Two things: I got the breadmaker I wanted (which is baking as we speak!)
New skates are very tight. Not sure if this is just because I need to break them in to my feet or if they are indeed a scant too small. My feet hurt, but not like the hurt I had with my old skates.
Kiddo reports pain on the bony parts of his ankles, so I will investigate pads for that part of his feet.
I filled out the form for privates.
BREAD NAO PLS!!!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Yes, it's Spinach and leek soup night!
View recipe here.
Here's my math:
Spinach, non organic, $1.49
Leeks, Organic $3.00
Can o beans: $.65
Garlic and Spices: Estimate $.25
Chicken broth: $1.49
Bag of small pasta: $.40
Eight servings? $.91 cents each.
Freezes great and is perfect with a dollop of siricha hot sauce.
The trouble with leeks is that the dirt tends to hide in the tick leaves, and I often don't catch it until I'm about to toss it in the pot. I cook mine in my 4qt dutch oven.
And it's midweek cleaning night: Bleach all kitchen and bathroom surfaces, tidy the bedrooms, sweep all floors and dust.
After Kiddo goes to bed I will start to paint the Snoopy. I sketched him out last night and it's not half bad!
View recipe here.
Here's my math:
Spinach, non organic, $1.49
Leeks, Organic $3.00
Can o beans: $.65
Garlic and Spices: Estimate $.25
Chicken broth: $1.49
Bag of small pasta: $.40
Eight servings? $.91 cents each.
Freezes great and is perfect with a dollop of siricha hot sauce.
The trouble with leeks is that the dirt tends to hide in the tick leaves, and I often don't catch it until I'm about to toss it in the pot. I cook mine in my 4qt dutch oven.
And it's midweek cleaning night: Bleach all kitchen and bathroom surfaces, tidy the bedrooms, sweep all floors and dust.
After Kiddo goes to bed I will start to paint the Snoopy. I sketched him out last night and it's not half bad!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Goulash
This is Kiddo's favorite food. I'm pleased that one of my home recipes is a favorite, but this is incredibly easy and quick.
You need:
1 lb. ground meat. Beef, turkey, chicken whatever. I haven't tried a meat sub but I'm sure it would be fine.
1 big oni0n. Vidalias are great if they're in season.
3 Ribs celery.
2 big Carrots.
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes. Italian style if possible.
1 small can tomato paste.
2 cups pasta. I use whatever is left; tonight was a rotini and egg noodle mix. Tasted great.
Cheese. Again, whatever you've got. Cheddar is good, american is fine, I've even used string cheese in a pinch.
Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste. (If you use American Cheese, taste before adding salt. American cheese has a high sodium content and you might not need it.)
Okay, toss the meat into a dutch oven or stew pot. Turn heat on med/low. Dice up onion, celery and carrots, and add that to the pot. Turn up the heat a bit and let everyone cook. While that's happening, cook the pasta. When the onion and celery begin to turn and the meat is brown, kill the heat and drain off some of the fat. (I would think that with a meat sub, some oil would be in order.) Add the tomatoes, juice and all, and the tomato paste. add one tomato paste can's worth of water. Turn the heat back on, stir thoroughly. By now the pasta should be done, so drain. Toss it in the meat mix and kill the heat. Add the cheese, stir to melt.
Voila. Shouldn't have taken more than 20 minutes. A big pot like this gives me 5 or 6 servings of leftovers, and is great cold for breakfast. Leftovers hold for about ten days. Very cheap, depending on which brands you use, the math works out to about 1.20 to .75 per serving (beef or turkey base) of 1 cup. More pasta can stretch this even further. I've found this doesn't lose it's popularity despite the heat of summer, so I may have to try a camp version.
Next up; Spinach and Leek Soup.
You need:
1 lb. ground meat. Beef, turkey, chicken whatever. I haven't tried a meat sub but I'm sure it would be fine.
1 big oni0n. Vidalias are great if they're in season.
3 Ribs celery.
2 big Carrots.
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes. Italian style if possible.
1 small can tomato paste.
2 cups pasta. I use whatever is left; tonight was a rotini and egg noodle mix. Tasted great.
Cheese. Again, whatever you've got. Cheddar is good, american is fine, I've even used string cheese in a pinch.
Garlic Salt and Pepper to taste. (If you use American Cheese, taste before adding salt. American cheese has a high sodium content and you might not need it.)
