this lasagna. My homemade lasagna is his favorite and he cannot believe that this dish will do it justice - awww, what a guy).

Ok, I will admit it, I couldn't do it. I broke down and just made lasagna - the old fashioned way.

Tortellini Soup (Lilly's Birthday Dinner with Family).

One of the kids very favorite dinners....tripled in size! This recipe is good even doubled or tripled and is great for a laid back family get together.

Dinner out for Lilly's Birthday.

Maybe I was hungry but the Old Spaghetti Factory hit the spot!

I hope you all are inspired to try new foods. If you come across something you think we need to try please send it my way!

First Menu of 2013

Well, 5 days in and I'm just now getting around to posting in the New Year. I had this idea that since we were spending New Year's Eve at home I would play games with my family, blog a little, surf the net a little, and watch the Space Needle's fireworks at midnight. While we did get some games in, the hubs and I ended up falling asleep on the couch by 9:30pm. The kids played the Wii until midnight and then woke us up to go to bed. Nothing like feeling old....

In any case, I did spend some time at the end of December coming up with our first menu of the New Year. Because I wasn't going grocery shopping until this weekend I had to make up a 5 day temporary menu and then my usual two-weeker. Here they are:

• Steak and Shrimp - Baked potato - Caesar sald (New Year's Day)
• Linguine with Clam Sauce
• White Chicken Chili
• Pork Carnitas Burritos
• Tofu Pad Thai
• Philly Steak Stuffed Peppers & Roasted Yukons
• Shrimp in Jalapeno cream sauce - Pinquito beans - Mexican Rice
• Skinny Chicken Pesto Bake & Veggies
• BBQ Kielbasa - Coleslaw - Potato salad
• Quinoa Veggie Fried Rice
• Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken
• Parma Rosa Veggie Primavera
• Breakfast for Dinner
• Seasoned grilled chicken over Zuchinni & Roasted potatoes
• Quinoa & Sweet Potato stuffed Portobellos
• Stuffed Acorn Squash - Veggie Rice
• Crockpot Noodle Bake (Brandon asked that I not call this lasagna. My homemade lasagna is his favorite and he cannot believe that this dish will do it justice - awww, what a guy)
• Tortellini Soup (Lilly's Birthday Dinner with Family)
• Dinner out for Lilly's Birthday

Our first new recipe of 2013 was the Philly Steak Stuffed Peppers. They were delicious - though I did substitute the deli roast beef in the recipe for Prime sliced rib eye. I used to make Philly Cheesesteaks for a living and could not bring myself to try to pass off lousy roast beef into anything labeled "cheesesteak."  I have a goal to post that recipe, and my changes to it, soon.

Anything sound good? Got any suggestions for the future?

Back in the Swing of Things...Menu-wise at least

At the beginning of this year I had this grand idea that I would blog every day, or at least a few times a week. I did really well for a while but, like all New Year's-type resolutions, it slowly faded out. This summer, with the kiddos being at grandma's, Brandon and I didn't really have a set meal schedule. Some nights we ate yogurt and crackers....

But, the school year has begun and we are back on track. I had this idea that I would post the menu's I've had since the beginning of school but now I can't find them. And so I'm posting this one for the upcoming two weeks.

As usual if you want any of the recipes please let me know. I've been indulging heavily in Pinterest lately and many of the recipes that have been making the list have not only been new, but have primarily been from Pinterest.

You'll notice that we have quite a few Crockpot meals. Since soccer started we've either got practice or games 6 days a week. And starting tomorrow Logan will be wrestling three times a week as well so I'm relying on the 'ol Crockpot to help us stay on budget and help us continue to have healthy meals at home.

• Crockpot Chicken Stroganoff
• Fish Tacos - Pinquito beans
• Ham, Potato & Cabbage Soup
• Chicken Tamale Pie
• Crockpot French Dips - Autumn Salad
• Tortellini Soup (I've posted this recipe before. It's Logan's favorite)
• Crockpot Sweet-n-Sour Chicken - Rice
• Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole
• Crockpot Red Beans & Rice
• Quiche
• Crockpot Minestrone
• Burgers - Beet chips
• Crockpot Ranch Pork Roast
• Stuffed Peppers - mashed potatoes

I've included a few of our old standby's in this menu because I've been trying so many new recipes we haven't really been having some of our normal favorites. Plus, I know how to put them together without a recipe which saves me time.

