Eat Like a Hobbit Day

I should have posted this a bit ago, but better late than never right?
The family and I love to geek out, as you can probably tell from everything I post. We decided to have an Eat Like a Hobbit Day on the Saturday that we would see the newest Hobbit movie. It was a lot of work, and a lot of dishes, and a lot of food, but it was sooo wonderful!

For those of you who may not know, Hobbits eat a lot!
7 meals to be precise.

First breakfast- Blueberry scones
Second breakfast- "Hobbit Holes" (jalapeno bagels fried with an egg in the hole) with sausages
Elevensies- Apple pastries with grapes
Luncheon- Assorted meats (chicken, salted pork, beef) cheeses, breads, pickles, carrots, tomatoes
Tea- Seed cake (caraway, pumpkin and sunflower), Honey cakes, and teas
Dinner- Mushroom, Kale and PoTaTo soup
Supper- Beef with a salad

I know there are a few things most people would add, like fish but I'm allergic, so it just isn't happening in my house. Lots of fun, but I may need a year to recover before we try it again!

Sauced Applesauce

I've been participating in Nerd Battle on craftster.org. Such a great group and it is so fun to see what everyone creates to fit into the prompts. One of October's battles are "Bottoms Up"- create something inspired by your favorite drink.

Well, my favorite fall drink is apple cider or apple beer with a shot of Fireball whisky. So I decided to make and can some applesauce with some yummy whisky in it. It turned out delicious and I'm having a hard time keeping the family away from it. I am hoping to still have some this winter.

Menu Plan 4/4/2012- Do you hide nutritious food?

Do you hide food from your kids? I do and I don't. Growing up my mom always stretched ground beef by adding oatmeal. I do that too. I have always added chopped veggies to everything. I don't really hide them, it's not a secret from my children though. At least not until yesterday.

Our biggest weakness as a family is queso dip. By far not good for you. It's like crack for us. I'm just as guilty. Last night I had an epiphany, white bean puree! My eldest son HATES beans of any kind. He grumbles and argues. He feels I ruin most foods by making them better for him. I am now one of those sneaky moms. I pureed a cup of white beans, mixed it with what was left of the evil queso dip, and NOBODY KNEW!! Yes, we're still eating evil queso, but it's at least a little bit better for us right?

Well, I assumed it was a fluke, but necessity reared it's head today. I was making Lasagna Soup (recipe coming soon) my boys don't care for ricotta, they prefer when I make lasagna with cottage cheese, but I was low on cottage cheese, so I pureed about 1.5 cups of navy beans with the cottage cheese I had, some salt and pepper, and some Parmesan cheese. Again, NOBODY KNEW! It really got me thinking of all the creamy cheesy foods that the kids and hubby love. What if I replace some of the evil with pureed beans? More protein and fiber, less fat. I will be trying this out and I'll let you know how it works out.

Menu Plan
Monday- Meatloaf, baked potatoes, steamed asparagus, lettuce salad
Tuesday- Lasagna Soup (recipe coming soon)
Wednesday- Rotisserie Chicken (got a new rotisserie so we'll have to give it a try), grilled potatoes, broccoli & cauliflower
Thursday- Pot roast sliders, spinach salad, quinoa pilaf
Friday- lunch- chicken pot pie supper- Pizzas
Saturday- lunch- leftovers supper- cabbage rolls
Sunday- brunch out supper- cheese fondue w/spinach salads

Summer Activities

Well, summer has most definitely begun for us. We've already had our big camping week (since we couldn't find another week available all summer.) The big spawn got to bring some buddies along, as sort of an 8th grade graduation celebration.

