Catching Up; NaBloPoMo

Well it's been a few days. It wasn't because I got tired of writing, I am really enjoying getting to my computer every day and finding some time to get my thoughts out there. Where ever there is. Who's reading this anyway? Feel free to leave comments! :-)

I've simply run out of time and been tired. It's been a busy few days and I'm to blame for it. Actually Fall is to blame for it. It's just been so incredibly nice out and I love being outside with the girls. I had our calendar pretty full last week with visits to different farms and pumpkin carvings. Plus I planned out our week of meals which took me forever this week as I was trying to find some new recipes to try out and I haven't been feeling all that great. I'm having some breastfeeding related issues and I think it's making me more sleepy and possibly even sick. So finding the time and energy lately to keep up with posting every day this month just didn't happen.

But here I am! I'm not giving up. I've missed sitting here writing. Even if it's just for me. It makes me feel better. There's a lot of thoughts in this head people and they can't all be in there alone, it gets overwhelming. ;-)

What I'd like to do now is head back over to Blogher.com and finish up some of the prompts that I've missed. If you're interested here is the direct link for the prompts. I'm going to use the ones I've missed as more of a Q&A. Mostly because some of these prompts wouldn't elicit a full post from me and some I just don't care about.

What dish did you dread being served as a kid? Did I answer this already? Lima beans. I hate lima beans. But we found out I am allergic to them so luckily my mom didn't insist on my eating them. Onions. I still hate them but I've been cooking with them so that Alivia and Juliana have an opportunity to eat them. But as far as a full dish...I'd have to say meatloaf. Ugh, just the name...

Is your least favourite food from childhood still your least favourite dish? Yes. You will never catch me eating meatloaf. Ever.

What was the first thing you ever learned how to cook?  I don't know really. I'd have to ask my mother. See if she can bring back a memory for me. I remember making burritos at my dad's house because that was pretty much a staple there but it wasn't really cooking per say. It was chopping up the tomatoes, heating up the beans, getting the cheese, sour cream and lettuce ready and filled in the tortillas. I guess I was allowed to make the ground beef. I remember that now that I type this. 

Have you ever invented your own recipe? What was your first one? No. I've altered recipes plenty of times. I usually stick to an exact recipe the first or second time I make it but generally after that I change it up to what works for us and our tastes...or what's on hand. I wonder if I'd like to make my own. It seems like nothing "new" could really be made right? I mean,...hasn't it all been done? Maybe I should look into that.

What do you consider your most successful dish? Oh,...maybe the chili I blogged about earlier this month. Do side dishes count? I think I'm pretty good at Thanksgiving and Christmas side dishes. I'm always looking for something different for our family. I got a lot of compliments on a sweet potato casserole a couple years back as well as some really good cranberry sauce. There's a few more, though I'd need to check Pinterest because that's where I've saved those meals.

What do you wish you knew how to make? Cheesecake. I've always wanted to know how to make cheesecake and for some reason I've been intimidated by it. I think it's the pan. The spring form pan.
I we registered for 2 of those pans for our wedding, 6 years ago, ... I know all of these questions are about cooking and cheesecake is to bake so to keep on theme I'd have to say salmon. I wish I could not screw up salmon. It's incredibly rare for me not to over do it and it comes out very dry.

Now things get weird over on Blogher prompts all of a sudden it's about gossip for this week? I've not followed all the way through on a month of posting with Blogher yet so maybe it's common for a completely random break away from topic but I thought it was strange lol.

That's where I'll stop for today. I feel good that I was able to get here and do this.
By the way, Wednesday is National Cheesecake Day so watch for a video coming up on my YouTube channel on that. And if you'd like to see the videos of us at the pumpkin patches that have kept me so busy head on over to my channel!

My cooking style: NaBloPoMo Day 8

You could probably say my cooking style is similar to other stay-at-home-mom's...
Quick and easy.

I could just end this here. It's straight forward and to the point. But,...I'm not usually one to stop short. We all know I like to ramble.

Honestly though I think it's a bit more elevated than that. I do like to cook. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have a 2.5 year old that loves to help me in the kitchen. I also have a 9 month old who hangs onto my legs and makes it very hard for me to move about the kitchen. And even with this I try to cook healthy meals that my girls will enjoy as well as myself.

