Jazzie and Tahlia

Making a gingerbread house - part 1

One thing that Jazzie wanted to do while on winter break was make a gingerbread house from scratch.

I usually take the easy way out and buy the kit, but I thought it would be a fun learning experience to make our own gingerbread and cut out our own house. So, I found a recipe for gingerbread, printed out a template for the house and we got to work.

We started this morning by making the gingerbread dough:

Daddy got in on the action!

A big batch of gingerbread is chilling...

We took a break for lunch and then went back to work on rolling out the dough and cutting the house shapes.

This is what happens when you forget to put your apron back on:

The aftermath:

But hey - we had fun, so it didn't matter. The kitchen is clean again. Tomorrow we will be making the icing so we can assemble and decorate our house. Stay tuned!

Cookie Sunday

It was such a rainy day today. A perfect day to spend with my girls baking cookies and snuggling up together to watch a movie. We watched Home Alone; first time for the girls :-)

Ready for some baking! Gotta love Tahlia's red little toes ;-)

Tahlia wanted to make aunt Christi's sugar cookies...

Testing one to make sure they're okay:

Jazzie decided to make good ole chocolate chip cookies.

Thai Pumpkin Soup

There is a little restaurant here in Cincinnati where they make the best Thai Pumpkin Soup. The other day I decided to try and recreate it (skinny style of course) and the result was amazing. Very tasty and at only 3 WW points per cup, I was extremely happy...

You will need:

• 15 oz can of reduced sodium chicken broth
• 2 small cans of pumpkin puree
• 1 small can of light coconut milk
• 2 Tbs minced ginger
• 4 garlic cloves (or less if you think that's too much)
• 1 large shallot, minced
• at least 2 Tbs of red curry paste
• Sriracha sauce to make it spicy!
• salt, pepper, cilantro, lime and fish sauce to taste

Start out by sauteing the garlic, ginger and shallot:

When they're soft, add the broth, curry paste, and Sriracha sauce. Whisk to combine:

Gently boil the mixture for about 20 minutes. Turn the heat down and taste for seasoning.

I added the juice of one lime:

2 teaspoons of fish sauce:

Taste again and adjust the curry paste, Sriracha sauce, lime, fish sauce, salt and pepper until you're happy with how it tastes.

Right before serving, throw in a large handful of cilantro. If you're not crazy about cilantro you can leave it out. I happen to love it and I ALWAYS have cilantro on hand. I buy a few bunches at a time, was and dry them, chop them (stems and all) and stick the entire thing in a large freezer bag. Whenever I need some cilantro, I just grab what I need from the bag...

Serve the soup with some pumpkin seeds on top and a lime wedge on the side. You'll love it!

Buffalo Chicken Chili

I made Buffalo Chicken Chili for the first time last night. After looking at LOTS of recipes on line, I came up with my own version, and boy was it good. Seriously delicious! And the best part? You make it in the crock pot, so it's perfect for these chilly fall evenings. This recipe makes a LOT of chili;  I'd say about 8 servings, so you'll have plenty of leftovers or you can do what I did and share it with a neighbor :-)

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless chicken breast
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 ribs of celery, chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic, chopped (you could add less, but who would want to???)
• 1 Tbs smoked paprika
• 1 box of low sodium chicken broth
• Franks Hot Sauce. I used at least 3/4 cup, but we like it spicy. You can add less.
• 1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1 bag of baby spinach
• 1 can of cannelini beans, rinsed and drained

Saute the onion, garlic, carrots and celery in a pan until soft. Add the smoked paprika. Stir well and add to a large crock pot. Add the chicken, chicken broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce and hot sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks and add it back to the crock pot along with the cannelini beans. Right before serving, add the spinach and give the chili one more stir until the spinach wilts.

I sprinkled some blue cheese on top and served it with celery sticks. I'm telling you, it is delicious!

Fooducate

One of my favorite iPhone app's is Fooducate. I am telling you - it is AWESOME!

All you do is scan the bar code of any kind of food product with your phone and it will tell you both the positive and negative things about it, compare other brands and it will help you select better alternatives. And best of all for me is that it tells me the Weight Watchers Points!!!! They actually refer to them as FoodPoints on the app, but I have found them to calculate to be the same as WW points. 

