Friends

My mom always said that if you want to find out who your real friends are, either move or have twins. There aren't too many who will help you out through. I would add one to that, go gluten free.

Potlucks or even events where everyone signs up to bring something are hard on my kids. I usually try to sign up for a salad and a dessert so that my kids get a complete meal. They still only get to eat what mom brought while everyone else has their plate piled high with a variety of foods. It's hard. 

It is much easier on me because if I see something I really want, I just plan on making it later that week or the next. I do feel a little awkward just because it looks like I am a food snob since I only eat what I brought. It probably builds character or something like that. Luckily I am not as self-conscious as I was in high school or junior high.

 But back to my point.

We have some amazing friends who have gone out of their way to be sure that my kids (and I) have had something safe to eat at several events lately. I know that this hasn't been easy for them because they aren't gluten-free and it can be so difficult to know what is safe and what isn't.  Especially since gluten hides in unexpected places. Like in Chili Cheese Fritos or all Blue Bell chocolate ice creams.

We are members of a homeschool co-op, a group of homeschool moms and kids where the moms all teach 1 or 2 subjects giving the kids a chance to learn something that we (individually) wouldn't be willing or able to teach. For instance one of my son's classes is music but not music appreciation like I thought. No, they are learning to play the recorder. There is absolutely no way I would teach that class, whether it was just my child or a group of kids.

But I digress.

We always start off the year with a party, this year with the theme of the Olympics. There was pizza, cake, nachos, fruit, hot dogs and other treats - the only naturally gluten-free thing on the menu was fruit. The nachos could have been made gluten-free but I kept forgetting to call the mom in charge of nachos. Plus, I hate putting others out and Junior is the only one who likes nachos and I can easily do those at home. With the menu in mind, I brought my kids their own gluten-free pizza and made cupcakes. The mom planning the event was going to make candy sushi (with rice krispies) and while I offered to make it for my kids, she also made some gluten-free candy sushi for my kids. They also had goody bags with candy and she double checked which ones were gluten-free and made sure my kids got goody bags with candy they could eat. I don't know if Betty realizes how much that meant to my kids and I.

 Then at our September 4-H club meeting, two friends made sure that all the snacks were gluten-free. Heather brought these mini cheesecakes (and that is her blog) and Robin brought an amazing bean dip (and she doesn't have a blog so I can't link to it). That was the first meeting in 2 years that they could eat the snacks like the other kids. Heather and Robin have since made snacks for other potluck like things that were gluten-free so my kids would be included.

Heather also teaches an election class at our co-op and to make it fun for the kids, they are doing candy elections (complete with slogans and all that).  They are getting to sample candy each class so they can be more informed of the options and Heather always makes sure that some of them are gluten-free for my daughter to sample.

Most recently, Robin's son had a birthday and she brought cupcakes for our wildlife group to celebrate her son's birthday. My heart sank because I didn't know in advance and so couldn't make some for my kids. I should have known better than that because she also baked some special for my kids that were gluten-free.

Friends like that bring tears to my eyes.

4-H Egg Workshop

This year I agreed to be the leader of our club Food and Nutrition project with 4-H.
While we are supposed to supply the kids with learning experiences, it has been a learning experience for me.

Our first meeting we went over unusual kitchen tools and gadgets because I know some of the moms didn't know what some of the more unusual and handy (or not) kitchen tools are. Like a potato ricer which I love when I use it, although often I just grab the potato masher. Or a mezzaluna which I thought would be wonderful and I really prefer using a knife. Or my ginger grater that I display and like to use.

Our second meeting I let my husband handle. S worked in a restaurant for several years, starting as a dishwasher and working his way up to assistant manager. It was a smaller chain but kind of like an IHOP. Kind of. So when S mentioned the possibility of doing an egg workshop to teach the kids how to make several kinds of eggs, I thought it was a great idea.

Before the meeting we prepped omelet toppings: ham, sausage, tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions, sauteed bell pepper and some cheese. We got there early so the water could start boiling. And as the kids came in, they were each given a plastic freezer bag and a sharpie to write their name on the bag.

