The Terrible 3's have hit ... and we are still 2

Look at this face:

It is the face of defiance.

Seriously.

The last month in our house has been absolutely horrible.  I was getting too comfortable with the 2's.  He really wasn't bad about getting into stuff, listened when you told him to do something and I got him potty trained over our Christmas break with no problems.  Then February hits:

"You can't tell me what to do!"

"You not my boss."

"I don't like that."

"Don't talk to me."

The thing is, he is perfect at daycare.  Listens to his teacher (I make GOOD choices mommy) and does what he is supposed to do.  There was an incident this week where another little girl scratched and hit him and he did nothing.  If Madeleine did that to him, she would have been tackled to the ground before she knew what hit her.

Ay.  I know we have to be consistent with him and just ride this out.  He's been sent to bed early every night for at least the last week and he just couldn't care less.  He just gives me a hug and kiss every night and tells me, "I make good choices tomorrow mommy.  I sorry."  Melt my heart.

He knows just what buttons to push.  I'm in trouble.

100 Day Wellness Challenge: Halfway Point

Fifty days down, fifty to go.  Well, it is actually 56 days down but we went up to the Dells for four days so I lost count.

Total % of weight lost: 3.26%
Total hours of exercise: 35 hours, 30 minutes

Not really thrilled about the low weight loss (but a pound gone is a pound gone) but I am quite happy I've managed to keep up with the exercise.  Our team is #9 out of 309 teams for weight loss, so overall we are doing well.  My goal is to do as well - if not better - than the first 50 days.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can ...

Dinner Disaster

Every so often I have a night where everything just bombs.  Tonight was one of those nights.  On the menu was Grilled Flank Steak with Garlic-Shallot-Rosemary Marinade from Cook's Illustrated magazine paired with Easy Parmesan "Risotto" from the Barefoot Contessa.  Sounded good.

I scored and marinated the flank steak first thing this morning so it would have time to absorb the flavor.  Recipe called for 6 cloves of garlic - couldn't taste a thing.

The risotto was a good idea, in theory.  Typically risotto involves standing at the stove and stirring and stirring and stirring.  This one was easy - stick the rice in heated homemade chicken stock and bake for 45 minutes.  Add Parmesan cheese, a little more stock, butter and a cup of peas.  Good thing I decided to check on it at 30 minutes.  The rice was done, all the stock absorbed but it was gloppy.  Perhaps the word 'easy' in the title should have been a clue.

Even David's attempt at cooking today bombed.  He and Madeleine made brownies and doctored them up with a caramel filling, topped with pecans.  Too bad that when he cut into them after supper he found that they weren't cooked in the middle.

Now I need a meal plan for the rest of the week!

Happy Friday!

A couple of shots of our backyard this morning.  Doesn't all that snow look pretty?



Easy Taco Chili

The title says it all - it really doesn't get any easier than this. 

Winter seems to have finally arrived in Iowa.  It is somewhere under 20 degrees and very windy.  We, of course, chose to go out this afternoon to sell Girl Scout cookies in the neighborhood.  We hit 5 houses, pulling our little red wagon loaded with cookies, and then came home to warm up in front of the fireplace.  Soup or stew really sounds really good for supper and this one is a snap to put together.

This one is another slow cooker recipe that comes from my new favorite cookbook.  The original recipe only called for one can of beans but we like beans in our chili (and we don't claim to be Texans) so I often put 2 or 3 cans in.  The kids like the chili best when we have it over baked potatoes, topped with grated cheese, chopped green onions and a smidgen of sour cream.

                     
Easy Taco Chili
Slow Cooker Revolution

2 cups onions -- chopped
1 package taco seasoning mix
2  tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons canola oil
6 whole garlic cloves -- minced
15 ounces canned black beans
16  ounces canned kidney beans
15 ounces tomato sauce
14 1/2 ounces diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1  slice white bread
2 tablespoons 2% milk
1 pound ground beef, 93%
1 1/2 cups frozen corn

Microwave onions, taco seasoning, tomato paste, oil and garlic in bowl, stirring occasionally until onions are softened, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes (with juice) and sugar into slow cooker.

Mash bread and milk into a paste with a fork.  Mix in ground beef and 1/4 teasponn black pepper using hands.  Stir beef mixture into sow cooker, breaking up any large pieces.  Cover and cook until beef is tender, 6-8 hours on low.

