Menu: Oct 10-16 & Flip-flopping ideals

There is a time when I had motherhood all figured out. I knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Then I had my first baby. Honestly, it is amazing how much your ideals can change at any moment when actually dealing with a living, breathing being who is determined to do everything they know they are not suppose to do. 

For a specific example, I was not going to let my child watch anything except for one episode of Sesame Street (or other educational show) a couple of times a week. I was going to watch it with my child and help them learn from it. I was somewhat appalled to learn that parents actually used the tv as a babysitting tool. What kind of inattentive parent sits their child down in front of the TV so they can do something else? Fast forward to today and I'll tell you what type of parent does that - ME (and it's not always Sesame Street - one of his favorites is a show about machines)! And my sanity thanks me for it. 

It is so easy for us to judge situations that we do not understand and tell ourselves we'd handle it differently. However, put in that situation - not just once, but many times - and our attitudes change. As my mom's dad would always tell her, "You don't know what they've been through tweety."

What are some 'ideals' that you use to have that have completely changed? (Parenting or other aspects.)

Now for the menu:

Monday: Black Bean Tortilla Casserole

Tuesday: Pot-Luck dinner with our local congregation

Wednesday: Ate Out (Let's just say it was one of those days...)

Thursday: Tortilla Soup

Friday: Mexican Gumbo (Inspired by Qdoba - I loved this dish! It is perfect for leftover tortilla soup!)

Saturday: Spaghetti & Side Salad

Sunday: Quinoa w/Caramelized Onions & Roasted Peppers

Vote for the recipe you want to see next Thursday. This week I'll be posting Chili Rubbed Sirloin Steak.

Slow Cooker Asian 'BBQ' Chicken

I love cooking in a slow cooker, or crockpot as it is usually called. What's the difference? A slow cooker is any brand, whereas a crock pot is a brand name (they call themselves the original slow cooker.) I would have to disagree with that, there were slow cookers before electricity, it just usually involved digging a hole in the ground. Sometime I'm going to cook using that type of method, but it won't be until it warms up again. 

Speaking of warming up, exactly one week ago it was snowing... you read that right! Snowing. mid-day. I was about ready to throw something at the sky (until I realized that it would probably come back and hit me!) The week before that it was 81 degrees, today it got to 63. I'll tell you what - the weather is crazy! I'm glad it got warmed up again, I couldn't take winter in October. It's barely even Autumn...

Anyway, I digress... Today I'm going to be sharing with you an awesome recipe for slow-cooked chicken with an Asian flair. It reminded me so much of BBQ that I had to add that to the name. It was gone before I got to take a picture of it (or remembered to take one would be more correct!) So there still is no finished picture, but next time I make it I will definitely get one posted!

Slow Cooker Asian 'BBQ' Chicken

First you'll need some chicken - I used thighs that I skinned and boned (used those to make some chicken broth.)

In a bowl, combine 1 tsp basil (dried)

4-5 cloves garlic,

minced.

About 1 tsp ginger-root,

grated.

You'll also need ketchup (I prefer getting it with no HFCS but that's just me. I once tried it with no salt but I wouldn't recommend it.)

You'll need 1/2 cup of it.

Just dump it in the bowl.

You'll also need soy sauce (like always, I use reduced sodium.)

Also 1/2 cup.

Add it to everything else.

Next, you'll need a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Fill it with honey.

Dump the honey in with everything else.

The spray helps it come out of the measuring cup so much easier!

You'll also need Raspberry Vinegar (you can also use Red Wine Vinegar or Balsamic Vinegar.)

Add 1 Tbsp to the mixture.

Next, comes the hot sauce.

1 teaspoon.

Toss it in with everything else.

Mix to combine.

Pour over the chicken.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice.

Enjoy!
(Like I said I don't have a finished picture, so sorry the last one still has raw chicken!) 

Print Recipe 

Menu: Oct 3 - 9

I seriously was about to write September in the slot up there... until I looked at the calendar to see what dates to add! Although with the weather we've been having here I might as well write November or December. Seriously Saturday I woke up to SNOW (that was the second time it had snowed this past week, but the first time any stuck to the ground)! Honestly I'm not kidding it was snowing for a half and hour after I woke up. So I did what any person who loves to cook does on a cold snowy morning, I made a hot breakfast. I surprised my husband with German Pancakes with Warmed Nectarines in Honey and hot chocolate with whipped cream. I do have a confession, the Warmed Nectarines were going to be cold slices, but the fruit didn't ripen quite right and tasted a bit dull, so I cut them into cubes and tossed them in a pan with butter and honey. Afterward, I couldn't tell that they were not so great before I cooked them! I love it when that happens ;). I want to try it with peaches in the future, it is really something I am going to do with peaches and nectarines that don't ripen well in the future.

