What's for Dinner?

The question that is the bane of my existence.  Every day my family not only expects me to feed them, they expect me to decide what to feed them.  Of course, I'm supposed to consult my crystal ball and devise a menu that appeals to all five of them, have it ready when they are ready to eat, all while driving around town getting them from one place to the next.

At dinner last night I read everyone the new bios for the blog.  The single sentence that got the most feed back was this one. I love to cook, sometimes I hate it, mostly because no one will help with menu planning but everyone complains about what I serve. All five people I live with insisted that this was not a true statement and were quite offended that I had written this.

Fast forward to 5:30 pm tonight.  I've been busy all day.  Doctor appointment for me, no worries, just the annual check up; end of year goal setting conferences with Ruby and Eliza Claire; caring for Charlotte; designing our trip t-shirts and car decals; picking up Rehm from school; eating bon bons.  You know just a typical day.  I have no dinner plan.  I need one.  I text Michael and ask for ideas.  His response, "dunno."  Really helpful.  I asked three of the four children if they had any ideas.  Nope, nada, zilch.  Yeah, it was an I Hate to Cook night.  But that wasn't getting anyone fed.
What did we end up having?  I told Rehm I was seriously considering just having a Kraft Mac and Cheese night.  He immediately offered to make it.  I took him up on it but knew we really needed more.  So I turned to my trusty Instant Pot and in 45 minutes had Cincinnati Chili on the table.  Of course, since the mac and cheese got done first, the three children that are eating real food ate before the chili was done.  But Michael and I both enjoyed a bowl of chili and there are enough leftovers I know what's for dinner tomorrow night.

OK, so if you don't know what the Instant Pot is, you need to.  It is my new best friend.  I don't know how I lived without it.  It is magic.  Seriously, it is an electric pressure cooker.  I really didn't understand all the hoopla about them until I got my own.  Oh my!  It is just amazing.  If you are busy and running ragged trying to get everything done in the evenings you need one of these.  So far I've made all kinds of pasta, rice, and grains, a couple of chicken dishes, beans, hard boiled eggs, and chili.  I'm probably forgetting a few things.

Think Crock Pot on steroids.  No need to remember to put something in before starting your day.  This magical machine cooks in mere minutes! For example, past in half the time it takes by stove top directions.  Dried beans from plastic bag to tender, yummy awesomeness in 45 minutes.  Cincinnati Chili usually takes me 30 minutes to prep and then cooks for 2-3 hours.  From the time I got the meat out of the freezer until it was ready to eat was 45 minutes.  Like I said, it is magically.  Run, don't walk to Amazon and get one.  I only bought a 5 quart.  I regret that decision.  If I had it to do over I would buy at least the 6 quart.

Oh, and if you are like me, when you hear pressure cooker all you think of is the vague horror stories from your childhood of them exploding contents all over the kitchen.  No worries, this is not your mother's or grandmother's pressure cooker.  It has lots of safety features and it is electric not stove top.  I can actually turn it on and leave the house to go cart kids around and have dinner done when I get home.  Did I mention it is life changing, magic?
 
I may still have a love/hate relationship with cooking but at least the Instant Pot allows me to get the job done in a timely manner once I come up with something to fix.

Jenn

Loos

My children take after me.  They have also inherited the need to name everything.  Charlotte's favorite breakfast currently is a Loo.  What is that?  It is a tortilla with shredded cheese and pepperoni that is microwaved until the cheese is melted and then rolled up.  Apparently, she also takes after me in her preference for savory breakfast fare.

Ruby prefers cinnamon loos to regular loos.  A cinnamon loo is a tortilla with a little butter and cinnamon sugar.  Again it is microwaved to get warm and melty. 

Everyone in our family knows what a loo is.  Of course, no one else has a clue.  I guess it is just a Maniac thing.

Jenn

Cooking and Sharing

Ruby wanted to know last night at dinner if I would give her my recipe for 15 bean soup when she was a grown up. I assured her that I would, while chuckling to myself thinking about how incredulous she is going to be when I tell her to just follow the recipe on the back of the bean bag, minus the flavor packet. She is going to be shocked that I don't have my own adapted recipe, since I do for most other things I cook.

She then asked if I would tell her how to fix her dish if she put too much seasoning in it and needed to change it. I again assured her I would.