Let chili settle for 5 minutes and then skim the fat off the top with a large spoon.  Stir in corn and let it set until heated through, about 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.

BBQ Chicken Tenders

I've been leaning towards making quite a bit of spicy food lately so I thought I'd dig up something that was more appropriate for 2 and 5 year old palates.  The kids always like to order chicken tenders when we go out (OK, they order them but then they eat what is on our plates) so I figured that would be a good start.

Growing up we had what my mom referred to as Italian Shake and Bake - dunk chicken breasts in a beaten egg, coat in good ole Progresso Italian bread crumbs and bake.  I've made it several times for supper ( a go to quick meal) but I was looking for something a little different. 

I found this recipe for BBQ Chicken Tenders off the Eating Well website (meaning it fits in with the 100 day challenge) and had everything already to make them.  Personally, I hate cooking chicken tenders at home.  They have that *thing* that runs through them that is tough.   I just pulled boneless skinless chicken breasts out of the freezer and sliced them up the long way.  I will say, I am not sure what the point is in dredging them in flour before dipping them in egg.  I did half with flour and half without and didn't notice a difference other than the ones without we a lot less messy to make.  Marinating them in the sauce gave them a nice BBQ flavor, even without the excess sauce.

BBQ Chicken Tenders
Eating Well Magazine

1 cup barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups coarse dry breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat
Olive oil or canola oil cooking spray

Combine barbecue sauce, mustard and honey in a large bowl. Set aside 1/2 cup of the sauce in a small bowl. Cut any large chicken tenders in half lengthwise, then add all the tenders to the large bowl with the remaining sauce; stir to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour (mine marinated for 3).  Preheat oven to 450°F. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Combine flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Lightly beat eggs in another shallow dish. Place breadcrumbs in a third shallow dish. Coat each tender in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip in egg and let any excess drip off. Then roll in the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess. Place the tenders on the prepared baking sheet. Generously coat both sides of each tender with cooking spray.

Bake for 10 minutes. Turn each tender over and continue baking until the outside is crisp and the tenders are cooked through, about 10 minutes more. Serve with the reserved sauce for dipping.

Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard Dressing

Somewhere along the way I've lost my desire to cook but am working on trying to get back into the swing of things.  Two weeks into the challenge and I am only down a pound (although I HAVE been getting on the treadmill 5 days a week).  I need to start planning meals.

I dug around in the freezer on Thursday night and pulled out a bunch of meat to turn into  ... something.  Kids were asking for meatloaf which was fine, but I was hoping for something a little different than mashed potatoes or oven fried, which have been the standard around here lately.

After looking around a bit I settled on a warm potato salad.  It complemented the Diner Meatloaf Muffins well, with just a touch of sweetness from both the honey and the carmelized onions.  Bonus, I finally got to use the bottle of sherry vinegar that I bought at Williams-Sonoma.  David thought it needed more bacon, but then again he thinks everything could use extra bacon.

Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard Dressing

Cooking Light

3 pounds small red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 bacon slices (uncooked), chopped

2 cups diced Vidalia or other sweet onion (about 2 medium)

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons reduced-fat mayonnaise

1 1/2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss to coat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan. Bake at 400° for 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring once. Transfer potatoes to a large bowl.

Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings in pan; set bacon aside. Add onion to drippings in pan; cook 15 minutes or until golden brown and caramelized, stirring frequently. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds. Add onion mixture and bacon to potatoes; toss gently. Let stand 15 minutes.

Combine mustard, mayonnaise, honey, and vinegar in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Add mustard mixture and parsley to potato mixture; toss gently.  Makes 8 servings

Live Healthy America Challenge

The beginning of the new year always brings out the resolutions to eat healthy, lose weight and exercise more.  I am no exception. 

Every year, in order to receive a $25 credit per month for our health insurance, we need to jump through a few hoops complete a couple of activities.  In addition to 'knowing our numbers' it usually involves some sort of challenge that extends over a couple of month time frame.

This year, my company teamed up with Live Healthy America for a 100 Day Challenge.  Now while I don't know that this will count towards one of our activities, I figured I'd find a team and joined.  I man, after all, it is only 100 days.  I can do it for 100 days ...can't I?

