Book Club Pick

In the imaginary world where I have enough time to join a book club this book would probably be on my list of must reads.  It pretty much sums up how I feel each night (even if I'm embarrassed to admit it) and it looks ridiculously hilarious.

Go the F--k to Sleep, expresses bedtime frustration

Sticks and Stones...

May break my bones, but chains and whips excite me...

Just the newest little diddy that my son decided to pick up from the radio.  This is Rhianna's new song appropriately titled S&M.  He sings the entire chorus, but his favorite part seems to be "I like it, like it, c'mon, c'mon" which he now sings everywhere - all the time.

I guess I need to start listening to nursery rhymes or the classical station.

Slacker

Let's face it, I'm a slacker.  A slacker at blogging, at cleaning, hell even lately I'm slacking at watching T.V., my DVR hasn't been this full in months.  I'm sure that some of you notice that it has been a long time since I have complained about dealing with school work, well that's because I'm a graduate.  Yes it's true, 3 1/2 years and $70,000 later I got a small piece of paper in the mail saying I now have a Bachelor's Degree.  I dreamed of this time.  I thought about all of the things I could get accomplished when I didn't have to spend hours doing or complaining about homework.  Well the time has come and I have turned into a first class slacker.

I still clean the same amount I did before (just enough), I don't blog as much as I would like, and I sometimes feel that I don't even give as much attention to Mason as I should.  All of this so called "free time" I thought I would have is now consumed by going to bed at a decent hour (I didn't realize how much of my homework got done around 2 am) and reading.  Oh man have I been reading.  I discovered our wonderful local library and I have been going through about a book a day.  I know... nerd alert!  Well I think it is time to put down the books and get motivated.

It is time to face the facts that I need a J.O.B. bad.  I have a lot (a looottt) of student loans to pay off.  I don't want, or expect, my husband to pay these off since I am the one that made the (misguided) choice to go to the school I attended.  Leaving Mason is not going to happen.  I can't.  Literally I cannot imagine leaving my son to go to a job that would barely cover what I would have to pay the babysitter.  It just isn't worth it to me.  Since my options are basically limited to starring in internet porn or babysitting for another family I have decided to (obviously) become a babysitter.  Unless any of you have a better idea for how to make money from home without leaving my child that doesn't involve a scam or getting naked :)

This new venture isn't ideal, but it will hopefully allow me to earn enough to pay off my loans and stay home with Mason.  I'm sure it will take some adjusting to but it's better than the alternative. Let's just hope I find someone willing to let me watch their child while I have Mason and pay me lots too!

Hardest. Job. Ever.

I've done a lot of things that I have considered to be difficult, even at times thinking it was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do.  Oh if I only knew...

Waitressing at 16 while shy and completely clumsy. Hard.

Waitressing at 18 while shy and completely clumsy to stuck up Orange County people. Hard

Spending most of the first year of our marriage in different countries. Hard

Selling underwear and bras to stuck up people. Hard

Managing the people selling underwear to stuck up people. Hard

Selling underwear to men that think it is okay to try on a thong and show you (true story, sadly). Hard.

Selling underwear and working 45-50 hours a week while really fat and really pregnant. Hard.

Labor. Hard.

Breastfeeding. Hard.

Sleep Training a very strong willed toddler. Hardest. Job. Ever.

Lord help me if it gets worse than this.

Bye-bye Binky ???

Let me just start this tale by saying that I know that I should have taken away his binky (paci, pacifier, sucky, whatever you call it) a long time ago.  In fact we probably should have never even given it to him since he didn't really take to it until he was about 3 or 4 months old; but my God did the child learn to love that damn thing.  He would take it all day every day if I would let him, he even learned a way of holding it to the side of his mouth to talk around it and I've seen him hold it in his mouth during a sneeze.  They were the best of friends, which I think is why the last 3 weeks have been (mostly) pure hell.

I decided to take away the binky about 3 weeks ago now and for the first week we were golden.  The first night he asked for it and cried, but after that it wasn't mentioned again and he was going to bed like normal - awake and calming himself down into sleep.  Then the flip switched.  I don't know what happened but the child must have figured out that the binky was gone for good.  He would scream, cry, bang his head, and thrash around.  This was at nap time and bed time too.  I have actually been able to lift more weight at the gym and my arms are looking more toned and I didn't know why; then it dawned on me, having a WWE wrestling match with a 30 pound toddler for 30 minutes twice a day can build up some serious muscle.

