This is the picture you send to the chef as a not-so-subtle hint for the breakfast order during that particular chef's upcoming weekend stay.
Chef = Grandpa
Grandpa coming = pancakes (at least in the eyes of his grandchildren!)
I am prepared.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Not so subtle hint
This is the picture you send to the chef as a not-so-subtle hint for the breakfast order during that particular chef's upcoming weekend stay.
Chef = Grandpa
Grandpa coming = pancakes (at least in the eyes of his grandchildren!)
I am prepared.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Batch cooking
I'm hosting a meal swap for some of my fabulous co-workers this week, so in preparation for that event, I did some batch cooking last night.
Pizza pasta is my 'go-to' dish for meal swaps. It just is. It's easy to make, most people love it, and I always end up making extra because my family seems to love it (especially Jacey, which is a real treat).
I got the ingredients (buying in bulk for a recipe is way easier than getting a bunch of different ingredients for different recipes!)
Then turn all of those things into a LOAD of food!!
Boil the pasta and separate it into the lasagna pans.
While the water for the pasta is boiling and the pasta is cooking, brown the meat and heat the sauce. Then mix the meat and sauce with the pasta in the pan (I use 1 lb of hamburger meat and 1 can of spaghetti sauce per pan, along with 1 bag of tri-colored twirly pasta or 1 12 oz box of pasta). Then layer with approximately 2 cups of mozarella cheese.
Take your pepperoni and layer over the shredded cheese for the final topping.
If you have an assembly line going while you're making quite a few of these, it can look something like this on your table.....
And you end up with something that looks like this....
I made seven of these last night while we simultaneously made dinner to eat, the kids ate, my hubby ate, then I took a quick break to bathe and put to bed the littlest. And I was completely finished (as in wrapped with saran swap and aluminum foil, labeled and in the freezer) by 9 PM or so. I started with all of this at about 6:30....so not too bad!!
I kept one out for us to eat later this week and also browned some of the 'extra' hamburger meat that I had bought as a started for another dinner for this week. When you actually cook it, do so on 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until all of your cheese is melted (I leave on the foil until the last 10 or so minutes).
I felt very productive. *grin* The added bonus is that my dear sweet hubby cleaned up the kitchen afterwards. Love that man!!
Pizza pasta is my 'go-to' dish for meal swaps. It just is. It's easy to make, most people love it, and I always end up making extra because my family seems to love it (especially Jacey, which is a real treat).
I got the ingredients (buying in bulk for a recipe is way easier than getting a bunch of different ingredients for different recipes!)
Then turn all of those things into a LOAD of food!!
Boil the pasta and separate it into the lasagna pans.
While the water for the pasta is boiling and the pasta is cooking, brown the meat and heat the sauce. Then mix the meat and sauce with the pasta in the pan (I use 1 lb of hamburger meat and 1 can of spaghetti sauce per pan, along with 1 bag of tri-colored twirly pasta or 1 12 oz box of pasta). Then layer with approximately 2 cups of mozarella cheese.
Take your pepperoni and layer over the shredded cheese for the final topping.
If you have an assembly line going while you're making quite a few of these, it can look something like this on your table.....
And you end up with something that looks like this....
I made seven of these last night while we simultaneously made dinner to eat, the kids ate, my hubby ate, then I took a quick break to bathe and put to bed the littlest. And I was completely finished (as in wrapped with saran swap and aluminum foil, labeled and in the freezer) by 9 PM or so. I started with all of this at about 6:30....so not too bad!!
I kept one out for us to eat later this week and also browned some of the 'extra' hamburger meat that I had bought as a started for another dinner for this week. When you actually cook it, do so on 350 for 25-35 minutes, or until all of your cheese is melted (I leave on the foil until the last 10 or so minutes).
I felt very productive. *grin* The added bonus is that my dear sweet hubby cleaned up the kitchen afterwards. Love that man!!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
I think she likes it!
I don't have many pictures of Jacey with food faces...we work really hard around here to get her to eat. So it was with great joy that I realized she liked Hamburger Helper Cheesy Enchilada. I paired it with Ranch Style Beans and she was loving this dinner.
Now, if only I could get all three kids to agree to like the same meal.....
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
More cookies...
