MPM--Just Kidding

Hi--you know that fun plan for last week? I was kidding. We went to the beach. But I don't love advertising that on the internet.

Now I really did think I'd be making those things, but HAH! I was kidding myself. I don't cook on vacation--not much, anyway. Gotta get a better plan in place for the trip to the mountains later this summer because that's not how my husband's family rolls.

The good news is, I'm just following last week this week and poof! Planning done.

Have a great week!

MPM--Summer Starts!

Sometimes you don't know when your last time is your last time, do you? I actually found myself a little nostalgic when I realized I was packing a snack that wouldn't be eaten. My son's last two days of kindergarten involved a party with lots of food on the penultimate day, and the last "day" was all of 86 minutes. So suddenly, those last granola bars were the first snacks of summer instead. Which was fine, but I wasn't ready, and I know I'll be nostalgic when I have to pack an actual lunch next year.

So, here we are, ready for the camp, the pool, the endless days of summer fun. Oh, wait, no camp yet, and the pool closes for thunderstorms...now what?

Well, get in the kitchen, for one thing. Somehow, despite loathing jello when they were younger, my kids have decided that blue jello is awesome. (Be still, my foodie heart.) So we've made jello, which has been fun, and gotten them back in the kitchen. We made beet salad--not a hit with them, except for the food processor part. We did Father's Day crafts. We made a long list of all the things we want to do this summer, from play tag to visiting the Crayola Factory. And now, getting on board with that, we plan to have a few day trips here and there, so for this week...

Monday: Omaha Steaks stuffed sole; edamame and tomato salad from Simple Fresh Southern via Dinner: A Love Story; potato croquettes, also from Omaha. My children will eat fruit, is my guess, but that's their choice.

Tuesday: Chicken Breasts with Mushrooms and Snap Peas from No Take Out; quinoa instead of orzo b/c that's what I have; salad

Wednesday: grilled something from Omaha (beef probably, but maybe pork; trying to use up marinade); CSA veggies

Thursday:out with friends. Not sure what I'll bring yet.

Friday: pizza, of course; the kids are pining for it, though they have enjoyed the Friday soccer routine too.

And...remember last week when I was kidding about roasting lettuce? Some people don't kid about hot lettuce! Check the Bitten Word's enthusiastic review of a salad with grilled butter lettuce. Wow.

I did eventually make the Captain's Chicken too. I put the thighs and breasts in frozen, as suggested--loved that that worked. My husband loved it, which is not typical for him with slow cooker meals. The texture was still more fally-aparty than I would have liked, but I could at least fish them out in basically one piece. And the rice! I cannot ever seem to get rice correct in the slow cooker; after almost an hour, mine was still a little crunchy in the middle. But it made a lot and it was a hit with the grownups, so I can't complain about that.

I made two salads for our incredibly hot Father's Day cookout--it was a shame, only the cooks could actually be outside, it was so humid and sunny. One of my salads was an Italian layered salad--iceberg, broccoli slaw, chick peas, red onions, topped with mayo and creamy Italian (which, btw, is very, very hard to find anymore--who knew?) and Asiago cheese. Fine, but nothing to write home about, so I'm not linking (besides, there's the recipe, right there, basically). I also made the favorite chick pea salad, to use up my apples and walnuts and it had been a while. My mother-in-law made an awesome cauliflower and zucchini salad; if I get the recipe, I will post it, it was terrific. And I never thought I would like a salad with raw zucchini--not a favorite for me--but this was great!

Finally, many thanks to Food52 for introducing me to the idea of raw radishes dipped in butter and salt. Ok, this shouldn't surprise me--butter and salt are two of the magic ingredients (third is cheese, and sugar if you are eating it). But I thought it sounded gross when I read it. However, I couldn't resist trying it, and wow. Love the way the butter cuts the bitter of the radish. Yum. Now I can't wait to try the tartine too.

