The Unkept Cook

Birthday Girls

2010-02-02T07:02:00.008-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA M!!

I wish I had a scanner so I could scan in photos of Mama M back in the day . . . back when we were both younger and a little less wise.

But since I don't, these photos will have to do! And since it is ALSO TINY GIRL's BIRTHDAY, she's in a few of these as well :)

this is right after Tiny Girl was born :)

Tiny Girl is about 9 months here and very interested in buttons :) Hmmm . . . maybe I need to go blonde again . . . sorry I digress .. back to the the M!

hehehehe
Camera Happy Mama . . .

He's lovin this . . .
M, it's a good thing you're so kind and fun to be around . . . otherwise most people would have to hate you for how darned adorable you are!! Seriously!

No comment . . . just laughing my arse off :)

(we really loved this cabinet at MckMama's)

Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday To You!
Happy Birthday Mama M!
Happy Birthday To You!

(this is my gift to you--NOT singing the song but typing it instead--your ears are welcome!)

I have been Blessed to have you in my life since God quite literally threw us together! You have the gift of bringing fun and sincerity to everything you do. You seem to embody the perfect balance of a joyous person--you love life and seek fun and yet are a responsible and loving Mama with incredible patience. You taught this tightly-wound single Mom how to loosen up and enjoy life a little more in the day-to-day way back in college; and you're still teaching me life lessons now that we're (*ahem . . .barely!*) in our 30s!

I know we joke about how lucky you are to have Mr. Wonderful--and you ARE :) Or how lucky you are to have 5 healthy and adorable children--and you ARE :) But they are also SOOOOO LUCKY to have you for a Wife / Mama! And I am lucky to call you my Bestie!

Happy Birthday to the Bestest Bestie Ever!

Love you M!

Morning Prayer

2010-02-01T08:19:00.004-06:00

Accountability is a tricky thing. No one really wants to be held accountable and yet so much more gets done when they are. Myself included. I wish I was completely self motivated and was one of those super-humans who can set a goal of daily activity and just do it. I'm not Nike. I mean, I can set goals and I can get things done . . .don't get me wrong . . . but I know for myself that I need some level of accountability. It's why I love being a business owner with clients and project deadlines--I have to answer to my clients and those deadlines. I'm good under that kind of pressure . . . that accountability.

But beyond work, who holds you accountable for your daily habits and lifestyle goals? If you're married, maybe your spouse? I'd love to know if this is true--if you and your spouse hold each other accountable in a good (non annoying) way? Cuz I think that is SO cool . . . like a real partnership. That's something I dream about . . .

But until then I need to build in other accountabilities. One daily habit I'm TRYING to build is daily morning prayer. I used to be great at this but the last few months I've fallen way short of my goal. I'm not talking about saying a little prayer as I get out of bed or even about listening to a sermon or great message . . . I'm talking about intentional quiet time with God. I find my day goes SO MUCH BETTER when I start with Him. ya know?

So last week, my friend Red and I were lamenting this similar problem (not being consistent with our morning prayer) and we decided to do something radical! And hugely inconvenient! We decided to become each other's Morning Prayer partner. So Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays we'll call each other at 5:30 AM and spend 30 minutes in prayer with each other. Out loud on the phone together . . . we each make our prayer requests, we each pray aloud for each other and lift the other up to the Lord. And then usually I'll stay in prayer for about 10-15 minutes after we get off the phone. It's amazing!

Now even though I'm a morning person, I don't much enjoy HAVING to do ANYTHING at 5:30am. And this morning I really really really didn't want to get out of my nice cozy bed. Oh yes, I really do need to get out of bed for this call so I don't fall asleep on my friend. And in fact, I take notes and journal so I need to be fully awake. And I slept until the last possible minute--I set my alarm for 5:25am--giving myself just 5 minutes to spring out of bed, make a stop in the bathroom, put on my robe, grab my glasses and my journal and be set for the call. And the whole time I'm thinking "I could just pray on my own today cuz I could use some extra sleep .. . " but then Red answered with relief in her voice and said "Oh, I really need this this morning." and I realized that so did I. Sometimes we need that accountability--even for things that are good for us and that make us feel good.

And, can I tell you a little secret? My Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are going MUCH better! "The best part of waking up is Jesus in your cup!" hahaha! That's an inside joke with some other Bible study ladies . . .but it's also true :)

Now I need to get up on my own for the other days of the week.

Oh, and starting this Friday I'm going to try my hand at 6:00am Water Aerobics at the Y! Y? Cuz I'm Crazy! . . . oh and cuz another friend of mine goes and so I have built in (you guessed it) . . . accountability!

Said a prayer for all you Bloggers this morning! May this week be filled with Blessings for you all!

Partial Wannabe (Breaded Pepper Strips with Homemade Ranch!)

2010-01-31T12:10:00.001-06:00

So WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY before she was uber popular . . .way before she had numerous shows . . .and before she built her empire . . . back in the day when it was just her and her one little Food Network show . . . I LOVED . . .

Rachael Ray and 30 Minute Meals. I know, I know, people either love her or are annoyed by her . . .but I LOVE 30 Minute Meals. I think she's brilliant. I don't actually want to be RR, but I do admire the empire she's built and love her recipes . . . and I think she's adorable . . .and think it'd be cool to have a food show . . . and would love to travel around the world and get paid for it . . . but I'm not at all attracted her husband and don't envy her insanely busy life . . . so yeah, maybe I'm just a partial Wannabe :)

So this morning I was watching her and she made "Fresh Baked Chile Fries with Fresh Ranch Dipping Sauce" and they were so different from what I was expecting . . .and looked yummy and kinda healthy . . . so that's my weekend food blog. You can watch that episode or go to her site to see it done well :) or you can read this blog post with TONS of photos. Tigger even got involved for a bit :)

You'll Need:
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
fresh herbs (chives, dill, parsley)
garlic
Salt & Pepper
Peppers (Poblano and Bell)
Breadcrumbs
Eggs
Parmesan Cheese
Flour
Spicy Brown Mustard

Work It:

Da Ranch:
You'll need Buttermilk, Sour Cream, garlic, herbs and salt. That's it! I had no idea how easy making ranch at home would be--plus buttermilk is low fat and you can do a lowfat sour cream a and it's pretty darned healthy! Ama-za-zing! RR's recipe called for 3/4cup each of buttermilk and sour cream, but for dipping sauce I recommend a full cup of sour cream and a little less buttermilk.
Here are my herbs all layed out like a cute heart! I've got Italian Parsey, Chives, Dill, and Garlic in there.

You want to use a garlic press or really mash up the garlic so you don't get huge chunks in your ranch.

Dill

Chives

Parsley

Plus Salt . . taste and then a few grinds of salt and then taste again before you add more . . .
Look at that pathetic whisk! It's all mangled . . . no idea how it got that way . . . wierd. Anyway . . .
Then put it in a container and into the fridge for a bit while you make the breaded peppers (a.k.a. "vehicles for dip")
Da Peppers: RR used Poblano and Jalepeno. I'm not a fan of heat, so I used the oh-so-exciting Bell and Poblano (which was living on the edge for me! but Poblano's are sweet and mild but do have just a HINT of heat; and for this non-heat lover it was perfect! I use RED bell's because Red are supposed to be better for you because they contain Lycopene, a cancer fighting carotene)

Slice up the peppers: You want them to be in strips you can hold and dip (not too small)
I just slice down the sides until you're left holding the stem and seeds.
Tigger wandered into the kitchen about this time and wanted to show me his sweet knife skills:

Also, cut with the skin side down, easier to slice through.
That's Tigger in the back ground throwing out his hands and saying "Whoa! Check it!".

You can slice a little ring around the stem . . .and then cut the membrane attaching the stem from the sides and pull out the entire seed pod. The heat is in the seeds! Trust me, I got one seed stuck under my thumb nail and then accidentally licked ranch off that thumb later . . . it burned!

throw that nasty thing away!
Remove the membrane and the rest of the seends and slice away. Plus then you'll have cool rings. You COULD do ALL rings I suppose . . . but my peppers were a little on the limp side and I wasn't sure the rings would hold up as well as strips.
Da Breading:
You'll need 3 stations: 1) Flour 2) Egg, mustard, a little buttermilk, a little flour 3) breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese and any seasoning you want to add

here you can see 3 eggs, about 1-2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard a spash of buttermilk and a Tbsp of flour.

It makes a much thicker egg wash than I'm used to and it turned out GREAT cuz it was more like a batter than breading!

there you go! for being "Unkept" I love the look of a nice organized breading station! Before you start breading, get two cookie sheets sprayed with oil and preheat the oven to 400 degrees!

Tigger jumped back in to help--he manned the flour station. If you look in the background you can see an "Unkept" pile of stuff still from Christmas on an end table . . . waiting to find a permanent home. Shhh . . . don't tell the pile of stuff but that probably IS its permanent home!
Okay, back to breading!

I like to use a fork for the egg batter--lots less gunk on your fingers!
Then dip in the breading--I apparently forgot to take a photo of this.
Place them on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 400, then flip and bake for another 6-7.

Dip them in your homemade ranch and you're good to go! They are VERY yummy! Like even better than I imagined. Oh, and the ranch is SO tasty and refreshing! I'll never buy Ranch again!
This would be a GREAT SuperBowl snack! I'm not a huge football person so I ate them for dinner.

I think RR would be proud . . . :)

5QF--finally a blogpost this week!

2010-01-29T16:59:00.003-06:00

Hello Blogland! I've missed you!
It's been a crazy busy week this week--swim meets, parent night for incoming Freshmen (what?! no . . that can't be right . . .), and lots of work. Which means I haven't posted since *gasp* MONDAY!! Yikes!

Luckily Mama M gives me a great excuse to post today so I'm not such a slouch!
AND . . . Happy Almost Birthday to Mama M! Her Bday is this coming TUESDAY . . . be sure to stop over and wish her a Happy Birthday on Tuesday!:

To join in: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog post, answer them, grab the MckLinky code, and link up! Be sure to link back to Mama M.!

Questions for Friday, 1/29/10: (Muchos gracias to my friends, Lisa P., Liz, Megan, and Thorney London for their question suggestions! Wanna be linked in a future 5QF? Just leave me a question suggestion here, in my community! It's fun and totally not scary...I promise! Check it out!)

1. Would you ever vacation alone?

I would and I have! I used to travel for work and would take a few extra days while I was traveling to vacation. I've also done a few retreats on my own . . and I think I'd be totally fine going somewhere exotic (but full of activity) on my own--like to an all-inclusive resort. I can make friends if need be I suppose :)

That being said, I like vacationing on my own only when I have some introspective self-work to do . . .otherwise I'd MUCH rather go with friends or family. Well, friends anyway :) What I haven't ever done is gone on vacation with a love interest . . . looking forward to that first sometime in the future (probably distant future :)

2. Do you go the speed limit?

Nope . . hardly ever . . . lead foot.

3. Why did you start blogging/following blogs?

I started blogging because my bestie Mama M made me do it! Well, sort of .. . my first blog post (just a month ago!) explains it better.

4. Where do you shop for yourself?
Lane Bryant--almost the only store on the planet with fashionable and reasonably priced plus sized clothing. It's very frustrating yet strangely liberating--I don't waste a ton of time trying to find clothes--If I go to LB and they don't have it, I'm not getting it!
However, I used to LOVE August Max--they had high quality professional clothes for plus sizes . . . but they're no longer in business (sigh).

5. What was the song that you danced your first dance with your spouse to at your wedding...or...what song would you like your first dance to be to?

Not married so this is yet to come. And I have NO idea what I would want it to be--likely a song that has meaning to both me and my groom to be (yet to be named). Although . . . Unforgettable comes to mind . . .

More Unkept Soup- (with a Smoky Tomato base!)

2010-01-24T20:09:00.011-06:00

Unkept Style is usually based on me getting a craving for a flavor combo and throwing things together to satisfy the craving. Soup happens alot in this scenario. I mean, who doesn't love soup? Plus soup is usually my answer when I get home and don't know what I'm going to make for dinner. The other night I was inspired by one of the flavor combos from Carrot Gravy and ramped it up for an awesome soup. The base for a rich and delicious soup is: 2 cans Condensed Tomato Soup, 2-3 Beef Boullion cubes and a can of water AND this:

This is my newest kitchen "Secret Weapon"!! I picked up this seasoning when I made the stuffed mushrooms a few weeks ago and have been using it in just about everything since! Seriously! It gives everything a nice depth. YUM! It's so good that Tigger poured it straight into his hand and then into his mouth (despite my protesting "hey it's not cheap kid!") Buy it. Use it. Thank me later! (and keep your teens away from it)

For this soup you'll need:
2 cans condensed Tomato Soup
(1 can water)
2-3 Beef Boullion Cubes
1-2 Tbsp Smoky Sweet Pepper Seasoning
1/4 to 1/2 Onion Sliced
1 clove Garlic sliced
Hamburger
1-2 cans of beans (I used Garbanzo but Kidney would've been great)

Work it:
Heat a pan with 1 Tbsp of oil and sweat the onion and garlic until soft:

Add the raw hamburger and brown:

Add 1-2 Tbsp Smokey Sweet Pepper Seasoning.

