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Monday, February 16th, 2009

Happy Belated Valentine’s Day

We made some last minute valentine’s on Saturday afternoon.  Chase can’t say love so Ben taught her to say I heart mommy which is kind of cute and a little funny too.  

Things have been so busy in general that it was great to have 4 solid days of free time.  I finished reading twilight, got crackalackin on some home organization projects (which are all, of course, only half finished) and did some cooking.  

I was skeptical about Twilight but Chelsea insisted that I read it.  I trust her opinion on books but I think she’s biased when it comes to stories about Vampires.  Our tastes always diverged somewhere between Snoop and Anne Rice.  But she was relentless and since I love discussing what I’ve read with her I took her up on it.  It took me a week to get through and I thought I was over it about 2/3 of the way through but the sexual tension and then the ending kept me going.  I don’t think I’d shell out for the rest of the series but since she’s kindly offered to ship them to me I think I’ll push through.  While I’m waiting for them to arrive I have the prequel to Anne of Green Gables that I borrowed from the library to read.  I hope it’s not just full of sad things that happen to orphan children.  We’ll see.  

Last night we made pizza for dinner using a simple recipe from the BHG cookbook.  The crust was just ok.  It lacked chewiness and flavor as far as I’m concerned.  Ben thinks it was pretty good but that I made the crust too thin and crispy for his liking.  

I also made a huge batch of ‘chex’ mix with all kinds of goodies that I like in it.  And I made a big batch of granola that tastes fantastic using a recipe from Martha’s website originally published in Body + Soul magazine.  

Tomorrow it’s back to work for me but it will be a short week… I think, you never really can tell.  What have you been up to?  Oh, and that patch came out of the wash just fine, yay.

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Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Soup, It’s What’s For Dinner

Dinner… every. single. night.  It plagues me.  I have not successfully managed to be consistent about planning.  It makes it so very hard to get through the week.  I find thinking of what to make for dinner way more exhausting than anything that happens at the office.  I even find it exhausting on the days when I’m not in the office.  Like today.  All I did today was take the kids to the library, the playground and out for a snack.  That’s it.  The rest of the day was spent around the house and still at 5pm I had no idea what we’d be having for dinner.  

And all of that wouldn’t be a problem if I could just reach into the freezer and find something to too into the oven to bake until hot.  Don’t get my wrong, that happens from time to time especially when things get really hairy but I don’t like to keep processed foods in the house.  We always have ingredients but never anything to eat in a hurry.  I try to keep some extras or other meals I’ve prepared ahead of time in the freezer but I can never seem to stay ahead of the game.  Anyway, back to tonight’s dinner.  

I thought and thought and thought about it and around 5:15 it came to me.  Out of nowhere.  Soup!  Tomato soup!  A quick search turned up a few possibilities.  My criteria were simply that it be quick and consist of pantry items I had on hand to wit, Rachael Ray’s Quick Creamy Tomato Soup.  It’s consists of virtually nothing.  I even fancied it up by tossing a crushed clove of garlic in with some olive oil before the tomatoes and broth.  Of course then I unfancied it by adding 1/2 teaspoon of dried basil instead of fresh but you know, whatever.  I didn’t make true toppers either but we used some dinner rolls we had on hand to make quick garlic toasts.  All in all a really satisfying dinner for 30 minutes worth of thought and work, combined that is.  I still need to be better about planning.  The chest freezer is almost empty it’s almost time to place another order for meat.  I can’t remember anymore when our last order was but I believe we were wearing t-shirts when we picked it up.  Apparently 100 lbs of meat lasts a long time.  

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Thursday, January 1st, 2009

Montreal Bagels

They’re one of our favorite things. We rarely get to indulge since we rarely visit Montreal anymore but we still love and crave them all the time. I’ve always wanted to try my hand at them but when Danielle started talking about mail order bagels I decided it was time. I used this recipe from The Splendid Table. They’re not exactly right but I would say they’re a pretty good approximation. We did almost kill the whole dozen today for whatever that’s worth.

