bentos 27 & 28

potstickers, monterey jack cheese cubed, banana slices, molasses cookie cut into quarters, bun, and sugar snap peas.
This bento is the exact same as above except for the vegetables. I put raw carrots, cauliflower and broccoli in this one.

jello fluff

Jello has been around for at least a hundred years, but it still never ceases to amaze me. For example, when my mom was in college in the 60s, she had this Jello Cookbook. She still has it too. It's totally worn, pages missing or falling out, stains all over it, but it is so fun for me to look at. I can tell which recipes she used most often. The thing about this cookbook that I love most is that there are sections labled things like "meat" or "main dishes". With Jello?! Well, I have seen many of these concoctions.

Every Thanksgiving, my mom would make a gorgeous layered jello salad. Each layer a different color, and the middle was a mixture of cream cheese and something else. She usually put cut up fruit in our jello. Once in a while, she would do shredded carrots. Blech! I would estimate that we had some kind of jello salad at least once a week. Now I have seen things in jello that are almost too horrible to mention. Every Easter, my friend's grandma brings a green jello mold with sliced hot dogs in it. No joke. Sometimes it's even more fancy with the addition of shredded carrots. Hideous.

The jello fluff pictured above has been in the family forever. I don't know if it came from the 60s recipe book or not, but it makes me smile when I eat it. I remember eating ONLY jello fluff for Thanksgiving as a little girl and not touching anything else on my plate. You can do this with any flavor jello. It doesn't have to be strawberry. We've made lime fluff and that was pretty good too. Here's how to do it:

1 large box (6 oz.) strawberry JELLO
10-12 ice cubes
6-7 oz. strawberry yogurt
1 (8 oz.) carton cool whip

Follow instructions on box for boiling water. Pour JELLO into medium to large bowl and add boiling water. Stir until JELLO is completely dissolved. Instead of adding more water, add the 10-12 ice cubes. Once ice cubes are melted, add in the cool whip and yogurt. Mix on high or stir with a whisk until mixed completely. Cover with serran wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

This takes just a few minutes to make and the kids love it. I might make it for our daughter's ballerina party coming up in March. Everything is going to be pink.

Do you have any funny JELLO stories or recipes?

food related t-shirts i adore

Check out these food related t-shirts from threadless.com. These were some of my favorites.

"Milk Moustache"

"Pancakes Mountain"

"Food Chain". If you can't see it very well, it's a zombie on top of the food chain.

"Cheesy Friends Forever"

"Playin' in the Sprinkler"

"Cookie Loves Milk"

"I took a bite out of crime. . ."

I don't remember what this one is called, and it's from a while back, but I couldn't find it anywhere on their website. That makes me sad, because I really loved this one enough to buy it.

They sell these in little kids sizes too and onesies. I thought the "cookie loves milk" would be so cute as a onesie on our little guy.

bentos no. 24-26

dinosaur sandwich with just cheese inside, a pretzel rod broke in half, craisins, and strawberry yogurt.
Mrs. Officer's delectable pumpkin bread, carrot sticks, black olives on picks, mozzarella cheese cubes, and a little mixture of almonds, craisins, dried apricots, and chocolate chips.
black olives and mozzarella cubes on picks, trail mix of dried apricot, craisins, peanuts, raisins, and chocolate chips, raspberry jello in foil ghost, and more amazing and moist pumpkin bread from Mrs. Officer.

kitchen wish list part I

(click on image for more details)

Le Creuset 12-piece Cookware set at Williams-Sonoma

set of biscuit cutters at Williams-Sonoma

mandoline

Cook's Illustrated or Cook's Country magazine subscription

Apple Pocket Pie Mold at Williams-Sonoma. They also have heart and star shapes.

Can you tell that I love Williams-Sonoma?

Blessings Mix

inside the bag

the tag

the final product: the template found here

This is a fairly new Thanksgiving tradition of ours. We make Blessings Mix. A friend of mine made it for us a couple years ago and we stole the idea. But apparently we are not alone. I had no idea that it was a widely known thing to do. It's all over the internets. This is what we will be giving to Daisy's teachers.

Blessings Mix
2 cups Bugles, original or Caramel
2 cups mini twisty pretzels
1 cup nuts or seeds (I used a combination of whole almonds, cashews, and peanuts)
1 cup dried fruit (I used dark raisins and craisins)
1 cup candy corn
1 cup m&ms
Hershey's Kisses (I also use hugs)

In a large bowl, gently mix together all ingredients except for Hershey's Kisses. Once thoroughly combined, put 1 cup into cellophane bag. Put a couple of kisses and/or hugs on top. Print out tag with Blessings Mix poem and loop onto ribbon or twist tie used to secure bag.

BLESSINGS MIX

Bugles: Shaped like a cornucopia or Horn of Plenty, a symbol of our nation's abundance.

Pretzels: Arms folded in prayer, a freedom sought by those who founded our country.

Candy Corn: The sacrifices of the Pilgrims' first winter. Food was so scarce that settlers survived on just a few kernels of corn a day.

Nuts or Seeds: Promise of a future harvest, one we will reap only if seeds are planted and tended with diligence.

Dried Fruits: Harvest gifts from our bountiful land.

m&ms: Memories of those who came before us to lead us into a blessed future.

Hershey's kiss: The love of family and friends that sweetens our lives.

yummus hummus

We love hummus. We've been making it a lot lately. It is a popular middle eastern dish containing chickpeas or Garbanzo beans. We've tried different flavors, but this one suits us best. I know it doesn't exactly look appetizing, but it is delicious and nutritious! I warmed up some pita bread and cut up orange and yellow bell peppers to dip with it. I sent a batch to work with HF and the officers enjoyed it as well. There are many varieties of hummus, the most popular probably being Red Pepper Hummus. We like this basic recipe. You can adjust it to your taste and add other spices and ingredients if desired.

HUMMUS

4 garlic cloves, minced and mashed

2 (15 oz.) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2/3 cup tahini (roasted not raw)

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup water

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp. coarse salt

In food processor, combine garlic, garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, water and olive oil. Press until smooth. Add salt a little at a time, to taste. Serve with warm pita bread, crackers, chips, or raw vegetables.

birthday cupcakes

I could not come up with a birthday cake idea for my son's first birthday on Halloween. I had romantic ideas of what I would do, but reality hit. HF was out of state the whole week and I was tired and busy. On the way to a Halloween party for the kids, I had a light bulb moment. I should go to a fancy cupcake bakery and get assorted cupcakes for the next day's birthday celebration!

If you are looking at the above picture and thinking that something is not quite right, you are right! When I got home, I accidentally dropped the box upside down and the cupcakes tumbled around the box and got a little smooshed and well, a little less than perfect. It was kind of sad. I fixed them up the best I could and I think they still look pretty great. They tasted fantastic. HF loved them and had no idea that cupcakes could even be this gourmet. The flavors in this box were pumpkin chocolate chip, strawberry shortcake (one of my faves), Vanilla (this one was given to the 1 year old with a candle instead of the cherry), Chocolate and Peanut Butter (my other fave-the pb frosting was astounding!), New York Cheesecake, and Key Lime. For my daughter's 7th birthday in March, I am inspired by Whitaker Woman's ballerina party and I just might have to special order ballerina cupcakes from this place.

Birthday party inspiration for Luke's 4th birthday: Wendolonia's Robot party, except I want to make or buy these Martha Stewart Robot cupcakes.

adventures in frugality: 1-2-3 Soup

Okay, I didn't think there was anything particularly special about this soup, but my family GOBBLED it up! They loved it. I enjoyed it as well, just didn't think it was anything to get all excited about. So the story of the bread bowl. Every Fall, our local grocer makes bread bowls in the color and shape of pumpkins. It is the cutest thing in the world, and something not only I look forward to, but the kids do as well. This was to be used for Halloween dinner, so I knew I needed a Halloweenish soup to go inside. I decided to make 1-2-3 Soup. So simple. So frugal. So comforting. So tasty. Ready for the ingredients? You'll see why it's called 1-2-3 Soup.

1 onion, chopped (I use yellow)
2 carrots, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth
1 can water
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
salt, pepper, seasoning to taste

Boil gently the onion, carrots, and potatoes in a pot with the chicken broth and water. When soft (20-30 minutes), blend in small batches until smooth. Return to pot and add evaporated milk. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper and other seasonings if desired (I just used salt and pepper). If too thick, you can thin it with a little milk at a time. We like a thicker soup. It's easier for the kids too. Serve in bread bowls (or not) and shredded cheddar cheese on top. We didn't add cheese in ours, but we have before and it's yummy. Enjoy!

over the top blog award

Thank you Connie for this "Over the Top" blog award! Connie blogs at Living My Glamorous Life. She makes you want to shop with all the beautiful and glamorous stuff she finds and she also posts lots of yummy food and recipes. She's happy and fun to *be around* so go check her out!

These are the rules:
1. you can only use ONE word
2. pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers
3. alert them that you have given them this award
4. have fun

The Fun Part:
1. Where is your cell phone? LOST
2. Your hair? PONYTAIL
3. Your mother? KIND
4. Your father? SMART
5. Your favorite food? MEXICAN
6. your dream last night? SCARY
7. Your favorite drink? CRANBERRY-LIMEADE
8. Your dream/goal? TRAVEL
9. What room are you in? OFFICE
10. Your hobby? FOOD
11. Your fear? DEATH
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? EUROPE
13. Where were you last night? HOME
14. Something that you aren’t? RELAXED
15. Muffins? PLEASE
16. Wish list item ? LASIK
17. Where did you grow up? CALIFORNIA
18. Last thing you did? FED BABY
19. What are you wearing? JEANS
20. Your TV? HULU
21. Your pets? NONE :(
22. Friends? GENEROUS
23. Your life? BUSY
24. Your mood? TIRED
25. Missing someone? TIFFnTODD
26. Vehicle? MINIVAN!
27. Something you’re not wearing? JEWELRY
28. Your favorite store? WILLIAMS-SONOMA
29. Your favorite color? ORANGE
30. When was the last time you laughed? MINUTES AGO
31. Last time you cried? TUESDAY
32. Your best friend? ROSEMAY
33. One place that I go to over and over? GROCER
34. One person who emails me regularly? JENN
35. Favorite place to eat? BAJIO

halloween lunch

Witch's Broom: Pretzel rods, string cheese, and black licorice rope. I cut a string cheese in half and then finely peeled it. I took a bunch and squished the top 1/4 of the pieces around the bottom of the pretzel rod and secured it with the black licorice. I thought it turned out like a broom! What do you think?
I made Witch Fingers: baby carrots with slivered, toasted almonds as fingernails. i used a teeny dab of cream cheese to secure the almonds. The palm of the hand is a slice of a side of a Sonya apple. Sonyas are my favorite.
I let the kids put black olives on their fingers to make Monster Fingers. They loved that.
And Halloween wouldn't be complete without Mummy Dogs. I left the cheese off.

no bake cherry cheesecake

My family loves cheesecake. All kinds. Then I married HF, who is a major cheesecake man. My mom made this no bake cheesecake often through the years. Probably because it was so easy. I think she got it originally from the back of an Eagle Brand can of sweetened condensed milk. I've changed it a little by doing one thing. I leave the vanilla out. I think it's so much better without. I also am a brand snob sometimes. I use Philadelphia cream cheese, Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk, and I always use juice from a real lemon. Makes a difference in my opinion. Especially the lemon juice. Watch out, this is super rich and sweet!

1 (8oz.) package of cream cheese, softened
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
graham cracker pie crust
1 can cherry or blueberry pie topping

Let cream cheese sit out until softened. Mix with beaters until smooth. Add can of sweetened condensed milk. Mix until completely smooth. Add lemon juice and mix completely. Pour into graham cracker crust and refrigerate for several hours. I usually refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, spread can of pie topping over entire surface. Cut into wedges and serve.

recipe cards

This is a somewhat labor intensive project, but this year for Christmas I am making recipe cards of our family's favorites for family members and some friends.

Here's what you need:
1 package of 4x6 index cards
glue stick
variety of scrapbook paper cut into 4x6 pieces (same as the index cards)
metal rings for holding the cards (i don't remember what they are called, but they open so you can slip more cards on or take them off)
hole punch
stickers and other embellishments if desired to stick on your recipes

Directions:

1. First of all, I am not a person that is a scrapbooker or even knows where to begin, but we have a big craft store that had 50% off all of their scrapbook paper. So I picked up A LOT of paper for just around $4 or $5.
2. After cutting up all my colorful paper into the same size as the index cards (4x6), I took a glue stick and glued a scrapbook piece to the front of the index card and one to the back. You can also use photo squares or some other method, but I found a glue stick was best. This isn't supposed to be professional, and the little imperfections give it a cute folksy look, I think.
3. Then you will take your hole punch and punch 2 holes about 2 cm from the left and 2 cm from the right and 1 cm from the top on each side.
   