I have been going a little nuts scanning stuff in my pantry and at the store and it's been eye opening. Stuff that I thought was pretty healthy, turns out to be not so much! The app will tell you if the product has excessive sugar, preservatives, food coloring, MSG, trans fats and more. I learned that if a product contains yeast extract, it actually means there is MSG in it. Who knew? So download the FREE app and Fooducate yourself!

I made some healthy turkey meatballs for dinner tonight. Start out by mixing 10 oz of lean ground turkey, 1 grated zucchini (squeezed dry), 2 cloves of garlic (chopped), 2 Tbs grated parmesan cheese, 2 Tbs whole wheat bread crumbs, 1 Tbs egg substitute, 2 Tbs fresh basil (chopped), 1/2 tsp kosher salt and some black pepper.

Form into about 15 meatballs:

Bake in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for about 15 minutes. They come out looking yummy!

I added the meatballs to some marinara sauce (I made my own, but a jar would be just fine as well) and served them over Shirataki noodles, which Fooducate gives a B rating with 0 FoodPoints!

2 tablespoon enchillada's

I had some stuff in the refrigerator that I needed to use up, so I came up with these enchilada's which have about 2 tablespoons of each filling, hence the name :-)

Start out with some small tortilla's. I like to use these made by La Tortilla Factory (for my WW friends, these are only 1 Points Plus each!)

Spread 2 Tbs of butternut squash puree on one half...

Add 2 Tbs of cooked turkey sausage (rf ground chicken, beef, whatever you have):

Next: 2 Tbs of black beans:

2 Tbs of reduced fat shredded cheese:

And some spinach leaves:

Fold the other half of the tortilla over the filling:

Next pour over some enchillada sauce. I made my own, but you could use a can if you want. Personally, I do not care for the canned stuff. I like my sauce chunky!

Last but not least, sprinkle some more cheese over the top:

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. Top with a tablespoon (or 2) of fat free sour cream, some chopped green onions and enjoy!

Thai cabbage roll soup

I wanted to make something different for dinner tonight, and I had seen a recipe for Thai cabbage roll soup in one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks. I always like to put my own spin on recipes (I usually go for a LOT more spice than any recipe calls for) and after seeing what I had in the fridge to work with I came up with the following. 

Cabbage Rolls:
8 small savoy cabbage leaves, large ribs removed
9 ounces of ground skinless turkey breast
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce 
6 scallions, chopped
2 teaspoons Asian (dark) sesame oil

Broth:
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup sliced scallions
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, chopped
3 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh lemongrass
4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 jalapeno, chopped 
1/4 cup cilantro leaves 
2 oz rice noodles 

To make the cabbage rolls, fill a large saucepan two-thrids full of water and bring to a boil. Add the cabbage leaves and boil until the leaves are wilted, about 20 seconds. Drain; set aside and cool.

Combine the turkey, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, scallions, and sesame oil in a large bowl until blended.

Working with1 cabbage leaf at a time, place 2 rounded tablespoons of the turkey mixture in the center of the bottom third of the leaf. Fold over the sides, then roll up from the bottom of the leaf to form a package. Secure the bottom of the package with a toothpick. Repeat with remaining leaves and turkey filling to make 8 cabbage rolls; set aside.

To make the broth, heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Swirl in the oil, then add the scallions, garlic, ginger, jalapeno and lemongrass. Cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the broth, lime juice, brown sugar and soy sauce; bring to a boil.

Add the cabbage rolls to the broth. Cover and simmer until the flavors are blended and the rolls are cooked through, about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cilantro leaves. 

While the soup is simmering, cover the rice noodles with hot water and let stand until the soup is ready. I love these little bundles of rice noodles. One package is exactly 2 ounces and they are fat free and delicious. I buy mine at the Asian grocery store.

Right before serving the soup, put some of the drained noodles in the bottom of a bowl, add 2-3 cabbage rolls and about a cup of broth. I found that 2 rolls were plenty. Here's what the inside looks like:

I will definitely make this again. Fun to make, fun to eat and it's just something different. The flavors are pretty bold, so unless you like bold and spicy, you might want to cut back some on the garlic, ginger and jalapeno :-)

Zucchini fries

We had a hamburger with zucchini fries for dinner tonight. The following recipe was inpired by Hungry Girl's zucchini fries...