So with visions of a free t-shirt and free magazine subscription dancing in my head, I nosed around to see if there were any teams forming in my area.  I am on a team of nine and so far we are doing pretty well.  Day 10 of the challenge and we are in 3rd place for the weight loss portion, with 2.29% of our body weight gone.  Not too shabby.  As for the activity portion, well, there must be some people who spend every waking moment out of work exercising, since there are teams with over 200 activity hours for the last 10 days.

Let's see what the next 90 days bring!

Sloppy Joes

Perhaps one of the best purchases, or worst depending upon how you look at it, was a freezer for the garage.  When we moved into our house we had a pathetic looking, very skinny, side by side refrigerator.  The freezer side was so skinny, David had a hard time getting his beloved frozen pizzas to fit in there (single serving ones too).  When we remodeled the kitchen, we went with a French door model with the freezer on the bottom.  A step up but honestly, as someone who relies heavily on being able to pull meals out of the freezer for the weekdays, it still wasn't enough.

Enter the Freezerator.  David had been coveting this thing from afar for years.  It is actually listed as a garage appliance as it is made specifically for the garage.  The top compartment can be either a refrigerator or a freezer and it boasts a heater so if you do use it as a refrigerator, the contents won't freeze during the Iowa winters.  He finally went ahead and made the purchase when he heard that they were being discontinued.  Best.  Purchase.  Ever.

I went through a spell this Fall where I really wasn't cooking anything.  I was in a cooking funk.  I'd go to the store, buy meat, end up not cooking in and into the freezer it would go.  It got pretty bad around Christmas when I had to convert the top part of said freezer from a refrigerator, because I didn't have room to store my Christmas cookies.  Part of my quest since the beginning of the year has been to cook exclusively from the freezer.  All I've been buying from the grocery store is fresh fruit and vegetables and milk.  It's actually been nice to have $40ish grocery bills for a family of 4!

I pulled a 3 pound package of ground beef out of the freezer on Friday.  Honestly, I have no idea why I purchased a 3 pound package in the first place, but I do know that part of it will be used for a batch of Sloppy Joes.  This is another recipe that come from the cookbook that helped my love my Slow Cooker, The Slow Cooker Revolution.

We really enjoyed this recipe.  Making a panade out of the milk and bread really helps to keep the ground beef soft, especially since I lean towards leaner ground beef that what the recipe calls for.  While there is some prep work involved, I love the fact that I can toss this in the crockpot for 6 - 8 hours and not be tied to the kitchen.  Chop, brown, dump and then be free to referee the arguments all day.  Or maybe catch up on my reading since I upped my Goodreads challenge this year.
                     
Sloppy Joes
Yield:  12 1/2-cup servings

2  slices white bread
1/4 cup whole milk
2 pounds ground beef, 93%
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 small onions -- minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 whole garlic cloves -- minced
15 ounces tomato sauce
1 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Mash bread and milk into a paste in large bowl using a fork.  Mix in ground beef, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper using hands.

Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium high heat until shimmering.  Add onions, garlic and chili powder and cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes.

Stir in beef mixture, 1 pound at a time and cook, breaking up any large pieces until no longer pink, about 3 minutes.  Stir in 1 cup tomato sauce, scraping up any browned bits; transfer to slow cooker.

Stir remaining tomato sauce, ketchup, sugar and hot sauce into slow cooker.  Cover and cook until beef is tender, 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 5 hours on high.

Let meat mixture settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from the surface using a large spoon.  Break up any remaining large pieces of beef with spoon.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Spoon mixture onto buns and serve.

French Onion Soup

I really do like the winter.  Snow falling from the sky means 'stay home' days, fires roaring in the fireplace and soup!  Here we are, January 10, and we've only had like 5 snowflakes fall to the ground.  What is that all about?  Never mind that we've had several days in the 50's lately.  It's grilling weather not soup weather!

Now before anyone start throwing anything at me, I'm not asking for a blizzard that keeps us house bound for days.  I'm just looking for a nice little snowstorm, a foot ought to do, just enough to keep us stuck at the house for a day.

