Big TV night

this is Anna w/her big hair, hee-hee!


I am looking forward to the TV shows tonight. We'll see how Grey's Anatomy will start off the season, I didn't really like the finale so, I am interested to see where it goes.





Tonight for dinner I am cooking 2 partially filled bags of frozen french fries, roasted zucchini, salad, and baked chicken w/Italian Seasoning. For my chicken I am going to bake it topped w/Roasted Tomato Salsa and a slice of provolone cheese. The rest of the family will have plain Italian Seasoning Salt chicken--the way they like it.





I think I'll have a Bacardi Mojito--they taste pretty good--w/my TV viewing.





Tommorow I am going to the CBEF Bunco Night. I forget what CBEF stands for but basically it is a group of people that try to raise extra money for our school district and do things for the school district. Wish me luck that I win a big prize!

On Saturday I'll be going to see Steve Dahl and the Nadas w/a couple of friends and one good friends sister from out of town. I know we'll have a great time, we are still tossing around the best place to go for a not too pricey but good dinner prior to the big show!

Wahhhh I want big hair

Yesterday Anna did her impression of a teenager in the 80s. She comes to me and says she wants her hair big like the girl in her class. O.K.... After about 5 minutes I understand she wants pigtails. So I put pigtails in her hair. She goes and looks in the mirror and cries and cries, big huge sobs I. want. big. hair. this. isn't . big hair wahhhhh.

Back to the drawing board. We talk for a while, I convince her to let me try the pigtails again. This time I put them as high up on her little head as possible. She looks like she has attenas. She goes and checks in the mirror.

Yippee Big Hair! Just like the girl at school (whose name she doesn't know). Problem Solved.

Now on to Bryce. Bryce won't eat breakfast--I'm trying everything. Bryce here is a bowl of honey nut chex. No he's not hungry.

Okay here is a gogurt. No not hungry. Okay no breakfast, no TV, I turn off TV. He won't eat the gogurt. I ask if there is anything he will eat??? How about a glass of milk???? Nope no go. I get a milk at school. But that's not enough Bryce.

Okay Bryce, if you won't eat breakfast, I am going to have to call the doctor, he'll probably need to give you a shot, cause you won't eat breakfast.

He doesn't care.

Then I try another tactic.
Bryce please, for me? will you eat a little yougurt? It would make me so happy.

He walks away and gets his backpack.

Any ideas?

I made this overnight in the crockpot...Tom took it to work.

Autumn Harvest Stew
1 pork tenderloin
1 chopped med. onion
2 chopped granny smith apples
2 chopped sweet potatoes
2 chopped parsnips
1 tbsp thyme (fresh)
1 tbsp rosemary (fresh)
2 cups apple juice or cider
salt and pepper to taste.

Cook overnight in crockpot. Take out the tenderloin, cut up and mix back in. Serve w/some nice Perfectly Parmasean Biscuits.

I made a recipe out of the Tribune

Now this like never happens. I got the Chicago Tribune on Wed (9/19/07) and actually found a recipe that I could make and (and this is key) something that Tom would eat. (now trying to make something Tom and the kids would eat..HA!) So here it is...

Pan-fried chicken breasts with mushroom-chardonnay sauce

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings-

Mushrooms and chardonnay blend their flavors in a distinctive sauce for the bird in this recipe from food editor Carol Mighton Haddix. Try other white wines, if you like.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons butter
3 shallots,
sliced1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms of your choice, such as morels, chanterelles or button, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/4 cup chardonnay
1 cup chicken broth

1. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add the chicken. Cook until browned on one side, 3 minutes. Turn; cook until browned on the other side, about 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium-low; cover pan. Cook until chicken is almost cooked through, 5-8 minutes. Remove chicken to a plate; cover lightly with foil.

2. Add shallots to the skillet; cook over medium-high heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and thyme; cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 4-5 minutes. Add the wine; cook, stirring up browned bits, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth; cook, stirring often, until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Season with remaining 1/2 teaspoon of the salt or to taste. Return chicken and its juices to skillet; heat 1 minute. Remove skillet from the heat; add the remaining 1 tablespoon of the butter. Set aside to melt, about 1 minute. Transfer chicken and sauce to a serving dish.