I had half a zucchini and half a yellow squash, so I cut them into strips:

Instead of using breadcrumbs, I like to use this high fiber cereal. Never mind the number 2 on the box. I label every.single.thing in my pantry with Weight Watchers Points :-)

I put about 1/2 cup of the cereal in a baggie and rolled it into crumbs with a rolling pin. I added 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp oregano and 1/2 tsp paprika.

I took 1/2 cup of egg substitute, seasoned it with salt and pepper and poured it over the zucchini and squash, making sure every fry was coated with the egg:

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, roll each fry in the cereal crumbs and place on the cookie sheet:

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes. They come out soft on the inside (not mushy!) and so crispy on the outside. Good stuff!

Sesame noodles with beaf and broccoli

I love this dish. Sometimes I make it with chicken or shrimp, but tonight I made it with beef. You can add whatever vegetables you have on hand. I happened to have broccoli in the fridge. Start by making the sauce:

Mix together 1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce, 1 1/2 Tbs of sesame oil, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 Tbs of minced ginger, 1 Tbs brown sugar, 1 Tbs agave nectar (or honey), juice of half a lime, chili paste to taste (I use a little then add more at the table so it won't be too spicy for the girls). 

Set aside.

Cook 6 ounces of linguine or spaghetti. While the pasta is cooking, saute 10 oz of lean beef which has been cut into strips.

Pierce a bag of broccoli with a fork and microwave for 2 1/2 minutes.

After the broccoli is cooked, add it to a large bowl.

Add the cooked beef:

Then add the hot noodles and 3 chopped green onions:

Warm the sauce in the microwave until hot, add it to the noodles and give everything a good toss:

Enjoy!

My girls' favorite dinner (quick AND healthy!)

Jazzie and Tahlia LOVE the following recipe. It's quick to make and pretty healthy, too!

Here's what you need:

32 oz carton of chicken stock (I try to get the low sodium kind), 1 small onion, 2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots (all chopped), 1 tsp of thyme, 1 can of all white meat chicken (I usually don't use canned meats, but when pressed for time it's a fabulous thing!) and egg noodles. 

But I have one more "secret" ingredient to get my girls some extra vitamin A - one cup of roasted butternut squash .

Start by sauteeing the onions, celery, carrots and thyme in about 1 tsp of olive oil:

Add the chicken stock...

Drain the chicken and use a fork to smash it into small pieces before adding it to the pan:

Add the butternut squash:

Now give it a good stir and add the noodles (my girls LOVE noodles, so I use a lot; about 2 cups). Let the soup simmer until the noodles are soft. So yummy :-)

Butternut squash fries (+ the way to my man's heart)

I LOVE butternut squash and we have an abundance of it in our garden.Tonight I made butternut squash fries for myself. Start by cutting one small butternut squash in the shape of French fries. Spray with non stick spray, sprinkle with salt and chili powder and toss to combine.

Spread in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake at 450 for abut 15 minutes. I had about half these with my ham and cheese sandwich. Yum!

And now let me tell you the absolute way to Matt's heart as far as food goes. I start by roasting some peppers (spicy ones are the ones of his choice)...

I mix equal amounts of homemade pesto and goat cheese (or cream cheese if you like) and stuff it inside the peppers:

Then I bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

Let's just say my husband was a happy camper at dinner tonight :-)

Simple twice baked potatoes

This recipe is so simple, but we love 'm (especially Tahlia!)...

Jazzie prefers noodles over potatoes (or anything else for that matter), so I only made three of them tonight. Start by piercing 3 small potatoes with a fork:

Bake them in the oven until soft. Cut them in half and scoop out the inside:

Add 1/4 cup fat free sour cream, 1/2 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese, salt, black pepper, 1 clove of garlic (pressed) and to make it extra creamy...

1 wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese (or two to make it even creamier!). 

Mix it all together and divide the mixture among the empty potato shells:

Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes and it's done. I don't eat potatoes very often, but these are so simple to make and at only 4 WW points for two halves, it's a great side dish.