I thought the worst of it was over, we were going to get through it and get him back to a normal bedtime and nap time routine.  Then came the after nap screaming fits.  I don't think I can effectively put into words how freakin insane these have been.  They have brought me to tears, made me yell (which in turn brought me to even more tears because I felt like a mean mommy), and lasted for two weeks now.  Mason will wake up after about 40 - 60 minutes of sleep, which isn't enough, and scream, yell, and thrash for an average of 30 minutes.  He doesn't want to rock, lay down, sit on the couch, or even eat.  It is draining.  I have managed to get the fits down to about 5-10 minutes but they still go on every day.  He is waking up in a fit of rage with no binky to calm him and has an attack.

Hopefully the worst of it is over and we can return to normal.  If I had known it would be like this I might have waited, but then he would end up one of those 5 year old kids walking into Kindergarten with a binky hanging out of his mouth.  Lesson of the day, listen to ALL of the books and Dr.'s that say take away the binky by a year or before, they may just know what they are talking about.

It's days like this...

It's days like this that make me realize what a great family I have.  Well technically it was yesterday, today's been a little more difficult :)

If you ever think you have a disobedient child and think there is no hope, take them to an amusement park.  We went to Sea World yesterday and Mason was one of the most polite and well behaved people there, young and old.  He said excuse me to a little boy who was holding up the line in the play area, said thank you to the man that gave us our lunch, and walked around like a big boy with no stroller! 

Every time I go to Sea World I am shocked by the number of odd, obese, or rude people.  I guess it brings out all types and I probably shouldn't judge since I can be odd, I used to be obese, and I can be rude without realizing it, oops!

Well since the dinner challenge is technically over (even though I was pretty much a failure toward the end) I won't be posting as much food but I did want to leave you with a few of the gems that I cooked in the past week.

Homemade Granola Bars

These are delicious and supposed to be for kids, but I ate most of the first batch so I had to make more for Mason!

2 cups oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar (calls for 3/4 cup, but I cut it down)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup honey (calls for 1/2 cup, but I cut it down again)

1/2 cup applesauce

1 apple, diced small

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray a 9x13 pan well with non-stick cooking spray.

Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl.  Make a well in the middle and pour in the wet ingredients, including the apple.  Mix with hands until very well combined.  Press into pan.  Bake at 350 for30-35 minutes or until golden brown around edges.

Let cool for about 5 minutes then slice, if you wait too long they will become too hard.

Mushroom "Veggie" Burgers

I cannot believe after 4 1/2 years of marriage I finally convinced my husband to eat these (and he actually liked them)!

4 large portabello mushroom caps, cleaned
1 cup light balsamic vinagrette
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 whole wheat buns (we used the sandwich thins)
Garnishes (grilled red onions, cheese, etc.)

Combine the vinagrette, herbs, and garlic.  Pour over mushroom caps and let marinate for up to 2 hours.  Grill on med-high heat for about 5-7 minutes per side.  Put on toasted buns, enjoy!

Nights 28 and 29

Bought a new pair of shorts today at Victoria's Secret... talk about motivation to do more squats and get a spray tan.  These shorts are probably the reason why last night I had polenta pancakes with bacon and tonight I had a protein shake.  It's amazing what seeing your legs in a fitting room mirror can do to a person.

Night 28

Polenta Pancakes with Turkey Bacon

There's bacon... IN the pancakes.  Genius I know. 

I made the recipe for the batter myself and I thought it was a little thin.  I would probably change the flour from 1/4 cup to 1/2 a cup and decrease the polenta to 1/4 a cup next time.

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup polenta "corn grits"

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

2 egg whites

2 tbsp applesauce

Turkey bacon, cooked and crumbled

Sift first four ingredients together in bowl.  Blend milk, eggs, and applesauce together and add to flour mixture.  Combine until well blended.  Add in bacon crumbles.  Cook like regular pancakes!

Night 28

Protein Shake

I have been buying this particular brand of protein shake for a while, but it wasn't until recently we started adding fruit in and blending it up, it makes it soo much better!

Blend the banana, two strawberries, and the shake up for a healthy meal.  I've thought about adding peanut butter instead of strawberries, extra protein and yummy goodness.

Night 27?

So I am apparently a complete blogging failure at this month long challenge thing...

Today was Valentine's Day.  I spent it with one of my sweeties while the other had duty.  I'm really (really) ok with the fact that Scott had to work, it meant I got to sit on the couch in my sweats and watch stupid Bravo reality shows all night and eat delicious buttery rolls and homemade frosting right out of the container.

