making it up as i go along
So bloggy bud Nannette challenged everyone to stop pinning and start making. OK, well not STOP pinning. That would be crazy, but to definitely start MAKING in her Pinteractive challenge. I was going to do something with the kids this weekend, but it was rather full, so last night we got crafty and made bead bowls as inspired by this pin.
Here’s what you need:
Well I may have run out of weekend before I ran out of things to do, but I cannot complain. It was a great weekend filled with
Tomorrow, I will be reporting back on a fun craft Tabby and I are working on for Nannette’s Pinteractive series.
We tried our first recipe from February’s cookbook this month … Szechuan Beef and Broccoli which I adapted based on what we already had, namely the GIANT bag of stirfry veggies that we buy at Costco and pretty much always keep on hand. The kids already know and love them (they are BIG fans of the baby corn, water chestnuts and carrots) and it’s an easier sell than just broccoli. Tabby is probably the only kid I know who doesn’t like the tree part of the broccoli, but rather the stem. Same with asparagus.
In some ways I’m kind of bummed that I selected this recipe to try. I wish I’d read through it a bit more. It uses bottled sauce and is really really close to what we already make for our weekly stirfry night recipe, just different sauce. But it is a good recipe and it’s a good lesson to me – read these recipes before picking them for the cookbook challenge.
Szechuan Beef with Veggies
adapted from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook
Ingredients
Directions
To make this SUPER quickly, I pre-cook the veggies somewhat. If they’re frozen, I microwave them until they’re about half defrosted. If they’re fresh, it’s less necessary, but you can still steam them in the microwave a bit. I pour off the excess water as well to speed it up. While the veggies are getting defrosted, spray a big skillet with cooking spray or use some olive oil. Heat over med-high heat. Once the veggies are done, throw them in the skillet and hear it sizzle. Keep them moving as they cook. It doesn’t take long.
When the veggies are cooked, set them aside and make sure your pan is nice and hot and add a little more oil/spray if needed. Place the steak in the pan in a single layer. Cook, stirring around a bit until all browned, about 2 minutes. Don’t over cook it or you will be rewarded with tough beef. Ick.
Return the veggies to the pan and warm everything a bit. If everyone likes the same amount of sauce, add your sauce and stir it up. This is easiest to do in the skillet, but if not, put everything into individual bowls and add the sauce there. Not too much sauce! You can always add more.
This weekend, post Zone, during the midst of our snowstorm, we had a very nice family breakfast. We don’t do leisurely breakfasts very often. Weekdays the kids are at their sitters, I’m at the office and Matt … I’m not sure Matt even eats breakfast most days. But on Saturday, we had no place to be at any certain time. So while Matt shoveled the walk and the kids played outside (again), I made Blueberry Buttermilk Muffin Cake (original recipe from Alexandra’s Kitchen). It came out super light and fluffy and browned on top and everyone absolutely loved it. We ate it with a side of bacon and some yogurt and of course, tea.
I picked up these darling little teacups for the kids at Fishs Eddy while we were in NYC. I think they’re technically espresso cups or something, but they make great little people teacups. I love the charming NYC skyline pattern and they’re a really fun souvenir. The size is great for the kiddos because even if they get spilled, the amount of liquid they hold is pretty small.
So we ate breakfast. We talked about our trip to NYC and Ben talked at length about what a funny movie Home Alone is and how Kevin smacks the burglars with paint cans, etc. Of course I only understood about half of what he said. That makes it all that much better.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat oven to 350. Cream together butter and all but one tablespoon sugar. Add egg, lemon zest and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Meanwhile, sift together 1 3/4 C flour, salt and baking powder together. Toss remaining 1/4 C flour with blueberries. In alternating batches, add buttermilk and flour to sugar/butter mixture. Gently fold in blueberries.
Lightly grease a 9×9 (or 8×8) square pan) and spread batter in. Sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
This was wonderful warm from the oven and just as yummy cold the next day.
The new fridge is EXCELLENT. It’s bigger than the old one, so much so that we can fit most of what was in the garage fridge + the old indoor fridge (the new garage fridge) all inside. I also like it because it is pretty shallow, especially up top and very well lit and things don’t seem to get lost as easily. We’re all loving the in-door ice and water. Everyone at our house is very big on the water and it gets used constantly.
The bottom drawer is super great to use and somehow really good to find things in despite the fact that it’s deep. But by far, my favorite thing it does is store wide things. Any pizza, big or small … fits right in. An entire cookie sheet of freezing bananas fits right in.
So I’ve had the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook sitting on my shelf for … quite a while. At least a year, but probably 2 or 3. I like the ideas around the cookbook – healthy REAL food for families. They skimp on the carbs and use lots of veggies. I’m sure I’ve made SOMETHING out of it, but honestly, I can’t remember what at this point.
Well that changes. Like TODAY. This month I’m tackling this as my cookbook of the month for my Cookbook Challenge. I will make 8 recipes from this book over the course of February and if I like them, the book stays and if not, it’s a goner.
Recipes I will be tackling:
I may toss in one or two more if I feel like it. It was pretty hard to get down to just eight I wanted to try, but I took some from each section of the cookbook and I’m excited to try them.
You may have heard we got a little snow. Heck, if you live W of the Mississipi and E of the Rockies in the USA, there’ s a pretty good chance you saw some snow yourself. Here it started going around 8PM on Thursday and didn’t let up until noonish on Saturday. Our area saw about 24 inches, but parts of the state saw about double that. If only my favorite ski resort had been in that second category. Ah well …
At our house we passed the time happily, playing games, reading books, napping, watching TV, shoveling and playing in snow and cooking. Matt ended our 4 weeks in The Zone on Friday and it was good timing we made some tasty treats and indulged just a leetle bit. The kids loved playing in the snow and also watching the various vehicles that were unleashed on our area to combat it. We had a little bobcat that cleared the alley and a giant front-end loaded that took care of our streets.
Despite the fact that the snow is kind of inconvenient and it kind of messed up some of my favorite running spots, I enjoyed the storm and having some nice slow days to play with my kiddos. They are way fun.
We’ve been doing a lot of work around the house the past month or so, but there is one spot, not too glamorous that I wanted to show you. It’s our height timeline wall. A couple of years ago, I don’t even remember why, I started marking the kids heights on that little section of wall in our kitchen. I just use a sharpie and a little, sometimes not too straight line, and mark their name and age. And slowly, the marks have piled up. We don’t mark regularly, maybe twice a year or so, but there they are, proof that my kids are growing.
Sometimes, when I would have sworn it was Ben who did all the growing, the wall surprises me and shows me that in fact, Tabby has made the biggest leap over the past six months. It also reveals that age for age, Ben is trending quite a bit taller than Tabby. It’s not a huge surprise and I always wonder when he’ll catch up to her. Months? Years? Not too soon, I hope.
Every time I see the wall it makes me smile, even if it’s a bit nostalgically. It’s one of those things that, were we ever to move, I would want to take with me, no matter how unrealistic that is. I absolutely love it.