The near-arctic chill has descended upon the southern Great Plains, perhaps so that we can be sympathetic to those folks enduring the great snowstorm in the Great Lakes area and northeastern states. Yikes!
Outside it's nothing like the last three days of 70F temps -- other than the beautiful blue skies, anyway. We're in the mid-30s and expecting to see the teens overnight. And it's been fiercely windy. I didn't sleep well last night (coughing -- bleagh), and every time I was awake I heard the wind pushing hard against the house. From the north, of course.
Inside, on the other hand, I've been cooking stuff that takes time, and updating my Web site, and the guys have been playing! I've been working on black bean soup, beef stock, and part-whole-wheat bread.
This morning I rinsed my soaking black beans and set them to cook, and the good smells of onion, black pepper, and garlic quickly filled the house. I season my beans; I don't like the plain bean cooking smell.
Once that was started, I pulled some ham out of the freezer to thaw for the black bean soup. Then I chopped up some carrots and onion and set them to roasting with the beef bone pieces I got through the Oklahoma Food Co-op. I am definitely a meat eater; the smell of the beef roasting was heavenly!
Next, I mixed up my favorite white bread dough, but with 1 cup of stone-ground whole wheat flour replacing 1 cup of regular flour, and for the first time I used my wheat gluten -- to help the bread dough rise with the WW flour.
After the beef bones were nicely browned, I put them in my stock pot with the roasted veggies, added some water to the roasting pan, patiently scraped up all of the browned bits, and put all of that plus some seasonings into the stock pot.
Right now the black beans and the beef stock-to-be are simmering, the bread is doing its final rise in the loaf pans, and I'm trying to remember whether I've eaten since I got up. Ooooops!!
My perennial problem is getting the beans soft enough for some in the family; I can't seem to get 'em truly tender without freezing them. I promise that I don't salt them until the very end. If I can manage "tender" today, then for dinner we'll have black bean soup, or simply seasoned black beans in broth over white rice with shredded Cheddar -- and part-whole-wheat bread on the side, of course! With some veggie or other, too. I'll make beef stew tomorrow night or Monday night, using a simple recipe from my copy of the 2004 Better Times Almanac). Then I'll freeze the rest of the beef broth.
My favorite way to do this kind of cooking is to have NOTHING else I need to do and nowhere else to go, all day long. Then there's plenty of time and it becomes relaxing instead of stressful to manage multiple pots and bread, too.
The guys have been playing video games for a while, with a break and lunch at noon. Now dear husband is playing and the boys like to watch him play and advise him. Sometimes that goes well, other times not. He got really frustrated with one bad guy whom he simply could not defeat, and afterward he asked Son2 (nearly 5 years old), "what are you supposed to tell me?" Son2 was mystified, and dear husband suggested, "Calm down, Daddy." Hehehe.
I also updated my Faith at Home Web site front page to focus on daily life, with the second focus being Lent, Holy Week, and Easter -- Lent starts very early this year: February 9!
I'd better go find something to eat, and put the bread in the oven. Yummmmm! Anyone else out there keeping warm on a frigid day today?
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Pomp, pageantry, politics, power
The kids don't get to use the GameCube today -- I'm surfing between the networks and MSNBC for presidential inauguration coverage. Love it! The Golden Globes and Oscars are fun for the gowns, but the inauguration has it all -- people of power, traditions, public ceremony, a big speech by the president, a parade, media discussion of security and current issues and politics and past presidents, etc., etc.
Now, when's the State of the Union speech?
Gotta go, I want to see the big names being seated...
Now, when's the State of the Union speech?
Gotta go, I want to see the big names being seated...
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Italian Meatball Soup, my version
Yesterday late afternoon I had a hankering for Italian meatball soup, or at least some sort of soup with meatballs in it. It helped that I knew I had storebought Italian meatballs in the freezer and a couple of cans of chicken stock in the pantry, and I'd seen a recipe for Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup on the Frozen-Assets email list recently.
By dinnertime we were sitting down to Italian meatball soup. How did I do it? I substituted a bunch of Italian meatballs for bulk Italian sausage, skipped the canned diced tomatoes and white beans, substituted egg noodles for the shell-shaped pasta, skipped the fresh spinach leaves, added frozen green beans, and eyeballed the amounts of everything according to how much chicken broth I had -- the recipe included three quarts of broth! Dear husband and wonderful boys loved it, or at least (Son2) ate the meatballs, a green bean, and some broth.
