52 Weeks of Cooking, Week 8-Slow Cooker

Hello, everybody!  Kerry here, with this week's recipe.  Since Bannon was kind enough to cover last week's love-themed recipe, I'm handling the crock pot this week!

I tried out two recipes for this week-one from Once A Month Mom, for slow-cooker refried beans, and the other from Allrecipes.com, for carnitas.  They were so easy, took minimal prep work, and (when combined with Mexican rice) made for one hell of a dinner!

To make the beans, you'll need 1 lb. of black beans, rinsed and picked over; 1 1/4 c. chopped onion, 2 T garlic, 5 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. black pepper, and 9 c. water.  Simply combine all the ingredients in the crock pot, and cook it on high for 8 hours.  Periodically give it a stir, adding more water if necessary.  Once it is done cooking, drain the beans, reserving the water.  Mash the beans with a potato masher, or in a food processor if you like a smoother texture.  Add the reserved water as needed to achieve the desired texture.

I made the beans the day before, froze half, and kept the other half in the refrigerator overnight.  I then simply fried them in the skillet the next day, and melted some cheese over them because I don't have enough calories in my life.

For the carnitas, the recipe called for 4 lbs. of pork shoulder, but I just used half of a pork loin that I had in the freezer.  I only cook for three normally, so I can get away with that!  I also had enough left over for another meal, so I made it into BBQ pulled pork sandwiches.  Anyhoo, make a rub for the pork using 1 tsp. each of salt, garlic powder, and cumin; 1/2 tsp. each of oregano and coriander; and 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon.  I was out of coriander, so I added an extra 1/2 tsp of cumin, and used crushed garlic (4 cloves worth) instead of garlic powder.  Rub this all over the meat.  Before putting the meat in the crock pot, lay two bay leave in the bottom of the pot, then place the meat on top.  Then pour 2 c. of chicken broth along the sides of the meat, being careful not to rinse the rub off of the meat.  Cook it on low for 5 hours, turn it over, then cook for another 5 hours, or until the meat will shred easily with a fork.  I shredded it in the crock pot so the broth would keep the meat moist.

I served this up with the refried beans, and made some Vigo brand (insert Ghostbusters joke here) rice to go with it.  I had originally planned to make homemade tortillas to go with it, but ran out of time.  The recipe is also on OAMM's website.

Weeks 9-12 are as follows: coffee, movie/book inspired, breakfast, and cheese.  Bannon isn't a coffee fan (so uncivilized!), so I suspect I'll be doing next week's challenge.  I'm really excited for the movie/book inspired week-Harry Potter or LotR?  My life is full of difficult choices.

Speaking of choices, we want to choose you--to win some tea from Revolution Teas!!  Bannon and I did our first review this weekend, and tried 6 different teas.  We also have tea to give away!  Our review will post on Monday, and we'll be announcing winners on Friday.  Don't let this one pass you by-this stuff is amazing!

52 Weeks of Cooking Week 7: Love Inspired Cooking

 by Bannon

Love inspired cooking.  What was I going to make for love inspired cooking?  The only thing my kids were begging for on Valentines Day was red milk.  Reddit gave a very wide category this week so I was having a hard time coming up with something I considered love inspired.  Then one night I saw in the refrigerator a can of crescent rolls and remembered a recipe I saw on Pinterest for smores crescents and I knew I had found my recipe.  To most women chocolate = love.

These were super simple to make.  Just preheat the oven to what the package directions say on the crescent rolls.  Separate the rolls and place a few chocolate chips and a few marshmallows on each roll.  Then roll them up like a standard crescent roll taking care to keep the marshmallows and chocolate inside. 

Pop them into the oven, I think they cooked for 12 minutes.  I followed the crescent roll package directions again.

When they came out I saw the one flaw I made.  I should have closed off the ends of the crescent rolls a bit better to try to keep the marshmallows in because they melted right out.

But in the end it really didn't matter because they tasted really, really good.  Simple to make too and kids would love to help make these as well.


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I have to say I ignored the 52 weeks challenge the past two weeks due to illness and work but I wanted to let you know what I did.  Two weeks ago was the alcohol challenge and I went super simple and made bratwurst in beer.  The kids and I were sick most that week so I was not into doing anything related to cooking challenges or blogs. 

Last week I did complete the Brazilian challenge but I didn't get around to posting it.  The husband thought it was a bit bland and needed more onion.  I thought it was nice and light.


Brazilian White Rice

• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups hot water
•  
• Place the rice in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water; set aside.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion in the oil for one minute. Stir in the garlic and cook until the garlic is golden brown. Add the rice and salt and cook and stir until the rice begins to brown. Pour hot water over rice mixture and stir. Reduce heat to low, cover the saucepan, and allow to simmer until the water has been absorbed, 20 to 25 minutes.

