Monday, February 28, 2011

The best thing I've ever made. Really.

So, remember when I said I was going to make this?  Devil Dogs Well I did.  And it. was. amazing.

First I made this from scratch.  Way better than box.  I will never be fooled again.


Then I made this frosting "type" mixture.  I call it that because it doesn't taste like frosting, but I cannot describe it any other way.  The first two ingredients were flour and milk.  Riddle me that.


Then you put them together...which was very hard.  Mostly because the chocolate sheet cake was so moist.  (I hate that word). But again....I have no other way to describe it.


Put it together.


Up close. Cause it's so beautiful.


I made these for my father-in-law in place of a boring old birthday cake.  So, of course...


Sprinkles are in order....


That's the happiest birthday I have ever seen.  They were a hit too, everyone just basically grunted while we ate them after dinner. We ate at a hibachi grill too (where nobody EVER has any room left in their tummies from all that fried rice)...but they made room, and it was definitely worth it.  This is THE BEST thing I have ever made.  Period.  And I'm not a baker! I hate to measure! I hate worrying that my cake will stick because I AGAIN forgot to grease and flour the pan. What if I put too much sugar?!?  Do I HAVE to really level off the top of the measuring cup?? Baking is just too stressful.  

But this was simple.  Everything from scratch with sugar, real butter, eggs, everything that's NOT low calorie.  But if you're gonna splurge, this is what you splurge on.  Period.  They are kind like homemade Suzie Q's by Little Debbie.  You know...these?


Again, way better.  Probably more fattening.  But, guaranteed made with 100% real ingredients. Just a lovely, lovely, lovely dessert.

I put Mimi in a pretty green dress for the birthday dinner.  This is the best shot I could get.  She's on the move and has NO time to pose for pictures. She's gotten to where she won't even look at me when I have the camera.  Maybe I should put down the camera for a day? Nah. 

Sunday, February 27, 2011

MUH.

 No cooking today.  Nothing too inspiring to share in that department.

But, tomorrow I'm making THESE for my father-in-law's 68th birthday.  Those are worth sharing.  So, I probably will.

This morning, we went to Home Depot to get our "yard" supplies for spring.  You know, fertilizer, a rake, clippers, grass seed, etc.   Man, what an exciting life we lead!!! It's so funny how life changes.  When you are a homeowner, Home Depot is really the most fun place in the world.

Then we went to CostCo, which was pretty routine.  The saddest part was I couldn't get a hot dog from the CostCo concession stand cause it's cash or check only.  I had to give the hot dog back cause I only had a debit card!  SAD!!! Those hot dogs are good! (And probably full of preservatives I might add...but at the time, I didn't care.)

Anyway, Mia and I worked in the back yard this afternoon.  I'm telling you...this girl is NOT afraid to get dirty.  She loves to play in the rocks, dirt, mud, sand, grass, anything.  And I let her.  She entertained herself (with my supervision) for 2 hours in our backyard today while I raked leaves, pulled weeds, cut back plants and clipped monkey grass.

Well, she was playing so nicely with some bowls and spoons in the dirt. Pick up dirt, put it in the bowl...pick up more dirt, put it in the bowl...dump out the bowl...repeat, repeat, repeat.  Then we saw a baby lizard! I love those things...they are the cutest!

Then Mia found a pot of potting soil that had plenty of rain in it. It was one that I grew my herbs in last spring.  I told her it was mud.  So, she played in it for 30 minutes and kept saying "MUD" or probably more like "MUH".  Point is...she loved it. 


These pictures don't even do justice how muddy she was.  These pictures were taken right after she discovered the mud.  She had it on her face, in her mouth (yuck), on her pants, in her hair...I had to throw away her shoes cause they were just FULL of mud.






So, she played for awhile and I picked her up (kicking and screaming might I add), to go inside for a bath.  Have I mentioned she is developing that year 2 "attitude?"  Oh man, it's actually kinda funny.  I just let her throw her fits, try not to laugh hysterically at her and just tell her when she is done with her fit...we can play some more.  I think she cried for 20 minutes straight when I wouldn't let her play in my makeup bag yesterday.