They each made a plastic (ziplock) bag omelet with their choice of add-ins. The adults were amazed at how well it worked and several loved the potential. All you do is write your name on a freezer ziplock type bag, put in your choice of omelet ingredients (onion, mushroom, cheese, etc) and then 2 or 3 well beaten eggs and drop the baggie in boiling water until it is done. He kept the water at a light boil and they took 5-10 minutes to cook. They aren't restaurant pretty omelets but for large groups, it is an excellent way to cook them.

He also taught them how to flip an egg in the pan. Well, the first step to learning how to do it. He had them flip toast in a pan because that way they could learn the motion needed to do it. He would coach them through it and some of them got pretty good at it. The benefit of doing it with toast is that toast is cheap and if it falls on the floor, it doesn't make much of a mess (some crumbs on the floor is all). When they get extremely good at it, they can try flipping eggs in the pan and start trying to toss dried beans in the pan. The dried beans will act like diced onions or sliced mushrooms but like the toast will be easy to clean up.


The workshop was a hit with the kids. After he had said what all he had to say, he became a short-order cook and made different types of eggs as people would ask for them. The mothers got beautiful omelets and the kids would request a type of eggs and he would cook it. One boy ate 14 eggs; another boy - who doesn't even like eggs - ate 3 omelets.

S cooked over 72 eggs! And after our club meeting he cooked eggs for he and I for supper. We had some beautiful omelet toppings left over.

Menu Plan Monday

This is my first time to do Menu Plan Monday by orgjunkie but I am hoping it will be a regular thing.

One thing, my family is gluten free and I am again cooking completely dairy free so some of these ideas are not fully fleshed out. Last night I intended to make a chicken, rice and broccoli thing for dinner but when I got in the kitchen it turned into Thai peanut coconut chicken and rice with broccoli for a side. And it was YUMMY!

Monday: Potato Hash (grated potatoes and ground beef and then whatever else I feel like throwing in)

Tuesday: Pork chops and mac and cheeze (shhh don't tell the kids what is in the cheese sauce) with broccoli that my 8 year old son requested.

Wednesday: roast chicken and vegetable quinoa salad.

Thursday: homemade tacos and bean burritos - I want to try out a new tortilla recipe

Friday: split pea soup and shepherds pie

Saturday: Burgers and coleslaw with pina colada ice cream for dessert.


Check in here to see other meal plans!

a confession

There has been a double standard in my life for years. I made my kids do something I refused to do.

It is shameful, isn't it?!?

My kids are allowed to politely say they don't really like a certain dish or ingredient but they also have to eat a few bites of it if it is part of the meal. For instance, if onion soup is part of the meal, they have to eat a few bites of it but then can just eat the other meal items. I don't make several different meals each time we eat but I do make sure that if we are having something they hate (onion soup) there is something with it that is also part of the meal but something they like (or tolerate).

But they still have to eat a few bites of the unliked dish.

I tease Hubby because he won't eat beets which is one of my favorite vegetables. He has tried them occasionally in the past few years but still says they taste like dirt. Actually, I kind-of prefer not having to share.

Then yesterday it occurred to me that I first tried coleslaw 30+ years ago when I was 4 and . . .

Well . . .

Let's just say it didn't like me. My mother insists that I already had a stomach bug but I have always had my doubts about that. And I wouldn't try it again.

Since I generally wasn't a picky eater and was willing to eat almost everything else, my mom let it slide. She would occasionally ask me to try it but didn't try to force me a second time.

So over 30 years passed with me refusing to try coleslaw. I also wouldn't have it on my plate. I would have it served in a separate container so I could put it as far away from me as possible if the waitresses wouldn't substitute. I didn't even want to look at it. Or smell it (shudder).

Coleslaw was the only dish that could turn me back into a 4 year old.

I wasn't fond of guacamole but I would taste it periodically to see if I still didn't like it. A year ago when we first started gluten-free and were also doing dairy-free, I tried some avocado and it tasted buttery (in the best of all possible ways).

Coleslaw was still avoided.

