Meal Plan Monday - 3/3 thru 3/9

 

I enjoy eating a variety of things, and I really enjoy trying new recipes.  So I try to incorporate new recipes into our weekly meal plan.  For sanity's sake, one, maybe two, recipes per week is plenty.  I find new recipes all over - blogs, cookbooks, Pinterest, personal recommendations.  When I see something that looks good, and might work well for our family, I add it to a list.  Then, I pick one out to try as I make the weekly meal plan.  

So here's what we'll be eating this week. 

DINNERS

Sunday - Bacon-Pork Burgers with Coleslaw {new}, Fries

Monday - Spaghetti and Salad*

Tuesday - Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Wednesday - Crock-pot BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Fish fry at the local Catholic Church

Saturday - Barbacoa Tacos 

LUNCH
Honey Turkey and Swiss

BREAKFAST

Cereal

SWEET

Cake **

 

* We are swapping sandwich and pasta night this week because Kat is starting tumbling classes!  Classes are on Tuesday from 5:30-6, so dinners for the next 6 Tuesdays will need to be super quick!

** The box mix from last week that was supposed to be cupcakes (but never happened) became a layer cake for this week.  

 ____________________________________________
This post is linked at OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday. 

First Loaf of Bread

As I mentioned in my last menu post, I try to make one homemade treat each week.  I didn't get around to it this week though.  Instead, I finally found the confidence to try making bread.  I've made plenty of quick breads - banana bread, apple cinnamon bread, zucchini bread...  But nothing that involves yeast.  Yeast is scary!  It requires proper temperatures and rising times, resting and kneading.  But after reading a few tutorials, I decided to give it a go.

And the result...

Looks like bread, and happily tastes way better than the "light wheat" bread that I buy for sandwiches.  

I used this recipe from King Arthur Flour.  Honey-Oat Pain de Mie.  Don't be overwhelmed by the name! Pain de Mie is a sandwich bread typically made in a pan with a lid (I had to look it up!).  I love oats, and I figured this was bread that we would actually eat; surprisingly, toddlers don't really care about artisan bread!  

The recipe was amazingly easy to put together - just 6 ingredients, plus water.  I used a bit of whole wheat flour (about 2/3 cup) in place of some of the white flour, but otherwise followed the instructions exactly.  I let Kat help with the kneading; who needs play-doh when you have bread dough!?  And while the whole process took several hours, the amount of hands-on time was probably only 20 minutes (less than I spend on a batch of chocolate chip cookies!). 

The bread was slightly denser than I was expecting, probably because of the bit of whole wheat flour that I used.  But it is chewy and tasty and is delicious as toast with jam or nutella (my breakfast at work on Thursday and Friday), as cinnamon sugar toast (whole family's breakfast on Saturday), and as the base for a peanut butter sandwich (NerdDad's snack on Saturday evening). 

So, I have gotten over my fear of yeast!  And I'm inspired to try more!! 

Meal Plan Monday - 2/23 thru 3/2

Our meal planning is a constant work in progress!  I love eating a variety of things and trying new recipes.  But for ease of planning, I have instituted a loose structure to our meal planning....

• Meals that take a long time to prepare or are very hands-on are limited to weekends
• Monday is "sandwich" night, something super easy to prepare to start our cooking week off on the right foot.  "Sandwich" can be anything from grilled cheese, to hamburgers, to quesadillas; virtually anything that meets the premade bread/carb base with meat/veggie filler/toppings.
• Tuesday OR Wednesday is pasta night.  The other is whatever strikes my fancy.
• Thursday night is leftover night; I try to get as much out of the fridge as I can before the weekend (and grocery shopping).
•  Friday night is pizza night.  NerdDad suggested that we start this tradition.  And I love it for so many reasons.

 I will share more of my meal planning strategies next week.  But for starters, anything that doesn't get made gets pushed to the next week... see BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizzas and Cajun-spiced Tilapia below...

DINNERS

Saturday - Ordering Pizza at Grandma's house with out-of-town visitors

Sunday - Cajun-spiced Tilapia, Jambalya Rice, Zucchini

Monday - BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizzas

Tuesday - Hard-shell Beef Tacos and Black Beans, with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese {taco seasoning recipe}*

Wednesday -BLT Pasta {Recipe #18 here}{new}

Thursday -Leftovers

Friday - Pepperoni and Green Pepper Personal Pizzas

Saturday - Pigs-in-a-Blanket **

LUNCH
Leftovers (still a bunch from last week)

BREAKFAST

Carrot and Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal (leftovers from last week)

SWEET

Cupcakes ***

* In an effort to eat slightly less meat, I've convinced my family to mix a can of black beans with our taco meat.  Kat loves it; she's a bean fanatic.  NerdDad has grown to appreciate it.

