Christmas Only Comes Three Months a Year!

Only 6 more Mondays until Christmas!

I took my birthday off of work.  October 29th.  I was wondering around doing some quiet shopping and there's Christmas stuff everywhere.  Happy Birthday Lauren, it's Christmas!  GOOD GRIEF!  I guess it's fine.  I can ignore it, right?  Not really.

On the most unmentionable day of this week (Monday) I left work to pick up my son from school and was trying to find a radio station without commercials.  I finally landed on one, it was playing "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time." Alright, the Universe knows I hate Monday AND that song.  Nice one.  I change the station because I would rather listen to a crummy commercial, but then I have to hear the awful Candy Kitchen commercial.  COME ON PEOPLE!!! Ocean City is closed, no one ever needs to go to Candy Kitchen anyway.  For the love of everything, please stop playing that commercial.  Touche Monday.

The holidays are just lovely, especially having a little one to share it with.  Maybe there is something to getting into the spirit a littler earlier than usual.  I did feel a little bit of excitement when the Grinch song came on the radio.

Should I forgo my annual list of most hated Christmas songs?  NO.

The following is what I will commit to - Ahem....

I will burn my cinnamon scented candle before Thanksgiving, but I will wait to light the cedar pine candle.  Electric candles in the windows will not be turned on until November 29th, which is good because that gives me 15 days to go buy replacement candles that either got destroyed by baby or cats.  While I may comment here and there about all of the Christmas songs I hate, I will wait to post the official list until the first week of December.  When I see those big blow up Christmas lawn things I will only think to myself that I want to pop them, instead of saying it out loud.  I will not send out Christmas cards with my cats wearing reindeer antlers or Santa hats, even better I just won't send out Christmas cards at all.

I am going to wrap a turkey in bacon for Thanksgiving.  I can't wait.   Merry Thanksgiving!

31 for 31

Change of pace...  I don't feel like talking about food.  I cook all the time, but the thought of writing about it makes me tired.  I decided to make a blog to help me feel creative and then BOOM writing about food became cumbersome to even think about.  I like food.  I like cooking, and eating and making people eat, but right now I just don't feel like talking about it.

My birthday was yesterday.  I'm a whole 31 years old. Whoopee!   I totally forgot.  I was just happy that I had the day to myself and it wasn't on a Monday.  My 30th birthday was a Monday and a flipping hurricane came up the coast.  We were barricaded in our house with a wet basement for four days. Yeah - 31 is better.  I can't knock 30, it was a good year. I hope I can continue our family's positive changes into the coming years.  Any improvement, small or big, is still a step is the right direction.

Let's move onto my 31 for 31.

1. My Mom and Dad.  I'm sure I was a good kid, but kids are exhausting.  Thank you for all you've done so that I turned out that way I am.

2.  My husband.  I'm sorry you married a crazy lady.  You should have done more research.

3. My son.  You are a 200% certified nut.  When you read this when you're older and social medial has taken on a presence greater than it is today, you'll probably Google "My Mom" and you'll see pictures of me from 2001.  Dear, I am so sorry.  Yesterday the Google home page said "Happy Birthday Lauren" and I called it a stalker.  We all have no idea.

4. My friends.  Thank you for all of your birthday wishes.

5. Beer.  You. Are Good.

6. Wine. You. Are. Good.

7. Liquor.  You and I have a relationship that I may never understand.  Please don't give up on me.

8. Food. I like to cook you!

9. Football.  You make me hate you.  Really.

10.  Do you remember sitting in the car as a kid on long drives thinking "WTF??"  I like those now.  Quiet times can be nice.

11.  Writing and listening to music.

12.  Looking at baby pictures of my son.  Thank goodness he's cute, because as I said, he's 200% certified nuts.

13.  The thought of having a food truck someday.

14.  Smelling candles in Walmart on my birthday and making faces at how bad most of them smell. haha.

15.  Buying the good smelling candles!

16.  Playing hide and seek before bedtime with my family.

17. My in-laws.  My husband has such a great family!

18.  Quilts and pillows.

19. Cake.

20. Chocolate.

21.  Roku.

22.  My kitchen.

23.  Netflix.

24.  AMAZON PRIME!

25.  Our de Mayo parties.

26.  Health.

27. Muffins.

28.  Friday nights.

29.  Shoes!

30.  Things that frustrate and stress me out, because when I can finally work thought it, I learn from it and come out better on the other side.