My Productive Day That Wasn't

Today the kids had off from school for teacher meetings.  I had all these plans ready: cleaning up around the house a bit, laundry and the kids and I were going to try our hand at making homemade fortune cookies from scratch for tomorrow's parent-teacher conferences.  Last week I had found a simple enough looking recipe for them on Pinterest (look here for it) and was really looking forward to trying it.

Then life stepped in.

This morning the four of us were sitting around talking when I noticed that one of my older son's teeth was almost completely pink.  After getting closer there seemed to be a chip in the tooth and he then said that he had been eating around that area for a week because it hurt.

So instead of doing fun things with the kids today I got to go to the dentist.  It wasn't the end of the world because since he had the day off anyways the kid didn't have to miss school.  The dentist was able to take the chip off that tooth fairly easily and since it's a baby tooth we don't have to worry about what it looks like.

But when it was all said and done the last thing I wanted to do was go back home and spend what was left of the day baking fortune cookies.  So we stopped in to the local Asian market to buy prepackaged fortune cookies for the teachers tomorrow.  I know they will still like them but it would be nice if a day could go the way I want it to sometimes.

-- Bannon

A day late!! Week 3 - Soup!

Kerry here, with my surprisingly successful soup recipe!  This is an adaption of one I found on food.com.

Use Up That Hambone Soup

1 ham bone with visible meat (if you're worried there's not enough, add some more slices from the ham to the pot)

1 medium onion, diced

1-2 stalks celery, diced (1 if a smaller bone, 2 if larger)

1 tsp. pepper

4 potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces

1 stick butter

1/2 c. flour

2 c. half and half

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 bay leaves

2 tsp. chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

In a large stockpot, combine the first four ingredients.  Add enough water to just cover the hambone.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the meat can be easily shredded from the bone with a fork.  Remove bone and any extra pieces of meat from the pot.  Shred ham, discarding any fat and the bone.  Return the meat to the pot.  Add the potatoes, bring back up to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender.

While the potatoes are cooking, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Be careful to not let the butter brown.  Add flour, whisking constantly until fully combined.  Increase heat to medium high, then gradually add half and half.  Be sure to continually whisk while you are adding the half and half, being careful not to scorch the mixture.  Once you have a creamy, bubbly, thick mixture that clings to your whisk, remove the pot from heat.  

Once the potatoes are fork-tender, gradually stir in the cream mixture, stirring constantly until thoroughly mixed.  At this point, stir in the garlic, bay leaves, cilantro, and salt.  Simmer for another 15 minutes.  If the soup is thicker than you prefer, you can thin it with milk.  Remove bay leaves before serving.  We had the soup with a loaf of fresh baked bread and a simple salad.  It was great on a snowy evening!

Yes, I know I still owe posts for a throw pillow craft and for homemade Oxy Clean.  It'll get done before the end of the month, I promise!  

Week 2-Chinese

This may be a shorter/more abrupt post than usual, since I (Kerry) am an involuntary lefty for the evening.  Don't grab the handle of a cast-iron skillet that had just come out of a 350 degree oven, kids.

For our Chinese cooking challenge, my twin nieces who don't want to be named came over to help cook/eat with us.  We started out with egg drop soup.

It was pretty easy, and really tasty!  I was told to be prepared to make it again.  Here's your ingredients:

• 
  
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 
  
• Pour 3 1/4 c. of the broth into a saucepan.  Add the ginger, chives, and salt, and bring it to a rolling boil.  In a small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and the cornstarch until smooth, and hold on to for later.  In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolk with a fork.  Use the fork to drizzle a small amount of egg at a time into the boiling broth.  The eggs will cook immediately (and it's kinda cool to watch!).  Once all of the egg has been added, slowly stir in the cornstarch mixture until the soup is the desired thickness.
• 
  
• Our main course was a beef and broccoli stir fry with jasmine rice.  We actually prepared the meat marinade before we started the soup, so it had plenty of time to sit while we ate.  My nieces were really helpful during this part-they handled all the chopping, measuring, and mixing for me, so all I had to do was take pictures.  
• 
  
• For the stir fry, you'll need a 1lb. flank steak.  Cut it into thin strips (hint-this is easier to do if the meat is partially frozen).  For the marinade, you'll need 2 T. of red wine or dry sherry, 2 T. of soy sauce, 1 t. of minced ginger, and one green onion.  Chop the green onion into small pieces.  Mix all of these ingredients together and marinate the steak slices in it for at least 20 minutes.
• 
  
• While it's marinating, you could assemble the remaining ingredients.  Slice 2 red bell peppers into thin strips, and chop up about a half pound (or 2 decent size heads) of broccoli.  You'll also need 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 c. of beef broth, 1 T. of cornstarch mixed with 2 T. of water, 1 tsp. of sugar, and 4 T. of oil for stir frying.  
• 
  