** NerdDad will be out, so it'll just be me and Kat for dinner.  And Kat is an expert at making Pigs-in-a-Blanket!

*** From a box, because I'm willing to make a few compromises to save some time.

 ____________________________________________
This post is linked at OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday.

Making Whoopie!

Whoopie Pies, that is!

 We make a family trip to the library about once a month. And I almost always pick up a cookbook to look through. On the most recent trip, I came home with 1,000 Easy Recipes: Super Fun Food for Every Day from Food Network Magazine. From just looking through it (haven't tried much yet), I love that it includes both basic recipes, as well as spin-off and adaptations. And everything is normal everyday food!

This week, I needed a recipe for something sweet. Since Christmas, I've been trying to make a dessert or treat each week rather than purchasing something store-bought/made. If we're going to eat junk, I'd prefer to know what's in it!

I came across a recipe for Easy Whoopie Pie (similar recipe here).  I had all the ingredients on hand, and could use up the marshmallows that had been in the pantry since our fall bonfire - WIN!  I planned to have Kat help me make them while Buddy napped yesterday, but a last minute trip to the pediatrician for an ear infection nearly foiled our plans!  Instead, Kat helped me mix up the ingredients before dinner.  The dough needs to chill before baking, so I threw it in the refrigerator while we did the dinner-play-bedtime routine. 

Once Buddy was in bed, I did the baking while cleaning up the kitchen and prepping bottles... First batch into the oven, set timer for 8 minutes, load dishwasher.  Get next batch ready, assemble marshmallow pies, second batch in, timer for 8 minutes, clear table and wipe counters down.  Get next batch ready, assemble marshmallow pies, second batch in, timer for 8 minutes, prep next day's bottles.  DONE!  Pretty efficient use of time!  And now we get to enjoy these:

The cookies are very chocolately - the recipe calls for melted semisweet chips and cocoa powder.  And the texture is fudgy, almost like a brownie.  The filling is simply a large marshmallow (how easy is that?!).  I followed the recipe exactly, except that I chilled the dough for more than 30 minutes.  I used my small OXO cookie scoop (cookie making made easy - get one!) and got 42 cookies, which made 21 whoopie pies!  Whoop whoop!

Meal Plan Monday - 2/16 thru 2/23

 

In January, I discovered the yumminess that is Baked Oatmeal.  It's like a healthy dessert for breakfast.  It satisfies my desire for something warm as well as my perpetual craving for cereal with milk.  And the recipe is easily adaptable to stave off boredom.  I've made several versions already: Zucchini Bread, Gingerbread, Blueberries and Cream, Carrot Cake.  I couldn't find a good Carrot Cake version that included everything that I wanted, so I made on up;  I hope to post the recipe soon.

Here's what else we'll be eating this week...

DINNERS

Saturday -Valentine's Date Night In from Columbus Fish Market, Chef Boyardee for Kat *

Sunday - Mustardy Pork with Apples and Onions from Dinner a Love Story {new}

Monday - Chicken Enchiladas {new} and Salad **

Tuesday - Spaghetti and Salad

Wednesday - Orange Chicken, Rice and Asian Veggies

Thursday - Pigs-in-a-Blanket ***

Friday - BBQ Chicken Tortilla Pizzas

Saturday - Cajun-spiced Tilapia, Jambalya Rice, Zucchini

LUNCH
??? - Buffalo Chicken from the deli for NerdDad, Leftovers for me

BREAKFAST

Carrot and Zucchini Bread Baked Oatmeal

SWEET

??? - Whoopie Pies from Food Network {new}

* NerdDad and I decided to do a Date Night In for Valentine's Day, since finding a sitter we trust with our kids is a bit challenging right now.  Kat had canned pasta (while I try to avoid these, I figure a splurge every now and then is fine).  And we all shared some corn chips and guacamole (from Trader Joe's - best guac!), as sort of an appetizer since Date Night didn't start until after bedtime.

** This made the last menu, but we were busy and it got put off until this week.

*** Mom has to work late, so this is an easy dinner for NerdDad and Kat. 

____________________________________________
This post is linked at OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday.