4. Loop the cards on to the rings and clasp shut.
   
5. On Word, I set it up so that the recipes would print out within a 3x5 space on each card front and back. Once you've glued your recipes on the cards, let dry. Then finish up with any embellishments such as stickers, and other scrapbooking decorations you prefer. You can include a table of contents on the back of your top card where you've put the name of your family's favorite recipes as a title.
   

guest blogger: mrs. Officer's pumpkin bread with brown sugar glaze

*It's that time of year. Time to whip up the pumpkin recipes. This is a guest post from a fellow police wife, Michelle, aka Mrs. Officer. She blogs over at MRS OFFICER 2 U. She posts lots of yummy recipes, talks about her husband, family, and their daily adventures together. She has a happy life and you can tell just from reading her blog. A couple of days ago she posted this pumpkin bread picture on her blog and mentioned that this family recipe is coveted by friends and family and that she's lucky if she ends up with one loaf out of six. I knew I had to have this recipe when I saw it. It looks and sounds so delicious. Thanks for sharing Michelle!

PUMPKIN BREAD WITH BROWN SUGAR GLAZE

• 3 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 16 ounces canned unsweetened pumpkin
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 2/3 cup water

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 9x5 loaf pans. Stir together sugar and oil. Stir in eggs and pumpkin. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Blend dry ingredients and water into wet mixture, alternating. Divide batter between two loaf pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cool.

Glaze
3 Tbsp. water
3 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. brown sugar

Place in a small sauce pan and stir until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Then drizzle over pumpkin loaves!


*Do you have a favorite Fall or pumpkin recipe you would like to share? Email me at apolicewife@gmail.com and be a guest blogger!

italian salad

The salad looks kind of bland and dressing-less in the pictures, but it's covered in a delightful mixture of seasonings and oil.

This is one of those test and taste recipes. There are no specific measurements.

Ingredients:
2 heads of romaine lettuce
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil
rice vinegar
salt
basil leaves
grated parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Mince fresh garlic and spread on the bottom and sides of your bowl (1-2 depending on the size of the bowl/salad)
2. Wash and chop romaine lettuce, put in bowl
3. Sprinkle olive oil over entire salad
4. Sprinkle rice vinegar over entire salad
5. Sprinkle salt
6. Sprinkle Basil leaves (you can probably use dried if you want)
   
7. Mince at least 1 clove of fresh garlic on top of lettuce
8. Toss salad, taste. Add more oil, vinegar, salt, basil or garlic as needed
9. Right before serving, add grated parmesan cheese on top

Add chicken to make a complete meal.

bentos nos. 21-23

daddy bento: pb and honey sandwich with cucumber face, cheddar cheese cubes, carrots, grape tomatoes, red grapes, and a mix of raw almonds, fried chow mein noodles, and giant chocolate chips.
carrot sticks (from our garden), banana cut in half, 2 babybel cheeses with flower shape cut out of the wax, 2 mini blueberry muffins.
almond butter and honey sandwich on wheat cut in triangles, strawberries, a babybel cheese, and a cup of milk chocolate moose munch (Harry & David's) Have you tried the white chocolate and cranberry? TO DIE FOR.

pesto-chicken italiano

I discovered this wonderful little recipe on the back of a KRAFT shredded cheese bag. The Italian five cheese blend, to be precise. It was so good. This is my picture of it above, but there is also a picture in the link. I will be adding this recipe to our keepers. It was simple, fasy, and delightful! I bought pre-made pesto from Sam's Club or Costco, and everything else we pretty much had on hand.

Pesto-Chicken Italiano

In case the link gets dodgy, here's the recipe:

1 Tbsp. oil

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large red pepper, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup pesto

1 lemon, cut in half, divided

1 cup KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend

2 cups hot cooked angel hair pasta

HEAT oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic; cook and stir 4 to 5 min. or until chicken is evenly browned. Stir in peppers; cook 3 to 4 min. or until chicken is done, stirring frequently.

STIR in pesto and juice from 1 lemon half; top with cheese. Cover; cook on low heat 2 to 3 min. or until cheese is melted. Spoon over pasta.

SERVE with remaining lemon half, cut into wedges.

We definitely used up the lemon wedges. I squeezed at least one extra wedge on while eating it.

how to use up the tomatoes

One of the places I miss eating at in Santa Barbara is Woodstock Pizza in Isla Vista. I'm sure there's better pizza in the world, but for some reason I loved eating there. I especially loved their cheesy wilde bread with Ranch dip and whenever we ordered pizza I would have them put fresh tomatoes on top when it came out of the oven. So good. So that's something I've been doing with our tomatoes when we have pizza. Good stuff.
Homemade tomato soup! I used this recipe here. This is actually HF's favorite meal. Grilled cheese with tomato soup. It didn't make a lot of soup. This was really good though. I think I am going to double or triple this recipe and freeze it flat in gallon freezer bags to enjoy in the next few months. I would for sure recommend putting it through a sieve after you puree it. I don't like chunky tomato soup. We get our kids to eat it by sprinkling goldfish on top, handing them a spoon, and saying, "Go fish!"
This was probably one of the best ways I've ever had pork roast in my life. I browned the picnic roast (it was about 3 pounds) on all sides in a little olive oil. Then I added a couple of freshly chopped tomatoes, a handful of fresh cilantro, a sliced green pepper, and a quartered white onion. I poured in 1-2 cups of water, and a cup of brown sugar and let it simmer all day. SO GOOD. I was just trying to use up what we had and use the stuff from our garden.
Homemade pico de gallo. I used Elise's recipe at Simply Recipes.
My favorite: The BLT. We spread mayonnaise on both sides of the toasted bread, put on 3-4 slices of bacon, 2 thick slices of tomato, and a lettuce leaf. I always add sliced avocado, coarse pepper, and then place the remaining slice on top. TO DIE FOR.

What have you been doing with your tomatoes? Any suggestions?

bentos nos. 15-20

fresh cooked tortilla rolled up with cinnamon and sugar. I cut it into 4 chunks to fit inside box. Golden Delicious apple, quartered, home made peanut butter dip made with natural peanut butter, honey, cinnamon, and apple juice, carrot from our garden, chicken pieces mixed with BBQ sauce, and home made potato wedges. These were good, but I breaded them. Next time I will leave the bread crumbs off.
strawberry yogurt, grape tomatoes from the garden, dinosaur footprint cookies, cantaloupe, fried chow mein noodles, and rolled up muenster cheese
bento for HF: cantaloupe, cucumber sticks, deli turkey rolled up, cheese chunks, package of Sauri cookies (mexican sandwich cookies), homemade hummus, grape tomatoes, carrots from our garden cut in flower shape, and pita bread cut into triangles.
bento for baby: This was a dinner for our 11 month old: grape tomatoes, halved, with cucumber bits, apple slices, hummus, and pita bread strips. He ate a little bit of everything. I made the hummus with cumin and I think I'll leave it out next time.
pita wedges, 1/2 apple, banana bread, hummus on top of a cup of cucumber sticks, carrots, and grape tomatoes.
not a very good picture, but this is pancakes cut into wedges with a little container of syrup, cantaloupe, Chinese Almond cookies, carrots, cucumber, edamame, and a little container of ranch dip. This was too much food to send for lunch, but she ate a little of everything. Too many containers also. Next time I would do the pancake with syrup, some fruit, and one type of vegie all shoved into one box.

friday nights: movie and a pizza

Every Friday we make or order a pizza and a get a movie to watch as a family. Our daughter has been wanting to watch James and the Giant Peach for a while now. Since I'm one of those (insert sarcasm) amazingly creative super moms, I try to come up with a treat that matches the movie the kids have chosen to watch. We also do this activity whenever we read a book that is also a movie. We will read the book first, then watch the movie with a themed treat. It's fun. So for tonight's feature film, I came up with this idea. It was fast and easy. I went to the grocery store that is just a block away and bought a giant peach. It seriously was huge. then I bought a bag of gummy worms. You've probably guessed by now what I did. Yes, I put the worm in the peach. If you haven't seen this movie, or read the book, James along with some other insects change when they eat a piece of the peach and they become the same size and they can talk to each other. It's been a long time since I've read the book. They travel together to get to New York. Anyway, there is a spider, a ladybug, a grasshopper, and a few others. Maybe a centipede. We actually have toy insects like that, but i couldn't find them. Otherwise I would've had them join this photo session with the peach. I think they turned out pretty cute otherwise, and the kids loved eating wedges off the peach while they watched the movie. Of course they did eat the gummy worms first.

I took one worm and cut it in half. With a straw I made two holes and put half of the cut worm into each hole. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. The Black Forrest gummy worms have smiley faces. I didn't know that.

fried zucchini

The zucchinis that came out of our garden this year were humongous. It was amazing to check them one afternoon and see that they were still fairly small. The next day they had grown by leaps and bounds it seemed. The giant ones I shredded up for later use and stuck in the freezer in freezer bags. The smaller ones I cut at an angle into coins for fried zucchini. They were delicious! The measurements for the ingredients are just a guess. You may need more or less of the flour, milk, and bread crumbs. You will notice I didn't use any egg. It didn't need it at all.

1-2 zucchinis
2 cups milk
1-2 cups flour
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
oil for frying

First cut your zucchinis into desired thickness. Not too thin, but not very thick or it won't cook well. Place coins in container along with the milk. I let them soak for a few minutes, making sure that none of them are stuck together. Next I put the flour into a gallon ziploc bag or a large bowl. I remove the zucchinis from the milk using a slotted spoon and dump them into the bag of flour to coat evenly. You will probably have to break some apart as they like to stick together. Once they are coated evenly, you will dip them one by one in the milk once again and immediately coat with the breadcrumbs. Once all the zucchinis are breaded, they are ready for frying. Place a couple of paper towels on a plate and place a few zucchinis in hot oil. Fry on one side until golden brown, then flip over and fry the remaining side until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel covered plate. Serve with ranch dip if you like.

Here are some other zucchini recipes I might try to mix things up a bit.

Zucchini and Rice Casserole from All recipes
Zucchini Cakes from the Pioneer Woman's friend, Ryan. I think these are also called Zucchini Fritters.
Spinach and Zucchini Soup from 101 Cookbooks.
And last but not least, it's the Zucchini Weenie as seen on Al Dente. Fair Food. I think it actually looks pretty tasty! It would have to be a Hebrew National hot dog for me to eat it though. . .

zucchini bread with miniature chocolate chips

In my freezer right now are at least a dozen if not more of these ziploc bags of shredded zucchini. One bag is a serving for a batch of zucchini bread. And I still have a few more giant zucchinis to work with!


I adapted this recipe from one I found online at allrecipes.com.

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs (I always use medium eggs when baking now. For some reason it seems to work better)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 -3 cups grated zucchini, do not squeeze or drain excess moisture or liquid
1 cup miniature chocolate chips, semi-sweet (optional)

1. Grease two 8 x 4 inch bread pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the wet mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes (mine is always at least 1 hour), or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.

garden produce coming out of my ears

This is about what we get 3 to 4 times a week from our garden. And that's divided between 3 families. An amazing garden this year. So i'm going to be featuring a few things we've done with the produce.
This is usually what one side of our sink looks like. Full of vegetables.
I love our little carrots. They are so short and fat. I did not expect them to turn out like this. Did we do something wrong?! They still tasted good.

more bento (#10-14)

I repeat a lot of what I put in these. Especially now, during the summer when we have vegetables coming out of our ears from the garden. So grape tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots are pretty much always in here.