Okay, toss the meat into a dutch oven or stew pot. Turn heat on med/low. Dice up onion, celery and carrots, and add that to the pot. Turn up the heat a bit and let everyone cook. While that's happening, cook the pasta. When the onion and celery begin to turn and the meat is brown, kill the heat and drain off some of the fat. (I would think that with a meat sub, some oil would be in order.) Add the tomatoes, juice and all, and the tomato paste. add one tomato paste can's worth of water. Turn the heat back on, stir thoroughly. By now the pasta should be done, so drain. Toss it in the meat mix and kill the heat. Add the cheese, stir to melt.
Voila. Shouldn't have taken more than 20 minutes. A big pot like this gives me 5 or 6 servings of leftovers, and is great cold for breakfast. Leftovers hold for about ten days. Very cheap, depending on which brands you use, the math works out to about 1.20 to .75 per serving (beef or turkey base) of 1 cup. More pasta can stretch this even further. I've found this doesn't lose it's popularity despite the heat of summer, so I may have to try a camp version.
Next up; Spinach and Leek Soup.
Weekly Menu
I had to do the menu Saturday due to excessive volunteer work and timing on Sunday just wouldn't have worked out. Transitioning from Winter to Summer fare is always hard, because I'm a leftover cook and fresh foods typically don't last as long as I need them to.
Monday: Jambalaya in the crock pot. DH can eat this while he's home all week. We ate until we were stuffed and there's still three quarts in the fridge for later. (Bonus; Frozen Shrimp comes in a 2 lb bag, only 1 lb goes in the Jambalaya. That leaves me 1 lb to toss on the Grill this weekend!)
Tuesday: Goulash. We ate something Kiddo hates last night, so tonight is his favorite. this will also leave lots of leftovers and is good cold. I'll post that recipe this weekend.
Wednesday: Spinach and Leek Soup. Very nice Summer Soup. Very light, and will provide leftovers.
Thursday: I am slipping out of work early so I can hit the PS and try out my new skates. Afterwards, Tuna Salad Sandwiches. We should get home by 8pm.
Friday: This is payoff night. Kiddo and I can reheat whatever we want, and then hurry out to hit the Ice until 9pm. (And he wants to stop at the Dominick's on the way home for Cookie Crisp. Done.)
I don't cook at all on the weekend. There's lots leftover to reheat and we usually are on the road for lunch.
I try to make menu choices segue into each other for the following week, so ingredients don't get abandoned. Last week's pasta that didn't get cooked goes into the Goulash this week. Lots of rotation goes on in my kitchen.
I had a thought to paint a skating Snoopy on Kiddo's Skate bag. He definitely wants that! So, no more boring black bag. I'll hit the craft store for fabric paint.
Monday: Jambalaya in the crock pot. DH can eat this while he's home all week. We ate until we were stuffed and there's still three quarts in the fridge for later. (Bonus; Frozen Shrimp comes in a 2 lb bag, only 1 lb goes in the Jambalaya. That leaves me 1 lb to toss on the Grill this weekend!)
Tuesday: Goulash. We ate something Kiddo hates last night, so tonight is his favorite. this will also leave lots of leftovers and is good cold. I'll post that recipe this weekend.
Wednesday: Spinach and Leek Soup. Very nice Summer Soup. Very light, and will provide leftovers.
Thursday: I am slipping out of work early so I can hit the PS and try out my new skates. Afterwards, Tuna Salad Sandwiches. We should get home by 8pm.
Friday: This is payoff night. Kiddo and I can reheat whatever we want, and then hurry out to hit the Ice until 9pm. (And he wants to stop at the Dominick's on the way home for Cookie Crisp. Done.)
I don't cook at all on the weekend. There's lots leftover to reheat and we usually are on the road for lunch.
I try to make menu choices segue into each other for the following week, so ingredients don't get abandoned. Last week's pasta that didn't get cooked goes into the Goulash this week. Lots of rotation goes on in my kitchen.
I had a thought to paint a skating Snoopy on Kiddo's Skate bag. He definitely wants that! So, no more boring black bag. I'll hit the craft store for fabric paint.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Too many girls....
This was the reaction to the ice show by Kiddo. "More girls," he'd sigh as a bevy of beauties began skating. "Why are there so many girls?"
Here we go.
"There's a boy soloist, he's pretty good," I pointed him out. He was good, great spins! "There's a group of boys."
But sadly, out of a two hour show, there was: One boy soloist. Two boys together. A groupd of ten or so boys, and one uncomfortable looking boy in a group of girls. That's thirteen boys maybe. Fifteen tops.
Kiddo perked up everytime a boy took to the ice, and applauded only the boys. He wants a guy as his private coach, and I said I'd see what I could do.