I'm not sure exactly why I thought this exchange was so cute. I think part of it was because she thinks I'm a good cook. And part was because I know how many times I've called my mom to ask her a cooking question or for a favorite recipe.


Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

A Fun Summer Day with my Four Favorite Girls

My niece Brooke is visiting this week. We are having so much fun with just the girls, especially since Rehm is at Camp Papa and Cici. He isn't here to complain about all the girl focused activities.

Brooke has been coming to visit for at least a few days each summer since she was five. I absolutely love when she visits as do her girl cousins.

The week has been great but Tuesday was especially fun.

We went to breakfast at Einstein's.


We went to the movies to see Smurfs. Brooke and Charlotte really enjoyed it. Charlotte, surprisingly, didn't get scared at all. Ruby and Eliza liked it but it was a little too much for them and there was a lot they just weren't old enough to get.

Then we went shopping for shoes for Charlotte. She found shoes she loves! And now, really believes that waiting until you find the perfect pair of shoes is much better than settling for OK shoes just because everyone else found the perfect pair. I got talked into crazy socks for my three girls because Brooke has them. And, of course, if Brooke has them they must be awesome.

Then we went to the pet store to pick up something and look at all the animals.

Of course, then everyone was hungry so we had to get lunch.

Then we came home for a little quiet time.


After quite time everyone was ready to swim. Ruby and Eliza Claire decided to try the swim test to be able to go in the deep (4 feet) end. Ruby got off course due to the crowd and didn't quite make it. Eliza Claire had success! I was so proud of both of them for trying. (Do you see the crazy crackle nail polish from Monday's fun?)


After dinner and showers, Brooke finished up some of her first batch of cake balls. We still have another half of the batch to do.



We have spent so much time just talking and giggling together. I love getting to have this special bond with such a special girl. I'm so glad Brooke is willing to hang out with us and her parents are willing to let her visit.

I don't remember how it came up but I asked Brooke if I got to visit her for her first Prom. She said I could come, but just me. No girls and no Uncle Michael. I hope when the time comes she really means it :)

Jenn - Posted from my iPhone

Cooking Helpers

Ruby and Eliza Claire are at the age where they love to help in the kitchen.  I always try to encourage their interest and find something they can help with.  Tonight I mixed up a batch of bread dough.  Lentil Curry Bread dough to be exact.  Both Ruby and Eliza Claire wanted to help.  But what they really wanted was to like the beater of the mixer.  One ended up with the paddle from the mixer and the other ended up with the spatula.  Ruby called hers a popsicle and Eliza Claire called hers a lollipop! I thought these were funny names for their respective utensils and loved that they compared eating lentil bread dough to eating a dessert/candy. 

I hope my kids develop my love for cooking and continue to enjoy trying new and unusual things.  And I hope in a few years to be able to pass some of the cooking on to them.

Today Was a Good Day...Mostly

I made my first loaf of bread from Healthy Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The kids got me the book for Christmas because they want me to make even more bread than I already do.  Today's loaf is the master recipe sprinkled with flax seeds. It was really yummy. My next things to try will be the Parsley  Garlic Knots, which also use the master recipe, and the Lentil Curry Bread. I cooked the lentils today but haven't made the dough yet.

I love days when things come in the mail. Today was a great day as three different packages arrived. First was my new compost container for the kitchen.  I had a crock several years ago but the lid got dropped and broke so I quit using it. Then we quit composting for a long time.  We started back last summer and since then I've been using a Gladware container and that just wasn't working for me.  I hated it sitting open on the counter.  It was small.  And the cats kept stealing broccoli and other things out of it and making a mess on the counter.  I found this great copper coated stainless number at gardeners.com.  I really like the way it looks, I shouldn't be able to break it, and it holds so much more than the Gladware did.

The second package to arrive was a box of Playmobil stuff - all little stuff (cats with climbing tree, dogs with person, pediatrician's office, vet with dog, snowman with boy). I will admit that we now have plenty of pets for our Playmobil families. The box arrived partially open and I was afraid it would be missing items. Surprisingly, it was not. I ordered from Ridge Road Station. They seem to have good sales and free shipping. This is my second time ordering from them and I've been pleased both times. I do check prices against the Playmobil site as occasionally a "sale" item isn't really marked down.  But overall, I find I can save quite a bit using their site.