Improvising

Here is a funny little thing, Anna's new phrase is "Oh My Goodness" It's pretty cute in a 3 year old. Not so cute is her refusal to wear shirts when we are home. At least she isn't trying to go shirtless to school...

Today I got an email from the Food Network promising meatloaf recipes, so I thought I have a bunch of ground turkey in the freezer, hey I'll make meatloaf. But when I went to make it, I found I was missing a few ingredients so I improvised...

Let me know what you think, I'll report back tomorrow and let you know if it worked...

2 lbs ground turkey
3/4 cup brown rice (was supposed to be quick oats)
1/2 cup chopped green pepper (was supposed to be red bell pepper)
1 med. onion (check on that)
2 eggs (check on that)
2 tbsp Merlot Sauce (was supposed to be 1 tsp worcheshire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup (check on that)
fresh ground peper (check on that)
1 tsp of Garlic Garlic (was supposed to be salt)
and it called for 1/2 cup of milk which I didn't have and just left out.
and 8oz of tomato sauce...I didn't have that so I poured the rest of a jar of Mild Red Pepper Sauce on top.

We'll see how it goes. I am make the Perfectly Parm. Biscuits and a Rice Pilaf to go w/.

My rice pilaf will have 1 1/2 cups brown rice
water w/chix bullion
chopped zucchini
chopped sugar snap peas
chopped onion.
and some Seasoned Salt if needed.

About a week ago I started making my way through a book called The Energy of Money by Maria Nemeth...It's a great place to start if you want to have a better relationship w/money...any who doesn't.

The leaves are starting to change, I don't mind Fall but I am already coaching myself through the dead of winter! Okay right after the holidays I'll be in Austin TX, it will probably be warmer there...then a few weeks and it will be Valentines Day...usually there isn't too much snow after that...usually there is a weird heat wave in March...LOL

My Goodness...

My goodness, it's been 5 days since I posted. I am sure all of you out there have been jonesing for a little more from me for days now! LOL

I wasted a good 10 minutes today looking for a new recipe for baked chicken and I found this one...

Beer Baked Chicken

from the TS website modified by me.

4 Chicken Breasts

Onion Onion and Seasoned Salt sprinkle to your taste.

1/2 a cup of the Cherry Honey Mustard Sauce

1/2 a cup of beer.

Take the Chicken and place that into a greased baking pan...I like to use a Pampered Chef roasting pan. Sprinkle the Onion Onion and Seasoned Salt over the Chicken. Then take the mustard sacuse and the beer and wisk that together. When wisked together, pour over chicken. Cover the pan w/foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until the juices run clear.

***************

Here is a funny...

Last night at 7pm Tom called me to tell me he locked his keys in his car...no that isn't the funny part, the funny part is that Tom called our house and when I answered he asked where I was.

Helllllooo you called me at our house number, that's where I am! I think all the golfing got to his head...too much sunshine.

Me and the kids met a friend and we went to the Eli's Cheesecake Festival which Tom was golfing. The kids had fun. It was a bit crowded for me. If they are able, I would recommend that in the future they spread out the fest more, esp the kid attractions.

I am very excited, I qualified to take part in a research study thing in Orland Park, for 2 hours of giving my opinion I'll get $100.

It's Wednesday already????

Today I experimented w/a couple new recipes, one I rec'd from Timber Creek Farms for Butternut Squash Soup and one from Women's Day Magazine that I changed because it called for using the grill and I wanted to use the oven.

Speaking of oven for lunch I made Warm the Oven w/ reduced fat cream cheese and ate it w/celery sticks. Yum!

So the Butternut Squash Soup turned out well which is good because I'll be the only one around here eating it.