Here's hoping your summer is off to a swinging start! Share what you're serving at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

WFMW--Dollar Store Balloons

I know, this is so obvious as to make you wonder how I get along in the world. But last week, we had six amazing babysitters graduate from our local high school, and while we wanted to honor them, I needed it to be cheap. Also, I hated to get them a tchotche that would either collect dust or get donated before they even left for college. So I decided on balloons from the dollar store. For six regular balloons in the school colors and one mylar graduation balloon, I paid about $4.50. It made a nice little bunch.

My mistake one mistake was trying to carry too many bunches at once; one girl got a dozen balloons because I couldn't untangle them! My other mistake was tying them outside; a seventh bunch for our niece was gone before she ever saw them. But the others were mostly very excited to come outside and see them announcing the happy news. I also used some old gift cards (my mother had made personalized ones for me years ago) and I just wrote "Happy Graduation Day from our family!" with our names, punched a hole in the corner, and tied it to the bunch with ribbon. They looked really cute and made the girls happy. And-added and totally unexpected bonus!-resulted in on-the-spot invitations to three more graduation parties! I had to laugh--that was not our intent at all but it was kind of their families to include us (and it made sense--I know they didn't want to invite us and have it look like a "gift grab" but were happy to include us in the family joy).

Celebratory gifts with big impact for less than $5 works for me! What's working for you this week? Go share here!

MPM--Last Week of School Edition

Hello, my menu planning friends. How kind of you to stop by, after my uninspired June menus!

I'm still struggling to hit my summer food stride. I'm finding we're out of the house more, and I either want things to bring to the pool (and my kids don't eat sandwiches other than PBJ, which is usually lunch) or things I don't need to cook or don't involve too much time at the stove. This week will reflect that, I'm afraid.

Monday: I'm going to try that Korean beef, honest. And our CSA box comes again so that will impact the sides.

Tuesday: I'm trying the Captain's Chicken from the Crockpot 365 site. Crockpot recipes are helping in this heat. (see below for a good one from my cousin!)

Wednesday: Leftovers (ahhh)

Thursday: Last day of kindergarten for my son! So excited for him and pleased at all he accomplished this year. His end-of-year presentation was awesome. Tacos in his honor.

Friday: We will probably be going to see Thomas the Tank Engine today, for one of the last times, I would imagine, which makes me sad. But I will defrost one of the Dinner A'Fare meals or plan to have Trader Joe's pizza when we get back. (On a different note, my kids tried an inside-out pizza the other day and loved it. It's not hard to love but my older one gets funny about cheese so it was a relief!)

My poor family. I am in a real roasting rut right now. When in doubt (which is often), my answer appears to be: toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast it for a while. What have we done this with? Carrots. Brussels sprouts. Asparagus. Even kale. Sweet potatoes can be roasted at the same time in the oven but even easier: no salt or olive oil necessary, just some stabs with a knife. Same with the beets. Even the Smitten Kitchen potatoes and turnips were roasted. They are lucky I'm not roasting celery and lettuce (hmmm...no, no, probably not).

The good news is, all those roasting recipes were awesome. I had no idea what to do with all those cute little turnips from the CSA, so I threw them in the SK mustard roasted potatoes recipe. Yum. Yum. Yum. The potatoes were better, but the turnips were actually a nice little addition in there. The roasted carrot and avocado salad was a hit again as well, and I have taken now to just broiling off big bags of carrots and calling it a day and using them at lunch or otherwise for me. I like them cold or hot, with the lemon or without. I also tried the carrot salad, although without the harissa it almost seems not fair to say I tried it. But even without that admitted crucial component, it was really good and we enjoyed it quite a bit. OK, me especially but I am a sucker for feta.

On my last post, don't miss commenter Brandy's awesome tweaking of the cannoli dip recipe. Thanks Brandy!

And in my effort to get back on track with summer meals, I pulled out my crockpot, which seemed counterintuitive but makes sense. I don't have to wait over anything hot, and I can start it any old time in the morning and have dinner ready at collapsing time for the kids. This recipe went well though it made a ton--I froze some and did Aid for Friends meals and still we ate it three times this week. Thanks to Jan for providing it!