The last thing to arrive was new lids for our Thermos Funtainer Sipsters. Did you know you can get replacement lids and straws for about $2 a piece? Given the price of the Sipsters this is a great way to extend their lives. You do have to call (800.831.9242) - can't do it online but it is so worth it. Some of our bottles are three or more years old and on their second or third lid.

In other news I bought a vacuum cleaner today. But, it, of course, deserves it's own post.

The Bigs brought home report cards. Unfortunately, one child had some explaining to do. I'll just say, at our house effort is key, and in a couple of subjects it was lacking.





Jenn

Bread in the Crock Pot

This week I happened upon a comment about baking bread in the crock pot.  I was intrigued.  While I didn't really have a recipe, just a basic understanding of the mechanics, I did have some bread dough in the fridge so I decided to give it a try.

I ended up doing two different loaves with slightly different methods and results.

The dough I used was from my Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book.  I love this book try to keep at least one type of dough in the fridge at all times.  Sometimes I have two.

With the first loaf I let the dough rise for 30 minutes - 1 hour before putting it in the crock pot.  I preheated the crock pot with about 2 cups of water in the bottom.  I crumpled a piece of foil and placed it in the bottom.  Then I put my dough in a greased loaf pan and placed it on top of the foil.  I placed a folded dish towel over the crock and then placed the lid on top of that.  I cooked on high for 3-4 hours.  When I took the bread out the top and bottom were almost soggy, it was very moist - not at all crusty.  I turned it out on a cooling rack for a couple of hours it had dried out enough to just be soft but not soggy. The end result reminded me more of the consistency and crust as a loaf of store bought bread.  I'm sure at this point I could have put it in the oven for 10-15 minutes to crisp it up a bit.  The bread was good, just not crusty.

The second loaf I did not let rise as I figured the first hour or so in the crock would basically allow that.  I also did not put the water in the crock.  Everything else I did the same.  The result was a crustier crust and the loaf was not as tall due to the lack of rising time. 

I will definitely be using the crock pot method again, especially in the summer.  Much better than having the oven on 450 for 40 minutes or more.  When I do bake in the crock pot again, I will let the dough rise for about one hour prior to putting in the crock and I will use the no water method as I liked the crust better.

Definitely an experiment that was worth the time and effort.  Now, to get the family to eat two loaves of wheat-oat bread. 

Jenn

A Lovely Lady with a Wonderful Dessert

Michael's parents invited our family and a couple from church, the Eubanks, over for dinner on Memorial Day. Mrs. Eubanks volunteered to bring dessert. She produced the most kid friendly dessert of all time. I would have never thought of this idea but will be stealing it in the future. She brought a bakery cake that had been iced but not decorated and then frosting and other decorations. She asked the children to help her decorate it. Since it was Memorial Day she had them make the US flag. They had so much fun and were so proud of the end result.

The Cat Who Stole Christmas

All I have done this week is laundry, cooking and more cooking. Last night I mentioned that maybe I wouldn't make Christmas Cake this year. That idea was met with very stony silence from my wonderful husband. When I remarked about his silence being my answer he said he was still trying to comprehend the idea. Nothing more was said about the cake.

Today a neighbor called and invited all four of the kids over to play. I took that opportunity to make the cakes (red velvet and white cake marbled together). They turned out perfect. I had them cooling on the counter in the kitchen. They weren't completely cool when I needed to run to the post office. To keep the cats out of them, not that I was actually concerned about them getting into the cake, I covered them with dishtowels and went on my merry way.

When we got home, I went in the kitchen for something and noticed cake crumbs coming out from under the dish towels. I was concerned but not overly. Then I lifted the dish towel and saw the complete damage. Isabella had apparently decided to walk on, lay on and eat the cakes. All three layers were ruined. Did I mention I had seriously considered not making cake this year? Did I mention the cat might need a new home?



OK, so I'm not 100% sure it was Isabella. I didn't actually see her do it. She didn't have crumbs on her cute little black nose. But I did catch her on the counter again after that. I think she was trying to get back to the cake. I think this was her pay back for her new look I gave her yesterday.

Side note here: For all of you who have received baked goods from me, I promise the cats don't usually roam the counters. My trusty spray bottle is doing a good job of teaching them they are not allowed up there. Apparently Christmas Cake was just too tempting.

For those of you who don't know, Christmas Cake is a marbled red velvet/white cake with Peppermint Cream Cheese Frosting. I've been told that it "tastes like Christmas."