I had a nice little post started with the title "Can You Feel the Pages Spin?" but then my father in law had a stroke and died unexpectedly last week. It is very hard to focus on food right now but we have to get back to it shortly, the budget can't sustain too much takeout in these pre-Christmas days. Herewith, the pre-written post.
Here we are in "that" time of year already...kids have half-days, then the holiday...I am almost ready to go. We traded pumpkins for turkeys in the living room and kicked the first set of leaves to the curb. Deep breaths...here we go!
Monday: (I know now, it will be funeral leftovers.)
Tuesday: tacos (even this week!)
Wednesday: spaghetti (even this week!) Well...we'll see. It's actually my husband's birthday so I am not sure what happens here.
Thursday: Gobble gobble! Not at our house this year--not sure what we are bringing yet.
Friday: Faux leftovers. We go to my husband's family's for Thanksgiving so I always buy a turkey breast and my favorite kind of stuffing for our house for the next day so there are "leftovers" for us. Of course now that I think about it, that's going to be not very gluten free so I am not sure how that will go this year.
Last week, we (ha, ha! "We." So cute. I. I) made the cider pork in the crockpot. There was too much cinnamon but that was me, not the recipe (I had a pouring mishap). Otherwise, this was great. It was a little off our usual since it was too sweet for cheese, but I made an ersatz cole slaw (part of a bag of shredded cabbage mixed with cider vinegar and mayo sauce) and that went really well with it. This will stay in the rotation. It's not as good as the other one, but it was easier and still delicious.
I also made sausage and tomato sauce in the crockpot, and I am so pathetic, I used a recipe, here, minus the peppers. I was very afraid of underdone sausage but it was actually overdone. I will try for "just right" next time.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Ordinary Days
It is amazing, to borrow a theme from 4everMom, how sweet the ordinary days are, especially when they've been lost for a bit. What a nice week, with just the usual rhythms, plus some little excitements--a sleepover, a first swim meet, a star for a great trombone lesson. I am so grateful.
Monday: trying again on the slow cooker cider pork for the crockpot. Potatoes roasted with onions and fennel (see fish and veggie recipe below).
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: spaghetti (and the little one's first reconciliation! very exciting); at my husband's request, sausage in the crock pot in sauce to go with. Mmm.
Thursday: leftover pork
Friday: freezer meal or out; though I might revisit this rosemary chicken since I have so much rosemary still
So, earlier this month, we were recipients of so much generosity, I made it my business to make dinners for some friends in need this week. I used this chicken taco soup recipe (sigh, at least other people's family's eat this way). I will save the recipe for the day my kids eat soups. It was a truly less-than-10-minute prep soup, and was all yummy and nourishing-feeling when it was done. It was also very bland (I didn't salt it), so next time I will use our actual taco seasoning, but as long as you season more and use the fixings--this was lovely.
Also, we drank all our cider, so I tried this fish and veggie recipe instead since we had all the veggies involved. I should have doubled the veggies--they were so good and we just picked at them while the rest of the stuff finished. They were great. The tilapia was good too--mine still fell apart but it wasn't stinky and went well with the veggies. The kids of course had chicken nuggets but the older boy tasted one of the potatoes and said, "Hey--this tastes like a French fry!" and went on, "But a REAL French fry--you know, not like McDonald's." (Whose fries I happen to enjoy more than almost anything else there, but I did know what he meant and appreciated both how and that he said it.)
Finally, in the effort to cook down the stuff on my counters, I made this sweet potato bisque from an old O magazine, using up ingredients from I don't know when. This was all part of the kitchen-cleanup-cabinet clean out (from the Organized Christmas aspirational series). In that respect, the soup was a great success (and I still adore my handheld blender--it feels like magic to me still). There was a bit of curry hint to it (probably due to, you know, the hint of curry in it), and the consistency and color were great. If I make it again I will use veggie stock to make it vegan. I think my lentils (ok, I know my red lentils) were past their prime so I can't totally recommend it, but it was easy, fast, and nutritious.
I am reading the Christmas prep blogs like they are about a foreign culture this year. It is hard to get in to the spirit when all I want is normalcy. Last night I woke up in a panic hearing a beeping sound that I thought was the carbon monoxide detector in the basement. I stumbled to the steps to listen and realized it wasn't quite mechanical enough. I went to the bathroom and opened a window just in case only to discover we have a cricket whose song mimics the detector alarm almost perfectly. Not cool, cricket. But another reminder: sometimes the chirps that wake you are just crickets, celebrating one last warm night.
Wishing you a week filled with things that bring you joy!