Now summer school has begun with babysitting classes and my big spawn attending driver's ed classes (gulp!)
We always try to have some sort of family project through the summer too. Kind of a "keep your mind working" class of sorts. It's really hard to think of great activities for teen/pre-teen boys to do that they'll enjoy during summer and learn something. Well, some years are far more productive than other years, but I have a good feeling about this year. We're having a cooking class/cookbook writing class. The boys are really taking the lead on this which I think is awesome! They've come up with a bunch of recipes that we enjoy as a family and that are requested frequently. Then they are making the recipes, testing them, measuring carefully, writing out the recipe, typing it up, photographing the finished product and when summer is over we'll publish it as a cookbook.

We did our first submission today. Magic 7 layer bars. I honestly don't know where this recipe originated, we've made it forever and I know tons of others who do too. I would venture to guess it was on the back of some packaging. Anyway, here's what they wrote so far. They will be adding family anecdotes and such to it too later

Magic 7 layer bars
4oz. of butter (that's a stick)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 oz. of chocolate chips
6 oz of butter scotch chips
1 1/3 cups coconut
1 can of sweet and condensed milk
1 cup chopped pecans (optional, but Mom says we should to give it an ounce of nutrition)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Melt butter in a 9X13" pan. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbles over butter, mix well, pat it in to the pan with fork. Do this really hard so you get a nice crust. Top crumble crust with chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and nuts. Then sprinkle coconut on top. Drizzle the sweet and condensed milk over the whole thing. Bake 25-30 min until browned a little on edges. Cool then cut into squares. Prep time: 5-10 min. Cook time 25-30 min.

I just copy and pasted what they typed. I'm not sure if I should leave in typos and spelling errors, or have them fix it. They're cute, but it is supposed to be teaching them something.

Stuffed Bread Loaf- Picnic Food

Summer is FINALLY here in Wisconsin. Not only does this mean we get to enjoy the outdoors so much more, it also means crazy late nights with baseball and soccer. Hey, I'm not complaining! I adore this weather and time of the year. The only problem is the food. I learned recently that I am pork intolerant. This sucks, but I have to just get used to it and move on. And make adjustments.
What food do they have at the local ballpark? Hotdogs (nearly all are pork or part pork,) brats (pork) and pizza (pepperoni and sausage... both pork.) Though we would indulge in these items occasionally (the nutrition just isn't there,) I really can no longer do that. Did I mention there is absolutely no fast food in my town? Oh, I didn't. Well, there isn't, so that isn't a quick option anyway. So now we must bring something. Which really is ok, the nutrition will be much better, but I will need to be creative and think ahead. So what to make?

Here is the first travel supper of the season. Stuffed bread! It baked up wonderfully! Was super easy to make, and tasted good. I will make again, but I think I'll bump up the seasoning a bit more.

I started with Smitten Kitchen's bread without a timetable recipe
I stuck pretty close to the actual recipe she gave.
Then when she makes the baguette. I just filled in some yummy fillings before rolling.
This version was sauteed kale, carrots, mushrooms, onion, leek, garlic, broccoli, & red pepper. I sauteed it in a bit of butter and a splash of chicken broth. I seasoned it with thyme, marjoram, parsley, salt and lots of pepper.

Then I covered it in Gruyere cheese and rolled it up. I brushed it with water and snipped some spots on top.


I baked it on parchment paper. It came out golden. I let it sit a bit before I cut into it.

My husband and boys liked it alot. They all said it would have been better with bacon (again, I can't eat pork.) Really you could use any filling you wanted. Next time will probably be more of a pizza style or taco style one. This will travel really well though, and will definitely make it into our travel/picnic food rotation.

Do you have any great tried and true picnic recipes? I'd love to hear them!

Hope Chests for Today?

My husband has been traveling a lot for work. I don't tend to sleep well when he travels. So I'll find myself up at 2 or 3 in the morning. I can't do much cleaning as I'm afraid I'll wake the boys. (Ok, that's not entirely true, there is plenty of cleaning I could do without worry that I'd wake them. I honestly think my body is exhausted, but my mind won't let me sleep.) So I tend to think. Anyone who knows me well, knows that this can be extremely dangerous!

My latest topic... Hope Chests.

