I haven't forgotten about you

I just haven't cooked this week.  It was seriously a week of eating with friends, potlucks, and leftovers.

I like these weeks but it's not great for writing blog posts!! 

So instead I will share something I worked on in my kitchen today.

Just a little something to keep our minds on what is lovely while we sit in the living room and watch tv or movies or whatnot.

Because it's too easy.  Too easy to waste a crazy amount of time.

Too easy to let things that aren't okay get into my mind.

Too easy to think on things that aren't holy, aren't pure, aren't lovely.

Too easy to sit and let it in my mind and then out my actions and my words.

So it's a reminder.  Daily. 

Oh, and don't  mind the laundry in the background either. A little something else I'm working on in there today. ;)

Marvelous mashed potatoes for even our picky eater

My youngest has become a picky eater.  So many nights I hear, "why did you use stuff I don't like?"

The answer to that is actually really simple.  Because if I only made things he liked we would be eating a lot of pancakes.  And the only veggie we'd eat right now would be carrots. 

But I make what works for the rest of us. And that includes vegetables.  And we insist that he eats most of what is on his plate.  And I try to put at least one thing on there he likes. 

And he loves mashed potatoes.  So do I. They are cheap, tasty and sometimes full of fat and butter and calories.  But honestly, they don't have to be that way.  They can still taste good.

The way I make them they are tasty.  Four basic ingredients. One of them the key ingredient. 

Ingredients:

Potatoes (I use one medium sized one per person)

Milk

Salt

And the key ingredient: onion powder.

Notice there's no butter, because I put butter on each serving.  

Instructions:

Dice, but don't peel potatoes.  The smaller you cut them the faster they cook!

Boil potatoes in water. 

When a fork goes through the potatoes easily, drain the potatoes. Leave them in the collender and return the pan to the burner, which is no longer on. 

Add 1/4 c of milk and then return the potatoes to the pan.  Begin mashing the potatoes, adding milk until it's the consistency you like.

Then add salt and the onion powder and stir it up well.  Taste it and add more as necessary. 

Serve and enjoy! 

Dressed up (tuxedo) oatmeal cookies

I love a good cookie.  A crispy cookie that is perfect for dipping and dunking in milk.  

And I have this lovely cookie jar that belonged to my grandma that just calls me to fill it with cookies.

And I have this container of oatmeal that really needs to be used up.

And I'm craving a tuxedo mocha... You know the ones with chocolate and white chocolate.

Time to bake!  

Ingredients:

1 stick butter

3/4 c sugar

1 tsp molasses 

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 c oatmeal

3/4 c flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp baking soda 

Pinch of salt

3/4 c chocolate chips

1/4 c white chocolate chips

Instructions:

Mix the sugar and butter in the mixer until it gets all nice and fluffy.

Add the molasses, vanilla and egg.  Mix until well combined.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  

Stir in the chips.

Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes until they have a nice lightly browned color.

Serve and enjoy! 

Cheeseburger sloppy joes

Yesterday we were headed out of the house and I was supposed to put dinner in the crockpot so it would be ready when we got home.  But I had forgotten to pull the roast out of the freezer.  And the dinner I wanted to make required if to be cut up blah blah blah...  

So much for that meal plan.

Does this ever happen to you? 

It's so important to have a few easy meals that you can make when the meal plan fails.  Because it will. 

One of those meals for us is sloppy joes. We always have burger in the freezer so I just pick up some buns and we are good to go.  (Although this time I had to use hot dog buns since the store I stopped in was out of hamburger buns!)

This time I happened to have velveeta on hand too.   So we had cheeseburger sloppy joes.  Yum.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, minced

1/2 c ketchup

2 tbsp mustard

1 tsp dried dill

1-2 c velveeta

Buns

Instructions: 

Brown the burger and onion together.

Add ketchup, mustard and dill. Combine well.

Add velveeta and stir over heat while it melts.

Put in buns.

Serve and enjoy! 

Breakfast time! Chocolate and peanut butter banana bread

Our mornings used to be crazy... Up at 6, get showered, get dressed, eat breakfast, make lunches, get our plan for the day, get out of the house by 7:15 to get to school on time.

Since we have moved, our mornings are way easier.  I get up at 6:30, get lunches made, have some quiet time before the boys start moving between 7-7:30.  Then they get up and eat at the table and shower and even have time to watch a cartoon before we leave for school at 8:30 in order to be there for first recess.

So I have been making better breakfasts.  If I'm up at 6:30 it allows me to get something done that morning for breakfast that's hot and yummy.  We do pancakes, baked oatmeal and even toad in a hole.   But one of my favorites has always been banana bread.  And I love mine with peanut butter.  So I took the recipe that I like and added a few special ingredients to make it my own.  

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas

1/2 stick of butter

2 eggs

1 tbsp peanut butter

1/2 c sugar

3/4 tsp molasses

2 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ginger

1 c chocolate chips

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Mash up the bananas until there are very few chunks.  Mix it with the butter, peanut butter, sugar and molasses and mix until creamy and fluffy.  

Add the eggs  one at a time until they are well blended.

Mix the dry ingredients together and mix in until just mixed.

Mix the chocolate chips in by hand.

Put in a well greased loaf pan and add some sprinkles, because really, who doesn't like sprinkles first thing in the morning? 

Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean when you put it through the middle. 

Serve and enjoy!!

Fight the winter blues with color in your dinner!

It has been a long hard winter.

Cold.

Snowy.

Lots of snow days and it's too cold to go to school days. 

I am over it.  

I have the winter blues! 

But my dinner is pretty, with lots of orange today.  Of course you could always add some red too, if that's your thing.

I made smothered chicken.  And it was pretty.  And tasty! 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium sized onion, chopped

1 orange pepper, sliced

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

1/2 tsp thyme

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

2 boneless skinless chicken breast

1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions:

In a oven safe pan (I love my cast iron for this) sauté the onions, peppers and mushrooms over medium high heat until they start to soften about 5-6 minutes.  Add garlic powder, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook another minute or two.

Remove them to a plate and add chicken to the pan.  I also salt and pepper this to make sure the chicken is flavorful as well.

Cook until the center is no longer pink.

Add the veggies back to the pan, too with cheese and then put the whole thing under the broiler for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Don't walk away!!!! (Ask me how I know!) 

Serve and enjoy! 

I'm back!

So much has changed in our lives over the last year or so... New jobfor the Husband, new house for us, new school for the boys, new kitchen for me.  

I've been making so many new recipes that I just love.  Pinterest has become my BFF.  So I thought I'd share some of them again, as well as finding a place in the cyber world to put them again.  

I am looking forward to sharing some of these exciting things with you, but as all ways it will be 

Mostly about the food!!! 

 

For now, here's a picture from our new house.  It's off the front porch facing the cold wintery world that we have had a front row seat for since we moved.