Monday: trying again on the slow cooker cider pork for the crockpot. Potatoes roasted with onions and fennel (see fish and veggie recipe below).
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: spaghetti (and the little one's first reconciliation! very exciting); at my husband's request, sausage in the crock pot in sauce to go with. Mmm.
Thursday: leftover pork
Friday: freezer meal or out; though I might revisit this rosemary chicken since I have so much rosemary still
So, earlier this month, we were recipients of so much generosity, I made it my business to make dinners for some friends in need this week. I used this chicken taco soup recipe (sigh, at least other people's family's eat this way). I will save the recipe for the day my kids eat soups. It was a truly less-than-10-minute prep soup, and was all yummy and nourishing-feeling when it was done. It was also very bland (I didn't salt it), so next time I will use our actual taco seasoning, but as long as you season more and use the fixings--this was lovely.
Also, we drank all our cider, so I tried this fish and veggie recipe instead since we had all the veggies involved. I should have doubled the veggies--they were so good and we just picked at them while the rest of the stuff finished. They were great. The tilapia was good too--mine still fell apart but it wasn't stinky and went well with the veggies. The kids of course had chicken nuggets but the older boy tasted one of the potatoes and said, "Hey--this tastes like a French fry!" and went on, "But a REAL French fry--you know, not like McDonald's." (Whose fries I happen to enjoy more than almost anything else there, but I did know what he meant and appreciated both how and that he said it.)
Finally, in the effort to cook down the stuff on my counters, I made this sweet potato bisque from an old O magazine, using up ingredients from I don't know when. This was all part of the kitchen-cleanup-cabinet clean out (from the Organized Christmas aspirational series). In that respect, the soup was a great success (and I still adore my handheld blender--it feels like magic to me still). There was a bit of curry hint to it (probably due to, you know, the hint of curry in it), and the consistency and color were great. If I make it again I will use veggie stock to make it vegan. I think my lentils (ok, I know my red lentils) were past their prime so I can't totally recommend it, but it was easy, fast, and nutritious.
I am reading the Christmas prep blogs like they are about a foreign culture this year. It is hard to get in to the spirit when all I want is normalcy. Last night I woke up in a panic hearing a beeping sound that I thought was the carbon monoxide detector in the basement. I stumbled to the steps to listen and realized it wasn't quite mechanical enough. I went to the bathroom and opened a window just in case only to discover we have a cricket whose song mimics the detector alarm almost perfectly. Not cool, cricket. But another reminder: sometimes the chirps that wake you are just crickets, celebrating one last warm night.
Wishing you a week filled with things that bring you joy!
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Lost weeks and other randomness
So a bunch of stuff happened. My son was in the hospital for a week and is ok now but I really don't want to talk about it. We had friends step in and feed us grandly with the following, all well received, and documented here for when I need ideas:
-French toast casserole
-sausage-cabbage-potato dish
-quiche and muffins
-cupcakes
-pumpkin squares
-pulled barbecue chicken with rolls, cider and cookies
-lasagne
-tacos
-chicken cutlets, sweet and regular potatoes roasted with rosemary, and cucumber salad
My gratitude is immense.
Since my son missed Halloween, my street was amazing and held Trick or Treat: Take 2, and all the kids dressed up, some trick-or-treated again, others greeted at the door, and then all came to our house for cider and cookies and apples with caramel dip. I used this cider recipe for the crockpot and will use again. I am also going to try making my own cider from this recipe and will let you know how it goes. I have so many apples right now, we are looking for ways to use them.
Speaking of the crockpot...Oh, I was sad about the mongolian beef the other week. It was a dream come true to just grab the bag from the freezer, dump it in the crockpot in the morning, and have the house smell great when I got home from work. But...it ended there. The meat was that weird crockpot texture and it was not as good as I hoped. My husband and I ate it, our older son gamely tried some, and we won't be making that again. Sigh.
-French toast casserole
-sausage-cabbage-potato dish
-quiche and muffins
-cupcakes
-pumpkin squares
-pulled barbecue chicken with rolls, cider and cookies
-lasagne
-tacos
-chicken cutlets, sweet and regular potatoes roasted with rosemary, and cucumber salad
My gratitude is immense.
Since my son missed Halloween, my street was amazing and held Trick or Treat: Take 2, and all the kids dressed up, some trick-or-treated again, others greeted at the door, and then all came to our house for cider and cookies and apples with caramel dip. I used this cider recipe for the crockpot and will use again. I am also going to try making my own cider from this recipe and will let you know how it goes. I have so many apples right now, we are looking for ways to use them.