31.  The unknown.

I know my 31 for 31 may seem simple, but so what?  I'm only 31.  That's not even half of what I can expect!  If I can get through a day without my kid trying to chomp someone, or having some cough that sounded like its from the bottom part of his lung then that's a success.  Day by day.  If I don't just do day by day I will probably just run around yelling like an idiot.  Well I may do that anyway, but at least right now I can claim sanity.  Maybe.

Good Call Husband!

It is a rare, quiet Sunday at home.  Our family took a trip to Walmart this morning and we saw all of the typical NFL teams represented...Redskins, Ravens, Eagles.   We even saw a gentleman wearing a Farve Vikings jersey, which I may say is a rarity for the Eastern Shore of Maryland!  I guess you never know what you will see on any given day at Walmart.

Later in the day I took a trip to the local beer and wine store.  This time of year is awesome.  I can still buy the last of the summer brews while browsing the fall selection as well.  I'm not feeling too guilty about buying pumpkin beers, but only because it's been *just* a little bit cooler this weekend.  

It's been a trying afternoon of football...

In order to save my mood for the remainder of the day, I found myself looking up quick bread recipes. Banana, applesauce, oat....I pick applesauce.   I'm about to head on into the kitchen and my husband asks what I'm up to.

"I'm making bread" I say.

"Is it made with beer?" he asks.

Well I guess I need to revise what I am doing.  With a quick search, I found THIS.  Oh glorious easy loaf of bread recipe.  To my delight, I actually have self-rising flour!  This is recipe for real?  Flour, sugar, butter, and beer?  REALLY?  Well what the heck, if it gets messed up I'm only out three minutes of prep time according to this food dot com site.  

 

So what's with the harvest ale?  Well it fell out of the refrigerator earlier and got all shook up, so it was the only logical choice.  I laughed at the three minute prep time, but it was actually pretty accurate. The recipe suggests mixing in the melted butter for a softer bread.  I went with the mixed in method versus the dump on top.  After an hour of baking, and our house smelling great, I have a beautiful loaf of bread. 

That's a good looking loaf of beer bread!

All In A Day's Slice

I am thrilled it is August!  June and July were particularly trying, but that is all the the past now.  The heat wave is over, the travel season is winding down and there's not a full moon until the 21st.  People just seem to be completely nuts when it's a full moon, but we don't have to worry about that for another three weeks...GOOD!

I am just one work day a way from a much anticipated MOM-CATION!  I have a week to play stay at home mom, visit with my friends and family, and most importantly, I get to spend some quality time with my Mom.  I am very much looking forward to all of the projects that we'll get ourselves into.  Awesome.

For the past few weeks I feel like our family has been swimming in potatoes from the CSA.  I have so many of them that I have to share.  Take some to my husband's family, give some to my family, or just eat all of them.  I usually just cut the up and roast them, but I wanted to do something a little different this time.

I bought a mandolin slicer a few months ago, but I have to be honest, it's a scary piece of kitchen equipment. Also, I am undoubtedly very clumsy.  Sharp objects + me = OUCH!  Therefore, I have been very reluctant to even drag this thing out.  I got scared when I took it out of the box and had to wash it!  I love OXO kitchen stuff, it is all so cute and works well.  This is the mandolin slicer I picked out.  It looks innocent in the picture, but don't believe its lies!  I got over my fear and used the french fry slicer, without any bodily harm to myself, and successfully sliced up a bunch of potatoes.  It's not so scary now that I know how to use it.  I'm so resistant to change, just ask my husband.  Love you Dear.

The mandolin slicer does not look scary, but don't trust it!

OLD BAY FRIES!!!!

• Mandolin slicer scary potatoes
• Drizzle potatoes with olive oil
• Copious amounts of Old Bay 
• Bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally 

Did I mention that I also have a ton of tomatoes?  Well I do - slicers and heirlooms to be more specific.  

My colorful assortment of onions and tomatoes.

What in the world am I going to do with all of these tomatoes?  I tried to bake them.  Seems easy enough and luckily it was.  I halved the tomatoes, and next time I will slice them, because while the finished product was pretty to look at, it was a little messy to actually have to eat.

Fries & Tomatoes

Roasted Parmesan Tomatoes

• 4 tomatoes, halved
• Parmesan, shredded on top
• Salt
• Pepper
• Oregano 
• Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes

I know that it is an interesting combination for a meal, but when I started cooking tonight I didn't have any plans so it's just what I came up with on my own.  Potatoes and tomatoes need love, too.  I certainly loved them tonight.  I don't know what I will do when it is winter and I don't have access to all these fresh vegetables.  I think there will be some canning and freezing in the near future.