Recipe:
1 3lb butternut squash cut lengthwise and w/the seeds scooped out.
2. large onions cut and quartered.
3. couple tablespoons garlic garlic
4. 3 cups chix broth
5. nutmeg to taste if you like
6. a pinch of dried sage.
7. dash of salt and fresh ground pepper.

take a large baking pan, spray w/pam or add a little olive oil to coat lightly,
preheat oven to 400
then take the butternut squash, spray them w/pam or brush w/olive oil and sprinkle 1/2 a tablespoon of the Garlic Garlic on each 1/2.
put face down in the pan.
pierce the squash 1/2;s a few times.
put onions around the squash, spray a little more pam or add a bit of olive oil on top.
Bake for 50 minutes covered.
Take out, check the the squash are all soft, bake longer if necess.

Then scoop out the squash in the blender, add the onions the other tbsp of garlic the nutmeg the sage and slowly add the broth as you puree the mix in the blender.

When it's all puree'd and all the broth is added, put it in a sauce pan for a minute or 2 to warm it up and then serve.
:)

Check and Done.

Here I am at the Chicago 1/2 Marathon w/the sun beating down on all of us!Yesss I did it! It was really hard! I don't know how people do a whole marathon.

Oh I am so sorrrrrreee. But I did it, I finished a 1/2 marathon and lived to tell the tale.

Some recent pics.

Off to Kindergarten!

Patrick and Bryce's first day of school

Steve Dahl at a Back to the Beach Party Tom and I went to in August.

Time to start preschool!

Arugula

This morning we received our Timber Creek Farms http://www.tcforganics.net Goody Box (it's an assortment of different organic fruits and veggies) and this box contained arugula. So I'm making a new recipe tonight to go with baked chicken breasts.

Here is the new potato salad recipe (from http://www.allrecipes.com ) :

Potato Arugula Salad
Submitted by: Jenny
Rated: 4 out of 5 by 4 members
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Ready In: 35 Minutes
Yields: 6 servings
"A different and yummy potato salad; it uses no mayonnaise. This is a nice alternative to use arugula, rather than just adding it to a green salad."
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds red potatoes, cubed
3 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced (optional) (I'm going to use 2 tsp of garlic garlic instead.)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 bunch arugula - rinsed, dried and torn
DIRECTIONS:
1.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and cool. Transfer to a large bowl.
2.
Meanwhile, mix vinegar, garlic, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Drizzle in olive oil, whisking until mixture thickens.
3.
Toss potatoes with vinegar and oil mixture and arugula. Serve at room temperature.

Later this week or early next week they are calling for autumnlike temperatures and I'll be making a batch of my "Mama's Soup" which is just my chicken noodle soup. And I am going to try out a Butternut Squash Recipe AND I found a recipe for Autumn Stew--slow cooker recipe.

Yippee I have some varied recipes to try.

What a beautiful Weekend!

Wow did we get some wonderful weather this weekend. I love sunny skies and low humidity. Sigh, too bad we can't have this 9 months of the year and then just have 1 month of fall, 1 month of winter and 1 month of spring.

The new catalog is out and Anna is crazy about the Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Cheese Ball Mix. So that one has a 3 year old's recommendation. I am crazy for the Cranberry Pecan Bread...and the Pumpkin Patch Bread...

I am looking to do my own taste-testing party instead of an Open House this year. Right now I am thinking September 28th could be the day. I'll figure that out in time to set up online invitations to my taste-testing and then I can enter the guests into a drawing that day for the host credit.

New consultants in September get this gift for joining...I really love the spice rack and what a nice way to welcome newbies than w/a set of 6 spices.

One new product we have is Old Fashioned Bread Pudding. There is a recipe on the box for it that makes my mouth water everytime I pick up a box...

Apple Butterscotch Bread Pudding

Submitted by Rosemary (MN) HQ Resident Chef

Ingredients

Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding Mix

2 large eggs

2 cups 2% milk

1 cup diced apple(peeled or unpeeled)

1 cup butterscotchchips

Prepared Oh, Baby! Brown Sugar Sauce Mix

Directions Whisk eggs and milk together in a large mixing bowl; stir in Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding Mix , apple and butterscotch chips. Let stand 20 minutes. Pour mixture into a greased 8 x 8 baking pan. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes. Top with Oh, Baby! Brown Sugar Sauce. Serve warm or cold. Makes about 8-10 servings.