Chirp, Chirp, Chirp

Anyone else hear the crickets?  Almost 5 months since a post - never gone that long without a post!  No excuses.

Christopher is still talking about his old parents.  We have discovered, however, that they are not the nice, sweet people we were led to believe they were:

"My old parents got rid of me because they don't like babies."

"My old parents sent me to bed without eating supper - can you believe that?!?"

"My old parents are not as nice as you, Mommy."

"My old parents would never let me eat candy for breakfast!"  (neither will your *new* parents)

Life has been busy but good.  I am a Daisy troop co-leader this year and we are looking forward to being Brownies next year.  I also may have just volunteered to help coach my daughter's soccer team.  I haven't played soccer since I was 15 ... what was I thinking?  Oh yeah, not enough coaches = no teams. Ay yi yi. 

My old parents

I discovered recently that we weren't Christopher's first parents.  It seems like he had another set of parents before us, that apparently had absolutely no rules at all!!  Here are a few things we've learned about Christopher's *old parents* in the last couple of weeks:

"My old parents never make me eat supper before eating Halloween candy."

"My old parents have a big swing set at their house I used to play on."

"My old parents don't let me sit in time out."

"My old parents let me eat cookies for breakfast."

"My old parents let me stay up as late as I want."

They sound like some pretty cool people!

No Turkey for you!

"Mommy?"

"Yes Bud."

"I need you to do something for me."

"OK ..."

"You need to make a chicken leg for Thanksgiving.  We can't eat turkey.  The turkey is my friend.  We don't eat our friends."

The friend in question is a blow up turkey they have in the lobby at daycare; he has to give it a hug every time he walks by.  I explained that we weren't going to have that particular turkey on Thanksgiving, but I'm not sure he is convinced.

Next I'm sure he'll want to boycott mashed potatoes since Mr. Potato head is also a close personal friend.

Happy Halloween!

We had Bob the Builder and a Witch this year.  Bob had an unfortunate encounter with some asphalt at daycare this week, but I just told him it made him look like he was a hard worker.  I am hoping it is gone by the time Christmas pictures get taken!.

Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Chops

I'm not entirely sure what my deal is lately, but my meal planning has been non-existent.  Food shopping has been hit or miss, and I've found myself quite a few times standing in front of the freezer at 5 PM, wondering what I can pull out and make.  Pizza has been a common meal (that pizza place they built near us has been a blessing and a curse) but when someone says, "Pizza again!" you know you have a problem.

The weather was still fairly decent last week, so I decided I would find a quick recipe for the grill.  These were quick - I made the glaze inside the house while the pork chops cooked on the grill.  Cutting a slit in them will prevent them from curling up as they cook.  I did skip the cayenne as I didn't want them to be too hot for the kids.  Tasty!

Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Chops

Cook's Country Magazine

4 (10-ounce) bone-in pork rib or center-cut chops, about 1 inch thick, trimmed

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cut 2 slits about 2 inches apart through fat and connective tissue around outside of each chop. Combine sugar, salt, and pepper in bowl. Pat chops dry with paper towels and rub with sugar mixture.

Whisk vinegar and cornstarch in small saucepan until no lumps remain. Stir in honey, mustard, thyme, and cayenne and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until glaze is reduced to 1/4 cup, 5 to 7 minutes.

Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave primary burner on high and turn other burner(s) to medium-low.

Clean and oil cooking grate. Place chops on cool part of grill and cook (covered if using gas) until meat registers 140 degrees, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Brush chops with glaze and grill, glazed side down, over hot part of grill until caramelized, about 1 minute. Repeat with second side of chops. Transfer chops to platter, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Brush with remaining glaze. Serve.

My Faithful Canine Companion

We had to put Sophie to sleep a week ago at 11 years old.  She had been battling cancer off and on since she was 3.  Last June it came back and her too hard and it spread too fast.  Rest in peace Sophie.  You were a great dog and so good with the kids! 

Caramel Brownies

We had a very busy weekend last weekend.  Swim lessons, two Girl Scout activities (I was on ice skates for the first time in about 15 years!) and a work picnic.  Lunch was provided at the picnic, we were asked to bring a dessert or an appetizer.  Since I had no way to keep anything hot while we were running around, I opted for dessert.