• When you're ready to begin, heat the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and briefly stir-fry it until it is fragrant, which will happen quickly.  Then add the meat (I dumped in the marinade with it), browning it quickly, then stir fry it until almost cooked through.  Push the meat to the side and add the broccoli, as well as more oil if needed.  Stir fry it for a couple of minutes, then add the peppers.  Stir fry a bit more, until the peppers are starting to become tender, then add the broth and the cornstarch/water mixture.  Turn up the heat and stir until the sauce has thickened.  Serve hot over rice or noodles.  The rice I used was Mahatma brand Jasmine rice.  I just followed the instructions on the bag, and it was that awesome combination of fluffy and sticky.
• 
  
• I know I also mentioned earlier that I was going to do a test run on an Oxy Clean recipe-I currently have a couple of items soaking for the test, so I'll post about it in a day or so, once I can get it washed.  So be on the lookout for that, a wild rice chowder recipe for the upcoming week's challenge, and a quick and cheap way to update your throw pillows! 
• 
  
• PS-I'm having issues uploading the rest of the pictures I had wanted to use, so until I can get it fixed, imagine shots of blond girls slicing meat and cutting up green onions, and a final shot of a tasty bowl of stir fry.     
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•   

Reddit food challenge week one, erm, I mean week two

So if you remember Kerry and I were nuts enough to agree amongst ourselves to follow reddit's 52 week food challenge this year to try and expand our horizons.  Well, Kerry is very excited and I am nuts to agree to do this due to a few things.  I am a very picky person food wise.  I do not venture far from my favorites.  When I go to a restaurant I usually can only find one or two entrees that sound good to me on the whole menu.  I'm the only one in the family like this, I've taken great pains to make sure the boys try all sorts of foods.

Nothing makes me happier to see that week two's challenge (our week one) is Chinese food.  That is one type of food that I really do enjoy.  I just happened to have cold rice in the fridge Tuesday night.  I threw that in a pan with a little oil, two eggs, red pepper, bacon and soy sauce and fried it all together.  It took under 15 minutes and the husband and kids thought it was a great meal.

Next week's challenge is soup, which I love, love, love to make.  Plus since it's 20 degrees out it's perfect soup weather finally!

- Bannon

A little something to tide you over...

Today will be a big day, blog-wise!  I'll be testing a homemade Oxy-Clean recipe on chocolate milk, and preparing our Chinese recipes for the 52 Week challenge.  I'll have pictures!  And nieces as assistants!

However, in the meantime, I have a small recipe for basil crostini.  I made it because I had a third of a loaf of bread leftover from dinner earlier in the week, and also because I wanted a lighter, less bready version of garlic bread to go with our spaghetti that we had yesterday.  Sorry, no pics this time-they were gone by the time it occurred to me to get them.

Bread, sliced thinly (ideal would be a baguette or smaller loaf)
4T butter
2t crushed garlic
2t fresh minced basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Up to 1/2 c mozzarella or parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line up slices on a baking sheet.  In microwave safe bowl, melt butter.  Add garlic and basil, mix thoroughly.  Brush mixture onto slices of bread.  Top with cheese-I used approximately 1T per slice, but it's a matter of personal taste.  Bake until bread is toasted and cheese is melted-I think it took 7 or 8 minutes for me.  Very flavorful!  My Dudes made them disappear, and so did I.

New Year, New Challenges!

Hello, all!  Kerry here, reporting on some goals that Bannon and I have set for ourselves for the blog.  We even discussed it at a quiet, sane point in our days, so you know this is legit.

We are going to follow along with reddit.com's 52 Weeks of Cooking Challenge!  Each week, a challenge will be given out, following a rotating format.  Week one is a specific ingredient, week 2 is a theme or cultural idea, week 3 is a dish type (examples being casseroles, breakfast foods, etc.), and week 4 is a particular cooking method.  We're a little late getting started-would you expect anything else of us?-but we're not too late to follow along!

Week one (Jan 2-8) was eggs.  I don't have a specific recipe to share, but I did make some killer breakfast sandwiches.  I fried some amazing pepper bacon from Bluescreek, then fried some eggs in the bacon grease, gently breaking up the yolk but not scrambling it.  Also, if you haven't done this yet, try eating some free-range, farm fresh as possible eggs.  Maybe it's just me, but I can't go back to eating the eggs from the grocery store.  I was surprised by how different the taste was to me.

Anyhoo, after you've fried up your protein spread, put some cheese on it and let it melt in the skillet while you toast up a soft egg bagel.  I used cheddar and Lender's bagels, but that's because it was what we had on hand.  Put your eggs/bacon/cheese tower on the bagel, and enjoy some total comfort food.  I don't recommend it for everyday consumption, but it was a nice treat!