It seems like several of my recent posts have been about making cookies with the kids. Not sure what that says about what I might deem as quality time, but I may or may not choose to address that some other day.
At any rate, Tatum wanted to make cookies with me, so we went the easy route and bought ready-to-bake peanut butter dough in preparation for adding Hershey kisses.
I always manage to have an adorable helper, don't I?
I'm not exactly sure why she was making the face she was in this picture, but hey....she's still super adorable!
Bake the cookies then insert the Hershey kiss into the center while they're still nice and warm.
Create a wonderful peanut butter and chocolatey goodness.
We really enjoyed making these last night! Even if it was w-a-y past someones bedtime.
At any rate, Tatum wanted to make cookies with me, so we went the easy route and bought ready-to-bake peanut butter dough in preparation for adding Hershey kisses.
I always manage to have an adorable helper, don't I?
I'm not exactly sure why she was making the face she was in this picture, but hey....she's still super adorable!
Bake the cookies then insert the Hershey kiss into the center while they're still nice and warm.
Create a wonderful peanut butter and chocolatey goodness.
We really enjoyed making these last night! Even if it was w-a-y past someones bedtime.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Rockin' Lights & Smores
On the night of Christmas Day we went and looked at Christmas lights and discovered some AWESOME lights....set to music...and with a routine about 45 minutes long. Completely unprepared for that type of light show that night (not wearing the appropriate gear to get out and watch and play in the smoke and bubbles they had going for the kids in the driveway - yep...it was that kind of house), we vowed to go back the next night.
So we did.
Matt went on fire pit duty while the rest of us went to see the light show again, decked out in appropriately in warm gear.
They had a food drive there as well, so we went bearing gifts the second night as well.
The kids had a BLAST...including Jacey, who of all the kids actually was enthralled by the light show, and absolutely LOVED the Frosty the Snowman. The older two kids enjoyed playing in the smoke and bubbles in the driveway, and dancing to the music that played.
And apparently singing makes the bubbles and smoke come out....according to Tatum. She used this logic to talk Kellen into singing with her.
Meanwhile, Matt was making monumental strides with the fire pit, and had quite the fire going for smores when we got back. So I laid out all of the ingredients and we were ready to go.
Kellen worked on perfecting his technique....but it took him a while. It also took us a while to realize that he was having more fun simple roasting the marshmallows than actually eating the smores....
Tatum was all decked out to avoid smoke in her eyes....so fashionable, she is. She had her method and she was stickin' to it! She quickly figured out exactly how she wanted to roast her marshmallow, did it, made herself a smore and enjoyed!!
It was a fabulous night and best of all, the kids (big and small) had a BLAST! This is the type of night that we'll look back on years from now and say, "Remember that night when....."
So we did.
Matt went on fire pit duty while the rest of us went to see the light show again, decked out in appropriately in warm gear.
They had a food drive there as well, so we went bearing gifts the second night as well.
The kids had a BLAST...including Jacey, who of all the kids actually was enthralled by the light show, and absolutely LOVED the Frosty the Snowman. The older two kids enjoyed playing in the smoke and bubbles in the driveway, and dancing to the music that played.
And apparently singing makes the bubbles and smoke come out....according to Tatum. She used this logic to talk Kellen into singing with her.
Meanwhile, Matt was making monumental strides with the fire pit, and had quite the fire going for smores when we got back. So I laid out all of the ingredients and we were ready to go.
Kellen worked on perfecting his technique....but it took him a while. It also took us a while to realize that he was having more fun simple roasting the marshmallows than actually eating the smores....
Tatum was all decked out to avoid smoke in her eyes....so fashionable, she is. She had her method and she was stickin' to it! She quickly figured out exactly how she wanted to roast her marshmallow, did it, made herself a smore and enjoyed!!
It was a fabulous night and best of all, the kids (big and small) had a BLAST! This is the type of night that we'll look back on years from now and say, "Remember that night when....."
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Birthday cake fun....
Another Christmas tradition in our house is to bake a birthday cake for Jesus.
After all, His birthday is the real reason for all of the celebration, isn't it?
So, we bake a birthday cake and decorate it up.
This year, the older two used no less than five containers of sprinkles to decorate the cake.