Nine years ago today Scott sent me a little red teddy bear and a rose at school, that's what started it all, so sweet.  To make up for all that sweetness right at first I haven't received anything for the past eight years, which is ok by me.  I don't think that so much emphasis should be put on one day, it's a lot of pressure, not to mention a lot of money.  I will admit I did get excited to take Mason to his first Valentine's party and fill out the little cards, it's so much fun to watch him experience these things!

Since I have no idea what meals I have missed I will post a highlight reel of sorts of the best meals over the last few days.

Cheesy Potatoes with Ham Steak

1 bag frozen hash browns, the cubed kind

1/2 cup sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

4 cups shredded cheese, I use a mixture of cheddar and jack

1 Ham steak, cubed

Corn Flakes, crushed

Mix all ingredients except corn flakes together in a large bowl.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan.  Top with crushed cereal and spray top with non stick spray to help brown.  Top with foil and bake for about 50 minutes at 350 until golden and bubbly.

Chicken and Noodles with Mashed Potatoes

1 roasting chicken

1 bag fresh noodles

6-7 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cooked and mashed

Place chicken in large stock pot.  Cover with water.  Add salt and pepper to pot.  Bring to a boil and cook until done, I've never timed it but I'm going to say about 20-30 minutes depending on size of chicken.  Take chicken out of the water and place on a sheet pan to cool.  Once cooled remove skin and shred chicken off the bone, putting it back into the pot.  Bring back to a boil and add noodles.  Cook according to noodle directions, usually about 15-20 more minutes.  Serve over mashed potatoes.

If you are in my house, this meal must MUST be eaten with corn and Rhodes rolls.  They are yeasty, buttery, and delicious! The rolls can be found in the freezer section, they are so easy.



Sweet Treats

Have you ever made dessert before dinner, only to snack on it while cooking and then be too full to eat dinner?  Yeah... me neither... I was just checking.

We have been eating various left overs and easy to make things like pigs in a blanket and chicken nuggets, mostly because I didn't feel like cooking.  Sue me.  I did make a huge pan of delicious Cheesy Potatoes with Ham Steak (recipe to come soon), they were gone in a day.  So since I haven't been making anything exciting I decided to focus on what I like to do the best, bake. 

We walked/jogged to the store today, which ended up being 5 miles round trip, it was an awesome workout.  I'm glad we walked, it helped me burn of some of the calories I plan on consuming when I eat these delicious goodies...

Cherry Kolaches

They used to serve these occasionally when I was in high school.  They are a Czechoslovakian treat and they are yummy! 

Dough:

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water (110° to 115°)

1 1/4 cups warm 2% milk (110° to 115°)

3/8 cup sugar

3/8 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

5 ½ to 6 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 20 oz. can cherry pie filling

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon cold water

Topping:

1 cup powdered sugar

2-4 tablespoons milk

½ teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, butter, salt, eggs and 2 ½ cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a very soft dough. Do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 75 minutes.

Turn onto a well-floured surface. Shape into 1-1/2-in. balls. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine pie filling and sugar. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; gradually stir into filling. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened; set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Using the end of a wooden spoon handle, make an indentation in the center of each dough ball; fill with 2 rounded teaspoons of filling.

Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Drizzle with powdered sugar glaze.

Monkey Bread

My dad is the monkey bread master.  I don't know if I ever even saw my mom make it, it has always been my dad's thing.  This is about 1/2 of a batch, I used some leftover roll dough I had.

This is the reason I didn't eat dinner.

You understand now, don't you?

 24 Rhodes Rolls dough balls thawed but still cold, cut in half

1/2 a cup sugar

2-3 tablespoons cinnamon

1/2 stick butter, melted

Combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.  Roll the dough halves in the butter, then the sugar mixture.  Place into a greased Bunt pan in an even layer.  Once all dough is gone sprinkle remaining sugar mix over top of the dough and pour remaining butter in as well.  Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes or until dough is about 1 inch below the top of the pan.  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes and invert onto plate. Enjoy! 

 

 

Dinner Challenge: Nights 19, 20, and 21

Just realized I haven't posted in three days not two, probably because I've been forcing my family to eat leftovers. 

Tonight's post is going to be extremely quick... I'm not gonna lie, Glee is on and I don't want to wait to watch it.

Night 19

Ahh, Super Bowl Sunday.  My favorite snack day of the year.  We ordered cheese pizza and breadsticks and ate ourselves into a carb coma.  I went to the gym later that night to try and undo some of the damage, but no such luck, which explains my next two nights of dinner.