Drain and Rinse the beans (I also had some leftover cannelini beans you'll see in there); pop them in with the browned burger
and let the beans soak up the flavor and warm through

Add 2 cans of Condensed Tomato Soup, 1 can of water and 2-3 beef boullion cubes--let this come to a boil and stir on occasion. Cook through long enough for the cubes to dissolve fully. Taste and add more seasoning if needed! (Sorry I forgot to take a photo of this.)

And that's it! It's more like a chili in texture but would be great without the beef or without the beans as well.

Oh! and then I made toast in the oven. I like lightly buttering both sides of the bread and putting it in the oven at 425 degrees; flip them over after 5-7 minutes and give them another 5 minutes. Crack a little salt and pepper on top--YUM!
I know the soup itself doesn't LOOK that appetizing but oh it is VERY tasty! I promise!

Enjoy!

Unkept Crepes

2010-01-24T14:20:00.010-06:00

I've never made Crepes before, but I have EATEN them before and I know that I LOVE them. Yesterday on our Bestie Getaway we were at the MOA and I walked by this little Crepe Shop and instantly regretted my choice to have Chipotle for lunch. Seriously wanted to call "Do Over!" I spent the rest of the day enjoying what was left of our Bestie Getaway but in the back of my mind I was trying to figure out HOW I'd get to enjoy Crepes sooner than later.

I did look up the recipe for the actual Crepe part at Cooks.com (because I'm not a Baker nor do I play one on TV so I trust recipes for things that require a batter of any sort). But I threw together the filling based on my usual Unkept-style of throwing things together until it takes yummy :)

Here's what you'll need:

Filling Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Clove Garlic
1/4 Onion Chopped
5 Large Mushrooms Chopped
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Large Canned Chicken
A few large spoonfuls of Light Sour Cream
Parmesan Cheese (grated or shaved)
1-2 Tablespoons Brown Mustard
Frozen Spinach thawed, drained and squeezed:

Spinach can get messy--so I thaw it in a colander and then use a masher to squeeze the water out. Then it sat draining while I prepped the rest of the filling .. .

and you'll also need Salt, Pepper, and an Herb Seasoning Blend:

Sautee the Garlic, Onion and Mushrooms in 2 Tbsp Butter:

(this is my handy dandy Pampered Chef Garlic Press--I love it!)

After the veggies are cooked through, add the (drained) canned chicken, and the drained spinach to the pan:
Once that's heated through, add the can of Cream of Chicken Soup, a few large spoonfuls of Sour Cream, and a handful of Parmesan Cheese*:

*You could add more cheese but Tigger doesn't do the whole melted cheese texture thing so I don't much more than this--this is enough to get the flavor but not the "stringy" melted cheese thing.

Then add salt, pepper, and 1 Tbsp of an herb seasoning blend.

Then, don't forget this! 1-2 Tbsp of Brown or Dijon Mustard! This totally makes this filling:

That's filling done! put it on a burner on low to keep it warm while you make the crepes. BTW--this filling would be great on lots of things . . .I love fillings!

Crepes (makes 6-8 Crepes)

Ingredients (from Cooks.com)
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Milk
4 Eggs
1 Tbsp Melted Butter
Dash of Salt

Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well until there are no lumps. It will look like thin pancake batter:

See this little measuring cup? I have 4 of them from Pampered Chef that nest and this is the little one . . 'idinit cute? I use it as the scoop for the crepes--you want 3-4 Tbsp of batter per crepe.
Heat a large skillet or griddle with a little oil or butter .. . pour the batter on the pan and help it spread out thin:

Oh . . .oops . . . 'member how I said "get the lumps out"? Yeah, I didn't do that . . .so thems my lumps, my lumps . . .my lovely lady-crepe lumps! Seriously though, they didn't impact the taste a single little bit!

Wait til it's cooked through and very light brown on the bottom . . you shouldn't need to flip it because they're so thin. But if you did it'd look like this:

Take it out of the pan, onto a plate and then pile on the filling:

And then do another one . . . cmon, you know you want to! You can tell the one I did at the beginning of the batch (with very little color) and the one at the end (more brown). So, note to self--make sure the pan is hot when you start out :)

And then cuz the filling is so delish, pile a little more on top and garnish with shaved parmesan.

Then, later, when you have leftover filling . . .warm it up and pile it on some crackers for a great snack to go with the big game . . . Go Vikes!!

Enjoy! Unkept Cook Crepes!

Update: Unkept Remix
We had 2 leftover crepes and later in the day I wanted something sweet. So here's an Unkept Remix: 1 Carton Cherry Yogurt, mixed with 1/4 cup softened cream cheese, mixed with 1/2 cup marshmallow creme . . . mix it up, pile it in the crepes . . . YUM!!!!

5FQ January 22

2010-01-23T20:11:00.003-06:00

Happy Weekend!

I wasn't supposed to have time to post this until tomorrow . . . Sunday . . . because it's our Bestie Getaway weekend and I wasn't supposed to be home until late tonight. We DID have a fantastic time on our Bestie Getaway . . .last night we ate at the Melting Pot (OH YUM!) and then cabbed it over to Nye's Polonaise room and danced with Roger-the-Polka-Legend! (video of this to come!). Today we went to the Mall of America and tonight we were SUPPOSED to meet up with the VERY fabulous Jolene, Laura and Sara! But the dumb, dumb weather psyched us (and some of our family members) out. We kept hearing about "glare ice", "freezing rain", and "dropping temps" and "poor driving conditions" and decided to make a "responsible" choice of canceling our girls night out and driving home early just in case.

When you have to make "responsible" choices regarding driving at the weather it is SUCH a catch22!! Because you're nervous about bad roads and want them to be good . . .but if they ARE good you're thinking "Well then why did we cancel our plans!?!". Mama M and I headed home early and made it home very safe. The roads were wet but not yet frozen. So this is great! but makes our decision to cancel girls night a bit regrettable. But, it is what it is. Girls--we WILL reschedule soon!!!

Okay, so this is why my 5FQ is late but not too late this weekend! Thanks for the Unique and Fun Bloggy Forum Mama M!

1. What is better, growing old with out money or dying young and wealthy?
Well right now I'm young(ish) without money and plan to be older WITH money. But I could be wrong about the money part and am guessing I'd still live a great life. Plus Tigger is very bright and I've already told him he and his future wife (like WAY in the future wife . . way way 15 years or so in the future) need to have a bonus room to take care of me when I'm old and feeble. So I'm good.

2. Who takes out the garbage at your house?
It's kind of a "Not it!" game at our house. Inevitably, we'll drive up to the house on Wednesday after swim practice and I'll see all the neighbors have theirs out on the curb and think "Shoot!". As I pull up to the house I'll tell Tigger, "Hey, please take the garbage out--take that bag and that bag (pointing to full trash bags in the garage) put them in the can and roll it down." If he has a ton of homework or a ton to carry in or if I don't time the "ask" just right, he runs into the house before I get a chance to "make" him do it. However, this is the easiest way to get him to do it. If we're both already in the house when I remember, it's next to impossible for it NOT to be me. See, I walk around the house mostly dressed; but Tigger is barefoot in jammie pants faster than you can blink once he's in the house. Then I'll say "It's garbage night!!" and he'll look at me fully clothed and maybe even with my shoes on and look at himself in his jammies and then look at me and say "really Mom? can't you?" and I'll cave. Totally cave. cuz if it were me in my jammie pants, I'd want someone to do the same thing for me. Darn kid!

3. Have you ever had the same dream many times?
I have recurring stress dreams of two kinds. General stress will usually result in a dream about me trying to make a phone call and not being able to dial the right numbers to save my life. I'll try and try and will keep misdialling, etc. it's very frustrating.
However, if I"m very stressed about work in particular, I'll have a dream about being in school again . . .it's the last week of the semester and I'll learn that I've been "in" a Math class that I never ever went to and now have to take the final test. I'll spend the dream in various forms of panic trying to figure out either how I got into such a stupid situation or trying to study for test. I blame this particular recurring dream for the feeling of mild panic I get now that Tigger is taking advanced algebra and needs help with his homework . . .

4. Can you play a musical instrument?
I can read music a little and can play a little piano. and that's it. I took piano when I was little and then took a full semester from an absolute genius in college and would have LOVED to take it longer. If I ever have a larger home, I'd love a piano.

5. If you owned your own store, what would you sell?
After watching Mama M shop for a Mac today at the Apple Store and seeing how ridiculously busy it was in there, I'd say owning an Apple store would be darned profitable. But, seriously, I've always wanted to own a flowershop. There's a local flower shop that will let me walk into their cooler and pick and choose pieces so I can arrange my own bouquet. I LOVE that! I'd own a flowershop with a "live studio" for people to come in and be creative.
But honestly I work with a TON of businesses and would never own a retail shop of any sort. but it's fun to dream :)

Bestie Getaway!

2010-01-21T12:16:00.005-06:00

T minus 26 hours until me and m'Bestie, Mama M, take off on a Bestie Getaway. Other than the reunion roadtrip with our boys last summer, we haven't done anything like this . . . geesh! since we graduated over 10 years ago?! My schedule with work is usually three shades of crazy and her having 5 kids and working and being a fantabulous wife to Mr. Wonderful . . .well there just haven' t been a ton of opportunities to get away sans kids.

Usually if we want to hang out (which is a pathetic few times a year despite being only 30 minutes from each other geographically), Tigger and I will head up to their place for a fun overnight--always fun, always quality, never terribly quiet . . . and not so much a "getaway".

That's not to say we don't do fun things--like shopping days, or going to Tony & Tina's wedding in the cities (oh remind me to tell you THAT story sometime!), or going to MckMama's Christmas Party and making friends with fabulous women :)--but just not alot of wiggle room in our schedules for a planned girls weekend--not a whole, like, overnight thing.

Well all that's about to change because this bestie:

and this bestie:

used priceline.com to get a rip roarin' deal on a hotel room and are about to embark on a Minneapolis adventure! Hope downtown is ready to bring the FUNk! And hopefully we've matured enough to avoid some mistakes we made when we used to have "fun" in college . . . well at least hopefully we make more mature (read: less embarrassing) mistakes :) Or, ya know, no mistakes would be good . . . just lots of fun :)

SSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO 'Cited! Stay tuned . . .

QuickFix Pot Roast

2010-01-20T12:31:00.007-06:00

When Mama M and I were roommates in college (with our boys), we cooked together like a family. This was awesome because I got to learn a ton of great down home recipes from Mama M (see Carrot Gravy)--which were passed down from her Grandma--and now they're part of my memories :)

Looking back it seems like we made Pot Roast in the crockpot at least a few times a month. I think Mama M probably originally taught me how to use my crockpot . . . particularly pot roast. It's just so darned Quick to Fix and then forget about. Well, you can forget about it if you're not home . . .if you are home, you'll smell the deliciousness all day and be starved well before dinner. Just sayin.

I still make this quick and easy Pot Roast whenever I need to feed people and know I'm going to be low on time. Normally when I have company over, I go way overboard and make a complete homemade menu. Crockpot cooking feels like cheating to me. However, last week one of my long time friends (her nickname I gave her in Junior High is 'Beaker')--anyway Beaker, her husband and their two adorable little guys (ages 6 & 7) were coming for dinnner. It had been a crazy week with swim meets and work and my house was three kinds of DE-STROYED. All week I knew in the back of my head that they were coming for dinner. . . but it wasn't until on our way home from a swim meet last Thursday night that I remembered . . .TOMORROW. They were coming Friday night. House destroyed and a very busy work day to come!

This isn't like me at all. Well, the crazy-busy-house-destroyed part is; but the not-prepared-for-guests thing isn't. at. all. So I had a choice--I could call and reschedule--which would be lame since she's known me so long I could be in my jammies and she wouldn't care. Or I could suck it up and compromise.

The "compromise" was to run to the store at 10:00pm (have I mentioned how much I HEART the new grocery store in our home town???!!!! big HEART!) and pick up what I needed to make QuickFix Pot Roast and a pan of brownies.

btw Funniest part of the night: the 7 year old says "Oh . . I feel sorry for you . . .you have to move your dishwasher every time you use it! . . . and well, your kitchen . . it just so small" True That! So I tell him "Thanks bud! I feel sorry for me too! I asked for a new one from Santa, but I must not have been a good girl." to which his little brother (6 years old) chimes in pragmatically, "well, no because . . .you can't get a new kitchen, you'd need a whole new house . . .you'd have to push out this wall and" .. .then the kid goes over to my wall and pretends he's pushing out the wall . . .. This from a 6 year old! Yes, my kitchen is pathetic . . . and apparently even small children recognize this fact!

Anywho, back to PotRoast. It isn't rocket science, but if you haven't dusted off your crockpot in awhile, this one's worth it!

You'll need:
3-5 pound rump/arm beef roast
Yukon Gold potatoes (any kind work, but these hold up well)
1 large white onion
1/2 bag of Baby Carrots
5-6 beef boullion cubes
1 pkg. Onion Soup Mix
Season Salt
Cracked Black Pepper

Cut up the potatoes into large bite sized chunks. Cut the onion in half and then slice.