Ben’s suggesting that we make a couple dozen to freeze once or twice a month. Although I found a New York Times recipe that I think might be worth trying and there’s also a recipe in the Artisan Bread book that’s probably worth a shot before officially declaring a winner. What I love most about them is the short rising time. It makes them quick to throw together particularly when you knead the batter with a stand mixer. The recipe only calls for a few ingredients that you might not have stocked in the pantry. I found the King Arthur unbleached bread flour at Safeway although I suspect that all of the available bread flours are unbleached but I can’t confirm that. I bought the tiny bottle of sesame seeds at Safeway too but in the future I’ll probably try to track down a big bag of them in an ethnic type market somewhere. They carry the malt syrup at Whole Foods. It’s a huge bottle of which I scooped out a mere tablespoon and now has to be stored in the fridge so I would really like to make several more batches and maybe sweeten the water with more malt syrup instead of honey.

I didn’t really measure the water, I just filled a big pot and brought it to a boil. I followed the rest of the recipe pretty closely though. The only other adjustment I had to make was to leave them in the oven slightly longer than called for, probably about 5 minutes but it could just be my oven which needs to be calibrated badly.

We ate the bagels hot out of the oven and then for lunch with a homemade smoked salmon cream cheese and sliced tomatoes. Really, really good.

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Sunday, November 9th, 2008

Quick Skillet Lasagne

I made this for dinner tonight.  It’s based on a recipe from a source you might recognize but that I won’t mention here.  From what I hear they’ll come heavy if they hear you’ve made one of their recipes and, god forbid, told anybody about it.  

We really enjoyed this and thought it was as satisfying as a traditionally baked lasagne but really quick and simple to throw together.  The only tricky part is in the simmering.  You must stir it occasionally and keep it over a low flame to prevent the noodles from sticking and scorching.  

Here’s how it goes.  

  • 1lb lean ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes drained, plus enough water to make 2 1/2 cups.
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 lb lasagne noodles broken into 1″ pieces
  • 1 1/2 c shredded fresh mozzarella
  • 8 oz ricotta cheese

Brown the beef in a deep skillet, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste over high heat.  You can season the meat any way you’d like, however you would season it for making spaghetti sauce etc. (I added a little garlic powder for good measure).  Remove from pan and set aside.  You’ll need about a tablespoon of drippings in the pan to cook the onions and garlic, if you have any more than that you can discard it.  

Turn the heat down to medium high and add the onion, garlic and a pinch of salt.  Stir, scraping up any loosened bits for 3-5 minutes until the onions soften slightly.  

Add the tomatoes, reserving their juices in a measuring cup and adding enough water to make 2 1/2 cups and add that too.  Add a hefty pinch of salt for the pasta, the oregano and stir in the broken noodles.  Brink the pot to a simmer, cover and turn heat to low.  Continue to simmer the mixture of 20 minutes or until noodles are cooked.   

When the noodles are cooked through turn off the heat, adjust the seasoning, add the cooked beef and stir in the mozzarella cheese.  Dollop the ricotta over top by heaping tablespoonful, cover and let sit for 3 minutes.  

Serve and enjoy!  We ate this with a salad of baby spinach on the side.  I’ll be eating it for lunch tomorrow, I’m sure it will make good leftovers.  It makes at least enough for 4, but maybe 6 smallish portions served with a good salad and bread.  

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Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

The Anti Foodie Patty Melt

Well I totally blew it already.  I was so wrapped up in the election returns that I alternately remembered and forgot and then ultimately went to bed without posting.  So much for everyday for the month of November.  In any event, things are good around these parts.  Ben was out of bed yesterday at 6am to make sure he was first in line to cast his vote.  I didn’t get to the polls until 12 hours later but I did my part too.  We were glued to our tv (and sadly the computer too) the whole night.  So much excitement and now anticipation oh what’s to come.  

I’ve just got word from a friend that used to live in the neighborhood that she’s opened a shop on etsy.  I’ve checked it out and her stuff is super cute.  I want to introduce you to her soon… like just in time for Christmas.  I can’t do it now though because I’m stupid tired and have to be at work again tomorrow at the crack of dawn.  I should really be in bed right now.  Work is good too.  I’m doing lots of stuff that sounds important, is new to me, but specially reserved for those of us waaaay at the bottom of the totem pole.  When I get home I throw around words like oral exam, confessed judgment and stipulation.  Ben likes it.  