Night 20

Leftover night!  Scott had pizza and chicken salad... it must be nice to have a lightning fast metabolism.  Mason had pasta, chicken, and green beans.  That boy has been eating nothing but plain whole wheat pasta lately, weird but pretty healthy. 

I had a protein shake... blended with a banana.  End of story.

Night 21

I fixed jalapeno sausage with marinara sauce and pasta.  Scott is the only one that actually ate this version. 

Mason's Plate

Plain pasta, cottage cheese, and fruit.  This child LOVES cottage cheese.  He also likes to feed it to himself, major mess!

Scott's Plate

Sausage, Sauce, and Pasta

Just as the meal was intended to be eaten.

My Plate

Steamed broccoli and sauce

I had to make up for all that damn pizza somewhere and I felt like more carbs would lead me down a bad path.  This whole delicious bowl was a mere 220 calories! 

Dinner Challenge: Nights 17 and 18

Well it's going to be an interesting time in our lives, I can already tell.  Mason has started singing along to songs lately which is soo cute, his current favorite is Dynamite by Taio Cruz.  The problem is a lot of the songs that are on Scott's Ipod are not child appropriate, we found this out today when Mason started saying bad ass and f-ing nightmare.  Nightmare is right!  We just ignore it and definitely don't play those songs again, I'm thinking of buying a few classical CD's to play when we are in the car together, they say that can help make children smarter and obviously we need to undo the damage that we have already done!

Night 17

For this dinner I fixed biscuits and gravy.  I also fixed bacon... well it was turkey bacon but it still counts.

We found packaged biscuits that are all natural without any preservatives or artificial anything, they were actually very good! I also used turkey sausage in my gravy, not the best, but it beats all the fat and grease in regular sausage.

For gravy:

Brown sausage in large skillet.  Add about 1/4 cup of flour, sprinkling it over the cooked sausage.  Stir around and cook for a few minutes, letting the flour get absorbed into the sausage.  Add salt and pepper (lots of pepper).  Pour in about 2 cups or so of milk.  Cook until it begins to simmer, simmer for about 5 minutes or until gravy is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 

Night 18

I have a fear.

That fear is under cooked chicken.

To overcome this fear I frequently cube up my chicken breasts before I cook them so I know they are done.

Like this:

Then to make them tasty I coat them in Dijon mustard.

Like this:

Then I brown them in a skillet, doing my best to be rational and stop cooking them before they are briquettes of chicken.   Tonight turned out pretty well, still juicy, but done!

Mason's plate.

Notice the shredded cheese.  This is his new obsession... it's messy to say the least.

My plate.  Just chicken.

I'm prepping for all the pizza I'm going to consume during the Super Bowl.

Scott's "salad"

Look at all that dressing.  I wonder what that does to his insides?

Dinner Challenge: Nights 15 and 16

Well yesterday was my birthday, I turned the big 2-4!  I have always felt old at heart which is fitting since we ate out for dinner at the late hour of 4:00, we were seated next to a couple that had walkers AND electric chairs, now that's serious. 

We spent the day shopping and having fun, even though it was really windy, like semi-trucks flipped over on the freeway windy.  We ate out at a fish restaurant that is inside Bass Pro, which is weird since I wouldn't normally be caught dead in a Bass Pro, especially on my birthday, but Mason loves looking at everything and the restaurant has great fish so it was worth it.

Night 15

Grilled Mahi Mahi with caramelized onions

This was at the Islamadora Fish Company Restaurant. 

Night 16

Hamburgers

Tonight was quite the down grade from yesterday.  In fact, I didn't even cook these, Scott did!  I ate birthday candy most of the day (thanks Scott) so Mason and Scott ate hamburgers on the grill. 

Mason took apart his burger, licked off the cheese, ate the patty, squished the bun back together and ate it.  It's like nothing can be eaten in its intended form.

Dinner Challenge: Nights 13 and 14

So I've decided that posting every night is getting a little ridiculous.  I'm going to move to every other night.  We haven't been eating that much interesting stuff anyway, seriously, night 13 was cereal...

Night 13

Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheat's with a touch of fruit inside

This new cereal is amazing!  It tastes kind of like a little mini pop tart in milk, we loved it.  We were car shopping all day and we bought cereal on our way home for the morning... poor box didn't even make it out of the Target parking lot. 