This bento is a little more adventurous than usual. I've got the usual tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots in the middle. On the left, those balls are what's called, Arancini, an Italian food consisting of risotto rice with mozzarella in the middle, covered in bread crumbs, and fried until golden brown. On the right are Banana Bites, chunks of banana covered in melting chocolate and rolled in sprinkles. Both the Arancini and the banana recipes were found in a children's cookbook by Annabel Karmel.
mini waffles, strawberries, mozzarrella cheese chunks on cute little animal picks, grape tomatoes, and cucumbers.
daddy bento: Arancini, cucumber, cheese, grape tomatoes, banan bread, strawberries, a mixture of cheddar bunnies, almonds, and pretzels, and some little Hershey's Hugs.
As you can see, I just use a regular Rubbermaid container for his bentos. It works perfectly.
another daddy bento: leftover roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, the same cheddar bunny mixture with almonds and pretzels, tomatoes, grapes, cheese, and some Ritter Sport chocolate with almonds.
grapes, Annies Cheddar Bunnies, banana bread slice, cheese, grape tomatoes, and a tuna fish sandwich on wheat bread, cut into fish shape with mini chocolate chip for eye, and pretzel piece for smile. Well, kind of smile.

bentos 5-9

daddy bento: I usually make him a couple of these to take with him to work so he has 2 meals during his shift. Sometimes it's not enough food. Sometimes it's too much. I have yet to figure out the right balance. This is 2 wheat tortillas rolled up with turkey, cheese, lettuce, and homemade ranch dressing, grape tomatoes from our garden, red grapes, and 2 cookies.
school bento: red grapes, edamame, boiled egg, mini twisty pretzels, corn-cut off the cob, the flower toothpick has cheddar cheese cut into flower shapes, and banana bread.
red grapes, edamame, peach yogurt, banana bread, deli turkey rolled up and skewered with a cute little lion pick, grape tomatoes.
breaded chicken nuggets, little container of BBQ sauce, grape tomatoes, green grapes, cheddar sun chips, banana bread wedge.
I don't know why this picture is turned the other way. This is a snack bento for HF. It has grape tomatoes, green and red grapes, cheese pieces tucked on the edges, a nut mixture I made that has peanuts, cashews, pretzel pieces, and raw almonds, and Ritter Sport chocolate.

elote

locally grown sweet corn

mayonnaise and cayenne pepper

This is my favorite way to eat corn. I think it was made even more popular by the movie Nacho Libre which we happen to love as well. One of the characters, Esqueleto is always eating elote.

We usually grill it inside the husks and then pull the husks back when they are charred and use the husk as a handle. It's just as good boiled though. I found two recipes online. I've tried them both and they are good.

Nacho Libre-style corn from Chow

Here's a recipe from all recipes

My way is much easier I must say. Even the cooking the corn part. Here's what you need:

• 4 ears of corn
• 1/4 cup- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon or more to taste of cayenne pepper
• 1 lime
• freshly shredded parmesan cheese

1. Remove husks and silk from ears of corn. Rinse.
2. In a large pot, filled 3/4 with water, bring to boil a boil on high heat. (some people put sugar in their water to boil, but we never do because our local corn is fresh and sweet).
3. Once the water is boiling, lower cobs into the water. Boil rapidly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and drain. While corn is cooling down, mix mayo with cayenne. (must use mayonnaise. No miracle whip, or reduced fat recipes. It is best withplain ol' mayonnaise.
   
4. Place corn holders on each end of your cob and then slather mayonnaise mixture evenly over cob. Sprinkle or roll in the parmesan cheese (cotija cheese is the most commonly used cheese for elote, but I like it a little more mild. That's why I use pamesan. I also leave out the butter, salt, and garlic. It doesn't need it!).
   
5. Serve with lime wedges. I usually squeeze the lime evenly over cob and then dig in!
   

This is so good! At least I think so. But here's what our kids did when we tried to get them to eat it.

bento #4

This is a bento box that stacks two high. Maybe i'll get a picture of it sometime so you can see the whole look. It is really tiny, but I am surprised at really how much food I can fit in there.

The top box has Oatmeal Squares cereal, grape tomatoes from our garden, and cucumbers cut with flower cutter (also from our garden).

The bottom box has sliced strawberries, the little container has 1-2 teaspoons of homemade ranch dressing for his veggies, and bowtie pasta with butter and parmesan.

pinoche

My mother makes a delicious candy every Christmas called a Caramel Pecan Log, a recipe that's been in the family for a very long time. Inside this caramel pecan log, is a fondant. It's made with white sugar. I discovered that Pinoche is essentially this very fondant, but it's made with brown sugar instead. There are a number of ways to make this, and is also called a variety of names, such as brown sugar fudge. This was very sweet, rich, and in my opinion, too much. I felt the sugar rush go straight to my brain. It was good, but I could only eat one little square. I think it's the sweet brown sugar. I would rather eat the fondant by itself from the Caramel Pecan Log recipe. I would also rather just make fudge. But some people adore pinoche. And maybe there's a better recipe out there, but here's a basic.

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugars, milk, and butter. Cook, stirring occasionally to soft ball stage. Take off of heat, and add vanilla. Let sit until lukewarm. Beat with a wooden spoon (this is a major pain!) until it loses its gloss. Pour into a buttered 8x8 dish. Cool until firm and then cut into small pieces.

bentos #2 and #3 for daisy

Ugly picture, but this bento is PB and J sandwiches cut into squares. I "heart" you cut out of mango fruit leather, edamame on toothpicks, and cantaloupe in star and flower shapes. The lid has a small space for another item. I put a small package of cookies in it the first day.

cantaloupe, deli turkey rolled up, carrots, edamame, and squares of cheese

creamy chicken noodle soup

I know. It's too hot for soup. But it's been raining here, and I was craving it. For this recipe, I took a basic chicken noodle soup and made it creamy.

First, I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco. When I brought it home, I took all the meat off the bones, and put it in the refrigerator. Next, I placed the bones, and whatever was left of the chicken and placed it in a stock pot. Then I covered it with about 6-8 cups of water or until the chicken was covered with water about an inch. You can also throw in carrots, celery, onions, parsley, and dill at this point. I brought it to a boil and boiled it on low for a few hours. Then I removed all the bones and even found more meat that I could use. I threw away the bones and pushed all the remaining bits through a sieve, including vegetables. I threw away the excess and then refrigerated the stock. The next day, I skimmed the fat layer off the top of the soup base and then brought my chicken stock to a boil. I added an extra bouillon to the stock. Once it was boiling, I added my onion, carrots, and noodles. I boiled until the carrots and noodles were soft. Then I added peas, the pulled chicken and a little dill and parsley. You can use whatever you have on hand. It's hard to ruin this soup.

To make it creamy: melt a cube of unsalted butter in a small saucepan on medium low heat. Once it is melted, add 1/2 cup of flour. Stir until thickened and starting to get bubbly then add 1/2 cup of milk. Stir until mixed thoroughly and then add to your pot of soup. This will make your soup creamy, and thicker. Everyone gobbled this up. HF said it tasted like a chicken pot pie without the crust. I guess that's good if you like chicken pot pie.

Serve with crusty bread.

about bento

Daisy's first school bento. They totally aren't as cute as the bento blogs I read, but I was using what we had, and trying to keep it simple. I would love to create the over the top ones that look just stunningly perfect, but I'm not that crafty. But she loved getting these her first week of school. And just about everything was eaten!

There's a nice arm shadow in the photo for you. This is what I put in there. Meatballs (the little pink container in the middle has BBQ sauce in it for dipping), a hard boiled egg, corn, a half banana, french bread pieces with a little butter, cheddar cheese cut into star shapes, and the lid contained 2 mini chocolate candies and I gave her a juice box as well. Those are pink and red silicone muffin cups by Wilton. They work perfectly for bento boxes. I have links to some bento blogs and places on the right. My sister is in Seattle this week and is getting a bunch of bento supplies from Daiso for me.

Chocolate Éclair Dessert

Not a very good picture, but I wanted to show how shiny and smooth my chocolate layer is.


Enough vegetables, let's have some dessert! I labeled this dessert as a kids recipe as well, because it's something that kids can help make, and it really is more of a kid's dessert in my opinion. Many people know this recipe from their childhoods. It's known by many names, and can be made a number of ways. Even though this is an easy recipe to make, and the ingredients are few, you have to make this a day in advance of when you plan on serving it. It should be refrigerated at least 24 hours before serving.

Chocolate Éclair Dessert

3 cups milk

2 small packages of French Vanilla instant pudding

8 oz carton of cool whip (Polysorbate 60 freaks me out, so I make my own and it works! But you have to beat it for a while-you can even search online for homemade cool whip recipes)

2 sleeves of Graham crackers

chocolate glaze (recipe follows)

• Make the pudding with the milk and cool whip
• In a 9x13 casserole dish, lay down a layer of whole graham crackers
• Spread half of the pudding/cool whip mixture over the layer of crackers
  
• Lay another layer of whole graham crackers over the pudding
• Spread the remaining half of the pudding/cool whip mix on top
  
• Lay another layer of whole graham crackers
• Spread the chocolate glaze over the top layer of graham crackers

You can use whatever chocolate glaze recipe you want as long as it spreads easily over entire top layer of graham crackers. Some people buy the small tubs of frosting and microwave it until easily spreadable. I like to make it with as few ingredients as possible from scratch.

Chocolate Glaze

3 TBLS soft (room temperature) butter

3 TBLS cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ cup powder sugar

3 TBLS hot water (does not need to be boiling – just hot from the tap)

Mix until smooth

• IMPORTANT: Chill 24 hours – if not, at least overnight. It will not turn out as intended if not refrigerated this long.
  

roasted summer vegetables

Our first produce from the garden. The strawberries are all eaten and the cherry tomatoes are not pictured because Luke gobbled them up. The top 2 cucumbers are weirding me out though. One's dark and long and the other one is light and smaller. Maybe that's normal, I don't know. Some of this will be used for baby food puree and the cucumbers for snacking. The rest. . .
tossed with olive oil, coarse salt, and coarse pepper, and a little bit of grated parmesan cheese.


30 minutes later, hot roasted vegetables from our garden.
HF doused his with more parmesan cheese. Delicious. Especially with the tomatoes and zucchini.

This can be done a number of ways and with a number of vegetables. We used tomatoes, green bell peppers, yellow squash, and zucchini. I saw a recipe for splashing Italian dressing on it and then roasting. It's a nice way to use up garden produce. We baked it at 450 for 30 minutes. You could broil, or take it outside to the barbecue.

spinach and pesto lasagna

HF: This is really, really good. It just needs meat.

2 cups cottage cheese (you may use Ricotta, I just don't like it)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1 pound fresh spinach leaves (or 2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry)
1 7-ounce package prepared pesto (or make your own)
3-4 cups bottled chunky pasta sauce (I used Emeril's Chunky Marinara this time)
12 no-boil lasagna noodles from an 8-ounce package
2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Lightly spray a 9X13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
   
3. Wash spinach leaves and press water out with towels, paper towel, or using a salad spinner.
   
4. In a small bowl, mix together the cottage cheese, the egg, and the pesto.
   
5. Spread 1/2 cup of pasta sauce on bottom of dish.
6. Layer with 4 of the lasagna noodles. Spread a thin layer of the cottage cheese mixture over noodles. Top with spinach, 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, and 1/2 cup of mozzarella. Repeat layers with sauce, noodles, cottage cheese mixture, spinach, and cheese. When all your layers are made, top with remaining cheese (I probably used 3 cups of cheese instead of the two).
7. Bake for 1 hour. You can cover with foil to keep from burning, or leave the cheese off until the last 30 minutes, but I like my cheese layer on top to be well done as you can see in the photo above.

I thought this was a very good lasagna. Safe for vegetarians. I think next time I will add pressed garlic and I think instead of the chunky marinara sauce, I would like to make a homemade white sauce or Alfredo sauce. I think that's usually how spinach lasagnas are made. But this was really good.

guy food part IV

*another non-atrocious recipe from HF! (except don't listen to him when he says to use tapatio or KETCHUP of all things!) I prefer just the beans, the entire package of cream cheese, the monterey jack cheese, and the salsa. That's it.

Okay world, this recipe turns out some freaking awesome bean dip.

WARNING: make sure you have a friend or family member eat this with you, otherwise you won't be able to stop yourself from eating the entire thing. As good as this is going to taste, you don't want to eat the entire thing.

Here's what you need:

1 can of refried beans

Monterrey Jack Cheese

Fresh Salsa

Tapatio hot sauce

1/2 a package of cream cheese

For best results you're going to have to do some prep before you start cooking anything.
First shred the cheese. You want to shred a man sized fist amount of cheese. What's a man sized fist you ask? It's the size of your fist partially open as if it's holding a baseball. That's just one example of how we measure ingredients in the Cro-Magnon's kitchen y'all.
Next, remove the cream cheese from the box but keep it in its foil wrapper and cut it in half. Put the half you're not going to use back in the box and put it in the fridge.
Now you're ready to start cooking stuff. Empty the can of refried beans and it's accompanying juices into a pot.

Add about a finger tip's length of water to the pot. Don't ask me why, just do it.

Now turn up the heat on the stove (medium high) and start mashing the beans up with whatever heat resistant cooking utensil you can find. It's important to keep stirring the beans throughout the entire cooking operation. If you don't, they'll burn and stick to the bottom of the pot and you'll get in trouble with your wife.

Once you get the beans mashed up pretty good, go ahead and dump in that half block of cream cheese (make sure you take it out of the foil first), and mix it in. You may have to mash up the cream cheese as you mix it depending on how soft the cream cheese was when you added it to the beans. Don't worry though, it will start melting pretty fast once you put it in. REMEMBER TO KEEP STIRRING!!!

Once you have the cream cheese melted pretty good and mixed throughout the beans, add the cheese into the mix. KEEP STIRRING.