And this was my facebook status yesterday

It says "I just googled "coleslaw" on my phone and autocorrect suggested "vile" - I agree with google."

But what I didn't say was that I realized it was a double standard and was googling it to find recipes.

I realized I needed to try coleslaw again but I also knew that homemade would taste better. I found a recipe and all of the ingredients were ones that I didn't mind eating either by itself (carrots & cabbage) or mixed with something else (apple cider vinegar). I did cut the cabbage too thick so it didn't look like coleslaw and then I was able to call it salad so my kids would try it with a more open mind than mine.

They won't request it but both said it wasn't bad. They were somewhat surprised when I told them what it was and possibly even more when I apologized for the double standard. Hubby loved it. He has long liked coleslaw and was happy at the idea of homemade coleslaw (possibly also happy about all the probable leftovers.)

Did I like it?

Well . . .

to be completely honest . . .

Yes, I did. I don't think it is my favorite salad (I love green salads with fruit) but I would be more than willing to eat it again. I also want to try out some other recipes that I avoided because they were "slaws."

Do you have a favorite slaw recipe?

Soon I am going to have a new AMAZING recipe for you

My kids love to enter Youth Fair in our county and they love too cook - which works out well for youth fair.

And my daughter is stubborn. don't know where she gets that.

In our county, youth fair is very well supported and the kids that go to auction typically do pretty well. Being gluten-free makes it more challenging though because I am pretty sure that a cake made from weird ingredients would not do as well if it goes to auction. And I don't know that a cake made from sorghum (for example) would score as high as one made from wheat even if it tasted equally as good.

Yet she wanted to make a cake.

So we needed to find a cake that was naturally gluten-free. Or at least one with very little wheat flour so that a change to almond or oat flour (neither sounds as weird) won't mess the cake up too much.

On Thurday we baked. All. Day. Long. and we only made two cakes.

One of them, a Czechoslovakian poppy seed cake was underwhelming. It wasn't horrible but it wasn't good - 3/4 of a cup of poppy seeds for one thin layer is just too many poppy seeds. But that cake was fairly simple.

The other cake, a dacquoise, is one of the best desserts I have eaten. It also takes all day to make. The layers are of baked meringue and then it has white chocolate buttercream and dark chocolate buttercream in between the meringue layers.

Before you start gagging at the thought of all that sugar, I need to say that the meringues don't seem to be quite as sweet as the top of a chocolate meringue pie. The buttercream also isn't as sweet as the stuff on birthday cakes, in fact there is a bit of a bite from the unsweetened chocolate in the dark chocolate buttercream (it also has semisweet).

OH! And it also has a ganache - you know, chocolate melted in heavy cream.

And this is one of those recipes that you don't want to know how many calories there are.

You REALLY don't want to know.

But it will wow the socks off of a loved one.

The recipe will be posted soon but I want to get pictures just so you can see how this looks.

Scrambled Eggs

Sometimes a baby brother is coddled and done for so much that he doesn’t know how to do anything for himself. And sometimes a big sister decides that he needs to learn.

 

Junior wanted some scrambled eggs and asked Daisy and I if someone would make them for him. She asked if he wanted to learn how to make them and he said he was too young.

 

I disagreed – he has a healthy respect for being burned and scrambled eggs are simple to do. So Daisy volunteered to teach him.

 

Part of me would like to have taught him but I could see the value to both kids if Daisy did the teaching.  I love letting them do things that strengthens their relationship to each other.

 

Never mind that I was also able to sit with my sore foot up while they did so.

Oops

I love being a mom, I love my kids, I hate the responsibility sometimes. If I forget something for me (doctor appointment, due date of something), I look like an idiot. If I forget something for my children, the repercussions can be worse.

I mentioned here that my daughter won first place in the county food and nutrition contest and that she was going to get to go to district. When she did that 2 years ago, all we had to do was sign a permission form while we were at the county food show. That's all we had to do to sign her up for the next level.

This year things changed. This year she had to register for the contest online and we had to go by the extension office and sign the form. I got the email that mentioned it but to be honest, the sheer repetition . . . .