Good tomato

EAT!

Tuesday...The New Monday?

Is Tuesday the furthest day from Monday or is Tuesday just Monday's quiet twin?  I've had discussions with friends and we all seem to agree that Tuesday can often be just as rough, or even worse than Monday.
So many things can happen during a day, and it may not be anything remarkable, but the little things can add up to one big stress.  It may be an early "Mommy!" call from the room next door, an alarm that goes off just a few minutes too soon, traffic on the way to work, a conversation with someone during the work day, or the fact that you haven't seen your significant other since before 6 a.m., and it's after 7 p.m.  We all wake up in the morning and all probably have the goal of successfully getting through the day and getting back to our families.

Despite all of my ramblings, I do have a point.  It's so easy to let all of those little things add up and reach a final breaking point.  It's so hard not to release that onto our families.  We love and trust our families, but sometimes, without even noticing, we can take out our day on those who really didn't have anything to do with it how it turned out.  I like to remind myself that my family is my support, my joy, and the reason that I work so hard. My home should be a place for fun, family, relaxation and reflection.  I don't want it to be a dumping ground for all of the negative thoughts and words that can come so easily our of our mouths. Relying on our family for support is necessary, but it shouldn't be the main topic of conversation on a daily basis - that's no fun and it just adds to stress levels!

Whatever it is I am doing here, talking about, or trying to figure out for myself or about myself - thank you for reading.  I'm thankful that today is not Monday.  I'm thankful for my family, near and far, and for having an an outlet for my thoughts.  I'm also thankful for "breakfast" for dinner.

I have tons of yellow squash and I am having so much fun figuring out with what to do with it.  On the menu tonight is yellow squash waffles!  Savoy, yet comforting.  It's a sneaky way to get veggies into a meal.

Isn't a waffle iron such a lovely invention?

The "waffle' batter

• 3 yellow squash, shredded & squeezed to get the liquid out
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• black pepper to taste

With the ingredients above, I was able to make two batches of waffles, which came out pretty dense.  I ended up putting the waffles in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, then finished them up in the toaster. Very filling and very yummy.  I served it with a dollop of dill dip, fresh tomato and basil.  Pretty good end to a long Tuesday.

Pretty dinner :)

 

CSA-zy

Summer Squash Fritters and Tzatziki Sauce

I went a little crazy at the farm this week and ended up buying more veggies from the market on top of  the weekly share.  I have to be honest and say that I am very glad that I did.  I picked up tomatoes, radishes, lettuce and extra yellow squash.  The share this week had garlic, onions, potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers - a very colorful week!  I'm proud to say that for this post I was able to use cucumbers, garlic and squash in one meal.  

I started the dinner process during my lunch hour earlier this week.  The tzatsiki sauce needs time to chill before serving so I was glad to have the opportunity to have it ready for dinner time.

Tzatsiki Sauce Stuff

Tzatziki Sauce

3 cups greek yogurt, drained

2 cucumbers, peeled and seeded

juice of 1 lemon

garlic

kosher salt

dill

Have I ever mentioned my love of kitchen gadgets, no?  Well let me tell you!  One night last week I think I sat on Amazon and ordered fifteen different gadgets to use.  It had nothing to do whatsoever with the Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron I was drinking, just to be clear.  I got to use my new veggie peeler and garlic press, which totally justifies the purchase, good job.  This was my first time using fresh garlic, usually I just get the stuff that cured already, but I don't know if I will ever go back.  Just last night I spent thirty minutes peeling fresh garlic so I could freeze it for another time.  I don't know if my hand will ever stop smelling like garlic, but at least I will be safe from vampires I guess.

Anyway, back to the tzatsiki sauce - it's pretty simple - I will give you a picture play by play!

Drain the yogurt.

Peel the cumber and take out the seeds.

Cut up the cukes and sprinkle with salt.  This will draw out the excess water.  I left the salty cukes in the strainer for about thirty minutes.

The cukes, lemon juice, dill, and a couple cloves of garlic in the food processor.

This is the cucumber mixture as it comes out of the food processor.  I was a little concerned that it still had so much water in it, but it turned out not to be a big deal at all.

This is the final product with the cucumber mixture combined with the
Greek yogurt. Yum - make sure to chill it for several hours so it gets nice and thick.  Give it a good stir before it's used.