Striving for Balance

When I returned from maternity leave, I worked part-time for one month.  A combination of days off and work from home days made the transition back to work a bit easier, more gradual.  Working part-time also gave me a glimpse into the possibility that I could manage most of my job and get to spend more time with my kids! So I approached my boss about working four day a week on a permanent basis.  To my surprise, the change took a lot less convincing than I thought it would. 

So now I am working my normal 8:30am-5:30pm schedule on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (and bringing home 80% of my previous salary).  And I'm spending Wednesdays with my kids! 

Today is my first Wednesday at home.  Only time will tell how the shift at work will go, and to be honest, the change has me anxious and feeling a bit more stressed than usual.  But I know for sure that I am looking forward to spending more time with Buddy and Kat.  I am excited to get to do a few of the activities that I've enviously heard stay-at-home moms talking about - story time at the library, mid-week trips to the zoo, art projects that take more time than I had on busy weekends. 

More on this change soon, but for now, I'm going to go enjoy it!

Shopping Success

I have a big fancy work party next weekend and need a new dress.  Kat needs new shoes.  So I decided to be daring and conquer both tasks with a single mall trip.

Sure - this might not sound daring to you... but unlike many women, shopping is not one of my hobbies.  I  try to avoid the mall if at all possible.  And usually, finding a dress is about as challenging as establishing a colony on the moon.  For this occasion, my ideal dress allows me to wear a full-support bra (thank you breastfeeding), isn't too clingy (giant mommy pooch), is modest enough to wear around colleagues but still flattering, and maybe a color other than black.  And if that wasn't enough, since I was going to get Kat new shoes, she would have to come with me.

I prepared for this adventure by planning a crock-pot dinner (Chicken Curry) and throwing it all together to start cooking at lunch time.  Since dinner was hands-off, I wouldn't have to worry about rushing home.  And I decided that leaving just after her nap would give me optimal Kat cooperativeness.  During naptime, I pumped so that NerdDad would have milk to feed Buddy while I was gone.  And just before we left, I snuck a pack of fruit snacks into my purse.

The store where we got Kat's last pair of shoes no longer carries her size (what's up with that?!).  She has wide feet, so the pickings were pretty slim already.  Since find a dress had a more concrete deadline, we moved on to that.  And somehow we made it past the kid play area with minimal whining.  Score!

When we get into the first department store, Kat announced that she had had enough of the stroller and wanted to "walk myself".  So we played "Follow Mommy", which surprisingly worked perfectly! She very obediently followed me around while I browsed each rack and picked out four dresses to try on.

And now here is the most amazing part of this story...  The first wasn't bad, but a little too casual for this party.  And the second was AMAZING!  In fact, it was so amazing, that I didn't even both trying on the other two dresses! The dress met all of my criteria AND it was only $60!  Thank you shopping gods!  Check back after this weekend; I'll post pics.

P.S. The rest of the trip was a success too: Kat got new shoes and sunglasses, Buddy was napping when we got home, and dinner was ready!

Meal Plan Monday - 1/26 thru 2/1

I have been meal planning in one form or another for quite a few years.  I’ve learned that when I don’t plan, I aimlessly wander the grocery store deciding what to buy, and we order-in or pick-up a lot more food because “We don’t have anything for dinner”.   But I already feel like I don’t have enough time, and I don’t want to waste time I don’t have at the grocery store!  And most of time, I prefer to my spend money on things other than mediocre restaurant carry-out. 

Basically, meal planning saves time and money!  What more could you ask for?

I hope to go further into how I do meal planning in future posts, but for now, I’ll just share what we’ll be eating this week.

DINNERS

Saturday - Celebrating NerdDad’s promotion with a carry-out steak dinner**

Sunday - Chicken Curry {adapted for crock-pot} and Rice

Monday - {Frozen} Fish sandwiches, Fries, and Veggie

Tuesday - Spaghetti and Salad

Wednesday - Chicken Enchiladas {new} and Salad

Thursday - Leftovers

Friday - Pizza Sandwiches

Saturday - Fancy work party, just simple dinner for Kat & Grandma

LUNCH

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup {new}

BREAKFAST

Spinach & Bacon Egg Burritos

SWEET

Oatmeal M&M Cookies {new}

 ** Despite my above-mentioned opinion on carry-out, steak house carry-out is an exception and is awesome!  1. We didn’t have to spend a meal keeping our two munchkins under control at a white-tablecloth restaurant.  And 2. We didn’t have to pay exorbitant amounts of money for a babysitter!  Instead we got to relax in our own living room, eat delicious steak (I still haven't mastered steak), and celebrate!