I didn't have a hope chest, I didn't really know anyone who did. I don't know if it's just the area I grew up in or if it's my age (born in 1978.) I did of course know of them. They were something that women did way back when... and they were where young ladies and their families would place items for the lady's future home. Ok, there may be way more to it than that, but this was my knowledge of them.

I don't have girls, I have oodles of nieces, but in my home are boys. I remember what it was like when my husband and I first started off. We didn't have a big wedding with showers and gifts. We actually didn't get any wedding gifts. We already had our eldest son and my husband just graduated from college. It was hard! I still don't always think we've "caught up" with the people who were given many items as gifts. So when my children were born, I said that when they turned 13 I wanted to give them gifts for their future homes (or when the go off to college or whatever.) A little kick start so it wouldn't be quite so rough for them. Well, my eldest is now 14 and I can honestly say I didn't start that yet. It's not for the lack of wanting, it's I didn't have any idea what to get him. Sheets... what size will he have in the future? Dishes.... will he like the colors/pattern I pick out then? Basic utensils/cooking supplies.... maybe, but where to start? Small appliances.... they always come out with better and cheaper. I was too overwhelmed, so it was just given up on.

Now, I'm thinking again about it. Maybe I went about it wrong. I make things. I teach my boys to make things, at least basic skills. I teach my boys to cook and to sew and to clean (ok, not great by example, but I try.) I want my boys to be partners to their future spouse and to be able to care for themselves until they find the right person. I don't want them to jump into a relationship for a "mommy substitute" so someone can cook and clean for them (you all know what I'm talking about!) I want them to take pride in their home even if it's a dorm room. Maybe homey touches will help them.

I know a Hope Chest isn't traditional for boys. I don't care! Roles aren't the same as they were back in the 1800's or even the 1900's. So what now?

All this ranting and raving is fine, except, I'm not sure I'm any closer at deciding what to give/make my children for their futures.What about touches of the childhood memories for their future children, do those go in there too? Do I enlist my child's help or surprise them when they're older?

I really want to get a nice list together and get started on this. I am hoping to not only do this for my boys but for my sister's girls too. I know their fathers won't and I feel it is something I can do for them since their mom is no longer here to do it for them.

So what goes into a Hope Chest??


I did do a fair amount of Googling with very little results. 2 pages I found that had some inspiration are A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and Miss Abigail's Hope Chest, please if you have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

Soccer is kicking my butt

I love that my boys love soccer, but I have to admit, it's kicking my butt! Soccer along with Church (we're rewriting our Confirmation program,) making Halloween costumes, redoing a few things in our house, I don't seem to have a moment's time. The soccer will end Saturday. I know this, it's tournaments. I'm counting down the days.

Probably the thing in our house that is taking the hit harder than anything is supper time. The boys get home from school at 3:45. Many times they are supposed to be at soccer (a town over,) by 4. It takes us 10-15 minutes to drive that. Then we have games until at least 6:30. Many of those nights we also have had church meetings at 6:30 (2-4 times/week.) So I've been trying to figure out ways to feed my growing teen/preteens and hubby while gone. I'd love it if someone has some ideas they can share with me. Cold sandwiches 3-4 times a week isn't fun (especially in Wisconsin in October!)

The winners so far have been skewered teriyaki chicken and beef/bean burritos.** Throw in some carrots, cucumbers, bell pepper strips, grapes, apple slices, etc.. and they've worked well.

I'd love to hear your ideas for eating on-the-go.

*We are not one of those families who terribly over schedule. We really only let our kids be in one activity per season. It's just that soccer is 2 times per week per child. It adds up quickly.

