Hello Spring

It's been a freakish winter around here. Just when we though it was over, we got another snow. The fact that I said *another* snow is what is so freakish. I think we got 4 snows this winter. Crazy stuff!

Don't get me wrong, I love winter, and snow. I love the smell of snow. But I'm ready for some color. To get my fingers dirty in the soil. To sit on the patio next to the fireplace and watch the kids play. Bergen loves his sandbox and it's all fresh and ready to go. We are getting a new swing set assembled on Thursday. Yahoo - I will no longer need to get an injury release when other kids come over to play. Ours is rotting. In hindsight, I'm thinking the fancy, expensive swing set might have been the better choice 5 years ago, instead of 2 cheap swing sets that only last 5 years. Oh well. Just felt like highway robbery when we visited the fancy swing set store back then and they wanted 4 figures for their cheapest set. Yikes!

Last night was pretty much perfect. If only my yard had color (besides the weeds that are hopefully dying) and there had been some flowers...but it's still early right?

I grilled some chicken, made some white rice and a can of green beans, and my family ate it like there was no tomorrow. I also made a lovely tomato, cucumber and feta salad that I'll share with you. It was a nice break from my go-to craisin, spiced pecan, blue cheese salad. TV Joe asked how I marinated this delicious chicken? Um, salt and pepper. It's called lazy mom dinner. Momma-didn't-feel-like-making-a-big-dinner-so-here-you-go.

But when eaten outside, next to a fire, with very little wind and 2 stinky boys, it was divine. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want to miss a moment of this time by running in to get the camera. We followed dinner with some s'mores. Nice. I look forward to more outside dinners. We squeeze them in before the fires of hell (also known as July) hit our land.

Tomato, Cucumber and Feta Salad
created by me

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cucumber - pealed, seeded and chopped (chopped to your preference - diced, sliced, whatever you like)
2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
3 or 4 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt, Pepper and Herbes de Provence, to taste (or fresh basil, which I didn't have)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese (or more...just sayin')
(also can add red onion or shallots, but I wasn't feeling it last night)
(and kalamata olives, which I didn't have, but will make sure to have next time because that would have been really good)

Mix the tomatoes, cucumbers, vinegar and olive oil. Add seasonings, to taste. Mix and cover. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add feta. Enjoy nature.

Cheese makes everything better

It's been a long week here at our house.

Won't bore you with the details.

Bergen, though, has slept all night for 2 nights in a row. For those not keeping up, he's 3 and gets up every night around 3:00 am and tries to get in our bed. I thought we were done with the middle of the night calls. I've tried bribing him with stars - 10 stars means a trip to the dollar store. That worked for 10 star's worth, then we were back to getting up. For some reason though, he's slept 2 nights in a row. I should be rejoicing - and I am.

But Tuesday night/Wednesday AM I woke up at 2am convinced the Smoke Monster from LOST was at my window. Turns out it was the trees scratching the window from the wind. Nonetheless, I laid there for the better part of an hour freaking out, checking my email, Facebook, etc until I fell asleep again. With my glasses on. And a phone beside me.

"Hello, 9-1-1? Yeah the Smoke Monster from LOST is outside my window. Could you please send someone to check it out? Tell them to bring a sword and to pierce it in the heart. He must act quickly...don't give Smokey a chance to speak or it's all over and you'll lose the cop to the dark side."

It's kinda scary, yes? Especially when you hear it - tikatikatikatkatikatka- *shudder*

So I found myself a little stressed yesterday. I took my B12-under-the-tongue treatment, which seems to help in most cases. But I had a grumpy 8 year old, and potentially bad thunderstorm brewing and I didn't really eat a good lunch. Or any lunch, for the record. I told the boys I would make spaghetti. To which P-Diddy said, in his *most* whiniest voice

"But I haaaate spagheeeeeeti. I want piiiiiizza! Pleeeeeeeeease!"

So I said "how about mac and cheese?" and he begged for pizza, and I said no, and this went on for about 15 minutes. And I made the mac and cheese. I've been trying to find a recipe to make homemade, instead of from a powder. Even the "organic" powders, while taste good, aren't the real thing. I have tried 3 times and failed each time. I was a little nervous because it's all I had to offer, and it was 6:45pm and there was a storm brewing.

I thought this turned out nicely. It's from the Pioneer Woman. I didn't bake it, no time for that. And I wanted it creamy. I'm still wanting to find one that's a bit creamier, without the use of processed cheese. This was still grainy. But it was good. Biggie B and I loved it. P-Did ate only enough to earn him a mini ice cream sandwich.

And I'll also mention that when I put the mac and cheese in front of him, he said - and I'm not lying here - "I thought we were having spaghetti?" Heavens to betsies - this child!!!

