organizing

I've been purging clothes and toys, packing seemingly everything but the kitchen, and decided that my recipe notebook could use a little organizing.  I have simple categories (breakfast, beef, chicken, snacks) but thought I would alphabetize each section, so that I can find recipes faster.  So I wrote in the top right corner a letter of the recipe---for example, my chili recipe has a C in the corner.  I hope this will speed up the process of flipping through.

baked french toast

So I've been thinking about wanting to try baked french toast [after not liking my own french toast recently] and I hit the jackpot on a new recipe.... you know how some recipes just aren't so good?  Well, I had to tweak it so our non-dairy eater could have some (he LOVED it BTW)... and it was still really tasty.  So I thought you might the recipe too!

cinnamon baked french toast  Which apparently comes from Ree, The Pioneer Woman, although it's altered some.

We altered it like this: 

• a loaf of homemade bread
• 5 large eggs
• 2 cups rice milk
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 T. vanilla

I then just sprinkled additional cinnamon sugar on top instead of following the rest of that part of the recipe (cause there's butter there...) and it turned out wonderfully. 

I have a new favorite breakfast!  Charlie loved it.  Billy ate some and stopped (I don't like the crunchy part.)  De said he could choke that down again :)

menu planning

I find I work better at getting dinner on the table if I have a plan. I've been searching for the best method for me. Here's what I have done so far:

1. Planned the week on Sat/Sunday. [I found this meal planner which makes a great front cover for my notebook; I like that it has categories for the type of meal, as I try to plan one night with chicken, another for beef, another night fish, etc.] I also use this, as I like to sometimes, plan more than just dinner.
2. Done the grocery shopping based on that plan, including meals from items that are on sale that week. 
3. Cooked those meals during that week. 

What I haven't done is have the recipes in one easy to locate place. I've had to count on my memory to determine where the recipe is located. NO MORE. I'm putting our top recipes [read favorite meals I don't get arguments or tears over eating] in one binder, categorized by main ingredient.  Since I feel like I am constantly cooking food for these ravenous beasts, I mean little boys, this one book will be out on the counter, ready to remind my Mommy-brain what I need to get the meal together.

Could this be my new saving Mommy's sanity method for food prep?  We'll see?

Thanks, Nana!

Billy guessed huge marshmallows right away when I said you sent a treat for him.  We all enjoyed one, and took a silly picture to say THANKS :)

Charlie said it didn't fit in his mouth, so he couldn't show it for the picture... oh the wisdom from an almost-three-year-old.

[he has figure out how to make it fit in his mouth at subsequent experiences with these jumbo marshmallows]

muffins

I made these

awesome muffins tonight for breakfast this week...

I have found that making breakfasts that take a little more than pouring cereal are best prepared the night before. Just some wisdom I learned along the way. Keeps little boys from repeatedly asking if breakfast is ready.

The house smells delicious! [not my photo; from the recipe site]

Hooray for Butler's Orchard blueberries in the freezer in February!

letter blocks

Grandmom is great at finding/making great games and such for our schooling :) I love the resource she provides, as I don't have an early childhood degree [and she does!]These were a huge hit with the four year old.... eaten when dairy-allergy Charlie was napping. He said the letter sounds, we spelled some words, and had fun with "go home".

pizza

Finally perfected making pizza at home... this crust was a little thick for my liking, but De enjoyed it that way. See the section for Charlie without cheese? Our poor little guy--dairy allergy. He really just likes the crust anyway, or as De calls it, "pizza bones".

Kids Eat Free Every Night in April

Did you know? Kids Eat Free Every Night (4-10pm) in April at IHOP. [One free kids meal with each adult purchase.]

We're so going!

http://www.ihop.com/

oatmeal

What is it about oatmeal, raisins and sugar that is so soothing? So yummy? So tasty? So therapudic? Even the smell of them baking had me all yearning for them to come out of the oven so I could burn my mouth, I mean, sample one.

I made a batch of granola bars on Thursday and have enjoyed treating myself to two each day since!

eating

we've had ups and downs, but I'm not too worried. Just notice they are or aren't eating that particular day. Billy hasn't been that hungry lately, though he does eat here and there.

Had to post this though: Charlie just ate 3 pieces of french toast, grapes, and about 7 whole wheat pretzel sticks (to hold him off while the french toast was cooking). And he downed it with a cup of water (6 0z).

NutriMill

So after recent reading and researching, I decided to improve our homemade bread through buying grain, grinding it, and properly storing it until I use all that I ground. [As I told De, I want to be the Little Red Hen.] To make a long story short there are about 16 more nutrients in the bread when the flour is used within hours of being ground, or ground and frozen.