**The teriyaki chicken skewers; I simply marinated the sliced chicken breasts in a natural teriyaki sauce for 30-40 minutes. I wove them onto the soaked bamboo skewers. Then baked them at 400 F for 30 minutes. Wrapped them in tinfoil and put them in a "cooler" to keep them warm.
The burritos I mixed black beans (sometimes refried beans,) with taco seasoned ground beef, a sprinkle of cheese and a bit of rice. Wrap in a tortilla then "flash freeze" until stiff. Throw them in a container and keep frozen until I need them. Then I bake/microwave them and again put in foil and bring to the games.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

I found out today that I had to make 3 dozen cookies for 4H. I wasn't sure what to do, I didn't have much time. I picked the cookie that has never failed me and the kids and hubby love. I've been making these cookies for years and always get compliments and requests for the recipe. I give them the recipe, and people say they never taste as good as mine. Well, there is a secret, and I'm going to share it with all of you today.


Ginger Molasses Cookies
Ingredients

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies
1 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup un-sulphured molasses

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375F.
Cream butter and sugars together until nice and fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Add egg, vanilla, & molasses and beat.
In a separate bowl combine flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, black pepper and cloves.
Combine wet ingredient mix with dry ingredient mix until well combined.
Place remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar in shallow bowl. Scoop dough with small cookie scoop. Form into balls and roll in sugar. Place them on an ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-13 minutes. You want to slightly under cook them, or they become quite hard. Let them cool on baking pan for about 3 minutes. Remove, from pan and let cook on a wire rack. These freeze well and pack well for shipping also the recipe is fine doubled.

Ok, so that's the recipe. It's good if you follow those directions, now here's the key to making them great.
You MUST use freshly ground cloves! I have a small mortar and pestle, but you could use a bowl and the back or a spoon or a spice grinder. It makes an enormous difference!

Yep, that's it, I know it sounds silly, and it really isn't a big deal, but it is a huge difference trust me. I hope you enjoy, if you make them let me know if you like them.

Black Bean Soup 2 Ways

This is my world famous Black Bean Soup... ok, I don’t know how famous it is, but I have a friend from Australia who loves it, he requests it every time he’s around. And he’s on the other side of the world. I also have a friend who told me she didn’t want baby gifts from me, she just wanted Black Bean Soup. My hubby and my boys love it and request it. So to me that says it’s pretty darn good.
It can be vegetarian quite easily. I use homemade Chicken stock, that’s what I prefer and I always have some in my freezer. You could just as easily use vegetable stock.
I don’t measure at all, so these are guesstimates. Start less, you can always add to taste.
Oh, and this makes a ton of soup, because it freezes like a dream!

Quick Way
2-3 Large Cans of Black Beans Drained & rinsed a bit
1 can refried beans (Vegetarian if you’re going that route)
1-2 boxes of Stock (Chicken or Vegetable) This is a preference thing. I like mine thicker, my kids like it thinner.
¼ cup dried minced onion
2 Tbsp Diced jalapeno or more if you like (use fresh, jarred, canned, whatever)
¼ cup chopped up red pepper (you could use from frozen)
~2 cloves of garlic minced (you can use the jar stuff)
cumin (I start with a good palm full)
~ 1-2 Tsp cayenne powder (depending on how hot you like it, that would be medium)
½ tsp chili powder
salt ( not much, canned beans tend to be salty, you can always add more)
Fresh Cilantro (I’m sorry I think this is a must & I use a ton!)
1 Tbsp Lime juice (optional I like it)
¼ cup Prepared Salsa/Pico (fresher the better though)

Optional Toppings
Fresh Cilantro
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheese
More Salsa
Tortilla Strips/Chips

Dump all of the ingredients in a big pot and cook on medium heat until it starts to bubble a bit, stirring occasionally. It should take about 20-30 minutes. Put in bowl, top if desired. Eat. Makes a ton, freeze extras if you want.