My style involves looking up and trying out new recipes as well as throwing in a few tried and true meals that I know we all love. I really enjoy cooking new foods. I have several cook books that are finally getting a bit more use out of them. When I meal plan I use a combination of cook books, magazines, online searches and friends recommendations.

Most importantly to me they need to be healthy. And in my family that means minimal sodium (no added salt usually), ZERO trans-fats (ever), no TBHQ/BHT and as natural or close to nature as it can be. Because of this I do usually have to edit recipes from my current cook books because most of those are very high in salt. 

I like cooking fresh foods. I love using the crock-pot, though I despise cleaning it, and I' starting to love stir-fry. Something I'm not good at is freezer meals. I tried my hardest to do them before my first daughter was born. I did actually a ton of work on them with my mom the Wednesday before I went into labor (just 2 days later) but we ended up not eating all of what we prepared and I HATE soggy foods and a lot of the freezer meals turned out soggy after reheating them.

Well...that's it. I'm not sure if they gives you any sense of the "style" of cook I am. As long as I can make it quickly and it's healthy I'm game!

Most beloved dish: NaBloPoMo Day 5

Here we are on day 5 of NaBloPoMo. Though I do believe I've posted each day in December? I'll have to take a look back and see. Today I'm very tired and it's getting late so I hope this post makes sense by the time I'm done writing it.

I think I mentioned that I'm also doing Vlogtober this month so in addition to writing here each day I'm also (attempting to) create videos that I'm up loading to my YouTube channel. I've found that I really love editing video of my family and it's such a great way to make home videos really stand out. I love it. I do wish it's something I would have realized I enjoyed doing before I had children. Though I'm not really sure it ever would have come up back then because pretty much everything I want to capture is of them :-)  But it would have been easier to have already gotten past the beginning stages of learning to edit when I had more time. And more sleep. And more brain power...

But that's not how it happened. And that's ok, I'm am having fun learning now and I hope that it'll be something I can continue with. I love the idea of us being able to look back with the girls and see what we were doing while they were growing up. It's really taking the "home video" to a whole new level. But I've gotten off topic here. I guess what I'm getting at is it's been a long day AND I've already edited and uploaded a video. (if you're interested...Vlogtober Day 7 )

OK. Onto this. Here. My blog.

What are the dishes that defined your childhood? What were your favorite dishes to eat?

What do I say about this. I must have repressed memories from my childhood because all of these questions just don't spark much of anything. I know I ate food growing up. I just don't remember much about it. I can say that I know I had a lot of mac-n-cheese with hot dogs in it. Yummy! I only know this because of my intense hatred of hot dogs and my mother explaining to me that it's most likely because I ate a lot of them growing up. It's a staple isn't it? In most kids diets? Or at least it used to be. And it certainly is for those that don't have a lot of money or time to cook more elaborate meals. My mother was a single working mother of two children for a time. And as in any family that most likely will equate to a lot of easy meals. At least in my case it was. I do have to say though that I love mac-n-cheese lol.

My mom did cook though, quite a bit I remember after she met my step-father. Chicken. We just talked about chicken she used to cook. What's strange though is the one thing that really stands out is my step-dad's chili. Tim if you're reading this, (which I doubt anyway) please forgive me. But what I remember was how bland it was! He used to make this chili all the time, in a crock pot and we used to lovingly tease him that he had never heard of a spice before! It feels like this went on for years but probably not. In his defense he is a much better cook now and we don't tease him like we used to...as much.

I'm probably most fond of my grandfather's cooking. My brother and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. We were very lucky to have them so close to us and to be able to spend so many days with them. My grandfather was one of my most favorite people in the world. Every morning that we went to their home I would walk into the smell of sausage and bacon cooking. And eggs. And he used to cook the eggs in the bacon grease haha. Certainly the opposite of a healthy meal. To this day if we cook this breakfast at home and leave the house for a bit, the moment I open my front door I am reminded of my grandpa. Maybe I should have lead with this...but it wasn't even until I started writing that I thought about it.

