old fashioned shenanigans

Auntie The Julie came over today.

And things got ridiculous.  Laugh out loud so hard you almost pee your pants ridiculous.

When planning for our meal tonight, both of us complained about the fact that we have 2 (and maybe really only 1) pair of professional pants to wear to work that fit. 

(yeah... I'm starting work again in a week.  

The scale tells me I'm back to what I was pre-Jason, but things just aren't fitting right.  

Oh dear.)

Whatever.  We wanted to eat.  Tomorrow is Monday, and Mondays are always fresh starts.  

Do you see the justification?

Tonight was all about biscuits and cookies.

First on the menu for Bubbe and Jason... Meatball Bubble Biscuits.  This is an old favorite of Peter's and mine.  Be careful to not overcook the meatballs.  They get hard, and bounce off of the Julie really easy.

Julie had tried a Gorgonzola cheese/bacon monkey bread at a bar near her house earlier in the week, and it had me craving it immediately.  I knew I wanted it, but also knew I couldn't make it to the city this week.  So, I searched and searched the internets for a recipe, but only came up with Gorgonzola monkey bread OR bacon monkey bread.  So... when the powers combined, I am Captain Planet!  we created a fabulous new savory monkey bread recipe.  My mom (who says she doesn't like bacon or gorgonzola) loved it.  Julie and I liked it so much that we posted it on allrecipes.com.  

Feel free to check it out over there :)

Then, for dessert, we made one of the easiest cookies of all time.  It took two ingredients.  Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and 1 egg.  The picture is from (and the recipe can be found at www.picky-palate.com)

Now that that's over, something. must. be. done.  Two pairs of pants is not enough.  So, you know how there's a recipe tab at the top of the blog?  I'm adding another tab tomorrow.  That tab is going to be an online journal for the good things I'm doing for myself, including exercise, good food, Points consumed, mental health breaks, etc.  Hopefully, writing them down will help motivate me.  Lord knows my waistline I need motivating.  Is it summer yet?  How about spring?

silly love songs, the morning after.

so... since no one ate nearly enough last night, Jason had to resort to eating 2 different kinds of cupcakes this morning. 

really?  really mama?  

i can have funfetti for breakfast?!

and an organic cupcake from whole foods?

best day ever.

No.  I'm not that terrible of a mother.  He did eat parts of two cupcakes, but then Peter made us a pre-Valentine's breakfast.  I love that poke a hole in the bread and drop the egg in stuff, so I asked for that this morning.  Peter took it a step further and the hole was a heart.  J love it.  So did I.  :)

I'm not sure with Jason's surgery this week if we'll be making anything new, so I wanted to share the recipes from last night with you.  It was so simple, cheap for feeding as many as it could, and we have so many leftovers.  Best part, the soup was made the night before, and the beef was prepared early in the morning, so the only cooking Peter had to do when we had 10 adults over was shred the beef.   Since our guests brought appetizers and desserts, it was one of the easiest parties ever.

Enjoy!

socks.

i hate socks.

let me clarify.  i do the laundry in our house.

i don't mind the washing, drying, hanging, 

or choosing which laundry detergent matches the laundry 

(right rachelle?)

i just hate folding socks. 

it's not their fault.  i loved me some toe socks in college.  

i also loved using socks to wrap presents because i never had any wrapping paper 

(right julie?)

i just hate matching them up.  

peter knows this.  he knows this very well.

so he says he'll fold the socks.  

i do the laundry during the day, and put everything away but the socks.

socks go on his side of the bed.

poor socks.  they end up on the floor. 

most likely to be washed again because 

peter's lazy and 

i. hate. folding. socks. 

tonight, however, i'm stuffing them into peter's pillow.

he never reads the blog.  he won't know.

hehehehehehe.  :)

did you have the one chore you hated when you were growing up?

and you couldn't wait to have kids

so you wouldn't have to do them anymore?

mine was the dishwasher.  i hated emptying the dishwasher.

i'll be more than happy to empty the dishwasher every day...

jason just needs to grow up so he can fold the socks.

and then kayla needs to grow up so she can empty the dishwasher.

isn't that what two kids are for?  :)

Tonight's dinner was a yummy 5pp black bean soup.  

We have tons of recipes for it because we love black bean soup.

The surprise ingredient here?  Brown sugar.

Enjoy!

hoisin sauce

When I was a little girl, almost any trip into the city meant going to China Town.  If you know my father, you already understand.  (The man will travel far and wide to get the best eggroll...) 

Going to the Museum of Science and Industry?  We're going to China Town!

Going to the Auto Show?  We're going to China Town!

Seeing a musical?  We're going to China Town!