Night 14

Turkey Pie

Tonight I was a little more adventurous in the kitchen. We used the leftover turkey to make a pie and it was yummy! 

1 Pie Crust ( I used pre-made, pie crusts are my Everest, I can never get them right)

2 cups cooked turkey breast, chopped

1/2 cup green beans

1/2 cup corn

1 jar roasted turkey gravy

4 large potatoes, mashed

1/4 cup shredded cheese

Assemble first four ingredients into pie crust, top with mashed potatoes and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.  Top with cheese and bake for additional 10 minutes.  If the crust of the pie start to get too brown cover with pie guards or aluminum foil.  

Dinner Challenge: Night 12

Today was a fun day. We stayed busy, which in turns means that Mason stayed happy (most of the time).  We started off by going to the gym.  I can tell you with complete honesty that I did not want to go at all, but I have realized that if we don't go and we stay home in the mornings by 11:30 I want to pull my hair out because Mason is being a monster.  Those girls at the gym are so great, they spoil him a lot.  I have them to thank for my mental and physical health!

Scott had duty today so it was just the two of us.  We had frozen yogurt, played with cars all afternoon, and watched football, a dream day for my little man. This also meant that supper was simple since Mason revolts if I am in the kitchen for more than 10 seconds without him.

Night 12

You may be asking yourself where are the pictures. The truth...

I've been lazy.  The memory card has been upstairs while the supper is downstairs.  I'm sure you can see my dilemma.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

4 eggs, hard boiled and chopped

1/4 cup light Miracle Whip

1/4 cup Dijon Mustard

2 tsp dill relish

Salt

Pepper

Whole wheat bread

Combine all ingredients except bread in medium bowl.  Mix to combine and refrigerate for at least 3 hours to chill and let flavors combine.  This version is a little heavier on the egg than I normally would use, we had one leftover chicken breast so I substituted more egg for chicken.

*Picky eater tip: I spread sweet potato baby food on Mason's bread before putting on the chicken salad.  This helps get more veggies into them without them realizing your trick!

Dinner Challenge: Night 11

Short post tonight because it's Saturday and I have a hot date.

Wait... I think I confused my life with someone else for a minute.

Anyway, I usually plan all of our meals for two weeks, but I dropped the ball this time and we were stuck with two days of nothing, which won't cut it in this house.  I decided to defrost a turkey we got for Thanksgiving and never used.  We smoked it...it was awesome.

Night 11

Smoked Turkey

I'm not posting pictures, I forgot to take them before we carved it and no one wants pictures of a turkey carcass, it's just nasty.

We rubbed the turkey beforehand with a mixture of brown sugar, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and chili powder.  It smoked for 3 hours and finished in the oven for 45 minutes at 375. 

Mason ate it with sweet potatoes and a piece of cheese.  Scott had two huge sandwiches; I decided to try to show some restraint after eating more than my share of cinnamon rolls yesterday and just ate the turkey with a little Dijon mustard to dip it in.  It was a success all around.

Dinner Challenge: Night 10

Is it possible that all of the trash collectors in Riverside county are monitoring my son's sleeping habits so they know to come by and make a ton of noise right as he falls asleep?  Seems questionable and yet it happens every Friday.

Tonight I am making one of our favorite meals.  We usually eat this when it is cold out, but I got tired of waiting for a cold snap (hear that East Coast, waiting for the cold, ha ha ha). Two of our friends just had the most adorable little baby boy and I decided to make extra to take over to them, which I haven't told them yet. So... Brandy if you read this, chili and cinnamon rolls is what I have to drop off.

Night 10

Chili and Cinnamon Rolls

Yeast, water, flour, and a little time.  Seems simple enough and yet it produces some of the most delicious things in the world, one of them being cinnamon rolls.  Oh how I love to bake!

This little ball of dough...

Mixed with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, and of course butter...

Topped with a little icing...

Turns into a pan full of gooey yummy pastry!

 And of course there is the chili too.



Click Here for Chili Recipe

Click Here for Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

I originally found this in Bon Appetit Magazine, but I made a few changes so they come out how we like them.