Comfort food

There isn't much more comforting to me than tomato soup and grilled cheese. However, my tomato soup is not your average red stuff from the can. My grandmother (or oma) used to make this amazing tomato soup with fresh tomatoes, meatballs, spaghetti noodles and TONS of dried thyme. It's more of a stew really and SO, SO good. As a child I watched her make it many times and over the years I've perfected my own version. There are certain elements to her recipe that I've omitted (like using bone marrow and fatty beef), but mine comes pretty close (and is healthier!), although it will never be 100% like oma used to make it :-)

I make my soup in a crock pot, since the base of the soup needs to cook slowly and long. This recipe serves about 6 people. Here is what you need for the base:

• 32 ounces of beef stock (I use the low sodium kind)
• 2 cups diced onions
• 8 ounces lean beef, cut in cubes
• 8 ounces lean ground beef, seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled into small meatballs
• 3 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or more if you can stand it)
• And last but not least: 1/4 cup chopped lovage leaves. Now this is kind of a secret ingredient. Lovage is an herb that tastes like celery and looks like parsley. It's not an herb that is readily availble in stores and it's hard to find. However, it is a key ingredient and we have two large lovage plants growing in our garden. If you can't find it, you could use flat leaf parsley or celery leaves. It won't taste exactly like oma's soup, but it will still be good.

Cook the soup base on low for at least 6 hours. Then add 1 large 28 oz can of your favorite tomatoes. I like my soup chunky, so I use whole tomatoes and chop them roughly, but you could use crushed or diced tomatoes as well. Add two tablespoons of tomato paste and simmer for another hour or so. Meanwhile, cook about 4 ounces of spaghetti or more if you like more paste (I use whole wheat) and add it to the soup. Stir and serve.

The way we used to eat it at oma's house was with some sambal oelek added. Sambal oelek is a hot chili paste and it gives the soup an amazing flavor. Of course, if you don't like things spicy you could leave it out, but for me... my soup has to have that kick!

I would be perfectly happy eating just a big bowl of this tomato-y goodness or maybe with a piece of nice crusty bread for dipping. But what goes better with tomato soup than a grilled cheese sandwich?

Tonight I made ours on my favorite low calorie bun with fat free cheese, onions, tomatoes and roasted garlic (Matt and I LOVE roasted garlic!)...

Just spread it on the bread before adding the cheese and the veggies...

For you WW people: I did the calculations and the Points Plus value for the entire meal (1 1/2 cups soup and 1 sandwich) was 11. For me, this comfort food from home is SO worth the Points :-)

Butternut squash muffins

I'm a bit obsessed with butternut squash. Have you tried it?  We grew a ton of it in our garden this year and my favorite way to preserve it is to bake the squash in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes until it's soft.

Scoop out the flesh and puree it in a food processor or simply mash it with a potato masher.

I then like to make individual zipper bags with a 1 or 2 cup serving. Freeze and they are ready to go when you are...

I've been wanting to make butternut squash muffins and I recently found a Weight Watcher recipe that looked good. I modified it slightly (I almost always up the amount of spices a recipe calls for, I used apple sauce instead of oil and added Greek yogurt. They turned out SO good!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup butternut squash puree (about 1 3/4 pounds)
1/4 cup applesauce (I used the cinnamon kind, but plain would work fine as well)
1/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt (or plain) 
3 Tbs molasses
1 egg 

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 12 muffin holes with cooking spray or use cupcake liners.
  
  
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, spices, baking soda and salt.
  
  
• In another bowl, combine sugar, squash puree, apple sauce, yogurt, molasses and egg. With an electric mixer on medium speed, mix for 1 to 2 minutes (or mix by hand). 
  
  
• Make a well in center of dry ingredients; pour in liquid mixture and gently fold to just combine (batter will be lumpy).
  
  
• Evenly pour batter into prepared muffin pan about two-thirds full. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Yields 1 muffin per serving.

Zucchini crusted pizza

This time of year we always have an abundance of zucchini. One of my favorite things to do with it is make a zucchini crusted pizza.

I saw the idea of a zucchini crust for pizza in a magazine several years ago, but played around with the recipe until it was to my liking... 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Start out with 4 cups of grated zucchini (about 1 pound). 

It is imperative that you squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini. I weighed in down in a colander first with a few cans of tomatoes, then put it in a towel to squeeze out the rest of the water.

After the zucchini is nice and dry, put it in a bowl and add 1/2 cup of egg subsitute (or two large eggs), 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, 2 Tbs flour, 1/2 tsp dried oregano and some salt to taste.

Mix well and spread the mixture on a cookie sheet sprayed with non stick spray...