About those anti foodie patty melts.  Another planless dinner.  I had ground turkey in the fridge as well as some fresh mozzarella.  I ran into Trader Joe’s and picked up some of the ricotta that Erin recommended (although I now realize that I forgot the frickin prosciutto.)  I was thinking I would make a quick skillet lasagne from cook’s illustrated but remembered that we had pasta last night.  Plan b?  Burgers!  But why oh why hadn’t I just thought of that in the first place and bought buns when I was at the market?  Plan c, patty melts, because I have toast bread (that’s what we call sandwich bread at our house).  I seasoned the meat simply and made large flatish patties.  When the patties were cooked through I removed them from the pan.  Then I buttered several slices of bread and put a slice of provolone on one half and a slice of cheddar on the other.  Then, and this is the real anti foodie part, I put a squirt of ketchup on the provolone and put the patty back in the middle.  Then I toasted the whole mess like a grilled cheese.  I served it with steamed broccoli (sans tiny green worms thank you very much) and french fries from the freezer.  Chase ate exactly one bite of turkey burger but the grown folks cleaned their plates.  

 

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Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Make Your Leftovers Work for You

That’s my motto most of the time.  I’m on a big campaign to curb the amount of food that gets wasted around here.  It most often happens because I prefer to have a hot lunch of leftovers at work rather than a sandwich or other typical lunch foods.  Which is fine except I only work part time which means that more than half of the week I have to make enough leftovers for a second meal or suffer the consequences of the food going potentially uneaten.  The whole thing is complicated by the fact that Ben’s views on lunch are the exact opposite of mine (although lately his view is shifting).

As a side note, my other big problem is my failure to plan meals ahead.  I just can’t seem to get it done reliably.  It’s a big problem because it means that if I’m feeling too tired or harried that we end up eating out (like we did on Monday) or ordering in.  I like going out as much as the next person but it’s a treat I don’t like using it as a crutch.  

Which all leads me to tonight’s dinner.  Around 3 I started complaining to Erin that I had again forgotten to plan our dinner in advance.  I complained a little more and then I thought and thought and thought about it.  I ended up having to stop at the grocery store on the way home to pick up some reinforcements but I did manage to turn one and a half leftover pork chops into three servings and have it on the table in 20(ok, maybe 25) minutes.  A quick stroganoff is one of my go tos for using  up leftover meat.  It makes for a quick and satisfying meal.  Maybe one day I’ll write down a recipe but for now I’ll just tell you how it goes.  Maybe you’ll try it one day when you’re scrambling for dinner ideas.  

First I sliced a medium onion into half moons and browned them in a little olive oil over medium or medium high heat.  Next I cranked the heat to high and added a package of button mushrooms sliced and seasoned with salt and pepper.  While the mushrooms and onions were cooking I sliced the meat and tossed it into the pan to heat through.  Then I added a few dashes of worcestershire and a good tablespoonful of dijon mustard and stirred that in.  Next goes in about 1/4 cup of chicken broth.  I let the mixture bubble for a minute or two until I’m happy with the amount of sauce that’s left in the pan.  Turn of the heat, stir in a good dollop of sour cream and serve over egg noodles or rice.  

I defy you to take a picture of this dish that leaves your mouth watering but all the same it was hot and homemade and pretty dang tasty if I do say so myself.  What do you do with your leftovers?

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Sunday, October 26th, 2008

New Shoes and Art Blast

Chase got a pair of new shoes today.  When I’m not in the market for new baby shoes I see tons of cute styles in all the stores but as soon as I’m actually ready to shell out for them I can’t seem to find anything that will do.  We tried Nordtrom yesterday they had a couple of different styles but they had might as well have just had two pairs of loafers, one in brown and one in black in terms of available cuteness.  I ended up buying an ok looking pair for way more than I wanted to spend because any price is too much to pay for something you don’t actually want.  I feel the same way about buying stuff you don’t need because you have coupon.  Anyway, they’re super cute and what I was looking for, I’m happy, she’s happy.  

I’ve been buying Stride Rite shoes for her since she started walking and I’m really happy with them.  The shoes, while not fabulously cute, strike a good balance between appearance and comfort.  The shoes are both sensible and durable and I haven’t heard any complaints from the wee one yet.  They make all of their shoes in wide widths that accommodate her fat little feet.  In spite of all that I still sometimes, as I do in all similar circumstance, question whether or not it’s really worth the extra money.  I have decided that it is.

