Good Times

I mentioned earlier in the week that my Mom and Dad made a surprise visit up to see us last weekend.

And yes, I am finally getting around to posting about it.  That's how I am rolling this week.  I had a slew of pictures to sort and edit and with Hubs' days off, and well, life--well...you get the picture. 

My Mom and Dad did call Hubs to let him know they were coming, but he was told to keep it a secret, which he did ever so faithfully.  (But isn't that faithfulness vow thingy supposed to be to your wife, not the in-laws?)  Of course, in normal Jackie style, I had NO clue.  Not even when the doorbell rang on 10:30 pm on Thursday evening.  Yes, I know.

But I have a legitimate excuse.

Really.

Just prior to the door bell ringing, Hubs had been down in the garage getting the garbage/recycling ready to go out for the next morning and I could. have. sworn. I didn't hear him close the garage door.  Enter said doorbell ringing--I thought our neighbors, who had just gotten home, rang the bell to tell us our garage door was open.  Then, when Hubs went downstairs to answer the door and it was awfully quiet, well, then I thought we just had some neanderthal door-bell-ditchers.  Then I saw my Mom coming up the stairs and I did a double take and well, you know the rest.....

Grandma and Grandpa bought the Peanut her first game--Toy Story themed Yahtzee Jr.  No numbers to count--just pictures and Peanut has been having tons of fun with it.  She doesn't really get the point of the game--but she loves to roll the dice.  And she loves herself some Buzz and Jessie.  So cute--Jessie yodels in the movies which goes something like, "Yodel-A-hee-who!!!"  And little Peanut says Jessie says, "HeeWho!!!!"  It's just about the cutest thing ever!

We also had some wonderful weather and Peanut got a chance to try out her new wading pool, which was tons of fun too...I apologize for the over exposed pictures...it was bright out there that day!

Last, I let my Mom have at it with Peanut's hair.  She was due for a cut, much to Mommy's denial.  I had just wanted to let my Mom trim the ends off and then Peanut was so enthralled and distracted by the goings on, that she moved at the same moment that my mom was cutting and well, a little more was cut off than either of us had originally intended.....

It honestly turned out just fine, but now I realize I don't have any pictures of the finished product, so I will leave you with this teaser.  I hope to finish the rest of the story in the next couple days.  If everything goes really well, I might even post it later tonight.  But it turned out really cute......I promise! 

So, stay tuned!

Roasted Asparagus

Well, these couldn't be tastier OR easier.  So what's not to love?  I usually don't buy asparagus, not because I don't love them, but because of the cost.  They tend to be a pricier veggie but I actually broke down and bought some last week.  It was almost the end of the season and they were locally grown too, so there you go. Anywho, I guess I'll get right to it....

Roasted Asparagus ~ from my mama

Asparagus
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper (freshly cracked, if you have it)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Rinse and trim the ends of the asparagus.  A neat little trick to trim the ends of the asparagus is to snap off the end of one, just by bending it near the end to break in two.  It will snap at the natural break point, and then you can use that as a guide to trim off the rest of the ends of the other asparagus' (asparagi?).

Place asparagus on baking sheet or baking stone and drizzle with olive oil.  Place in oven and roast until asparagus is tender, but not over cooked, about 10-15 minutes.  My asparagus was a little thicker, so they took closer to 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste and serve.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
 
 And a little wish for my Mom and Dad......happy anniversary!  
 
They have been married 36--count 'em--36 years today.  
 
I love you both!  
 
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap  
La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday 
Life As Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday 
This Chick Cooks Recipe Swap 

Menu Plan Monday

We had a fun little surprise this weekend.  My Mom and Dad came up for a visit!  Stay tuned for some fun pictures later this week.  We had such a great time, but now it's back to reality and back to mundane things like planning menus and doing laundry. 

Sigh.

For this week we will be having:

Sunday-Taco salads with romaine lettuce, taco meat, green onions, cheese, sour cream, and salsa

Monday-Ham It Up Primavera (didn't get to this one last week)

Tuesday-Roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, green salad with ranch dressing

Wednesday-BLTs, green salads

Thursday-Chicken enchiladas with homemade enchilada sauce, green salads, Spanish rice

Friday-Chicken salad sandwiches, green salads

Saturday-Leftovers


For other great menu ideas, visit the Organizing Junkie. 