Dough:

1 cup milk

3 tablespoons butter

3 1/2 cups (or more) flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

2 1/4 tsp rapid rise yeast (from two envelopes)

1 tsp salt

non-stick spray

Filling:

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons cinnamon

1/2 stick butter

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tablespoons (or more) of milk

For Dough:

Combine milk and butter in glass measuring cup.  Microwave until butter melts and mixture is warmed to about 120 or 130 degrees, about 45 seconds.  Pour into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment.  Add in 1 cup flour, sugar, egg, yeast, and salt.  Beat on low for 3 minutes, occasionally scraping the bowl.  Slowly add in 2 1/2 cups flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl.  If dough is very sticky add in a little more flour, a tablespoon at a time.  I have found I have to use 2 additional tablespoons.  Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.  (This is a very effective arm workout).  Put into large bowl that has been oiled with non-stick spray, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and then kitchen towel, leaving in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours.

For Filling:

Mix brown sugar and cinnamon in bowl.

Punch down dough.  Transfer to floured surface and roll out to 15x11 inch rectangle.  If you can actually get yours to a rectangle, you are a genius, mine ends up more rounded, but it still works.

Rub the 1/2 stick of butter over the dough leaving a 1/2 inch gap along the border.  Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar mixture over the dough.  Starting at one long end, roll dough up into a log, pinching as you go along to keep it tight.  Cut, seam side down, into 18 equal pieces. 

Spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray.  Put rolls in cut side up, there will be no space between rolls.  Cover with plastic wrap and kitchen towel.  Let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 40 minutes. 

Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.

For Glaze:

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in small bowl.  Mix with a fork until smooth.  It should be pretty thin in consistency, if it isn't add a very small amount of milk at a time.

Drizzle over hot rolls fresh out of the oven and enjoy!



Chili Recipe

2 lbs ground turkey

1/2 a yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large can tomato juice (64 oz.)

1 can chili beans

Chili seasoning - We use a boxed kit that has chili seasoning, cayenne pepper, and masa flour to thicken it

Brown turkey, add in onions and garlic, cook until onions are soft. Add in seasoning, stir well.  Add in tomato juice and simmer for 1 hour.  Add in beans and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.  Top with cheese, crackers, and if you are like my husband, a cinnamon roll (gross I know).

Dinner Challenge: Night 9

Today I was really motivated. I started by cleaning, working out, and even making chicken salad for sandwiches for supper, all before 12:00.  I had a reason behind my motivation, it is Mom's Night Out with my group tonight.  So I had a great time talking and eating with my friends right??

Wrong.

Scott had to work 48 hours straight and was in a horrid mood when he came home.  I ended up not going and fixing a different supper, it's a double win for me, huh.

Night 9

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes with Vanilla Brown Sugar Syrup

again inspired by the wonderful Joy the Baker (I really love this girl)

The syrup in this recipe is so delicious I want to figure out a way to bathe in it. I'm dead serious.

Pancakes

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/3 cup cornmeal (I actually used polenta and it turned out great)

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, separated

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cup non-fat milk

1 ripe banana, mashed

Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl  Whisk together yolks, oil and 1 1/2 cups milk in another bowl and add to the flour mixture, whisking until smooth.  Let batter stand for 5 minutes to allow flour to absorb liquid (batter will thicken).

Fold in banana.

Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer at moderately high speed until they just hold stiff peaks. With a whisk, gently but thoroughly fold into batter.

Cook on a griddle sprayed with non-stick spray until golden brown on each side and set in the middle.

Syrup

1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups water

3 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine brown sugar, water, butter, and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and bring to a oil, stirring until sugar is dissolved.  Boil until syrupy and reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 12-15 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla, then let cool to warm or room temperature.

Dinner Challenge: Night 8

If intelligence is a deciding factor on whether or not you can donate eggs most of the women in the room with me last night are out... seriously.  When someone sits a nice color coded packet full of information in front of you and then proceeds to go over that information with you and you still ask the same question that was covered on page 3 ten times you do not deserve to give your eggs away.  I'm just saying.

Scott had to work late again tonight, by late I mean all night :(  Mason and I had a late lunch at, where else, Subway so we weren't really that hungry.  Mason ate leftover chicken (poor child will probably revolt one of these days), yogurt, and sweet potatoes.  I made a delicious spinach and pear smoothie. Do you think I'm being sarcastic when I say delicious...

I'm not.

Night 8

Spinach and Pear Smoothie

inspired by Joy the Baker

1 cup spinach leaves

1 pear, diced

1 frozen banana (I sort of forgot this step so mine was just a really really cold banana)

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 cup milk

Handful of blueberries

Combine milk and spinach in a blender, blend until there are no noticeable spinach pieces left.  Add in remaining ingredients and pulse until combined. Enjoy right away... trust me on this, it solidifies and gets grainy within 30 minutes, yuck!