Jan's Italian Beef
Rump or sirloin tip roast 4 to 5 lbs.
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cup water
1 pkg. dry Good Seasons Italian salad dressing mix
1 tsp. each of basil, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper

Bring sauce to boil with water and seasonings. Pour over meat in crock pot. Cook all day on low, breaking apart meat. ( I usually shred the meat all day as soon as it is tender enough to come apart)
Its so easy!!!

What are you having this week? List your meals with I'm an Organizing Junkie and inspire us!

MPM--Not So Much

Wow, wasn't that a great menu plan last week? Wouldn't that have been just awesome?

That wasn't at all the way it worked out in real life.

I can't tell you what we actually ate. We had some leftover pulled pork from the weekend, and another night, my son ate some pretty spicy buffalo chicken meatballs from Trader Joe's while the other rocked a kaiser roll. We swam every day, and the temps were over 90, so we just found ourselves staying at the pool, snarfing berries and watermelon and calling it a meal. Sounds good, and worked fine, but a little dicey in practice.

So with that, my new, more realistic June plan:

Monday: Italian beef in the slow cooker, roasted potatoes and turnips (hello, CSA season, how I have missed you); salad

Tuesday: Wednesday Spaghetti. Woohoo! I'll bring the ever popular Something. We'll have to see how hot it is.

Wednesday: leftover beef in sandwiches or with rice, depending on what's in the house; some green veggie, probably asparagus

Thursday: something from the freezer that doesn't involve much cooking. Last week's fail was that it was over 90 and I didn't want to stand over the stove in that weather.

Friday: Graduation/soccer/swim team...I have no idea where dinner will be ingested but I will travel with snacks all afternoon!

There was one new recipe I tried last week and it worked out great: my sister in law mentioned that she went to a party and the hostess served cannoli dip with Nilla Wafers and strawberries for dipping. "It was so good," my sister in law said, "I didn't ask for the recipe. I knew I couldn't have it in the house for any amount of time." As I was hosting a Silpada party as a fundraiser, that sounded about right to me. So I googled and found this recipe and, um, yeah. Not as amazing as a real South Philly cannoli but very easy and awfully good. I subbed mini chips (why chop chips, really?) but otherwise, stuck with it. And mmmmmmmm, it was a big hit.

Go see I'm an Organizing Junkie! for great menu plans!

MPM--June Buggin'

Holy Moses! I cannot believe this. I thought May was busy. Then I looked at June.

In the "didn't think that would happen" category: I took my son to swim team tryouts because his friend was going. I know my son gets skittish about any form of sports competition so I didn't expect much other than a no-stakes first tryout experience. When he jumped in the pool, the water was so cold, "it pulled all the air out of my body!" he said later, and he promptly forgot how to swim and dog-paddled instead to keep his head out of the water to gasp in some air. But after the initial shock, he settled in and made the preteam. I didn't know there was such a thing, so meal planning becomes extra-crucial now, with three 6pm practices, hosting a Silpada party, and all the other end-of-year craziness.

But we had a great Memorial Day weekend in the mountains, with lots of pizza dip and mac and cheese for the hardworking teenaged nieces and nephews, and lake time and pool time when we got home and all kinds of fun coming up. So let's see the plans, shall we?

Monday: "gourmet" hot dogs (part of the Omaha Steaks haul), corn and black bean salsa, potato croquettes (also Omaha Steaks)

Tuesday: DAF potstickers and stir-fry

Wednesday: CSA box comes today, so lots of veggies, plus steaks on the grill

Thursday: Korean beef, rice, veggies (on an Asian kick this week!)

Friday: Too much going on. Soccer--prom--swim team--at least I know someone else will be making something. Could be pizza after soccer, might be barbeque after prom pictures. We'll get something. Phew.

In the craziness that was last week, I didn't try too many new recipes, but one was the Indian green beans. I thought they were great.

I revisited an old friend, the Giada Orzo recipe I love. I forgot to keep stirring the orzo so it was almost a molded salad by default! But the vinaigrette helped break things up. I loved it again, but wow, does it taste salty to me now. I cut the salt in the dressing by half and still was puckering up. I've retrained my taste buds better than I thought.