Anyway, we cleaned up, had a snack, watched a little Sesame Street and while I was cleaning up the kitchen, I looked over and saw this.







She crawled in her "ottoman/make shift living room toy box" and sat in there for an hour and just played with her toys.  She climbed out, and climbed back in, climbed out, climbed back in... again, again, again.  It was pretty cute to watch, actually.

But then again, what's not cute about this girl?!?!?


I think tomorrow we might play in the mud some more.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Boring potatoes be gone.

So, I'm not the "biggest" fan of potatoes.  Unless they are in french fry form.  I'll put it this way, when the "Thanksgiving" dinner spread is on the table and it's time to dig in...I only get potatoes if I have some room on my plate after filling up with the rest of the goodies.  Which is...never.

Well, last night...against my tastebuds, I decided I needed to make mashed potatoes. Mostly because they were cheap at the store and partly because I knew it would make JC very happy to have potatoes for dinner.  It was very nice in Dallas yesterday (and the day before...and today...) and so I bought some NY Strip steaks to grill in the backyard.  So, I decided to do something with those potatoes to go with the steaks.

Let me tell you guys...here is the answer to boring potatoes.


I had this in my fridge, leftover from some concoction I was trying to make.  Boursin Cheese.  Throw it in potatoes and oh dear lord....yum.

Here's how you do it.  Easiest thing in the world. So, I used red potatoes, cut them in fourths and boiled them (like normal).  I left the skins on for color, texture and shear laziness.  I have no desire to peel potatoes.


Then drain the potatoes, put in the Boursin cheese and use your potatoe masher to mash them.  I like creamy potatoes better, but the little girl had already went to bed so turning on the mixer to mix them was not a choice.  So, use your arm muscle and mash these with a hand masher. Here is the yummy result.  Holy moly...it's fabulous. 


I made some quick gravy to put on top too.  Here is my plate from last night, steak and all.



Yes, I eat my steak with ketchup.  Don't hate.  Nothing sets off the flavor of a steak like some ketchup.  (Double points for anyone who can tell me which movie that's from).

Here's a hint.  Okay, okay... here's the "answer."   Waiting

Friday, February 25, 2011

Hormones, preservatives and crap.

If I had all of the money and time in the world,  I would grow my own vegetables, fruit, meat, etc.  I would only shop at Farmer's Markets (if I needed to) and probably only get things like milk, cheese and pasta at the grocery store.  Even if I had a lot of money, I don't think I want to make cheese or milk a cow and have to pasteurize it.  No thanks.  

The point is...I do not want to eat (nor feed my family) things like preservatives, hormones, nitrates, high fructose corn syrup, etc.  

Well, turns out, I don't have all of the money and time in the world.  Darnit.  Heck, I'm not even a full time stay at home mom.  I'm a half time at home mom...(I am very very lucky to be in my office three days a week and home the rest). But still...it's hard to juggle it all.  So, I've learned to compromise.  Case in point.  Mia's lunch today...

First, take a look at this cute kid plate and baby fork.  It's just one of those items at Target that make their way into your cart and why you can NEVER leave there without spending at least $80. 


That's besides the point.  But really, I have a love/hate relationship with Target. As a kid I remember eating lots of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. I LOVE hot dogs, but don't really eat them because of the crap that's in them.  Same with mac and cheese...I don't even want to KNOW how long it takes for my digestive system to process all of the crap that's in that powdered cheese. 

Still, it's a great meal and very kid friendly.  So, here's my compromise...


Annie's organic mac and cheese and Oscar Meyer Angus hot dogs (free of the crap).  Yes, it's a little more expensive at the store...but really not much.  I found a deal at Kroger that sold Annie's mac and cheese for 99 cents a box...which is LESS than the preservative-filled Kraft kind.  I think the regular price is aournd $2 a box.  And for a 15 month old, that box lasts a long time. 