Put a layer of potatoes, layer of onion and layer of carrots on the bottom of pan; sprinkle half the packet of Onion Soup mix, season salt and pepper over the veggies then place 2-3 beef boullion cubes in the veggies.

Place the roast on top of the veggies and repeat with the other half of the onion soup mix, salt and pepper. If you have a wide crockpot (like mine) fill in the sides with veggies, season veggies and throw in a few more boullion cubes.

Using a pitcher or glass, fill the crockpot with water until it's almost to the top:

Set on Low and let it go for the day! (this photo is halfway through the day . . had to check on it because it smelled so delicious)

By dinnertime, the beef will be falling apart . . . though, being the amateur food blogger that I am, I didn't get a photo of this.

This is a recipe I've tried to vary over the years . . . it's too much of a recipe for my liking! But really it's best as is .. .no need to deviate much :)

You can take the potatoes and mash them up a bit and make a gravy from the broth that's created in the crockpot . . .but even that was more work than I had time for on Friday.

Verdict? Guests loved it . . .well Beaker and her husband did. Her boys are notoriously picky but they DID enjoy the brownies :) And Tigger ate everything on his plate (though, since swim season started I've found him a lot LESS picky . . .)

I'm having another one of those weeks . . tomorrow might be another potroast kind of day!
What are your favorite Crockpot quick-fix kinda meals??

A Dog and His Boy

2010-01-18T14:56:00.007-06:00

Inspired by a quick Tweeting conversation with the fabulous @taxmegan from All A Bunch of Momsense ! There really IS nothing quite like the love between a boy and his dog . . . or a dog and his boy :)
(Plus, these were taken last spring and this Mom has SPRING FEVER! don't you?)

There's Tennis Ball time . . .

There's sock time . . . we call Drake a "Sock Whore" -- if there's a sock around, Drake will find it . . .sometime I'll do a whole post about Drake the Sock Whore . . .

Then there's petting-wrestling-snuggling time

They normally do this whole routine INSIDE--on my COUCH . . . .(no boys were hurt the photographing of this series)

Roasty Toasty Chickpeas

2010-01-17T21:08:00.007-06:00

So earlier today I booked a hotel room on Priceline.com. Something about the finality of putting my credit card info in before I really know what I'm getting (i.e. at least the name of the hotel) makes me excited and nervous . . .anxious. Which makes me want to eat. I know, I know, I have a problem. I'm working on it :) How do you deal with anxiety?

Anyway, I did, in fact push the button and get a great hotel room in downtown Minneapolis for just $55--love it when it works out!

But, before I hit the "bid" button, I did make a snack. It's a quick, healthy, cheap and easy snack that you and your kids will love. Crispy and salty like popcorn but packed with protein . . . YUM!

Roasty Toasty Chickpeas:

Start with a can of these:

Drain and Rinse:

Quickly pat dry on a towel:

throw 'em on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil and dust with salt & pepper or any seasoning you like:

Toast in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, take a spatula and kind of toss them around and then put them back in for 10 minutes until toasty, crunchy, yummy!

You may want to crack open 2 cans . . . Tigger and I fight over these as well . . .

Your Mix

2010-01-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

i. heart. dance.

I'm not great at it, but when I was younger I'd choreograph routines to music with my tapeplayer & headphones. I took dance when I was in junior high, but I've never had the body for it and didn't go far. As an adult I started taking dance lessons a few years ago--Hip Hop! The first routine I learned was to Apple Bottom Jeans--LOL! Seriously, the dance lessons were (are) just for me--NOT for public consumption. Well, not yet. Some day--but not Apple Bottom Jeans. Maybe a Salsa routine or something.

Someday I hope to meet a man who, if he doesn't *heart* dance, will at least *heart* me enough to take partnered dance lessons. *sighs* a girl can dream!

Actually I need to get in better shape (see Scarlett: Kettlebells) so that I can start taking lessons again. . . .Man! I put alot of my life on hold because of my weight . . . for. dumb. ANYWHO, when I workout I LOVE some great Hip-Hop or dance music--maybe a little rock--but mostly Hip-Hop. I change my workout remix on a regular basis, but right now, for Kettlebells, here's what's on my play list:

Boom Boom Pow Black Eyed Peas
Everybody Dance Now C&C Music Factor
Push It Salt-n-Pepa
Welcome To the Jungle Guns-n-Roses
Sabotage Beastie Boys
Falls Apart Thousand Foot Krutch
Feel Good Gorillaz

This changes on a regular basis based on my mood--but anything with a beat gives me energy. What about you? What would be on your workout Mix??

Confessions of a SwimMom: Take One

2010-01-15T20:01:00.000-06:00

We're over halfway through the swimseason, which makes me a bit sad. I truly love being a SwimMom and Tigger is truly enjoying being on the team. But it's hard work and I think he's also looking forward to being done with his day after school instead of swimming for 2-3 hours a night. We ARE a family who loves their jammie pants and lounge time, after all!

The season has been "high drama" in our lives from the beginning (well, relatively speaking--see: jammie pants). I am loving the opportunity to be an involved parent. It's hard with junior high aged boys who don't like questions to get involved in their lives. Sports forces the issue for both of you--which is just one of many reasons I have the "at least 2 sports per school year" rule.

Raising a Teen Side note: I was telling a friend of mine that Tigger hates questions and can get crabby when you ask too many--especially right when he gets home/gets in the car/finishes something/wakes up/gets off the phone/is playing videogames/is eating (yeah, pretty much he just hates questions). She said "wow, is that a teenage thing of just a Tigger thing?" I said "Um, how many men do you know who love questions?" But, I have learned that if I am just "around" (and patient)--at home, in the car, etc--he'll tell me eventually :) Which is WHY I personally feel it's more important than ever to be around when your kids are teenagers--IMHO they need you more at this age than ever before.

At the beginning of the season, after the first week of Captain's practice (this is run by the Varsity team captains--before the coach even gets involved--super impressive), anyway after the first week I knew this was going to be good for him. He'd get in the car and with that kind of "Complaining yet Bragging" way, he'd tell me they ran 5 miles/did monsters for 30 minutes/worked themselves to death/ etc. After the first few weeks of "real" practice (in the water) but before the first meet, our coach actually named Tigger "JV Captain" because he showed such dedication to the team. Talk about a ProudMama Moment! Now this position isn't always named but it basically means he's in charge of motivating the other JV kids and oversees their stretching. This was when I knew swimming was going to be significant.

The first meet was nerve-wracking. I didn't know what to expect--LUCKILY the neighbor boys (older than Tigger) who used to babysit him are both on the team and their Mom (who Tigger adores) is an old pro at being a SwimMom! Whew! So Tigger and I both got mentors in one fowl swoop! God was looking out for us!

Here's a few things I learned at the first meet:

The bleachers are uncomfortable and even if you bring a stadium chair, they're still not great. Get used to it.
Wear layers! It's humid and hot in there--which makes it even more fun that swimming is in the winter!
Other swim parents know what they're doing and they mean business--you'd better catch up.
Other swim parents are super gracious and willing to help show you the ropes. Yay!
Be prepared to lose your voice. You can scream as loud as you want and the swimmers can still barely hear you. But you scream anyway . . . it's part of the fun.
You can't hear or understand a thing they say over the loud speaker in the pool--its one giant echo.
When your son misses his first race because he was confused and couldn't hear the lady mumbling his name over the loud speaker, you will be almost as devastated as him. And you'll be almost as nervous as him in watching for the next one.

The first meet Tigger was supposed to swim in two races, but missed the first one. I guess it's normal for the kids to miss a race once in their early season--the pool is a confusing place. But oh, it's helpless feeling when you know he's missing it but he can't hear you or see you waving wildly to get to the starting blocks.

But the one race he DID swim, the 50Free, he beat his practice time swimming it in 38.50 seconds. This is the time parents watch throughout the season--this is the number you're interested in. Did the time come down? He got out of the pool at that first race, saw his time was a second better than his practice time, found me in the stands and gave me a thumbs up and a big smile and waves. This, from the kid who just doesn't get too excited about anything.

MOM HEAVEN. Just MOM. HEAVEN.

Future meets have brought even more Mom Heaven moments . . . Which is just one more reason I love being a SwimMom . . .I can't wait to share them with you!

5 Question Friday--lets break 100!

2010-01-15T10:55:00.011-06:00

It's time for 5FQ! Yay! cuz this Mom is way overworked today and has no time to develop my own blog material. So glad Mama M does that for us on Fridays, aren't you? Wanna join in? Cmon I know you want to! Cuz Mama M is going to do a Giveaway if we reach over 100 bloglinks today! Woot Woot! Get goin!

Okay, want some rules?

Copy and paste the following questions to your blog, answer them, grab the MckLinky Blog Hop code (if you want), and link up! I'd love it...I'd probably hug you and kiss you and call you George...if you'd link back to me, Mama M.!

No blog? That's okay! Feel free to just jump in on the comments and leave your answers (but, really...you should have a blog! It's what's hip...or something...)!

Alright...

Questions for 1/15/10: (Special thanks to Lolidots, Casia, the Unkept Cook, Keely, and Megan for their question suggestions! Want to be linked in a future 5QF? Offer up your best question suggestions here...and stay tuned!)

1. Worst trouble you ever got into as a teenager?

2. Are you a morning person or a night person?

3. Are you a one-handed or a two-handed Texter?

4. Democrat, Republican, or Independent..or maybe even Green Party (whatever that is).

5. Are you a pet person?
__________________________________________________

1. Worst trouble you ever got into as a teenager?
I can ditto Mama M with the whole unplanned pregnancy at 18 thing. But that's another story .. . and the BEST LIFE BLESSING EVER . . . for another post :)

For being an overall responsible kid, I did do some dumb stuff--well, actually, I had a friend in high school who did dumb stuff and I tagged along like a spineless puppy (ew, weird anology, but you get the gist). We never really got into trouble though. The first time I ever had a drink I was 15 and my friend and I went to a houseparty with some people we worked with (from a restaurant) and they were older people--like kinda creepy older people--and the cops came and they made us hide in this closet . . . it was TERRIBLE! I didn't get more than tipsy and luckily the cops didn't look in the closet and we ended up getting out of there alive and unharmed . . .but looking back how STUPID WERE WE?!?!?!

2. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Well, mostly I'm a morning person--I think better in the morning and if I'm working on something challenging I'll go to bed early (like 9:30) so I can get up at 4:00am refreshed and ready to tackle the challenge. I'm crazy like that. However, if I"m not working, I love to sleep in . . . mmmmm . . .. sleep . . . I *heart* waking up around 7am and being sleepy and realizing I can go back to sleep for as long as I want . . .

But, yep, overall I'm braindead by about 8 or 9pm and could solve all the world's problems around 5 am. wierd, I know.

3. Are you a one-handed or a two-handed Texter?
One handed, which may be the reason I'm getting carpel tunnels in my right hand. I can't seem to get the two handed thing down--I'm faster with one hand.
That's what she said! Oh I'm so sorry--hope there are Office fans out there who think that's funny :)

4. Democrat, Republican, or Independent..or maybe even Green Party (whatever that is).
Was a hardcore Dem for years and years; but the last two years have mellowed--being a small business owner and now a Saved Christian--I gotta say I can't claim either side but am decidedly Moderate . . . I guess that makes me Independent :)

5. Are you a pet person?
Not really--and yet we have had several pets over the years (fish, snails, snakes, frogs, rat, and a guinnea pig). The thing is, I'm not great at taking care of any being--animal or human--who can't communicate and tell me what they need. I kill plants and fish with lethal speed. However, kids usually tell you when they need something--so I'm good with those. Oh yeah, this is about pets. We have a Golden Retriever named Drake who is a gift from God! Such a good boy! He's mellow and pretty quiet and a great companion. AND, he lets me know when he needs food/water/to go outside/love :) We do love him :) I think more specifically, we are DOG people. (Drake has Lyme's Disease but seems to be recovering really well for those of you who read my "My Two Sons" post :)

My Go-To Veggie: Sprouts

2010-01-13T19:59:00.014-06:00

Growing up I always heard how horrible Brussels Sprouts were . . . they are the butt of all the veggie jokes. Poor lil' sprouts . . . probably have a self esteem problem. Likely because people boiled them to death, which doesn't do much for their natural strengths. Actually, I cannot remember my Mom ever once making them for us. hmm . . .wait . . .lemme think . . . nope! not once! Mom, what did you ever have against Brussels Sprouts? I'm here to tell you . . . don't believe everything you've heard . . . Brussels Sprouts CAN be delicious! I promise . . . stay with me . . . When roasted until carmelized (and until the outer leaves are crispy), they are super yummy.

Brussels Sprouts are part of the cabbage family and when you roast them, the inside gets sweet and yummy and the sugars on the outside naturally carmelize. The loose leaves get crispy and when salted, remind me a little of popcorn.

Tigger, the teenage food vacuum, will fight me over the crispy leaves. And he always eats them first when they're on his plate. They're that tasty.

Ingredients:
Brussels Sprouts* (I'm not good at knowing how much--a few handfuls per person)
1 Tbsp Olive or Veg. Oil
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Fresh or Dried Thyme

*Grocery stores tend to over-water the brussels sprouts so when you bring them home, if you're not going to use them right away, stick a paper towel in with them to soak up the moisture.