In a stroke of luck, I decided to try these Nutella cupcakes from Food52. It seemed like a great idea. I had every ingredient in my house already (including, by some miracle, almost the exact amount of Nutella called for, and thank goodness for something else to work down all the self-rising flour in my house. (Where is it all coming from? Have I lost all ability to read labels correctly in the store?) Plus I loved that it was like a microbatch, with only 12 cupcakes resulting. Next time, I won't wait until after midnight to start. And I'll use cream instead of corn syrup in the ganache (though with the heat here, the corn syrup was probably a good plan). All those things aside: OH my freakin' HECK, these were amazing. All twelve were demolished promptly. They were very dense but as my husband said, without the overwhelm that can come from Nutella from the jar. (Not that we aren't all quite familiar with that.) These are a definite go-to cupcake for me forever more, amen. They come out of the oven with a nice crackly top, and the tip about "if one collapses, just fill it with ganache"? Genius. Nom nom nom.

I hope all the US readers had a wonderful and reflective, even for a few minutes, Memorial Day. For more menus, try anyone over at I'm an Organizing Junkie!

MPM--The Merry Merry Month of May Redux

Oh, I'm so predictable. Here I think I've come up with a clever post title only to discover I've already used it. Ah well! Life's too short to worry about repeating blog titles.

This week:

Monday: Our CSA starts--woohoo! Can't wait to see what comes. So I know I'll have some kind of veggie fest, and a simple meat to go with it--probably chicken breasts or tenders from the freezer.

Tuesday: DAF Bombay burgers, rice, these Indian-inspired green beans, kale salad

Wednesday: book group for me, so probably hot dogs for the boys and mac and cheese and leftovers for my husband

Thursday: My favorite meal: party leftovers! My little one's last day of preschool is today, and they "graduate" everyone. Which is a little silly as many will return next year but it's a big fun deal for them, so we invited the relatives and will have a bunch of people for lunch. I'm ordering a sandwich tray and potato salad, and making orzo salad, quinoa salad (see below), and cookies. If there aren't enough sandwich leftovers, we'll defrost something from Dinner A'Fare.

Friday: soccer game (for the grownups! or one, at least), with pizza party. I'll bring the strawberry-rhubarb crumble because Oh My Gracious, the strawberries. They are amazing these days.

And then it's the holiday weekend! We have a niece and a nephew with a birthday so I'm looking forward to a family gathering. I'll fill you in Monday or Tuesday but if you have "cooking for a crowd" favorites, please, by all means, let me know in the comments.

This past week was much calmer than the one before, which was soothing. Between rain and a tired mommy with a head cold, we missed some of the things we meant to do but we also enjoyed a much less busy schedule, reconnecting with each other. (And--who am I kidding? Our friends at PBS Kids too.) Thanks to the internet, we watched someone I went to college with go on a spacewalk! That was thrilling. I kept humming Paul Simon--"these are the days of miracle and wonder"--as we watched live coverage of a guy I remember at parties (because we were certainly never in the same classes--I will be tactful to myself and just say I am not an engineer) as he walked in outer space. Really. We may not have Jetsons cars yet but this comes really close.

With the missed connections this week, and the idea of staying a little closer to home (and the idea of starving these ants out of my kitchen), I tried using some of my baking supplies. First up: chocolate chip muffins. We used chocolate chunks (what I had), and a top rated recipezaar recipe (because I like that they provide nutritional information). They were easy and the boys adored them (of course). Next time I will definitely use chips, though, because the chunks were too big in this particular muffin. But they certainly didn't go to waste!