What are you eating this week?
_______________________________________________
The post is linked at OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday.

I'm baa-aack!

After a month-long hiatus, I'm back! It turns out that working a full-time job and being present (mentally and physically) for all the mommy/wifey stuff doesn't leave a whole lotta time to write a blog.  Who would've guessed!?!

Actually, I did guess.  Especially not enough time for the type of blog that I thought I was trying to write.  You know the kind - the ones with all the pretty pictures of food and crafts.  The kind that get pinned on Pinterest.  The ones with step-by-step photos and 14 pictures of the same cookie. Now, don't get me wrong!  I love reading that kind of blog.  I frequently use them for inspiration and ideas.  But, this is not ever going to be that kind of blog...

For starters, I don't have that kind of time.  If I spent as much time as needed taking pictures of cookies and posting about baking cookies, then I probably wouldn't have time to ACTUALLY bake the cookies.

And after reading this totally down-to-earth post from Okay BA! and thinking about it for about a week, I realized that a pretty blog is actually the opposite of what I want my blog to be.  (And the great thing about having a blog is I get to decide what I want my blog to be!)  I want to share real life - balancing two kids and a husband and a job and all the fun stuff!  And for me, real life doesn't include DSLR photos of my latest creation or the patience to explain every step of a recipe to folks in internetland.  For me, real life includes photos taken on my iPhone and a messy house in the background.  Real life means letting Kat help me cook and not having the time or energy to actually measure ingredients.   Real life is mostly spent living, and documenting real life is secondary.

And realizing all this removes a lot of pressure.  My goal isn't to gain hundreds of readers (but that would still be awesome).  I just want to share what I'm doing.  So expect more posts - honest, real life, messy posts.

Winter Hat for Kat, Part 3

Kat's winter hat has been stalled for the past several weeks.  I was able to extend the hat successfully.  But once I figured that out, the hat has sat on the end table neglected.  Which is just plain sad, 'cause the only thing I had left to do was weave in the ends.

I researched quite a bit to figure out how to extend the hat.  I read lots of suggestions about ripping out the bottom row(s) of stitches (like this), but I wasn't a big fan of this method.  First of all, it looked really tedious (and I'm lazy).  Also, Kat's hat was knit from the bottom up, with ribbing at the bottom, and most sites that I read cautioned that adding on to ribbing would result in a half-stitch jump between old and new stitches.   Finally, and probably most importantly, the thought of cutting into the work and having the whole thing unravel scares me!

Instead, I chose to use a contrasting color and basically sew a cast-on row to the bottom of the hat in the new color.  I threaded a yarn needle with the new color (gray).  I put the needle between the stitches on the original cast on row, looped around my knitting needle, and back through the hat in between the next stitch.  The biggest trick was just making sure to cast-on the same number of stitches that I had in the original cast-on row.  Once I had a new cast-on row, I continued the same rib pattern top-down.  And because I looped my new cast-on stitches between the old stitches, I didn't really notice any jumping, mostly just that the ribbing isn't exactly smooth (but I expected that).

So, what do you think?  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I think Kat is too!  (What a ham, eh?!)

This project is listed on my Ravelry profile.

Hi Ho Hi Ho! It's off to work I go!

Please excuse my absence as I have been settling back into my routine at work and trying to figure out my new life as working mom of TWO!  And for added fun, this past week included: preparing for Christmas, an overnight visit of one of NerdDad's friends, one kid with pink eye, and both kids with ear infections...  And you have one very crazy week!  

Now that I'm back at work, my mother-in-law (MIL) watches Buddy and Kat twice a week.  (And at the end of the month, Buddy will join Kat at daycare for the other three days.)  Unfortunately, with Buddy's ear infection, he has been a lot fussier than usual (the sign that indicated an ear infection in the first place) and hasn't been napping well.  I know that it's because his ear hurts, and I had lots of ear infections as a kid, so I understand his pain.  But his fussiness really tests my patience.  Fortunately, I am able to hand him off to NerdDad when I've had enough, but my poor MIL has been struggling while watching both kids on her own.  Hopefully, the antibiotics will do their thing, and he'll be back to his old self again soon.