I also bought the ingredients and this weekend tried a new recipe for Crockpot Oatmeal that you cook overnight. I always like to make sure the kiddo's get a hearty energy-charged meal before soccer games and so this particular recipe with steel cut oats, apples, and chia seeds was perfect. We woke up to a wonderful smelling house and a delicious breakfast. And both of the kids had excellent games. I'm going to go ahead and attribute that to my oatmeal. ;)

Happy October!

Apparently I only like Kraft....

I have never been a fan of mac-n-cheese. I do like the Kraft stuff but nothing else. No off brand, definitely no Velveeta, and no homemade. I would probably even turn my nose up at your grandma's famous recipe. I don't know why I don't care for it but I just never have.

However, I have been pretty infatuated with trying Pinterest recipes and this one had rave reviews (and I'm in LOVE with goat cheese) so we tried it.

Here's the recipe from Cook Like a Champion. These are my pictures of the process.

Three Cheese Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

3/4 pound penne (I used rotini because I didn't have any penne)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream or half-and-half
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped sweet onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
5-ounce log goat cheese
3 ounces sharp white cheddar, shredded
1/2 cup packed freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tablespoons sour cream
3/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
salt and white pepper (or freshly ground black pepper)
1 extra large egg yolk

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400º. Butter a 10-inch cast-iron skillet.
-In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente. Drain and return to pot.
-Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, bring heavy cream, onion and garlic to a simmer.

-Transfer 1/2 cup of the cream to a medium bowl and gradually whisk in flour; return mixture to saucepan. Set the bowl aside for later.
-Whisk over moderate heat until thickened, about 3 minutes.
-Remove from heat and whisk in goat cheese, cheddar and half of the Parmigiano until melted.

-Stir or in the sour cream, zest and 1 teaspoon thyme and season with salt and pepper.

-Add egg yolk to medium bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup cheese sauce. Whisk egg/sauce mixture back into saucepan.
-Pour cheese sauce over pasta and toss to coat evenly.

-Add pasta to cast-iron skillet and sprinkle with remaining Parmigiano. Bake for about 25 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining thyme.

-Allow mac and cheese to rest for about 5 minutes (if you can stand it), then serve.

 
Serves 4 as an entrée

Now don't get me wrong, it was ok. But I didn't feel like there was enough flavor to it which is surprising considering the pungent taste of goat cheese and the sharp white cheddar. I wouldn't make it again but I'm sure there are plenty of people who would find it delicious. As a side note, the wine - Cellarmaster's Riesling from Columbia Wineries - and asparagus were phenomenal.

My Boy's Favorite Meal....Right Now

On their birthday we have always let the kids pick whatever they want to have for dinner - restaurant, favorite meal Mom makes, whatever they want really. A few days ago it was my son's birthday. Now, we are foodies - we love food. I love cooking. I love using fresh ingredients, I love making new things, and I love experimenting with foods we've never had before. I am always in search of a new recipe that everyone will love. And my biggest fan? Logan. While Brandon has definitely given me accolades throughout the years, and really every day, Logan is by far my most vivacious fan. He never fails to let me know how delicious the food I make is, or how lucky he is for having a Mommy that is such a good cook. Honestly, I'm getting worried for his future wife...hope she will have some talent in the kitchen!

Anyway, for my Logan's birthday dinner he didn't want to go to a restaurant, he didn't want hot dogs, or macaroni, or any other kid-type food, he asked for my Tortellini Meatball Soup!

Now I must give credit where credit is due. I started with this recipe out of the March/April 2009 issue of Country Home, but of course I've tweaked it a bit.

I encourage you to try it. It really is delicious....and fast.

Tortellini Meatball Soup

Ingredients:
8 oz. sausage (I use Jimmy Dean's)
1/3 c. breadcrumbs
1 c. chopped Walla Walla Sweet onion
10 baby carrots, quartered lengthwise and sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 quarts of water
6 teaspoons of beef bouillon base (you could use bouillon cubes)
12 oz. refrigerated tri-color cheese tortellini
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
3-4 c. fresh baby spinach, chopped
5 Tbsp. chopped bottled roasted red pepper
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt and Fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
8 oz. grated Parmesan cheese

1. First make the meatballs my mixing the sausage and the breadcrumbs together. Shape into thirty-six to forty meatballs (they should be fairly small).