I've somehow managed to get myself signed-up for so may different email newsletters, it is hard to keep track of them all, let alone remember which ones had recipes I wanted to try.  Luckily Taste of Home sent me a newsletter on Thursday that had these Caramel Brownies in it.  They looked good and they had some good reviews, so I figured they were worth a shot.

They were easy throw together and I enlisted some youngsters help in unwrapping all the caramels.  They do sell caramel bits but they come in an 11 ounce package.  Based on some of the reviews of the recipe, I put about 3/4 of the batter in the pan for the bottom layer.  I did manage to swirl a little too much, as in some places I couldn't tell there was a separate layer of caramel.  I did leave out the walnuts, but would substitute pecans the next time we make them, since I prefer them.

Note that sticking a toothpick in to test doneness really doesn't work all that well, since you'll probably end up sticking it in the caramel.  I tested it at 35 minutes and left it in a little longer; I probably should have just taken them out then.  I think they were slightly overdone but I still did receive compliments on them!

Caramel Brownies
Taste of Home

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup baking cocoa

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs

1/4 cup 2% milk

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts, divided

1 package (14 ounces) caramels

1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

 

In a large bowl, beat the sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs and milk. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; gradually add to egg mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chips and 1/2 cup walnuts.

Spoon two-thirds of the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the caramels and condensed milk over low heat until caramels are melted. Pour over baked brownie layer. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts.

Drop remaining batter by teaspoonfuls over caramel layer; carefully swirl brownie batter with a knife.  Bake 35-40 minutes longer or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with moist crumbs (do not overbake). Cool on a wire rack. Yield: 2 dozen.

Honey Fest

Yesterday the kids and I headed out to  Indian Creek Nature Center for the 14th annual Honey Fest.  The kids were entranced by the honey bees at Hone Creek Acres last week, so I thought they'd like this.

It was a nice little place to bring the kids.  Three dollars to get in for kids over 3 and they had a bunch of little activities for the kids to do.  They had bees (of course) as well as information booths.  They were also selling honey and baked goods made with honey.  All in all it was a nice 2 hours outside with the kids, on a nice day.

Making paper

Sack races

Greeted by a giant bee


 

Simple Chicken Marinade

We eat a lot of grilled chicken in the summer.  A lot.  It is quick, easy and nobody really complains as long as it seems like we aren't eating the same thing all the time.  I'm not really sure where I got the recipe, I have been using it since I lived in Phoenix (which is at least 12 years!) and I've since transferred it from a worn magazine clipping to Mastercook.

This makes enough to marinate about 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken.  I haven't tried it on the bone-in skin-on counterparts because it never seems that the marinade actually flavors the meat.  Since the chicken breasts I buy alwayse seem to be fat on one end and thin on the other, I throw them in a gallon size bag and pound away with my beloved meat mallet (great stress reliever).  Tonight we are having chicken fajitas, so I swapped out the lemon juice for lime and used a mexican seasoning blend.

Simple Chicken Marinade

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon of your favorite seasoning blend (I use a bunch of different ones from Penzey's)
freshly ground black pepper
kosher salt (if your seasoning is salt free)

Mix it all together and add the chicken in.  I've marinated it while I was at work all day (close to 10 hours) with no change in texture.  I'd be afraid to go overnight for fear the lemon juice would make the chicken too mushy.

Apple Picking

 

Pretty good haul

 

It cooled off a lot over the ast 2 days (47 when I got up yesterday) so I figured it was time to go apple picking.  Last year we went at the end of the month and it was a little late in the season.

Ever since Honey Creek Acres opened, we have headed over there since it it close.  We've also gone to Wilson's Orchard in the past, but I prefer Honey Creek since it is smaller and more personable.  The orchard was hit by a late frost I was told, so the apples were a little on the small side.  That's OK though, as evident in the pictures below they are still tasty.  I am afraid next year they will weigh Christopher before and after and charge me for the difference.

Some were even within their reach

 

 

 

Apple #1

 

At the top of Hay Mountain

 

Beautiful day

Is that like a Time Machine?

Interesting conversation in the car on the way home from work today.

"Hey mommy, you know that baby machine?"

"Um, baby machine?"

"Yeah, that machine I come from when I was very small.  You remember?"

"Ah ... baby machine?"

"I was very small, you put me in and I come out a baby.  You remember that?"