So far, the work-family balance hasn't been too hard, but I am also working from home half the week, at least until the end of December.  So the back-to-work adjustment is spread out over the month.  On one hand, adjusting to this new routine has been fairly easy, so spreading out the adjustment period has been nice.  But on the other hand, I know that another new routine is just around the corner, and I almost just wish I could get it all over with at once.  For now though, I'm trying to enjoy my workdays at home with my Buddy.

Yesterday, we started off the weekend with a little mid-morning Christmas shopping.  NerdDad and I each took one kid and off we went.  Thankfully the crowds weren't too heavy yet (probably because of the non-stop rain).  Between just a couple of shopping trips and a decent amount of online shopping, we have made a decent dent in our Christmas lists already.  Considering our usual procrastination, we're feeling pretty proud of ourselves!

After the busy week, I'm spending today getting into the Christmas spirit and recharging for the week ahead.  I spent the morning sipping peppermint mocha coffee and listening to Christmas music while making cookies with Kat.  It's been sooo nice!  A big thank you to NerdDad for holding Buddy all morning so that I could bake.  :)  He'll be rewarded with lots of cookies!

End of Maternity Leave

It's been a bit since my last post; the family and I went to visit my family and celebrate thanksgiving. My ten weeks of maternity leave is over on Monday, so I've been trying to enjoy my last week where my sole focus is family.  As nearly every working mother will tell you, the end of maternity leave is an emotional milestone.  When I was on my maternity leave with Kat, the weeks before I went back to work were filled with worries about starting daycare, finding a routine, pumping at work, and how in the world was I going to be able to leave her?!  Since Buddy is my second child, I'm not (nearly) as worried about daycare or pumping.  I know that I did it before and am confident that I'll manage again this time.  But establishing a routine and finding time is an even bigger worry this time around.

Being on maternity leave has given me plenty of time to not only focus on Buddy, but to also spend extra time with Kat and to start a few projects (like this blog!).  I know that as Buddy gets older, the evening rush between the time I walk in the door until I fall into bed will become less stressful.  But I remember how frantic that time of the day was when I first went back after Kat was born.  Taking care of just Kat and preparing for the next day was sometimes all that I could do.  So how do I take care of Buddy, prepare for the next day, AND spend some quality time with Kat?  And I might be totally insane, but I would so love to be able to find time to continue some of my fun projects. Oh, and let's not totally forget NerdDad!

Plus how in the world am I going to leave this grin?

 

So before I get entirely overwhelmed, I want to write a few reminders for myself:

• Take life one step at a time.  Try not to become overwhelmed thinking about things that need to be done tomorrow, next week, etc.
• Enjoy the few free moments throughout the day.  Use those few seconds to take a deep breath and relax.
• Be willing to let some things go. 
• Ask for help when needed.  (And if I don't, I shouldn't get mad at NerdDad for not being able to read my mind!)
• Be open to change.  With a new person in the family, we may need to change responsibilities or routines.  For example, moving dinner time a half hour later might make the whole evening less stressful.

Wish me luck!

Recipe: Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

This past Sunday, our furnace decided that it needed a day off. Fortunately, the weather was near perfect, so the furnace wasn't really needed. Unfortunately, the HVAC tech couldn't come out until Monday afternoon.  The high temperature on Monday occurred early morning, and the temperatures were supposed to fall the rest of the day.  So Monday morning was the perfect time to turn on the oven, bake some treats, and hopefully heat up the kitchen a bit.

I still have half of a refrigerator crisper drawer full of apples from our apple picking trip earlier this fall. So of course, I've been on the lookout for recipes using apples. Last week, I saw a few links to Caramel Apple cookies, which sounded delicious!  And even better, I was able to find caramel bits in my grocery store's new expanded bulk section - score!  Caramel bits are like chocolate chips, except they're made of caramel.  And they are much easier to use than chopping up a bunch of caramel candies.

After comparing a few recipes, I decided to use Cooking Light's recipe for Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies as my inspiration and make a few adaptations.  These cookies full of chewy oatmeal, softened apple, melted caramel.  Even NerdDad with his "cookies need chocolate" stance agreed they were pretty good.

Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
3/4 cup finely chopped, peeled apple pieces (use a baking apple like Granny Smith or Winesap so the pieces don't get too mushy!)
3/4 cup caramel bits or 16 small soft caramel candies, chopped

Pour the oats into a food processor and pulse 5 or 6 times, or until only half the oats are still whole.  While this step is optional, doing softens the texture of the cookie and allows the apples to stand out more.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine processed oats, flour, powder, soda, and salt.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat sugars and butter with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Add vanilla and egg and beat until mixture is smooth.  Gradually add the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined.  Gently stir in the apple pieces and caramel bits.