2. In a dutch oven heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, carrots and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes or until tender.

3. Add water and bouillon and heat to boiling. Add raw meatballs, tortellini and Italian seasoning. Return to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 4 minutes.

4. Add spinach, red pepper and lemon juice. Simmer, uncovered, for about 3 minutes or more or until tortellini are done.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in fresh basil. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Honestly, this soup is delicious. Paired with homemade beer bread (my sister's recipe is fantastic!), or fresh french bread you can't beat it. And it's even light enough to have in the summer!

Menu Hiatus

So, I haven't been very good about maintaining my menu's. Seems something kept getting in the way: the kitchen being remodeled, four baseball games and a soccer game in 1 week, meeting and after meeting after meeting.

Don't get me wrong, we still ate (none of us are the type to skip a meal)....we just ate whatever we happened to have around and could put together quickly. In light of that I thought I'd list a few of our go-to dinners so that we don't have to eat out and waste money and we can maintain a more healthy diet.

• Spaghetti
• Stir Fry (with whatever meat & veggies we have around)
• Potstickers, Egg Rolls and Rice
• Sauce Marco Polo (a tuna dish so no thawing necessary)
• Make-your-own-pizzas
• Fettucine Alfredo (I always keep sauce packets on hand in case of emergency)
• Hot dogs
• Hamburgers
• Quesadillas
• Tacos

This is not an all inclusive list, but some pretty common standbys for us. Anyone have any other quick go-to meal ideas? I'd love to expand my collection. If you send me a recipe and I try it I will post it here with my thoughts. :)

P.S. We've been better at adhering to a menu starting this week. I will post it shortly.

Menu (kind of) #8 of 2012

So I had this great idea for this menu whereby everything on the menu would be very Pinteresting. Every meal, for two whole weeks, all recipes found on Pinterest that we had never tried before. Unfortunately, my kitchen floor is not cooperating with me.

As you may have read, we have been remodeling our kitchen since January. We were almost done, but the flooring was NEVER in stock. We ended up having to wait over 8 weeks for it to be in stock and then another 7-10 days for the delivery. By the time it reached us it was the end of March, Brandon was back to work and we had already committed ourselves to other activities on the weekends.

This weekend, after all the waiting, Brandon decided to tackle the kitchen floor. Except we had a soccer game, and a baseball game, we got invited to poker, and we had a concert to go to. So it took a while to get the floor down. And now, when he's ready to grout, the glue still isn't dry.

And so we are kitchen-less. We can't walk in the kitchen so we have limited access to all of our dishes and food (unless we climb along the counters). Since I didn't really prepare for it I didn't buy a bunch of hot dogs and hamburgers that we can grill. Our oven doesn't work (in the living room) because we can't plug it in anywhere. And so this is our menu this week:

• Subway sandwiches
• McDonald's
• Grilled Steak and microwave baked potatoes
• Albertson's Fried Chicken
• (Hopefully) something easy I can cook in a crockpot (if I can get to it)

And so my Pinteresting menu will have to wait until Sunday. The floor better not take any longer than that!

[Slacker] Menu #6 of 2012

It's spring break here and my wonderful mother has yet again agreed to take my rugrats for the week. As a result, Brandon and I are footloose and fancy free. There isn't anyone here to make lifelong impressions on so we're watching movies at 6pm that are inappropriate for children, we're talking freely about whatever we want and we aren't necessarily having decent dinners every night. During times like these, when the kiddos are safely spending irreplaceable time with Murmur and Papa, I wonder if this is what it would be like if this was "normal." Would I still cook? Probably not as much, but I really can't do restaurants night after night, it gets old fast for me. Maybe I would cook more since I would have more time after work instead of attending sports and doing homework. Who knows.....

So I'm posting what we're eating this week just so you all can see what we do when we're by ourselves; a simple one-week menu. This weekend I will plan out the next two week menu.

