As you already know our thanksgiving holiday didn't start out as planned, and it followed that course or so it would seem.
Dinner was okay, the stuffing could have been better and the broccoli casserole was just ok. Football started out great and by the night game was boring. As for the rest of it...
I had great plans of sitting by the fireplace snuggling with my husband, my daughter asleep by my side... Didn't happen... Sleep patterns totally thrown off and the fireplace was a fake, plastic logs with a light under it!
I thought a short hike down a trail with my daughter wondering in front, steep hills and warnings about wildlife changed
our minds.
Indoor heated pools for her to play in and wear her out... Over chlorinated and mobbed by middle schoolers.
Playgrounds that Grampa could chase after her in the sunshine... Turned out to be Harley Davidson dealerships and dancing to AC DC at a sports bar.
While it was great seeing my Dad and watching him play with my daughter was wonderful, what I have learned from this is that you can't set your expectations too high when you have a toddler. Just getting through nap time and bed time in a strange place is a big accomplishment.
Get away over, back to reality and some sense of a regular schedule, oh how I miss that.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thanksgiving Prep to remember...
The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving have been exciting. This will be the first time I can remember spending Thanksgiving with my Dad. He rented a house in the Poconos and we are meeting him there to spend the holiday together.
Since I am making dinner I planned out my menu weeks ago.
Lemon Herb Roasted Turkey
Stuffing
Roasted Potato Medley with Mushrooms, Brussel Sprouts, and Butternut Squash
Broccoli Casserole
Pumpkin Cheesecake
A local fruit pie
A fairly simple meal, right?
On the Saturday before, we braved the masses and food shopped for the items I would be making in advance; cheesecake and casserole. We also picked up the turkey because I was determined to get an organic, cage free bird. I actually had my mind made up on a fresh bird, but fainted at the cost. $4.99-3.99 a pound seemed a little much, I feel good about our choice and we didn't spend a small fortune on turkey! Now let's just pray the darn thing isn't still frozen Thanksgiving morning!
Anyway, so Monday morning I started out my prep day with a good breakfast. I often make a big breakfast for my husband, daughter, and myself and since my mother in law had stayed over I felt like it was a good idea. So I whipped up whole wheat toast, baked cheese and chive omelette, and sliced honey crisp apples. While chopping the apples with my Pampered chef apple slicer I cut a large gash in my right ring finger, this device is now in my recycle bin! Great start to prep day huh?
I've been cooking long enough to know that I should have stopped there, but I ignored that warning and forged on.
After the clean up, I started the broccoli casserole. Overall an easy dish, but it requires several kitchen items and makes a lot of clean up. Luckily my husband happens to love to chop, so I enlisted his aid with chopping the produce for the dish. Once chopped, I resumed kitchen duty to complete the dish.
I decided to play with the recipe a little this year (another dangerous idea since my luck is off today) and mix in cauliflower in addition to the fresh broccoli. I also banned canned items (for health reasons) from my home so we picked up a boxed organic cream of mushroom soup instead of the 2 cans requested in the recipe.
Casserole mixed, poured, ready to bake... Something doesn't look right... Oh yeah canned soup is condensed, boxed not so much! Ok I can do this... Bake uncover instead of covered, let the moisture evaporate. So far so good. I'll report later how this one came out.
Next on to the Maple Bourbon Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake. Sounds great right? !
Grind up cookies for the crust, bake... Smells great already! I used 2 different recipes here, one called for a water bath and the other didn't. I have never used a bath with my cheesecakes and they have all been great so I decided against it.
I get my cheesecake in the oven. Timer set. About 15 minutes in it smells like its burning? I peek in, nothing. Hmmm, must need to clean the oven. Another 10-15 minutes go by, I ask my husband, "do you smell that? It's smells stronger now!"
I peek in again and see a drip from the bottom of the pan. Hmmm ok. So I put a cookie sheet lined with foil on the rack below it to catch the drips. I run upstairs to do a load of wash and I come down to a smoky living room. Open to oven door to a fully enflamed oven floor!
I grab the baby and open the door before the smoke alarm goes off and my hubby puts out the fire. Needless to say the cheesecake is trash! It's grey from smoke. My house reeks!
Could this day get any worse?! After it cools I toss it and clean up the disaster area. I've decided it must have been the syrup from the cookie crust dripping and the sugar caught fire in the oven. Very frustrating!
Oh well! We will buy dessert in the Poconos, they have to have a mom and pop bakery right?
Stay tuned...
Since I am making dinner I planned out my menu weeks ago.