OK now onto the summer squash fritters.  I adapted my recipe from Mom's, What's For Dinner?  I had so much squash that I ended up doubling the ingredients.  I received no complaints about the food itself or the amount of food that was made, so success!

This is a large and small squash shredded.  I put it on a towel to help get out the excess liquid.  I also ended up putting it in a trainer and squeezing out the excess liquid, just to be safe.

It's just like pancakes!

Post frying - pre oven.

FINALLY IT IS DINNER TIME!
The tzatsiki sauce doubles as a dip for the veggies and a topping for the fritters.

The Mom, What's For Dinner? post is what inspired me to make the fritters with the tzatsiki sauce.  It turned out to be a good match.  I have plenty of tzatziki sauce left over to use with veggies, sandwiches, or even with a completely different meal.  I think I'm feeling Greek chicken and potatoes for a Sunday dinner.

Oatmeal, peas and mint.

Hello Friday Eve!

Just wanted to get a quick post in before another busy Summer weekend.

In my last post I mentioned the bread machine taking up all of my counter space.  I had been working on an oatmeal loaf and it's taken me almost an entire week to work it into our menu!

A bread machine is such a wonderful invention.  I pulled this rolled oat recipe from Allrecipes - quick and easy.  3.5 hours later I have a lovely smelling house and a warm loaf of bread.

Tonight I made a sweet pea and mint pesto.  I was able to use mint from our own garden, which is pretty great for someone who can barely keep a cactus alive.

Pea & Mint Pesto - mix the first 6 ingredients in a food processor. Slowly add the oil and continue to blend for 1 - 2 minutes.

• 10 oz peas, cooked
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh mint
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Easy, simple and yummy!

Yes Dear, more cabbage.

Cute potatoes all washed and clean.

I have really been enjoying our CSA this season.  The spring shares have introduced our family to several varieties of leafy greens.  I'm looking forward to what the summer will have to offer us.  Tonight I decided to work with the potatoes and green cabbage.  Both dishes were simple and I was able to have dinner on the table within about an hour.  I was limited on counter space this evening.  I dragged out the bread machine and forgot how much room it takes up.  Enough about the bread machine, we'll save that for a later post!

Roasted Potatoes

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
• Bags worth of potatoes, washed and quartered  

  

  Before the stir.

• Half a cup of diced onion
• Sprinkle with salt, pepper and rosemary
• Drizzle dish with extra virgin olive oil
• Bake for 45 minutes, stirring half way through
• Broil for 5 minutes before serving to brown

Cabbage and Bacon

• One head of cabbage, chopped
• 6 pieces of chopped bacon
• Cup of chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• Salt and pepper

 

I didn't have real bacon, so I used the turkey variety.  I think it would taste better with real bacon, but maybe next time.  I made this Specifically because my husband told me earlier that I make us eat a lot of cabbage.  We stopped at Five Guys for lunch after he told me that, but that's only because I knew we would be having cabbage for dinner :)  I pan fried a whole pound of bacon, but I just used six slices for the cabbage.  The rest I put aside, maybe it'll make Monday's breakfast just a little brighter.  

This is the cup of onion, caraway seed, salt pepper and bacon getting nice and brown.

I cut up the cabbage while the onion browned.

Once the onion got nice and brown I added the chopped green cabbage and cooked it on medium high heat for about 10 minutes.

YUM!

Nice Sunday dinner for three!

My timing worked out well tonight.  I was able to get the potatoes on the table to cool and get the cabbage finished up at just about the same time.  Sometimes I think I may have this cooking thing under control, but not every night works out so well.  I will cheer for the successes and laugh about the mistakes.  

P.S.  Sorry Dear about the cabbage.  I tried to make it into something you'd love.

CSA Newbie

I'm very excited about our new adventure with local organic produce from Greenbranch Farm.  Today I had the pleasure of picking up our first CSA share and was quite anxious to play in the kitchen.  I've never tried anything at home with arugula, but found a simple recipe for arugula pesto, which I knew I could make in just a few minutes.  I decided to use spaghetti squash as a delivery method for the pesto.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the squash in half and then hollow out the middle.

Lightly coat the inside of the squash with oil - I opted for canola oil.  Place the halves face down to bake.
This squash was on the smaller side so it baked for about 45 minutes.  A larger squash may take up to an hour.

Pesto Prep - MY WAY!