After the cheese is melted, add 3 heaping spoonfuls of fresh salsa. KEEP STIRRING.

Now that you've got the salsa mixed in good, it's time to add the secret awesome ingredient: Tapatio hot sauce.

Put in as much as you like. If you don't want it hot then don't put in a lot. KEEP STIRRING. Mix it all in until all you see is the creamy light brown of the beans.

When everything is mixed in nice, remove from heat, pour in a bowl, and enjoy!

My bean dip can be enjoyed hot or cold.

Now it's important to note that there are some alternative ingredients for those of you who don't like hot, spicy, picante, etc. bean dip. Instead of fresh salsa you can opt for a mild canned salsa like Pace Picante sauce or whatever generic brand is available. If even that's too spicy for you, go with good old Ketchup. It may sound gross using ketchup but you need that tomato flavoring in there for the end result. I've had it both ways and it's great either way. Lose the Tapatio too if you can't take the heat.

New York cheesecake with lemon curd

HF's very favorite dessert in the whole wide world is cheesecake. It doesn't really matter what kind of cheesecake as long as it is cheesecake. For the last few years we've been lucky to have a friend that makes cheesecakes for a living. She sells them to local restaurants/delis/bakeries and makes pretty good money from it. She knew of HF's love for the cheesecake so whenever she created a new recipe, she would bring us over the entire cheesecake for taste testing. She knew that not only would we happily consume and give her feedback, but we would share our abundance with other friends. I commisioned her for HF's 29th birthday to make a lemon cheesecake and it was spectacular. This is what that one looked like. You can see Luke's 18 month old finger marks on top.

Of course, her recipes are top secret so I will never know what she did to make it so amazing. She's moved now, so we don't have her cheesecakes anymore, but now I'm trying to become a good cheesecake maker. Some of the flavors she made us were dark chocolate, pumpkin with candied praline topping, lemon, "regular", that's all I can think of right now. WOW they were good. Better than The Cheesecake Factory, and better than the NY cheesecakes I tried when I visited NYC.

Now on to HF's 31st birthday cheesecake. I took these pictures in a hurry so we could get to eatin' it. I used this recipe from allrecipes.com except I used 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and then 1 cube of unsalted butter. I mixed to crumbs with the cinnamon and then poured in the melted butter. I used a 9-inch springform pan and I only packed the crust on the bottom, not along the sides. I like a thick graham cracker crust.

I wanted to make a lemon cheesecake, but wasn't sure on a good recipe or how to alter one, so I decided to use a lemon topping.

Lemon Curd Topping
2 eggs, beaten 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter at room temperature 1 teaspoon lemon rind 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook and stir with a whish over medium heat until the sauce becomes thick and just starts to bubble. Remove from heat. If you dip in a spoon and pull it out, you should be able to make a clear track mark down the middle with your finger without the sides running to fill your finger mark. If that makes any sense. Cool, cover, and chill.

After the cheesecake was done and refrigerated over night, I took the chilled lemon curd and poured it in the middle of the cheesecake. It spread very easily. I refrigerated it until we were ready to eat it. I added fresh strawberries and HF said that it tasted like a strawberry-lemonade topping. It was SO GOOD. I think that the lemon curd made it.

avocado egg rolls

I love these lil babies. I thought about them all week and couldn't wait to make them on Sunday, my "Free" day. I just completed week 2 of Body For Life. Sunday's are my free day. I was not disappointed. A couple of years ago we ate at the California Pizza Kitchen, and we ordered their Avocado Club egg rolls and I loved them. Then I thought, " I could totally make these". So I did. And it's more or less the same I think. And you get a bunch of them instead of like 2 for $10. So ridiculous! After making my version of them, I did some more googling, and found the actual recipe supposedly. It says that it's from the California Pizza Kitchen Family Cookbook, so it must be, right? This is what I did different.

To grill the chicken:
I put a couple Tablespoons of olive oil in an iron skillet on medium heat. Once it was heated, I placed 2 chicken breasts in skillet. I added the juice of 2 limes, 3 garlic cloves minced, and a handful of chopped cilantro. I then added a cup or so of water. This keeps the chicken tender and from burning. When the chicken was almost done, I sliced it into strips and let it blacken in the skillet. It was done when all the water evaporated. Make sure it is no longer pink anywhere in the chicken.

I added the following ingredients to the original recipe from the CPKF cookbook: I doubled the recipe because I made them for dinner- not as an appetizer, and wanted to use all the eggroll wrappers that came in the package. I didn't count, but I think it made around 16-20.

diced purple onion
1-3 more avocados (I like it heavy on the avocado)

I added cilantro in my previous experiment, but didn't need to this time because I grilled the chicken with it. I think next time I'll leave it off the chicken and add it separately. I also just mixed all the ingredients together in a bowl and then placed 2-3 tablespoons in each eggroll. I didn't follow the instructions in the recipe for placement and it wasn't soggy at all. I am not sure how much of a difference it actually would make.

This is just my opinion. The recipe would be fine without my additions, but I would definitely recommend grilling the chicken with lime and garlic or some other complimentary marinade. The ranchito sauce is very, very good and really made the egg roll sublime. We used Tabasco's smoked chipotle sauce.

Ice Cream Pie

This is a recipe from a magazine I got a few years ago. I don't remember which one, but I had cut it out. It might be Cook's Illustrated. We just made it for the first time this last weekend. We used to make ice cream pies pretty regularly, but we used Oreo or graham cracker pie crusts. This ice cream pie does not contain your usual graham cracker crust. It is crushed sugar cones. Chopped Oreo cookies were added to the mint chip ice cream. You can customize it by trying a variety of ice cream flavors and chopped cookies to use in this recipe.

For the crust:
12 sugar ice cream cones
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (it must be unsalted. you can really taste the salt!)
2 Tablespoons sugar

For the filling:
2 pints ice cream, softened
2 cups coarsely chopped cookies
2 cups plain or chocolate whipped cream

1. Make the crumbs: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grind sugar cones in food processor to fine crumbs. (You should have 1 1/3 cups.)
2. Make Crust: Stir together crumbs, butter, and sugar in medium bowl until crumbs are moistened. Press crumb mxture evenly against bottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate, compacting it with your fingertips. Bake crust until crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Let cool completely before filling. (Crust can be wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 month.)
3. Fill pie shell: Place ice cream and cookies in bowl and mash mixture with back of spoon until well combined. Turn ice cream mixture into prepared crust and smooth top with spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until filling is completely frozen, at least 3 hours and up to 1 week.
4. Cut and garnish: Cut pie into wedges and dollop each piece with whipped cream . Serves 6 to 8.
   

Man D'oeuvres

*Here's another "atrocity" from HF. Except it's not an atrocity! It's incredibly delicious. I have a recipe for a homemade version here if you don't have a good brand of pepper jelly in your area. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I got it. HF does a variety of things like this with cream cheese and different spreads. Sometimes they are good, sometimes not good. This one is his absolute favorite. It was actually his idea to do this with the cream cheese. I didn't have the recipe at the time so I'm doubly impressed with him. He didn't know that this was something people did.

I bring you: Man D'oeuvres. This is one of those snacks that if you're not careful you'll end up eating the entire entree yourself and then you'll feel like a loser. So make sure you have at least one other person around to share this with. This is incredibly easy to make. Here's what you need:

Crackers: I used Ritz this go around but I also use Triscuits and Wheat thins.

Cream Cheese: Any brand will do

Rose City Pepperheads Jelly: Any flavor will do. I used Apricot with Attitude

1. Set a block of cream cheese out on a plate and let it get a little soft. Or if you're in a hurry, you can stick it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it.
2. Next you spoon your favorite flavor of Rose City Pepperheads Jelly on top of the cream cheese.

Now you're done and can start dipping crackers into the spread.

The jelly is what really makes this great. My sister in law introduced me to the Rose City Pepperhead Jelly company a few years ago and I've been hooked ever since. Whenever she visits from Oregon she brings me a few jars and I love her for it. We've even had a box shipped before. It is only sold in Oregon as far as we know. The peppers give this a sweet and picante bite that is immediately cooled a bit by the cream cheese. So those of you who are inexperienced in the way of the pepper won't suffer.

This snack can pull double duty for you. It's great for watching the game and it's equally good for impressing your wife when she's preparing a more formal dinner party. Enjoy!

back to menu planning

I'm starting menu plan monday again. It was working well for me in planning and budgeting and then I stopped. I've been thinking how I want to do our weekly meals and I am basically doing it with the kids in mind. You know, making it fun and/or more interesting. HF and I basically follow the Body for Life program and most of it is kid friendly. Instead of giving them protein bars and shakes though, we give them the snacks from the Eating for Life cookbook. Like string cheese and apples. Sunday is our free day. A day I plan on eating sugar. Lots of it. Supposedly when you are in tip top shape you don't crave it anymore. I'm not so sure about that.

Monday: muffin tin monday (idea here. Love the idea of using a storybook theme. Princess and the Pea and The Hungry Hungry Catepillar)

Tuesday: Pasta

Wednesday: miniature tuesday (normal food just made miniature; hamburgers, sandwiches, meatloaves, quiches, etc.-everything tiny-kind of like muffin tin Monday I guess)

Thursday: Brinner (breakfast for dinner)

Friday: Pizza and movie night

Saturday: Leftovers or crockpot

Sunday: Try a new recipe

Also on Sundays, I prep the entire week's food so that during the week dinner takes moments to prepare instead of hours. This works well for us. MEAL PLANNING IS THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE!

scones

with honey

with cinnamon & sugar

with powdered sugar

My mom would sometimes make what we called scones. I know the British version of scones and what is sold in bakeries and coffee shops are more what I consider biscuits. Then once again, biscuits to the British are what we call cookies. I know, very confusing! I'm not sure how many other people consider these to be scones, but I do. So I'll stick with it. Another name for my version of scones is Fry Bread or depending on what toppings you put on top, Navajo tacos. I had a couple of Native roommates that made fry bread often and would put taco toppings on top. It was really good. But this is a dessert here folks.

My mom used just any old bread dough recipe to make these. Use a sweet dough if you want to make it sweeter instead of more savoury. My version is much easier and faster than making your own dough and waiting for it to rise. I use frozen Rhode Rolls.

Rhodes Rolls (I usually make 20 in a 9X13 pan, but you can do as many or as little as you desire) vegetable oil for frying
suggested toppings: cinnamon & sugar powdered sugar honey & butter jam

Use the speed method for thawing the rolls. Directions are on the back of the bag. It actually takes at least half of the time recommended, because you don't have to let the rise. As soon as they are soft enough, and beginning to rise, they will be pliable in your hands. Heat the vegetable oil 1-2 inches deep on medium heat in a pot on your stove. When it's ready for frying, take a section of dough (1 roll) and flatten it in your hands until it is flattened relatively thin the same thickness all around, but not see through. Gently drop into hot oil and fry until golden. Flip over using tongs, and fry that side until golden. It takes 1-2 minutes per side depending on how hot your oil is. Remove from oil and place on a plate with paper towels to absorb oil. You can fry 2-3 scones at a time. Serve while still warm.

cold italian pasta

Basic Recipe:
12 oz. box rainbow rotini pasta
1 small can sliced olives
1 cup brocoli, chopped into tiny pieces
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped into tiny pieces
1/2 cup-1 cup mozzarella cut into little cubes
3/4 cup-1 cup Italian dressing (we use Berensteins Restaurant recipe)

optional add-ins:
green onions
grape or cherry tomatoes
cauliflower bits
sundried tomatoes
chicken
pepperoni
cucumber

Boil pasta according to directions on the package. Drain. Run under cool water. Pour into serving bowl. Add rest of ingredients except for dressing and mix together thoroughly. Once combined, add dressing to taste. Refrigerate. Serve with crusty garlic bread. Or don't.

I like to eat mine before it's been refrigerated. I also like to make this heavy on the vegetables to make it a healthier meal. The whole family loves eating this. It's fast and easy and makes great leftovers. Also a good meal to take to a picnic, bbq, or other gathering. We usually eat it as a main meal, but can be a good side dish too.

4 ingredient pb cookies

Now you see them. . .

Now you don't! (I know, it's like magic)

I love these peanut butter cookies. Simple and very peanut buttery. I like to eat them as soon as they come out of the oven with a fork because they are so soft and melt in your mouth. If you let cool, they stay soft, but won't fall apart when you pick them up. This is another recipe that is easy, fast, and has tasty results.