Maybe it is a personal flaw but when someone repeats them self over and over, I tend to fade out and start daydreaming because I know I will hear it again at some point. I know it's awful but it happens. The way we have got our 4-H email, there are 3 people sending emails and there are 2 of them who will send them twice (once to an email address and again to the yahoo group created specially for our club).

Anyway, so I put off signing her up online because when I first heard about it, the sign up thing wasn't open yet. And then I kept procrastinating. And then I got a phone call saying that I needed to go to the extension office and sign that form.

So I went to the extension office, signed the form and congratulated myself that I was done.

Yep.

I forgot a step.

So Wednesday, I get a call and find out what I have done. And it is too late to fix it. Oh crap.

Daisy is being a very, very good sport about it. Luckily she has years more she can compete. Her mother has also started carrying a calendar around to write dates on (I don't do great with the electronic).

We still have the youth fair which I did manage to get them both signed up for.
And we can start planning for next year.

My drug of choice

Or maybe I should say more former drug of choice, because I have broken the habit. I occasionally get cravings but mostly they are gone.

I no longer have a driving urge for it.

I am free - or mostly free.

My former drug of choice? Wheat (or gluten).

Yep. You read that right. Wheat. normally for me in the form of pasta.

At first I thought of the title of this post as a kind of joke, but as I thought about it the more I realized the truth of the statement.

When I was hungry, I wanted pasta. Or bread. Or breading.

I have eaten plain pasta because I was craving pasta. I have eaten pasta with a can of tomatoes (no seasoning, just a can of tomatoes). Pasta with only parmesan cheese (from a can). I would limit us to spaghetti with meat sauce only once a week and mac and cheese only once a week but chances are a good portion of the other meals had pasta (beef stroganoff over pasta, soup with pasta, pasta casserole).

Bread was the runner-up choice - much like a smoker will occasionally use dip for the nicotine fix I would use bread for my fix. And sometimes a meal would contain both - spaghetti with garlic bread.

So I stopped letting wheat and gluten control my life. I cut it out of my diet. Completely. (well except 2 slip-ups before Christmas).

I don't crave it all the time any more. We had a "macaroni and cheese" last night that was gluten-free and dairy-free and was pretty good. In fact Daisy asked if there were any leftovers. But we had it because Junior had been wanting mac & cheese for weeks.

I have had the gluten-free pasta and sauce in the pantry for 3 weeks but haven't made it because I haven't felt like it. I have wanted to eat other stuff.

I want a gluten-free sandwich bread recipe but I am not frantically searching for one I and the kids like. But a few weeks ago I was.

I am still looking for a bread recipe but not as frantically. For now I am just enjoying feeling better.

I feel a bit like a manic depressive

This stupid diet is going to drive me crazy. I start thinking it won't be to bad, we can easily substitute in recipes, we will get it figured out and then I get slapped back into reality.

We went looking for popcorn, Hubby prefers the microwave kind because it's easy and less mess to clean up. Out of the multitude of types and brands and low butter, butter lover, and all the other stuff there was one type of popcorn with no milk products. One. And it was kettle corn. And my kids don't like sweet popcorn.

Junior wanted a treat as we checked out. Well chocolate is a no-no because it has milk. I don't let my kids have nutrasweet and so gum is out. I thought a Rice Krispy Treat was safe because it is Rice Krispys and marshmallows. Nope, it has milk in it too.

It made me want a beer. But beer contains wheat and so it has gluten and so it is a no-no.

I found myself wishing that someone in the families of the bigwigs in major manufacturing would be struck by allergies and so they would realize how important an inexpensive alternative would be.

But then I start getting hopeful again. I am a pretty good cook and it has GOT to get easier. And we should start feeling better.

And so go the mood swings.

My daughter complained about me to her piano teacher

And not about the broken arm!

No it is the diet we are on now. I know I need to cut out gluten, my son needs to avoid dairy and I am not cooking 3 separate meals.

So we are all doing gluten-free dairy-free.

Fun.

Not so much.

Anyway, I think the first 2 days have gone pretty well. I don't think anyone has felt deprived too much. The problem is that Daisy is really craving pasta and bread. Not so much on the dairy but a lot on the pasta and bread.