Drop dough by 2 teaspoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.  Cool on pans 5 minutes.  Remove cookies from pans; cool completely on wire racks.

Makes 3-4 dozen. 

Knitting: Winter Hat for Kat, Part 2

I have been racing against falling temperatures, trying to finish a warm winter hat for Kat.  Kat's head measured a whopping 19", so originally, I thought I would need to follow instructions for the child sized hat.  However, when I first started the hat, I had a little bit of trouble matching gauge, mostly because I wanted to use a heavier yarn than the pattern recommended.   So after going back and making several gauge swatches, I decided that following the instructions for the 12 month to 2 year size would allow me to accommodate a worsted weight yarn. 

The pattern calls for the hat to be worked in the round until it measures 6" from the cast on edge, but the last hat that I made for Kat (just 1 month ago) only measured about 4.5" for the same part.  So I started the decreases for this hat at 4.5" too.  This turned out to be a bit of a problem...

As you can probably tell, the hat fit around, but just barely reached the tops of her ears!  Uh-oh! 

So now I'm working on how to make her hat longer.  Guess I should have followed the pattern.  (I'm really not good at following directions!)  Since this hat was knit bottom up, I could either (a) rip out all my decreases, add more rounds, and redo the decreases (giant UGH! to ripping out my working and then having to redo it) or (b) figure out a way to add length to the cast on edge.  I think I pick B.  Stay tuned!

Housekeeping Realization

A normal workday for me goes a little something like this:  I wake up at 6:45 to breastfeed Buddy, dress both kids, shower and dress myself, and pray that I'll be out the door by 8:00.  I  need to be at work by 8:30, my mandatory hour lunch is spent either breastfeeding or pumping and maybe squeezing in an errand before I eat lunch at my desk.  I leave the office at 5:30, arrive home 5:45-6:00 to immediately start working on dinner (or supervising the making of dinner while I breastfeed).  By the time dinner is finished, it's close to 7:00.  I get to spend about an hour with Kat before bedtime at 8:00.  That leaves a mere two hours before I go to bed at 10:00. 

When I went back to work after the birth of Kat and settled into this routine, it was a shock at how little time was left at the end of the day.  And I realized that I could either spend that time relaxing, focused on activities that I wanted to do, and connecting with NerdDad  OR  I could spend time cleaning, doing dishes and laundry, and working on other chores.

This decision seriously stressed me out for a while.  Obviously, spending those two hours in a way I enjoyed was my preference, but I just couldn't let those chores go undone.  NerdDad is awesome, and we have chores pretty evenly divided, usually based on what we feel most passionate about.  Keeping the house clean and organized fell on my plate.  It takes NerdDad a few too many days before realizing that something is dirty.  And I'm always concerned about what visitors might think if they arrive when I have dusty floors, fingerprinted windows, and cobwebs in the corners.  However, spending my evenings straightening and cleaning just left me feeling drained, worn out, and on edge.  Something had to give (or else I was going to fold).

Now, of course, there are some chores that just have to be done (dishes and clothes need to be washed and kitchen counters should be wiped down).  But for a while, I let everything else go.  And I felt horribly guilty!

Over time, though, I've realized something.  The reason I felt bad about not cleaning as often as I "should" wasn't because I was bothered by the extra dust; it was because I was worried about others being bothered by my extra dust.  And I realized that this was silly!  My house is mine (and my family's)!  I should be able to keep it however I want.  My home should be a sanctuary, not a place where I'm worried about what others think.  So I instituted a new rule: the only people who would be invited into my home would be ones that I was confident would not judging my housekeeping. 

Perhaps my new rule seems silly, and that I just need to toughen up and not worry about what others think.  But relieving myself of the need to impress visitors with my housekeeping skills has freed me to be able to spend more time on the things I love.  And that's better for everybody.

Cooking Techniques: Pumpkin Purée

Thanks to Pinterest, I have been seeing a lot of pumpkin recipes lately. Previously, any pumpkin that I cooked with came from a can. But this year, I decided to try making my own pumpkin purée.

According to Mavis at One Hundred Dollars a Month, cooking pumpkin isn't any harder than cooking any other type of squash.  After reading her post and seeing the piles of pumpkins at the grocery store, I was inspired to try making my own pumpkin puree.  Plus, every time we pass the pumpkins at the grocery store, Kat exclaims, "Punkin!"  And how can I ignore that?