Speaking of the crockpot...Oh, I was sad about the mongolian beef the other week. It was a dream come true to just grab the bag from the freezer, dump it in the crockpot in the morning, and have the house smell great when I got home from work. But...it ended there. The meat was that weird crockpot texture and it was not as good as I hoped. My husband and I ate it, our older son gamely tried some, and we won't be making that again. Sigh.
Monday: out to dinner. Fundraiser. Woohoo!
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: spaghetti (young master picky was annoyed last week because "lasagna doesn't count")
Thursday: we are up to our ears in cider as well, so trying this cider pork roast in the crockpot. There are still potatoes all over my counter so I will use those with this as well.
Friday: leftovers, I hope.
Another thing for this weekend: my sons were skeeved when they figured out that petroleum jelly was made of--yep, petroleum. So I am hoping to try this homemade non-petroleum jelly with them with an old saucepan since I am afraid the beeswax will ruin it. Since I don't keep super-cute little glass jars around, I'm not sure what I'll use but I'm sure I will find something.
I hope you are having a less disjointed fall wherever you are. I am finding myself glancing to the holiday season and thinking "yeah whatever." I need to pull it together since I have young kids but I'm just a little withdrawn after a tough October.
On a brighter note: I actually won a drawing from my favorite recipe site ever, Dinner: A Love Story! I cannot quite believe it since over 600 people entered but fate smiled and the Thanksgiving book is coming my way. I am very thankful for it and hoping it kick-starts our holiday season.
Wishing you a good week with happy surprises!
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: spaghetti (young master picky was annoyed last week because "lasagna doesn't count")
Thursday: we are up to our ears in cider as well, so trying this cider pork roast in the crockpot. There are still potatoes all over my counter so I will use those with this as well.
Friday: leftovers, I hope.
Another thing for this weekend: my sons were skeeved when they figured out that petroleum jelly was made of--yep, petroleum. So I am hoping to try this homemade non-petroleum jelly with them with an old saucepan since I am afraid the beeswax will ruin it. Since I don't keep super-cute little glass jars around, I'm not sure what I'll use but I'm sure I will find something.
I hope you are having a less disjointed fall wherever you are. I am finding myself glancing to the holiday season and thinking "yeah whatever." I need to pull it together since I have young kids but I'm just a little withdrawn after a tough October.
On a brighter note: I actually won a drawing from my favorite recipe site ever, Dinner: A Love Story! I cannot quite believe it since over 600 people entered but fate smiled and the Thanksgiving book is coming my way. I am very thankful for it and hoping it kick-starts our holiday season.
Wishing you a good week with happy surprises!
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Not Paying Attention
Last week was a bit of a lost week for me. I had an impromptu trip to Pittsburgh for the funeral of the father of my freshman roommate. He was a great guy and I was pleased to be able to make the trip for him but especially for his daughter, of course. Then we had a long-planned trip to Connecticut to see my niece and our mentee, so that was fun but also exhausting. So I am ready to have a quiet week at home.
Monday: pork roast with cider cream gravy (on sidebar) -- I cannot WAIT for dinner tomorrow. Mashed potatoes, roasted cauliflower.
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: WedSpag for the family, Smitten Kitchen's Napa cabbage salad with buttermilk for me (ah, CSA, I won't miss you when you're gone) (which is not a reflection on this salad, which I love, but rather the relentless march of veggies my family doesn't consume)
Thursday: pulled pork (already made!) with the in-laws before trick or treating
Friday: Our niece and nephew, ages 3 and 5, will be here so no idea what happens next but it should be fun no matter what!
Have a great week!
Monday: pork roast with cider cream gravy (on sidebar) -- I cannot WAIT for dinner tomorrow. Mashed potatoes, roasted cauliflower.
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: WedSpag for the family, Smitten Kitchen's Napa cabbage salad with buttermilk for me (ah, CSA, I won't miss you when you're gone) (which is not a reflection on this salad, which I love, but rather the relentless march of veggies my family doesn't consume)
Thursday: pulled pork (already made!) with the in-laws before trick or treating
Friday: Our niece and nephew, ages 3 and 5, will be here so no idea what happens next but it should be fun no matter what!
Have a great week!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
That Was Not A Fast Decade, And Other Thoughts
My oldest turned ten this weekend. TEN! Double digits! I'm so proud and melancholy and satisfied and happy and full of love for him. Someone said to me, "Ten years! That went fast!" and I thought, REALLY? I mean, maybe it did but a lot of those days dragged like the Dickens and so it kinda did feel like a whole decade to me. We got out the book of his baby photos and it really has been a long time since he could take a bath in the sink, and I would wonder at those little hands (well, no, I did that last night while he slept), or he was in a onesie, or his huge smile made my heart sing (well, no, that was today). I used to watch my mother, who was one of the great baby whisperers of all time, and say, "I bet you wish I never grew up." And she would smile a funny smile and say to me, "Oh, no. I do love babies but you get more and more interesting every day and I just find new ways to love you all over again." And I hope my kids understand that this is how I feel about them. I loved them like crazy when they were little, and I know they still are, for as impossibly competent and gangly as they are. But every day, even the ones where I am exhausted or distracted or snappish, every day, I love being their mom and watching them grow.