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (or until the crust is nice and brown):

Next comes the tomato sauce. You could easily use store bought pizza sauce or tomato sauce, but I like to make my own out of these four simple ingredients:

1 small red onion, chopped. 3 cloves of garlic, chopped. 12 basil leaves, chopped. One quart of tomatoes. I used tomatoes from our garden which we canned last year, but a 28 oz store bought can works fine as well. Sautee the onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil until soft. Add tomatoes, basil and some salt and simmer until sauce thickens. When the sauce is done, spread it over the crust:

Now comes the fun part. Top this with whatever you like. Tonight I simply topped our pizza with sauteed baby portabella mushroom, jalapenos (we like it spicy!) and 8 ounces of fresh mozarella.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I usually turn the broiler on for a few minutes to brown the cheese.

Enjoy :-)

Serves 4.

For those of you counting Weight Watcher Points, I did the calculations and this comes out at 8 Points + per serving.

Shucking corn

We are having a big family gathering here at our house tomorrow and to help me prepare for it, I gave Jazzie the job of shucking the corn...

I bought 24 ears of corn and I knew Jazzie would do a good job, being as thorough and meticulous as she is. It took her over an hour, but in the end I had 24 beautifully cleaned ears of corn, with not one single piece of silk. Told you my girl is meticulous ;-)

Pretzels

Whenever the girls and I go the mall, we have to stop at Auntie Anne's so that they can get a pretzel. The girls LOVE them.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this bake at home kit at my local grocery store. I knew it would be a fun thing to do with the girls and since yesterday was a rainy day, it was a perfect day for some baking.

After we mixed the dough and let it rise, it was time to shape them. The girls learned that the dough was pretty sticky and stretchy and that rolling it in a long, thin rope was not as easy as the Auntie Anne's people in the mall make it look ;-)

And neither was shaping them!

The girls laughed hysterically at how they turned out, since they were not that pretty to look at :-)

Jazzie sprinkling salt on her pretzels:

Tahlia prefers her pretzels with cinnamon sugar:

Lots of it ;-)

And even though our pretzels weren't pretty to look at, you can see in the video below they tasted really good and got two thumbs up from both girls! 

9 years ago...

... our dossier was logged in at the CCAA in China. That day the stars aligned perfectly so that Jazzie could find her way to us and we to her. It still amazes me to think how perfect the universe's timing is. Jazzie was meant to be our daughter. There is no doubt about it.

Lately, Jazzie has not been eating in the healthiest way. If it was up to her she would eat ramen noodles every day. So I decided that since I have been eating much healthier, so should the girls with Jazzie in particular. So today I shopped for a bunch of organic fruits and vegetables and decided to go through this cookbook again, which had been stashed away on the shelf for too long.

I spent the entire afternoon cutting up fruit - 

And cutting up and steaming vegetables for purees to hide in meals -

Butternut squash puree (this one is my favorite; I could eat it by the bowl!)

Sweet potato puree:

Spinach puree:

Yellow squash puree:

And cauliflower puree:

I then packaged them in 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup portions in plastic baggies:

Tonight I made the sloppy joe's from the cookbook, which has sweet potato puree, butternut squash puree and carrots. I also added some of the girls' favorite barbecue sauce to it and they LOVED it! Jazzie even had seconds. Gotta love that!!! If you are interested, you can find the recipe here.

Testing a new "spaghetti"

Here is a picture of the noodles, since they are mirrored in my little webcam video - 

Noodles made from tofu?!? I was intrigued. I love pasta, but being on Weight Watchers, it is not the best thing for me to eat. These noodles however have virtually no fat, no calories and no carbs. I was able to find them in the refrigerated health food section at my local grocery store.

So this evening I made a stir fry and added these noodles. The verdict?

Delicious! Seriously - they were really good. I am not sure how good the noodles would be on their own, but with the sauce Matt and I could not tell the difference. Even Jazzie who is our noodle connoisseur thought they were good and even asked me to make more. Of course I did not tell her they were made from tofu ;-)

I just fell in love...

with this:

I was at Sam's Club today and saw this stainless steel cleaner. Now, I have tried just about EVERY single stainless steel cleaner available, but nothing worked to my liking. Until today. It cleaned my stainless steel appliances effortlessly (truly). Call me strange, but I get really excited about this kind of stuff. Look at how my fridge shines:

And with two little bakers in the kitchen, I really appreciate a good cleaning product :-)

Baking with Jazzie

Yesterday, Jazzie and I were able to do some baking. Tahlia had gone over to a neighbor's house and was getting ready to go swimming, but Jazzie decided she wanted to stay with me so we could make pumpkin bread and molasses cookies. I love baking with the girls, but I love it even more when I can do it with just one. It's just easier and more enjoyable for me. Tahlia would rather be in the pool than bake anyway, so it worked out for everyone.