Cut the bottom off the sprouts and then slice each in half:

Place the cut sprouts and any loose leaves on a cookie sheet and drizzle a tablespoon of oil over top:

Toss with your hands then sprinkle with course kosher or sea salt (sticks better), a few grinds of black pepper and a generous sprinkle of dried thyme (fresh thyme leaves are MUCH better--but I save that for when I'm cooking for company--yes I even make Brussel Sprouts for company):

You'll want to turn the sprouts over so they're cut side down so they can carmelize:

Roast in a 400 degree oven for 12-18 minutes. You'll want to check at 12 minutes and make sure the leaves are browning--if they are getting too black, they're ready; otherwise give them a few more minutes. They should look like this:See those brown, carmelized and/or crispy bits? yup those . . .

that's the good stuff!

I'm tellin' ya, they're tasty! Easy enough for weeknight and unexpected enough for a dinner party (throw in some crumbled bacon and a drizzle of balsamic to really fancy them up). They are my "go to" veggie.

You're welcome.

Confessions of a SwimMom: The Beginning

2010-01-12T17:06:00.001-06:00

There is nothing like your child joining an organized school sport to test your mothering skills. Details and routines and rules and requirements and . . . whew! It's enough to make this go-with-the-flow family a bit nuts. But in actuality, I LOVE it when Tigger is in a sport because it gives us structured time together--driving in the car, talking about the sport, watching the games (or meets), talking about the games (or meets). And it DOES force me to be more intentional as a parent--which I sincerely appreciate.

Tigger has been in sports in the past--Soccer, Football, Basketball

-but nothing really caught his attention. The season would pass and he'd say "eh." and wouldn't sign up again next year. However, I have a rule in our household--once he started Junior High (7th grade) my rule is he has to choose TWO sports a year. That means he can have one season off and two seasons on (summer sports aren't run through the schools, so there's just Fall, Winter, and Spring sports). He told me he wasn't going to do Football again (just not a fan) and would consider Basketball this year. I told him he'd better start looking at his choices for 8th grade.

So when we went to 8th Grade orientation in August, the Swim Team captains were the only sports booth that bothered to come to our small junior high (a new junior high in our district). Tigger happened to know the Captains because most of the swim kids happen to be from our small town (which feeds into a larger school district). They were talking with Tigger and trying to get him to sign up that night.

He tells me, "Well, if I can get some of my friends to sign up, I will." I looked at him and said, "Tigger (well I called him by his real name), are you a leader?" He kind of looked down and said "yeah i guess" and I said "If you're a leader, you'll sign up and worry about recruiting your friends later." so he signed up. And he recruited 3 friends! Who all promptly dropped out before the season even started.

This is how we became a swim family. I have never been to a swim meet before in my life and Tigger had never swam competitively. It has been like learning a new culture--a little less intimidating than traveling in say, Russia, but a definitely a steeper learning curve than going to, lets say, Canada. Through the rest of swim season, I'll be posting about the anecdotes, stories and confessions of being a "new" SwimMom.

Before the season even started, there was a full month of "Captain's Practice". Now I wasn't in sports in high school and so this was a new concept to me. We have 3 captains and THEY ran after school training and workouts with the team every day for a month before they even got in the water. Tigger would come home having run 5 miles and weight lifted. . . and this was just to get them ready for the grueling task of swim conditioning for 2-3 hours a day during the season. The cool thing is that this is an "on your honor" committment--Captain's practice was "optional" but a great way for them to team build before the season started. Tigger is in 8th grade and was the only JV kid who went to every Captain's practice. This put him way ahead of the game and told his team members he was committed and ready to be a part of the team.

The first thing I learned about having a teenage son on swim team is: Be ready to buy food. Lots and lots of food. When you have a teenage son who grows at nearly the speed of light (well 2 inches since June SEEMS like the speed of light anyway) and who is going through puberty and hormonal and NOW is swimming 2-3 hours a day for practice . . . he WILL eat you out of house and home (and maybe the neighbor's house too). My grocery bill has literally doubled. I have to have food IN THE CAR when I pick him up--protein preferably (I've found jerky or meat sticks work well and since all he does is grunt (this is him actually after babysitting--washable marker mustache . . though he does kinda have a stache all on his own!

for the first hour after practice, it's better for them to just have something to gnaw on). And no soda during the swim season--no carbonation to be specific--it's not only bad for you but it causes gas bubbles and cramping, which slows you down in swimming. So I now carry juice with me everywhere. It's a little like going back to having a toddler again! And you try keeping juice cold but not frozen in the middle of winter in MN . . .not real easy! You pick them up and they are exhausted and famished and proud :) The proud part is what is AWESOME as a parent. The food part, I gotta be honest, kinda sucks.

And he quickly became, like, really strong! At night we used to have this game we played . . it's going to sound odd to play with your teenager, but it's a wierd age (14) where they're still a little boy at heart. So we used to play this game where I would go to tuck him in and he'd hide under the covers and I had to try to get the covers off and kiss his forehead. Dude, I used to WIN . . . like a few times a week! Within 2 weeks of Captain's practice I stopped winning. Like I haven't won since. Like, it's not fair and is no fun anymore. The kid is too strong (or I'm too weak)--either way, it's no longer a fair game. So I quit playing . . . which may seem childish of me . . .but at 10:00 at night I just don't have the energy to try to pull the covers off the incredible hulk.

It's wierd having a teenage son who is suddenly taller than you (that happened this summer sometime during growth spurt #3 (of 5) in 2009); who is stronger than you and who eats like a madman.

And yet I am LOVING this age! Everyone tells you having teenagers is awful . . . and I'm not saying it couldn't change . . . but he's hilarious, smart, courteous and fun to have around. He's a little moody (though one could argue so am I), but I think this might be my favorite age yet. And swim team is forcing alot of structured time . . . which I believe is good for a family. At least, it's good for our family :)

As for being a SwimMom, I'm learning each and every meet is a new learning experience . . and a new way to screw up being a SwimMom . . . more to come! stay tuned :)

Get 'R Done Club!

2010-01-10T18:16:00.011-06:00

As someone who is habitually "unkept," I tend to avoid starting and (even moreso) finishing domestic projects. Being single, I get kind of lonely and bored doing those things on my own. I not only need the accountability but I also need the company!

So one night when I was out with my friend A (top left in the photo below)--who's also a single mom of teenage boys--we conceived of a fantastic idea. We invited our friend, Red, and we were good to go . . .

The Get 'R Done Club!

Concept--each month, we rotate to one of our homes. That person is the "host" and gets to choose a project for us all to work on at their home for 3-4 hours. (Host cooks or provides snacks). We may add 1 more, but I think 3-4 people is perfect for this concept. We've talked about some months using our time to volunteer for a cause of the hosts choice instead. No restrictions on the type of project we'll be doing. The host just needs to let the others know ahead of time so we can dress appropriately.

Today was our Inaugural Get 'R Done Club gathering! And I got to be the first host! I was originally thinking we'd paint my bathroom--because I have new bathroom decor I'm waiting to put up.

However, my bedroom has been an absolute disaster for a LONG time. Almost 2 years ago, I had started redecorating my bedroom. I got 1 coat of paint up and bought a new bedspread and about that time the guy I'd been dating and I broke up . . .and I lost steam for a new bedroom (geesh, that sounds tacky--but this was before I was Saved). Anyway, the point of this story is that the paintcans and brushes got stuck in a corner of my room for a day when I'd "feel" like finishing.

About 6 months after that I had my basement finished and redid the flooring in my home office. All of the filing boxes that weren't needed daily for work got moved into my bedroom . . .

Fast forward to now: walls are still half painted and splotchy, the 10 file boxes are still in the room, dust bunnies the size of full grown rabbits have taken up residence between said boxes and I live like a refugee in my own home. AND I don't have a headboard. I've always wanted a headboard. I think a headboard says "I am an established adult. I have a job. I take care of myself. I respect myself. I sleep with confidence that my bed will NOT roll away from the wall during the night. I am rooted as a person." Yeah, there's alot riding on that one piece of bedroom furniture. *sighs* oh Headboard, I hope I find you soon!

So last night as I'm picking out paint colors for the bathroom--and vascilating between colors--I decide instead that I should use my 'Get R Done" time to get my Bedroom DONE! But I wake up this morning in a cold sweat--A and Red are good friends but do they really want to see the reality of how their friend lives like a refugee?? And do i have to do "precleaning" before they get here? and I don't even know where to start!? and I should just cancel . . .I mean really this is a dumb idea . . . yeah I'll cancel and not have to ever deal with my room. Being a refugee isn't so bad.

I manage NOT to text them to cancel and Red and A arrive at 1:30

by 4:30:

We prayed over my room and the house and gave the space to God
The boxes were moved to the basement
The dustbunnies were evicted from my bedroom
The huge pile of random clothes were sorted
Summer clothes and clothes that WILL FIT me in 2 months (20 pounds lighter) are placed in marked boxes
3 bags of clothes, shoes and books are awaiting Good Will in the back of my vehicle
The bed was moved and many sock-mates were found
The walls and trim were touched up and second coats were applied where needed!
Only one time did I have to say (when moving the bed) "wait! don't look! unders . . .okay . . got em . . you can look now."
countless stories and real quality friend time was shared.

When we finished, I had Mama M's Carrot Gravy (prepped prior to their arrival and simmering while we worked) ready for our enjoyment. to which A said "Oh my gosh! this is amazing! Can I get the recipe!?" yup--directed her to Mama M's blog :)

So now the walls are drying and I need to go put my refugee-headboardless-bed back in place . . .for now. Tomorrow I start the hunt for the very adult, very important, life-establishing headboard and soon I'll no longer live like a refugee in my own home . . . this is a great start to 2010!

As for Get 'R Done Club--I think it's one of our most brilliant ideas yet! Cannot wait to see what Get 'R Done will mean to our lives.

Here's to Gettin' 'R Done!

'Shroom Terrorism

2010-01-08T22:41:00.015-06:00

If you've been reading my blog and comments, you know that I LOVE mushrooms and my Bestie, Mama M, hates them. This has been a long time food issue in our friendship. Mama M and her son and me and my son all lived together in college* when our boys were around 2 years old. Tigger (my son) had a fantastic gag reflex with certain textures--mainly melted cheese, creamy peanut butter, tater tot hotdish . . . you get the picture (actually I wish I HAD a picture).

I say "fantastic" because when he would eat something like that and gag, he'd make this loud gag-burp-blech sound accompanied by a kind of hilarious facial expression and . . .well . . . Mama M found it hilarious. She'd laugh so hard she'd cry. I know this sounds awful and as Tigger's Mom, I should've been offended that she was laughing at my son. . . but it WAS kind of hilarious and I laughed to. And then I'd laugh out of sheer mortification that I was laughing at my son . . .having a gag reflex to cheese. Seriously, please don't call child protection services. He's 14 now and I have a therapy fund started for him. and I'm making Mama M contribute to said fund.

But Mama M has texture issues of her own--mainly she cannot stand the "squeaky" texture of mushrooms (nor does she like mariachino cherries or donuts). I'd LOVE to be there when she tried one though and see if her gag face was as hilarious as Tiggers. I'm guessing it is. hmm . . . I wonder . . .

Anyway, back to how this relates. I LOVE mushrooms but while we lived together every time I'd eat them or cook with them or give them to Tigger, Mama M would be warning him that he'd hate them and making gagging faces. She did this to torture me and my love of mushrooms; or because she seriously thought she was saving him from an awful mushroom experience--hard to tell. Either way it was 'Shroom Terrorism. And it worked. Tigger wouldn't touch them for fear of the gag reflex and because Mama M told him not to (and he really liked Mama M when she wasn't laughing at him while he choked :)

After graduation, we moved into seperate places and I was able to put Tigger into mushroom rehab . . . slowly working on getting him to try them again. I'd chop them up and put them in things and tell him after he ate it that they were in there. Around age 5 he ate one on a dare . . raw . . . and loved it. He began eating whole packages of mushrooms raw. Wierd I know. I mean I like mushrooms, but I'm not likely to eat them raw and plain for a snack. But, this is the same kid who adores sushi--ya, loves sushi but hates melted cheese--go figure. And he's loved mushrooms ever since.

*Mama M and I have an amazing story of how we met and ended up living together in college with our boys. Maybe someday soon we'll share it via bloggy world :)

But the 'Shroom rivalry between Bestie Mama M is still alive and kickin'. Payback's a . . . pain. Maybe I could instill a love of mushrooms with Mama M's kids! Yeah!
And I would use this is the recipe to do it:

The Unkept Cook's "Stuffin' Shrooms"

You'll need:
2 packages of Stuffing Mushrooms, stems removed (caps only)
1 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 onion, chopped
1 lb. Italian flavored ground Turkey**
1 clove minced garlic (or a cube of frozen garlic puree from TJ's)
2 tsp Smoked Sweet Red Pepper seasoning (or smoked paprika)--optional
Salt
Italian Style Breadcrumbs (about 2 handfuls)
Flavored cream cheese or Rondele Garlic Artichoke Cheese spread
Shaved Parmesan--optional

**I use ground Turkey instead of pork or pork sausage because it's less fat, less greasy and less salty than the pork sausage--this way you can control the fat and salt. I also like the taste better, but if you're a pork sausage kinda family, go for it!

