But then, I realized it's actually Thursday!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Oh Happy... Day!
I was going to title this post... "Glad it's Wednesday!"
But then, I realized it's actually Thursday!
But then, I realized it's actually Thursday!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? NO, it's Piggy Brynn!
How do the little piggies eat?
Yup, just like that!
Yup, just like that!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Recipe #3
I still haven't broken into any of my actual cookbooks, but believe me, I'm getting there...
Shepherd's Pie
1 tsp vegetable oil
1-1/2 lbs lean ground beef
2 tbsp chopped onion *
1/4 tsp salt **
1/4 tsp mixed dried herbs (parsley, thyme, sage) ***
1-1/4 cups gravy or bouillon ****
1 can (12oz) corn kernels *****
2 cups mashed potatoes
1/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1. Preheat oven to 375, use a 9x13 inch baking dish
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes or until softened. Stir in salt, herbs, gravy and corn.
3. Pour beef mixture into baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes are browned. Top with cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.
* Seriously, you must go here to find the EASIEST, SIMPLEST way to chop an onion!
** When we ate this meal tonight, it was a touch on the bland side. But then I realized that I actually printed this recipe from a book called Better Baby Food. It really is a great meal for the family, the kids all loved it, but you might want to add a little more salt - before or after, depending on who is eating it.
*** Just thought I'd share that I had the Simon & Garfunkel song going through my head every time I read this line of the recipe! And in all reality, I would probably add a little rosemary to this dish the next time I make it ~ and I do plan to make it again! Also, I didn't have any dried parsley, but I did have some fresh stuff that I forgot to put into my Fettuccine Alfredo dish, so I threw that in. Eh, I think I'll buy some of the dried stuff for next time.
**** I had no idea how to make gravy - I knew it had to be a little thick, but what I bought were bouillon packets and it had no directions on how to make it into gravy. The recipe called for 1-1/4 cups of gravy - so I put one packet into 1-1/4 cups hot water. Not thick enough. So I added another packet. Not thick enough. So I added it the way it was, and it made the dish a little watery, which wasn't terrible since the mashed potatoes soaked a lot of it up. I was informed that I should have added corn starch or flour to the mix to thicken it up - or buy a gravy packet that probably tells you exactly how to make gravy.
***** My hubby hates canned corn, so I used frozen white corn. I didn't measure it *gasp*, I just threw enough in to sprinkle the dish with corn (I don't like so much corn that it overwhelms a dish).
Shepherd's Pie
1 tsp vegetable oil
1-1/2 lbs lean ground beef
2 tbsp chopped onion *
1/4 tsp salt **
1/4 tsp mixed dried herbs (parsley, thyme, sage) ***
1-1/4 cups gravy or bouillon ****
1 can (12oz) corn kernels *****
2 cups mashed potatoes
1/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1. Preheat oven to 375, use a 9x13 inch baking dish
2. In a large skillet, heat oil over med-high heat. Add beef and cook until browned. Add onion and cook for 3 minutes or until softened. Stir in salt, herbs, gravy and corn.
3. Pour beef mixture into baking dish and cover with mashed potatoes. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes are browned. Top with cheese and bake for another 5 minutes.
* Seriously, you must go here to find the EASIEST, SIMPLEST way to chop an onion!
** When we ate this meal tonight, it was a touch on the bland side. But then I realized that I actually printed this recipe from a book called Better Baby Food. It really is a great meal for the family, the kids all loved it, but you might want to add a little more salt - before or after, depending on who is eating it.
*** Just thought I'd share that I had the Simon & Garfunkel song going through my head every time I read this line of the recipe! And in all reality, I would probably add a little rosemary to this dish the next time I make it ~ and I do plan to make it again! Also, I didn't have any dried parsley, but I did have some fresh stuff that I forgot to put into my Fettuccine Alfredo dish, so I threw that in. Eh, I think I'll buy some of the dried stuff for next time.
**** I had no idea how to make gravy - I knew it had to be a little thick, but what I bought were bouillon packets and it had no directions on how to make it into gravy. The recipe called for 1-1/4 cups of gravy - so I put one packet into 1-1/4 cups hot water. Not thick enough. So I added another packet. Not thick enough. So I added it the way it was, and it made the dish a little watery, which wasn't terrible since the mashed potatoes soaked a lot of it up. I was informed that I should have added corn starch or flour to the mix to thicken it up - or buy a gravy packet that probably tells you exactly how to make gravy.
***** My hubby hates canned corn, so I used frozen white corn. I didn't measure it *gasp*, I just threw enough in to sprinkle the dish with corn (I don't like so much corn that it overwhelms a dish).
Monday, January 11, 2010
Recipe #2
The 2nd new recipe of the year was sent to me by my Aunt Elaine (hi!) last week, so I still haven't technically used any of my cookbooks yet, but I just couldn't let this recipe collect dust.