I decided this would be a fun exploration project with Kat, so before I sliced the pumpkin in half, I asked her what she thought was inside.  "Apple."  As good of a guess as any!  While we didn't find any apples inside, she still ooo'd until she touched the "guts" and declared them sticky.

We scooped out the insides, and Kat helped me separate the seeds from the pulp.  She really enjoyed stirring the seeds (although no stirring was really required).  Growing up, I was never a fan of pumpkin seeds, but I saw a recipe for cinnamon sugar pumpkin seeds and was hoping to try it out.

I put a bit of olive oil on the cut sides, put pumpkin on a baking sheet cut side down, and baked at 375 for about 35 minutes, when I noticed the skin starting to wrinkle.  When I pulled them out, the pumpkins basically collapsed onto the baking sheet.

  The flesh was incredibly easy to scoop off the skin.  I put it directly into the food processor, and ran the processor until the pumpkin was smooth.  However, the puree didn't look like the stuff that comes from the can.  The color was closer to yellow than orange, and it was very watery.

I was concerned about making pie with such watery puree, so I looked for ways to thicken it up.  After a failed attempt at reducing by boiling (I don't recommend this; boiling puree is messy!), I lined a colander with a coffee filter, set the colander over a bowl, and poured in the puree.  About half a cup of water drained out!  Success!

I used the puree to make pumpkin pie (NerdDad's favorite), but adjusted my recipe to include less milk since the filling already looked pretty liquidy.  It turned out perfectly!  In fact, the pie was half gone before I got a chance to take a picture.

The process to make my own puree was so easy that I decided to buy another pumpkin yesterday. Now I just need to decide what to do with more puree.  Do you have any non-pie pumpkin recipes?

Toddler Activity: Painting Pumpkins

While I have fond childhood memories of carving pumpkins at Halloween, the thought of attempting to carve a pumpkin with Kat makes me shudder!  She's 21-months, so she has an attention span that's about 21 seconds, follows about 21% of any instructions I give her, and would probably end up needing 21 stitches.  But I didn't want to skip all pumpkin activities.

So last weekend, during our family trip to the grocery store, I let Kat pick out a small pie pumpkin by herself.  Surprisingly, she picked one of the smallest ones; I thought kids always went for the biggest is best philosophy.  I also picked out a pie pumpkin for myself with the intention of making my own pumpkin puree - more on that soon! (Update 11/4/12: See how to make pumpkin puree.)

Sunday afternoon, Kat and I set up a painting station at the kitchen table.  I taped a couple broken down cereal boxes to the table to create a work surface and to hopefully make clean-up easier.  I put a bib on Kat and sat her in her booster chair. 

I let her pick five colors from my collection of acrylic paints.  I like acrylic paints because they wash off with water, are available at most craft stores, and are pretty cheap (less than $2/bottle).  I have a whole shoebox of paint bottles from my time in college when I was still trying to be "artsy".  I also pulled out one paintbrush for each color to minimize the need to rinse brushes mid-project.

I squirted a bit of paint on the cardboard, handed over the paintbrush, and let her go!

I tried to avoid "helping" (a.k.a. taking over), and stuck to just turning the pumpkin whenever one side was mostly covered.  I let Kat decide when she was ready for a new color and then swapped brushes with her.  Amazingly, the paint was contained to the cardboard and just a bit on her fingers (yea for no paint in her hair!!).  

 

This project kept her attention for about 15 minutes.  From set-up to clean-up was slightly longer than a football game halftime.  ;-)  And since it wasn't overly messy, I think we'll have to try more painting projects for future holidays.   Any ideas?

Winter Hat for Kat, Part 1

Fall is definitely my favorite season.  It's the time of comfort foods - chili, stew, apple or pumpkin anything; and the weather is just cool enough to call for an extra layer, but not so cold as to rule out spending an afternoon outside.

This fall, Kat is in the Toddler room at daycare, which means that they spend part of most afternoons outside.  This also means that it's time to send all the fall and winter clothing supplies  that will live in her cubby - warm hat, jacket, back-up outfit with long pants and long-sleeved shirt.  When NerdDad asked if we had an extra hat to send, I promptly said that I would make one!  He laughed...