Week 2, which we're in now (Jan 9-15) is Chinese food.  I'm not sure what we'll be making, but I'm thinking at least some fried rice, and maybe some sort of appetizer.  We're encouraged to shop from a local Asian foods store if possible, or the international section of our grocery store.  I'm not sure what Bannon will be posting (we didn't get that far in the convo, the Little Dude became very insistent on watching Blue's Clues around that time), but the goal is for each of us to try a recipe a week.  We may cover for each other if needed, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

To give you an idea of what you (and we) have to look forward two, the next 4 weeks will feature soups, pan frying, beer/wine/liquor, and Brazilian.  I'm not sure what to make for Brazilian week, I'll need to do some homework!

I've also decided to try to feature a monthly craft (with pictures!) and a monthly "green" activity.  The craft will be something for around the house, hopefully using or repurposing something you may already have around the house.  Think holidays, DIY decor, etc.   The green activity will be guiding you, and giving reviews, on things you can make for yourself-detergent, hand soap, play doh for the kids.  Save yourself some money, and feel better about avoiding dodgy ingredients.

Keep an eye out this week for a Chinese recipe or two, as well as a little experimenting with making your own spray-on Oxy Clean!

Labor Day Weekend in Pictures

 Birthday celebration.

Garden harvest.

 Prepping tomatoes.

 Cooking salsa.

 Salsa done!

Birthday flowers and silly boys.

Yum.

Blueberry bread for breakfast this week.

Bannon

Cooking and Cleaning

Kerry here!  Today, my Dude has spoiled me by doing all the cooking.  I got to do the clean up, but I personally think I came out ahead of the game.  So, because tomorrow's a holiday, because my Little Dude gave me kisses and said, "I love!" each time, and because it's too good not to share, here's what the Dude cooked, and what I used to clean up with!

For breakfast, we had Berry Berry Pancakes with hash browns!  For the pancakes, you'll need 1 1/2 c. flour, 3 1/2 t. baking powder, 1 t. salt, 1 T. white sugar, 1 1/4 c. milk, 1 egg, 3 T. butter, melted, and 1 c. blueberries.  Take the dry ingredients and sift them together.  Make a well in the center, and pour in the milk, egg, and butter.  Mix it all until smooth.  Heat and grease your griddle or pan.  Right before you're ready to cook them, fold in the blueberries (feel free to adjust the amount of blueberries to your liking).  Pour out batter in 1/4 c. amounts onto the griddle, and cook until golden brown on both sides.  For the topping, slice enough strawberries to fill 1/3 c.  Place in a bowl with 1/4 c. whole raspberries.  Add 2-3 T. of white sugar, and gently mix.  Again, feel free to increase or decrease the amount of berries and/or sugar to meet your needs.  Butter the hot pancakes, and spoon on some of the fruit topping.  Simple, and crazy good!  For the hash browns, all the Dude did was to use the food processor to shred 2 potatoes.  He used paper towels to squeeze out the excess moisture.  Then he added 1/2 of a bell pepper and 2 small tomatoes, diced, mixed it all together, and fried it on the griddle.  For the last minute or two of cooking, he topped the hash browns with cheddar cheese.

This evening, he made homemade oatmeal cream pies, and I almost cried with joy.  He found the recipe on allrecipes.com, and while they were damn good, we think we can tweak it a bit.  I linked the recipe for anyone who wants to give it a whirl, but I'll post our version once we play with it.  I think we can make the filling a bit differently, and I want to mess with the baking instructions.  But...mmmm.  Make sure you have some milk on hand!

Now, after all that cooking, I got to clean.  I also tweaked my cleaning supply stash, and came up with what I think are some effective, safe supplies.  For my general surface cleaner, I used a large spray bottle.  I put in 3 T. baking soda, and 1/4 c. white vinegar.  There will be fizzing, so just wait it out.  Once things settle, add 1/2 t. dish liquid, then fill the bottle slowly with hot water.  Leave a little room in the bottle to swirl the contents before use.  It cut grease, cleaned up sticky surfaces, and didn't leave a weird film or odor behind.  If you wanted to, you could add 8-10 drops of your favorite essential oil.  If you do have a spot that needs more scrubbing, make a paste of baking soda and your dish soap, and use it like you would Soft Scrub.