• 1 bunch of arugula that is rinsed, cut up and placed in a salad spinner to dry
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/4 cup of walnuts
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil.

Place the first four ingredients in a food processor until it is well blended. Then add about half of the olive oil and blend again.  Finally add the remaining olive oil and blend again until it the pesto is an even consistency

Presto Pesto!

The pesto came together quickly!  Pull the squash out of the oven and flip it over like it's a bowl.  Insert pesto, sprinkle with some shredded parmesan and broil for about five minutes.  

No pretty plating tonight - let's eat!

Crabby Waffles!

Happy Friday friends!  I love the Friday after a full moon when everything just seems to return to normal.  I've been planning this meal for a few days.  I was inspired by a Facebook post from a local restaurant and decided to combine two wonderful things; breakfast and crab!

Whenever I travel, people always tell me that since I am from Maryland I must eat a lot of crab.  I've spent twenty years of my life in a Maryland suburb of DC and the last 10 years on the Eastern Shore.  I think it's so cute that people out of state affiliate Maryland residents with crabs.  Although I did have the pleasure of growing up with crabs, I can't say that it has ever been a staple in my diet.

It's been a tough week.  I don't normally eat for comfort, but sometimes just being a little bad can lift spirits, after all it's called comfort food for a reason.  

Let's make the crab dip first!

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a baking dish with a light layer of canola oil.

Get the following ingredients measured and mix them up in a bowl.

• 1/2 pound jumbo crabmeat, I used claw meat from the seafood section of the grocery store
• 1 (8 ounce) package neufchâtel cream cheese, I left mine out to soften up
• 1/2 cup reduced fat mayonnaise (FYI I loath mayo)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 tablespoons minced green onions 
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce, but only if you like spicy
• AT LEAST1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• Salt and pepper if you feel so inclined

Like this!

After gently mixing all of the ingredients, scoop them into a baking dish, sprinkle with additional Old Bay and place it in a preheated over for approximately 30 minutes.

We like Old Bay!

After 30 minutes.

Here's the fun part!  I lightly toasted four waffles and then placed them on a baking sheet.  On each waffle I put 1/4 cup of the crab dip.  I placed the baking sheet in the oven on a low broil for four minutes.

Hello Dinner!

Not too shabby for a Friday night at home.  The food went well with an EVO Exile ESB.  Maybe we'll use the left over crab dip for breakfast.  Crab dip and eggs anyone?

My most sincerest thanks to my dear husband for being my photographer tonight.  I hope your enjoyed a very yummy dinner.  I would also like to give credit to How to Make Mardi Gras Hot Crab Dip for the inspiration on the crab dip recipe. 

Happy Weekend!

Muffins

I made a batch of muffins tonight!  I know, big surprise.  I mostly get my recipe ideas from Pinterest, Yummly, and basic Google searches.  Recipes are just a suggestion.  I like to adapt them to what I have available in my kitchen or to what our family prefers.  I've spend countless hours researching and reading about substitutions.  It's so much fun to experiment!

Tonight I took 1 cup of rolled oats, soaked them in 1 cup of 1% milk with a teaspoon of vinegar for an hour.  I also took an egg out and let it reach room temperature, then cracked it into the oats, milk and vinegar. I added 1/4 cup of light brown sugar and 1/2 cup of grape seed oil.  

In a separate bowl I added the rest of the muffin ingredient basics.  1 1/4 cups unbleached flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  

Next I added the oat and milk mixture to the dry ingredients and carefully folded it together.  I didn't get to creative with "add ins" to this batch of muffins.  I had two old bananas that I mashed up and threw in.

I lined a 12 cup muffin tin and divided up the batter.  Baked in a 375 degree oven for, oh...about 18 minutes.  I imagine the baking time would change depending on what is added.  I checked the status at 12, 15 and finally 18 minutes.  The muffins are done when you can touch the top and it bounces back.

These muffins are not very sweet, but it's a good basic muffin recipe.  Simple to make, but a bit time consuming considering soaking the rolled oats.  I definitely had to wait for my kid to go to bed so he wouldn't want to "help."  

Who makes 11 muffins?

Just kidding! I ate one.

As muffins go, these are not the unhealthiest, but I'm sure there are some further adaptations that can be done to boost the nutrition. Hey, if my kid eats it then it's a victory.  

I like the kitchen.  I feel like it is MY room.  After a busy Wednesday at work and an evening with a VERY talkative toddler, having a few quiet moments to myself is wonderful.