But my knitting and crochet skills are getting to be pretty good, and a hat is small enough that I can measure time to completion in hours, not days.   I'm not sure why he laughed; I have made three different hats for Kat, and another hat for Buddy.  So it's not like I'm a hat-newbie.

I quickly hopped on Ravelry (you can find me here) and began looking for a pattern.  Since I already have a crochet project in progress, I wanted something I could knit.  I also wanted something fairly simple that Kat could pull on herself (no ties or flaps).  I settled on this Swirl Hat.  The pattern is straightforward, but the swirl adds some fun.

I'm using a very dark pink that matches her coat - gotta keep things fashionable!  I am making pretty good progress, especially considering that I ripped out 6 rounds because I had an extra loop of yarn just hanging out (grr!).  I have finished the ribbed edge, and have (re)started on the swirl pattern.

Are you a knitter?  If so, what are you working on?

Recipe: Pesto Chicken Grilled Cheese

After trying out a new recipe for Seasoned Chicken, I wanted to find a quick way to try out some of the chicken that I just made.  I found some sliced provolone cheese in the refrigerator and decided to do a spin on grilled cheese. The result was a Pesto Chicken Grilled Cheese, and it was amazing!

I started by shredding one of the Seasoned Chicken tenders.  I wanted to slice it, but grabbed the wrong knife, and ended up with shredded.  Oh well!  I pulled out a couple pieces of bread, two slices of provolone cheese, a bit of margarine (you could use butter too), and a cube of frozen homemade pesto (you could also use store-bought). 

  

Heat up a griddle or skillet with just a bit of cooking spray.  Butter one side of each piece of bread, and place the first piece of bread on the griddle, butter side down.  Top the bread with about half a tablespoon of pesto.

 

Next, assemble the sandwich.  Layer on a slice of cheese, then the shredded chicken, another slice of cheese, and finally, the other piece of bread, butter side up.

 

After a few minutes, flip the whole sandwich.  The bread should be toasted and lightly browned.  Cook for another few minutes to toast the other side.

 

This sandwich has the gooey goodness of grilled cheese, is hearty enough to stand as a meal because of the chicken, and  has amazing flavor from the pesto.  It reminded me of something that I would typically order at a deli.  Yum!

Recipe: Seasoned Chicken

I often use Pinterest to find new recipes.  However, I have a hard time actually following the recipe exactly.  While I'm sure the original recipes are just fine, I like to use the recipes I find as inspiration or a jumping off point, not as a rulebook.  I've been cooking for over ten years now, and have tried enough recipes to guess what might work (and have learned a lot about what doesn't!).  If you are new to cooking, or trying a new style or kind of dish, then certainly follow the directions!  But after a few tries, be confident enough to make a few changes or try a shortcut.

When my daughter was born almost two years ago, I started trying out more freezer meals.  I could spend an afternoon cooking, and then not feel so rushed once I got home from work.  And for a while, I kept cooked cubed or shredded chicken in the freezer, so I was ready when I came across a casserole, pasta dish, or salad that called for cooked chicken.  But this chicken never tasted very good, so I stopped.  But when I came across a link to The Perfect Chicken, I realized that of course that chicken wouldn't taste good; I never seasoned it!  I had mistakenly thought that I shouldn't season it since I didn't know what dish I would be using it in.  But the recipe for Perfect Chicken uses spices that are common enough to most dishes and aren't overpowering, so the chicken could still be used in whatever I need it for.

The recipe makes a simple spice rub using salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder.  I quickly through together a batch.  

 

I had purchased a package of fresh chicken tenders earlier this week for another dinner, and after seeing this recipe, intentionally put a few of the tenders back in the refrigerator so that I could try out this recipe.  The recipe made plenty for the four tenders that I had, and probably would have been enough for another four. 

 

I browned the tenders on the stovetop as instructed in the recipe.  Because I was using tenders instead of full chicken breasts, I decided I could finish cooking on the stovetop, instead of baking as instructed, because the tenders were thin enough to cook through without getting dried out.  I simply lowered the heat and added a lid to keep the moisture in. 

 

This was a quick way to add more flavor to plain boneless, skinless chicken.  The spice rub came together in less than a minute, browning the chicken took about five minutes, and then I let the chicken sit unattended and covered on low for about ten minutes to finish cooking.  I haven't tried freezing this yet, but will soon.  The chicken looked so good, I immediately looked for a way to use it and came up with a Pesto Chicken Grilled Cheese.   

Do you have an easy spice rub recipe for chicken?