I don't remember the name of the place we used to go to... it's no longer there.  But, I remember the routine:

Decide we're going to China Town.  Mostly likely get lost getting there.  Mom locking the doors.  Dad finally finding his way, and getting annoyed finding street parking.  Go to restaurant.  Mmm... steamed dumplings, bbq pork, egg rolls.  (to this day, I'd be happy with a meal of Chinese appetizers).  Go across the street to the corner market with ducks hanging in the window.  The place smells like fish.   Mom and Dad go straight to the econo-sized hoisin sauce, because they don't sell it yet at the Buffalo Grove Jewel.  Brad and me?  Pocky Sticks.  Check out, walk across the street to the bakery.  Dad buys bean balls.  (Brad can't stop laughing).  Pick up a few more treats, head back to the car, Brad whining because he wasn't allowed to buy nun chucks/swords/anything teenage mutant ninja turtle related weapon.  Get in car, break out Pocky Sticks.  Sword fight with a few of them til we fight/get yelled at.  Then, sit and suck the chocolate off.  Repeat next trip.

 

We've already taken Jason to China Town after the 2010 Auto Show (you know we had to), but we weren't able to make it to the stores because it was late and cold.  Luckily, our Garden Fresh carries the hoisin sauce.  It's the only one that tastes right.

Last night, Peter made us Asian Noodle Soup for dinner, along with a quick California roll.  It was sooo good.  It tasted like China Town in a bowl.  The best part?  Jason could eat it this time.  He had the sushi (minus the crab part) and the stuff from the soup.  The combination of mint, basil and hoisin sauce was very interesting (in a good way), and made the soup taste way more than only 6 points a serving. 

Here's the soup recipe.  Give it a try.  It's gonna be a cold one tonight.

And Dad doesn't know how lucky he is... we're swinging by there with leftovers today!

 

quite delicious... and then a waste of time.

After being stuck home all day, I decided it was necessary to FINALLY try out those homemade chicken nuggets I've been talking about.  I found the recipe for Carrot, Apple and Oat Chicken Nuggets on my friend Jey's website "The Jey of Cooking."  Jey is the mama to an adorable baby boy a few months older than Jason, and when she mentioned her son, the Fruitaholic, loved these, I had to give them a try. 

This is her picture.  Mine were not as neat.  Nor pretty.  I was getting impatient by the end, mostly due to the fact that the Little Man was screaming whining begging to be picked up when my hands were covered in egg. 

Let me just say... they were awesome!!  I don't think kids would be necessary for this recipe... the first thing that Peter said was that with a little bit of our favorite Asian Zing sauce from Buffalo Wild Wings for us, and some Asian sweet sauce for the little man, they would be completely fabulous!  Why Asian?  The sweetness from the apple and carrot just call for it.

All you need is ground chicken, an apple, a few carrots, oatmeal, 2 eggs, and bread crumbs.  Click on her link to see the full recipe.  What would I change?  I think I'd squeeze the excess moisture out of the apple and carrot with a paper towel, and I'd try panko bread crumbs (seasoned, if I can find them) instead of the regular bread crumbs for a crispier texture. 

And now... for the waste of time.

I spent about an hour and a half today uploading pictures to RitzPix so I could take advantage of my free photo book.  Remember those camera classes I've been going to?  Well, the fancy pants camera Peter got me also came with a free 12 page photo book, and for $5, you could get a 20 page book!  20 pages for me is pretty small, so I figured I'd make a Snowmaggedon 2011 book.  I really liked their book builder, and was impressed with the backgrounds and borders that were offered. 

I go to check out, and it said that I couldn't pay for it in the store.  I'd have to pay online.  Oh dear.  I'm not paying $30 for a book I'm supposed to pay $5 for.  I called the local Wolf Camera, and they told me sorry!  You have to make the book in the store.  Argh.

So, I took screen shots of my book, and hopefully I'll be able to recreate it on Saturday when we go for our lighting class.  If not, then I'll be angry.

I said I'd post some pictures from Snowmaggedon.   Here they are!

 Mama?  Why is there this white stuff outside our front door?  I'll taste it to find out what it is...

 Gotta pee... gotta pee... where do i go?

 the drift outside our garage door once peter shoveled it out

 yeah... he's amazing.  took him 2 1/2 hours.

 playing on the drifts the plows left

Smiley, Sweet Baby K

She didn't like the snow, but LOVED her snowman dress!

Comfort food for the Snowtorious B.I.G.

The Internet has already flickered in and out a few times tonight... luckily the power has stayed on!

Although the weather outside is frightful, my family is so delightful!  Both children took great naps today, Peter worked from home, and Basia dog had a fabulous walk in the snow!  Peter was nice enough to take her out... he put his ski goggles on, grabbed the indestructible camera, and off they went! 

My job was dinner tonight, and with the weather being the way it was, tonight was all about comfort food that we could share together as a family.  First up:  Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese.  Deeeeelicous!  We added a little bit of bacon in for the smoky saltiness, and it was a crowd pleaser.  I could easily see pulling the mom thing and adding a bag of frozen mixed vegetables into it to make it packed with even more veggie goodness.

After that, I thought it would be a good time to try a new dessert.  I read about these Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Caramel Club Bars over at PickyPalate.com, and knew I had to try them out.  Don't you want to just lick the screen at this picture?