My Quick Italian Meatball Soup
12 or so frozen Italian-style meatballs
1 tsp olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/4 onion, minced (could be chopped; it's a texture thing for some in the family)
1 clove garlic, minced (I buy minced garlic in a jar)
Cook in a 2-quart saucepan until the onion is translucent.
Add:
2 cans or 4 cups chicken broth
1/2 can or 1 cup of water
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
Bring to a boil.
Add:
1 cup or so of frozen green beans
2 cups dried egg noodles
Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Nearly everyone gobbled it up, and this is a very big deal as I have in the past been very frustrated with trying to make a good soup. Hurrah! Dear husband suggested adding mushrooms at the saute stage, and definitely a crusty bread would be great. I was working with what we had on hand, so I served whole-wheat sandwich bread with butter, LOL!
By dinnertime we were sitting down to Italian meatball soup. How did I do it? I substituted a bunch of Italian meatballs for bulk Italian sausage, skipped the canned diced tomatoes and white beans, substituted egg noodles for the shell-shaped pasta, skipped the fresh spinach leaves, added frozen green beans, and eyeballed the amounts of everything according to how much chicken broth I had -- the recipe included three quarts of broth! Dear husband and wonderful boys loved it, or at least (Son2) ate the meatballs, a green bean, and some broth.
My Quick Italian Meatball Soup
12 or so frozen Italian-style meatballs
1 tsp olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1/4 onion, minced (could be chopped; it's a texture thing for some in the family)
1 clove garlic, minced (I buy minced garlic in a jar)
Cook in a 2-quart saucepan until the onion is translucent.
Add:
2 cans or 4 cups chicken broth
1/2 can or 1 cup of water
1 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
Bring to a boil.
Add:
1 cup or so of frozen green beans
2 cups dried egg noodles
Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Nearly everyone gobbled it up, and this is a very big deal as I have in the past been very frustrated with trying to make a good soup. Hurrah! Dear husband suggested adding mushrooms at the saute stage, and definitely a crusty bread would be great. I was working with what we had on hand, so I served whole-wheat sandwich bread with butter, LOL!
For the ladies, I highly recommend
...cloth pads for "that time of the month." I've been using cloth pads for about 3 1/2 years, and they're sooooo great. Super comfortable, work really well, don't show, NO recurring cost until it's time to replace them, and they're easy to care for. I just got a new set, and love, love, love them. In the last few years the work-at-home moms making pads have gotten quite innovative. What I finally decided on: Freshies, or Fresh Moon pads.
If that's more than you wanted to know about these things, try to think of something else for a while - "lalalalala!" - sorry. :)
If that's more than you wanted to know about these things, try to think of something else for a while - "lalalalala!" - sorry. :)
Monday, January 17, 2005
We cooked for now and later, too
I'm tired and a little chilled, so I'm heading to bed quite early tonight. But first, I shall boast! of family kitchen accomplishments!
Saturday night I cooked pasta and fixed our simple seasoned tomato sauce to go with it. The twist was that I realized beforehand that with very little additional work I could make FOUR dinners that night. So I cooked up two pounds of ziti and that other stuff with the angled ends -- the name is escaping me -- whatever. Anyway, I also grabbed from the freezer some leftover seasoned sauce and a good amount of shredded Mozzarella and let them thaw while we ate. A while after dinner I mixed together the rest of the pasta, all of the sauce, and several handfuls of Mozzarella, and divided it among three pans for the freezer. Voila! Three future dinners!
Sunday night I made Mexican-style red rice for our standard burrito dinner: flour tortillas filled with refried beans (I used leftover homemade bean dip from our party!), my rice, and cheese for those who like cheese (not me). Later I put Son2, who will be five next month, to bed and returned to a completely dear-husband-cleaned kitchen AND a dinner pan filled with a layered Mexican-leftover casserole! WOW! Another future dinner!
Tonight I had the bright idea of making breakfast for dinner. Dear husband would cook eggs and I would flip pancakes. The thing with pancakes is that I make a quintuple batch (yep, multiply by five) so we have lots of pancake leftovers for breakfasts and pancake/peanut-butter sandwiches. Tonight I also decided to fix a recipe for baked oatmeal, so we could taste test it tomorrow morning. Soon the kitchen smelled great: cinnamon and vanilla from the baking oatmeal dish, and the eggs and pancakes sizzling.
