What's for Dinner?

Making a menu was hard this week. I don't know if it's because it's summer or if I'm just in a funk, but I don't feel like cooking and it was hard to come up with stuff to make. So...

I went looking through my recipe printouts from stuff that I've found on-line in the past. There are two recipes this week from "30 Minute Meals." Let me say, right off the bat, that Rachael Ray annoys the heck out of me. I hate that she can't just say "olive oil" and that she has all the cutesy expressions for everything. However, Rachael Ray used to be on at 6:00 pm in our time zone and when Abby was a baby that was a VERY bad time of day for her. We were careful with what kind of TV shows we watched with Abby around even when Abby was a baby and the Food Network was a "safe channel". Abby really liked Rachel Ray and I enjoyed sitting in a chair with a baby who wasn't crying while I waited for Nick to come home. When Abby learned to talk, she called Rachael Ray "30 Minute Meals" (or a baby talk approximation of that--I can't remember exactly how she pronounced it.) As much as I disliked Rachael Ray's personality, I had to admit that she made some good food. So, that's the story behind those recipes.

Sunday
Make your own Tacos*
Watermelon

Monday
Frozen pizza**
Jell-O Jigglers with Strawberries

Tuesday
Italian Mini Meatloaves with Macaroni and Cheese (this is one of the "30 Minute Meal Recipes that you can find here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/italian-mini-meat-loaves-with-mac-and-three-cheeses-recipe/index.html
Green Salad

Wednesday
Wild Mushroom Quesadillas with Warm Black Bean Salsa (I'm getting them out of the way together. Here's the recipe for this one: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/wild-mushroom-quesadillas-with-warm-black-bean-salsa-recipe/index.html)
Green Salad
Watermelon

Thursday
Hoisin China Noodles with Four Flavors (from The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper--this is my only night of real cooking this week)
Stir Fried Bok Choy

Friday
Breakfast for Dinner
Fruit Salad

Saturday
I have no idea--hopefully an idea will come to me and I'll have everything that I need in the cupboards. Or hopefully we'll have some left overs.

*This was really fun, as I got hard taco shells and Abby called them "Taco Buns." She also pretended that she had her own cooking show and narrated for us while she made her taco. Perhaps she was remembering back to those long ago days of watching "30 Minute Meals."
**Nick had a board meeting and with my lack of desire to cook, I wasn't going to cook for just Abby and me.

Lunchbox Ideas

Abby starts kindergarten soon (August 24th), so she'll start taking her lunch ever day. She doesn't like sandwiches, so I've been trying to think of some "sandwich alternative" ideas. We have some insulated containers, so she can take potsickers and rice, or scrambled eggs and bacon, but we need some other options.

Right now* I'm trying out two things. I have dough rising to make Portuguese Corn Bread**. My "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" has a recipe to use the corn bread dough to make spicy pork buns. I read through that recipe and it doesn't seem like something that Abby would like, however I'm thinking that I can use the technique to make buns that are filled with ham and cheese and maybe tomatoes or some kind of vegetable. I think that Abby would eat that and it would be a sandwich alternative.

I'm also trying to make-over my banana bread recipe. My recipe is the one that my mom always made and it comes from my aunt's neighbor. It has a lot of sugar in it, so I've tried it with an extra smashed banana and almost no sugar. I added a little bit extra flour to take the place of the bulk of the sugar. The batter tasted right,*** so will hope that the bread comes out okay. I have no idea if I need to adjust the baking time because I took the sugar out. The reason for the banana break make-over is that Abby likes banana bread and cream cheese sandwiches, and that will be a viable lunch option as long as the banana bread isn't like cake.

Finally I'm making Jell-O Jigglers with strawberries. I feel like Abby (and me) doesn't eat enough fruit and vegetables, so I thought that the jigglers would be fun to make. I have tiny flower cookie cutters that I want to use to cut them out, once the Jell-O has set.

I talked to my sister yesterday and I think that she is a homemade yogurt convert. She lives in Phoenix and is trying to figure out a way to keep her milk at 110 degrees using solar power/the heat of Phoenix. If you want to try making your own yogurt, I recommend the directions at http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/.

Happy cooking!!!

*Literally, right now
**I don't know what makes it Portuguese--I haven't made corn bread from scratch before
***Yes, I taste things with raw eggs in them while cooking because I like to live on the edge.

I wish that you could smell my kitchen

I am making four loaves Brioche Filled with Chocolate Ganache today for the cake stand at our church's Parish Festival. I think that this is the best that my kitchen has ever smelled. The brioche is like a giant chocolate filled croissant. There's ganache rolled up in the bread dough, caramelized sugar on top and then more ganache--how can that not be tasty.

I'm still working on Olivia's Quiet Book. It's going pretty quickly, but now I have probably jinxed myself. I'll post more pictures of it soon, as I'm really happy with how everything is turning out.

I also got the pattern yesterday for the apron that I'm making my best friend for her birthday--that will be the next project once the Quiet Book has been completed.