She wants to learn how to make gluten-free ravioli, gnocchi, dumplings, and french toast. She is skipping right past the easier stuff like pancakes for the things we will have to create recipes for.

But she is also intensely craving wheat products which tells me she needs this as much as I do. Maybe if she gets used to eating this way, it will be easier on her later.

Food! Glorious Food!

Both of my kids love participating in the 4-H County Food and Nutrition contest. Junior is considered a "Clover Kid" and so he isn't really judged - he gets asked questions but his ability to answer isn't scored.

Daisy has to go into another room with three adult judges and then gets judged and ranked.

Her first year she won first place for applesauce bread, last year I don't remember how she placed with her baked apple.

This year she won first place again! She made Butternut Squash and Chicken Pasta which is so perfect in the fall.

She is supposed to know things like how many calories per serving, what are the primary nutrients you get from the dish, how you prepared it, what you could substitute and could it be made healthier. The judges don't taste the food - or they aren't supposed to, there was a food poisoning incident several years ago - but they do look at how it looks and smells.

Butternut Squash and Chicken Pasta

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 pounds uncooked chicken breast, cut into 1 inch peices
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary chopped
3 1/4 cups chicken broth
12 ounces pasta
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for just a minute. Add the cubed chicken and cook through. Add squash, rosemary and saute for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer until the squash is tender and the liquid is reduced by about half, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often. Drain pasta.
Toss the pasta and squash mixture in a large bowl until the liquid thickens slightly and coats the pasta. Transfer the pasta mixture to a wide shallow bowl and serve.

Junior's dish was Baked Cheese and Pasta - well Macaroni and Cheese but he didn't do macaroni noodles.

His dish has been more challanging for me just because of various problems. The first time he made it, I forgot we were doubleing the recipe when we added the cheese. So it only had half of the neccesary cheese. It was good, just not cheesey.

When we were making it for the contest I planned on us making it the night before and then baking it the day of. So right before bed, we are in the kitchen and trying to make it. I had gotten a block of cheese because I needed sharp cheese and it was cheaper more economical and was going to use the food processor. It broke. So we are scrambling around looking for the cheese grater - Daisy didn't even really know what it was - so that 12 ounces of cheese could be grated. And I had to make the bread crumbs to go on the top because I don't know where bread crumbs are since they rearranged the store (and I was too tired to ask).

Luckily it all turned out well.

Baked pasta and Cheese
1/2 pound pasta in desired shape 3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
3 cups milk 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon paprika 1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded 1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh black pepper 1 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes.
Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.
Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

When I am sick, I make soup

Soup is one of those comfort foods for me, I love tomato soup in all sorts of ways, cream of soups, hearty stews, I just love soup. When I am sick chicken soup is what particularly appeals to me.

I have given you my strict recipe for chicken noodle soup. In the spirit of that soup, I was making a chicken soup yesterday, decided to put in rice because we had a bunch of left over rice from something else. I forgot the onion but did put in the celery and carrot.

Then I tried something new, I put in 1/2 of a butternut squash that I just cubed into about 1 inch cubes.

OH MY WORD!!!!

It took the chicken and rice soup to a whole new level of good. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the squash but it did its usual partial melting thing where some was firm like a carrot but other just flavored the broth.

Hubby and Daisy loved it, (Junior wasn't very hungry and "doesn't like soup").

All in all, it was a definite do again.

WFMW- Quick bread recipe

Ok, I like to try new things and experiment which sometimes mean I bring home a new beer to try. Some of these are absolutely wonderful and others . . . leave a bad taste in the mouth.

Those that we don't like then just sit in the refrigerator taking up space. For weeks.

So now I cook with them. I know wine people say "only use a wine you would drink" but usually when I don't like a wine or beer it is because it is too strong in something. Cooking dilutes those flavors, especially since I usually can't use enough to get a wine or beer flavor (the kids whine about it).

One of my favorites is Southern Living's Sweet Beer Bread.