So, here it is....hot dogs and mac and cheese...brings back memories.  Oh...and steamed carrots too.  While I like to think she likes to eat the fancy food I make for dinner (sometimes).  Here is what she really wants.  Simple and easy for her to digest. 


Here's the deal...you don't have to buy EVERYTHING organic.  And it's a rare person who has the time to grow their own food (although I'm going to try this summer).  Does my child eat mandarin oranges in the pre-filled cups?  Yes.  Did she drink some chocolate milk with high fructose corn syrup this morning? Yes.  No, we're not perfect...but we try our best.  Why wouldn't you give your child (and yourself) the healthiest food you possibly can.

Plus, she likes it.  And doesn't throw "too" much on the floor.



We're still working on actually using that "fork" thing.  She still prefers her hands. 

Thursday, February 24, 2011

No, I will not post pictures of egg salad.

I made egg salad sandwiches last night for dinner.  I did not take pictures of them.  Because if I took pictures of egg salad sandwiches and blogged about them on my cooking blog, then I seriously need to re-consider my efforts here. I'll make something awesome this weekend and share.  Maybe something by Barefoot Contessa!?!?....ooo, now I'm excited.

In other news, I let Mia do this last night while I was making dinner.


She LOVED playing in my spice "box".  Yes, I keep my spices in a box in the cupboard.  When I see those lazy susan type spice spinny things in places like Bed, Bath and Beyond and Williams-Sonoma, I think how much nicer it would be.  But then I see the price tag on one of those puppies and think my spice box works just fine.  Anyway, she had a blast shaking every. single. container.  It was adorable.  Until....she got a taste of one of the spices and she made the worst gagging sound ever.  I'm thinking it was cinnamon cause she had a little brown smudge on her cheek.  So, we had some juice and all was better.

Mia is is starting to get another cold.  I can always tell, because it starts with a few sneezes, a runny nose and then it's full on cold.  She doesn't sleep well at all when she's sick (probably because she still sleeps with a pacifier and can't breathe very well), so that means a little cold makes us all miserable and tired. I have been getting the onset symptoms of a cold, but I have been taking zicam like it's my job and that seems to always help me.  I haven't had a full on cold in a LONG time.  Zicam is the BEST! 

So, Mia is almost 15 months now and here is the face we get the most from her:


I have no idea where she got this.  She does it when she's confused, curious, mad, tired, whiny, etc.  She makes that face and says..."ooooooooooo".  It's cute.  It's even cuter when we make her laugh while she's doing it:


She smiles, realizes she can't make that face and smile at the same time and really tries to concentrate to make the "oooo" face again.  Almost like, "Don't make me laugh!!"  She's so awesome. 

You know what else is awesome? This.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Simple and...good?

Have you ever had cube steak?  (or round steak as it's also called)?  Well, as you may know, I don't particularly like to fry our dinner...it's unhealthy and all of that oil and grease just grosses me out, frankly.  Now, if I could have chocolate fondue or Milano cookies every night...that's another story.  Anyway, I decided to go against my healthy habits and make this last night...Fried Round Steak.

I bought it on a whim during my power grocery shopping trip yesterday.  Mostly because it was cheap and not chicken.  The PW recipe is beyond simple so I thought hey, why not? Here is how the recipe starts.  Real butter melted in canola oil.  Yum?


Then you do this.  Just what you see...including a little Lawry's Seasoning Salt and Ground Black Pepper.


Okay, so it looks kinda good.  I let it bubble in all that grease and butter for about 3 minutes on each side.  Then plated this up for the hubby and I...the little one had already went to bed.


Of course, I had to make steamed broccoli to cancel out the guilt from fried round steak.  Here's the deal.  I still didn't really like it.  But the funniest thing happened....

JC was working on his laptop in the recliner while I was cooking.  We were having a rare quiet moment.  He didn't know what I was cooking...so I plated it up for him and took it to him in the chair.  He set aside his laptop, grabbed his fork and knife and started cutting the meat.  Now, I (being the harsh self-critic I am) started in right away.

Me: "I don't know how good this will be.  It was cheap at the store and easy, so that's why I made it."
JC: "Oh honey, it'll be great...everything you make is good." (True statement...I'm not flattering myself.)