Cheaper Way
1-2 bags of dried black beans
1 can refried beans
8 cups or so of homemade stock (more if you like it thinner, less if you like it thicker)
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced red pepper
2 jalapenos diced
2 cloves garlic minced
A palm full of dried cumin
1-2 Tsp Cayenne powder depending on how hot you like it
½ tsp chili powder
salt (Usually about 2-3 Tablespoons worth, but I don’t salt my stock or beans, so it needs it)
Fresh Cilantro (LOTS!)
Juice of 1 lime (optional, I like it, hubby not so much)
¼ cup salsa/pico (I use my recipe)

Optional Toppings
Fresh Cilantro
Sour Cream
Shredded Cheese
More Salsa
Tortilla Strips/Chips

In a huge slow cooker, soak beans night before according to package directions. In the morning drain and rinse (helps prevent a lot of excess gas.) Return beans to slow cooker. Saute onion and red pepper in a bit of butter/olive oil until tender. Add to slow cooker. Add everything except the cilantro and toppings. Cook all day on low (4 hours or so)
10 minutes before serving add cilantro. Cook for 10 min. Put in bowl, top as desired. Enjoy. Freeze leftovers if desired.

It’s a “wing it” recipe. Everyone has slightly different tastes, so some things are less appealing. Go with what your family likes.

Tostadas and Stuffed Jalapenos

Last night's supper was so delicious! You know it's good when you can't wait until everything is done to start munching. We made tostadas and stuffed jalapenos.
The stuffed jalapenos recipe (did I mention they are wrapped in bacon!!) came from The Pioneer Woman Cooks blog. They were quite delicious, but I still think they were missing something. So I may have to make up another batch and fool with it a bit.
The tostadas were leftover beef roast, sauteed onion & red pepper, portabello mushrooms, refried beans, black olives, Monterrey jack cheese, Colby cheese (for the boys,) greens, & my homemade salsa. Unfortunately it was canned tomatoes, as I couldn't get my hands on enough fresh ones, but it is quite delicious. I don't really use a recipe, I totally wing it, and it's always a touch different every time, but I'll leave a guideline style recipe in case you're interested.

Fresh & Yummy Salsa

• 1 28oz can petite diced tomatoes; drained (I save the drainings for chili)


• 1-2 diced up jalapenos (if you like spicy leave in some seeds and veins, otherwise get rid of the seeds and veins)


• 1 small-medium onion diced (I prefer red usually, but I had a sweet onion and a red last night that I used)


• Juice of one lime


• salt (I use sea salt) & fresh crushed black pepper to taste


• fresh cilantro (I use a good handful)


• Dried cumin (I use about a big palm full)


• Chili powder (not much, only about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon full)

Mix all together and let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Eat

This salsa is perfect for chips or with tacos and such, but it doesn't always work very well in the casseroles that call for adding salsa. It's maybe more of a tomato filled pico than a salsa that you'd buy in the grocery stores in USA.

I hope you enjoy! I know we did!

Happy National Pie Day!!!

Now I was going to go a little crazy, I know completely unlike me =)

I was going to make a quiche for breakfast, pot pies for lunch (the kids are home and we got Jo a day early!) and a Shepherd's Pie or Pizza Pies for Supper with pie for dessert.

First off, I think that is way too much crust for anyone in one day! So instead I think I will simply make one pie today. It's been so cold and it's supposed to get really cold again, I am wishing for spring. I have some leftover rhubarb in the freezer, so I think a delicious rhubarb pie sounds about right for today. The kids can help me bake it. And Tim hates rhubarb, so we may eat it after lunch! I'll probably make him an apple pie or something, he will be hard at work today, he should get some pie too!

How will you celebrate this joyous Pie Day?

Cold outside but warm inside

We have a day off of school today. Not because of snow or slippery roads, but because it is crazy cold out there. About -40 with the windchill. Brrrrr! Luckily we knew last night that school was cancelled, so we were able to sleep in today. My eldest son decided to make us all omelets for breakfast

(What you don't see is the Mario Bros. fleece sleep pants he's wearing!)