So with that nostalgia out of the way...I am caked out from the weekend. So this is a clean living kind of week.
Monday: freezer cleanout, and in the parade of life's milestones, the First Communion meeting, so a quickie is necessary. Making the crockpot beef dish I froze ages ago, plus some rice, and hoping it works out.
Tuesday: ah, Taco Tuesday, how I love thee.
Wednesday: Wednesday Spaghetti, but on our own.
Thursday: We didn't finish the turkey shepherd's pie last week, so grownups will have this and kids will probably have chicken nuggets (from Bell and Evans, so it's actual chicken, unlike what they found in that gross study this week) or leftovers of the beef if they like it.
Friday: Fundraiser night so my husband and I are going out...the kids will eat something from the freezer. (I am making the final push to get rid of the behemoth...I keep slipping back in to the habit of popping stuff in there!)
Wishing you a great week!
So with that nostalgia out of the way...I am caked out from the weekend. So this is a clean living kind of week.
Monday: freezer cleanout, and in the parade of life's milestones, the First Communion meeting, so a quickie is necessary. Making the crockpot beef dish I froze ages ago, plus some rice, and hoping it works out.
Tuesday: ah, Taco Tuesday, how I love thee.
Wednesday: Wednesday Spaghetti, but on our own.
Thursday: We didn't finish the turkey shepherd's pie last week, so grownups will have this and kids will probably have chicken nuggets (from Bell and Evans, so it's actual chicken, unlike what they found in that gross study this week) or leftovers of the beef if they like it.
Friday: Fundraiser night so my husband and I are going out...the kids will eat something from the freezer. (I am making the final push to get rid of the behemoth...I keep slipping back in to the habit of popping stuff in there!)
Wishing you a great week!
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Oh Fall Where Art Thou?
So after an unusual week (Lego build, Fall Fest, battery dying at a site 22 miles from home), we are settling in to our new normal this week. I know the boys are going to be bummed because it is really going to cut in to playing at home time, but I console myself that the early dark is doing that soon anyway, and this is just preparation for it. But it does make it crucial to have things ready to go for lunches and dinners, so I just spent most of today baking away for the week, so I know for a fact: this is what we're having, for realz. It's in my fridge.
Monday: Rachael Ray turkey shepherd's pie. This was a favorite for a long time but now it's been ages since they had it so the boys might go hungry.
Tuesday: Tacos are in the fridge, ready to go.
Wednesday: Spaghetti.
Thursday: leftovers--shepherd's pie, and also I made Armagnac chicken for Sunday dinner so there are leftovers of that. I finally got smart and something like quintupled the carrots. I love the vegetables in that as much as the chicken, maybe even more.
Friday: Unclear, but probably pizza. It will be after swim practice (which started last week but due to the crazy, we never made it--fortunately the coach was ok with it since the first meet is still far in the future) and it will be the kickoff to my older son's tenth (TENTH!) birthday weekend, so I suspect it will be an all-favorites weekend.
In my kitchen fest (ha ha) today, I also baked off two of the largest sweet potatoes I had ever seen (from the CSA--seriously, the one was about the size of a one-liter bottle of soda) and I will make my favorite miso-sweet potato mash for myself with those. I also have a wilting cabbage from the CSA (and STILL, potatoes aplenty) so I am making the cabbage-white bean dish from 101 Cookbooks; and finally, used the awesome suggestion of the potato gratin, and um, YUM. Also used some of the extra cranberries hanging around with the pears from the CSA to make this pear-cranberry crisp. I am making it for the Mothers & More meeting on Wednesday, though, so I don't know yet how it is. And--finally--I made my sister-in-law's frozen mashed potatoes so those are ready for the holidays.
We are so far relatively unaffected by the government shutdown but not so for our friends. A neighbor works in a federal prosecutorial office (unclear on the details, but we have all cheered as her office has put away several high-profile bad guys), and she's home. Another friend is a labor negotiator, and it strikes me that instead of furloughing him, perhaps they should take him down to DC to work with Congress. Another friend is in foreign service and since is in a language training rotation, is considered non-essential, but that post won't wait. Several friends in DC (of course) are out of work, though the one is a father of a bride-in-a-month, and despite his agitation at not being at work, has delighted his wife by being at home and able to help with the prep. Hoping and praying that sanity and compromise prevail, and soon.