How to:

While sauteeing the chopped onion in the oil until onions are soft, remove the stems from the mushrooms. If mushrooms are dirty, wipe them clean with a damp cloth. Once the onions are soft, add the Italian ground Turkey and brown the turkey. While the turkey is browning, add the garlic, Paprika and salt to taste. Once the turkey is brown, but still "juicy", add in about 2 palmfuls of the breadcrumbs--the breadcrumbs will soak up the leftover oil and juices from the browning turkey. It'll look a little like stuffing and be a bit mushy. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until the breadcrumbs begin to kind of brown.

Then take a small spoon and put about 1-2 tsp of the Rondele cheese or flavored cream cheese in the bottom of every mushroom cap. Unless you're Tigger's mom --then you'd only fill half with cheese and leave the other half plain unless you'd like to hear "Mom!? did you put CHEESE on this!" Oh, how I wish someone would terrorize the boy into liking cheese--but I realize he's healthier for it . . .

After the cheese, spoon a mound of the Turkey Stuffing mixture into each 'Shroom. and then, again only on the half Tigger isn't eating, place a few shavings of parmesan. I used "shaved" parmesan instead of shreds because it stays atop the mounds much easier.

Put in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until those parmesan shavings are browned nicely:
The meat is already cooked through so your really just warming up the mushrooms and getting the cheesy melty. I like my mushrooms a bit "al dente" so that they aren't all watering and falling apart. If you like yours more done, just leave them in longer.

Enjoy! Tigger ate 12 of the cheese-free shrooms! I enjoyed mine with cheese--yum!

Shroom' Free Remix: (just for Mama M) this turkey stuffing mixture is DELICIOUS and would be great to stuff anything with (peppers, tomatoes, etc).

Leftover Makeover: The next day, make a little pasta, melt the Rondele cheese spread (thin with chicken broth) and chop up the leftover shrooms (I had 3 leftovers and some of the turkey stuffing leftover) and toss together for a yummy leftover makeover!

Eat well! and watch out for 'Shroom Terrorists . . .

Five Question Friday

2010-01-08T06:10:00.006-06:00

So excited for Five Question Friday, a super fun blog hop conceived by and developed by Mama M! Being back to work after a full week off last week has meant not so much time for the blogging . . . and Five Question Friday provides a great excuse to post something fun at the end of a busy week! Thanks Mama M!

For all you first timers...here's the deets: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog, answer them, grab the MckLinky code (if you want) then come on back and link up! I would love, love, love it, if you'd link back to me, Mama M.!!

For those of you that don't have a blog (get on it!!) feel free to answer in the questions below here, or at any blog you visit!

Okay...let's get started!

Questions for Friday, 1/8/10: (Thanks to Megan, Tara, Kate, and Thorney London)for their question suggestions!! Wanna be linked in a future 5QF? It's easy peasy lemon squeezy!! Just leave your question suggestions here!)

1. What's your "comfort food"?

2. Do you send Thank You's (handwritten or email)?

3. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

4. What is your favorite online recipe site?

5. If you had to choose: "Friends" or "Seinfeld"?

********************************************************************************

1. What's your "comfort food"?

Oh, I'd need an entire week of posts to answer this question--I just love food and find comfort in all kinds. A little too much actually.

So, here's a short list of comfort foods I adore:

Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
Soups and Stews (almost all of them as long as they're tasty)
Homemade Pizza or Lasagna
My Mom's Clam Chowder
Mama M's Carrot Gravy (sounds blah but tastes AMAZ-ZA-ZING!--bug her for the recipe! Now!)
Pot Roast and Potatoes
Molten Chocolate Cake
Key Lime Pie
Homemade Risotto (I'm a Risotto expert!)

Okay, now I need to go cook! Darn it!

2. Do you send Thank You's (handwritten or email)?

This was my question I submitted! Thanks Mama M! I asked this because I always have the BEST of intentions. In business, I send them often--it's a policy of mind after almost every meeting.
Here's the thing, Handwritten Thank You's are like GOLD--they are rare and wonderful and simply appreciated.
So why don't I send more? I need to get on it . . . you'd think it'd be easy to do and yet .. .
As for email Thank You's--I think they're okay and certainly better than nothing; but they are no substitute for the real thing!

3. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

So You Think You Can Dance! Hey, in this scenario would I get to BE on the show? And, like, be good at it? Oh, it would be my DREAM! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Dance! I cannot explain to you how I feel when I watch this show! and to be there . . . in person . . . to witness all the amazing dancing! Actually, if I would I'd be a judge on the show--all the expertise and none of physical madness! (sigh) I'd replace Mary Murphy and be a much needed relief to millions of ears. . . .

There is NOTHING more exciting to me than watching a beautifully choreographed routine executed with style and grace.

Yup.

Oh, and if that wasn't an option I'd go on the Biggest Loser. Which I have seriously considered applying for anyway.

4. What is your favorite online recipe site?

The Food Network. Love it and trust the recipes because they've all been tested. I also use allrecipes.com for the more "down home" dishes; but Food Network is my go-to-recipe guide!

5. If you had to choose: "Friends" or "Seinfeld"?

Friends. Hands down. Seinfeld is funny, but Friends is Friends. The ONLY reason I'd choose Seinfeld is that they actually taped in NYC whereas Friends taped on a studio lot in LA. and since NYC is MY FAVORITE CITY ON THE EARTH I have to give Seinfeld props. But If I'm stuck on a desert island and can only choose one, I'd choose Friends.

Breakfast Sundae

2010-01-07T07:30:00.009-06:00

I LURVE Sundaes. Not Sundays--well I also LOVE Sundays as in the day of the week (but for different reasons than I love Sundaes). I'm talking about Sundaes--ice cream, crunchy toppings (always crunchy toppings), syrup, whipped cream and a cherry (always a cherry . . . or two).

For years now I've been making variations of sundaes without ice cream--mainly because Tigger* loves ice cream and the less I eat the less I have to hear "Hey, Mom?!?! What happened to all the ice cream?!?!" It ends up being a great deterrant to ice cream eating (not a bad thing for me really) as I'm a fan of "picking my battles" and ice cream isn't worth the fight (in my book). So, why and how would you make a Sundae without Ice Cream? Use pudding! Fat Free, Sugar Free (or not) pudding is a great substitute and i still get the cold & creamy factor. Yum!

But last night I was hankerin' for a Sundae and had no pudding . . . but I did have yogurt. So I made a "Breakfast Sundae". Here's what you'll need:

(Yogurt, Cereal, Canned Whipped Cream, Chocolate Syrup, and a Cherry (always a Cherry)).

Honestly, the whipped cream, syrup and cherry are optional (but if you just a bit they don't add much for calories).

I just love the cool & creamy mixed with the crunchy. so I thought I'd share this (probably not so) novel idea--you know, in case any of you lurve sundaes and wanted to find a way to make them healthier. Breakfast after Dinner! We actually love "Brinner"--Breakfast for Dinner--and this would've made a great After-Brinner-Treat. But it was just a regular evening snack. That's it. YUM!

*Tigger--My 14 year old son who, if you've been reading the blog, has been called "A" will now be called Tigger. (Ha! that feels a bit like a program note: "The role of The Wizard will now be played by . . . ") Why? Because "A" gets confusing as "a" could also be a part of the sentence. And because Bestie Mama M reminded me that we used to call him "Tigger" when he was little because dude could jump off of just about anything and spring back up like Tigger. Seriously. Other children would try to follow suit and get hurt while Tigger would just bounce off to the next thing--like there were springs in the kids knees. He's still a bit like that. So, when Mama M reminded me of this I was like "YES! I have a new-less-confusing-name for him on my blog." The end.

8 Words to Define You

2010-01-06T07:00:00.012-06:00

New Year's Resolutions--many that were conceived last Wednesday, and said aloud last Thursday night, have already been broken. Most of those resolutions start with "I'm going to . . . " or "I want to . . . " and end with an action of some sort. Resolutions are usually about what we're going to do and accomplish in the coming year.

I've been doing alot of thinking about what I'm supposed to be doing with my life--not just in 2010, but beyond--and what I want to do with my time, talent and resources. So yesterday I listened to a phenomenal podcast by Andy Stanley (one of my three favorite pastors/speakers--this man has INCREDIBLE gift from God) about New Year's Resolutions. And his point--which is just so perfect--is that FIRST and foremost, we need to determine WHO we want to be.

(btw, click on this picture of Andy Stanley to go to Northpoint Ministries video messages--they are FREE and completely amazing! Any of their series will blow your socks right off! Seriously--you'll need new socks. I'm just sayin', I'm not responsible if you lose socks.)

Who you ARE ultimately determines what you DO. Andy Stanley says it's always a mistake to determine what you'll do before you decide who you are. I've focused most of my life on what I'm doing, going to do, plan to do, plan to accomplish, accomplishments, etc. He references an exercise where you have to write your own memorial--what would you want others to remember you for? Who do you want to be remembered as? Andy wrote and wrote and refined and came up with 8 things--8 words--to define him. And those 8 words are his PERSONAL DEFINITION OF SUCCESS. Brilliant! Because that way he, guided by God, defines his own success--rather than success and failure being designed by others.

So I'm working on my 8 things--not 8 goals for the year--not 8 things to accomplish--8 words to describe the person I want to be--like, forever. Really, most people are defined by what they do; but what if Who you are instead directed what you do? Depending on who you are, your decisions about how you spend your time, talent and resources would be different. If we looked at the resolutions many of us set, we'd think the following words were what we wanted to be defined by:

Money--likely no one will remember me for my money (or lack thereof); and besides I wouldn't want to be remembered for $$, so money and wealth are out.
Accomplishments--This is hard to let go of--many of us define ourselves by the latest pat on the back or resume booster. My problem is that it forces me to rely on others to define who I am. So this one's out too.
Weight--Ha! I've been defined (by others but more often by myself) by weight my entire life. No, I'd like to be done being defined by weight.
Work--this one is tricky for us high achievers. We're taught by our culture to define ourselves by the work we do. And certainly others remember the work we do--so at the very least, lets make it meaningful. But I know that when my life is only defined by the work I do, I become an unhealthy person in almost every way.

Okay, so those won't be in my 8. (by the way, it doesn't need to be 8 and it doesn't even need to be words--I'm just taking Andy Stanley's example and running with it).

Starting fresh. Starting new. Starting with the person God intends for me to be.

So far, here is my ROUGH DRAFT* of 6 of the 8 words I want to be defined by--that I want to guide my actions:

Faith--live by Faith and not by Fear, Food, Failure, (or any other 'F' word :)
Integrity--I want to do what I say I'll do and for people to be able to trust and respect me. to NOT overpromise and underdeliver--personally and professionally.
Relationships--which means I need to spend time with my loved ones. Intentional time. And it means I need to care for myself so I can be there for others.
Generosity--in giving of my time, talent and treasure to others.
Balance--Moderation and a healthy balance between the people and passions important in my life.
Uplifting--I need to find a better word for this, but what I mean is that I want to be known for supporting and helping others--for encouraging them.

*HaHa! I so hate being "boxed in"--even by myself--that I had to put a disclaimer that this is a rough draft in case I change my mind (or a word) :) I have some latent commitment issues that like to rear their head occasionally. But that is EXACTLY why I"m publishing this here for the world (or the 8 people who may read this--same diff.) to see. I'm still refining the other 2 . . .and like I said, it doesn't need to be 8 so I might come back with 4 more and end up with 10! Yup, I'm a crazy renegade like that.

As you read this, do words come into your mind? I'd love to hear just one--please comment and tell me ONE word you'd like to be Defined by--not just in 2010 but for the rest of your time** here on earth.

**A special thanks to a dear friend of mine who yesterday shared with me a new perspective--that these things aren't about the rest of our "lives" but about the rest of our "time" here on earth. Praise God for that! and what a great perspective that puts on our daily lives. Thanks 'Sunflower'!

Man-Boy Hunter Child

2010-01-04T19:50:00.016-06:00

For not being an outdoorswoman (I'm what you'd call "Indoorsy" ala Jim Gaffigan), I somehow produced an amazing little Man-Boy Hunter Child. (Fairly certain I have my Dad to thank for that). And tonight we ate the deer sausage to prove it:

(served along side a baked sweet potato = YUMMM!)

'A' went hunting this Fall with my Dad and brother (and a whole crew of guys) out in the prairie of North Central SD. They go hunting every year but this was A's first time participating in the actual hunt (usually the men would hunt and then the boys would get to shoot at stuff--but not really hunt). After this trip I now call 'A' my Man-Boy Hunter Child.

So, on A's first shot of the day he took down TWO pheasant at once--ended up bagging 6 total. And then, at toward dusk on the first day out, he spotted a 4x4 (8 point) Buck out his window. In SD you can road hunt (meaning you can stop the car, get out, and shoot from the road). My Dad's friends out in the prarie are a little old school and hard core and fully encouraged him to try to shoot it from the car--out the window--and he got it! on the first shot! Even more hilarious was that this hunting party only had 1 Deer tag and 'A' got it before the guys got to really deer hunt. Oops.

