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.

Back to it

So I have not been faithful in keeping up on my blog. I should. I sit on the couch every night for at least an hour. There's no reason why I can't be blogging. But sometimes life gets in the way and the only thing you can do is stare into a technological oblivion and do nothing.

But I'm using this first day of fall to renew my use of my little ol' blog. For me fall brings so many wonderful things - watching my kids play their hearts out on the soccer field, baking new Pinteresting recipes (yes, I am going to start cooking/baking again more regularly), breaking out my comfy old sweaters, dusting off my Romeo's, listening to fun and exciting stories about school from my kiddos, Halloween, the list goes on and on. While I'm sad that I spent the evening putting away my sandals (goodbye motivation to keep my toes pretty), I am happy for fall to be here.

Stay tuned for more of my crazy life and good cookin'!

Back to School!

Today is the first day of school. Every year I feel like I've been planning early and then every year I feel rushed at the last minute. Last night I was frantically separating the load of stuff that I needed to take in to the classroom for the kids. I was making printables for the cover of their notebooks and making new labels for their pencil boxes (can't leave them to just be boring, plain $0.50 boxes ya know!) Back to school means back to a hectic schedule - bedtimes, homework, lunches, fall soccer.

This year Lilly is going into 5th grade. I CAN'T believe it! How do I have a fifth grader? I still remember picking out my favorite new shirt with matching skirt/leggings for my first day of fifth grade. Right now she could be wearing the exact same thing. Whose idea was it to bring back the eighties? Was it not bad enough the first time around? She is starting her last year in elementary school....sometimes you forget at what point in life your kids really start remembering things from their childhood. I remember 5th grade like it was yesterday!

Logan is starting 3rd grade this year. Unlike Lilly, he seems a little more melancholy about going back to school. I picked out his clothes this morning. He wanted to wear an old hand-me-down t-shirt and a pair of old basketball shorts. And maybe I should've let him. Why do I care what he's wearing if he is comfortable? As I left him in line at his classroom this morning he was messing with a spider and not talking to any of his classmates. He can be so social and engaging and yet also be so down on himself thinking nobody likes him. As a mom I feel terrible when I can't make everything awesome every day. I know kids have to live through things and have their own experiences but it is so hard to watch them feeling blue. I'm really hoping for a good report from him when he gets home today. No matter what, he has soccer tonight so I know even if he has the doldrums he'll be happy soon enough!

I don't know what I'm going to do when we're driving them off to college and come home to their empty rooms. I was so happy this morning when I sent Lilly a text asking if she wanted me to wait at the school for her bus to come and she said yes. Apparently they still need their Momma for a little while longer - thank goodness!

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!

Bloglovin

Was turned on to this new website tonight. I keep finding more and more blogs that I'd like to read now and then. This website will update you when a new blog post is up and help you follow the blogs you love!

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3767883/wish-in-one-hand?claim=mh45n5qd7n7">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

My Baby Boy is 8!

8 years ago today I got up in the morning, took a shower, curled my hair, put my make-up on and headed to the hospital to have a baby. Yes, Logan was a planned C-section. And after the 72 hours I was in labor with Lilly I was more than happy to have it this way!

He was born at 1:35 pm, on June 1, 2004. He was 8 lbs. 3oz. and was 21 inches long. At first glance he was a happy, healthy little boy. We wheeled back to our room and introduced our new son to our family who was there waiting for us. Everyone got a chance to hold him as he was passed around the room. In what seemed like only a second after I got to hold him (last of course!), the nurse scooped him up. "He's turning blue! We have to take him!" and off he went. Brandon scurried along with the nurse to the NICU. Turns out he had swallowed a blood clot on his way out and it went into his lung. They had to put him on an IV, and he had to stay in the NICU under an oxygen hood.

This was not the experience I had thought I would have when we got in the car at 5am that morning. Lilly had a little trouble when she was born but she was back in the room within a few hours. Logan ended up having to stay in the NICU for 8 days. When they discharged me after 3 days, I was adamant that I would not leave the hospital without my baby. For a few days they had an extra bed on another vacant floor that they allowed us to stay in but on day 5 there was a baby explosion and they were handling overflow from the birthing floor in the room we were staying in. Again, I refused to leave. Even after my Doctor told me that I better get home and recover myself I couldn't bring myself to leave that hospital. That night I slept on the couch in the waiting area. Every waking moment that we could spend in the NICU (they do shift change twice a day) we did.

Finally, after 8 days in the NICU, he was able to come home. He was 7lbs 13 oz. when we left the hospital on June 9th (Daddy's birthday).

When we went to his first visit with HIS pediatrician he was 10lbs 1 oz. They thought the hospital made a mistake! But I watched them weigh him both times and it wasn't any wonder to me. That first 6 days of only IV feeding had taught him a lesson, he was never planning to go hungry again!

Over the following 8 years we have had a million laughs with our little boy. Here are some pictures from the first few years:

Logan has always been excited about his birthday parties. This year though, this year he's been planning his birthday party since January....who he wants to invite, what he wants to do, the cake he wants, the toys he wants. We finally decided on a water fight birthday party. He and the hubs have been working on an obstacle course and war zone out in the yard for over a week. He CAN'T wait. Yesterday, after a long evening of running the obstacle course he desperately needed a shower. I was downstairs doing some work on my laptop. There was  such a racket coming from upstairs I had to run up there to check it out. Through the shower curtain this is what I heard:



It was so hard not to laugh out loud while I was sitting there listening. He still doesn't know I've posted it on Facebook (or YouTube) and now on the blog so SSShhhhh! He will kill me!

Happy Birthday Logan! You are my FAVORITE son!