And here is part of a conversation Jazzie and I had during our baking. You can tell how hard she has to concentrate to listen while she is grating the nutmeg. Part of it is her having trouble with background noise, but the other part is the fact that I think Jazzie's cochlear implant processors need to be re-mapped (re-programmed). I just don't think she is hearing as well...

Julie and Julia

Have any of you seen the movie Julie and Julia? I love that movie. It's the story of this woman called Julie who has decided that she is going to cook her way through the Julia Child cookbook and blog about it. So, that gave me an idea.

I have been unsure as to what to do about this blog. Sometimes I feel that it has run it's course, yet I can't bring myself to close it. At times I have no idea what to blog about anymore. I recently rejoined Weight Watchers (or Weight Washers as Tahlia calls it). I really love the program. It makes sense and it works! I have a few WW cookbooks and for the most part I think their recipes are pretty good. So I have decided to cook my way through my Weight Watchers Cookbooks. I am still not sure if I am going to be making a separate cooking blog or if I'll keep everything here on The Daily Grind. We'll see how this goes first before I decide.

So, my first recipe I want to share is Gingered Beef and Broccoli.

First, I heated 2 tsp of sesame oil in a pan, stir-fried 10 oz of sirloin steak, cut into strips and removed them from the pan:

 

Meanwhile, I boiled some brown rice in a bag (the best invention since sliced bread, I am telling you!)

 

In the same pan I then added 1 Tbs of minced ginger and 3 minced garlic cloves. I cooked it briefly and added 10 oz of frozen broccoli florets (thawed) and 4 sliced green onions:

 

I stir-fried it a couple of minutes and added a nice spoonful of chili paste (I like it spicy!!!!) and a tablespoon of soy sauce.

 

I stirred it again and added the beef:

 

I placed about 1/2 cup of rice in two bowls and put half of this mixture on top. I served it with a simple cucumber and onion salad:

 

My thoughts:

This was yummy! It was fast and easy to make and tasted great. Next time I might add a couple of more vegetables in addition to the broccoli (like snow peas) and I bet it would taste great with chicken as well. For those of you counting WW points, the Points Value of this meal was 7.

Sunday baking

The girls and I made some pumpkin bread and chocolate chunk cookies on this cold Sunday afternoon...

  


 

Black and white Wednesday

For an explanation of "Black and White Wednesday", go here.

I love to cook and I love cookbooks. I have a quite a few and my cookbook cabinet was in serious need of some organization:

The ones I use the most are towards the front, but the cabinet was a mess, so I thought I would clean it out and maybe get rid of some of the books that I don't use. However, when I started the task I realized that I could not bear to get rid of any of them. I just love them too much. So, after some re-organizing this is what the cabinet looks like now:

And here is my latest addition which I simply LOVE:

Yummy reccipes, great stories and beautiful photography, so what's not to like? 
  

Hmmm... now the question is: "What's for dinner tonight?"

Baking

You probably know by now that I love to bake with the girls, so when I saw these cute little aprons I simply had to get them!

 Let's bake!

 

We did not make cupcakes but ended up with two pumpkin breads and one pumpkin pie.

After spending some quality in the kitchen with the girls last night, I felt like I had redeemed myself a bit since the night before was not a good night. It was far from the kind of bed time routine I like to have and I hated that I wasn't a better mother that night. However, last night was great and I have let go of what happened the night before. And so have the girls...

Review/Give-away

Today I received my brand new LeCreuset loaf pan from Cookware.com. Just look at it; isn't she pretty???

The color is scrumptious. I love it so much...

 

I didn't waste any time trying it out by making some pumpkin bread:

Yum...

 

Not only is this pan pretty to look at, it baked my pumpkin bread very evenly and beautifully. Plus it's LeCreuset and who doesn't love LeCreuset? If you haven't tried any of their pieces, you must. They are the best.