I base my conclusion on a pair of patent leather mary janes that I picked up at Target.  The shoes are cute but they’re the first and only pair that gave her a blister.  The shoes are the right size but as soon as they were on she started complaining that she didn’t want to walk.  Sure enough, there was a blister on her foot by the end of the day.  That was enough to satisfy me, particularly since I discovered the Stride Right outlet at Arundel Mills.  Lots of good deals there and plenty of selection. 

Our neighborhood has many faults BUT today I was extra happy to be here.  We stumbled upon Art Blast at the BMA which ended up being a totally awesome way to spend an absolutely beautiful fall Sunday afternoon.  It was nice so we walked over to the playground.  We could hear loud music that sounded like a concert.  After swinging for about 2 minutes she decided it had to be investigated.  Of course, by the time we got down and up the other side of the park the band was playing their last number but no matter; the whole street was closed off and set up for big art projects to celebrate the museum’s newest installation.  We ran into some friends, did a little sidewalk chalk and then a big drawing that we turned into a button.  Have I mentioned that I’m really big on having fun for free?  

I haven’t posted a recipe in eons but I have one, maybe two in the works.  In the meantime, I made this fake trifle.  There’s no recipe for it.  It’s just a quick way to use up leftover cake.  I had intended to make a luscious version that I saw on Everyday Food but when it came down to it I just needed something sweet and quick.  I just cut the cake into small pieces and layered it in the cup with whipped cream, topped with berries and a little more cream and ate.  It was good though and looked really nice… made Ben jealous that I didn’t make him one, hee.  

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Thursday, October 16th, 2008

Choking Back My Rage

So I had my computer back for exactly 24 hours before I had to turn it over for repair AGAIN.  There’s nothing wrong with the computer itself but it seems that when they replaced the RAM they destroyed the optical drive.  I’ve never heard a disk drive sound so sad.  Although this time I got smart and took it to a local authorized repair shop so I can avoid dealing with the dudes at store in Towson, now that’s genius.  So, I’m feeling so discouraged about it that I don’t really feel like writing a post.  I had lots of things that I wanted to write about and kept pushing them off until I got my computer back.  Now that it looks like it will be another week before that happens I’m taking advantage of the fact that Ben is out at some event thing or other and I can use his machine.  

I’ve been using the crockpot a lot lately although when Erin asked me what I’d made recently I could only think of two things.  I have turkey mole up there right now waiting for me to decide whether or not I’m hungry and I made a Cook’s Country recipe for sunday gravy that I caught on television last weekend.  I was pretty happy with the sauce.  I didn’t have sausage on hand so I made meatballs and cooked them before adding them to the pot.  They held up just fine over the long cooking time and I felt good that I hadn’t needed to buy any extra meat (you know, on top of the 75 lbs we brought home two weeks ago).  I’ve never actually seen the recipe itself so I can’t say this is it exactly as printed but it seemed to approximate what I saw on the show.  I subbed in some shoulder chops for the country style ribs too.  Oh, and yeah I only had skirt steak so I subbed that too.  But aside from changing all of the meats… 

I served pasta on the night I prepared the sauce and used the leftovers to make a yummy lasagne that served for two more dinners.  That was the center of my meal plan for the week I guess.  I also brined, spatchcocked and roasted a chicken that we had for dinner one night with… the name escapes me now for that orange colored cauliflower.  I prepared the turkey mole tonight but didn’t serve it for dinner because I ran away from the office early which through me off my game plan for starting dinner and I put it on an hour late.   

Good news though, I had those mini meatloaves in the freezer so dinnertime was saved.  It was something of a success I suppose.  She scraped off the mashed potatoes and ate the meat.  I just went upstairs and turned the pot off.  I tasted the turkey and the texture is right on.  I think the meat might do well to have a little added seasoning but I’m not to worried about it.  I see this recipe like the sunday gravy.  It was good over pasta but great in lasagne.  This will probably make an ok supper of turkey with rice and beans and a salad but I think it will make great tacos or burritos, among others, shredded and mixed with the sauce.  So I’m done with cooking for the week.  I can enjoy a whole day of not thinking about what to make for dinner before the cycle starts all over again.  Now, what I could really go for is a cookie.  A nice, fresh chocolate chip cookie.  That sounds so much better right now that turkey mole for one.  