Next time I'll add some broccoli - I think that would be so good. It took the stress away. For a little bit, anyway. And Smokey didn't show up at the window last night. So I slept well. All is good! And mac and cheese for leftovers? Yay!!!


Macaroni and Cheese
Recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman (it's her recipe, and her photo)

Ingredients

• 4 cups Dried Macaroni
• ¼ cups (1/2 Stick Or 4 Tablespoons) Butter
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2-½ cups Whole Milk
• 2 teaspoons (heaping) Dry Mustard, More If Desired
• 1 whole Egg Beaten
• 1 pound Cheese, Grated
• ½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
• ½ teaspoons Seasoned Salt, More To Taste
• ½ teaspoons Ground Black Pepper
• Optional Spices: Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Thyme

Preparation Instructions

Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain. (since I wasn't baking it, I cooked it al dente)

In a small bowl, beat egg.

In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Whisk together over medium-low heat. Cook mixture for five minutes, whisking constantly. Don’t let it burn.

Pour in milk, add mustard, and whisk until smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick. Reduce heat to low.

Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour it into beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid cooking eggs. Whisk together till smooth.

Pour egg mixture into sauce, whisking constantly. Stir until smooth.

Add in cheese and stir to melt.

Add salts and pepper. Taste sauce and add more salt and seasoned salt as needed! DO NOT UNDERSALT.

Pour in drained, cooked macaroni and stir to combine.
Serve immediately (very creamy) or pour into a buttered baking dish, top with extra cheese, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until bubbly and golden on top.

Can you sue your family?

Well Spring Break came and went with very little excitement. No big trips, unless you count the trip we made to the dollar theater to see a kid's movie. My boys went to Nana and Grandaddy's for a few nights, which was nice. I wish I could tell you that I did fabulous things with my free time, but the toilets needed to be scrubbed. I spent the whole day cleaning and doing laundry. But it was nice because I watched chick flicks the whole time.

After a week of drop dead gorgeous weather, a nasty cold front blew through and brought an inch and a half of snow Saturday night. I am so ready for spring, but it was nice to sit and watch the snow for the night. And I love the smell of snow.

We are back to a schedule this week. I'm sad spring break is gone. We stayed up late and slept in - so nice! Only 11 weeks left until school is out!

My kid's sweet cousin Aspen is in town this week staying with my in-laws. Sweetest child ever. So mature and polite. She and Preston fight like, well...family. They were playing yesterday on the neighbor's tree swing. Preston was pushing Aspen, and she was not liking how high he was pushing her. She yelled "IF YOU HURT ME, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO PAY MY FAMILY A LOT OF MONEY!!!" Preston responded - "I *AM* YOUR FAMILY!!!" Hilarious!

I wish I could tell you we had something fabulous for dinner last night, but it was just me and the boys, so we had tacos. I love tacos. Actually, I have taco salad and the boys have "flat tacos". I love this salad so much. It's not fancy, but it's healthy and quick.

TACO SALAD
recipe by...me!

1lb 96% ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 head iceburg lettuce (disclaimer - I know this has very little nutritional value, but you need crisp lettuce for this. Can use romaine as well, but it's just not as good)
1 can black beans
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
salsa

Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning and follow directions on seasoning package.
Clean the lettuce and dice it up. Add desired amount of cheddar cheese. Top with about a 1/2 cup of taco meat and 1/2 cup of black beans. Top with a little sour cream and salsa.

There you go - it's no Martha or Pioneer Woman, but it's a favorite of mine! Have a wonderful day!

Skirt steak ain't just for fajitas

I'm going to do my best writing this. At the moment, my husband and kids are upstairs playing Band Hero or something and it's blaring Nickelback. Uggggh. Can'tStandNICKELBACK!!!! I hope this is coherent with my left eye twitching...

It's spring break here. Today we went to the dollar theater to see Planet 51. It was $.75 ticket day. We got 3 tickets for $2.25. Once inside, we got our snacks. One small cherry icee, one small sprite, one bottle of water and two boxes of whoppers. Grand total? $17.25. Next time we'll be smuggling our snacks.

So, I slacked off last week and didn't try a new recipe. I say slacked off, but if you saw my previous post, it wasn't as if I was on vacation. It was quite the beating.

Tonight is a new night though, and a new recipe. I get a daily push text message through my iPhone from Everyday Food from Martha Stewart. You can get it from the app store or by clicking here. Every day at around 2:00 I get a little text from Martha with an easy recipe. Today I tried Balsamic Skirt Steak with Polenta and Roasted Tomatoes. It was excellent.