That happens a lot actually and is partially why I enjoy writing to begin with. More often than not I sit down to write, not even sure of what it is I want to say, and as I get into it I find myself somewhere I didn't expect.

Who's the cook in this house?!: NaBloPoMo Day 3

So today's prompt from NaBloPoMo and Blogher.com is this:
"Who does most of the cooking in your home?"

That would be me, myself and I. I take that back, my toddler likes to help out as much as possible too. She's actually quite helpful to be honest. She can crack eggs, whisk, grate cheese/zest/garlic, peel garlic, cut up soft foods with a butter knife. Really she does a great job for being only 2 years old.
Would it be easier without her help? Yeah, most of the time but it wouldn't be as much fun!

Right now I am a stay-at-home-mom and my husband is currently studying to become a Realtor so at this point in time I'm home alone with the kids and I do lunch and dinner with the girls by myself. He is here for breakfast so he almost always makes something then for us.

I do love cooking. I wish I had more time to try more in depth recipes but right now in my life I just don't have the time. When I'm trying to take care of a now 9 month old (who has been crawling since 7 months) and a 2.5 year old who is into everything, it's really difficult to find the time and brain power to actually concentrate on a really great new recipe. That being said I do still add 1-2 new meals every week or two so I am trying out new things they are just on the more simple and quick side.

Although I did make risotto for the first time a couple weeks ago, that is not a quick meal. At all. I must admit I used Sesame Street to help entertain the girls while I stood at the stove for 25 minutes constantly stirring so it wouldn't burn. I'm proud to say it came out excellent! And even better both girls gobbled it right up which is always a win in my book.

I've been doing more stir-frys (stir fries/stir fry's?) lately as well which is new for me to do. There are just so many options there! I love how simple it is and how versatile, pretty much anything you have on hand veggie/meat/tofu wise will work. Add some noodles or rice and BAM! Done! I really need to buy a wok because that would surly make it even easier I just don't have the money at the moment to test one out.

Pretty much every night I'm cooking a meal. It's rare that we end up with PB&J sandwiches for dinner and if we do it's simply because it's been a very hectic day or I didn't have time to get what I needed from the store. It does happen but I prefer to cook. I also find that if I meal plan for the week I'm much more likely to make a better meals throughout the day/week. (I talk about my process for meal planning here)

I'm excited for Alivia to be able to get more involved with cooking with me and also excited to have Dustin home nights again at some point so we can all cook together. And he is a great cook so I look forward to eating more meals made by him! (Not to mention I'd welcome the break haha)

Tilapia Fajitas (dinner for 1/8/10)

I wanted to post this last night but didn't get around to it. While grocery shopping we saw a recipe for Tilapia Fajitas on the back of our tilapia back lol. They came out REALLY good.

This makes 4 servings. 

• 4 Tilapia fillets, cut into strips
• 3/4 cup diced fresh pineapple We just used canned pineapple, who has time to tear into a pineapple?
• 2 cups grated jack or mozzarella cheese. Just used the cheese in a bag lol
• 1/2 chopped fresh cilantro Again we went the easy and cheap way and just used the seasoning
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green pepper, thinly sliced FIL and myself were the only ones that wanted pepper so we used an orange bell pepper and sauteed them. YUUUMMMY
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced You might know now, when ever a recipe calls for onion we skip it
• 4 flour tortillas

Combine the fish and the pineapple in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and marinate 30 mins. Heat oil in large skillet over high heat. Saute peppers and onions until soft, about 5 mins. Add fish mixture and saute until just cooked through, about 2 mins. From here dress it up how ever you like. Cheese, sour cream, lettuce. This was DELICIOUS!  Will defiantly make again!    

White Chicken Chili ~ Crock pot

A friend asked me for the chili recipe I use yesterday and it made me want to make it tonight. That and hubby asking me to make it haha. I made enough for all four of us to have some. It must have been good because not much was left! At the end of this post I'll list the recipe and then what I changed about it. This is my third time making it and each time I've played around with it a little to decide what we really like in it. This was a great dinner for tonight since it's 2 degrees out! Oh, and the red cutting board wasn't a great idea for pics lol

Yellow and red bell peppers. One each.