Now tell me you don't one of these pretty pans! I know you do, so I am giving one of them away. Just leave me a comment before 10 PM (EST) on Thursday and l will randomly pick a winner...

Baking with Tahlia and upcoming give-away

We've been having some chilly weather here for the past few days, so I decided it was a perfect time to do some baking with Tahlia. I enjoy baking with both the girls, but baking with one girl instead of two is a lot easier (no fighting over who gets to do what) and I just love the one-on-one factor of it.

Of course we made our famous pumpkin bread. Here is Tahlia scooping the pumpkin out of the can:

 

She was so proud to be doing everything by herself ;-)

See that little flour hand print on her bottom? I love it. Here is a closer look:

 

Time to add the nutmeg and we're not talking about the pre-ground stuff. We only like the fresh kind!

And it's ready for the oven!

 

I usually bake my pumpkin bread in two loaf pans, but every now and then I bake it in a bundt pan. It looks very pretty after it is baked, sprinkled with powdered sugar. Plus, as someone who loves to bake I find it fun to experiment with different bakeware. I recently bought some Rachel Ray Cookware. She has some fun and funky looking bakeware! However, my heart belongs to LeCreuset, so I will be giving away a LeCreuset loaf pan - perfect for making pumpkin bread! More details coming soon!

My very first give-away. I am so excited ;-)

Best turkey loaf ever!

Sorry about yet another recipe. I am not planning on making this a cooking blog, but it is something I enjoy doing and this turkey loaf is so good, that I wanted to share it with everyone. This makes a large loaf, so you will have plenty of leftovers for sandwiches the next day (my favorite). The best part is that my girls love this and will often ask for seconds. Can't beat that!

Start out by finely chopping a large onion:

Heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the onions along with 1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme: 

Saute until soft, but not browned:

 

Measure 3 oz of chicken broth and add enough worcestershire sauce to make 1/2 cup. Add 1 teaspoon of tomato paste and mix well. Then add the mixture to the onions:

Let this mixture cool.

Then take 2 1/2 pounds of ground turkey. I used half lean and half extra lean (trying to keep it healthy):

 

Add the onion mixture to the turkey along with 1 large egg and 3/4 cup of quick cooking oats (you can use bread crumbs instead, but I like oats better. Again, I'm trying to keep it healthy):

Mix well:

 

Shape into a loaf:

 

Now poor on the ketchup. I know it seems like a lot, but it tastes so good and the girls LOVE it this way:

Bake at 350 for about an hour (or until inside temperature reaches 160 degrees). It will come out of the oven looking like this:

 

I decided to make it into a Thanksgiving Day dinner (well, kind of) by adding sweet potatoes and green beans with roasted garlic:

 

Good stuff!!!!

Applesauce - part 2

After making our applesauce on Sunday, I decided to make it into strawberry applesauce instead. The girls love this applesauce:

 
So I decided to cook down some strawberries:

Jazzie helped me puree them:

Then she helped me stir the mixture into our applesauce:

 

Then it was time to taste our finished product. Would Jazzie like it as much as the store bought kind?

Yummy - success!

Then it was time to can our applesauce:

 

After all was said and done, I canned 2 quarts of some leftover tomato soup that I made a couple of days ago, 2 pints of strawberry puree and 10 pints of applesauce:

 

We are good to go for a while :-) 

Applesauce

Yesterday we took a trip to the local apple orchard to get some apples and apple cider (they make the best!)... We got a big bag of apples:

 

Honey crisp apples, to be exact:

Aren't they pretty?

Amazing, really:

 

And today I cut them up and cooked them to make apple sauce:

Then I had two lovely assistants helping me work the apples through the food mill:

And now I have a big bowl of applesauce ready to be canned tomorrow...

 

YUM!

A hot commodity

Did you know there is a shortage of canned pumpkin this year? I must have visited over 10 grocery stores and none of them had any pumpkin in stock. Of course this had me worried since we make a lot of pumpkin bread at our house. The thought of going into the fall without any pumpkin for breads, pies and muffins was scary!

However, on the way home from Disney on Ice the other day I decided to check at a grocery store that we were passing. Imagine my excitement when I saw they had 6 large cans on their shelf. I bought them all ;-)

 

The girls and I wasted no time making pumpkin bread when we got home:

 

 

I hear the shortage may be almost over, but I am not taking my chances. If I see any more canned pumpkin, I'm buying it!