I am completely obsessed with Lorde's Royals. I love her voice, the stripped down sound, the whole thing. Not as thrilled with the video per se but the song itself...I am humming it everywhere.
Busy season here for application prep too so enough blogging for now. Have a great week!
Monday: Rachael Ray turkey shepherd's pie. This was a favorite for a long time but now it's been ages since they had it so the boys might go hungry.
Tuesday: Tacos are in the fridge, ready to go.
Wednesday: Spaghetti.
Thursday: leftovers--shepherd's pie, and also I made Armagnac chicken for Sunday dinner so there are leftovers of that. I finally got smart and something like quintupled the carrots. I love the vegetables in that as much as the chicken, maybe even more.
Friday: Unclear, but probably pizza. It will be after swim practice (which started last week but due to the crazy, we never made it--fortunately the coach was ok with it since the first meet is still far in the future) and it will be the kickoff to my older son's tenth (TENTH!) birthday weekend, so I suspect it will be an all-favorites weekend.
In my kitchen fest (ha ha) today, I also baked off two of the largest sweet potatoes I had ever seen (from the CSA--seriously, the one was about the size of a one-liter bottle of soda) and I will make my favorite miso-sweet potato mash for myself with those. I also have a wilting cabbage from the CSA (and STILL, potatoes aplenty) so I am making the cabbage-white bean dish from 101 Cookbooks; and finally, used the awesome suggestion of the potato gratin, and um, YUM. Also used some of the extra cranberries hanging around with the pears from the CSA to make this pear-cranberry crisp. I am making it for the Mothers & More meeting on Wednesday, though, so I don't know yet how it is. And--finally--I made my sister-in-law's frozen mashed potatoes so those are ready for the holidays.
We are so far relatively unaffected by the government shutdown but not so for our friends. A neighbor works in a federal prosecutorial office (unclear on the details, but we have all cheered as her office has put away several high-profile bad guys), and she's home. Another friend is a labor negotiator, and it strikes me that instead of furloughing him, perhaps they should take him down to DC to work with Congress. Another friend is in foreign service and since is in a language training rotation, is considered non-essential, but that post won't wait. Several friends in DC (of course) are out of work, though the one is a father of a bride-in-a-month, and despite his agitation at not being at work, has delighted his wife by being at home and able to help with the prep. Hoping and praying that sanity and compromise prevail, and soon.
I am completely obsessed with Lorde's Royals. I love her voice, the stripped down sound, the whole thing. Not as thrilled with the video per se but the song itself...I am humming it everywhere.
Busy season here for application prep too so enough blogging for now. Have a great week!
Sunday, September 29, 2013
My Favorite Category of Food
Well, we are in a crazy place--by October everything is up and running, activity-wise, and now what seemed reasonable is looking a little like craziness! The swimming is what is sending me over the edge but we will see how it goes. And really--this week is just sending me over the edge, with lots of odd one-time activities.
Thank goodness--this weekend we were in New York for a bar mitzvah and we were sent home with TONS of leftovers! We'll be eating risotto and mashed potatoes all week. (There was so much more awesomeness to the bar mitzvah than that, but this is my dinner blog!) Hence the title: my favorite food is always leftover party food!
Monday: apple-sausage-potato bake. With mashed potatoes. It's a little potato heavy but mmmm.
Tuesday: Lego build! We will deviate from our usual plan but I can live with that.
Wednesday: spaghetti. Just us, at home, but still--yum.
Thursday: Taco Thursday
Friday: School Fall Fest! This is always a good night. We'll be selling pumpkins all night long but it should be fun.
We will have to see if we can freeze risotto...should be an interesting experiment!
Have a great week!
Thank goodness--this weekend we were in New York for a bar mitzvah and we were sent home with TONS of leftovers! We'll be eating risotto and mashed potatoes all week. (There was so much more awesomeness to the bar mitzvah than that, but this is my dinner blog!) Hence the title: my favorite food is always leftover party food!
Monday: apple-sausage-potato bake. With mashed potatoes. It's a little potato heavy but mmmm.
Tuesday: Lego build! We will deviate from our usual plan but I can live with that.
Wednesday: spaghetti. Just us, at home, but still--yum.
Thursday: Taco Thursday
Friday: School Fall Fest! This is always a good night. We'll be selling pumpkins all night long but it should be fun.
We will have to see if we can freeze risotto...should be an interesting experiment!
Have a great week!
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