My window cleaner got tweaked, but I think it's a lot more effective now on the LD's sticky little prints and smudges.  Use 1/2 t. dish soap, 3 T. vinegar, and 2 c. water.  Mix it in a spray bottle, shake it up, and clean your glass!  You can use newspaper on your windows  with this spray for a streak-free finish.  And, to freshen up your fabric, here's a fake-it Febreze recipe.  Use 3 T. of your favorite conditioner, and 2 T of baking soda.  Put into a spray bottle (just reuse that Febreze bottle that's laying around with a spoonful of liquid left in it), fill up to the top with hot tap water, and give it a good shake.  I ended up using a yummy ginger-scented trial sized conditioner, and it was awesome!

Happy eating/cleaning!

Give and Take

So, this past weekend was a doozy!  Saturday morning, the Dude and I were up bright and early to take part in a community clean-up project organized by Wild Goose Creative, and we took part along with some other members of our beloved Hudson Street Hooligans, the best Crew supporter's group out there.  I swept, picked up trash, sprayed for weeds, and painted and painted and painted.  I ended up helping some kids who were there volunteering with their parents-go figure, right?  It was great fun, I was absolutely filthy by the time I got home.  But it's for a good cause-cleaning up an abandoned lot, and making it pretty with some gorgeous artwork!  Check it out at the corner of Summit and Hudson in Columbus.  First pic has the Dude up on some scaffolding, second pic is the handiwork of Tim Lai, and was posted on the Facebook page for the HSH.

Saturday night was a rarity in my world-girl's night out!  We met for dinner and 'ritas at a local Mexican restaurant, then headed off to the Crew game.  I'm not sure everyone had the same level of enjoyment for the game that I did, but we all had a good time being together.

However, all the time outside on Saturday, combined with my forgetting to take my allergy medicine that day, left me feeling like someone stuffed rocks up my nose, then hit me in the face with a cricket bat.  However, because I am a sucker nice aunt, I kept my word to one of my nieces and spent the morning making blueberry muffins with her.  It wasn't nearly as time consuming as I had anticipated it to be, and a good time was had by all.  Here's the goods:

For muffins:

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 t. salt

2 t. baking powder

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 c. milk

1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen work; if frozen, thaw first)

For crumb topping:

1/2 c. sugar

1/3 c. wheat flour

1/4 c. butter, softened and cubed

1 1/2 t. cinnamon

Heat oven to 400 degrees, either grease or line muffin cups.

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder for muffins.  In separate bowl, beat egg gently, then add oil and milk to egg.  Mix slightly, then add to dry goods.  Mix together, adding a bit more milk if needed to achieve a good consistency.  Fold in blueberries.  At this point, you can either divide the batter between 12 muffin cups for smaller muffins, or fill 8 cups to the very top to get larger muffins.  For the topping, mix together all ingredients with a fork until a crumbly texture has been achieved.  Sprinkle it over the muffin tops before baking.  Bake for about 20 minutes-watch them towards the end, our batch got close to burning.  These were generally a hit with everyone, except for my junior chef, who learned a valuable lesson in mixing thoroughly.  She got a mouthful of salty muffin.  :-)

I did get some reward for all of my giving-a sympathetic sister who folded my laundry for me (woot!), and a family friend who brought us all some lunch.  I normally feel bad about taking things like that from others, but not this time!  

Lovely, Love My Family

Things are settling in nicely here with the nieces being here after school.  The first week was a bit of an adjustment-testing boundaries, convincing the Little Dude that he has to share with even more kids, the usual.  But it's brought a surprising amount of love into our home, which was something I didn't really think would happen.  My nieces are very open in showing each other love, and it spills over to me, the LD, and the other boy I babysit.  They'll pull they boys onto their laps for hugs and kisses, play with them, and generally make a happy mess.  One activity we did today that the older and younger kids all had fun with was finger painting with shaving cream.  Sometimes, we'll use paper and color, but today we just spread it out onto the train table and let everyone get to it.

I knew from previous experience that I'd have to stay on my toes with activities for all the kids, and that's been a challenge for me.  Things that will engage the 2- and 3-year-olds won't do the trick for the 10 year olds.  Fortunately, they have come up with some great ideas.  The older girls are convinced that I'm going to teach them to cook!  So we've been working on some basics, as well as actually giving them some experience with an oven.  They've learned how to use a knife, how to measure, how to sift, and they've gotten a healthy dose of respect for a hot oven.  So, to let them test their skills, the 4 girls all chipped in to make homemade pizzas for a large family dinner.  For the dough, we used a recipe from Once A Month Mom.