Tried It & Loved It: Baked Doughnuts

***I apologize this post is a little late, but I had some surprise guests show up on Thursday night--my Mom and Dad!***

Have I ever mentioned my love affair with doughnuts?  I big-fluffy-pink-hearts LOVE doughnuts.  When I was in college (living at home--don't judge--it was FREE), my mom used to bribe me by asking me to drive into town to run to the post office and bank for her--in exchange for my favorite chocolate bar doughnut.  I did it without fail nearly everyday.  And I was a size 4-6.  Isn't that just plain wrong?

While my metabolism is NOT the same as it used to be, my love for doughnuts is.  But then there is that whole-foods-thing-again-and-knowing-what's-in-the-food-you're-eating, blah, blah, blah.  So I rarely eat doughnuts any more.

Such a sad story, isn't it?

But then one day it occurred to me, I can make my own doughnuts.  I did choose to do a baked version, not because they are "healthier" (who are we kidding--they are doughnuts) but for the following two reasons a) Frying them up takes time and patience and while I do have time, I am NOT that patient and b) if I did fry them, I would use coconut oil and coconut oil is expensive and I really didn't want to use it  for something as frivolous as doughnuts.  So baked doughnuts it was. 

Can you say yum?  I would so make them more often, but because you have to plan ahead (although I do menu plan our dinners, I am more of a wing it girl when it comes to breakfasts) and because of all the added sugar, I don't make them as much as my taste buds would like. 

All that aside, if you do ever get the chance-try them.  You'll LOVE them!

Baked Doughnuts ~ slightly adapted from Finding Joy in My Kitchen 

1 1/3 C warm milk (~100 degrees F)
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
2 T butter, softened
2/3 C sugar (I used rapadura)
2 eggs
5 C flour (I used half white whole wheat, half all purpose)
1 tsp. sea salt (ground finely)

1 T cinnamon
1/2 C sugar
Melted butter 

Stir yeast in warm milk and set aside to proof.  In a stand mixer, using paddle attachment, beat softened butter and sugar together until well combined.  Add in eggs and mix thoroughly.  Add in yeast/milk mixture.  Sift flour and salt together in a separate bowl and add in one cup portions to the wet mixture until all flour is added.  Dough should start pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball--additional flour may be necessarily, depending on humidity that day (I probably added about an extra half cup).  Once mixture is well combined, switch out paddle attachment for dough hook and knead dough on medium speed for about five minutes.    When finished kneading, dough should no longer be overly sticky and should be somewhat elastic in texture.  Grease bowl with oil or butter and do the same to your dough ball.  Cover bowl and let rise until doubled in shape.  (I place my dough in a warm-not hot-oven to rise.) 

Punch dough down and roll out on a well floured surface to a half inch thickness.  Using a doughnut cutter or a large and small circular shape (I used a drinking glass and a tiny plastic container), cut doughnuts and doughnut holes out and place on lightly greased (I used my Silpats instead) baking sheets.  Let rise for an additional hour.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake until doughnuts are just starting to brown on top~about eight minutes.  Be careful not to over bake!

Melt butter in a bowl and mix sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.  When doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dip doughnuts in butter and then dredge in cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Best served while still warm. 

Summer Pasta Salad

With the unofficial start to summer today, I had this hankering for pasta salad.  Funny thing is that the weather doesn't match my summer food mood.  At all.  The sky is full of ominous gray clouds and I can hear the thunder rolling in the distance.  Ah, well--I still made the salad and I although I will share my recipe, I won't share how many platefuls I had for lunch.

Summer Pasta Salad

6 cups pasta, uncooked (I use tri-colored because it looks pretty--it's not whole wheat and that's only because I can't seem to find tri-colored-whole-wheat-pasta)

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup minced onions (red would be more appealing to the eye, but whatever you have--I had yellow--works)
1 can black olives, drained
3/4 cup artichoke hearts, sliced in thin strips
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/2-3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
6 large basil leaves, chiffonade
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse in cold water to stop cooking and to start cooling down pasta.  Drain pasta well and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil to prevent sticking and set aside.

Slice, mince, or chop remaining ingredients and combine with pasta.  Drizzle generously with olive oil and vinegar, to taste.  Season with salt and pepper as needed.    Serve with additional Parmesan for garnish, if desired.  Serve slightly cooled or at room temperature--which ever you prefer. As you can see, much of this is flexible--that's pretty much how it goes in the kitchen for me! 