What I didn't think of was 1 item in oven needing counter space to cool, plus dear husband being generous and fixing eggs 2 different ways and me using 2 pans to cook pancakes in batch style. We worked it out, got everything cooked and everyone filled with good food, and now we also have a big stash of pancakes that will last maybe three days. LOL!
I did try an oat/whole-wheat/regular flour pancake recipe on the side, which was another reason I used two pans. I often try other pancake recipes alongside our standard in my search for a yummy whole-grain pancake, but as usual with these things it was deadly heavy. I threw out most of the batter and kept the 12 or 15 pancakes of those I'd cooked up. I'm sure I can manage to eat them with vanilla yogurt or something. I'll probably toast them to make them hot and crackly; that'll help too. Sigh.
Anyway, after three days we have FOUR dinners and maybe 3-5 breakfasts, NOT EVEN counting the baked oatmeal, 'cause we haven't even tried it yet. Woohoo! By the way, these dinner pans are the GladWare OvenWare 8x8 pans extras that I bought along with the ones for my MOMS Club frozen dinner exchange group. The lids snap on and then they slide very nicely into a one-gallon zip bag as another layer of freezer protection (and to hold a label and date, or recipe, between the pan lid and the bag). Just a little tip there.
Just a little happy kitchen dance (shuffle, shuffle)!
Must. Go. To. Bed.
Saturday night I cooked pasta and fixed our simple seasoned tomato sauce to go with it. The twist was that I realized beforehand that with very little additional work I could make FOUR dinners that night. So I cooked up two pounds of ziti and that other stuff with the angled ends -- the name is escaping me -- whatever. Anyway, I also grabbed from the freezer some leftover seasoned sauce and a good amount of shredded Mozzarella and let them thaw while we ate. A while after dinner I mixed together the rest of the pasta, all of the sauce, and several handfuls of Mozzarella, and divided it among three pans for the freezer. Voila! Three future dinners!
Sunday night I made Mexican-style red rice for our standard burrito dinner: flour tortillas filled with refried beans (I used leftover homemade bean dip from our party!), my rice, and cheese for those who like cheese (not me). Later I put Son2, who will be five next month, to bed and returned to a completely dear-husband-cleaned kitchen AND a dinner pan filled with a layered Mexican-leftover casserole! WOW! Another future dinner!
Tonight I had the bright idea of making breakfast for dinner. Dear husband would cook eggs and I would flip pancakes. The thing with pancakes is that I make a quintuple batch (yep, multiply by five) so we have lots of pancake leftovers for breakfasts and pancake/peanut-butter sandwiches. Tonight I also decided to fix a recipe for baked oatmeal, so we could taste test it tomorrow morning. Soon the kitchen smelled great: cinnamon and vanilla from the baking oatmeal dish, and the eggs and pancakes sizzling.
What I didn't think of was 1 item in oven needing counter space to cool, plus dear husband being generous and fixing eggs 2 different ways and me using 2 pans to cook pancakes in batch style. We worked it out, got everything cooked and everyone filled with good food, and now we also have a big stash of pancakes that will last maybe three days. LOL!
I did try an oat/whole-wheat/regular flour pancake recipe on the side, which was another reason I used two pans. I often try other pancake recipes alongside our standard in my search for a yummy whole-grain pancake, but as usual with these things it was deadly heavy. I threw out most of the batter and kept the 12 or 15 pancakes of those I'd cooked up. I'm sure I can manage to eat them with vanilla yogurt or something. I'll probably toast them to make them hot and crackly; that'll help too. Sigh.
Anyway, after three days we have FOUR dinners and maybe 3-5 breakfasts, NOT EVEN counting the baked oatmeal, 'cause we haven't even tried it yet. Woohoo! By the way, these dinner pans are the GladWare OvenWare 8x8 pans extras that I bought along with the ones for my MOMS Club frozen dinner exchange group. The lids snap on and then they slide very nicely into a one-gallon zip bag as another layer of freezer protection (and to hold a label and date, or recipe, between the pan lid and the bag). Just a little tip there.
Just a little happy kitchen dance (shuffle, shuffle)!
Must. Go. To. Bed.
Saturday, January 08, 2005
Looks like the party's over...