2 3/4 c. lukewarm water
1.5 T. granulated active yeast
1.5 T. kosher salt
1 T. sugar
1/4 c. olive oil
6 1/2 c. flour.  I used whole wheat flour for the dough.  Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and olive oil with the water in a large bowl.  I let my littlest niece, who is 3, pour in and stir the ingredients.  Next, mix in the flour without kneading, using a wooden spoon.  Leaving the dough in the bowl, cover with a towel and let it sit for 2 hours.  At this point, you can either use the dough immediately, or you can refrigerate it for 4 hours, then separate into individual portions (we got 3 medium pizzas out of this batch), wrap it with plastic wrap or parchment paper, place into freezer bags, and freeze them.  If you choose to use the dough immediately, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Grease your pan, press out the dough and top with whatever you choose.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the crust and toppings are golden.  If you want to use frozen dough, thaw it in the fridge, dust it with flour, then roll or press it for your crust.  The older girls prepared all the toppings, including chopping up tomatoes and peppers, as well as putting on the saucy pepperoni, etc.  They all really liked cooking it, and they really liked eating it!  The crust got a thumbs up from everyone involved, and it was really easy to work with.

But, more than the food, or the messy projects, I think the kids (and the parents) are enjoying our increased closeness the most.  The title seems very appropriate, especially since it's from a song by The Roots that appeared in Yo Gabba Gabba, a favorite show of my 3 youngest charges.  Enjoy!

Attitude Adjustment

This past week has been a total waste for me, in the blogging/social life/general friendliness department.  I don't know what my damage was, but I just couldn't bring myself to want to go out the door.  Any words in my head would dry up the minute I tried to blog it out.  I don't think I was depressed, but I was certainly anti-social.  All I wanted to do was hide out indoors with my Dudes and watch trashy TV.  (Speaking of-Jersey Shore's back!)  I finally got over myself, just in time for us all to come down with various tummy woes.  One missed birthday party and two ruined outfits later, things are now back to normal, and I may have things to say again!

I know I had planned to post a recipe for Chocolate Chip Banana Bread, but B. kind of beat me to the punch with her recipe.  So, if you want to chip it up, fold in 3/4 to 1 c. of chocolate chips right before pouring it into the pan.  I used 1 c. and thought it was a little too chocolatey, which means I really must have been out of it last week, because there is no such thing as too much chocolate.

The mini-preschool project was put on hold for the last week or so, in the name of helping my sister and her family get settled.  Things are still moving forward on it-the felt board is done, the magnetic boards have had a work out, and today's goals are homemade play dough and getting a line for drying art projects hung up.  I still need to get the chalkboards finished, but that might not happen this week-between agreeing to some extended child care for my niece today, going out of town, a Crew game, and hosting a birthday party, I'm not sure when I'll get it all done!

I was introduced to a concept today that I probably could have used this past week when my attitude was in serious need of adjustment.  It's called a "love bomb", and while it seems to mainly be recommended for use with children who are going through a traumatic time (a death, divorce, etc.) or are having behavioral issues, I think it's something that can be used any time you think the child (or adult) in your life needs a boost.  You pretty much just spoil the person in question for a day, or a few hours-spend undivided time with your child.  Play their games, do something fun, give them some treats.  The focus isn't meant to be on money spent, or how lavish you make the time together, but on making your child feel like they are important to you.  I suppose the idea sounds kind of obvious, or maybe even counterproductive-spoiling your child?  What??  But I have yet to see a child spoiled for life by one day of ice cream for dinner.  Jeffrey's getting some love bombing on Friday.  He's had a hard time dealing with suddenly having all these other kids to compete with, and he's been acting out on it.  So he gets an all-access pass to mommy and daddy for the day, along with a trip to a pretty cool children's museum, and an ice-cream parlor.  I know it's not a long-term solution for his sudden desire to smack any child that gets too close, but I'm hoping it'll help "reset" things for him before the birthday party invasion.  Besides, my chores will still be there at the end of the day, but my little boy won't always be.

It Ain't Starbucks, But...

So, a few days ago I was in a bind.  I seriously, desperately craved an iced coffee.  In case you hadn't noticed, it was (still is) wickedly hot out.  I'd tossed and turned the night before, and I was dragging.  And the Little Dude was full of more energy than I could muster.  Cold, non-carbonated caffeine seemed like the ideal solution.  But, alas, there was a flaw in my plan to get my hands on a frappuccino-my car has been out of commission.  So my options were slim-suck it up, or get creative.

So I made a base for iced coffee!  It's great on the rocks, chilled in a pitcher, or blended with ice.  And it was pretty simple!  I made 10 cups of coffee to start.  I used caramel flavored coffee, but you can use whatever you have on hand.  I made mine a bit stronger, since I planned to drink it over ice.  If you plan to blend it with ice, you'll definitely want it a bit stronger, to withstand the dilution.  I let it sit in the carafe for a while, until it was cool enough to pour into my plastic pitcher.  I then added about 3T of sweetened condensed milk to give it some creaminess.  Again, use what you have on hand-milk, half and half, that bottle of flavored creamer languishing in the back of the fridge-and just add it based on your personal tastes.  Then add some sweetener, use your favorite and sweeten to taste.  I used somewhere between 3T and a 1/4 c. of sugar.  Stir it all up, then either stick it in the fridge, or break out the ice.  You can also add flavored syrups if you want, garnish it with whipped cream, or whatever blows your skirt up.  Grab a straw, a fan, and enjoy a few minutes of cool indulgence!

