What's Cooking Wednesday-Issue 4

What to make, what to make. I've wanted to make something with black bean for a while so I decided to try a new chili recipe. Knowing the boys would probably not like it, I made some cornmeal muffins to accompany the chili.

When I set the chili in front of Quin, he looked at the black bean and asked, "Why are there chocolate chips in my food?" Tyler, of course, ate the muffin and avoided everything but the cheese in the chili. Addison actually tried everything without making a fuss and then proceed to fill her pants. Apparently the beans work fast!



Roasted Corn and Black Bean Chili (courtesy of Recipezaar)

Ingredients
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced, to taste
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder (add more if you want spicy)
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can low sodium chicken broth
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
sour cream
shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Place corn in a large baking pan; add 1 Tbs olive oil and stir the corn to coat.
3. Bake until the corn is browned, stirring once, about 20 mins total.
4. Note: Corn sometimes does not brown, but bake until it smells roasted.
5. While corn is roasting, cook onion in remaining 1 Tbs olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes.
6. Add garlic, cumin, and chili powder and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.
7. Stir in broth, beans, and tomatoes; reduce heat to simmer.
8. Cover and cook 15 mins then stir in corn and simmer for additional 5 minutes.
9. Serve chili with sour cream and shredded cheese.

with Cornmeal Muffins (from Muffin Mania; it's out of print but if you can get your hands on a copy, it's one amazing cook book!)

"An old fashioned Waterloo County favourite."

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 egg
3/4 cup milk

Directions
Mix dry ingredients together and stir in cornmeal.
Melt butter, and egg and milk and combine well.
Stir liquid ingredients into dry and combine just until moistened.
Fill greased muffin cups and bake 375˚ for 15-20 mins.
Serve hot!
Yields 8 large muffins.

Honey Nut Cheeri-nose

Cupcake Countdown

Only a few more weeks until Addison's first birthday. I'm in the midst of writing my to do list... I still have to create the invitations but that is the least of my worries. I just reread the directions for the cupcakes and they appear a little bit daunting. But what the hell, I'll try it anyway. They are so cute!! And really, if I go all out for the first year, I think I'm exempt until they are 5 or so!

I think I'm going to make it a girly little tea party with mini sandwiches, fruity punch, watermelon and the yummy cupcakes. I'm also realizing that I will have to make the stuff on the Friday night to be able to be ready for Saturday's picnic. I'm hoping that there are some picnic decorations out there...I'll check this weekend. And how do I combine Craig's birthday with this??? He says he's done celebrating but that's no fun. Maybe I'll make a kid friendly punch and a Crown Royal punch. I can just see the family... blitzed and sunburnt. Sweet!

I have absolutely no idea what to give Addison for her birthday. The boys were so much easier! We have been lucky with hand-me-downs so Addison is set for clothes until she's 3! We have a tonne of books... I think I want to make her a quilt for her next birthday (I need to plan in advance for that and start soon). I have this book to make a Muppet quilt. How cool is that?!?! But for this year... Any ideas???

This weekend...

I am going to clean. And when I say clean, I mean move stuff around to make the house look sufficiently organized enough that it's not distracting me from completing my freelance work. I'm going to get new sandals for the boys; ones where their toes don't hang over the edges so that I cringe when they are running while vision of nails peeling back run through my brain. I'm going to make some fantastic dinners (Stir fried beef and broccoli, BBQ and potato salad).

Realistically, the freelance will/has to get done but I will probably find a way to weasel out of the rest. I'm finding by the time I get a chance to have a bit of me time I'm exhausted. These kids tire me out. And I'm probably the laziest mom out there. Half the time the boys amuse themselves and Addison roles around on the floor discovering that really, dog hair doesn't taste that bad. By 8pm the last thing I want to do is clean the living room, do the dishes, sweep the floor, make sure all the toys are put away and then sit down here and try to be a creative design genius. I'd rather fall asleep on the couch, nursing a Pepsi, to some sappy chick-flick (that almost accurately describes my on-strike evenings which have been a lot more frequent lately).

I'm telling myself that once I actually get a couple of nights of uninterrupted sleep (Addison is still up once nursing... that's not too bad), I think I will be a much saner person.