I'm going to go and smell my kitchen some more.

My Quiet Book

I had a beloved Quiet Book as a little girl. It was a gift from my grandma, handmade by some hospital axillary ladies and sold as a fund raiser. I have no idea how many trips to church this book has made, since Abby has now adopted it as her own. I loved everything about my quiet book--especially when my mom remembered to put a piece of gum in the "Surprise" pocket at the end of the book.

Since I started sewing again, I have wanted to make my own Quiet Book. I'm updating some of the activities (and eliminating the racism*). I'm making my first book as a present Abby's friend Olivia, who will turn 2 soon. Here are the first four pages of Olivia's book. The letters on the "Write your name" page Velcro off, so Olivia can practice spelling her name. Olivia's book is going much faster than I anticipated. I'm not sure if I'm going to put these on Etsy--it will depend on the total time that they take (and also how much Olivia likes hers). In the mean time, I'm having fun re-creating one of my favorite toys. I'm hoping to hide this one from Abby, so she doesn't demand a new one. I quite like that she uses my own. Oh, if you look carefully in some of the pictures, you'll notice my trademark wonky style of hand sewing.

If anyone was wondering, I'm not posting a "What's for Dinner" this week. I do have a menu, however we have too many variables in our evenings this week and I've basically thrown the menu out the window and plan to recycle it for next week. Now you have something to look forward to.

*It's crazy--who would have thought that a Quiet Book from the '70s could be racist, yet mine is.

Tiny Totes with their New Owners

I was really pleased this morning to get an e-mail from my best friend that the personalized totes that I made for her kids had arrived.* I had LOTS of issues at the post office last week when trying to mail the package. The post code for Wales wasn't showing up in the computer and I was very worried that these weren't going to make it or that they were going to get there AFTER they had left for their trip. Ben said that this bag was the best thing that he has ever seen, which is saying a lot for an almost 6 year old boy. It is always really nice when something that you make is appreciated!

In other news, Yukon seems to be mending well and about 80% recovered. I think that he'll be sad when he has to go back to his usual food and isn't getting homemade boiled chicken and brown rice.

*If anyone is wondering about the picture, I used the "Cartoon" effect from my Kodak EasyShare Software to conceal the kid's identities a little bit. James is missing from the picture, as he didn't feel like posing this morning.

Little Sickie

Our dog has Pancreatitis*. This really doesn't have anything to do with anything, but here's a picture of our little sickie, who has been confined to the kitchen (which you will understand if your dog has ever had Pancreatitis). Abby made Yukon a sign with says "No Yukon**" to remind him that he can't leave the kitchen.


Today has been a long day. Using the steam carpet cleaner before 8:00 am is usually a good indicator that the day will be bad. I'm looking forward to Nick getting home in about an hour and then I can start cooking dinner, which is relaxing for me.


I'm also getting ready to start my next project, which is going to be a Quiet Book for one of my friend's daughters.


Hopefully all of you are having better days than me.

*Who knew dogs could get Pancreatitis--apparently it's very common.
**The sign has all the correct letters for Yukon's name, just not in the right order. She did know how to write "no" all by herself, which I find impressive as she hasn't started kindergarten.

What's for Dinner?

I spilled Diet Coke (it just splashed, so "spilled" is perhaps exaggerating) and it ruined the computer keyboard earlier tonight, so Nick went and got a new keyboard. It is one of those curved ergonomic ones and it's really hard to type on. I feel like I'm having to re-learn to type.

Anyway, I've been meaning to post this week's menu. This week isn't anything spectacular. I'm not in a fancy cooking mood and many things seem to be conspiring against me and have been delaying dinner. This week is more simple, but still has some family favorites.

Sunday
Salt & Pepper Pork Chops
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Garden Green Beans

Monday
Giant dinner salad with my home made dressing
Fresh baked baguette (that I made myself and was very proud of)

Tuesday
Hamburgers
Corn on the Cob
Sauteed Mushrooms
Tater Tots
(not my best night)

Wednesday
Seven Layer Taco Casserole (from The Frugal Chef http://thefrugalchef.com/2009/03/seven-layer-taco-casserole/)
Fruit Salad
If you've never looked at it, I'd check out The Frugal Chef website. She has a ton of recipes to look at and you can also sign up for a weekly email with a new recipe

Thursday
Leftover Seven Layer Taco Casserole
Fruit Salad or Green Salad

Friday
Ziti with Spinach, Cherry Tomatoes and Gorgonzola Sauce (from Cooking Light, September 2008)
Green Salad

Saturday
Eggs Baked on a Bed of Sauteed Mushrooms and Croutons (from Weeknight Kitchen with Lynne Rossetto Kasper, March 5, 2008)

Much of my dinner issues this week has to do with this really nasty road construction near my house--it keeps making me late. Also I am feeling extra lazy this week. Hopefully next week I will feel more inspired.