Balsamic Skirt Steak with Polenta and Roasted Tomatoes

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 pints grape tomatoes
• 6 scallions, white and green parts separated and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
• 1 1/2 pounds skirt steak (cut into 2 or more pieces, if necessary, to fit in skillet)
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, set 4 cups water to boil. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes with scallion whites and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes are tender and some skins have split, 12 to 15 minutes; toss with scallion greens.
2. Meanwhile, add 1 teaspoon salt to boiling water; gradually whisk in cornmeal. Simmer very gently over low heat, whisking occasionally, until polenta is thickened and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Whisk in butter and Parmesan, and keep warm over very low heat (whisk in some water just before serving if polenta becomes too thick).
3. Heat remaining tablespoon oil in a large skillet over high. Season steak with salt and pepper; add to skillet. Cook, turning once, 6 to 8 minutes total for medium-rare. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest, 5 to 10 minutes (reserve skillet).
4. Add vinegar to skillet, and boil over high until reduced to 1/2 cup, 5 to 7 minutes; stir in any juices from resting steak. Slice steak, and serve with vinegar sauce, polenta, and tomatoes.

This is my friend Janna

This is my friend Janna. Isn't she pretty? You don't know the half of it.

Janna just totally called me out on her food blog, which you can see here. Seriously she called me out like 5 minutes ago. I must have ESPN or something because I totally knew it right when it happened.

Or she emailed me...which is probably closer to the truth.

Janna is my sister from another mister. She is married to TV Joe's BFF and the day we met was easily in the top 10 best moments of my life. Seriously. This girl is straight up awesome. I can still remember the day I met her - Derrick brought her to our house and she was all young and fresh and pretty and I thought immediately "oh I hate this girl because she's cuter than me" but that feeling left about 5 seconds when she immediately hugged me and flashed me her gorgeous smile. I was all "okay, maybe hate is too strong a word here...she's not terrible".

One minute later we were hooting it up like we had known each other our whole lives. Then I thought "okay she's totally my BFF forever and ever and Derrick had better marry her or I'm gonna whack him over the head".

Janna is the best friend a girl could ever want. And you know what's awesome about her? I could name 10 other girls who feel the same way about her. Janna has this uncanny ability to make you feel like you are the most important person on the planet (aside from Derrick and sweet muffin). And I've met all her girlfriends from childhood and college, and I betcha 5 bucks they would agree with me. She's just an extraordinary girl.

We went to dinner and a Carrie Underwood concert in the fall of 2008. As we ate sushi and drank white wine, we talked about kids and all her sweet friends becoming mommies for the first time. I told her that 2009 was her year - I just knew it. Sure enough, in December of 2009, Janna and Derrick added sweet Clara to their home and gave me my own sweet little baby girl to love and spoil. Okay, she's not my own, but you get the picture. I have 2 stinky boys and Clara lets me love on a baby girl and buy baby girl stuff.

On top of being gorgeous, talented, creative, an amazing friend, mommy and wife, Janna is a killer cook and baker. She's got more creativity in her pinky finger than Martha Stewart has in her entire body. She makes awesome cupcakes. She made Preston an Indiana Jones birthday cake. She made a dead UT Longhorn cake for that fateful Saturday when Tech beat Texas and my husband wept tears of joy. She is the girl who taught me about blogging and food p@rn and The Pioneer Woman. She's the one who *really* inspired me to set out on my "One New Recipe A Week" new year's resolution. If truth be told, Janna inspires me to do many things outside of my normal box.

I've let her down these last few weeks...and that almost makes me want to cry. Except she knows I don't really cry that much so I can get by with a few sniff...sniff...sniff...and it counts. I've let the craziness of my brood take away from my resolution to blog. And I promise to make it up to her.

So Janna, now I bring you...what we had or are having for dinner this week. Try not to be too jealous.

Sunday - we ate at the taco stand in Grapevine that serves free beer on Sunday. I had a steak taco and too much queso blanco.
Monday - Double Dave's pizza for Preston's end of season Basketball party
Tuesday - Sonic on the way to Preston's baseball practice
Wednesday - Pappadeaux's Greek Salad - we had a meeting at the church and grabbed this after
Thursday - Amy weighs in 1.7 pounds heavier at Weight Watchers - hmmmm - wonder why???
Thursday night - sandwich on the way to Preston's baseball game
Friday - Mom's night out
Saturday - Pizza with the baseball team after Preston's baseball game

So I guess I better find something new to bake or make on Saturday to not let her down.

I love you Janna - I love you more than my luggage. Thanks for being so awesome. I promise I will try harder. Just for you girl.

Drop the Anchor

Tuesday was election day in our state - as I'm sure it was around the country. But I only pay attention to what happens in Texas. HA - only kidding...kinda.

Bergen happened to stay home with me that day when he woke up and announced he "didn't feel bery well". I think this was a hoax to get some time alone without Preston. Oh well - life is short, play hard.