Lemon Herb Roasted Turkey
Stuffing
Roasted Potato Medley with Mushrooms, Brussel Sprouts, and Butternut Squash
Broccoli Casserole
Pumpkin Cheesecake
A local fruit pie
A fairly simple meal, right?
On the Saturday before, we braved the masses and food shopped for the items I would be making in advance; cheesecake and casserole. We also picked up the turkey because I was determined to get an organic, cage free bird. I actually had my mind made up on a fresh bird, but fainted at the cost. $4.99-3.99 a pound seemed a little much, I feel good about our choice and we didn't spend a small fortune on turkey! Now let's just pray the darn thing isn't still frozen Thanksgiving morning!
Anyway, so Monday morning I started out my prep day with a good breakfast. I often make a big breakfast for my husband, daughter, and myself and since my mother in law had stayed over I felt like it was a good idea. So I whipped up whole wheat toast, baked cheese and chive omelette, and sliced honey crisp apples. While chopping the apples with my Pampered chef apple slicer I cut a large gash in my right ring finger, this device is now in my recycle bin! Great start to prep day huh?
I've been cooking long enough to know that I should have stopped there, but I ignored that warning and forged on.
After the clean up, I started the broccoli casserole. Overall an easy dish, but it requires several kitchen items and makes a lot of clean up. Luckily my husband happens to love to chop, so I enlisted his aid with chopping the produce for the dish. Once chopped, I resumed kitchen duty to complete the dish.
I decided to play with the recipe a little this year (another dangerous idea since my luck is off today) and mix in cauliflower in addition to the fresh broccoli. I also banned canned items (for health reasons) from my home so we picked up a boxed organic cream of mushroom soup instead of the 2 cans requested in the recipe.
Casserole mixed, poured, ready to bake... Something doesn't look right... Oh yeah canned soup is condensed, boxed not so much! Ok I can do this... Bake uncover instead of covered, let the moisture evaporate. So far so good. I'll report later how this one came out.
Next on to the Maple Bourbon Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake. Sounds great right? !
Grind up cookies for the crust, bake... Smells great already! I used 2 different recipes here, one called for a water bath and the other didn't. I have never used a bath with my cheesecakes and they have all been great so I decided against it.
I get my cheesecake in the oven. Timer set. About 15 minutes in it smells like its burning? I peek in, nothing. Hmmm, must need to clean the oven. Another 10-15 minutes go by, I ask my husband, "do you smell that? It's smells stronger now!"
I peek in again and see a drip from the bottom of the pan. Hmmm ok. So I put a cookie sheet lined with foil on the rack below it to catch the drips. I run upstairs to do a load of wash and I come down to a smoky living room. Open to oven door to a fully enflamed oven floor!
I grab the baby and open the door before the smoke alarm goes off and my hubby puts out the fire. Needless to say the cheesecake is trash! It's grey from smoke. My house reeks!
Could this day get any worse?! After it cools I toss it and clean up the disaster area. I've decided it must have been the syrup from the cookie crust dripping and the sugar caught fire in the oven. Very frustrating!
Oh well! We will buy dessert in the Poconos, they have to have a mom and pop bakery right?
Stay tuned...
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Chowder...
Sunday is soup day at our home in the winter time and today was no different. It felt like the perfect meal, it's not too cold out, but with my mother in law staying over and me going out with the girls for a few hours, it was perfect!
I'm bored with the same ole, same ole lately so I went on the hunt yesterday for a new soup and found this one...http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com/new-england-clam-corn-chowder/
I knew I wanted to make a chowder and I had some clams and potatoes on hand, but wasn't in the mood for a traditional clam chowder...so tada! Shrimp, Corn, Clam Chowder was born!
I started with the recipe above as a guide, and improvised along the way. It was fabulous! Here is what I did:
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter into 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a stock pot
Sauté a good handful or two of each chopped celery, onion, thin sliced carrots, diced potatoes (4 small) until almost tender 5-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper
Add 5 slices of pre cooked bacon chopped and one clove of minced garlic, sauté a minute longer
Add 3 tablespoons of flour and stir to coat, cook 1 minute
In a blender or food processor purée 1 package of yellow corn with 1/2 cup 1% organic milk until smooth
(Note: I used canned clams, not fresh. I also used a variety of whole, minced, and chopped)
Add to the pot the juice of 3-4 cans of clams. Stir until flour has dissolved. Reserve clams. Cook 5 minutes.
Add to the pot some Thyme and 2 bay leaves. (In case you haven't guessed I don't measure a lot :))
Add the corn purée and a package of sweet white corn along with 1- 1 1/2 cups of 1% organic milk. Add clams.
Stir and reduce heat to low.