I changed the peanut butter to butterscotch... Peter's not the biggest peanut butter fan (?!?), so I adapted her recipe to fit our needs.  My caramel didn't come out nearly as well as hers did... it was really gritty.  However, the end result tasted good anyway and Peter told me they were worth trying again. 

I'm so looking forward to tomorrow.  Peter is staying home again, and hopefully the snow will stop long enough, the weather won't be too cold, and Kayla can nap long enough that we can take the Little Man out in the snow for a good time.  I'm hoping to at least take the indestructible camera out for a bit tomorrow, and finally make those chicken nuggets I've been talking about. 

How are you surviving the weather?  I hope all your electricity stays on, your Internet stays available, and your hot chocolate supply doesn't run low.  :)

Catch Up

I'll be posting a new recipe later today, but I wanted to post some that were from my original email list before I started blogging.

Did you see the new Recipes tab at the top of the page?  Go there if you need to find a specific recipe :)

So... here we go with some old recipes, just so I can get them up here.

First up... Tex Mex Salad and Chili Picante adapted from Weight Watchers!

Next up, Chicken with Fontina and Fresh Blueberry Sauce with Ginger Roasted Green Beans

adapted from Weight Watchers!

 

Now... Roast Beef Panini with Horse Radish Goat Cheese Spread and Butternut Squash Fries

adapted from Weight Watchers and Hungry Girl

And finally, Greek Salad and Chicken Skewers with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

adapted from Eat Shrink and Be Merry!

Be on the lookout...  more are coming tonight!

Picadillo, Rice and Beans, and other new things.

Today was a day for trying something(s) new.

The day started with Peter ripping apart our pink bucket chair.  Let me talk about the chair for a second... my college roommate Ashley and I picked up the two ugly pink bucket chairs at a yard sale for either $10 or $20 a piece.  They survived 4 years of college, some time at my mom's house, and then became Peter's dad Leo's favorite chair whenever he came over.  We decided some time ago that one of them would be in Kayla's room.  I found the plaid fabric on a major sale over at Joann's ($4.99 a yard!), and anxiously waited for Peter to help.  He did some research (thanks YouTube!) and started the project today.  Here are a few pictures...

As far as the other chair, it's going with Leo down to Florida.  He's moving down there on Saturday!  This way, he'll have something comfortable to sit on, and Liz can cover it however she wants :) 

Since he's moving Saturday, he came up and spent the afternoon with Kayla and Jason.  Leo is such a good sport, and doesn't care what we make for dinner. 

I think I might have given Peter a complex about not choosing recipes the past two weeks, so he was all over it today.  His choices aren't what I would have chosen, but he'll be doing the cooking.  Tonight, he decided to try his hand at picadillo and Cuban style rice and beans. 

The picadillo was different than your average meat mixture to put in a tortilla... the chicken, chipolte and tomatoes made it savory, but the apples, raisins and cinnamon definitely added a sweetness.  I didn't like the first tortilla I made.  I know I don't like cinnamon in savory dishes.   However, the taste grew on me and I did make a second.  I could easily see stuffing this in peppers or zuchini to add zero points instead of the tortilla.  For a point value of 5, and the easiness of the recipe, I'd try it again.

The rice and beans were ok.  We only had 1 can of black beans in the house, so Peter had to soak some dried black beans.  Maybe that's why the final mixture was dry?  It was only okay, not very flavorful, and worth 5 points because of the rice.  If he were to make it again, I'd rather have another tortilla with the picadillo and skip the rice.

I was the one who did the shopping this week, and I think everyone and their mother was at the grocery store getting ready for the blizzard that supposedly will hit us this week.  I was frustrated, in the baking asile, and got hit with the inspiration for this cake... it's one of my favorite chocolate cakes.  The key to the cake is letting your cream cheese really soften before you make the frosting... otherwise you'll have little specks of cream cheese instead of smooth creaminess. 

Green Chili Chicken and Lime Soup

The soup I'm about to share for you has quickly turned
into a Tarnawa family favorite. 
I found the recipe for this soup over at Picky Palate.  Look how beautiful she made it look!

 

I exchanged rice for pasta, added a few seasonings, and found the Points Plus value... which is surprisingly 5 points a serving!   I love the punch of lime in the broth, the heat from the chilies and the freshness of cilantro. 

And it makes a HUGE pot of soup.   HUGE!  

My pictures aren't nearly as good as hers... is it summer yet so I can cook with natural light?  I was too lazy to get the fancy pants flash thing Peter got me for the holidays.  I just wanted you to see the "stuff" in the soup before you see my wimpy final picture in the recipe.

There are a few pictures that I took today that I just need to share.

First up:  Sweet Baby K sitting in the Bumbo.  Wearing leg warmers.

You saw from today's earlier post that Jason's feeding himself.  

Watch what Little Man can do with his yogurt.

So, of course Daddy just had to join in on the fun!