Luckily the snow melted by later in the day, but it never got higher than 40 degrees. Luckily this Thursday and Friday the low will be higher than that! I could not take winter happening this soon. Sorry for talk about the weather, but snow in the first full week in October is ridiculous!

Here's the menu: 

Monday: BLT Salad

Tuesday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Wednesday: Chicken Noodle Soup

Thursday: Salmon Packets

Friday: Ate Out

Saturday: Chicken Wraps (No picture, I had a baby shower and a wedding reception in the same day, as well as picking up my produce from a co-op, etc. Just one of those days! It was also an experimental recipe so I will probably try it again.)

 (I promise the color of the juices is from the chili powder and paprika, not blood!)

Sunday: Chili Rubbed Sirloin Steak, with potato wedges, Balsamic Glazed Carrots  & Side Salad

Vote for the recipe you want to see next week. This Thursday I'll be posting Asian BBQ Chicken.

The past two years..

Today I'm going to get a little more personal than normal and open up about things that I've been experiencing in my life that I couldn't write about until now.

On September 20 this year my husband and I moved into our new home (that's it up there... oh and if anyone knows what that tall plant is in front, please let me know!) Exactly 2 years to the date of when we arrived at my parents house with a U-haul truck full of stuff and a 6 month old baby. The plan was to be there for 6 months - maximum! Little did we know that that six months would stretch into 2 years. Four times longer than expected. Part of me felt like a failure with each passing day as I waited for the day when either my husband or I would get a job so we could finally move. I mean what couple with a 6 month to 2 year old child lives with their parents for that long (I know it happens!) It is not anything I had ever seen in my future. That's not the way my life was suppose to have happened! I started to withdraw. I didn't reach out to others because I didn't want to have to discuss my life. I find it fascinating that at the time in my life when I needed others, I withdrew. I didn't want to be judged.

Part of me wanted to blame my husband because obviously he wasn't working hard enough on his thesis or it would have been completed within a couple of months after we moved. This is not true, and he was as frustrated with his thesis as he could be at times. Once he fixed all the issues with programs and data it went pretty well. It just took many, many trials and failures for him to get the data where it needed to be. He would discuss it with me, and I would try to at least pay attention, but it is hard when I only understood a fourth to an eighth of what he was talking about! I am grateful that he did not quit on his dream of finishing his Master's Degree. He is a strong man and I'm glad he's in my life forever.

(My husband gave me this sign when we go married.)

Another part of me knew that my parents needed help - I have a different situation than most people. I grew up with 3 younger siblings with severe disabilities. One has since passed away (actually when I was in high school.) My brother and sister need constant care. So yes my parents did need help - especially when my little sister was so close to dying - twice - in a 6 week period. It made it so my mom did not have to leave her out in the hospital alone (a 2-3 hour drive from their house) to be at home taking care of her son while my dad was at work. They also needed help because it wasn't until this summer that my sister finally stopped going to the hospital (ER, being admitted, etc.) almost every week. My mom did not have to call my dad and ask him to come home, or load my sister and my brother into the van all by herself. I am glad I was able to support my parents through the rough last two years they had.

Given a choice, I would have done it a bit differently (such as living close by but actually not in their house), however, I have learned that some choices are not solely up to us. Believe me I tried to get employment (even though I wanted to be a stay at home mom.) The only job I got a call back from I did not take it. Mainly because every time I thought about it I had such a dark feeling about taking the job. I've learned to trust those feelings. Most of the time I felt like my husband and I were living in a black hole - except, we could send things out but nothing would come back.

There were many complications happening all at once during those two years. However, everything fell into place all at once. My sister's health started doing SO much better, and within a week of turning in the finished copy of his thesis (YEY) my husband had a job offer. He started 2.5 weeks after he turned in his thesis. His job was in the same area that my parents lived, although he had a 30-45 minute commute every day. We stayed with my parents for a few months and gave us time to save up a bit of money and start looking for a house. Mainly because there are not a lot of apartments in the area - most looked pretty run down, and the rent is more than our mortgage payment!

(Turning in the thesis)

Through all the the heartache, stress, feelings of failure, etc that I experienced in the past two years, this blog has given me a feeling of belonging and success (not monetary success but something I could stick with and have an outlet.) Feelings that I seriously needed. Thank you to all who have supported me in the past by reading. I hope you will keep reading in the future. I love you all.

Looking back I realize that I lived my life waiting. Waiting for the thesis to be done, waiting to get full time employment (we had part time employment...), waiting to move out. I wasted 2 years of my life waiting. I am not going to wait anymore. I am going to experience life and enjoy each day. I'm not going to wait until I weigh 20 pounds less to enjoy my life (I am still going to try to lose that 20 lbs!) I am not going to wait until I have all the furniture for my house to enjoy it! My life is great right now, and I am going to enjoy it!

(Or the fact that there is this hideous pink carpet in my son's room... we'll be fixing that! We just have a few other things that are taking precedence...)

Thanks for reading.

BLT Salad with Lemon Garlic Dill Mayo Dressing

Uh, hello. It seems like it's been forever since we've talked... I do have an internet connection now (actually for a few days but I haven't gotten the time to post yet.) We have many boxes unpacked and now I have a lot of sorting to get done, and some storage items to get to keep everything! I just have to say unpacking loses its fun after a few days... at least to me. I am not super excited to finish sorting through the rest of the stuff we have - probably why the worst of it hasn't moved for almost a week! I have worked on getting my clothes unpacked all the way... living out of a suitcase is not for me! Maybe since it is raining today I'll be forced to stay in and finish organizing the rest of it. Oh wait, I'm forced to stay inside anyway, my car is in for repair... probably a good thing that I'm going to have to actually tackle some of this mound of stuff.

When I ran the poll for this salad it still felt like summertime... whereas now it is raining and cold outside - it could possibly even SNOW this week (in the middle of the night when it cools off, but still!) Right now, I could see myself posting about soups and the like... but a salad just seems so out of place considering the weather outside my window. However, since this is the recipe that won the poll in mid-September I'll be posting it now.

BLT Salad with Lemon, Garlic & Dill Mayo Dressing

 For the dressing:

You'll need 2 cloves of garlic, minced - I typically use a garlic press, but mine seems to have gotten misplaced in the move (and I took these pictures after we moved b/c I missed taking them the first time!) So I improvised by grating them on the small side of my grater.

 Then I chopped them up a bit. (In total it was about 1/2 Tbsp garlic)

 You'll also need a 1/4 cup measuring cup - I used it 3 times in this recipe (I didn't rinse it or anything... but you can if you want to.) You can also use 3 separate measuring cups - if you want to have the extra dishes, that is!

 You'll need plain yogurt - 1/4 cup of it!

 Dump it into a bowl.

 Toss in the garlic.

 You'll also need mayo.

 You guessed it - 1/4 cup! If you would rather use all mayo you can omit the yogurt. I like using yogurt because:
a) healthier
2) healthier
iii) less calories
d) not as strong of a mayo flavor (I'm weird like that.)
5) did I mention yogurt has less calories and is healthier than mayo? I did. ok ignore 5.
I do not however use only yogurt because having the slight taste of mayo makes it more tasty.

 You'll also need a lemon.

 first, we use the zest -

 I grated it and then chopped it a bit.

 Use 1 tsp of it!

 Toss it in with everything else.

 Next, you'll juice the lemon (or bust out the bottle from the fridge, I won't judge you!)

 Add 2 tsp lemon juice.

You'll also need 1/8 tsp dill weed (dried)

 toss it in there.

 Next, you'll need that 1/4 cup measuring cup again - this time for milk.

 Mix it all together. Salt and pepper to taste.

 Let cool in the fridge until ready to use.

BLT Salad:
Now for the good stuff: the bacon

 First, cut the bacon into pieces - I used a half a pound, slightly frozen. Seriously, cut bacon that is slightly frozen - tons easier!

 Don't we all just LOVE bacon?

 I also trimmed off the hugest amounts of fat. If my kitchen scale hadn't broken, I would have weighed it see how much was actually just fat. Probably don't want to know!

 Toss all that delicious bacon into a pan.

 Let cook until it reaches the desired doneness...

 I like mine crispy - almost burnt.

 My mouth is watering about right now. Excuse me while I go fry up the last half of that pound of bacon...

You'll also need some tomato.

and lettuce.

Optional additional ingredients:

 boiled eggs.

 sliced bell peppers

 cucumbers, and anything else you may want.

Now for the assembly:

 Top the lettuce with some of that mouth watering good bacon,

 toss on the tomato,

 and any other optional ingredient you want.

 Top with dressing

 sprinkle with bacon - it's the right thing to do. (This salad in now way hindered my weight loss! I won't say the same thing about the cookie I had for dessert!)

Enjoy!
BLT Salad: Print Recipe
Dressing:  Print Recipe