The party went great, with lots of friends and conversation, kids playing, and yummy food and drink. I gave up making the chocolate cake in order to declutter in earnest Thursday and Friday -- WOW the house looks great! Even the day after! In addition to simply putting much stuff away, I worked hard to clear all horizontal surfaces and find "away" places for that stuff. I even cleared off the fridge; everything did a disappearing act except my favorite Doonesbury cartoon and all of the extended-family snapshots. I guess decluttering what you see is as important as putting things in their right places. It's sooooo nice.
Well, except for one single closet that's stacked full in an organized manner 'cause I know exactly where certain bags and boxes are headed now that the party is over and I want to make SURE they get out the door (clothes being passed on to friends, for example). The other exception is of course my tornado-aftermath-lookalike office, but that's the loft at the top of the stairs and no one is supposed to go there, LOL! It is crying out for some basic organization and tossing-of-old-papers. We'll see if I answer that cry sooner rather than later.
Onward into the new year.
Well, except for one single closet that's stacked full in an organized manner 'cause I know exactly where certain bags and boxes are headed now that the party is over and I want to make SURE they get out the door (clothes being passed on to friends, for example). The other exception is of course my tornado-aftermath-lookalike office, but that's the loft at the top of the stairs and no one is supposed to go there, LOL! It is crying out for some basic organization and tossing-of-old-papers. We'll see if I answer that cry sooner rather than later.
Onward into the new year.
Friday, January 07, 2005
Holidailies NOT
I'm pretty sure I was the anti-Holidailies, as I pretty much stopped blogging during the period the Holidailies participants vowed to blog daily! (Dec 6 - Jan 7). Oh well, I'm hoping I can say "I'm back!" to frequent blogging and get back in the groove. I miss blogging.
In the meantime, it's crunch time for our annual Twelfth Night party tonight, postponed from Jan 5 due to the streets-o-ice around here. Today's high should reach 50F, so all is safe again. All that's left today is making a chocolate Bundt-type cake, prepping the fresh veggies, setting up the party meatballs in the slow cooker, and... decluttering!!! (Aaaaaaaaah! -- but it sure makes for a neat, tidy house.)
THEN I need to deal with the stuff I WAS going to do after the party this week, but that "after the party" time this week has telescoped down to nil. I'll be doing most of that stuff this weekend. For instance:
...Write up minutes to read at a meeting on Saturday morning. Write up my brief bio blurb for my nomination as parish delegate to our statewide annual church convention (been 3 times, really like that experience -- true!). Call all the parents of the kids Son1 wants to invite to his birthday party, which we pushed off to next weekend, and poll them on Sat vs. Sun. Prepare the Godly Play story for my Sunday school class. Prep for my MOMS Club frugal group (I toss topics into the discussion), the community library expansion committee meeting, AND a church-related meeting Monday. ...and there's other stuff later in the week, but so it goes.
The kids got a GameCube for Christmas and I decided to learn to play this stuff, so I'll be taking a racing break at some point today, and maybe this weekend I'll work on learning to play Quidditch or solve those frustrating puzzles in the Polar Express game :)
A happy and blessed new year to you and yours!
In the meantime, it's crunch time for our annual Twelfth Night party tonight, postponed from Jan 5 due to the streets-o-ice around here. Today's high should reach 50F, so all is safe again. All that's left today is making a chocolate Bundt-type cake, prepping the fresh veggies, setting up the party meatballs in the slow cooker, and... decluttering!!! (Aaaaaaaaah! -- but it sure makes for a neat, tidy house.)
THEN I need to deal with the stuff I WAS going to do after the party this week, but that "after the party" time this week has telescoped down to nil. I'll be doing most of that stuff this weekend. For instance:
...Write up minutes to read at a meeting on Saturday morning. Write up my brief bio blurb for my nomination as parish delegate to our statewide annual church convention (been 3 times, really like that experience -- true!). Call all the parents of the kids Son1 wants to invite to his birthday party, which we pushed off to next weekend, and poll them on Sat vs. Sun. Prepare the Godly Play story for my Sunday school class. Prep for my MOMS Club frugal group (I toss topics into the discussion), the community library expansion committee meeting, AND a church-related meeting Monday. ...and there's other stuff later in the week, but so it goes.
The kids got a GameCube for Christmas and I decided to learn to play this stuff, so I'll be taking a racing break at some point today, and maybe this weekend I'll work on learning to play Quidditch or solve those frustrating puzzles in the Polar Express game :)
A happy and blessed new year to you and yours!
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