This a great salad to have on hand for an easy lunch during the week.  It is also great for barbeques and potlucks as it doesn't have any mayonnaise in the dressing that you would need to worry about refrigerating. 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap  
La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday 
Life As Mom Ultimate Recipe Swap
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday 
This Chick Cooks Recipe Swap 

Menu Plan Monday

I am trying some new recipes this week--received another Taste of Home subscription (thank you, C!)--so I am excited.  It's always fun to try some new recipes out.  I will let you all know if any of them are keepers in the coming weeks. 

Sunday-Ham It Up Primavera (one dish meal)

Monday-BLT Chicken Salad

Tuesday-Burgers, Chipotle Lime Corn on the Cob

Wednesday-Thai Beef Noodles, steamed veggies

Thursday-Sweet & Sour Pork, green salad with Asian dressing

Friday-Cajun Jambalaya Soup (something else with some sausages I need to use)

Saturday-Leftovers


For other great menu ideas, visit the Organizing Junkie.

Tried It & Loved It: Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf

Quinoa. I finally tried quinoa.

For those of you who are like me and have seen this used in recipes or have seen this around the blogshere and thought for the longest time it was pronounced “ki-noah” like I did…. no, it’s actually pronounced “keen-waugh.” SO glad I could be of service and save you from this grammar faux pas I egregiously made for so long.

Hubs’ cousin actually inspired me.  I had been thinking about trying it and she emailed me one day asking if I had tried it because she was looking for some new recipes to use it in.  She also warned me that it was best to soak the quinoa prior to cooking—she had had the best results that way.

So my next trip to the store, I got some quinoa in the bulk section.  There it sat for several weeks, until a few weeks ago when I actually thought ahead and incorporated it to my menu plan.

We tried it and I loved it!  Hubs liked it—he didn’t say he loved it.  Now had it had chipoltes in it, I am sure he would have loved it.  I’m just sayin’.



























Mushroom Quinoa Pilaf ~ adapted from $5 Dinners

1 cup quinoa
Water, for soaking

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz can sliced mushrooms, undrained
1/2 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp parsley

Soak quinoa in enough water to generously cover the quinoa (about two cups) for about 24 hours. Caution, quinoa may start to sprout.  It's okay, it is still perfectly fine to eat.  After soaking, drain and set aside. 

In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium high heat and saute onions until tender crisp.  Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add in mushrooms and liquid along with quinoa, chicken stock, and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper as needed.  Quinoa will start look translucent when cooked, and you know it's done when it is no longer firm--very similar to rice.  You may want to add a little additional chicken stock if necessary.   Serve as a side with your choice of meat and fresh veggie.

Some More Tumbling

Peanut has graduated to the next level of tumbling.  Her instructor told me she was ready, but I had to disagree.  However, seeing as the instructor was the expert in all areas tumbling related, I let Peanut move up--against my better judgement.  Or so I thought.

It's about the same class in terms of skill level, however with the first level, parents are expected to assist their child throughout the class and with the second level, the parent no longer assists the child.  The child only has instruction from the instructors and Mommy gets to sit back and take pictures watch.

Several weeks ago, Peanut had her first non mommy involved class and she has actually been doing really well, much to my surprise.  Yes, she still occasionally wonders off across the gym, but for the most part, she is attentive to the instructors.  She is also attentive to where Mommy is at all times and occasionally has to leave the group to give Mommy eyelash kisses and nose kisses.  And as unofficial goalie, I push her back into play, after giving said kisses of course.
 

I am actually really surprised to see how far she's come.  She could do all these things before, but I was always there to help her--and without me there, she has to depend only on herself.  And she has been flourishing in nearly all areas.  Except for the balance beam.  She always wants to hold someone's hand.....but she is slowly getting better, so that is fine too.

Do you notice a common theme in some of the pictures?  Yes, she still bites her lip or tongue when concentrating really hard.  There were actually a huge slew of pictures with that theme.  However, lighting in the gym is really lacking and if you pair that with my flash only flashing so far, a lot of the pictures didn't turn out so I didn't bother to post them. Such is the reason for the graininess of the posted pictures as well.  My apologies! 

 

We are going to pick up Hubs' mom from the airport shortly, so I won't be blogging for the next few days.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  And thank a military serviceman or woman if you get the chance!

Now Back to Regular Scheduled Programming

Oh. My. Lanta.