Some of you have asked me for our pumpkin bread recipe. This is the best pumpkin bread I've ever had. Very moist and tasty. The recipe makes two loaves. We usually eat one right away and freeze one for later, although it usually doesn't stay in the freezer for very long; the first loaf is usally gone before we know it. This bread is MUCH better the day after it's baked, so try to bake it the day before you need it:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 1/3 cup flour
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 small can (15 oz) of pumpkin

Cream sugar, eggs and oil. Add pumpkin. Mix all dry ingredients and add alternately with water to the pumpkin mixture. Bake in two greased loaf pans at 350 for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Dessert, anyone?

I have mentioned before that Alex is in culinary school. Lately he has been making desserts for us when he comes over on Sundays.

We've had chocolate soufflé and crème brûlée and last Sunday he made poached pears... 

The sauce had zinfandel, vanilla bean, sugar, orange zest, cloves and basil (among other things). I wasn't sure how a sweet sauce was going to work with the basil, but it was SO good! 

 

The finished product. Pretty, no?

 

Good job Alex, you can come and cook in my kitchen any time!

It's nice to have a culinary student in the family

This past weekend - chocolate soufflé:

 

This coming up weekend - crème brûlée.

Just keep practicing, Alex. We'll happily be your guinea pigs ;-)

Feels Like Fall Today

We are having temperatures in the 60's today and I am LOVING this taste of fall. Fall is my favorite season and it can't get here soon enough.

I spent the morning canning tomatoes from our garden. Before we had kids I used to can a lot, but now that the girls are here I do not have the time I used to have. However, today the girls have been playing outside with friends and I really enjoyed canning my tomatoes. Even though I buy organic canned goods as much as I can, there is nothing like home grown and home canned tomatoes:

 

A note from Jazzie to Tahlia:

 
(click to enlarge)

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! I think we are supposed to have more autumn like weather tomorrow. 

Bring It On!!!

Rainy Day

This week the girls have been at camp in the mornings. Our township offers several camps throughout the summer and they are great. The girls have done Arts and Crafts Camp, Princess Camp, Animal Camp and now they are in Holiday Camp. During Holiday Camp the kids celebrate a different holiday each day and do activities related to that holiday. Monday was Christmas and the girls made ornaments and garland. Yesterday was Easter and they painted Easter eggs and had an Easter egg hunt. Today was Halloween and the kids all came to camp dressed up. Here are my cute Home Depot girl and sweet cowgirl:

"Stick 'm up or I'll shoot!"

  

Very sassy Home Depot girl:

 

Of course Halloween is not complete without some "pumpkin" carving:

After camp I took the girls to lunch and then to swim class. After we came home we did some fun things together. It has been raining all day today and I must admit that I love it. I have always loved rainy days, but it has been so nice to have the girls inside for a change instead of outside. Tahlia in particular will spend hours at a time playing outside, so it has been nice to spend some quality time with both the girls. First we painted, we read some books, played some games and made cookies (a favorite activity for all three of us):

 

What did we make?

 

Molasses cookies! They are so yummy.... Tahlia had to make sure they tasted okay:

 

 

Want one?

Baking with my girl

Jazzie and I did some baking together this afternoon while Tahlia played outside with friends. Tahlia LOVES being outside and it is hard for me to even get her to come in to eat dinner. Jazzie on the other hand would much rather stay in and quietly play a game or do a craft by herself. Sometimes I feel bad that she spends so much time alone (even though she likes it that way), but she is always up for helping me in the kitchen.

 

 

We have a big family reunion coming up this weekend and a family camping trip next week, so we have been prepping for it :-)

 

We made a double batch of these WONDERFUL molasses cookies from Pioneer Woman. Like she says, they are seriously delicious!

I love being in the kitchen. And even though I am most happy when it is just me cooking or baking up a storm with all the time in the world, I also love it when I get to share it with one of my girls...

Cooking

I have always loved to cook, but I have had so much fun lately with cooking really healthy meals. Ever since I made the decision to live healthier, I have lost 16 pounds, excercise almost daily and put in a lot more thought as to what I fix for our meals.

Just for fun, here is a sampling of what we ate for dinner last week: