Frozen Watermelon Treats

I love watermelon in the summer! It always reminds me of the 4th of July and my dear friends in Provo. We buy seedless, less mess, melons and cube them for easy single servings. Of course, my favorite way to eat it is frozen. I'll put a plastic bowl of watermelon cubes in the freezer when I'm starting to crave it, wait about half an hour before eating it. The melon will have small ice crystals all over and each bite will be a slushy treat. I've found it actually makes not-so-ripe melons taste much sweeter too.

Week in Review 4/8/10

It seems our oldest has some friends that don't think highly of us. We got egged again. Uck. This time she had manage the clean-up on her own, so she could learn why we don't egg people ... or hang out with people who egg us. Easter weekend was much better after the clean-up was finished.

General conference is always a treat for me and this year we started a new tradition. We each packed up our own 72 hour kit in our own backpacks during the last conference. This time we started eating from them and will repack them with new food items as soon as they're empty. I want to make sure that these kits stay usable and that we're not putting things in them that the kids won't eat ... or that don't keep well. It was funny to see the kids get so excited about the whole event.

We went to a baby shower for a cousin on Saturday and got to bring a new appliqued baby blanket and set of cute burp cloths. I'm not sure why I have such a thing for making handmade gifts ... I just can't help myself. Sunday we did an indoor/outdoor egg hunt with our nephew. The rest of the week was fairly mellow, no major mishaps and no one was grounded for life. I even got to teach my scouts how to make a few quick desserts for their families. All in all it was great. Now, we're really headed into spring - allergies and all. Yikes.

Week in Review 1/21/10

Lots and lots of hours at JetBlue training to be a trainer, ha ha. I will be a teacher's assistant for 5 whole days, which required 5 whole days of training. Interesting. It's refreshing to be doing something different though. I can't wait to meet our class tomorrow, of course this means more long ... LONG nights and less time with the fam. At least my paycheck will show a substantial increase. It will be nice to have a little breathing room for a change.

I was able to actually finish a book this week too, The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner. It was for book club, which I've never attended and missed this month too. (I'm working on it, at least I read the book this time) I got to see awesome cloud formations as a storm rolled in on Monday, witness a good deed as I drove in to work, got a surprise package from Whimsy Love and made delicious Pork Medallions with Raspberry-Chipotle Sauce. (Recipe to be posted later)

Now, I'm off to bed ... and even before midnight. Yay me!

Jamaican Me Crazy!

Warning: Be advised, this recipe is sure to bring many corny jokes told in poor taste to your dining room.

After a long, hard day of being the meanest mom on the planet, it was nice to throw a few ingredients into the blender, slop that onto some meat and grill up dinner to feed the 'beasts'. The whole process was just quick and violent enough to soothe my frazzled nerves.

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE my kidlets, each of them, very much. I've just come to the conclusion that they all cycle through lovely, unpredictable phases where they are alternately angelic or demonic. I'm not sure if the shifts are based on cycles of the moon or weather, growth spurts or their pH balance. All I know is that just when I think everyone is in their happy place, myself included, one of them falls off the wagon. I do my best to keep my cool but I'm only human, and yesterday I lost it. It was short-lived and everyone is back onboard for the moment. So, for those days when you feel like cooking in a mad frenzy, here's a great recipe for you.

Jamaican Jerk Rub

1/2 C coarsely chopped onion

2 Tbs lime juice

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp dried thyme, crushed

1/8 tsp ground ginger

2 cloves garlic, quartered

Put all ingredients in a blender. Cover and process until smooth. Spoon evenly onto chicken breasts, turkey breast tenderloin or pork chops. Rub in with your fingers. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Grill or broil meat.

This is one of the recipes from The Sonoma Diet book by Dr. Connie Guttersen, RD, PhD. So far, it's my favorite of all the library books I brought home. I even omitted the allspice and thyme since I didn't have them on hand and it still turned out great. Even the little monsters raved about it as they gobbled it up. Since all their halos were beaming, the slew of jokes that came with the recipe's name were at least bearable.

Blueberry Vanilla Oatmeal

Here's my new favorite breakfast for you to sample. It's quick to make and will keep you satisfied for hours.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Bob'sw Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal
1 cup water
frozen blueberries
vanilla protein powder
cinnamon
skim milk

1 - Combine the oatmeal and water in a microwavable bowl. Cook on high for about 2-3 minutes. This will vary depending on your microwave. Watch it the first time to make sure it doesn't boil over.
(very messy)

2 - Remove bowl and stir thoroughly, breaking up the clumps on the bottom. Add a dash of cinnamon and 1/2 a scoop of the protein powder. Mix well and let sit for a couple minutes.

3 - Add a small handful of blueberries and stir. Microwave on high for one more minute.

4 - Remove. Stir. Add a dash of milk and enjoy a hearty/healthy bowl of yum.

If you want to really mix it up you can try it with chopped peaches or mangos... mmm.

Monster Mash was the Bee's Knees

All dolled up and ready to PAR-TAY!

After cleaning up the baby shower and sewing until 3 am Saturday morning, we actually pulled this shindig off. The gals looked great ... and I LOVE that my girl helped design the most modest-glitzy-fun flapper dress ever. She even made the headpiece herself. We played a mix of Big Band songs in the background all night and they toasted each other with Baby Bellini mocktails. It was a riot. The guys were great about going all out with their costumes too.

Go Daddy-O!

The kids made their own pizzas for dinner that hubby grilled while I baked garlic bread in the oven. They ate and answered the door for trick-or-treaters at the same time, then ran through the neighborhood for their own candy booty. It took two cars to get them to the dance where they were given specific safety instructions courtesy of hubby dearest. We had 3 hours to wash dishes, clean up and take a breather before picking them up. They were all present and accounted for, thank goodness, and we brought them home to finish up the night. They were served Shirley Temples with ice cream and brownies and then went downstairs to watch a movie ... with bowls and bowls of popcorn and movie candy.

Oy! The night wrapped up around 2 am with me passed out in bed and hubby driving the last guests home. It was a blast, but I'm sure glad it's over.

Harvest Cooking

We're so lucky to have wonderfully generous family members who live just blocks away from us. My brother and sister-in-law go out of their way to make sure we're alright and have everything we need. They even let us come to reap the spoils of their garden last week. We'd stopped by to check out their batch of pumpkins and came home instead with bags of carrots, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, pumpkins for everyone and even a few elk roasts. They are so good to us. But I have to admit, I had no idea what to do with butternut squash.I'd never eaten one before and wasn't sure what they even tasted like, so I spent an evening reading about squash at Allrecipes.com and found a recipe that sounded like it fit our family's taste.

Butternut Squash with Onion and Pecans
Submitted by Christine L.

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 1/4 pounds butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:
1 - Place pecans on an ungreased baking sheet. Toast at 350 degrees F for 5 to 8 minutes.

2 - Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over low heat; add onion, and saute until very tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in squash, and cover. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender but still holds its shape, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3 - Stir in half the pecans and half the parsley. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with remaining pecans and parsley to serve.

Now, considering how much these little babies smell like pumpkin, I was really nervous when I was getting it ready. Though we've taught the kids to eat what their given, we still have a couple who aren't that adventurous. But I've got to tell you ... the smell and taste changed a lot once they were cooked through. They were slightly sweet, but the savory flavor was a nice touch. The family voted 5-to-2 in favor of the dish! Yay! One squash down, 5 to go. Time to look for more recipes.

Cupcakes Galore!

The votes came in. The votes were tallied. OK. Truthfully, I decided that I didn't have enough time to mess around with a new recipe and realized we devoured all but 2 bananas this weekend due to massive crepe consumption. So! I split the order ... 1/2 devil's food with milk chocolate frosting and 1/2 carrot cake topped with cream cheese frosting. That works, right?The chimi party was a hit as always. I love family get togethers! I really, really do. There's just something about a houseful of people you love, people you know will be there through thick and thin, laughing and chatting, surrounded by good food that just gets me every time. This one was especially nice because we also had family pictures taken by a family friend. We had almost the entire troop there and all the kids were very cooperative. But the grouping that killed me was seeing all the grandkids pose around hubby's parents. Oh! To have that. I want that one day. It was truly beautiful and a real tribute to these two wonderful people. I love them so much!

What's Wrong With This Picture?

I've made an extra effort to be really good this week. I've hit the gym 3 mornings and the lake 2 nights now, trying to look a little better in my swimsuit these days. So how is it that I end up looking at this tonight?

Now ... I should tell you that my step-daughter and I are collaborating on a writing project this week. She really excels in creative writing and has started a whole pile of stories in the last year or so. She writes these brilliantly detailed beginnings that really grab you and pull you in ... and then she sets them aside and never touches them again. I told her she should sell them as writing prompts. Anyway, she declared a few weeks ago that she'd found the perfect way for her to finish a story - to have someone else write the other half. Haha! I'll admit I really did laugh out loud. What she meant was that she wanted to write a story about a mother and daughter and have someone else, namely me, write the mother's part. I was flattered and the project is in full swing. It's brought us closer together and really helps with writer's block since we play off of each other's last entry.

Long story, longer - I must be having cravings or something, because I added a trip to the grocery store into the story line where they, of course, pick up some Ben & Jerry's and I needed to do some 'research'. :D