I have been without a computer for over. a. week.  Contrary to my previous held belief, it is possible to survive without one.  Yeah, it's called I-just-call-my-mom-or-sister-to-look-up-whatever-needs-looking-up.  Which may or may not include a frantic phone call about 7 pm Thursday night to request looking up the American Idol results prior to the airing on the West Coast.  Am I the only one who does that?  Drives poor Hubs nuts, but I can't handle the suspense.  And can I just say yay for Scotty and Lauren?  They were my favorites from the beginning--for reals.  Peanut's too. Well, that part is just because of Mommy. 

Anywho.....our poor little five year old computer (isn't that nearly a hundred in computer years?!?!?) just got back from some much needed R&R.  And she is doing okay for now, but we will be putting her out to pasture sometime soon.  Anybody have an opinion on iMacs?  I am leaning towards one, but Hubs needs some convincing....

We have continued to have more gorgeous weather here in SmallTown and little Peanut seems to have Hubs' "tans easily" skin.  Thank goodness she doesn't go from pasty to lobster like yours truly.  Her feet are already starting to look "dirty"--otherwise seen as cute little tanned feet. 

I bought some of those Starbucks-esk cold drink glasses several weeks ago and with my lovely new blender, blended iced coffee drinks are an afternoon favorite when running erands or going to the park.  Fun times for the Hubs and I! 

Our neighbor taught Peanut how to blow dandelions and that tops the charts of Peanut's favorite activity at the park these days.  And for some reason, the soccer ball only seems to be a source of entertainment in our tiny little home--not in the big, open expanses at the park.  Why is that?

There was duck watching as well as lots of eyelash and nose kisses (previously known as Eskimo kisses, but somehow lost that title).  This is Peanut's new obsession--having to give eyelash kisses and nose kisses whenever she is to be separated from either of us for longer than five minutes.  She starts panicking saying, "I need to give _______  eyelash kisses and nose kisses."  And if it can't happen right then and there, she starts to tear up.  Like when putting her to bed at night when Hubs is closing at the restaurant.  We've had several meltdowns because the kisses cannot be given at that point in time.  Luckily I have thought to tell Peanut she can save them for Daddy in the morning and that has seemed to appease her.  At least for now.

So back to the park.  There was also lots of "1-2-3 Wees" and some very flushed cheeks.

And I just had to add that last one....I have NO idea who B & E are, but I just thought that was so sweet.  I've always wanted to do that.  Can you say sappy?  Maybe someday....

Please stay tuned for this Saturday as I will pick up where I left off with my Tried It & Loved It series.  Have some great new recipes to share with you all! 

Have a great week!

Onion Rings and Special Sauce

So during my little unexpected blogging hiatus, I made some homemade onion rings.  We had these with some sizzling grass fed steaks on our anniversary.  Yes, that's how we roll--onion rings on our anniversary--but seriously, can you say yum?   We sure did.  This is entirely my own creation as I was computer less and had no way to reference any online recipes.  They came out pretty well, if I do say so myself!

Onion Rings with Special Sauce

1 large, softball sized onion
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup bread crumbs, preferably panko
3/4 cup flour
Coconut Oil (I used expellar pressed, unless of course you would like coconut flavored onion rings)
Seasoning salt

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, heat coconut oil.  There should be enough oil so that it is about a half inch deep.  You know it's hot enough to start frying when you stick a wooden spoon in the oil and bubbles roll off the spoon quickly.  Thank you, Rachael Ray, for that tip. 

Peel onion and slice into half inch slices, separating rings individually.  Soak onion slices in buttermilk for about ten minutes.

Mix bread crumbs and flour evenly, adding several dashes of seasoning salt.  Dredge onion slices in flour mixture and allow to set up on a plate prior to frying.  Fry rings in an even layer, flipping after about 3-4 minutes.  Rings should just start to look a little golden, but they won't be super dark due to the coconut oil. Remove from hot oil and layer on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet.  Season with additional salt, if needed. Repeat until all rings are fried.  Keep warm in a 250 degree oven until ready to serve.  

Special Sauce

1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/2 cup barbeque sauce

Mix together thoroughly.  Serve with homemade onion rings.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This recipe is linked to:

Beauty and Bedlam's Tasty Tuesday
Blessed With Grace Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
Designs By Gollum Foodie Friday
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap
Friday Potluck at EKat's Kitchen
Hearth 'n Soul Recipe Swap  
La Bella Vita's Fresh Clean and Pure Friday
Miz Helen's Country Cottage Full Plate Thursday