You may not be a hunter or support hunting--and maybe it's a midwest Mama thing . . . But, I gotta say I was one proud Mama. Ironically this was this the same weekend in November that Mama M's son (she calls him Big A) shot TWO Bucks in one trip here in MN. Our boys grew up together and the both ended up being Man-Boy Hunter Children . . .

(My 'A' + Mama M's 'A' + Mama M on our Reunion Road Trip--I just reread Mama M's post and forgot that she called my A "Tigger" to keep things straight on the blog post. Now that really does take me back! I'm going to start calling him Tigger in real life--he'll LOVE it!)

They're growing up so FAST! A has officially been taller than me for months and never tires from reminding me--he especially loves it when I'm barefoot or wearing flats and he has his big tennis shoes on and then comes up next to me, peers down his nose and laughs.

It's an odd feeling, having a Man-Boy in the house--still a boy who wants juice and who wrestles with his dog. Yet clearly turning into a young man (shaving his mustache--aaahhhh!). And because I don't have any others, I try hard not to think about how FAST it's all going and how soon he'll be gone . . . . seriously makes me tear up . . . .(*shakes head and sniffs*)

But other than the whole growing up WAY too fast thing, I have to say I have LOVED the teen years and feel really blessed. Plus, there's a ton of deer sausage.

Reconciliation

2010-01-04T10:20:00.002-06:00

So how does one (like me) who needs to get healthy and who loves to cook (and *ahem*) to eat, RECONCILE those seemingly huge chasm between health needs and eating passions?

This isn't rhetorical. I really need to figure this out. I'm fairly certain the answer is moderation.

Moderation.

Moderation.

Um . . . except for alcohol (which I can and do excercise moderation with), I have almost NEVER been good at moderation. I can't take just one bite. I take a bite of something delicious and the endorphins (evil endorphins) get released--and they have a PARTAY and say "OOOOOH Yeah! We like it! More, more, more!" and then a voice in my head says "just eat it all--destroy the evidence!" Like I'm the suspect at a crime scene.

Which isn't far off from the truth. Except the criminal and victim are all rolled into one here.

In years past, when I've tried to eliminate certain foods or completely avoid entire categories (like carbs . . .dear sweet i-love-you-forever-carbs), I do well for awhile and then crash. and BURN. and GAIN. and Argh! I can't do that again.

So, this year I am sincerely going to need to LEARN moderation--it has to be a learnable skill, right? Right.

I found a great post from the Atlanta Journal

At a deeper level, moderation is a commitment to balance and wholeness. It is rooted in the recognition that each person has many different (and often competing) needs, desires, abilities, and goals. Living up to your full potential means finding ways to incorporate all of them into your decision-making processes and choices.

And Lord knows I do need balance in my life. Do you? I am almost always out of whack and working too much and not focusing any time on my health. I honestly believe balance and Moderation is also a matter of Faith--to depend on God and not food to fulfill me. And at the heart of it, THAT is what my goal needs to be. To live on Faith and not Food!

A few friends of mine and I who are on a leadership team for Women's Community Bible Studies are going to be starting a First Place 4 Health Bible Study and I am SO EXCITED to get started learning how to live differently--from a place of Faith, Moderation and Balance. I'll let you know how it goes!

As for my cooking--I'll be blogging about the struggles of being me, doing what I love, and trying to eat in moderation.

What about you, how do you reconcile the two? Or have you mastered the Moderation matrix? I want to hear how!

Lemme know your thoughts!

Scarlett vs. The No Bake Cookies

2010-01-03T13:58:00.014-06:00

I have a friend, RO, who has forever and ever won the "Favorite Guy" Award in my book--he's a great Christian man, a dedicated husband and friend and quite seriously the nicest man you'll ever meet . . .and he is a KettleBell FANATIC! Yesterday he was out in -28 below weather for some sort of Kettlebell-Maniac-Fest. It's mainly because of him that I've wanted to give Kettlebells a try. My brother is almost as much of a fanatic and brings his kettlebell with him everywhere so he can get in a workout no matter his location. And Bestie Mama M has also recently started so of course I needed to jump on the bandwagon.

So, when I decided to go and purchase my own Kettlebell yesterday I knew I'd need to be serious. And that the Kettlebell had the potential to change my life but may not be the nicest about it (I've heard of massive soreness after Kettlebell workouts). Given all that, I decided to NAME my new 7lb. Kettlebell "Scarlett"--after Scarlett O'Hara--she's tough and fiesty and you gotta love her even if you don't like her. Meet Scarlett:

Today I WILL have my first workout with Scarlett and tomorrow I'm going to begin in earnest work toward a number of health-related goals for 2010--including making a return visit to the Grandma's 5K (if you haven't read the story, click here for a really good laugh--some have been known to cry/pee pants with laughter). One of the things I'll be working on with a few good friends is a Weight Loss Bible Study--more on that in a future post.

BUT, being the procrastinator I am and loving a good excuse to make something delicious, when I read the Pioneer Woman's recipe for French Onion soup yesterday I knew I would make it today as a "final meal". In fact, the onions are browning in the oven as I type--smells DELICIOUS--and it's the maiden voyage of my new Paula Deen Casserole:

In addition, last night a friend and I were talking about how delicious No Bake Cookies are and I knew they had to accompany P-Dub's French Onion soup for my last meal. No Bake Cookies are a childhood favorite because I could make them myself . . .

And because I don't bake . . .

And because they are beyond delicious.

And besides, I haven't made them in YEARS and needed something to food-blog about.

And because I couldn't food blog about P-Dub's French Onion soup when she's already done that so beautifully.

And are those enough excuses so I can make them and not feel guilty?

Hmm . . but Scarlett is mocking me from her spot under the TV . . .mocking and calling. Okay, so I'll make the No Bake Cookies AND workout with Scarlett and they'll cancel each other out. Yeah, that's the ticket.
If you're looking to put off YOUR 2010 health goals today as well, make these--you likely have the ingredients in the house. C'mon you know you want to . . .
Yes, I'm terrible.
(Please don't stop reading my blog. )

Procrastination No Bake Cookies:

Ingredients:
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
4 Tbsp Cocoa powder
1/2 cup Peanut Butter (I prefer smooth for this recipe)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 cups Oatmeal

Melt Butter. btw, I ADORE how cute these little half sticks are:

Anyway, melt butter with sugar, milk, and cocoa powder on the stovetop and bring to boil for 90 seconds.

(But be careful when you're trying to scoop cocoa powder and take a photo at the same time. It may backfire) As the teenager would say: FAIL

Take off the heat and Add the peanut butter. btw, one of my favorite things is a fresh jar of PB--something about how smooth it looks:

Then stir in 3-4 cups Oatmeal:

Try to distract teenage son from devouring bowl before you can turn them into "cookies"

Plop spoonfuls on a cookie sheet to cool.

Enjoy! And now go workout! Or not. But if Scarlett is yelling at you, you may not have a choice (darn it)

Best Dessert Evah--Napoleons

2010-01-01T22:39:00.022-06:00

Okay, so just as a disclaimer, I liked this dessert alot but would NOT have named it "The Best Evah"--my "Best Evah" would be more along the lines of a fresh squeezed key lime pie; HOWEVER, Red's fiance, Big D, did exclaim "T, I think this is the best dessert . . . Ever!"

(this is Red's fiance Big D eating said dessert--and I realize he looks mad here but he's actually saying "Seriously!" and enjoying his dessert--I promise :)

I took the recipe base from Sandra Lee, who actually uses the method of Napoleons for alot of desserts. Take puff pastry and layer in fillings and you've got dessert! I took her basic recipe and just ramped up the cherry layer in particular--I LOVE Cherry flavored anything!

What I love about Napoleons as a dessert is you can prep everything ahead and then it's just assembly when you're ready for dessert! The other thing is everything in the recipe you see with an asterisk* can be made/purchased lowfat or sugar free--very easy to make healthy. (Been watching Biggest Loser marathon today so now inspired to point out things like that :)

Big D Black Forest Napoleon

Ingredients:
1 Box Frozen Puff Past
2 Boxes Chocolate Fudge Jello Pudding*
2 1/2 cups Milk*
1 cup whipping cream* (use all milk if making lite)
1 Cool Whip
1 can Cherry Pie Filling
1 jar Marachino Cherries
1 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
1/2 pkg Black Cherry Jello*
1 can RediWhip*
Hershey's Special Dark Syrup (!!!did you know they made a Special Dark Syrup? Brilliant!!)

Equipment:

2 bowls / tuperware containers that can hold about 4-5 cups
cookie sheet
Whisk

Okay, so for this recipe you prep 3 parts: the Puff Pastry, the Chocolate layer and the Cherry layer.

1. Puff Pastry Prep (say that 5 times fast!) Take out the Puff Pastry and let thaw for about 45 minutes; unfold and cut into 12 squares; then bake according to directions BUT watch it--if you get distracted by, say, a Twitter discussion (darn you @imaginaryfriends!), this could happen:

yeah, but they should look like this:

Once cooled you can put in a large ziplock bag for later.

2. Chocolate Layer: Combine Milk, Cream, and Chocolate Fudge Pudding mix (both packages). Using cream for part of the liquid will make it extra thick and fluffy. If you don't want to use cream, just use all milk but use about 3 1/2 cups. Let stand in fridge for 15 minutes and you're good to go.

3. Ramped Up Cherry Layer: Let the Cool Whip thaw. Combine the container of cool whip with the can of Cherry Pie Filling, 1 1/2 tsp Almond Extract--I use almond EVERY time I use cherry pie filling (it ramps up the flavor of cherry), about half of the juice from the jar of Marachino cherries and 1/2 a package of Black Cherry Jello. Combine and let set for at least 15 minutes in the fridge and, again, you're good to go!

4. Assembly: Take your puff pastry squares and seperate into 2 parts--you'll need 3 pieces for each Napoleon (so 3 squares = 6 parts = 2 napoleons). Layer pastry, chocolate, pastry, cherry fluff, pastry and then top with RediWhip, Dark Chocolate Syrup and a Cherry on top :)

*you could make this low sugar and low fat by using the lowfat/sugar free versions of the ingredients and layering the chocolate and cherry layers with lowfat graham crackers instead of puff pastry! I'm a big "dipper" and today I took the left over fillings and dipped graham crackers as a snack today :)

ENJOY! I thought they were delicious and Big D was raving.

New Years Pickles

2010-01-01T13:01:00.001-06:00

There's a waitress at this little gas station cafe in my hometown in SD named Pickles--it's my Dad's favorite place to get lunch (a hamburger steak) and he takes my son, A, there EVERY time to visit Pickles. I think it's hilarious. And this post has nothing to do with that--except for the pickles part :)

Okay, so I've had New Year's experiences that run the gamut--from staying at home alone watching the Bourne trilogy (except I drank two glasses of wine, got tipsy, and accidentally watched #3 before #2 and will forever be confused by those movies now!) to going out downtown and making a potential fool of myself (in my *ahem* younger days) to hosting a prime rib dinner party (my favorite New Years). This year my dear friend "Red"

hosted a random buffet feast at her new pad. Here she's with her fiance' Big D--I LOVE Big D (not just cause he's a great guy and loves my friend Red, but also) because he gets along awesome with my son A. A doesn't get too excited about much but he really likes hanging out with Big D--which is the only reason I was able to talk A into coming along to last night's gathering :) Red and Big D are getting married New Year's Eve 2010 (one year from yesterday, on their 4 year anniversary) in Hawaii and I plan to be there to blog about it!

Red LURVES Pickles--as does A (as does Bestie Mama M--though I've never made them for her . . . yet) and Red overheard A recently talking about how I never make my famous Fried Pickle Coins for him any more. Red immediately made me promise I'd make them for her New Year's celebration. Done and done! Plus since I had to make them at her place, I knew I'd automatically be more tidy than normal.

The Unkept Cook Fried Pickles:

Ingredients:

Gedney Pickle Planks*

2 cups Flour

1/2- to 2/3 cup Corn Starch

Kosher or Sea Salt (table salt will work--Kosher or Sea sticks better)

Grill Seasoning

3 Eggs OR Egg Substitute

Tabasco OR Siracha Sauce**

Peanut Oil for frying

Optional: Bleu Cheese Dressing for dipping

*I used to do regular pickle coins and MAN ALIVE I'd be frustrated at the end of this process to only have those tiny things. So by using planks--same amount of work but alot more yummy produced :)

**I used to use Tabasco sauce in my egg wash to add flavor, but last night I forgot to bring it and Red only had Siracha--I'd definitely use Siracha over Tabasco--Siracha has more flavor to go with the heat.

Equipment Needed:

Paper Towels--alot of them

4 large plastic plates (with high sides--most do have high (2" ) sides

3 Forks

Large flat bottomed frying pan

Production:

Okay, so I don't do these often because they are a bit of a production, BUT I don't ever crave pickles and I LOVE these (of course what's not to love about breaded and fried?). A LOVES them and last night ate about half of the 50 I made!

Step One: Dry the pickles. The trick to a good fried pickle is getting alot of the moisture out of it before you coat it (so the coating sticks) and so that it fries crispy. So lay a stack of 4-5 paper towls out and lay the pickle planks flat and then lay a few papertowels on top to soak up the juice. I replaced the top paper towels twice. I do this about 30 minutes before I'm going to coat and fry.