1 cup peanut butter (we use natural organic creamy)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. baking soda (I've left this out before and it still turned out great)
chocolate chips are optional. (We never put them in, but some people can't have one without the other)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients (minus the chocolate chips) together well in a small bowl. Then stir in chocolate chips. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet in 1 inch balls. Do not flatten! Bake for about 10 minutes or until puffy and golden. They will start to get golden around the edges. Let sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing them or they will fall apart. I remove mine immediately because I like to eat them at this stage.

eggless cookie dough for cookie dough ice cream

We bought a ton of vanilla ice cream for HF's graduation cake. We forgot to serve it, so we've got all kinds of extra ice cream. We aren't big ice cream eaters, but HF's favorite kind of ice cream is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I decided to make my own eggless cookie dough for HF to use as a topping. I looked around online and found quite a few recipes. I sort of combined them all to get a cookie dough I though we would like. Here's some of the recipes I found out there.

• cupcake project
• all recipes
• plain cook

I rolled mine into little balls and then froze on a cookie sheet before storing in an airtight container. Instead of mixing mine into the ice cream, I just sort of used it as a topping. HF liked it better than store bought cookie dough ice cream.

my favorite breakfast

I grew up in a little town called Somis in Southern California. This is a little agricultural community north of Los Angeles and South of Santa Barbara in Ventura County. The perfect location. It was filled with lemon, lime, grapefruit, avocado, and orange trees. There were also many strawberry fields and other produce surrounding this little place. I haven't lived here in years or even visited, but everyone says it has changed so much and what used to be acres of citrus trees is now developed.

We lived way out far from any neighbors on 42 acres of the above mentioned trees. In the mornings my mother would sometimes send one of us kids outside to pick a few grapefruits and avocados. We would often have grapefruit and avocado on toast for breakfast. Some days we picked oranges and made orange juice. This was just everyday normal to me. Now that I don't have that, I realize how much I took that for granted. These are the very items I purchase at the grocery stores and farmer markets.

This is just a food memory post I guess. I miss Somis. I miss California. I miss fresh produce picked directly off the tree.

I don't have the energy to research this, but grapefruit supposedly:

• boosts your metabolism and aids in weight loss
• cures migraines ( i tried it once and it worked, but it could be the "placebo effect")
• lowers cholesterol
• prevents kidney stones
• protects against certain types of cancers

It also just so happens to be my favorite scent. I love grapefruit scented lotions, soaps, lip glosses, perfumes, candles, etc. The Body Shop has some nice grapefruit items. This is my favorite perfume. It doesn't have grapefruit essences in it, but it smells citrusy and grapefruity to me anyway. I've been wearing this since I was 16 or 17. I LOVE it.

What's your typical daily breakfast?

go to meals II: Pasta with Butter and Parmesan

I keep a variety of pasta shapes on hand. The kids love wagon wheels, shells, penne, and these bow ties pictured above. This recipe is Pasta with Butter and Parmesan Cheese. This is easy, fast, and delicious. I remember coming up with it one day when our ingredients in the pantry and the fridge were scarce. And it turned out really good. Then one day, I bought a bottle of shredded parmesan cheese and saw an almost identical recipe printed on the back. So I guess it's not entirely an original recipe. But it is very versatile. To make it a complete meal, I add vegetables and chicken. I keep Costco bags of mixed vegetable on hand for when I'm in a hurry or not in the mood to cook.

1 16 oz. box of favorite pasta
1 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded (the sprinkle kind just won't cut it)
1 cube of butter
1-3 cloves garlic, minced (optional-my kids prefer it without or with a minimum)
grilled chicken (optional)
mixed vegetables (0ptional)

Boil pasta according to package instructions. While pasta is draining in colander, melt butter in pasta pot over low heat until melted but not browned. Add garlic if desired. When butter is melted, add drained pasta back to pot and mix until coated evenly in butter mixture. Add parmesan. Mix well, until evenly coated with the cheese. At this point you can add in your cooked vegetables, and grilled chicken. Serve immediately.

This is a go to meal for me because it really doesn't take much time to prepare and the chicken and vegetables can be prepared in advance. I didn't take a picture of the pasta with the vegies and chicken added because it got gobbled up by hungry people as soon as I added it. Lisa, another police wife, posted another pasta recipe that looks really good.

guy food part II

Here's another recipe from HF. It's not quite as bizarre like the delgado slim, but it's definitely guy food. This is usually done in the guy world with beer, but we had A&W root beer on hand and he used that. Again, in his own words.

Root Beer Brats

I had these at an outdoor event a long time ago. Here's what you need:

Root beer (whatever you brand you like)
Brats (I used the industry standard: Generic Store Brand Brats)
Buns
Stuff to cook it in like a pan
Some kind of heat source (I used a stove top)

So take the Brats out of the packaging and poke holes all over them. I used a combat knife because it's sharp and it's extra manly.

Next, pour some root beer into your pan and turn the stove on. How much root beer? Well I filled the pan half way up.

Now it's time to put the Brats in a pan and turn the stove on to medium heat. I know you're hungry but let the Brats soak up the root beer and cook a little longer. Use the medium heat man.

Okay once you've got the pigs in the pan, cover that thing up. You want to create a meat sauna out of that pan for the Brats. As they cook they'll soak up the root beer, creating a really nice sweet flavor.

Okay so now we wait. Let the Brats soak up the root beer and cook all the way through. How do you know when that's happened? Check them every now and then. Lift off the lid and poke around in there to check the insides. Cut slits in them with a knife to look inside. You want gray not pink. Another trick is to gauge the curl of the Brat. The curlier the more done.

Once you deem them done enough for your taste, remove them from heat and put them in buns. Add your own condiments to taste. I like ketchup, mustard, and Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce.

These brats are relatively quick to make and taste delicious. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

*I have to add that he will not let anyone put condiments on his hot dogs or brats. He has to do it himself. He usually has 3 dogs. One gets a perfect mustard squiggly, one is only bbq sauce, and the other is a perfect squiggly of mustard and a perfect squiggly of ketchup perfectly symmetrical with the mustard. OCD, I tell you.

sugar & cinnamon tortillas

This is our own mixture of cinnamon and sugar. We filled an empty salt & pepper shaker, or spice jar with a shaker top, after we mixed it to our liking. We usually do about 1-2 Tablespoons of cinnamon per 1/2 cup of sugar. To figure out your preferred ratio, I would start by adding 1 teaspoon at a time to your 1/2 cup of white sugar. This mixture comes in handy for snickerdoodles, cinnamon toast, as a topping on vanilla ice cream, and of course, this recipe featured here.






I love this treat. I don't know if it's a Californian thing, a Mexican thing, a poor person thing, or if it's an everybody thing, but this is something from my childhood. When my mom had leftover pie crust or extra tortillas, she would make us sugar and cinnamon tortillas. Sometimes she would use cherry pie filling and make a cherry pie quesadilla (minus the cheese, of course). This is so easy and so good. It kind of reminds you of a churro.

Ingredients:
tortillas (any size you want. We like starting with uncooked tortillas)
butter
cinnamon & sugar mixture

Instructions:
Heat a medium to large pan on medium heat. Spray pan lightly with cooking spray. Place tortilla in pan and lightly brown. Flip over. Spread with butter (we do it very lightly, but it's up to you). Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the entire surface of the tortilla. Continue to cook until the bottom has been cooked until lightly brown as well. The longer it's in the pan, the harder, or crunchier your tortilla will be. I prefer mine a little on the crunchy side. Roll up and eat, or you can also cut into little triangles like I did for the kids. (That's my daughter's little fingers in the photo above.)

These can also be baked in the oven for a crunchier texture, or microwaved if you are the impatient type. For the microwave you would spread the butter on one side and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll it up and then microwave for 20-30 seconds, just until slightly hot. Time probably differs per microwave.

This is a tasty and somewhat "healthier" dessert than many. It was also fun for the kids help. It was easy for them to do and it kept their interest.

sweet and sour chicken

4 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup evaporated milk
3 eggs

Sauce:
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 Tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
dash of garlic powder (I press a couple of cloves)
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
chopped green peppers (optional)
1 small can pineapple tidbits (optional)

1. Mix eggs, milk, cornstarch, and flour
2. Dip cut up chicken pieces in egg mixture and deep fry in oil until chicken is cooked and no longer pink. Drain on paper towels. (you don't have to deep fry it, sauteeing it in a little bit of oil works well too)
3. Put all ingredients for sauce in a 9X13 casserole dish, mix, then put chicken on top. (I sometimes add 1 small can of drained pineapple tidbits, you can also add chopped green peppers)
4. Bake at 325 for one hour.

Serve with rice and veggies. We like to do broccoli or fresh whole green beans. If you are in a hurry, you can heat the sauce on the stove until it thickens and then pour on top of already cooked chicken.

baked apples with streusel topping

We had these for breakfast this morning. They were so easy, and tasted like an apple pie, minus the pie crust, of course. I do have a recipe for whole apples, filled in the center with spices and other goodies and then wrapped in pie crust. So it's like an apple pie ball. Those are on my list of things to try.

Baked Apples with Streusel Topping

4 golden delicious apples, cut in half lengthwise
2 cups Honey Bunches of Oats cereal
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened
whipping cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13X9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Remove core and seeds from each apple half. Place cut-side down in prepared pan. Spray apples with cooking spray. Bake 10 minutes or until apples are partially tender when pierced with a fork. I like mine more tender so I did 15 minutes. While the apples are cooking, combine cereal, sugar, flour and cinnamon in bowl. Cut in butter until mixture forms crumbs. I use a fork and just mash it until the desired consistency. Set aside. Turn apples cut-side up in pan. Divide cereal mixture over apples and pat down gently. Bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender. Cool 5 minutes in pan on wire rack. Serve warm with whipped topping.

Makes 8 servings. Refrigerate any leftovers.

go to meals I

Chicken Roll Ups, Chicken Filled Stuffing Rolls, Mystery Rolls, Hidden Treasure Rolls. . .

These are called a by a number of names, and there are numberless ways of preparing them. Really, anything goes. I've made them a variety of ways, using crescent rolls, cream of soups, mushrooms, broccoli, cheese, etc., but I shun canned soups now, and I also want things to be as easy and short as possible these days, so this really is the easiest way one can make these. I call them Chicken Stuffed Rolls, and here's what you need:

Frozen Rhodes Dinner Rolls (16-20 rolls in a 9X13 pan)
(or if you have time, you can make your favorite roll recipe)
1 Tub Philadelphia Chive and Onion cream cheese
2-3 chicken breasts

If you are using the frozen rolls, follow the speed method for thawing. Plan for about 1-2 hours. You just need the dough to be manageable, or able to be flattened or rolled out. Cook chicken breasts until done, using preferred method; boiling, stove top, or oven. Dice into small bite-size pieces. In a medium bowl, you are going to combine the chicken pieces with the entire tub of cream cheese.

Filling the rolls: Remove one of the thawed sections of dough. You can roll it out flat or pat it back and forth in your hands to flatten. I use my hands. In the center, you are going to place 2 Tablespoons of the mixture in the center. Then you wrap the dough from all sides around the mixture. Pinch the dough together so that it is sealed and place face down in a lightly greased 9X13 baking dish. Continue with the rest of the dough. You will bake the rolls according to the package instructions. I usually do it at 350 for 20-25 minutes, but that is our oven. You will want to make sure that the tops are golden.

We eat them as is, but a lot of people pour some kind of a gravy on top made out of cream of chicken soup. Some people, before placing them in the oven, dip them in butter and then roll them in seasoned breadcrumbs. Like I said, these are very versatile. They can be filled with a number of ingredients. This is how we prefer them. They can also be frozen before or after baking them. Simple, and as easy as it can get. It's one of those meals where I usually have the ingredients on hand. Frozen rolls, chicken, and cream cheese. We are cream cheese fanatics.

dessert in a hurry II

My 3 year old, Luke, showed up with a hungry dinosaur. I love these pictures.

I can't remember the original source where I got this idea, but apparently there's a restaurant that made these famous. They call them Pazookies. It's half baked cookies, taken out early so that they are still gooey inside. They are usually made in a pie tin and then sliced into pie slices and topped with ice cream and fudge or caramel or both.

For this version, I put chocolate chip cookie dough in ramekins and baked them for 10 minutes or so at 350 degrees until the top was turning golden and crispy. We didn't put ice cream or toppings on ours. We just ate it as is. But next time we might try it that way. It would make it look like a fancy dessert that took a lot of time to prepare for sure in these little ramekins. But we had fun eating our fancy cookies with spoons.

dessert in a hurry I

This is probably my favorite dessert of all time. Strawberry Shortcake. I've made homemade angel food cake before, the homemade whipped cream, and I grew up in Ventura, California, home of the world's greatest strawberries. One of the things I miss most about living there is during strawberry season. The workers picking strawberries in the fields, the strawberry stands on the side of the road where you can pick up a flat of just picked strawberries, the Strawberry Festival. Strawberries picked fresh and right from the fields are big, juicy, and a brilliant red. The strawberry above reminded me of the strawberries from home. It was huge! I sliced it leaving the top intact to look pretty when I served it. I didn't make the cool whip look all fancy on there. I just sort of plopped it on because like the title of this post mentions, I was in a hurry.