A Sunday Tradition

This will be another photograph-free post, I'm afraid.  My week got away from me again!  I agreed to watch B.'s kids, as well as my sister's 4 girls, and had a pretty busy schedule besides that.  And, to top it off, I spent today with some odd flu-like thing.  Appetizing to think about, right?

Being all queasy and chilly meant that our weekly trip to the North Market didn't get to happen.  My Dude, being the awesome guy that he is, did the market shopping by himself, brought me back egg salad on challah, and skipped soccer to stay home and make sure things stayed mellow.  Fortunately, my stomach settled down in time for me to take part in the other half of our Sunday tradition: the preparing and consuming of the steaks.

It's serious business at our house.  We get 2 filets from Bluescreek Farms (not only do they now know our order, they tend to prepare ours in advance and age them a little longer.  It's seriously good enough to cry over.), baking potatoes from the Greener Grocer, and stop whatever we're doing to sit down as a couple and eat.  It's the only night of the week that the Little Dude eats something different from us, and usually before we sit down.  It doesn't stop him from coming back to mooch bites of steak and potato, either.

Our potatoes are pretty basic-wash them, stab them full of holes, rub with olive oil, pat on some kosher salt, and wrap them in foil.  We bake them at 400 degrees for at least one hour.  At the one hour mark, we start the steak, and the potatoes come out when the steaks are done.

For the steak, we've found a method of cooking that seems pretty foolproof to us.  We let the steaks sit out to reach room temperature (we usually get them out and unwrap them when we put the potatoes in to bake.), and then season them with salt, pepper, and dill on both sides.  We then cook them in a hot, dry skillet on medium heat.  This part is important, either use an oven-safe skillet, or preheat a baking dish in the oven.  Cook the steaks for 3 minutes on each side-if they seem to be getting a little too done for your liking, lower the heat a bit.  After both sides have cooked, put them into the oven with the potatoes.  We like our steaks pretty rare, so we let them bake for 5 minutes.  If you want them cooked longer, add another minute or two to the oven time.  We also check for doneness by gently pushing the tops of the steaks.  Rare feels like pushing your cheek with a fingertip, medium feels like pushing the tip of your nose.  If you want your filets well-done...I'm not sure how to advise you, because I consider a well-done steak to be about equal to chewing on a leather wallet.  ;-)

Anyhoo, once the steaks are done, take them out of the oven and let them sit.  I sometimes put a small pat of butter on each one, and let it melt.  I think it gives a richer taste to the juices.  While the steaks are resting, get your potatoes out and drop them on the counter.  I mean that.  Drop them a few times.  Make sure you're dropping on different sides of the potato.  They'll be ridiculously soft, and any butter or sour cream you add will melt and get into all the nooks and crannies.  Top them as you wish-we like to use garlic butter, but whatever floats your boat!

These steaks will be juicy, flavorful, and out of this world good.  I promise.  Pair your steak and potato with some nice wine, a salad, some decadent dessert-it'll make any night special, and with a minimum amount of effort.  And, as one-half of a couple with a kid, it definitely helps to take a little time out during the week to focus on your significant other, and enjoy time together.

At last!

The internet/phone/cable is really, truly fixed!  I'll probably be blogging like mad to make up for lost time, lol.  And speaking of blogs, how about B.'s post with her weekly menu?  I think she should post a couple of recipes, don't you?


Speaking of recipes, I took advantage of yesterday's storms cooling everything down and made some bread!  Now, I am totally a baking noob when it comes to bread.  I can make cookies and cakes from scratch without batting an eye, but bread scares me.  So I'm challenging myself this month and baking more.  I started simple, with an easy, no-fuss beer bread.  It was a pretty good ringer for the expensive-yet-tasty Simply Tasteful beer bread!  Just a word of advice-consider how strong the flavor of the beer you want to use will be.  I used a stronger ale this time, and Big Dude and I both thought that it was a bit strong for the bread.  Not that it stopped us from eating it, lol.  We decided to freeze the remaining bread and use it next time I make beef stew.  It's a thick, hearty bread that is ideal for soups, stews, and chili.

• 3 cups flour, sifted (can sift twice, if you wish).  Can use wheat or white, but do NOT use self-rising flour.
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 12 oz. can or bottle of beer, can be cold or room temperature.
• 1/4 cup melted butter (can substitute with light olive oil)

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix all dry ingredients together, then add beer.  Mix until all ingredients are combined.  Dough will be a sticky ball.  Pour into greased loaf pan.  Pour melted butter over dough.  Bake for 45-60 minutes until done, crust will be crunchy.  Remove loaf from pan, allow to cool 15 minutes.  