Three medium sized tomatoes, chopped. This I added to the recipe.

lol, just a pretty picture of the peppers in the pot.

We used one jalapeno pepper and one little habanero pepper. Dustin and I like it hot but his parents don't. This make it just right for all of us. You have to take ALL the seeds out of both peppers. I chopped the habanero (orange) VERY small. Warning : it is a VERY good idea to use gloves while working with both of these peppers. Some day I'll use that advice. I cut these at 1:30 today...it's 9:28 and my fingers still have the oil on them.

 

 My wonderful husband helping me with the chicken cutting!

 Chop the chicken however thick you want. This time we used bigger pieces and it was perfect!!

 The recipe calls for 2 1/2 cups chopped chicken. This ended up being only 2 cups. We used 4 frozen chicken breasts. Should have used another one.

 Just some pics of it all coming together. As you might be able to see I also added tomato paste. 12 oz. 

We used two cans of pinto beans and one can of red kidney beans. We used white kidney beans once and they were so soft they broke apart in the chili and it was too mushy for me.

 Gently mix it all together. You don't want to ruin the beans. The last thing you should add is the Chicken Broth. Then mix gently again. This is little hard to do because the pot is SOOOO full!

  Pre-cooked

 The finished product! We like to add cheese and sour cream! 

•  3, 15 5o 15.5-ounce cans Great Northern pinto or Cannellini (white kidney) beans, rinsed and drained. Any beans you want to use are fine. As I said above the White Kidney beans don't do so well in this. They tend to get really mushy and mess up the chili. Red kidney beans are great however.
  
• 2 1/2 cups chopped chicken
  
• 1 cup chopped onion We don't like onion so we skip this part, but it still tastes great
  
• 1 1/2 cups chopped red, green and/or yellow sweet pepper (about two medium)
• 2 frech jalapeno chile peppers, seeded and chopped Depending on how hot you like it play with different peppers. Make sure to read the warning above, working with hot peppers! lol
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced We just use the pre-minced bottle. SO much easier!!! 2 Teaspoons = one clove garlic
  
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth Since we add 12 oz of tomato paste and 3 chopped tomatoes we only use 2 1/2 cups of the chicken broth. Doing this makes the chili thicker.

Combine all of your ingredients leaving the chicken broth for last. Before adding the Chicken Broth gently mix every thing together. Be careful not to smash your beans up in there. Add the chicken broth and then stir again. Your crock pot is going to be REALLY full. Put the lid on and cook on low-heat for 8-10 hours, or high-heat 4-6 hours.

You can add sour cream, cheese, broken up tortilla chips, crackers or get really creative and carve out bread bowls to serve the chili in. Enjoy!

Skookie Cookies!

My mom bought Dustin and I a Skookie for our wedding shower. We finally used it last night and I love it! The set came with a cookie mix so that's what we made. I can't wait to try the other recipes it came with.

  The cast iron skillets (I don't know why this is coming out underlined....)

BIG cookies!!!

Tilapia Corn Chowder

Tonight seemed like a great night to eat some chowder! It's cold and snowing out, ugh. So I tried a recipe I found on the food network http://www.foodnetwork.com/ This was my first time making chowder but it was really pretty easy! I do think if I make it again I'll try a different seasoning than Thyme, also Dustin suggested adding scallops! Yum!

Ingredients

• 2 ounces bacon (about 2 slices)
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 leek, white part only, halved lengthwise, rinsed and thinly sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 8 ounces Yukon Gold potatoes, diced
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears)
• 1 1/2 pounds tilapia fillets, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (optional)

Directions

Chop bacon and cook in a large Dutch oven over medium heat until crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Add oil to the pan. Add celery, leek, salt and pepper and cook until the vegetables just begin to soften, about 2 minutes. Add broth, potatoes and corn. Bring to a gentle simmer. Cook until the potatoes are just tender and the corn is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Stir in tilapia and thyme; return to a gentle simmer. Cook until the tilapia is cooked through, about 4 minutes more. Remove from the heat.

Stir in half-and-half, lemon juice and the reserved bacon. Garnish with chives, if using.