Sweet Beer Bread

• 3 cups self-rising flour - I have also made it with half self-rising and half whole wheat BUT then you need to add some more leavening - like baking soda or baking powder but I don't remember how much


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 12-ounce light or dark beer (which is a bottle or can - really convienent for measuring)

Dump the ingredients in a bowl and stir. Pour into a lightly greased 8 1/2- x 4 1/2-inch loafpan.

Bake at 375° for 55 to 60 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack 5 minutes. Remove from pan, and cool on wire rack.

With the different beers, you get different flavors. I have made a couple that were slightly bitter because the beer was a bitter beer but most were very good. I am thinking that an Apple Jack beer would be really good with this, add some cinnamon and you have apple cinnamon bread.


Using beer this way works for me. Check out more Works for Me at We Are That Family.
Check out more Works

Completely indulgent

This could be considered a frugal treat, but really it is too . . . too . . . much to be anything but completely indulgent.

You take a day old glazed donut (it can be a completely fresh one as well). Like this one.



Melt some butter (about a pat of butter) in a skillet and then fry the donut in the butter on both sides.

When it is lightly toasted on each side,



just put it on a plate and eat it while hot. With a fork. You will see why.

The inside gets all soft, like when it was fresh. The glaze caramelizes into a crispy crunch. You could just heat it in the microwave but then you wouldn't get the crisp sugar shell.

As a safety precaution, I need to tell you that the melted sugar is extremely hot. Please be careful.

It may not be lemonade but it is still good

I have a horrible tendency to save stuff because it is special until it is no longer special - it is ruint (yes, that is a word here in the south). If I have plenty, then I am not that concerned - like with jam I usually get several jars, so I go ahead and eat them.

But if I don't have very many - I really want to save it.

Just before Christmas 2007, we stopped at this little winery about a 1 1/2 hour drive from here and picked up a bottle of raspberry wine (I really didn't like dry wines at all then and mostly went for dessert wines.) And we brought it home and I saved it. And saved it. And saved it. We really don't drink very much wine, just the occasional glass with dinner. and I kind-of forgot about it.

I finally opened it 2 weeks ago and it was nearly vinegar. So I poured the whole bottle into a plastic juice pitcher, added some Braggs apple cider vinegar and covered the pitcher with a paper towel I taped on. You have to use an apple cider vinegar with the "mother" in it if you want to speed the fermentation into vinegar. (You can skip adding the mother but it takes longer and I am prone to forget if it takes too long).

So after letting it sit for two weeks, I gave it a taste today. OH MY! The fruit flavor came through so clearly, it was delicious.

And if you think there is no way vinegar can be delicious, you have never tried homemade vinegar. It is like comparing water to juice. In most store bought vinegars you taste sour and then maybe a slight difference between the types. The homemade ones have so many other flavors going on that the sour is there but it is with the fruits and other . . . .

I can't even describe it.

If you drink wine, consider making some homemade vinegar - it is well worth the tiny bit of effort.

If you don't drink wine, you can still make homemade vinegar without getting a bottle of wine. You can look for recipes online but it is basically getting some kind of fruit, crush it, strain it and let it ferment until it becomes vinegar.

What can you do with the vinegar?

• Well there is the vinegrette salad dressing - just your vinegar and some oil to taste.



• You can also use it in marinades.



• One of my favorite ways is to cook a chicken breast in vinegar, using the vinegar about like I would an olive oil - just enough liquid to keep it from sticking. Depending on the tartness, I may also add water and honey because the kids "hate vinegar" (Although Daisy mentioned the homemade was really good.)

If you have any additional ideas for using homemade vinegar, please let me know.

Cooking lessons

One of the things I like to do with the kids is that they get one meal a week. One meal to plan, making sure it is at least somewhat balanced, and then they prepare it with my help.

So I asked Daisy ans she wanted to make "noodles that look like a shell, with the white sauce on it."

Ok, pasta with alfredo sauce, that's fairly easy. What protein?

Her first idea was ranch style beans. Now I love ranch style beans, but I don't know about loving them with alfredo sauce. After some more thought, she decided on chicken.

And mushrooms.

And onions.