I like to let my soups simmer all day on Sunday, but if you don't have the time for that I'd leave this soup on medium heat and stir frequently for 20-30 minutes, then proceed.
Defrost and peel your uncooked shrimp. Add to the soup and stir. You are ready to serve once your shrimp are pink.
Just an FYI...I added the shrimp around 2 and left this simmer on low. My husband and mother in law ate at about 5:30-6 and the shrimp were perfect. I got home and ate at 7:30 and I thought they were too soft.
The next time I make this I think I will sauté the shrimp in butter and salt and pepper and add them bowl by bowl. They were fine this way, but I am not sure how the left over will re heat with the shrimp in the soup.
Also, this soup needed very little added salt. I only added one pinch to it at the sauté phase. My clam juice was quite salty, so be aware. Also, I think it old have used a little hot sauce as a garnish.
This recipe made 6-8 servings and could take as little as 30-40 minutes start to finish.
I hope you enjoy!
I'm bored with the same ole, same ole lately so I went on the hunt yesterday for a new soup and found this one...http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com/new-england-clam-corn-chowder/
I knew I wanted to make a chowder and I had some clams and potatoes on hand, but wasn't in the mood for a traditional clam chowder...so tada! Shrimp, Corn, Clam Chowder was born!
I started with the recipe above as a guide, and improvised along the way. It was fabulous! Here is what I did:
Melt 3 tablespoons of butter into 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a stock pot
Sauté a good handful or two of each chopped celery, onion, thin sliced carrots, diced potatoes (4 small) until almost tender 5-8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper
Add 5 slices of pre cooked bacon chopped and one clove of minced garlic, sauté a minute longer
Add 3 tablespoons of flour and stir to coat, cook 1 minute
In a blender or food processor purée 1 package of yellow corn with 1/2 cup 1% organic milk until smooth
(Note: I used canned clams, not fresh. I also used a variety of whole, minced, and chopped)
Add to the pot the juice of 3-4 cans of clams. Stir until flour has dissolved. Reserve clams. Cook 5 minutes.
Add to the pot some Thyme and 2 bay leaves. (In case you haven't guessed I don't measure a lot :))
Add the corn purée and a package of sweet white corn along with 1- 1 1/2 cups of 1% organic milk. Add clams.
Stir and reduce heat to low.
I like to let my soups simmer all day on Sunday, but if you don't have the time for that I'd leave this soup on medium heat and stir frequently for 20-30 minutes, then proceed.
Defrost and peel your uncooked shrimp. Add to the soup and stir. You are ready to serve once your shrimp are pink.
Just an FYI...I added the shrimp around 2 and left this simmer on low. My husband and mother in law ate at about 5:30-6 and the shrimp were perfect. I got home and ate at 7:30 and I thought they were too soft.
The next time I make this I think I will sauté the shrimp in butter and salt and pepper and add them bowl by bowl. They were fine this way, but I am not sure how the left over will re heat with the shrimp in the soup.
Also, this soup needed very little added salt. I only added one pinch to it at the sauté phase. My clam juice was quite salty, so be aware. Also, I think it old have used a little hot sauce as a garnish.
This recipe made 6-8 servings and could take as little as 30-40 minutes start to finish.
I hope you enjoy!
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Lasagna... What a mess, but worth it?
I found this recipe on Pinterest a week or so ago. Since I have two boxes of lasagna noodles in my cabinet and usually have the produce needed on hand I decided to put it in my menu plan for this week.
Like all lasagna, this requires a considerable amount of prep, the thing I hate most about lasagna. The blog about this recipe touts it as a great left over recipe, it probably is but I never have these items cooked and left over.
See here...http://thekitchykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/roasted-butternut-squash-sauteed.html
So my prep began. I used her recipe as a guide, I changed quantities to make for the three of us.
-1 purple onion sliced thin, sautéed in olive oil until caramelized
1/2 a package of baby Bella mushrooms chopped, sautéed with onions
Sautéed above, added mushrooms after onions were almost done. Pressed 1 garlic clove into pan, added salt and pepper and dried italian seasoning then added spinach. Cover until wilted. Mix together. Set aside.
While that was going I peeled and chopped my squash. I reserved 1/2 of it for another meal and roasted the other half with olive oil and salt and pepper at 400 for 45 minutes.
Mixed my Ricotta until smooth (note: I hate Ricotta, so I bought a local, organic Ricotta at Whole Foods--- if I'm gonna make myself try it again I'm going from broke here!). I got about 1/2 pound of local Ricotta and mixed dried Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Set aside.
Get your fresh Mozzarella cheese. I got 2 medium size balls. Slice thin, tip put them in the freezer for 5 minutes first.