Step Two: Set up your coating/breading stations. Using your plastic plates (use the plastic plates so you can just throw them away later!)

First Plate: 1 Cup Flour--that's it, just flour
Second Plate: 3-4 eggs whisked OR egg substitue (which is what I used because it's more of a consistent liquid). Here is where you add your flavor and seasoning because it stays trapped under the coating and doesn't slide off into the oil! I don't like much heat, but the Tobasco/Siracha will add a fun flavor background and I promise it's not too hot! Add 1-3 Tsp of Siracha and a 1/2 Tbsp of Grill Seasonining and whisk the egg mixture to encorporate.
Third Plate: 1 Cup Flour, 1/2 to 2/3 cup of Corn Starch (Corn Starch makes your coating more crispy!)
Fourth Plate--to place the prepped pickles ready to go into the oil

Step Three: Prep Oil. I use Peanut Oil because it fries better and generally makes coating lighter and crispier. I don't use a thermometer and have no real idea how hot it SHOULD be but turn the burner to about 6 (Med High). If it starts snapping on its own, it may be a bit too high. I then place several papertowls down and a wire cooling rack over them next to the stove.

Step Four: Coat. Take each pickle plank, coat each side with the flour, then place in the each in the egg wash and use a fork to flip and coat the pickle in the egg and place in the Flour/Corn Starch plate. Use a new fork to flip and coat and then place on a plate ready to go in the oil. My pan can fit about 7-8 pickle planks per batch, so I coat that many at a time.

Step Five: Fry. Place the coated pickles in the hot oil and wait til they are crispy and slightly browned then flip. If your oil isn't hot enough the coating will get oily instead of crisp. Take them about and let them cool on the rack. Hit them with a little grill seasoning or salt when they come out while they're hot.

Step Six: ENJOY! (oh and try them with a little bleu cheese dressing on top)

Step Seven: ONLY required if you're prepping this in someone else's kitchen--drain the used oil after it's cooled and wash out the pan; throw away all plastic plates and wipe down your mess.

Aren't pickles supposed to be lucky or something? Sure! Yeah, I'm positive I heard that somewhere! So here's to a Lucky and, more more importantly (and likely) BLESSED 2010!!

First Time Five Question Friday

2010-01-01T10:28:00.001-06:00

"It feels like the first time! It feels like the very first time!" Excuse me while I break into song--almost any situation reminds me of a song . . . it's ~~a curse~~ a gift! Anywho, I've been reading Mama M's blog almost since the very beginning but this is the first time I've had a blog with which to hop on the 5 Question Friday train! Woot Woot!

(but also check back later today for a blog-log of last night's Fried Pickle Chips and a dessert that was called "The Best Dessert Evah!" !)

So for now . . . Five Question FRIDAY!

1. If you could bring one character to life from your favorite book, who would it be?

Good Question . . .I'd have to say Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind . . . I'm actually named after that movie (not after Scarlett, but after her dirt :) Tara . . . the plantation!) Anywho, it's usually a tradition that I watch Gone with the Wind every year on or around New Year's . . . . I know the book is a bit different than the movie, but Scarlett is still one of the BEST characters of all time! She wouldn't be friends with me (or with you) but she'd be fun to watch!

2. Where did you get your very first kiss?

At a co-ed party the summer between 8th and 9th grade with a precious young man named Gary. I don't think either of us wanted to . . . but there was a ton of peer pressure and we kissed in the yard waiting for our parents to pick us up--it was quick and not terribly memorable :) Gary and I "went out" for a few weeks that summer--"going out" included talking on the phone, sending notes (yes even during summer time we managed to pass notes) and dedicating songs to each other on the local radio station! Oh, those were the days :)

3. How did you welcome in the New Year?

My son and I went to my friend's house (we'll call her Red) for a casual feast of appetizers (which I'll blog about later today). It was very laid back and good time with friends and my son, A, did great "hanging" with the adults (he was the only teen there) We all danced to one song, watched the ball drop, cheered in the new year, and then packed up and headed home :)

I have had the full range of New Year's experiences--home alone and out at a huge party--but my favorite way is a dinner party or casual party in someone's home :)

4. What is your favorite Beatles song?

OH there ARE so many to choose from! I was just in NYC (again) this fall and took a photo in Strawberry Fields (Central Park) of the Imagine memorial to John Lennon so I'm going to say Imagine. Did you know there's a guy (can't remember his name at the moment) who puts out flowers, plants or fruit/veg to animate that peace sign memorial EVERY DAY! Amazing! The day we were there it was decorated with fresh rose petals:

5. Donuts: Overrated, underrated, or 'bout right?

I'd say 'bout right. I can't stand cake donuts but love Raised Glazed donuts . . preferably Krispy Kreme--but there aren't any around us anymore since so many went under recently. (They got too big too fast--classic business problem) And my FAVORITE donut are Lemon Curd Bismarks with a light glaze--oh YUM!

Happy Friday and HAPPY 2010!

Flabbergasted and Happy, Definitely Happy!

2009-12-31T11:37:00.000-06:00

I'm flabbergasted! I just started posting on Monday and already have my first award!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU KEELY!

While I'm usually almost as bucky about rules as my Bestie, Mama M--actually she's corrupted me--I used to be MUCH more of a rule follower until she came along . . . HOWEVER I'm going to do my best on this one . . .

The Rulez..
List 10 things that make you happy (I can do that)
Give this award to 10 people (have been in the bloggy world for a week but I'll see what I can come up with!)

10 things that make me happy:

Seeing my son, A, happy
A clean house when I didn't have to clean it
A house full of people eating food I prepared
Painting
God's Grace . . .and His sense of humor
The new Coborn's grocery store in my small town--it is the most PERFECT store!
CookBooks--I use them for inspiration but rarely follow the recipes
A great read
Surprises (good ones obviously)
NYC!!!!

wow . . . I was just getting going . . . could've gone on for days! but I'll stick to 10 per the rules since I'll be breaking them in a bit . . .

Okay, 10 blogs to award this to:

The Bignell Family
Slavik Royalty
Just Another Day in OUR Paradise
All A Bunch of Momsense
And of COURSE Mama M at FiveCrookedHalos

Whew! Okay, Keely, I hope 5 is enough! I'm headed out to the gym for the first time in weeks--gotta train for the Grandma's 5K (and if you don't know the story, head over to Mama M's blog for the complete and humiliating details). Only 6 months to get ready to beat my time!

Then I'm headed back home to get prepped to make Fried Pickles and Black Forest Neopolotins to take to my friends house for New Years tonight--both will be blogged about tomorrow!

My Two Sons

2009-12-30T21:07:00.000-06:00

This post title reminds me of "My Two Dads"--do you remember that show?--which reminds me of Paul Reiser--which reminds me of "Mad About You" . . . loved that show. Anyway, nothing to do with this post--sorry 'bout my bunny-trail-mind!

I told you about my son, A:

(Here's A with a swimcap posing more like a dorky speed skater than a swimmer . . . Someday I'll do a post with the many crazy poses of A . . . )

But I forgot to tell you about my other "son"--Drake:

(He's got the cutest "mohawk" hair and a great smile for a dog if I do say so myself :)

Actually, I'm NOT one of those crazy "my dog is my baby" people (no offense) but Drake is definitely part of the family. We got Drake as a puppy almost 4 years ago and it was the best decision I could've made as a Mom--especially as a single Mom. Drake and A are like brothers--they keep each other company, Drake sleeps on A's bed, and they wrestle like brothers:

But right now Drakey is sick--he woke up the other day limping and lethargic and wouldn't eat. A trip to the Vet and a few blood tests later--Drake has Lyme's disease. The good news is we caught it early and with antibiotics, he should make a full recovery--hopefully without any long term damage. But until then I have a sad puppy . . . .

Get better soon Drakey! Yes we call him Drakey . . .and our favorite Drake inspired song? . . .

Drake, Drake, Drake . . . Drake, Drake, Drake . . .

Drake your Booty! . . . Drake your Booty! . . .

(If you didn't know it before, now you do . . .we're VERY dorky . . . and we love our Drakey)

Mix & Match Method and Soup

2009-12-30T08:25:00.001-06:00

I've always wanted one of those wardrobes that you can mix & match almost every piece to make new outfits. And I suppose I do in that I have 3 pair of the same black dress pants (and 1 in gray) and multiple tops and jackets and sweaters. But I mean the kind of wardrobe like you'd end up with on "What Not to Wear" where each piece is intentionally selected to go together and for your body type, etc. Btw, what is up with people who go on that show and whine the whole time--people you are in NYC! (my favorite city--I love NYC like I love a good friend--a future post) and have $5000 to spend! Smile, say "Thank You!" and start shopping! Sheesh .. .

Where was I? Oh yeah, Mix & Match. I imagine choosing that kind of a great wardrobe requires a Method--kind of a formula--to make sure you end up with the right number of tops, bottoms, accessories, shoes (sigh . . . shoes . . . I love shoes . . . ). Anywho, I feel the same way about wardrobing as a good "Recipe"--the METHOD and proportions stay the same, but you can swap out ingredients and get creative.

Many great cooks (which I aspire to be one day) have a head full of methods and then create awesome recipes by trying new ingredients. It's a fantastic creative outlet and it's what I love about cooking.

I have a "method" for making soup (I suppose many Moms do) and I make soup at least once a week at our house. I like to Mix & Match the broth, veggies, starch (if any), protein and seasonings (and bread--always have to serve soup with bread--I mean, isn't that the POINT of soup? to be an excuse for yummy, crusty bread?).

This post may be a bit basic for some of you seasoned cooks, but for anyone who hasn't experimented with soups, I highly recommend it!

Here's a suggested "Method" for a broth based chunky soup (just made this one last night). The key to any good soup is layering flavors. I usually cheat and buy stock or use a stock base, but if you've made your own stock--well if you make your own stock you probably don't need to read this :)

Mix & Match Method Soup:

Layer One: Basic--Start by sauteeing chopped onion in a little oil. I'll sometimes add shallots or garlic if I have any fresh sitting around. Advanced--I'll dice some raw bacon and render the bacon first and then remove the bacon with a slotted spoon(place on a paper towl and later sprinkle on top of the soup) and then sautee the onions in the bacon fat--this adds a layer of smoky meaty flavor--yum!

Layer Two: (optional) Raw Meat--if you have hamburger, or cubed steak or chicken, add it to the onions when the onions just start to get soft. Brown on all sides. HOWEVER, if you're using leftover meat that has already been cooked, don't add it yet.

Layer Three: Veggies: Rough chop (bite sized pieces)other fresh veggies for your soup--we like carrots, mushrooms, green beans, brussel sprouts, broccolli, cauliflower--anything that will hold up in the soup. Rough Chop and sautee about 1-2 cups of veggies.

Layer Four: Seasoning: Here's where I add salt, pepper, garlic powder, or seasoning blends--not a lot, but a little salt will help draw the moisture out of the veggies and will give more flavor to the soup. I also have frozen pressed garlic and basil cubes from Trader Joes (LOVE Trader Joes) that I add here as well) After adding the seasoning, wait til the veggies start to brown and roast and get yummy in general.

Layer Five: (optional) Potatoes: If I'm adding potatoes to our soup (and I almost always do), I scrub and dice the potatoes into bite sized chunks and microwave for 1- minutes so they get a head start (otherwise you'll wait forever for the potatoes to get soft in the soup and there is nothing worse that hard potatoes ruining a good soup!)

Layer Six: (optional) Precooked Meat: Last night i just used left over Rotisserie Chicken chopped up. so I added it after the veggies were browned up.

Layer Seven: Broth/Stock: more often than I like to admit, I use a dried chicken stock base with water for my broth. It's actually tastier than most canned broth but I feel like I'm cheating every time. However, there are many boxed stocks and broths that are very tasty. Choose one that will compliment your meat. How much? Up to you! I usually add about 8 cups so we have leftover soup for later! (I only have to feed 2 :)

Optional Additional Layers:

Frozen Veggies (if I don't have enough fresh, I add frozen veggies after the broth comes to a boil)
Noodles--try not to add noodles until just a few minutes before serving--give them about as long as you'd give them if you were boiling them in water. I've had noodles go mushy on me--not fun. I find Rotini and Rigatoni to hold up best in soup
Rice / Orzo--will need the same amount of cooking time as is called for on the box--and you may need to add more liquid
Velveeta Cheese--redneck? yes and I like it! sometimes when I've used mushrooms, hamburger and beef stock I like to throw some cubed velveeta in and let it melt in for cheeseburger soup.
Additional spices or seasoning--taste your soup! make sure it's tasty :) Add stuff if you need to to make it so!

NOT OPTIONAL--serve with bread, rolls or something to dip!

Bonus: Fried Dough: Last night I tried something new to serve with our soup! I took Trader Joes pizza dough (I LOVE Trader Joes, did I mention that?!), rolled it out, and cut it into random pieces. I heated a nonstick skillet with a tablespoon of oil and "fried" the dough on both sides on medium heat (not high heat--they'll burn on the outside and be doughy in the middle). I salted them when they came out of the pan.

Review from "A": "Mom, this fried dough stuff is outstanding! There's more, right?"