Here is a picture of him with the omelet that he made for his youngest brother (the one who doesn't really want anything in his omelet, and he likes them slightly over cooked.) For the rest of us he makes them "garbage" style. Whatever is in the fridge. So this morning mine had polish sausage, red pepper, green onion, spinach & muenster cheese. Polish sausage in the morning was a bit of a surprise, but it was really quite good.

Right now he is upstairs practicing his French horn by playing the Mario Bros. theme song (which he is winging without sheet music.)

Some days having a preteen can be pretty darn awesome!

Catch Up

Ok, I know I went MIA for quite awhile, so I may post a few things I did while I was gone. Here is my son's 8th Birthday Cake from November. Ignore the goofy expression, he had friends there and really didn't want to take this picture. I told him we were taking pictures until he "gave me happy" and I guess this is what I get for it.

It's a funfetti style cake with marshmallow fondant. It wasn't hard to make, just took a long time.

Most importantly, he loved it!

Terrible little blogger lately

Sorry, I don't know why, just plenty to do around the real world that I've needed to be online far less.

I had a request for my pink cookie recipe and thought maybe others would care to have it also. It is super easy since it comes from a cake mix. Which also means you can adapt it simply by grabbing a different flavor cake mix.

1 box cake mix (above is strawberry, my favorite is chocolate, but try anything!)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

Mix, drop by a small scoop onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 375 F for 7-9 minutes or until puffed and almost no indentation remains when touched. Cool one minute on pan, remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Makes about 22-24 cookies

These make wonderful sandwich cookies. Above is filled with a delicious vanilla frosting I found here at the cupcake project I didn't have vanilla bean paste, so I just used my homemade vanilla extract instead, and I just winged it, I didn't measure. The cookies also taste great with icecream in the center!

Disclaimer: I know these cookies are not healthy or even the tastiest, but sometimes you need a quick and fairly yummy cookie. This is that recipe!

I have a few other things I hope to post soon, but I'm waiting for them to be received before I show pictures.

My current projects include another tea towel tour swap on craftster and Halloween costumes.

Lore is going to be the 10th Doctor from Doctor Who

Liam is going to be Mario

Levi is going to be Lego Indiana Jones

Yes, they all came up with their own ideas! I just have to make them happen.

Tim and I had a ton of ideas, but we haven't been able to lock one down, so it will more than likely be simple.

To Do List

I have a lot to do in the next week. Here are a few of my goals;

Purge the clutter (this is a very daunting task, I haven't had much time all school year. Our house feels like a hotel without a maid. We didn't get to spend any time here, but we just dumped our things off, slept, and went on to our next activity. This is one area that I truly wish to change.)

Spring Clean (again a neglected item)

Stock The Freezer (I am a big fan of bulk cooking. I have always made a large stock and stored them in the freezer to use later. Unfortunately this last year deeply depleted our stock and I have had zero time to replenish. I don't WANT to want to eat out.)

Compile some basic homeschooling type activities. (I feel my children have lost the fun of learning recently. We had some less than attentive teachers, we had some clashing personalities, and we had a lot of miscommunication. My goal is to have the boys very excited about learning again when they return to school next fall.)

Teach & play with Jo (My niece will only be living here through November and then she goes to live with her dad permanently. Originally I was to be her daycare next year, but I was recently informed [sort of] that she will most likely be in Headstart all day and not be here at all. So I want to enjoy the time I do have with her, as she's lived with me for nearly a year and a half of her 3 1/2 year life. After she moves in with her father I will only see her about one day twice a year.)

Finish Crafting For My Swaps & Teacher's Gifts I am currently in 2 swaps on Craftster.org. The Owl Swap and the Favorite Children's Book Swap. The sendout for the Owl Swap is June 10th, and the sendout for the Favorite Children's Book Swap is June 26th. I am a bit of a procrastinator, so I am hoping to break myself of that bad habit too.

These are my goals. I am hoping to accomplish quite a bit of it. So that when the boys are home we don't have to worry too much about that stuff. Just maintenance which is good for them to help with anyway!