It's 8:30 pm. The boys are being superheroes or sharks or something in the basement. Craig has just walked in the door. I suppose I should quit slacking and put the mutant Marvel mammals to bed.

What's Cooking Wednesday-Issue 3

I chose a Sesame Noodle dish for tonight. I figured noodles, shrimp, peanut butter... the boys should love it!



Although Quin was excited to "help" me make dinner (he particularly excelled in eating the red peppers), when it was all thrown together he ate about 3 bites and that was it. Same with Addison. Tyler chose a different tactic: avoidance.

"If Quin plays downstairs, can I watch Harry Potter?"
"I don't want to eat the things with peanut butter on them."
"Can I print pictures tonight."
"I have to pee."
[From upstairs on the toilet] "Is Quin playing? I hear him running around."







Sigh.

Well, I found it fantastic and super easy to make. I added some shrimp to please the carnivores in the family.

The Recipe
Lighter Sesame Noodles (courtesy of Everyday Food, Issue 52)

The Ingredients
• coarse salt
• 12 oz whole-wheat spaghetti
• 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tbsp dark-brown sugar
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 to 1 tsp red-pepper flakes

The Directions
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti 3 minutes less than al dente. Add broccoli, bell peppers, and onion. Cook until pasta is al dente and vegetables are tender, 3 minutes more. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta and vegetables.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Add hot pasta and vegetables; toss to coat, thinning sauce with a little pasta water, if necessary. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

What's Cooking Wednesday-Issue 2

It's warm and sunny... BBQ season!!
For lack of propane, I had to oven bake tonight.

The menu...
Cola Pork Chops and Steamed Veggies

I know what you're thinking... Cola????



Addison was very unhappy that dinner was not ready at 5:00 sharp so I fed her in stages and she ate as fast as I could get it on her tray.




Quinten was intrigued by the snow peas. He kept trying to get the little peas out the of the pods.



Tyler was so excited that an "adult" drink was on his pork chop that he ate it all!



Craig: "Like dessert and supper rolled into one."





The Recipe (courtesy of AllRecipes.com)
Cola Pork Chops

INGREDIENTS
1 cup ketchup
1 cup cola-flavored carbonated beverage
2 tablespoons brown sugar
8 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix together the ketchup, cola and brown sugar.
3. Place pork chops into a baking pan and pour cola mixture over, coating well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake for about one hour depending on the thickness of the pork chop.

Dryer Aftermath...

Note the height of the laundry tub and the piles next to it.

Diaper Change

Today, Quin toots, quite loudly, and excuses himself. Later, as I'm changing his diaper and he asks if he's pooped.

"Nope."

"Oh mom, you're just changing my toots!"

I am so in love with my kids. They are so sweet and smart and silly (at the times when they aren't making me pull my hair out).

Sleepy Quin

It's 9:18 pm. I did hear Quin come out of his room but I thought if I ignored him, he'd go back to bed. Tonight he decided he wanted to wear my shoes to bed to keep his toes warm. He's asleep on the landing with his hands holding my shoes which he's lined up perfectly so the toes touch the edge of the stairs.

Poop Be Gone

If you are not a dog owner, I would suggest avoiding this post... You were warned!!

So I've cordoned off a portion of the yard to make it easier to clean up after the dogs. If we're out with them, they can have run of the whole yard. If they are out by themselves, I put them in the restricted area. That way Shay cannot wreck the garden and the kids won't be stepping in crap. Good solution non?

Well Shay (the little shit-eater) waits for Cordelia to take a fresh crap and decides to chow down. Again, I said you were warned! I see this out of my window and go out to resolve this mess. I fully admit that I have just doused Cordy's poop in hot sauce and I will now watch out the window and laugh when Shay realizes what I've done.

The Appliance Repair Man

So my dryer broke again. I say again as when it broke the first time, I called the appliance guy, he came, plugged it in and it started again. I felt like a bad sitcom.

[The door opens... it's the repair man.]
"What seems to be the problem, miss?"
"Why, sir, the dryer has stopped."
[Plug in dryer, it works. Sigh, shake head.]
"Well, miss, give me a call anytime."

Yup, that's the easiest $56 you can make.