I emailed DH that night, expressing Kiddo's sadness over the lack of boys, and DH agreed. There is nothing to encourage boys to skate, other than "so the girls can do pairs." Even on the internets, every article bemoaning the lack of males spends half the page saying that girls NEED the boys to do pairs. Kiddo doesn't want to do pairs, and he's said that from day one. Doubtless, he's six. He may well change his mind as he begins to see girls as less of an annoyance and more as nice legs. But for now, there's nothing out there telling him to skate for himself. Nothing but me and dad.
We went to get skates sharpened, and I got him his own skate bag. (Not a Zuca bag, I refuse.) It's black. My other choices were; teal, pink, pink zebra stripe, glitter blue, glitter silver, hot pink and leopard print teal. I got him blade guards. They are black. My other choices were; glitter rainbow, pink, glitter pink, purple, purple glitter, light up rainbow (HA!) and pearlized teal. Did we pick up any skatewear? Not a chance. The walls were all dresses, fitted tees, leggings with hot pink and teal stripes, and sweatshirts emblazoned "SK8TRGURL."
You see my dilemma?
I need a male coach, and I need one now. I need Kiddo to see that not only can boys skate, but boys can tear up the ice in ways girls can't. That he doesn't have to do pairs. Girls can be all pink and glitter, boys can SKATE. In January, had anyone told me that Kiddo would take a crushing fall and GET UP to KEEP SKATING, I would never have believed it. Kiddo quit everything at the drop of a hat, but not this. I don't want him to lose this.
He doesn't want to be in the winter show, but maybe I can get him to work backstage. *Sigh* I jsut go one day at a time.
Here we go.
"There's a boy soloist, he's pretty good," I pointed him out. He was good, great spins! "There's a group of boys."
But sadly, out of a two hour show, there was: One boy soloist. Two boys together. A groupd of ten or so boys, and one uncomfortable looking boy in a group of girls. That's thirteen boys maybe. Fifteen tops.
Kiddo perked up everytime a boy took to the ice, and applauded only the boys. He wants a guy as his private coach, and I said I'd see what I could do.
I emailed DH that night, expressing Kiddo's sadness over the lack of boys, and DH agreed. There is nothing to encourage boys to skate, other than "so the girls can do pairs." Even on the internets, every article bemoaning the lack of males spends half the page saying that girls NEED the boys to do pairs. Kiddo doesn't want to do pairs, and he's said that from day one. Doubtless, he's six. He may well change his mind as he begins to see girls as less of an annoyance and more as nice legs. But for now, there's nothing out there telling him to skate for himself. Nothing but me and dad.
We went to get skates sharpened, and I got him his own skate bag. (Not a Zuca bag, I refuse.) It's black. My other choices were; teal, pink, pink zebra stripe, glitter blue, glitter silver, hot pink and leopard print teal. I got him blade guards. They are black. My other choices were; glitter rainbow, pink, glitter pink, purple, purple glitter, light up rainbow (HA!) and pearlized teal. Did we pick up any skatewear? Not a chance. The walls were all dresses, fitted tees, leggings with hot pink and teal stripes, and sweatshirts emblazoned "SK8TRGURL."
You see my dilemma?
I need a male coach, and I need one now. I need Kiddo to see that not only can boys skate, but boys can tear up the ice in ways girls can't. That he doesn't have to do pairs. Girls can be all pink and glitter, boys can SKATE. In January, had anyone told me that Kiddo would take a crushing fall and GET UP to KEEP SKATING, I would never have believed it. Kiddo quit everything at the drop of a hat, but not this. I don't want him to lose this.
He doesn't want to be in the winter show, but maybe I can get him to work backstage. *Sigh* I jsut go one day at a time.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Whoa
So I volunteered at the school Carnival. I was painting faces. Mom walks up with her very young son and points to the menu of things I can paint. "Pick one."
The boy points to the star.
"No, pick something boy," says mom. "Pick the soccer ball."
Boy points to soccer ball.
Mom looks at me. "Can you do one on each side?"
Sure, please don't hurt me.
So I begin to paint. Soccer balls are fine. I'm painting and I ask the boy, "Do you play soccer?"
"Yes he plays soccer. He's going to be a big soccer player someday, make millions of dollars. Right baby?"Mom takes over.
Boy looks at the ground.
Uh, wow. I hope none of that was serious.
The boy points to the star.
"No, pick something boy," says mom. "Pick the soccer ball."
Boy points to soccer ball.
Mom looks at me. "Can you do one on each side?"
Sure, please don't hurt me.
So I begin to paint. Soccer balls are fine. I'm painting and I ask the boy, "Do you play soccer?"
"Yes he plays soccer. He's going to be a big soccer player someday, make millions of dollars. Right baby?"Mom takes over.
Boy looks at the ground.
Uh, wow. I hope none of that was serious.
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