If you prefer a softer crust, stir the butter into the dough instead of pouring it on top.  Also, if you want to try a non-alcoholic beverage instead of regular beer, make sure to add a packet of dry active yeast to the dry ingredients.  And play with your ingredients!  Add some cheddar, garlic, and italian seasonings.  Another suggestion is to use a pumpkin based ale, and to add some cinnamon and extra sugar for a sweet bread.

Cooking like a boss!

I had intended to post this yesterday, but yesterday was lost in a haze of cleaning for the babysitter.  The night out will also get a mention in a post that will hopefully take shape for tomorrow or Friday.  Hopefully.

Anyway, I’ve been talking about freezer cooking, and I tried a few recipes from Once A Month Mom.  We’ve had a lot of success, and a few glitches, but I thought I’d share the results!  Because I’m home to do most of the cooking, and because our family is so small, one meal with 6-8 servings is usually enough to make two meals for us.  Also, because our apartment freezer is rather small, I try to make meals that can freeze in a bag, and I don’t make several of one meal.  2 of each type of meal is plenty for us, but do what works for your family.

I made the homemade refried beans, shredded beef, chicken salad, sesame chicken, and French toast sticks.  All were unanimous successes, and I am under instructions to make them all again.  The shredded beef was declared to be as good as City Barbecue’s, which I thought was fantastically high praise, since I could eat City Barbecue every other day (alternated with Chipotle, of course) and not get tired of it.

With the exception of me overcooking the sauce for the sesame chicken (still tasted awesome, just darker in color), the recipes for the beans, beef, and sesame chicken were perfect as-is.  On the chicken salad, Big Dude and I both thought that it was a bit bland.  I added a bit more garlic salt, just a couple of shakes.  BD suggested a bit of relish, so I added around a tablespoon, maybe a bit more.  After that, it was just a fuller flavor.  We ate it on salad, with some rye bread toast, watermelon, and corn on the cob that I had baked.  Perfect summertime meal!

The French toast sticks were the ones that seemed the most problematic for me.  It called for 30 slices of bread, which I used, and had a ton left over after I ran out of the egg mixture.  I used regular sandwich bread, and I think I’d rather thicker sliced bread, like Texas toast.  I also had to knock down the baking time from 30 minutes to 20-22.  That may vary based on your oven.  However, they tasted great, and the little dude had no problem making them disappear at breakfast!  I also had enough to give a bag to B. for her boys to try, and I hope to hear their thoughts on it soon!

Since I’m still fairly new at this idea of cooking to save money, I’m always on the lookout for good recipes and websites!  Tell me where you like to go for food inspiration.  Give me a good recipe-I’ll even try it out and feature the results in a future blog!

Gratitude and frozen food

This was originally meant to be a post about my first attempts at once a month cooking, but is turning into an impromptu tribute to B, who is saving my hide yet again.  Last night, the Big Dude and I went to see The Two Towers at our local theater, met with some friends, had a good time.  After the movie ended, I walked down to the ATM to get cash for the sitter, and then went home.  I took our sitter home, then went to the store for a late-night grocery run to allow me to do some bulk recipes today.  Imagine my surprise when I went to get my card out to pay, only to find that I didn’t have it??  So no getting groceries, or getting money for laundry (I live in an apartment without a washer and dryer).  Fast forward to today, when B. not only offers up money for laundry, but also offers to bring it to me since I am also currently carless.  This has absolutely not been my week at all.  And I felt/still feel like a total heel for finally accepting her offer, but I can’t take staring at the mountain of laundry any more!  So thank you, B., for bailing me out without a moment’s hesitation.  Hugs

Now, to get to the other reason for the post-once a month cooking!  I’m familiar with it, having helped others prepare food for it, but I’ve never felt the need to do it for myself.  But after having stocked up a bunch of meat, I’d really like to get some order to my freezer.  I found a great site, called Once A Month Mom.  I like it because they have recipes up for gluten free, whole food, and diet menus.  I’ve already tried a couple of recipes, like the shredded beef and the homemade refried beans, and they were wonderful!  I don’t plan to follow the menus to the letter, but I am going through and picking out recipes based on what I need to use up.  Did I also mention that you can find recipes based on a key ingredient?  It’s so easy to use!  They offer printable grocery lists, labels, and just about anything else you could need.  And it’s all free! 

If it helps, get a friend to cook and split the results with you.  B. and I are planning to do the French toast sticks together at some point, and I’ll probably be making a bunch of lunch and dinner meals with my sister soon.  She and her husband have four kids, they both work full time, and she works second shift.  If anyone needs a plan like this, it’s her!