(I know there was also a vegetable but I have forgotten what it was.)

It turned out well, she enjoyed it except it took so long to cook. Possibly it took so long because she kept bumping the burners down to low.


Then for Junior's meal he chose spaghetti with meat sauce. And Broccoli as a veggie.

Before we started cooking, I sat down with him and asked if he liked how I made spaghetti sauce. Then "are you sure you like it? Do you want to make it just like Mommy always makes it?" He said yes, and then I told him I always cook it with onions. Always.

He burst into tears because he "hates onions." He did decide that if I always cook it with onion and he likes it, the onions can't be completely evil. Sometimes I also use bell pepper, but I thought that would be pushing too much.

So we got out the mandolin and he put in the onions that were then fried up with ground beef. The pasta was boiling in a separate pot and he asked if he could put in the sauce.

Yes, I confess we use jarred sauce. Specifically Ragu Super Chunky Mushrooms (don't tell Junior).

So I tell him sure he can pour in the sauce.

And he did. Right into the pasta water.

I stopped him before he got very much in there but . . . apparently he really needs the cooking lessons.

Then the broccoli was just frozen broccoli cooked in the microwave, then we sprinkled salt and real parmesan cheese (not that stuff in the green can, real parm yumm).

Both meals turned out beautiful, and so each was satisfied with their efforts.

Try letting your kids cook, they might enjoy it.

And maybe even learn onions aren't completely evil.

Pay It Forward Tag

Before I forget, JLI asked me about the apple butter and peach butter recipe. I have to find the peach butter recipe (long story), but here is the best recipe for apple butter and if you are brave you might want to try this Yummy Peach Salsa. When I find the Peach butter recipe, I will post it.

And now

I won a tag! And so now I get to offer you the opportunity to play.

Here is the deal :
Here's a fun blogging game...

Be one of the first three people to leave a comment on this post and you'll receive something handmade from me sometime in the next year.

But there is a catch. You have to do the same thing on your blog. And then once you get the item from me you have to comment about it on my blog!!


As for commenting something in particular, I can't think of anything to ask for other than favorite simple breakfast. I am getting kind of burned out on cold cereal, and am not really fond of ham, bacon or eggs (sausage is just nasty). I like oatmeal, but it is warming up and hot oatmeal on a day that's going to be in the 90's is just miserable.

I just recently found though that I actually like scrambled egg with a thin slice of lunch-meat ham on a half of an English muffin. Since I kind of dislike 2 out of three, I was really surprised. If I eat it every day though, I will get tired of it.

So more ideas?

Please?

Corned Beef

I am trying to make corned beef today, along with mashed potatoes with pesto (to give it a hint of green) cooked cabbage and Irish soda bread.

Since all of this is new, hopefully we won't end up eating peanut butter and jelly.

If it is good, I will post the recipes.

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

My kids were delighted. yep, that's sarcasm.

This morning I made green eggs and ham. The look on their face was . . . really pretty funny. They were absolutely disgusted.

Daisy decided that the eggs weren't too bad, but she had a hard time eating them, and she isn't a big fan of ham.

Junior declared he was absolutely not eating anything green, but then ate most of his ham and some of his eggs.

He thought it was kindof cool when he decided it was something you are supposed to do on St. Pat's day.

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I just posted the best most evil white queso recipe. The stuff is merciless, it put 3 lbs on me last weekend.

But I had to force myself not to buy the ingredients yesterday at the store.

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I am weird. I like to can and make our own preserves. Especially since I can do stuff that we can't buy easily at the store.

For instance I love, love, love peach butter. Fruit butters are made with less sugar than jams or other preserves and have no added pectin. Peaches are perfect for this because they are so naturally sweet. In fact, I don't do peach jam unless I add jalapenos to it (which is much better than it sounds).

Strawberry jam is good, but I haven't made it. I did help my daughter make banana split jam though - it is strawberry banana with a tiny bit of chocolate syrup. It is pretty good, but a little too sweet for me.