Being "Unkept"

2009-12-29T19:30:00.000-06:00

Being "Unkept" would be tough for some, but I come by it honestly, I swear. I realize my domestic procrastination would drive some type-A folks nuts! And in the business world it would drive ME nuts. My Mom--for example--has to practically sit on her hands when she comes over because she sees "projects" everywhere she looks. It's not that I'm a slob--it's that my time is often spent in order of what is needed or important.

For example, some people would have to "actively" avoid the mess on the kitchen table that was made after piling stuff from the car to the table after a long drive home from a Christmas roadtrip and would have to do something like start a blog just to justify NOT cleaning up said mess.

Not me--even if I hadn't started a blog, I would've taken my time in taking care of the mess. See, eventually I'll NEED everything on that table and it'll get put away . . . "organically" . . . yeah, see my "Unkept" lifestyle is really a "grassroots" movement to go with the flow . . . or something . . ..

And the new bathroom decor I purchased over the weekend (also sitting on the table) will eventually (I'm sure of it!) actually be used to redecorate my bathroom--which I've been meaning to do for over a year now. And I'm sure I won't wait until a week before impending house guests visiting this spring to actually PAINT said bathroom and put up this decor:

Actually! I did think of something to legitimately keep me from painting the walls for at least another week--I'm going to create a piece of art for the walls--and THEN the paint color for the walls will "come to me" .. . you know . . . "organically". So this weekend (New Years Eve Weekend) I plan to create a painting

(here are a few of my past paintings* --I only ever paint flowers--I only use Acrylics--I'm obviously self taught and don't claim ANY painting expertise other than I love doing it--I'll explain in a future post):

(this is a large 3' x 4' split canvas painting I did a few years ago for my office--the only painting I've kept!)

(this I did for my dear friend and colleague--lets call her Sunflower--I just gave this to her for Christmas)

yes! and then I'll pick a paint color based on the decor and whatever I create and then enlist friends to come help paint the walls (which I HATE doing almost as much as I hate doing the dishes). Ooooohh . . I will bribe those painting friends with FOOD! and then will have another excuse for an Unkept Cook blog entry! Yes--it's a master-round-about-plan that will eventually get me to the year-plus goal of redecorating the bathroom!

Hmm . . . if I combine my undone . . .unkept . . . domestic type projects with reasons to cook and blog I MAY actually get things (domestically speaking) DONE in 2010! Shocking . . . this blog thing . . . it's tricking me into domestic action . . . via blogging accountability . . . hmmm . . . that just might work . . . we'll see . . . .

Patience isn't one of my virtues. . . ET Salad

2009-12-29T10:30:00.000-06:00

I am not a terribly patient person and when I cook I tend to just "create"--a little of this, a hint of that . . . and pretty soon I have my finished masterpiece. Which I'm quickly finding makes "food blogging" a bit of a challenge--because I'm told pictures are pretty much vital to food blogging and that means I'll need to slow down and think through steps and take photos of, well, the preparation of food!

So for this next recipe I have about half the photos needed . . . but again not the final product! Darn it! I WILL get the hang of this and then my readers (Hi readers! how fun is that--I started a blog and now have readers!? all 10 of you! love to you!!) will get to see what the food looks like and may even be inspired to COOK--which is at least part of the point of all of this :)

I call this ET Salad--as in Entertaining Salad--as in Salad I Entertain with (not salad that entertains you--well, it WILL entertain your mouth . . but you know what I mean!) Also not to be confused with "ET Phone Home"--I never liked ET as a kid--creeped me out. So why did I name this salad after a creepy SciFi creature? Good question.

I made this salad up out of a few recipes I'd read trying to use fresh fennel because I LOVE fresh fennel! It's bright and fresh tasting; it's crunchy and satisfying; it's smells like Anise (which I don't usually enjoy) but tastes delicious. And I love to USE fresh fennel because it's unexpected and people don't think to use it fresh. And I love to serve this salad because its delicious and has a pretty presentation--which you won't get to see today (next time I make it I WILL post a photo however!).

I recently made this salad on Christmas Day--after the Creme Brulee prep-- for my family. The ET Salad and Creme Brulee were bookends to a delightful meal prepped by my Mom--who is an AMAZING COOK!--and who DOES keeps a VERY tidy kitchen (unlike me). We had Prime Rib, loaded mashed potatoes, and fresh multigrain rolls .. . YUM! Anywho, I did start to take photos of the salad prep and then forgot to snap a few of the final product--thank you in advance for your patience!

Okay, the recipe already! (I can tell editing down my bunny-trail type thoughts will be my biggest blogging challenge . . . ahem!)

ET Salad: (please adjust amounts based on how many you're feeding--we were feeding 8 salad plate portions for this recipe--though add grilled chicken and this could easily become a meal itself!)

Ingredients:

1 large or 2 small bulbs of fresh Fennel--core and then slice or jullienne bulb only

2 Granny Smith Apples--cored and sliced (no need to peel unless you don't like the peel)

2 Nectarines or Pears--I prefer the Nectarines if you can find them; pears will substitute--also cored and sliced and not peeled

1 Red onion

1 bottle of Marzetti's Spinach Dressing (found in your grocer's produce area)

Real Bacon Bits (rendered yourself or purchased)

Honey Roasted Almond Slices

1 Bag fresh Baby Spinach

Tools/Equipment:

1 large Ziplock Bag

Knife of choice--I tend to use my small chef's knife for everything

Cutting Board

Large Platter

Coring the Fennel bulb--first cut off the frond stalks--some people dry and use the fennel fronds for seasoning and I imagine you could use them for soup stock--but that's all a bit too much work for me, so I usually just toss them (but feel free to post your uses for them if you have them!)

Then cut the bulb in half (lengthwise) and take your knife and cut out the core on both sides--it'll be kind of a triangle shape.

core and slice Fennel, Apple, Nectarine, and Red Onion into large bite sized pieces--try to keep all the pieces about the same size. Toss them all into a large ziplock bag.

and add the entire bottle of Marzetti's Spinach Dressing. Now, you could make your own bacon dressing--go for it and send me the recipe!--but I usually spend alot more time on the main dishes of the meal and take help with the salad and this is exceptionally delicious dressing!

Let the veg/fruit combo marinate for 1-3 hours in the fridge (up to overnight). To plate, spread the baby spinach in an even layer on a pretty platter and then using tongs or a slotted spoon, place the marinated mixture on top of the greens. Top with real bacon bits and toasted almond slices and make sure to use tongs to serve. It's delicious! And a great conversation starter . . .

Enjoy!

Pajama Team Dance Party Cooking Show . . . Creme Brulee

2009-12-28T15:19:00.001-06:00

On Christmas day I made the salad (future post) and my sister and I made the Creme Brulee. Actually, my niece (age 6), my sister and sister-in-law DID make a hilarious video--"the Pajama Team Dance Party Cooking Show" where we made the Creme Brulee with C&C Music Factory in the background. We were pretending we had our own cooking show . . .I want to say it was a fun way to hang out with my niece, but really my family is really this cheesy. My sister, T, and I especially. The video IS hilarious but doesn't actually show the food much :) We were using my new FLIP video cam--I just don' t have the editing part all figured out yet . . .

(Hey! I DID figure out how to take a snapshot from the FLIP footage! here you can see some of us in our cheesy-Dance Party glory rockin out to "Everybody Dance Now".)

Anyway, my Dad:

(Dad is on the left in his ever-present-winter Elmer Fudd hat . . . next to my GQ brother :)

recently had Creme Brulee at a restaurant and declared it his new favorite so we thought it'd be fun to make it for him. Creme Brulee, as it turns out is very simple yet very difficult because there are so many darned steps! I don't normally bake and this is dangerously close to baking . . .but despite none of us having ever made it before, ours did turn out great!

We looked at three different recipes and modified our own (which is usually how I roll). This receipe is for about 8 people. I should also point out that this recipe requires more tools and gadgets than I normally use--but we were in my Mom's kitchen--home of any and all kitchen gadgets!

Incredients:
5 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
12 Egg Yolks
8 Tbsp White Granulated Sugar

1 tsp Almond extract

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Brown Sugar for sprinkling

Berries for garnish

Tools/Equipment:

Mixer

Ramekins (we used various sizes for various ages of family members :)

2 baking dishes

Sifter (optional)

Torch or large lighter for carmelizing the sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Heat 5 cups of Heavy Whipping Cream over a low heat until almost boiling (stir slowly to prevent scalding)--when it's almost boiling, take it off heat; Meanwhile, seperate 12 eggs. I find the easiest way to seperate eggs is to crack the egg into your hand and use your fingers as a natural sieve:

Be sure to refrigerate the egg whites for an omelette the next day! Okay, now beat 12 egg yolks, 8 Tablespoons of sugar, 1 tsp Almond extract and 1 tsp Vanilla extract for about 5 minutes (or until thick and frothy).

Then temper the egg mixture with the hot cream in a seperate bowl--add a cup of the egg mixture in a bowl and slowly add about a cup of the cream while whisking very fast. (no photo of this--sorry!). Then, turn the mixer back on very low (which egg mixture still in the bowl) and slowly add the tempered mixture. Then slowly add the cream a little at a time until it's all mixed together.

Be sure to crank up the tunes and have background dancers to spice up the boredom of having SO MANY STEPS! Here you'll see our background dancers doing the shopping cart . . .

Put about 4 cups of water in a large microwave safe container and heat up for about 1-2 minutes.

Using a ladle, pour the creme brulee mixture into the ramekins to 3/4 full. Place the ramekins in a baking dish (you'll need two baking dishes to make 8 ramekins). Then take the hot water from the microwave and pour it into the baking dish so it comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Set the timer for 25 minutes but but be prepared for it to be longer. Check at 3-5 minute intervals for the custards to be "set"--by "Set" I mean that you can jiggle the pan and they wiggle a bit but clearly are no longer liquid in the middle. Don't be alarmed if they brown on top--mine did but it was because my mixture was a bit too frothy and the "froth" browned, but underneath was creamy delicious custard.

When they're done, remove the ramekins from the water bath using large tongs or oven mitts and let them come to room temp before putting in the fridge.

I don't have photos of much of this because I hadn't planned on food blogging it and our Danceparty Cooking show lost its mojo after the 20th step (around the time we finally put the ramekins in the oven).

Once cooled (can be refrigerated for up to 1-2 days), they're ready to "brulee!" Place 1/3 cup Brown Sugar and 1/3 cup White Sugar in a sifter and sift the sugar over top the ramekin. Using a torch or large lighter, flame the sugar until carmelized but not burnt--you'll be able to tell when you burn it because it'll make a sizzle sound and turn black. My son found that you can make an even more candy-licious crust by repeating the sugar/flame process 2-3 times.

Top with a few berries and ENJOY! Then take a nap--you deserve it!

Creme Brulee isn't that hard--just time consuming--something I'm not usually down for. But, it was Christmas and my Daddy's favorite .. . and he said it was "WAY BETTER" than what he had at the restaurant. Plus we have a hilarious video to chronicle some classic sister time! Way worth the time spent :)

Love to you and yours and hope you made some great memories this Chrismas!

Update:
p.s. does anyone else cook with their family? tell me about it!

p.p.s. if anyone makes Creme Brulee, please take a pic and show me the final product! (since I obviously didn't bother to do so myself!!)

The Unkept Cook

A Great Excuse

2009-12-28T14:24:00.000-06:00

Last spring, my Bestie (Mama M) decided to start a blog detailing her life as a Mom, wife, nurse, friend and cook. And I LOVE reading her blog, but had no real desire (or time) to write my own. I was perfectly happy delighting in Mama M's blog and trying to keep my own head above water. I'm a single mom to this amazing 14 year old--we'll call him "A":

and I run a business that can keep me busy 60-70 hours a week. In my spare time I focus on my Faith (love Bible Studies such as Beth Moore!)and I love spending time with family and friends:

(my Bestie, Mama M, is the cute blonde on the left)

and hobbies like painting (a future post) and, of course, COOKING! Actually, what I really love is entertaining--but if you couldn't tell by my blog name, my house is very rarely "company ready". In fact, I'll sometimes invite people over just to motivate myself to get the house in order! It's not that I'm not capable of cleaning up--it's just that there are usually 1000 other interesting things I'd rather be doing and it just isn't a top priority for me--until company is coming :)

Then a few weeks ago Bestie Mama M invites me to be her guest to a Christmas party for blog readers at none other than MckMama's--I had no idea what I was getting myself into! I met a group of amazing women who had at least 4 things in common: 1) They're all Mama's who love their kids :) 2) They all have read MckMama's blog and prayed for Stellan 3) They're all sweet, caring people who I wanted to stay connect to; and 4) they almost all had blogs and stayed connected through them.

So on the way home Mama M encouraged me to start a blog and then Laura chimed in via Twitter. And I decided that a blog might just add a little balance in my life (see, everything seems to be about work in my world) AND would provide a GREAT excuse to cook more often (so I'd have things to blog about).

And that's the story of how The Unkept Cook blog came to be. I promise to have a few cooking posts on here very soon to legitimize the title . . . but I'll likely also post on here often about life and motherhood and other random Tara thoughts!

Hope you enjoy!