......a few minutes go by...JC's cube steak is about 1/2 gone...we're eating in silence...

JC: "Oh my gosh...THIS IS CUBE STEAK!!"
Me: "Yeah, it is."
JC: "I LOVE CUBE STEAK. We used to eat it all the time when I was little."
Me: " Oh really?  Is this how your mom used to fix it?"
JC: "Yeah, exactly how she used to fix it.  (more silence and then a smile)  Man, that really took me back."

So, how about that.  Out of a little fried, cheap cut of meat, I brought back a happy memory to my husband that he hadn't thought about in awhile.  So, looks like we'll be doing a little more frying in our household from now on.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Absentee Blogger.

I've had a busy last 2 weeks.  Sue me.  Okay, so it's not an excuse, but seriously, my best friends in the world came to visit me for a few days, we saw concerts and got tattoos, ya know...the usual.  Then JC and I left for Florida for a work trip.  Well, work trip for me...golf trip for him.  It was fun and it was nice to sleep past 7am every morning.  But man, did I miss my favorite little girl...who while I was gone...definitely started to develop her own little attitude; including learning the word, "no."  Great.  Now, when I ask her if she wants to get out of the bath tub, she shakes her head and says "No."  Good thing I can pick her up pretty easily when she resists. :)

Anyway, back to Florida trip.  We went to Orlando and stayed at a FABULOUS golf resort.  It was great.  So, great that a celebrity also stayed there. 


Can't tell who the celebrity is through my amazingly stalkerish photo taken while I was laying in a beach chair? Well, if you look really closely on the left hand side of the picture behind the sun chair, you can see the one and only...JORDAN KNIGHT FROM NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!! I saw him, like 6 times, freaked out like 6 times and then decided I should calm down.  But man, it's funny how you go right back to being 8 years old and just being IN LOVE with him!  I almost told him I used to sleep on NKOTB sheets. 

Also, I ate the best cooked salmon I've ever had.  Which was exciting. 


I was not ashamed to take a picture of my entree at a fancy restaurant in my hotel.  It was beautiful and it deserved to have it's picture taken. :)

Also, I did one day of this.


A corona light and gossip magazines by the pool.  It was marvelous. But, I did miss my Mia girl who just had the best time with her "na-na" from Nebraska. 

They watched Sesame Street...


And played at the park. Equally as marvelous as a corona light and gossip magazines. :)

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Ki-Ki

We have a cat named Goose.  I know, I know...that's the awesomest name you've ever heard for a cat.  And to that I say, thank you...I came up with it.  Actually, the back story is that I got him at a shelter in Kansas about 2 and a half years ago, we thought "he" was a "she" so we named her Lucy. So, then we started calling her Lucy Goose.  Then we took her to get fixed and that's when the vet laughed at us and said, "You crazy people, how can you not know this little kitty is a BOY!"  So, we decided to just call him Goose.  That...and my husband LOVES Top Gun...so...

Anyway, Mia is finally taking lots of interest in Goose...or as she calls him...Ki-Ki. That's how she says kitty.  Ki-Ki.  It's awesome.  She doesn't try to pull his tail and she doesn't try to poke him in the eye or anything like that either.  Instead, she pets him really nicely and then just SQUEALS because she is so excited by him. 

Lately, she has been really into handing things to us.  She picks something up (usually a toy or the TV remote) and walks it over to hand it to you...then goes back for something else, walks it over to you, hands it over...repeat, repeat, repeat. 

Well, now she's doing it with her Ki-Ki. When he doesn't respond to her, she gets really confused.  I wonder when it will be a good time to tell her that Goose does not have opposable thumbs and can't physically take anything from her. 

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Something healthy to cancel out the fat.

So, lately I've eaten things like Whataburgers, Jiffy Burgers and Drip Beef sandwiches with lots of chocolate chips and red wine to wash it down.  So, I decided we needed to do a little health(ier) dinner detox.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not dieting or anything, but both JC and I are just better off when we eat healthy and most of the time that's the food we like anyway.  Although...a whataburger every now and then keeps a person sane.  It's true.