This is not a homemade recipe. This is when you need a dessert in a hurry for whatever reason. A get together, or you are craving it yourself, which is what this ocassion was, and you don't want to do all the work. All you need is 3 items:

Angel food cake
1 carton of Cool Whip
1 pint of fresh strawberries

Slice the angel food cake into desired sized wedges. Put a dollop of whipped cream, or cool whip on top and top with sliced strawerries. I never add additional sugar to my strawberries. This is also a good topping on pound cake, biscuits, or inside crepes.

Do you make your like this? What way do you make your strawberry shortcake?

edamame is soy crazy

My kids love eating edamame. And I had always heard that it is super good and nutritious for you. But then recently I heard that unfermented soy has high levels of estrogen which is really bad for you if you are a boy (rumor is that it will make a boy gay), an infant, or if you want to get pregnant. I know you can't believe everything that you read on the internet, but all the research I've done is that soy is either the best choice you can make nutritionally, or essentially soy is the devil. I know that ut is used a lot in Japan, Korea, and China, but apparently they use the "safe" kind. Basically, I don't know what to think about it now. We don't do soy milk or other soy products except for this, so I don't feel too worried, but I am curious what the truth is. Soy is all the rage, that's for sure. Not just soy milk either. If you buy any processed foods, you will notice the majority of the time that it will say in bold print something like; May Contain wheat, soy, and egg . Common sense tells me that it's best to just eat from scratch, or from what you grow. Or as Jillian from the biggest loser puts it, "If it doesn't come from the ground, or doesn't have a mother, then don't put it in your mouth" (or something like that-this is from the top of my head). But soy beans are from the ground. Maybe they're not meant to be eaten in this way, but prepared a certain way first.

Banana Bread to rival Grandma's

I thought Grandma's Banana Bread was the best I'd ever had. That was until I made Grandma's sister's banana bread. That's right. Great Aunt Eddie has her own recipe that is fantastic. Sorry Grandma. The best word I can use to describe it is light. I think because it uses less eggs, and 3 Tablespoons of sour cream. Sour cream makes everything better and softer. My favorite pancakes and my favorite sugar cookie recipes call for sour cream.

Aunt Eddie's Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
3 bananas, mashed
3 Tbsp. sour cream
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
dash of salt
1 cup chopped nuts (My family uses walnuts, I never put nuts in my bread)

(She says to mix by hand-I don't) Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, bananas, and sour cream. Combine dry ingredients and add to first mixture. Fold in nuts. Pour into large loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

frugal taco soup

The wonderful thing about this soup, is that you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry. It also doesn't have to be precise. You can substitute pinto beans for black beans, leave out the corn, add chicken instead of ground beef, or leave the meat out all together, etc. It's very versatile.

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes (I like to use petite diced-I'm not a tomato chunk fan)
1 (15 oz.) can corn
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans
1 (15 oz.) can water

Brown ground beef and chopped onion in skillet; drain. Place beef mixture, taco seasoning, tomatoes, corn, kidney beans, pinto beans, and water in pot on stove. Simmer 30-40 minutes.

Serve with fritos or homemade cooked tortilla strips. I like to put a dollop of Daisy sour cream on top. I don't stir it in. I grab a portion with each spoonful. Cheese is also good sprinkled on top. You can freeze the soup in a large ziploc freezer bag for another meal. Like I said, very versatile, very cheap, and very delicious.

biscuits and EGG gravy

I LOVE biscuits and gravy, except I don't like it with sausage so much. I like it with eggs. This is how I always knew biscuits and gravy. I didn't know people made it with sausage until I went to college. Can you believe that? This is another recipe that came from my great grandpa, Pop, from Arkansas. Once again, I'm not sure if this is something that they came up with on their own on the farm, or if it was something they learned from someone else, but it's been in the family for a very long time. Mr. Fuzz prefers it with sausage, but still enjoys this recipe. He was raised mostly in the south, and once when we were dating, we went out to breakfast, and I watched with fascination as he hand-broke into pieces his biscuits and then dropped them into his plate of sausage and gravy. So weird to me. Every time I make this dish, I try something new. I think it's how I like it now.

1. prepare and bake your favorite biscuit recipe. I like my Pop's biscuits.

2. make hard-cooked eggs (from BH&G New Cookbook):

• 4 eggs (you can do more than 4)
  
• cold water

Place eggs in a single layer in a medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to come 1 inch above the eggs. Bring to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat so water is just below simmering. Cover and cook for 15 minutes; drain.

Run cold water over the eggs or place them in ice water till cool enough to handle; drain.

To peel eggs, gently tap each egg on the countertop. Roll the egg between the palms of your hands. Peel off eggshell, starting at the large end.

3. Prepare white sauce:

• 1/2 stick of butter
  
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups milk

In a small saucepan melt butter over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute then remove from heat. Makes 2 cups.

4. To serve, slice hard-cooked eggs into white sauce and gently stir until eggs are covered/combined with white sauce (I like to mash 3/4 of the boiled eggs and stir them in and then garnish with remaining eggs, cut into slices). Slice biscuits in half and place side by side on a plate. Pour egg and sauce mixture over biscuits halves. Garnish with egg slices, if desired. Serve immediately. Best while hot and fresh. I usually serve sausage links on the side and fresh fruit.

sweet chili meatballs

Mr. Fuzz loves these meatballs. We've made them for parties and get-togethers and they are gone lickety-split. (I don't think I've ever actually said lickety-split before). They are great by themselves, as shown above in a bowl with chopsticks, or served inside a hoagie roll to make a sandwich. I just stick these babies in a crockpot for a few hours and they're done. It's that easy. You can make your own meatballs if you have a recipe you like to use. I have found a frozen pre-made brand that I like. I have also noticed that sometimes brand matters.

sweet chili meatballs

2 (32 oz) packages of homestyle meatballs (I'm not sure if Italian style would make a difference)
1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 (12 oz) grape jelly (I like to use Welch's)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 (12 oz) chili sauce (I like to use Homade brand)

Combine ingredients and heat in a crockpot on high until heated through. Serve in hoagie buns or by themselves. If using homemade meatballs, cook them thoroughly before heating it with the sauce. These are the brands that I use:

guy food

Here is an example of something my husband makes when he is hungry. This is why he doesn't do any of the cooking for our family. He calls it the "Delgado Slim". If you know your Spanish, the direct translation of this would be the "Slim Slim". The following pictures and instructions are from his own mouth.

Here's what you need:

One hot dog (I used a ball park frank because they're endorsed by his airness himself Michael Jordan and yes, you will jump higher if you eat this hot dog).

One tortilla

Some cheese (I used medium Cheddar).

Ketchup.

First, select your dog and place it on a microwave safe plate. Microwave that frank for 30 seconds.

While you're microwaving the dog, shred some cheese.

When your dog comes out of the microwave it may look a little deformed, like when Bruce Banner turns into the Incredible Hulk. Don't worry it just makes it more manly and full of flavor that way.

Now take the dog and place it on the tortilla towards one side. Cover it with the shredded cheese and microwave the whole thing for 30 more seconds.

This may look weird but trust me, it's awesome.

Remove it form the microwave and add a line of ketchup parallel to the dog, roll that sucker up, and enjoy!

Now there is one known variation to the Delgado Slim. If you use Bar S brand Turkey Dog, it becomes a Gordo Fatty Monstro. I lived off of the Delgado Slim for 3 months in the bad part of El Paso Texas. I love this food!

Would you eat this? Does this look/sound good to you? Maybe I'll post some of his other atrocities every now and then. I think it's hilarious.

egg rolls

These egg rolls are so versatile. I think it's hard to ruin an egg roll. You can stuff all kinds of things in there.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 pound ground pork (I used chicken for these)
  
• 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
• 1/4 cup finely shredded carrot (if you're in a hurry, buy the coleslaw mix)
  
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup bean sprouts
  
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon chili sauce (this is the Chinese chili sauce-more of a paste)
  
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• Large egg roll wrappers
• vegetable oil for frying
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Place pork in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Remove from heat and drain.(if using chicken, cook by oven or stovetop until done)
   
2. In a medium bowl, mix together pork, cabbage, carrot, green onions, bean sprouts, sesame oil, oyster sauce, ginger, garlic and chili sauce.
3. Mix cornstarch and water in a small bowl.
4. Place approximately 1 tablespoon of the pork mixture in the center of egg roll wrappers. Roll wrappers around the mixture, folding edges inward to close (like an envelope-but roll tight). Moisten fingers in the cornstarch and water mixture, and brush wrapper seams to seal.
5. Fry egg rolls in 1-2 inch deep heated vegetable oil. Fry until golden on all sides. You will probably have to turn them. I set them on a plate covered with paper towels to drain oil.
   

easy meatball subs

These aren't my favorite pictures, but these are good sandwiches. Mr. Fuzz said that the cheese looks like Elmer's glue how it melted. If I had shredded the cheese instead of slicing it, then it would look more attractive, but I kind of like seeing the bumps of the meatballs underneath. This is one of the fastest sandwiches to make if you are using precooked and frozen meatballs, pre-shredded mozzarella, and bottled sauce. I have store bought meatballs that I like to use, but I would love to make my own. I just haven't found a recipe that I love.

Meatball Subs

hoagie rolls
meatballs
mozzarella cheese
marinara sauce, or other tomato sauce of your preference

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your hoagie buns by cutting a trough directly on top. I usually cut out a diamond shape wedge on top and remove the piece and a little bread underneath to make a bed for the meatballs and sauce. (I can't believe I used to make these hot dog style-what a mess!) Pour a few tablespoons, or desired amount of sauce inside trough. Place meatballs on top of sauce and then top with your mozarella cheese. Place in oven for 5-6 minutes, or until cheese is melted. I let mine cook a little bit longer because I like the hoagie to be a little crunchy on the outside from being baked, and soft on the inside.

behind the name

image taken from cakewrecks

I love cake wrecks. If you haven't browsed through this website, you really should.

I've been planning HF's graduation party and I remembered seeing this cake a few weeks ago. Hilarious. I think it was a groom's cake, but wouldn't this be an awesome graduation cake? I'll probably just stick to the original idea. The badge-shaped cake.

I know that cops are given a hard time about liking donuts, but really, who doesn't like donuts? I just so happen to love them. Especially when I'm pregnant. Unfortunately, I crave donuts like no other. HF loves donuts too. In fact, one night while the kids were sleeping, we got one of each kind of donut sold at Krispy Kreme. We cut each one in half and held our own taste test. Pretty pathetic, but we had fun even though we felt like throwing up after a few and our mouths felt numb, and I got dizzy from the sugar rush. Anyway, I love making and eating donuts. Mom and Pop donut shops are the best.

So that's sort of why my food blog says, "feeding and nurturing my family one meal at a time and trying to lay off the donuts". I really am trying to lay off the donuts, but it's hard because they taste so good!

Grandma's Banana Bread

This is my Grandma's recipe. She is a farm girl from Arkansas. I'm not sure if this is a recipe that's been in the family for some time or if she acquired it later on. Wherever it originally came from, it's delicious! I think what set's this recipe apart from others is whipping the egg whites and then folding them in. It gives it a really soft, fluffy texture. Also, one of my banana bread secrets is to grease the loaf pans and then instead of coating them with flour, I coat them with granulated sugar. When the loaves are done and you turn them out, there is a crunchy, sugary coating on the bread and it's really yummy. We like to spread cream cheese on it.

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 bananas, mashed
3 eggs, separated

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Cream shortening and sugars together. Add bananas, vanilla, and well-beaten egg yolks. (Reserve egg whites). Sift flour, soda, and salt together. Add to first mixture, alternating flour and nuts. Beat egg whites until stiff, and fold in gently. Put into greased and floured pans. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let sit for awhile before turning out onto cooling racks. We refrigerate and freeze the leftovers.

pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

These are probably in my top 3 favorite cookies. Absolutely love them. I am always looking for a better recipe though. I have one recipe that I love and use as a base recipe and then I try and tweak the spices and ingredients until it's just right. I don't think I've quite got it to where I want, but I'm getting close. Here's the recipe that I use:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup shortening (I use 1/2 shortening, 1/2 butter)
  
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I use Guitard's Giant Milk Chocolate Chips)
  
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional. I usually leave nuts out unless a recipe calls for pecans)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the shortening and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla and pumpkin until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into the pumpkin mixture. Mix in the chocolate chips. Stir in the walnuts if desired. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges begin to brown. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Pop's Biscuits

I love biscuits. Especially just simple, baking powder biscuits. There are so many varieties out there that I've tried, but I keep coming back to this old family recipe. Pop would be my great-grandfather. He was from Arkansas and apparently loved to cook. We have a family cookbook that is chalk full of his recipes and old black and white photos of the family eating together. Food has always been a big part of my family. Not just something you do everyday, but really, making it beautiful and coming together to enjoy it, but mostly, to enjoy each other.