Back to elections -

I was going to haul Bergen up to vote and we talked about it all morning. Then I thought I would take Preston too and have a little lesson in civic duty. And I just prayed it wouldn't backfire on me.

We got Preston from the pickup line at school and Bergen immediately says "Pweston we going to boat". Preston said "what?" and Bergen followed with "we going to get on a boat".

I said "no Bergen we are going to VOTE, not boat". Oh, okay.

Two seconds later - "we going to get on a boat?"

"No"

Another 2 seconds- "we going to get on a boat?"

"No"

This happened the entire way to the voting place - about 2 minutes of "we going to get on a boat?". Which was about 487 times...but I lost count early.

We pulled into the sign-filled drive of the Lutheran church and parked the car. I had my standard "now y'all are going to be good in there, right?"

We got out of the car and Bergen started yelling "where's da boat? where's da boat?" Needless to say he was extremely disappointed. And is still asking about a boat.

Kleenex and Beef Stew

I'm home today with a little sickie 3 year old. He has a cold. No fever, just sneezing and coughing. He woke up and said "I don't feel berry good - I stay home today". Poor little toot. It's 10:30 and we've had breakfast and made playdoh pizza and cake. Wonder how many points are in playdoh? hmmm....

Last night I made a nice little beef stew. One of my FB friends asked if it was a Pioneer Woman recipe. Nope, it's a Weight Watcher recipe. Joe kindly asked me to lay off the pioneer cooking since we don't burn 5000 calories a day working a ranch. So we'll save her recipes for the weekend, I guess. Boo.

This is a nice recipe, but I will admit, I added some flour at the end to thicken it up. It was soupy. The onions were terrific, and I added mushrooms - they were awesome too. It was 9 points a serving, which is about 450 calories. The kids liked it - I just gave them noodles, beef and the cooking liquid. I also served my favorite salad - mixed greens, blue cheese, craisins, candied pecans and balsamic vinaigrette.

Winter Beef Stew
recipe from weightwatchers.com

1 spray(s) cooking spray (I used olive oil)
1 pound(s) lean sirloin beef, such as boneless beef top sirloin, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
2 tsp canola oil (I used olive oil)
1 large red onion(s), cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 medium garlic clove(s), peeled, smashed
5 tsp red wine vinegar
1 piece(s) bay leaf
1/8 oz thyme, fresh, about 3 sprigs (no thyme on hand, used fresh rosemary)
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup(s) apple juice, or sparkling apple cider
1 cup(s) canned beef broth
2 medium carrot(s), thinly sliced
2 cup(s) cooked egg noodles, kept hot
2 Tbsp parsley, fresh, minced

Coat a large nonstick heavy-bottom pot (also know as a Dutch oven) with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat for 30 seconds. Add beef; brown beef about 2 minutes per side. Remove beef from pot; set aside.

Heat oil in same pot. Add onion and garlic; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in vinegar, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Pour in apple cider or juice, and stir up any browned bits with a wooden spoon. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Add carrots and beef, cover pot and reduce heat to low; simmer for 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaf and thyme sprigs.

To serve, spoon noodles onto individual serving plates and top with stew; sprinkle with parsley. Yields about 1 cup of stew and 1/2 cup of noodles per serving.

Call off the search party....

I am going to 100% blame my lack of blogginess on the weather. It is literally sucking the life out of me. If I ever have to live in the Northwest, I'm going to need some serious happy pills.

I looked up and it's March. March, y'all. Wasn't Christmas just yesterday? My goodness. I think the fact that it's still really cold outside is messing with my inner calendar. And we're not going anywhere for Spring Break, so there's nothing to look forward to. I mean, really - wasn't it just Christmas???

I'm ready for Spring. Really ready. I love sweaters and fireplaces and winter, but I'm really ready for some flowers and sunshine.

Yesterday at lunch, Preston asked what my favorite season was. Normally I would say Fall, because Summer is so gosh awful around here that the first cold snap of Fall just refreshes the soul. It breathes life back into the lungs. I think Spring this year will do the same. Send some renewed life in from the cold, harsh Winter.

Quite honestly, I find it very unfair that we've had to suffer through such a winter, only to be moments away from hell-on-earth Texas Summers. If it's going to be this cold, we should be able to catch a break in the Summer. Yeah, that's some wishful thinking.

I've been doing quite well at my new recipe every week. I've not missed a week. Can't quite say the same for abandoning sugar and flossing daily. I gave up candy and packaged sweets for Lent and that's going really well. But I'm still baking like a fool, so it's not 100%. But at least it's not all loaded with chemicals.

I'll get around to posting my new recipes. I think I've found my second wind with blogging. I did a little blog surfing by hitting the "View Next Blog" button in Blogger. Wonder what random strangers think of my posts? Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't dwell on that? Yeah, okay.

Peace out people.