One of my favorite soups to get when we go out to eat is French Onion Soup.  I've tried a few different recipes before I settled on this on as my favorite.  I've been making this recipe for at least 10 years now and I'm not entirely sure where it came from.  It is very easy to throw together and it just involves stirring it periodically so the onions don't burn.  I did learn that you can't make a double batch of this recipe as the onions with literally take all day to caramelize.  I use my cast iron Dutch oven to make this and it doesn't take nearly as long to get the onions caramelized.
                    
French Onion Soup

3 pounds yellow onions
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1  pinch  sugar
8 cups water, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 sprig fresh thyme
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 whole baguette
8 ounces Gruyère or Swiss cheese, grated

Cut each onion into 1/8 inch slices (I make mine a little thicker so the onions don't all dissolve).   Melt butter in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Once it has stopped foaming add the onions, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and sugar. Toss to evenly coat. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Remove cover, and cook stirring frequently until the onions begin to brown lightly, about 90 minutes longer. Stir every 5 minutes and add a couple tablespoons of water whenever the bottom of the pan crusts over with dark colored fond. Continue to cook as directed until the onions are an even dark walnut color, an additional 45 minutes longer.

Add the flour and stir for two minutes. Add 8 cups water and thyme to the onions and bring to a boil. Lower heat to maintain a lively simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Add white wine and simmer 10 minutes longer. Taste for seasoning adding salt as needed. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 325 degrees and adjust a rack to the upper middle position. Cut the baguette into 3/4 inch slices and arrange on a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake until the bread is dry, crisp and very lightly colored at the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove bread slices and set aside.

Heat broiler and place 6 heatproof bowls in a baking sheet. Fill each bowl with about 2 cups soup. Top each with two baguette slices and evenly distribute grated cheese over the bread. Broil until well browned and bubbly, about ten minutes. Cool for five minutes before serving.

Saugus Santa Ban

Kind of surprised to see my hometown made it to the O'Reilly Factor.  I never thought I'd find myself on the same side of an issue as Bill O'Reilly!  

Saugus Santa Ban

Cocoa Spice Crackles

I have been a cookie baking maniac the last couple of weekends, getting ready for Christmas.  The last few years I've made up gift baskets for the daycare teachers and now we've added a kindergarten teacher, kindergarten aide and a bus driver to the list.  Madeleine really likes her bus driver ... which is a good thing since the kindergarten kids are required to sit in the front seats and she is first on and last off.  Oh to be a part time worker, but I digress.

These are probably my favorite cookies.  Not too sweet and they are a combination of chocolate and warm spices.  I always make sure to bake a double batch of these so I can have a small stash in the freezer. 

Cocoa Spice Crackles
Land O Lakes
 
1 cup  sugar
3/4 cup  butter -- softened
1/4 cup  firmly packed brown sugar
2 whole  eggs
1 3/4 cups  all-purpose flour
1/3 cup  unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons  crystallized ginger -- finely chopped  (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
1 teaspoon  baking powder
1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon  ground cloves
1 cup  mini-chocolate chips
Coarse grain sugar or sugar

Combine 1 cup sugar, butter and brown sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add eggs; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add all remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and coarse grain sugar. Beat until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Refrigerate until firm (4 hours or overnight).

Heat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls with lightly floured hands. Roll in coarse grain sugar. Place 1 inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until set. Makes 4 dozen.

All-Purpose Gravy

It is no secret that I like to cook.  Even when I was little I loved to help my grandmothers cook.  My Italian grandmother wasn't fond of baking but she loved to cook meals.  Lasagna, Eggplant Parmesan, Manicotti, etc., I watched her make it all.  My Polish grandmother was more of a baker and I remember around the holidays the heat would always be cranked up and the rooms closed off as she had tubs of dough for bread rising everywhere.

Although I don't cook nearly as much as they did, I do cook supper several nights a week and most everything is from scratch.  There are some days, however, where I just take shortcuts.  Friday night I had marinated some chicken breasts in Italian dressing and threw them in the oven.  On my way home I stopped and grabbed a box of Uncle Ben's Broccoli and Cheese Rice to go with it.  Served up supper and they started eating and then stopped and looked at the rice and looked at me.  Comments ranged from it being bland (really, with a ton of sodium in it?) to it tasting funny.  Great, I think I spoiled them.