Pop's biscuits are great for strawberry shortcake, biscuits and gravy, as a side with soup, or just plain great by themselves. When I eat them by themselves, I like to put butter and honey on them. You can knead and roll them out, but I just make them as drop-biscuits.


Pop's Biscuits

3 cups flour
4 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3-4 tsp. sugar (can be left out)
1/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup milk

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheet. Place them closely to each other and Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned on top and firm to the touch. Depending on the size of your biscuits, you will need to cook them longer than 10 minutes.

Spinach and pasta salad with grilled chicken

I know salads are considered chick food, but this is a salad that even the manliest of men could eat. At least I think so. HF loves it and he's pretty manly. This is a versatile dish. Ingredients can be added or removed to make it to your liking.






1 small package of fresh spinach

1 – 8 oz package of bowtie pasta – cooked, drained and cooled

2-4 TBLS sesame seeds

½ cup sliced almonds (I used the toasted and unsalted)

3 chicken breasts – seasoned heavily with lemon pepper seasoning, grilled and cut into bite sizes.

1 cup bean sprouts

Mix all ingredients and toss with the dressing just before serving.

Dressing:

½ cup oil

½ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sesame seeds

3 TBLS soy sauce

2 TBLS rice vinegar

½ tsp sesame seed oil

1 tsp grated fresh garlic (about 2 cloves)

Stir ingredients well to dissolve sugar, store in refrigerator. Let dressing warm to room temperature before tossing into salad.

To keep the leftovers from getting soggy, we usually keep the spinach and bean sprouts seperate from the rest of the salad and when serving, make a bed of spinach and bean sprouts and then spoon the chicken and dressing mixture on top. This is always a hit at get togethers. There are no leftovers usually.

toad in the hole, sort of

I know this isn't the most appetizing looking dish, but this is my spin on the English recipe for Yorkshire Pudding or Toad in the Hole. It's essentially what we call German pancakes. We Americans call this a number of things. German pancakes, Dutch pancakes, Puffy Oven pancakes, or Hootenanny pancakes to name a few. I think I prefer Hootenanny. That sounds American, donit.

We've been eating this breakfast dish for years, and then I received a British magazine in a package one day and saw that a traditional and popular dish in England was Yorkshire pudding which is the same recipe as this "pancake" recipe, except it is usually made with beef drippings from a roast instead of butter, and it uses less eggs. It is a savory dish, usually eaten for dinner along with a roast and potatoes and an onion gravy. Toad in the Hole is when you add the sausages, or bangers, before placing it in the oven. They are called bangers because they split or "bang" open when cooked.

For Brinner (breakfast for dinner) tonight, I decided to make Toad in the Hole minis for the kids. I guess technically I can't call them that because I'm not using beef drippings or onion gravy, but this is my spin, right? Here's a typical recipe for Yorkshire pudding and a recipe for Toad in the Hole. Here is my Hootenanny Pancake recipe:

6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt (i always leave it out. I'm bland like that)
1/2 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1/4 cup butter (1/2 a cube)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place butter in 9x13 pan (i distributed the butter evenly throughout the muffin pan) and place in oven to melt. Take out before it browns. Blend remaining ingredients until smooth and pour into pan (I filled each cup about 3/4 full) and bake 20-25 minutes. I cooked the breakfast sausages in a frying pan and then put one in each muffin cup after the butter was melted. If you want to eat it American style, serve immediately with syrup, jams, powdered sugar, or honey.

Once these were done cooking, I served them immediately with maple syrup, since we Americans pour syrup over our entire breakfast. Eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns, you name it. It tastes better with maple syrup! British people everywhere are rolling their eyes or reaching for the nearest garbage bin. From what I've seen online, the English see our version of this dish as the equivalent of putting whipped cream and sugar and strawberries on top of a pot roast. But I'm not brave enough to make this dish using meat drippings. It would totally change the flavor, and I'm used to it tasting sweet. So if any British people read this, I dare you to try it sweet. Maybe someday I'll try it with the gravy. I am of mostly English descent after all. Daisy called this, "Toads on a log".

edible igloos and tacky penguins

Okay. I'll admit it. I am NOT a fan of winter. I do not like the snow. I do not like the cold. I do not like the ice. I do not like months of gray. I am STILL not used to it after all these years. Eight to be precise. There. I said it.

Having said that, I am always trying to come up with wintertime fun. Since we are not outside for very long periods of time, I am trying to keep things creative inside so it doesn't turn into the Shining around here. One of the ways I do this, is with books and food. I like taking a book the kids like and relating it to the activities we do throughout the day, even with our food.

Today we read Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester. She is one of my favorite children's authors. I found a book called Princess Penelope's Parrot, which is hilarious. Another well-known book of hers is Hooway For Wodney the Wat. The books are very funny and Lynn Munsinger's illustrations are darling. Anyway, here's what we did after reading Tacky the Penguin: We made edible igloos.

All you need to make these is small apples (we used gala), miniature marshmallows, peanut butter, or honey. When looking online, I saw that most people were making their igloos entirely out of marshmallows and using frosting or marshmallow cream to stick them together. I wanted this to be mostly healthy, so we are using natural peanut butter, or honey.
To make our igloo shape, you cut an apple in half and core it. Place it flat side down on a plate. See, there's even a hole for the igloo's entrance.
Then the fun part for the kids. Smearing on the goo of choice to cover the entire surface of the apple. Daisy used peanut butter. Luke had honey because of a minor peanut allergy. The honey worked great. We just used our finger to spread it evenly around the apple. That worked great.

Press the marshmallows on in a design of your liking to make your igloo. Consume.
I think it turned out pretty cute. What do you think?

Luke refused to make his igloo, but he loved the apple, which I cut into pieces. The added honey made it taste extra sweet and he happily stuffed his mouth full of marshmallows.

This was definitely a fun activity. It helped pass the time, the kids got to be creative, and it was a mostly healthy snack/treat to tide them over until dinnertime. Tomorrow we will learn about real igloos and the people that built them and lived in them. Do people still build them and live in them? I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

menu plan monday

Monday:
chicken noodle soup with homemade biscuits. For the soup, I sauteed celery and an onion and added it to the soup. I think I also added oregano and basil, but found I didn't need to.

Tuesday:
sauteed mushroom cream soup and a baguette. Her recipe for sauteed mushrooms is fabulous as well.

Wednesday: Christmas Eve
Chinese food- kung pao chicken, lettuce wraps, rice, fortune cookies. Later that night after our festivities, we will have hot chocolate with peppermint whip cream magic and scones. I LOVED when my mom made scones. We did them just like this except my mom always made her own dough. This is much easier with the rhodes rolls!

Thursday: Christmas Day
breakfast: My dad always made amazing omelettes with everything in them. I was thinking about fly off the plate pancakes, but now I'm liking this Breakfast casserole idea found at Simply Recipes and also featured on Make and Takes. I like that I can prepare this the night before. Of course, breakfast will be served with our Christmas oranges that are in the bottom of our stockings.

Dinner: Ham, funeral potatoes, 3-layer jello, rolls, punch, this is what my family usually had on Christmas Day.

Friday:
leftovers

Saturday:
more leftovers I'm sure

Sunday:
pioneer woman's tostadas

treats we have made or are making this week:
Oreo Truffles
Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip cookies
Mom's Fudge
Caramel Pecan Logs
Sugar cookies
Muddy Buddies

mpm

This baby could be here any day or any minute for that matter, so I'm not sure how this week will actually turn out menu planning-wise. Boring, boring, boring except for Friday, Halloween.

monday
b: cold cereal, bananas, and milk
l: ham or pb and j sandwiches, yogurt, and carrot sticks
d: green chili chicken enchiladas, rice, and black beans

tuesday
b: cold cereal, milk, and oj
l: cup o noodles, fruit, chocolate milk
d: leftover enchiladas, rice, and beans

Wednesday
b: oatmeal with milk and bananas
l: quesadillas, salsa, and milk
d: kung pao chicken with rice, and steamed brocoli

Thursday
b: cold cereal and milk
l: pb and j sandwiches, bananas, and yogurt
d: BLTs

Friday (Halloween)
b: oatmeal with milk, oj
L: hot dog mummies, monster eyeballs, apple bites, and cheese fingers
d: pizza night- Papa Murphy's jack o'lantern pizza, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Saturday
b: french toast, fruit, and sausage
L; leftovers
d: potato and carrot soup in pumpkin-shaped bread bowls

Sunday
b: waffles and juice
l: more leftovers
d: crockpot chicken curry, rice, and naan

More great Halloween food ideas here

menu monday

This week for MPM I am going to try and use up what we already have and eat all our leftovers. Go see what everyone else is doing this week.

Monday
B: french toast and apricot jam (i use a loaf of french bread cut diagonally into 16 1-inch slices)
L: crackers and cheese, apple slices, chocolate milk, and marshmallows
D: Italian pasta and garlic bread

Tuesday
B: cracked wheat cereal and orange juice
L: leftover Italian pasta and apple slices
D: brown sugar chicken, rice, and broccoli

Wednesday
B: cold cereal and milk
L: peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and orange julius's
D: leftover brown sugar chicken and rice, vegies

Thursday
B: cold cereal and milk
L: turkey and cheese sandwiches, apple slices, and milk
D: White Chili with tortilla chips, guacamole, and pico de gallo

Friday
B: cold cereal and milk
L: leftover white chili
D: pizza night

Saturday
B: Fly off the Plate pancakes with maple syrup and orange juice
L: leftover pizza, vegies and fruit
D: leftovers, vegies, and fruit in the fridge

Sunday
B: waffles, jam, and orange juice
L: leftovers, fruit, and chocolate milk
D: Chipotle Grilled Chicken with Avocado Sandwich and elote (except we use parmesan cheese and sprinkle on cayenne pepper)

menu plan monday

I'm a little late for this week, but I'm joining the organizing junkie along with over 200+ other women who post their menu for the week. I have been awful this entire pregnancy with planning food and now I'm obsessed with being prepared for when the baby is here. I found some great menu ideas while browsing through the other posts on here. Hopefully this will keep me organized and within my budget. For my menu, the breakfasts and lunches are geared towards the kids and the dinners are for everyone. Join me in menu planning if you'd like and help give each other idears.

Monday:

b: cereal and milk

l: quesadillas, apple juice, and carrots

d: rotisserie chicken and pasta. homemade samoas for dessert

Tuesday:

b: cereal and milk

l: ham or pb sandwiches, yogurt, and grapes

d: eggplant parmesan, and salad

Wednesday:

b: cereal and milk

l: egg burritos and juice

d: homemade hamburgers with all the trimmings

Thursday:

b: cereal and milk

l: mixed fresh fruit, tortilla wheels (you can do cucumbers, olives, etc.)

d: brinner (breakfast for dinner) o.j., pancakes, eggs, sausage or bacon

Friday:

b: cereal and milk

l: smorgasbord of assorted fruits and vegies, crackers, and chocolate milk

d: pizza night

Saturday:

b: cereal and milk

l: pb sandwiches, juice, and popcorn

d: green chile chicken enchiladas

Sunday:

b: the usual cereal and milk

l: tortilla wheels, yogurt, and apples

d: leftovers!

menu monday

Another attempt to stick to a weekly dinner menu. This is soup week. Here's the plan. I will be making soup everyday, and freezing half of each recipe for after the baby is here Just 4 more weeks! And I feel like a lightbulb has turned on above my head because I just figured out that you can freeze the ziploc bags flat so you can stack them on top of each other. DUH. I always just stuffed whatever in the bag and shoved in the freezer so it ends up being like a bulky blob. Anyway, I'm probably the only person that didn't think to store them flat. Tell me what you've had success in freezing. I'm addicted to freezing dinner now. For the last few months the only things we've had in our freezer has been frozen juice, waffles, peas, broccoli, and the ocassional ice cream. That's it! It's been a barren wasteland.

M- Chicken Noodle Soup

T- Potato Soup

W- Zuppa Toscana from the Olive Garden

Th- Tomato Soup

F- We always do pizza and a movie

S- Corn Chowder from Mimi's Cafe

Su- Slow-cooked BBQ pork ribs, salad, crusty bread (2 ingredients. 1-2 bottles of favorite BBQ sauce and ribs. Cook in the crockpot for a few hours. I might even freeze half of this)

I have to say that I love making soup. The kids are pretty good about eating it because they get to make up their own names for it and put things in it like baby goldfish to swim. They call the Zuppa Toscana, "dinosaur soup" because the Kale reminded Daisy of something a plant-eating dinosaur would eat. I love it. The last time we made tomato soup, Daisy was coming up with all kinds of cool names for it, but then ended up getting upset and not wanting to call it anything because I gave it a scary Halloween name like, "bat gut stew" or something like that. She's so sensitive sometimes. Geez.

thursday's menu

The purpose of posting my menu for the day is more of my attempt to stick to a menu plan by "writing" it down.