Well, I put a load in last night and it grinded to a halt. I left a message for the repair man who called me this morning.

[The phone call]
"Oh hi, it's Dan the repair man. The dryer stopped again?"
"Yup, I'm not on crack!"
"Sorry?"
"Um, I'm not imagining things!"

Note to self: Telling people who don't actually know you that you're not on crack may not be the best way to phrase something.

Anyway, the saga continues. I'll hang this load out. It this doesn't get fixed today, there are going to be a bunch of boys going commando around here (unless the forecasted rain holds off for a couple more days).

What's Cooking Wednesday-Issue 1

So I was planning on a scrumptious pork tenderloin stir fry but the freezer was conspicuously void of tenderloin... I have now decided on a Lasagna Primavera and we'll see how that turns out.

I'm being serenaded by Addison who is particularly vocal about her tray being empty. She's eyeing the shredded cheese and Cordelia is eyeing Addison who has been known to sneak the dogs a treat or two. The boys are off playing Superhero Garbagemen (apparently they've found a stash of trash under the dining room table... that tells you the state of my house right now!).

Anyway, here's the recipe (courtesy of Everyday Food magazine, Issue 51):

Lasagna Primavera
serves 8

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for foil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 cups whole milk
2 pkg frozen chopped spinach (10 oz each), thawed and squeesed dry
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen peas
1/2 lb carrots (4 or 5), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 container (15 oz) part-skim ricotta (about 2 cups)
1 large egg
1 pkg no boil lasagna noodles (12-16 noodles)
1 lb part-skim mozzarella, shredded
1 cup grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400˚. In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium; add flour and garlic. Cook stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes (do not let flour mixture darken); whisk in milk. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add spinach, peas, and carrots; season with salt and pepper. Set sauce aside.

In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, egg 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

In the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, spread a thin layer of vegetable sauce. Layer 1/4 noodles, half the remaining veg sauce, another 1/4 noodles, half the ricotta mix, half the mozzarella (I didn't have mozzarella so I used old cheddar... we'll see what happens), and half the Parmesan; repeat.

Cover dish with lightly oiled aluminum foil, and place on large rimmed baking sheet. Bake 45 minutes, uncover, and bake until bubbling and browned, about 20 minutes more. Let cool 10 to 15 before serving.

As I'm making this, Tyler is telling me he doesn't like lasagna and would like hot dogs. He's also asking me to print off a Hulk mask for his brother... I'm telling him I'll only print the mask if he eats his dinner (I figure that's a pretty fair deal).

Craig: "So good you almost don't notice there's no meat..."
Tyler: "If I finish my whole plate, can I print off 3 pictures?"
Quinten: "Yum! I love it!"
Addison: "munch, munch, munch...."

What's Cooking Wednesday

Not my idea, but inspiring nonetheless. Originally, I saw this on one of my sister's friend's blog and then followed the links to the origin.

I have decided to join this mini-trend... It's a win-win for all involved... Family gets fed, I get to start taking food photography (think the more interesting pictures will be the piles of dirty dishes), and I'm accountable for writing at least once a week!

Of course the super-preplanner gene in me is now already thinking of what to make....

ugh

I'm having creative envy.

Maybe it's the style of writing or more likely the intelligence behind it that is causing this sense of mediocrity... not sure.

Did you ever look to see how many blogs are about artist moms, staying at home and making a living by disclosing the wonders in their lives?

I just did. Bad idea.

I enjoy peering through the looking glass into similar lives to mine. I love hearing their voices in their writing. I think I'm actually living the idea that there are no new ideas. And I bet I could find another blog, about an artsy, stay-at-home-mom that is saying the same things I'm writing (only they are saying it with flare).

And a pinch of cute

I saw the coolest idea on Martha yesterday. I'm totally trying it for Addison's birthday next month. Cupcakes on a stick... cupcakesicles... or cupcake pops. How totally cute! Just imagine how sweet you could decorate these... I'm thinking a picnic party in the park... Little sand pails with these cupcake pops sticking out, decorated like lady bugs or flowers.

I guess I should like about Craig's bday too (being the day after Addison's). Maybe 1/2 will be bugs/flower and the other will be decorated with sample bottles of Crown Royal!

http://bakerella.blogspot.com/