Finally make a basic béchamel sauce and stir in parmesan cheese at the end.
Time to layer! I used a 9x9 glass dish and no boil flat lasagna noodles.
Spray your pan with olive oil (invest in a misto bottle, get rid of that spray Pam!) place a layer of noodles, I used 2. Top with 1/3 of Riccota, 1/3 of veggies, a few slices of motz, about 1/4 of your sauce. Repeat 2 more times
Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Grate Parmesan on top.
Put in a 325 oven covered with foil for 35 minutes. Test noodles, if soft broil top til golden. Let stand 5 minutes and devour!
Note: my method above made 4 healthy portions. Only thing I would change is double the squash to a whole squash.
Also, deemed too cheesy for my 12 month old, she ate some filling and left overs.
Final verdict: 3 thumbs up!
Like all lasagna, this requires a considerable amount of prep, the thing I hate most about lasagna. The blog about this recipe touts it as a great left over recipe, it probably is but I never have these items cooked and left over.
See here...http://thekitchykitchen.blogspot.com/2012/02/roasted-butternut-squash-sauteed.html
So my prep began. I used her recipe as a guide, I changed quantities to make for the three of us.
-1 purple onion sliced thin, sautéed in olive oil until caramelized
1/2 a package of baby Bella mushrooms chopped, sautéed with onions
Sautéed above, added mushrooms after onions were almost done. Pressed 1 garlic clove into pan, added salt and pepper and dried italian seasoning then added spinach. Cover until wilted. Mix together. Set aside.
While that was going I peeled and chopped my squash. I reserved 1/2 of it for another meal and roasted the other half with olive oil and salt and pepper at 400 for 45 minutes.
Mixed my Ricotta until smooth (note: I hate Ricotta, so I bought a local, organic Ricotta at Whole Foods--- if I'm gonna make myself try it again I'm going from broke here!). I got about 1/2 pound of local Ricotta and mixed dried Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. Set aside.
Get your fresh Mozzarella cheese. I got 2 medium size balls. Slice thin, tip put them in the freezer for 5 minutes first.
Finally make a basic béchamel sauce and stir in parmesan cheese at the end.
Time to layer! I used a 9x9 glass dish and no boil flat lasagna noodles.
Spray your pan with olive oil (invest in a misto bottle, get rid of that spray Pam!) place a layer of noodles, I used 2. Top with 1/3 of Riccota, 1/3 of veggies, a few slices of motz, about 1/4 of your sauce. Repeat 2 more times
Top with remaining sauce and cheese. Grate Parmesan on top.
Put in a 325 oven covered with foil for 35 minutes. Test noodles, if soft broil top til golden. Let stand 5 minutes and devour!
Note: my method above made 4 healthy portions. Only thing I would change is double the squash to a whole squash.
Also, deemed too cheesy for my 12 month old, she ate some filling and left overs.
Final verdict: 3 thumbs up!
Friday, November 9, 2012
So lonely...
As some of you may know, my husband got laid off a year ago this month. While it has been a financial struggle, the benefit of having my husband home as our daughter experiences her first year of life has been a tremendous blessing.
This week my daughter and I have gotten a small taste of what it will be like when daddy goes back to work.
Most would say it is nice to have another set of hands with a small child at home, and while that is nice, the truth is I am going to miss my husband when he finds full time employment.
I enjoy spending all day, every day with him. Most of our friends joke that they don't know how we do it, but we both feel it is harder to be apart.
We have been living together for 13 years this December, married 6 of those years. Since we first met, we have been inseparable. In fact, our first date lasted 4 days! From the minute we seen each other for the first time we were hooked.
He is my best friend, a great husband, the best father that I could have ever asked for, and a honest, genuine person. I pray that he finds full time employment that will support our family so that we may get ahead in life, but honestly I'd rather win the lotto so we can continue to spend every minute together. It is in his company that I feel most secure and loved.
This week my daughter and I have gotten a small taste of what it will be like when daddy goes back to work.
Most would say it is nice to have another set of hands with a small child at home, and while that is nice, the truth is I am going to miss my husband when he finds full time employment.
I enjoy spending all day, every day with him. Most of our friends joke that they don't know how we do it, but we both feel it is harder to be apart.
We have been living together for 13 years this December, married 6 of those years. Since we first met, we have been inseparable. In fact, our first date lasted 4 days! From the minute we seen each other for the first time we were hooked.
He is my best friend, a great husband, the best father that I could have ever asked for, and a honest, genuine person. I pray that he finds full time employment that will support our family so that we may get ahead in life, but honestly I'd rather win the lotto so we can continue to spend every minute together. It is in his company that I feel most secure and loved.
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