"Sure ..."

"Can we use it again?"

Um ...

"I need to be a baby again.  I too big to go on the yellow slide and I like the yellow slide."

Whew.

Broken Lasagna With Zucchini-Tomato Sauce

The week before we went on vacation, back at the end of June, I dropped my laptop on the hardwood floor.  Laptop was only two years old, landed right on the power supply plug, smashing it.  Granted the laptop was giving me fits as it would just randomly shut down, but a new laptop really wasn't top of my list of things to buy.

David checked it out and declared it broke.  Yeah, twisted metal was my first clue.  Since then I've been using the old laptop that's about 6 years old.  Twelve inch screen and the touch pad is broken, so I use a wireless mouse.  Problem being I have to reboot every 20 - 30 minutes because the laptop stops recognizing the mouse is plugged in.  Sweet.  So I'm only on the laptop these days when absolutely necessary.  Such a pain in the neck (she says, as she speed types in an effort to get this done in 20 minutes). 

This recipe was the cover recipe on Food Network Magazine last month and I thought it was a good way to use up some of the shredded zucchini I had hanging out in the refrigerator (shredded and then lightly salted and placed in a colander for a couple of hours to get rid of some water).  It also used up some fresh cherry tomatoes and chives I have growing in the garden (I love summer).  I sauteed everything as the pasta was cooking. 

Since the carnivore would turn his nose up at a meatless meal, I cut up 2 leftover grilled chicken breasts and added them in with the zucchini.  I was in a hurry making it with my little helper, that I didn't realize it didn't call for garlic.  Most definitely would add some chopped garlic in with the tomatoes next time.  It didn't heat up the kitchen too much and it was literally done in 30 minutes.  Love those kinds of meals!

Broken Lasagna With Zucchini-Tomato Sauce
Food Network Magazine

Kosher salt
2 large zucchini (about 1 3/4 pounds), coarsely grated
12 ounces lasagna noodles (not no-boil), broken into bite-size pieces (I used bow-ties instead)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups cherry tomatoes (1 cup whole, 1 cup halved)
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1 small bunch chives, cut into 1-inch pieces

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, toss the zucchini with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a colander set over a large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes, then gently squeeze out the excess moisture.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and stir vigorously to prevent it from sticking. Cook until al dente, about 12 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.

Meanwhile, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and cook until blistered and slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the zucchini and lemon zest and cook, lightly crushing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, until the zucchini is crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the zucchini-tomato mixture to a large bowl. Add the pasta and cheese and toss. Stir in half of the chives and about 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water, adding more to loosen, if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and top with more cheese and the remaining chives.

Zucchini anyone?

Came back from vacation last week to find these beauties in the garden (the zucchini - not the kids).  Too big to just slice and cook since the seeds will be big and bitter, so my my goal for this morning is to get them deseeded, shredded and drained.  Zucchini bread anyone?  Zucchini pancakes?  Any other suggestions?

Triple Bean Salad

Summertime is here!  One of my favorite times of the year, where I am looking for new grilling recipes as well as cold side salads to complement them.

I am working on rotating through my storage closet (the former owner's used it as a tanning bed room) and had several cans of beans that I wanted to use up.  I found this recipe on the My Recipes website.  It was a snap to put together and best of all it did not involve heating up the kitchen at all.  I used a red onion instead of the green and I threw some feta cheese on the top.  The kids liked it although they traded one's chickpeas for the other's black beans.  I threw some grilled steak on the tops and had it for lunches during the week.

Triple Bean Salad
Cooking Light

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 (15.5-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 (15.5-ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

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1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together vinegar, oil, pepper, juice, and salt; pour over bean mixture, stirring to coat. Cover and chill.

Happy 3rd Birthday Christopher!

Happy Birthday Christopher!  You're getting way too big too fast as well.  Three years old already!!

This year Christopher wanted Mater on his cake.  I thought that he would be easier to do than Belle was, but it was pretty humid yesterday.  He was starting to melt before I could get him situated on the cake.  I also didn't measure very well and he was headed for the edge.  Doesn't matter though ... all that matters was the "WOW, look at my Mater cake!  Thank you mommy, you're THE BEST."  He was a little upset that I got a '3' candle rather than put individual candles on his cake.  He wanted 'more fire' on the top!