B: Waffles with homemade raspberry jam and orange juice
L: Leftover pizza, milk, and sliced cucumbers and baby carrots
D: Grilled Lime Chicken with Black Bean Sauce, rice, and red grapes

Daily dessert desire: Concord Grape Sorbet at The Kitchen Sink. Doesn't that look so good?!

Matilda

A couple of months ago, I saw that Marie at Make & Takes had read the book How To Eat Fried Worms with her 5 year old and then they watched the movie and ate gummy worms. Some of the comments left on her post were ideas of other worm-related activities or treats. This gave me an idea. There are quite a few children's books that have been turned into movies and knew this would be something that Daisy would really enjoy doing. We started with "How To Eat Fried Worms" and Daisy liked it a lot and surprisingly didn't eat very many gummy worms during the movie. I wonder if it's because it grossed her out. . .

The next movie/book combo we did was Matilda by Roald Dahl. We read this book together, and even though a lot of it might've gone over her head, she really enjoyed it and was blown away by the awful things that Miss Trunchbull did to little children. We borrowed the movie version with Danny Devito from the library, and decided to make the Chocolate Cake from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. Incase you haven't read the book, there's a part where a young boy, Bruce Bogtrotter, is forced to eat an entire giant chocolate cake. This recipe is much healthier than regular chocolate cake recipes. It uses pureed beets for added nutrition. It's still not perfectly healthy, but it makes me feel a little better about myself and what I'm feeding my kid, okay?

Anyway, Daisy and I enjoyed reading, watching, and eating "Bruce Bogtrotter's" chocolate cake. We're having computer/camera issues, but perhaps I'll post some photos later.

food links

Inside-out S'mores at Clumbsy Cookie

Toasted Coconut Shortbread at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Wonton Soup at Rasa Malaysia

Kate's Indian Grilled Chicken at Pioneer Woman Cooks

I love making the kids bento meals and I love collecting bento boxes. Here is a great American style bento blog with preschool age meal ideas. Wendolonia.

2 cool new links you will love and/or find interesting:

Cake Wrecks. "When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong." That should explain it all right there.

Food Timeline-- a very interesting history of the beginnings of food from the "beginning" of time until today. You can click on many of the foods listed and it will tell you the history of that specific food. Very, very cool. At least I think so. Just check it out and you'll see what I mean. There are some cool links on this website as well.

take 5

Hershey's TAKE 5 is my favorite candybar right now. It's got everything. Pretzels, caramel, peanuts, peanut butter, and milk chocolate. YUM. Sweet and salty, nothing overpowering any of the other ingredients.

Candy Blog gave it a 5 out of 10 rating. She said it was one of her favorite candy bars at first, but she thought that they quickly stale and that they would be much better and get a much higher rating if it were made out of real chocolate once again instead of Hershey's new mockolate.

I still enjoy it, but then again I don't taste candy for a living and haven't a distinguished or refined taste for fancy cacoa, or whatever all those new chocolate products are.

eat your vegetables

I'm usually willing to try something different. I had brussel sprouts for the first time. YUCK. I tried to like them. I ate a bunch. But YUCK. But of course being the good mother I am, I said, "MMmmmm" with every bite. Just for my kids. I don't think it worked anyway. They look like little cabbages, but they taste like pungent, nutty, rottenness. Maybe they would taste good if they were prepared in another way. What is it with my family and their Belgian cooking?! I feel healthy as a horse since being here though.

strawberry project II

When I was little, my mom gave us desserts like, strawberries and cream, peaches and cream, or bread and milk, and it was just like getting cake and ice cream. This is what it was. Sliced strawberries in a bowl of milk. Sprinkled sugar on top is optional. This was a good way to get us to drink our milk as well, because the strawberries flavored the milk a little bit. This is also very tasty with fresh sliced peaches and other berries. We totally fell for this being dessert.

Another "dessert" was bread and milk. My mom would make loaves of homemade bread and she would take a slice and tear it into pieces and place it in a bowl. Then she would pour milk over it all and place a spoonful of honey and natural peanut butter (mixed together) in the bowl and we would go to town. I think you have to eat it fairly quickly before the bread gets really soggy. I don't think there's anything I can't stand more than soggy bread. Especially when it's in the sink. Yuck! Also, this doesn't taste as good to me now as it did when I was little. I'm not sure why, but I did love these simple treats as a little girl.

Here's our project evaluator. Doing what he does best. eating.

What are some treats you remember your parents giving you that you still make today?

strawberry project I

I LOVE smores. But chocolate right now gives me major heartburn. Even though chocolate usually makes the heartburn worth it, I've been experimenting with what else to put in a smore. My sister does pineapple slices with marshmallow. Today we did yummy strawberry slices and "roasted" marshmallows squished in between 2 graham cracker squares. It was so tasty!
First we placed the desired amount of marshmallows on a broiler pan and placed in the broiler for a few seconds until nice and toasty brown. There's no picture of what they looked like when they came out, because I don't like to take my time when something's ready, I like to eat.
We sliced up fresh strawberries and placed a few slices on a graham cracker half and then topped with a toasted marshmallow and squished it down nice and firm with the remaining graham cracker half. Doesn't that look good?

Then I ate it. And then I ate a few more. We were thinking about other healthier alternatives to chocolate. You can do banana, pineapple, mixed berries. Marie at Make and Takes suggests substitiuting fudge stripe cookies or kit kats in place of the usual chocolate bar. She also has other fun roasting ideas for the outdoors that I would like to try sometime. Now I really want to try a smore with a kit kat. I even thought about doing chocolate covered cinnamon bears, but decided I rather liked them the way they are by themselves and ate them all. I waited until the kids were in bed. What would you put in a smore?

a few of baby #3's favorite things

This pregnancy has been pretty bad as far as cravings go. Here are a few of Cletus the Fetus's favorite things:

homemade smoothies, trail mix, Goodwood BBQ restaurant, Simply Lemonade (it's worth it even if I get acid reflux), nectarines, dairy products, Kneaders Bakery & Cafe, grapes, bagels and cream cheese, watermelon (any fruit for that matter), haagen dazs ice cream (especially chocolate and peanut butter even though it gives me heartburn), honey roasted cashews, gyros (any greek, mediterranean, or Indian food actually), Breyers ice cream, chocolate covered cinnamon bears (heartburn city), pf chang's lettuce wraps, raspberry and cream cheese-filled croissants (any fine pastry will do actually), Cheetos Natural White Cheddar Cheese Puffs, and See's Candies.

matzo ball soup

We like to get in touch with our Jewish (not really) roots and make Matzo Ball Soup every now and then. It's so simple, yet hearty, and the kids totally gobble it up. You should be able to find Matzo meal at your grocery store. You might have to go to a specialty or international store. The scans above are from a recent-ish Martha Stewart magazine, but I don't know which one. I just tore the pages out. These are great recipes. The first is how to make your own stock from scratch, and then there's a recipe for chicken noodle soup, chicken and rice soup, and lastly, chicken soup with matzo balls. You can add chicken, carrots, etc., to the recipe, but we just do broth and the matzo balls. We don't follow the above recipe exactly, like we use vegetable oil in place of the chicken fat. Here's the general recipe with my changes added in parentheses:

Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls (serves 10)

4 large eggs, separated (we don't separate)

1/4 cup chicken fat, melted (we use 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil)

12 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth (we do 12 cups)

1 1/4 tsp. coarse salt (we use the kosher brand in all our food. It works in baking too)

freshly ground pepper

1 cup matzo meal

1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley (you can use the dried to taste)

Coarsely chopped fresh dill, for garnish (also can use dried to taste)

1. Whisk yolks, fat, 1/2 cup stock, and the salt in a medium bowl; season with pepper. Stir in matzo meal and parsley. (we mix: 4 Tbsp. veg. oil, 4 whole eggs, 4 Tbsp. water, salt, matzo meal, and parsley)

2. Put egg whited into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Add to matzo mixture; whisk until smooth. Refreigerate until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. (when you skip the egg white process, you only need to refrigerate for 15 minutes or so).

3. Bring remaining stock to a boil in a large pot. Scoop out 1 1/2-inch balls of the matzo mixture, and add to stock. Reduce heat. Cover, and simmer until matzo balls are slightly firm and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Garnish with dill. (We cover and simmer for 40 minutes)

Of course, our version is less time consuming than Martha's, but whose wouldn't be? Here's how our's turned out. Delicious!

Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies

I saw this post on Ali's blog about Hillary Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookies and I remembered that I had the recipe for Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies. So we made them. It was Luke's first time helping to cook something and he really enjoyed himself. We only had one major spill and that was the oats. Do you think that these first ladies really came up with the recipes on their own? I don't buy it. I think they had some help, like from their White House chefs, but it's kind of fun to have cookies like these anyway. I don't remember where I got the recipe. Maybe it was her biography or something.

Laura Bush Cowboy Cookies

3 cups flour

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla (I use pure vanilla extract because I'm a snob like that)

3 cups chocolate chips

3 cups oats

2 cups coconut

2 cups chopped pecans (I like the subtle taste of the pecans, not the chunks, so I chop them very fine)

Heat oven to 350. Mix flour, soda, powder, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Beat butter until smooth. Add sugar, eggs (1 at a time), vanilla, and then flour. Mix slowly. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and pecans. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

These are pretty yummy and they make, like, a million.

rice krispie treats

+
+

(Reece's Peanut Butter Baking Chips)=

my favorite Rice Krispie treats

cream cheese is a staple in our house

We love cream cheese in this here house. One of our favorite things to do is to make this Sweet 'n Spicy Cream Cheese Spread. Sometimes we just take cream cheese and plain old apricot preserves and mix them together (to taste) until it's mixed thoroughly into a smooth spread. Then we spread a thin layer onto a piece of bread and top it with some thin sliced ham and there you have it. A pretty tasty and simple ham sandwich. We made these at Daisy's 3rd birthday party. We cut them into little tea sandwich squares, and served it with fresh mixed fruit inside ice cream cones. That's all I remember. With the leftover spread we just use it to dip assorted crackers in. It's so good! It's kind of heavy too- sticks to your ribs, so you can't eat too much, but still SO GOOD.

toast

I've been reading this Betty Crocker cookbook from 1957. I've noticed in these old cookbooks that people used to make some strange things. In the breakfast section, it has something called Toast Toppers. Have you ever tried any of these?

Orange Sugar: Blend 1 tablespoon soft butter and 3 tablespoons sifted confectioners' sugar. Stir in 1 teaspoon grated orange rind and 1 teaspoon orange juice. Spread on unbuttered toast.

Raisin Peanut Butter: Mix 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter, 2 tablespoons chopped seedless raisins, 2 tablespoons orange juice. Spread on hot toast.

Cranberry: Spread hot toast with cranberry jelly. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

Cinnamon mix: Combine 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 2 tablespoons sugar. Sprinkle on hot buttered toast.

Caramel Coconut: Blend 1 tablespoon soft butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons of flaked coconut. Spread on unbuttered toast and toast under broiler until it bubbles.

Toppers that I've had on toast:

Cinnamon Mix

Peanut Butter

avocado mashed with salt and pepper

eggs

jam

Probably the avocado one is the most "unusual" I've had. What do you people put on your toast?

things that look good to me right now

Pioneer Woman's Onion Straws. I've always disliked onions pretty much. But I want these so bad right now. I've been wanting them for at least a week now. Don't they look good?!

Ice Cream Sandwich Milkshake at Chow. This doesn't necessarily look good to me right now, but I saw it and knew that HF would love to try this. I read the comments underneath and they made me laugh. The first guy said that this was "perfect wife away from home, gonna eat crap food". That's totally HF. He does bad food combinations whenever I go out of town. He's totally going to try this tonight I bet.

I thought this was interesting to learn about green potatoes at Simply Recipes. I had no idea. I've lived this long without being poisoned, but probably something good to know. Now I'm thinking of all those times I've had fries at restaurants and they had a green tinge on some parts. Ew.

Chocolate Covered Sunflower Seed Cookies at Culinary Concoctions by Peabody. But where am I going to find chocolate covered sunflower seeds? She's been making some other rather tasty looking desserts over there as well like this Blackberry and Lime Tart.

Now I'm hungry. I think I'll go eat breakfast.

IT'S STILL WINTER comfort foods

image taken from media.canada.com

Peabody did a cool food blog event titled Time to Make the Doughnuts and got over 100 responses. I wouldn't mind trying