So, here is what I decided to do...

I bought a grain mill (combining Christmas and birthday money I received) and a 50 pound bag of hard wheat berries; and I ground some wheat into flour! Pretty cool, I think! I did have trouble deciding where and how to store it... Which brought me back to a food storage device I haven't used in a while because of lack of kitchen space... a whole other post could be devoted to that!

Anyway, I pulled out the Food Saver and got to sealing the bags and filling them with berries. And at the end of the night, I had all 50 pounds vacuum-packed and ready for long-term basement storage.

Since grinding grain I have made all our bread with fresh flour, some muffins, and pizza dough. I tried out a cracker recipe but that really flopped (I don't really know why).

homemade pizza

We've been trying out different pizza dough recipes, with not much luck with the flavor, texture, consistency, etc. Tonight I made Friday Night Pizza from a book I read recently, Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I was enlightened by the book, and it's caused me to research and learn more about natural eating and organic foods. The recipe makes two 12 inch pizzas, so I made one pepperoni and one with pepperoni, onion and green pepper. We will stick with this recipe and tweak it a little, as the dough could use some extra spices. I found that the pizza stone made more of a thin crust and the pan made more of a raised crust... I haven't had the opportunity previously to use both baking methods at the same time. Learning as we go!

[De has his own ideas for making a meat-lovers version with sausage, bacon and pepperoni]

Somewhat like 7 layer dip

Made this up last night after coming home from meeting one of De's friends...whose wedding he will be a groomsman for come May 1.

De and I enjoyed it, Billy, not so much! "Just the chips, Mommy"

Christmas Preparations

Billy has been excited about Christmas and wanted to help get ready for the fun events to come. He has helped me put up the Christmas tree and decorate it with the beads and ornaments.

We hung lights together off the deck. We made chocolate chip cookies together one night... putting red, green and white stars on them to make them Christmas-y.

After seeing the gingerbread man ornament and showing me nearly daily and talking about how much he wanted to eat it....I decided we would make gingerbread cookies for eating. Today we made gingerbread cookies. Billy smacked his lips the entire time he helped put the eyes and buttons on. He excitedly ate the head first :)

I've enjoyed just tackeling one activity each day. We haven't been keeping up with our Advent calendar, though we have one this year! It shows us on day 6, where it's the 10th... But I made White Chili today and Billy ate it :) So it's a good day! And it's a good day cause De worked from home today! No time commuting :) Woohoo!

baking day

go see my post on my successful baking day!

yum!

De made banana pudding for a work function... here in progress :)

smoothies

Billy loves to have smoothies for lunch:

• yogurt
• strawberries
• blueberries
• honey
• oatbran

Birthday planning

I've been planning Billy's 3rd birthday party (we're only going to have a family party, since there are 17 "local" family members and I'm just not ready for a friends party. Next year.)

It's going to be a blast... cars birthday as the almost-three-year-old requested (even though he had a car cake last year). Have been trying to figure out how to make it different. Have come up with some great ideas. Will post after the birthday.

You have to check out the Flickr site and search for cupcakes... oh my goodness! Take yourself a nice break from whatever you were doing, cause it will take you a while to look at all that yumminess!

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=cupcake&s=int

Cooking With Billy

Cooking with Billy, baking really, has been a fun, new experience for me. He's 2 and 3/4 years old now, and is loving imitating those around him... in all areas but potty training, though he will talk about that.
Cooking with me has been fun for us; I enjoy cooking and it would seem Billy has observed that and wants to participate too. He likes to flip pancakes, watch me make eggs for breakfast, and he even helped with rolled, cut-out biscuits this week. We previously made granola bars and he loved stirring those ingredients together for me...

It's fun to see my big boy doing new things. He can be quite demanding about helping how he wants to, and pouting and getting down on his knees to cry about it, but he doesn't "get anywhere" with this, so it quickly stops and he gives in to what he's been told.

He and Charlie both have fevers this morning... a round of Tylenol for all. Thankfully, De is working from home this week, so he was able to help me out by going on a 7am grocery run to get some "big kid" Tylenol. I discovered at 2am we didn't have any when Billy came in our room... don't know where the closest 24-hour store is... guess I should find out!

kid-friendly food

One of the benefits of eating meals others have prepared for you is trying out new-to-you recipes… this one was a HUGE hit with William and me. Jenn brought over these granola bars, just ‘cause she had made them that morning; it wasn’t really to be part of our dinner… Oh my goodness. William and I can’t stop snacking on them. They are healthy, but aren’t completely healthy. I will try cutting out some of the sugar and see if they taste as good, but MAN. You have to try these!

Playgroup-Granola-Bars