Before I go into it, let me just say - don't make this for only 2 people. You'll end up wasting a lot! (duh) I've got a whole pan sitting in my fridge that is going to go to waste, and it's just sad. But I do intend to make this again when my family is here in a few weeks for the girls' birthday celebration!!
French Toast Casserole
Giving credit to: Amber Fifield - don't know who she is, but her name is on the recipe - you are a smart lady, this recipe is YUMMY!
1 loaf french bread, cubed
1 8oz package of cream cheese, cubed
8 eggs
2-1/2 cups whole milk (I ended up using 2 cups skim, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream left over from the Fettuccine Alfredo I made last week - but the author of this recipe said she used 1-1/4 cups whipping cream with vanilla and 1-1/4 cups whipping cream)
3/4 cup sugar
6 Tbl melted butter
1/2 cup maple syrup (the side note says to use REAL syrup, I did)
1. Spray 13x9 dish with cooking spray. Place 1/2 of the bread in the dish. Sprinkle with cream cheese cubes. Top with remaining bread.
2. Whisk remaining ingredients (butter will clump). Pour over bread. Press in bread to soak up liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Heat oven to 350 and bake uncovered 45 minutes or until lightly browned.
My oven is finicky - usually it cooks fast, but this didn't seem done after 45 minutes. The tops were golden brown, but the insides were a little mushy - the cream cheese didn't melt all the way, but it did melt when you dished it out. Who knows - but the flavor was quite good, not as sweet as you might think - which was perfect!
Before I go into it, let me just say - don't make this for only 2 people. You'll end up wasting a lot! (duh) I've got a whole pan sitting in my fridge that is going to go to waste, and it's just sad. But I do intend to make this again when my family is here in a few weeks for the girls' birthday celebration!!
French Toast Casserole
Giving credit to: Amber Fifield - don't know who she is, but her name is on the recipe - you are a smart lady, this recipe is YUMMY!
1 loaf french bread, cubed
1 8oz package of cream cheese, cubed
8 eggs
2-1/2 cups whole milk (I ended up using 2 cups skim, 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream left over from the Fettuccine Alfredo I made last week - but the author of this recipe said she used 1-1/4 cups whipping cream with vanilla and 1-1/4 cups whipping cream)
3/4 cup sugar
6 Tbl melted butter
1/2 cup maple syrup (the side note says to use REAL syrup, I did)
1. Spray 13x9 dish with cooking spray. Place 1/2 of the bread in the dish. Sprinkle with cream cheese cubes. Top with remaining bread.
2. Whisk remaining ingredients (butter will clump). Pour over bread. Press in bread to soak up liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
3. Heat oven to 350 and bake uncovered 45 minutes or until lightly browned.
My oven is finicky - usually it cooks fast, but this didn't seem done after 45 minutes. The tops were golden brown, but the insides were a little mushy - the cream cheese didn't melt all the way, but it did melt when you dished it out. Who knows - but the flavor was quite good, not as sweet as you might think - which was perfect!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Recipe #1
My absolute favorite meal to have when I go out to eat is Fettuccine Alfredo. Since we rarely go out to eat anymore, I never eat it! (Ok, probably not a horrible thing since the dish isn't exactly low in fat...) So, it would seem fitting that I add this dish to our meal plans.
So here it is, my first new recipe of the year!
Fettuccine Alfredo
8oz uncooked fettuccine
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used shredded, not sure what the difference would be)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Dash of pepper
Chopped fresh parsley (I just realized as I am typing this I forgot to use the parsley I bought for this meal... crap!)
1. Cook fettuccine as directed on package.
2. While fettuccine is cooking, heat margarine/butter and whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until margarine is melted. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper.
3. Drain fettuccine. Pour sauce over fettuccine; stir until fettuccine is well coated. Sprinkle with parsley.
So easy! Why didn't I make this 10 years ago when I printed it out!?!?! The date on the print out was 10/4/99 from the bettycrocker.com website ~ and as many times I have moved over the past 10 years it has traveled with me in my pile-o-print-outs just begging to be made! (just affirmation of why I set the resolution that I did, I suppose) It was quite scrumptious - I threw in some cooked chicken & broccoli at the end ~ yummy, yummy!
So here it is, my first new recipe of the year!
Fettuccine Alfredo
8oz uncooked fettuccine
1/2 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used shredded, not sure what the difference would be)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Dash of pepper
Chopped fresh parsley (I just realized as I am typing this I forgot to use the parsley I bought for this meal... crap!)
1. Cook fettuccine as directed on package.
2. While fettuccine is cooking, heat margarine/butter and whipping cream in 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until margarine is melted. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper.