So, I thought I'd switch it up and show you the Mimi first and the food second.  Here she is with her "ba-ba".  She calls her sippy cup her baba.  I think maybe that's what she calls milk?  I still heat up her milk for her in the morning and when I get her from her crib and she hears her bottle warmer go off, she squeals, "BA - BA!!!!"  It's the cutest thing ever ever ever. 


Cheerios and a "ba-ba" to keep her busy while I finish dinner...


And now on to the healthy stuff.  I did not pre-prep this dinner and instead rushed it together after I got home from work.  It could have been alot better and would have been good with some bread or a salad, but no time.  I had a hungry baby who was on the brink of meltdown if she didn't eat soon.

So, here it is...Baked Pasta e Fagioli.  It's basically, pasta, onion, celery, spinach, canellini beans, stewed tomatoes, tomato puree, romano cheese, chicken stock and...I think that's it.  Heat it in a sauce pan and then top with the cheese and bake for 15 minutes. Simple, easy and great for leftovers!


Next time, I'm prepping this the night before.  Why?  Because it's hard to chop an onion with a baby on your hip, that's why.  Overall, JC said it was good and Mia liked it.  Especially the beans.  Hey, at least it's not another ham sandwich, right?

Monday, February 7, 2011

That's all I've got to say...about that.

Here's what I know about making homemade french fries in the oven.   



#1.  Make sure each french fry is the same size.

#2.  Make sure you coat them in olive oil and sprinkle them with sea salt.

#3.  Make sure they are in a single layer on your pan.

#4.  The most important one...MAKE SURE you take them out halfway through cook time, get a spatula and flip them!  That...or buy a better pan than I have so they don't stick. 

Also, don't drop the whole pan on the floor after you take them out of the oven.  Cause that's what I did with last tonight's batch of homemade french fries I made for the Super Bowl. I may or may not have cursed in front of my father-in-law.  Luckily, none of us are crazy and we still ate them. And lucky for me...it's not the first time I've cursed in front of my father-in-law and he's the type to be A-OK with cursing. 

Also, I bought some new "Snapware" tupperware at CostCo.  AKA...Mia's new toys.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

The best part of Nebraska I've never seen.

So, I'm from Nebraska...and will always be a Midwest girl.  Having lived in both Tennessee and now Texas, I can tell you...it's a very different place, with different people and different vibes.  Not bad...It's just that's where I fit in best.  Too bad it's so cold there.  Cause I sure don't miss it enough to endure 6 months of below zero temperatures. 

Anyway, my mother in law is also from Nebraska.  We are from opposite sides of the state (me, the east...her, the west).  I have never been to where she is from, but thanks to her...I do have a little "flavor" of where she came from.  And that flavor is delicious!

In 2 words. Jiffy Burgers.  I guess there was this great little locally owned burger place where she grew up and this was THE thing to eat.  She tells me stories of when she came home from college on the weekends and before she could go home, she had to stop and get a Jiffy Burger. 

So, I got the recipe from her and made them.

Here's where it starts.  Hamburger and Onions...drain the grease...easy enough.


Then you add these...cream of wheat and worcestershire sauce. Cream of what? 


Then you add the sauce...and no, it's not just sloppy joes with mustard.  It's so much more...including a cup of mayo and more onions.


Mix it up!


Buy the cheapest, white bread buns you can find.  Usually white bread is a NO NO in my house, although on occasion, my husband has asked me to buy it...and I usually do.  But, let's take this sandwich for what it is...hamburger with lots of fat-filled ingredients in it.  It would only taste good on a white bread bun.  Served with chips.


Good Good Good.  I ate 2 and a half and then couldn't move for an hour and half.  JC ate three and will probably eat the rest of the leftovers today.  I'm thinking these will be one of our "fun" foods for a long time to come. 

In other news.  My daughter is pretty, smart, sweet and is getting the BEST sense of humor.  I sure love her.


I love her more up real close.