Cooking up a storm....

Began the day wit wheatgrass in my ginger shot.
I stopped growing wheatgrass before our trip,
and hadn't began any seeds again.
At the local co-op yesterday, Jimmy and I noticed they had beautiful stuff for $2!
How can you pass that up???
Got me in the mood to start soaking my seeds again :)
For the kiddos, I made a grain free apple cake.

I bought tomatoes and pears from bountiful baskets last week.
Today they are both ripe.
I jumped in right away with and started cutting up pears for the dehydrator.
I filled all nine trays up with slices - probably used 18 pounds total.
I'm hoping to get to the store and use some birthday money I have stashed on a food mill.
Assuming I will acually do that,
I saved all the extra parts of my pears and threw them in the crockpot to make pear butter. 
I added some quartered pears too, to fill it up.
I despise trying to get things through a strainer.
I have maybe 10 pounds left to figure out something.

I halved enough tomatoes to cover two cookies sheets.
They are in the oven roasting with olive oil and garlic.
YUM!
When I get to that store for that food mill,
I have a plan to cook it in the crockpot for 24 hours.
This should make a beautiful tomato paste.
Still have about half the tomatoes left.

No school today.
We were planning to do it,
but we have much more fun plans
in preparing a surprise for Jimmy's birthday next week.
More on that later :)

In our parenting lessons:
Don't be easily provoked.
Love isn't.
We shouldn't be surprised wen our children make mistakes.
You don't want them to feel insecure or scared to mess up.
Your reaction to them is usually more about some stress or selfishness going on with you
and less about what is actually going on with them.
Let it go.
Be aware.
DON'T take your stuff out on them.

5 Dinners in One Hour???

Wouldn't it be nice to get your dinner cooking for the WHOLE week done in ONE HOUR???

Michelle over at 5 Dinners in One Hour claims you can.

I took a look at her site and she has some GREAT recipes posted!  Can't wait to try some of them.   This only heightened my interest in her meal plan.   If I can get some yummy recipes and only spend an hour a week in the kitchen, I'm ALL for it.

Her plan is only $1.25 per week - that's $15 for 3 months.  Right now on her promo page she's offering $3 off her 3 month rate.  Can't really pass it up, can you?   I'll post how it went when the 3 months are up.

I LOVE Mongolian Grill :)

Have you ever been there???

It is SOOOOOO yummy!  And if you make their GIANT bowl, you'l be stuff and STILL have leftovers for a week of lunches!

If you've never been, you are missing out.  This is their site. 

You pick the size of bowl you want.  Then you head down this AMAZING buffet of veges, noodles, meats, sauces.....  They  have everything you could want and things you never THOUGHT you'd want. 
When your bowl is overflowinging with yumminess, they cook it RIGHT.IN.FRONT.OF.YOU.  It is awesome.  They have this giant griddle type thing with 3 or 4 guys around just stirfrying up everyone's dinner.  SO good - you have to try it.

Anyway, we had been talking about trying to be able to do our own at home.

One of my awesome daycare families gave me a giftcard for Christmas.  It happened to be for THIS amazing cooking store.

I knew exactly what I wanted RIGHT AWAY.

Next on my agenda is to finish seasoning it.  Marinate, chop and, cook, and freeze single servings of chicken and flank steak.  We bought a couple already prepared sauces, orange from Panda Express and a spicy szechuan.  YUM.  Can't wait to try it out!

Anyone heard of THIS???

TEECCINO

SO...   I've TRIED to stop drinking coffee. 
For a day or two. 
It's HARD!  
I really shouldn't be drinking the caffeine. 
BUT....
     I miss the SMELL.
     I miss the TASTE.
     I miss the warm goodness in my mug.

I can't do it.  

A friend came over yesterday and was in the same situation.  A friend of hers uses instant TEECCINO.  I wasn't all about the instant.  I don't want flavored, or weird textures.  I JUST.WANT.MY.COFFEE. 

I decided it was at LEAST worth looking into.   I was SO happy to find it ground for your coffee maker!  I'm thinking of taking the dive and trying it.  

Any thoughts?   Anyone else try it?

YUM

SO, I'm in love with Joy the Baker's blog.
Way fancier than anything that I make around here.
Way too time consuming.
WAY too perfect!

My family DOES love us some soft pretzels.
SO, one day last week, I only had 2 babies!  What do you do when 2 out of 2 of the kiddos you are watching look like this:

You decide to make a GIGANTIC mess in the kitche.  THAT'S WHAT YOU DO! :)

So, it started out like this:

Then, after a LOT of work, it looked like this:

FINALLY, they looked like this:

then the family INHALED them.

I definitely urge you to try this recipe:

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2010/08/how-to-make-soft-pretzels/

Meal Planning

So, I love to cook.
Doing it so much for the Daycare, along with kids leaving after 5 every day, has left me in a bit of a dinner rut.
I know that 2 things need to happen.

1 - I need to be more organized in my dinner plan for each day so that I actually DO it.

2 - I need to get over playing with the kids every second and let them help me start dinner around 4:30/5ish.

Easier said than done.

To help me get a little more organized, I joined E-Mealz.  Thought I'd give it a try.   Anything recommended by DAVE has to be great right?  I'm still on the fence about it. 

Here's the deal. 
You subscribe for something like $1.25/wk. 
You pick the kind of meal plan you like.  (Family, 2 people, low fat....)
You pick the store you typically shop at.  (Walmart, ALDI, grocery store....)
The bummer for me is that they don't list stores in my area.  We shop mainly at SAFEWAY.  I'm not a huge fan of Walmart.  I am a HUGE sale and coupon shopper, and I think Walmarts regular prices are much higher than what I can' get on a sale at Safeway.

OK, so I picked the family meals at Walmart. 
Now every Thursday, I can log in and get something like this:

A page of meal ideas for the week with full veges and sides. 
Then, a secind page with all the ingredients listed and the prices for that week at the store you picked.
Kind of cool!

PROS:
*All the meals are thought out and right there on one sheet.
*If you go buy everything, there is NOTHING holding you back from having a nice warm meal on the table        EACH night.
*You can still shop other stores and use your coupons to make things a little more affordable, you have a list.

CONS
*Not particularly our taste in meals.  Of the 3 weeks I've printed already, on each week there are probably 3 that my family wouldn't really eat.  We aren't really that picky, though!
*Not SUPER healthy.  We eat pretty healthy, and this has quite a bit of processed foods.  I may choose the "low fat" menu once just to see if it's better. 

My first 3-month subscription ends 10/30.  I'll let you know how we did on it and if we're renewing.  Check it out for yourself @ http://www.e-mealz.com/

Make your own vanilla???

SO.... Joy the Baker (who I have just recently become addicted to) has suggested this.
Is it WEIRD that I'm DYING to try it???
Is it a problem that I may just DRINK it instead of cook with it????
I looks amazing!
My family may be ALL receiving little containers of homemade vanilla for Christmas, and birthdays, and Easter, and Valentine's day....
I'll let you know if it works out.