• Margherita Pizza
• Leftovers
• Sauce Marco Polo
• Tacos
• Spaghetti
• Fast Food (heading to the folks' house)
• Mom's Cooking
• Easter Ham with all the fixin's

Not so bad I guess but definitely not my normal level of cooking. I promise next Menu will be better

My attempt at Olive Garden's Chicken Marsala

When I initially saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to try it out. Olive Garden Chicken Marsala at home? Yes please! You can find the recipe as it is on their website here. As usual, I changed it up a bit. Here's my take on their recipe:


Chicken Marsala

Picture courtesy of Olive Garden
Brandon asked if I was going to take a
picture of mine, but my mouth was
already full!

Ingredients

1. 4 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
2. 1/2 cup flour
3. 1 tsp. salt
4. 1/4 tsp. pepper
5. 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
6. 2 Tbsp. dried oregano
7. 5 Tbsp oil
8. 5 Tbsp butter or margarine
9. 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
10. 2 cups Marsala wine
11. 1/2 c. Wondra
12. 8 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
13. 1 cup flour
14. Salt to taste
15. Pepper to taste
16. Dried oregano to taste
17. 8 Tbsp oil
18. 8 Tbsp butter or margarine
19. 2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
20. 2 cups Marsala wine
21. 12 chicken breasts, boneless & skinless
22. 1 1/2 cups flour
23. Salt to taste
24. Pepper to taste
25. Dried oregano to taste
26. 12 Tbsp oil
27. 12 Tbsp butter or margarine
28. 3 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced
29. 3 cups Marsala wine

 

1. Cut chicken breasts in half so that you have eight thin chicken breasts
2. Stir together flour, salt, pepper and oregano in a shallow bowl. Dredge chicken pieces in the flour, shaking off any excess.
3. While chicken is cooking, in a separate saucepan heat the other 2 tbsp. oil and 3 tbsp. butter over medium-high heat. Once butter has melted add mushrooms. Cook mushrooms until just tender. Add Marsala wine and simmer for approximately 10 minutes.
4. Heat 2 tbsp. oil and 2 tbsp. butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts on medium heat until lightly browned, 3-4 minutes. Turn breasts over and cook approximately about 4 more minutes, until both sides are lightly browned and chicken is cooked through.
5. When sauce has simmered for about 10 minutes, whisk in Wondra, a little at a time, until sauce thickens.
6. Put chicken breasts on the plate and cover with sauce and mushroom mixture.

Why do I like my take better? I like my chicken a bit crispy. If you follow their instructions exactly the taste will be wonderful, however the coating on the chicken will be quite soggy. I prefer to have the sauce cover the chicken just before serving to prevent that.

Along with this dish I tried a recipe I found for Olive Garden Tuscan potatoes too. It was not akin to Olive Garden's potatoes at all in my opinion. They tasted just fine, but I thoroughly enjoy those encrusted potatoes on the side of my Marsala. I will continue my search on that one.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day has always been an awesome day for me because it is the day before my birthday. In fact, my Mom was in labor with me all day on St. Patty's Day and I finally decided to make my appearance 49 minutes late. Oh well, we're only a little bit Irish anyway. :)

Every year for as long as I can remember I have had corned beef & cabbage on St. Pat's. There's just no other alternative. (OK, possibly in college, when I was poor and was at the bar by 4pm I may have skipped on the traditional Irish fare.) This year I was late picking up my corned beef brisket. I even forgot to put it on the last menu. So when I got home today at 3pm I had to cook our meal in a new way instead of my usual crockpot method.

I will try a recipe from anywhere - magazine, friend's referral, or a newspaper ad. That is where I found the recipe I used (and modified, of course) tonight. It turned out delicious and so I wanted to share.

Mustard Glazed Corned Beef with Roasted Cabbage, Potatoes and Carrots

Ingredients:
1 boneless corned beef brisket (2-3 lbs) with seasoning packet
8 cloves of peeled and crushed garlic
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
2 c. water
8 tbsp. butter
1 c. green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 c. horseradish or horseradish sauce
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 head of green cabbage, cored and cut into wedges
6 red potatoes, washed and cut into quarters
1-2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut in half
1/3 c. dijon mustard
1/4 c. brown sugar

1. Place oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place brisket in roasting pan; add garlic, contents of seasoning packet, peppercorns and water. Cover with aluminum foil making sure to fold the edges in tight. Put on upper rack of oven and braise for approximately 2 1/2 hours (50 minutes per pound).