Oh, and my fabric arrived today from Crafty Planet for making the book sample.  It has a directional print!  I’m a little psyched and a lot freaked out.

PS Ben just called from Ignite Baltimore and said it’s awesome.  I want to take part in informal festivity and merriment, this is total BS!

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Friday, October 10th, 2008

Elated

Really, I am.  I just got an email today informing me that the jumper I made for Chase a while back was selected for publication in this book!  I can hardly believe it and I’m so totally thrilled.  Law school really got me thinking about getting published somewhere.  I always thought it would be something accademic but this is much cooler.  So now I’m waiting for the fabric that’s been selected for the book sample.  I have to finalize the instructions and remake the jumper using that fabric.     

Oh, and I can post again because Ben hooked me up with a loaner computer until mine is back from the shop.  This thing is a beast!  We use it as a print server and… wait, I shouldn’t say anything bad about it lest it konk out on me too.  The point is I can check my email again and that makes me happy.

On the work front things are pretty good.  I’ve been tasked with a lot of lawyer type things to do lately.  I think I crossed that invisible threshhold that moves you from the new kid to co-worker.  Not a single thing changed between this week and last but all of a sudden I have lots of work to do, email to write calls to return.  A little down time is nice but it’s also good to feel like there’s a purpose behind schlepping your butt to work everyday.

I posted a while back about this quick little headband project I found on someone’s blog.  I can’t give credit where credit is due because I have no clue without my bookmarks where I found it.  It’s a cute project though and I’m going to make more.  It’s not the best picture but it takes about 100 years to upload a single photo so it’s abotu as good as it’s going to get for now.

From Project

 

I was also tagged by Kayris here, so without furtrher ado… Six Random Things

1) I have a bionic nose.  I can smell anything… anything from far, far away.  I used to have bionic ears too.

2) I don’t like candy and ice cream and I don’t like chocolate.  It’s not so much that I don’t like it.  I can eat a nice piece of dark chocolate or a scoop of vanilla every now and then but I’m a fruit desserts kind of a girl.  I’ll always pick lemon bars, apple pie or strawberry shortcake over any of the above mentioned items. 

3) I am so addicted to my morning coffee that if I don’t have it by 9 I’ll either a) kill you b) be too weak to kill you but really say really bitchy things c) be so weak that I can only yell bitchy things at you from a horizontal position.

4) After 8 years of higher education I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up and I secretly love being a student.

5) I have a lot of Indigo Girls CD’s… a lot.

6) I know the lyrics to almost every song on the radio.

I have a few more things to write about but there’s a bottle of Coke upstairs that’s calling me.  We can’t buy soda for this very reason.  If it’s here no one can rest until it’s gone.  Hopefully I’ll get to writing about this past week’s menu plan tomorrow and start thinking about one for next week.  MommyK, I’ve got some turkey on deck too… we need to brainstorm.

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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

I Don’t Care What They’re Saying About HFCS

You’ve seen the new ad campaign right?  I think I take the position on HFCS that a lot of home cooks take which is simply that if I can’t procure HFCS to use an an ingredient as a home cook I’m going to be highly suspicious… highly.  But this isn’t really a post about HFCS, this is a post about snacks.  HFCS comes into play because the ones that ben likes to eat unfortunately contain it and Chase loves to have bites whenever she sees him eating one.  All of my feeble attempts to offer her a store bought substitute also failed so as a last resort I decided to try my own.  Not to mention that dad agreed to give up his faves if the experiment was any good. 

I used a lot of different sources for inspiration including this, this and this.  I used a little big of each of the recipes and the result was a success.  I think that next time I would mix a double batch because 2c of oats comes out looking kinda puny but the taste and texture was right on.  They kept perfectly well stored on the counter in a tupperware container.  

They flipped out nicely and in one piece.  I meant to take a picture of them cut… but I forgot.  It was almost too late but I got a shot of Chase nibbling on one. 

So they were good, the thing is now I have to make them… like all the time.  

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