So when I pulled the beef sirloin roast out of the freezer I figured I'd better not push my luck and decided to make gravy from scratch.  This really is an easy and versatile recipe.  I use a can of each if I am making this for beef or pork but if it is for a roast chicken, I use 2 cans of chicken broth.

All Purpose Gravy
Cook's Illustrated

1 small carrot , peeled and chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces
1 small rib celery , chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces
1 small onion , chopped into rough 1/2-inch pieces
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
5 whole black peppercorns
   
In food processor, pulse carrot until broken into rough 1/4-inch pieces, about five 1-second pulses. Add celery and onion; pulse until all vegetables are broken into 1/8-inch pieces, about five 1-second pulses.  If you chop them too small you won't be able to strain them all out and then people will complain there are things floating in their gravy.  :)

Heat butter in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat; when foaming subsides, add vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and well browned, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, until thoroughly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually add broths; bring to boil, skimming off any foam that forms on surface. Reduce heat to medium-low and add bay leaf, thyme, and peppercorns; simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to 3 cups, 20 to 25 minutes.

Strain gravy through fine-mesh strainer into clean saucepan, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Serve hot.

Festive Cherry Drops

I've been without my Kitchen Aid stand mixer all week.  I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to put the paddle (which is not coated) into the dishwasher.  I took it out of the cabinet and went to put it in the mixer and noticed that my hand had turned black.  Hmm.  I called Kitchen Aid in a panic (yep, they answered at 8 PM on a Friday night) and told me that it started to oxidize.  A little Bar Keeper's Friend and I should be back in business.  Only problem is I either keep forgetting to pick it up in the store or when I do remember, they don't carry it.

So, I've been baking double batches of cookies using a hand mixer.  At one point, Christopher wanted to *help* me and the mixer ended up on the floor and cracked.  I was able to get it back together but I swear if I hold it a certain way it shocks me.  Maybe I need to make a list and put Bar Keeper's Friend at the top of it.

I love the combination of fruit and chocolate so that may be one of the reasons why this cookie is at the top of my list.   I found it in one of those Land O Lakes supplements years ago and have been making it ever since.  I make sure to leave a tablespoon or so of the cherry juice and it tints the cookies a light pink.  They freeze well as long as the drizzle has a chance to dry before putting them in there. 

Festive Cherry Drops
Land O Lakes

Cookie
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter -- softened
1 whole egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 ounces maraschino cherries -- well drained, chopped
                       
Drizzle
2/3 cup real semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons shortening

Heat oven to 350°F. Combine sugar and butter in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; continue beating until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour and baking powder. Beat, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Add cherries; stir into dough.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire cooling rack. Cool completely.

Place chocolate chips and shortening in small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on HIGH (100% power), stirring occasionally, until melted (30 to 45 seconds). Drizzle cooled cookies with melted chocolate. Let stand until chocolate is set.

Yield:  3 1/2 dozen

Double Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

Inhale.  Exhale.  Inhale again.  Exhale.  Madeleine and I are sitting upstairs watching Frosty the Snowman and all I can smell is peanut butter and chocolate. 

I started my Christmas cookie baking tonight and decided to start with an easy drop cookie so I can feel like I accomplished something.  I have 6 dozen fresh-out-of-the-oven cookies taunting me from downstairs.  Maybe I shouldn't have started with my favorite flavor combination.

I found this recipe a few years ago on the Hershey website when I was looking for something to do with peanut butter chips.  These really are a snap to put together and they are a great cookie to freeze.  The only flaw is that fact that one batch only makes 3 dozen.  Three dozen is great when you're just making cookies for the family.  Three dozen is not so great when you are on a cookie baking spree for Christmas.

Each bag of chips has just about 2 cups in it, so I made a double batch and use a full bag of each.  I decided to try out the convection bake feature on my oven and it was great not having to rotate cookie sheets halfway through.  Each sheet took just 12 minutes to cook.  I even searched the cabinet and broke out the parchment paper so the bottoms wouldn't burn - watch out Betty Crocker!

                     
Double Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Hershey's Kitchen
    
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4  cup sugar
1/3  cup peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1  cup peanut butter chips

Heat oven to 350°F.

Beat butter, sugar and peanut butter in medium bowl until creamy. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, blending well. Stir in milk chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until light golden brown.  Makes 3 dozen cookies.