They wanted it just.so.
And it certainly looks festive, wouldn't you agree?
So the cake is all ready for Christmas.....
Friday, December 23, 2011
Gingerbread Houses
Our family tradition is to make gingerbread graham cracker houses every year.
We use graham crackers and regular ole' icing as the 'glue',
then decorate using a variety of sugary goodness.
The kids have a blast with this.
And their architecture is very interesting sometimes, to say the least.
And when the houses aren't structurally sound and collapse,
the kids get broken-hearted.
So then you recruit Daddy, and it makes it all better.
After the structure of the houses are finalized,
you then decorate to your hearts content.
After the decorations prove to be too heavy for (almost) any of the structures built,
enjoy the chaos and rubble.
Then enjoy the last house standing....and the beautiful architect who built it.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Making snowmen
Without snow....or even without it being too terribly cold.
In Texas.
Yup. It's possible.
Here is what they look like.
Aren't they precious?
Because I made turkeys with Kellen, I had already told Tatum that she and I would make snowmen, so after I ran the marathon on Sunday (more on that later), and the boys were at Awanas, she and I made snowmen cookies while dinner was cooking.
Don't be alarmed. They were super easy...and they HAD to be, considering that at that point in time I was lucky to be standing upright.
Ingredients:
Nutter Butter cookies
White chocolate almond bark
Assorted decorating gel
Arrange your cookies onto your cookie sheet
Recruit an absolutely precious assistant.
Melt your almond bark (per the package directions)
Experiment with the best method of cookie-coverage (we used a flip method that seemed to work well) and then place the chocolate-covered cookies onto the cookie sheet
Repeat until all cookies are undecorated snowmen
Let sit until the chocolate has cooled and hardened
Gather your assorted decorating gel and design your own version of your snowmen!
Tatum had a blast doing this...some of her snowmen had yellow arms, some had red, some had things that didn't resemble arms at all. But I resisted my perfectionistic ways and told her she could decorate them ANY WAY SHE WANTED.
And I stuck to it.
She had a blast.
And she was thrilled that I gave her the independence to do it however she wanted. And she thanked me over and over for making snowmen with her.
And THAT was all that mattered.
In Texas.
Yup. It's possible.
Here is what they look like.
Aren't they precious?
Because I made turkeys with Kellen, I had already told Tatum that she and I would make snowmen, so after I ran the marathon on Sunday (more on that later), and the boys were at Awanas, she and I made snowmen cookies while dinner was cooking.
Don't be alarmed. They were super easy...and they HAD to be, considering that at that point in time I was lucky to be standing upright.
Ingredients:
Nutter Butter cookies
White chocolate almond bark
Assorted decorating gel
Arrange your cookies onto your cookie sheet
Recruit an absolutely precious assistant.
Melt your almond bark (per the package directions)
Experiment with the best method of cookie-coverage (we used a flip method that seemed to work well) and then place the chocolate-covered cookies onto the cookie sheet
Repeat until all cookies are undecorated snowmen
Let sit until the chocolate has cooled and hardened
Gather your assorted decorating gel and design your own version of your snowmen!
Tatum had a blast doing this...some of her snowmen had yellow arms, some had red, some had things that didn't resemble arms at all. But I resisted my perfectionistic ways and told her she could decorate them ANY WAY SHE WANTED.
And I stuck to it.
She had a blast.
And she was thrilled that I gave her the independence to do it however she wanted. And she thanked me over and over for making snowmen with her.
And THAT was all that mattered.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Experiment: Mini Pizzas!
Don't they look yummy?
I'll let you in on a little secret.....
...they were.
Better yet, they were SUPER SIMPLE!
Take your Grands biscuits, preheat your oven to the specifications on the container (or don't, I didn't).
Tear the biscuits in half and place into a greased cupcake container, making it thin on the bottom and up the sides, like its own container.
Put a spoonful of spaghetti sauce in the dough.
Put some cheese on the spaghetti sauce (I used 2-3 cubes of cheese we keep cut up for Jacey).
Put a piece of pepperoni on top of the cheese.
Bake per the specifications on the biscuit container.
Pop out of the cupcake container and place onto a place.
Let cool (if you must), and eat!
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