I also found a recipe for a roasted carrot and avocado salad at Smitten Kitchen that I somehow missed before. Having both avocados and carrots ready to go made it a no-brainer and in the oven it went. It was a rare day when I had the sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts ready to go to so I could heat the oven once and cook four different things with it (boo-yah!). But here was the funny thing: my older son was starrrrrving before dinner and while at first disdained the carrots with "black stuff on them" (that would be char) and then before I could explain caramelization I heard him say through his chewing, "Oh. Never mind. These are really good!" and proceeded to eat half the bowl. That would be a half pound of carrots, just roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin, in one quick sitting. Beige Boy of course wouldn't even look at them, but still, a success. The next night, I used regular carrots instead of babies, and actually got the avocado to them with the lemon before they were snarfed again. (But I needn't have worried; "HOT carrots again?" asked the boy in dismay, and went for the raw baby carrots instead.) I loved how the texture was almost exactly the same between the veggies and will definitely make this again and again.

Clearly I'm on a roasting binge right now because I also made a mess of sweet potatoes, some of which became the miso mash, and others, finally, were made with Nikki's Sweet Potato Recipe from 101 Cookbooks from a zillion years ago. I'm fighting a cold so I've been unable to taste much so will have to try these again. I thought I'd love these because coconut is one of my favorite things but then I got a head cold and could taste nothing. My husband, however, thought it was awesome and gave it an enthusiastic "add to the rotation" vote. We also made the Nikki's Healthy Cookies recipe again--I'm trying to use the ingredients as much as I can, because honestly, I just don't use almond meal all that often--and they were again very nice as a bar, and I love making a cookie that I don't care if my kids taste the batter.

I'm also on a binge of avocados and grapefruit. I can't believe how I'm still obsessing over this combo but I am. I tried this cup and table recipe for one with an Asian-style dressing for which all the ingredients happened to be hanging around my house (except, alas, the cilantro, which I did miss). Oh, and to be fair, I had to buy the pistachios. Once again, I couldn't taste it as I would have hoped, but the flavors were strong enough to penetrate a bit and I loved the interplay of textures. My family wasn't as reverent as hers (not unexpectedly) but my husband was complimentary. It's been interesting; I know *my* father was very, very set in his ways that a dinner had a meat, a starch, and a vegetable, but I've always ascribed that to my husband as well. But as I've been on a veggie-to-vegan kick, he's been very willing to stretch his palate and try it all. I do think he'd miss meat without it but he's also been happy with the more prominent role of the veggies. He even tried my portobello "burger" after I couldn't resist the local 'bellos at our farmers' market this weekend. "I can see why you like this," he said, "but I'll leave the rest for you. (munch munch) Or.." and I made it easy for him by cutting it in two and leaving the bit he'd bitten on his plate with a generous margin. "Oh, yes," he said happily, "that makes sense." I faked it with what I had in the house with the recipe I linked above, but the one at the farmers' market was even better, and he just was using Kr@ft Zesty Italian with the caps in a zip-lock bag and a little tabletop grill. I'm tossing that in there since normal people have Italian dressing on hand; I'm so obsessed with oil and vinegar, I do not. But in case you do--it's totally worth a try.

Another hit that I couldn't taste was Mom24's quinoa salad. My husband loved it, and the two families I shared it with were very complimentary. And there's the only knock on it: I should have figured it out from using the whole bag of quinoa, but it made a lot. Still, I am a sucker for a "box of this-bag of that-bag of the other" recipe technique, and it was popular with my husband, who took it for lunch, so I will make it again. This has earned a spot on next week's preschool "graduation" party menu. Yum! Also thanks to her for teaching me the toasted quinoa technique--I liked it before but loved how fluffy it was after toasting. That was tricky with no sense of smell, because in general, I find it hard to gauge how much dressing the quinoa will absorb and neutralize, but worth it.

Finally, I did make the brined pork chops one night. They were good, but whether (say it with me) it was my tastebuds or the technique, they weren't quite up to the raves on Epicurious. I will say, like the one poster, I thought I could have easily brined 12 pork chops in the same amount of liquid. Mine were a little thin and did start to take on some ham-like qualities, and count me in on those without juniper berries or gin so I used some whole allspice. Still, they were really good and nicely flavored so we'll keep this in the rotation. (I also halved the kosher salt.)

Go check out I'm an Organizing Junkie! for some very inspired menus!