Pumpkin butter is also a favorite but according to the govt, it isn't safe to can even with a pressure cooker. (It is too thick and the heat can't reach to the center and kill all the cooties. Most fruit preserves are high enough in acid to kill cooties, but pumpkin is too borderline). So it goes in the freezer.

Most autumns I make apple butter, because nothing smells better in the kitchen.

When hubby suggested years ago that I learn how to can, I looked at him like he was insane. But is is alot more fun than I thought.

And delicious.

I love 7 Quick Takes

My favorite thing about this is that I get to post the various little things that aren't really big enough for their own post.

Although I could ramble on long enough for each one to make its own post.

1. I cooked the simplist chicken Thursday night for supper. Boneless chicken breast cooked in apple cider vinegar (although you can use a different vinegar, just not white distilled) and some water. Then when the meat was close to done, I added some honey to sweeten the sauce/glaze.

Junior thought it was the best, until he asked what was in it. Then he said he hates vinegar. Honestly if I avoided the stuff he hates, we would eat PB&J and cereal. The trick is not letting him know one of his forbidden foods it there.

I didn't measure but it was 4 chicken breasts, around 1/3 - 1/2 cup of vinegar, 1/4- 1/3 cup water and then 2-3 tablespoons of honey. Cook over medium until the meat is done and then the glaze/sauce reduces.

2. Our church had a ladies coffee Thursday night and it was alot of fun. We had special coffees (I had a hazlenut latte) and then got to chitchat. It was fun and relaxing girl time.

3. I am a thief. When I was 4 years old, I stole a pack of Charlie's Angels gum because I thought my mom would say no.

That night when she saw me chewing the gum, I had to fess up. The next day, I had to go back into the 7-11 and tell the man what I had done and pay for it.

I still remember that.

But I have never shoplifted again.

4. I almost hate to say this, for those of you that live where it is cold.

We went on a nature walk to look for signs of spring.

Before we missed it.

Summer may be here week after next.

But we found redbuds and Carolina Jasmine blooming. Trumpet honeysuckle has it's flowers budding out, but not blooming. And the ever-present mosquito larvae.

5. I got an order of tea today. A friend had asked for advise on what to try for hot tea. I told her to go to Adagio Tea. They have this starter set that comes with a great tea maker and 4 samples of tea. Then you can order samples of other teas that sound good (most of the samples are $2 a piece and make 10 cups, although some cost more and make less.)

It had been awhile since I ordered, and saw they have added alot of new teas. So I just had to order some samples of teas. Honestly though, I think Daisy was really wanting to try at least one of the teas. She has been nagging for 2 days to look at the list. She heard "chocolate tea" and was really wanting to try it.

Yep, I said chocolate tea. Oh my stars!!! This stuff is good. It isn't pre-sweetened, so it is like a sugar-free fat free chocolate bar.

I just drank some peach ginger tea and I love it. I may have to go make another cup.

Some of those bagged flavored teas, just have a hint of the flavor and mostly taste like black tea. They are just really underwhelming. But Adagio teas smell and taste wonderful.

Just so you know, I have no affiliation with Adagio, although I would love to. Hint, hint.

6. Last night, I read the poem that goes

What are little boys made of?
Oh, what are little boys made of?
Snips and snails and puppy dog tails,
that is what little boys are made of.

What are little girls made of?
Oh, what are little girls made of?
Sugar and spice and everything nice,
that is what little girls are made of.

Junior didn't like it. I thought he didn't like it because it has boys made of gross stuff (snails).

Nope, he didn't like it because it was wrong.

Little boys are made out of skin.

7. Junior is really enjoying tae kwon do now. He has a great teacher who keep them in line (no pun intended). Then there are about 3 who take turns helping out.

One is a mom who is great with the kids - kindof like a mom figure.

Another is a high school boy who is also great. He is fairly quiet, but has kind eyes. He reminds me of my brother.

The third, is another teen . . .sigh . . . I really want to bring him some ex-lax. I am pretty sure he is constipated. He just seems cranky.


Okie Dokie, thats all. Except, I tried Adagio's cinnamon tea (instead of another peach ginger). YUMMMM. It isn't like the spice cinnamon, it's like red hots. I think it's another winner.