2. Place potatoes in a plastic Ziploc bag. Place butter, green onions, horseradish sauce, pepper, and salt into microwaveable bowl. Microwave on high 1-2 minutes or until melted. Pour a 1/4 of the butter mixture into the bag and shake to coat. Put potatoes on aluminum lined baking sheet. Put carrots in the same bag, add another 1/4 of the butter mixture and shake to coat. Put carrots onto the same baking sheet with the potatoes. Place cabbage on the baking sheet and carefully pour the remaining butter mixture over the cabbage making sure to coat all sides with a pastry brush. Cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and place on the oven rack in the lower part of the oven. Roast for 55 minutes. After 55 minutes, remove the foil and leave in oven for additional 15-20 minutes.

3. Combine the mustard and the brown sugar in a bowl and stir to combine. When the corned beef is done cooking pull it out of the oven, place the brisket on a baking rack over an aluminum foil covered baking sheet. Set the oven to broil (leave the veggies in the oven) Spread the mustard mixture over the brisket and return to the upper rack in the oven. Broil until glaze becomes bubbly and starts to brown.

4. Remove everything from the oven, place on a serving dish and bring to the table!

Beverage Accompaniments
It wouldn't be St. Patty's Day without a bottle of Guinness. This year I had no luck finding any Harp's Lager anywhere so we couldn't make the traditional Black & Tan's, instead we settled for some Irish Car Bombs. If you've never tried them (and even if you don't like Guinness), I would recommend giving them a try. They are delicious! Here's a recipe:

3/4 pint Guinness
1/2 shot Bailey's Irish Cream
1/2 shot Jameson Irish Whiskey

Add the Bailey's and Jameson to a shot glass, layering the Bailey's on the bottom. Pour the Guinness into a pint glass or beer mug 3/4 of the way full and let settle. Drop the shot glass into the Guinness and chug. This is extremely important! If you don't chug it it will start to curdle - YUCK!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

THE Lemon Cupcakes

A few years ago I was in search of the perfect lemon cupcake. I could have spent hours messing with a homemade concoction but why, when a modified box cake is just as good, if not better!?! I bought boxes and boxes of every different brand of lemon cake mix and every time I made them I tweaked the recipe just a little bit differently. All of them tasted good (you can't really go wrong with a boxed cake mix), but I have finally perfected the recipe. I used to think that I had to keep all of my tips and tricks to myself, but I've decided it would be criminal to keep these to myself - they're just too good!

The first and most prominent ingredient is the cake mix. It's from Pillsbury and is their Moist Supreme Cake Mix in Lemon. In our area it seems to be difficult to find but when I run into it I buy every box they have.

Now for the tweaking:

The back of the box says that all you need is 1 cup of water, 1/2 cup of oil and 3 eggs. The ingredients you'll need to make it my way are:

1/2 c. water
1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice (approx 3 lemons)
1/3 c. oil
3 eggs
2 tbsp fresh lemon zest

Then, follow the directions on the box! Here they are in case you need them:

1. Set oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with baking cups. (My favorite are these ones from Reynold's.)

These Reynolds^® Baked for You^® StayBrite^® Baking Cups are THE BEST because they don't get the soggy, oily, see-through look a lot of the baking cup liners get.

2. Blend cake mix, water, lemon juice, oil, eggs and lemon zest in a large bowl until moistened. Beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. (I set the timer and mix for exactly two minutes.)

3. Bake 18-22 minutes. Let fully cool before frosting.

FROSTING
Again I have experimented many times with this frosting to get it just right. Here are the ingredients you need:

3 - 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened (DO NOT MELT)
1/3 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. lemon zest

With a mixer, beat together the powdered sugar, butter and lemon juice. Once well combined, add milk and lemon zest. If it seems to thick continue to add lemon juice a tablespoon at a time until the perfect consistency. If you want them to look yellow you could add some food coloring but I prefer to leave it natural.

Here is what they look like when you're finished:

 I like to add a little slice of candied lemon to make them cuter but it definitely isn't necessary.

There is something about lemon that is so fresh and delicious. I am constantly asked to bring these to social functions and they really are easy to make.

Enjoy!