3. Drain fettuccine. Pour sauce over fettuccine; stir until fettuccine is well coated. Sprinkle with parsley.
So easy! Why didn't I make this 10 years ago when I printed it out!?!?! The date on the print out was 10/4/99 from the bettycrocker.com website ~ and as many times I have moved over the past 10 years it has traveled with me in my pile-o-print-outs just begging to be made! (just affirmation of why I set the resolution that I did, I suppose) It was quite scrumptious - I threw in some cooked chicken & broccoli at the end ~ yummy, yummy!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
breakthrough of the New Year!
Granted... they were the mushy-cooked-out-of-a-can variety... but I think we are making progress!
Monday, January 4, 2010
one step at a time...
Well, I was off by a few days with my guess that Avery would be taking steps by Christmas... She waited until a couple days later - Brynn took her first steps on New Years day!
The kicker... they seem more than happy not to take any more!
Avery has been very timid once she is standing up on her own, she puts more effort into NOT taking steps than she would if she just started moving her little feet!
Brynn, on the other hand, is ready to go! As soon as she figured out she could let go and stand on her own, she has been trying to take steps. She is a no-holds-bar kind of a girl. She likes to lunge herself 2 feet away to another object, and she is laughing the entire way down to the floor as she falls!
I really shouldn't get in any big hurry to have these girls walking... they keep me on my toes enough just crawling around. !
The kicker... they seem more than happy not to take any more!
Avery has been very timid once she is standing up on her own, she puts more effort into NOT taking steps than she would if she just started moving her little feet!
Brynn, on the other hand, is ready to go! As soon as she figured out she could let go and stand on her own, she has been trying to take steps. She is a no-holds-bar kind of a girl. She likes to lunge herself 2 feet away to another object, and she is laughing the entire way down to the floor as she falls!
I really shouldn't get in any big hurry to have these girls walking... they keep me on my toes enough just crawling around. !
Friday, January 1, 2010
Reflection and Resolutions
Hard to believe another year has gone by.
Tomorrow my baby girls will be 11 months old.
This month I will turn 30.
In April my son will turn 4, and my husband and I will celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary!
This holiday season has been very reflective and sentimental for me. When I look back at the last year and reflect on all the changes my family has experienced and lived through ~ it's just amazing! And looking ahead at what this new year holds is equally amazing and exciting for me.
---------------------------------------------------
And on to my resolution.
I don't normally do "resolutions" ~ a resolution just asks to be broken, if you ask me! But I think this one is manageable.
If you remember back in November, I wrote a post about what my one resolution was going to be.
I am already falling behind on it, because I had planned to have all my recipes picked out for the year... but all the farther I got was pulling out the cookbooks and (sort of) sorting them, and counting them.
I had 33 cookbooks, one pile of printed out, or copied pages & one pile of note cards that have been cut out of magazines or were in some kind of mailing.
I had a hard time sorting the random pages that were all over the place, and when I flipped through the papers I found quite a few I wanted to try.
My official goal is going to be 35 new recipes. I may pick out more, but at least 35. That's totally achievable considering I tried 36 recipes in about 8 months...
Part of me thinks this is a bit lame, but really what I want to achieve from this is to force myself to use these great cookbooks that I already have!
Ok, enough of my blabbering since I've probably lost most of you by now anyway... I think if the recipe is good enough, maybe I'll just post it on here!
And if you have made it this far down this run-on-sentence-of-a-post... here is one of my favorite Christmas pics of the girls...
Thanks to all of you who have read along about my family this past year, and shared my ups and downs and all-arounds!
Tomorrow my baby girls will be 11 months old.
This month I will turn 30.
In April my son will turn 4, and my husband and I will celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary!
This holiday season has been very reflective and sentimental for me. When I look back at the last year and reflect on all the changes my family has experienced and lived through ~ it's just amazing! And looking ahead at what this new year holds is equally amazing and exciting for me.
---------------------------------------------------
And on to my resolution.
I don't normally do "resolutions" ~ a resolution just asks to be broken, if you ask me! But I think this one is manageable.
If you remember back in November, I wrote a post about what my one resolution was going to be.
I am already falling behind on it, because I had planned to have all my recipes picked out for the year... but all the farther I got was pulling out the cookbooks and (sort of) sorting them, and counting them.
I had 33 cookbooks, one pile of printed out, or copied pages & one pile of note cards that have been cut out of magazines or were in some kind of mailing.
I had a hard time sorting the random pages that were all over the place, and when I flipped through the papers I found quite a few I wanted to try.
My official goal is going to be 35 new recipes. I may pick out more, but at least 35. That's totally achievable considering I tried 36 recipes in about 8 months...
Part of me thinks this is a bit lame, but really what I want to achieve from this is to force myself to use these great cookbooks that I already have!
Ok, enough of my blabbering since I've probably lost most of you by now anyway... I think if the recipe is good enough, maybe I'll just post it on here!
And if you have made it this far down this run-on-sentence-of-a-post... here is one of my favorite Christmas pics of the girls...
Thanks to all of you who have read along about my family this past year, and shared my ups and downs and all-arounds!
Have a blessed New Year!
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