from last weekend

got a few things done over memorial day weekend last week.  i daily go through the mental struggle of loving this laid back domestic life i’ve had over the past two months (just learning how to be a mother and doing stuff around the house and garden) and the desire to rev things up a bit a lot.  for example, i’ve had the urge recently to literally bag up my entire closet, donate it to goodwill and then hit up every store in sight for a crazier, edgier wardrobe.  on top of that i want to walk into the nearest salon and say “have your way with me!” -  still considering both of those options.  but in the meantime i’m also very content with this slower paced mom-life (if only i could continue doing this and continue picking up my paycheck every 2 weeks. siiiigh.)

baked some chocolate chip scones that didn’t really turn out as expected but were edible enough

grabbed a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store for dinner one night last week and after finishing off the bird, dropped the whole thing in a stock pot with some veggies and herbs and cooked it down into chicken stock

the beginnings of chicken salad

it was a bright sunny day, so i laid out all the cloth dipes for a nice bleach in the sun

the front porch right now

the greatest thing since sliced bread

we interrupt these house project posts to document a very phenomenal and unexpected occurrence:  i have managed to create a loaf of bread that actually resembles and tastes like a real loaf of bread.

that means, big enough to hold an entire slice of cheese, dense enough to not crumble like a dried out sandcastle, but chewy enough to not taste like cardboard.

i first started to make sandwich bread regularly when we were going through our January Grocery Challenge – bread from the grocery store is expensive, so making ours at home meant one less thing we had to worry about using our $10/week allowance on.

but let me tell you:  the bread did not look like this.  it still tasted ok and smelled great coming out of the oven, but in all honesty it was a crumbly mess.  i googled the problems i was having and came up with a few potential solutions

turns out i was short changing myself on a very critical step of the kneading process.  so the third time was a charm.

glory hallelujah.  it is a miracle.

i used the following recipe and having made it now three times, i’ve added in a few of my own tweaks and comments. bread does seem intimidating at first, but it’s really not!!!  make this bread and feel accomplished.

the recipe actually makes two loaves, so while one is in use in the pantry, the other waits its turn in the fridge.  almost to the day, we go through about a loaf a week, so every other saturday is baking day.  not too bad.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

adapted from this recipe

Ingredients:

4-1/2 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 c honey

4 T butter

2-1/4 c water

1 T salt

3-1/2 c whole wheat white flour*

1/2 c wheat bran*

2-3/4 c bread flour*

1 c oats

1 egg

* i mix all of these together in one bowl and then add them in the increments called for in the recipe – much easier that way.  you could also switch up these flours however you’d like, as the original recipe called for 2-3/4 c all-purpose flour and 4 c whole wheat flour

Instructions:

In a small saucepan, heat butter and honey until melted.  Remove from heat and add water;  the mixture should be warm (110-120 degrees).  Stir in the yeast and let sit until bubbly, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine salt, yeast mixture, and 3 cups of flour mixture (a little at a time so it doesn’t go everywhere).  Mixer should be set to low.  Mix until dry ingredients and wet ingredients are just blended.

Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl.  Gradually beat in the egg and 1 cup of flour mixture.  Beat for another two minutes.

Slowly mix in oats and 2 cups of flour mixture over a period of a few minutes.

With the mixer on low to medium-low, knead the dough for 10-15 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic and has completely pulled away from the sides and bottom of the bowl (this was where i was messing up.  the original recipe doesn’t give a kneading time so i wasn’t letting the bread knead for nearly enough time.  set your timer.  when the motor on your mixer starts to smell a little, that’s probably the right amount of time!).  You’ll probably have to add a little more flour in along the way, but no more than 2/3 to 1 cup.

Remove from mixer, place in a large greased bowl and cover with a hand towel.  Let rise in a warm and nondrafty place (our house is notoriously cool and drafty, so sometimes i’ll start the oven on low and then turn it off and stick the dough in to rise.  “warm” means somewhere in the 75-80 degree ballpark) until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down.  Flour a section of the counter, turn out the dough and cover with the bowl to rise just a little more:  15 minutes.  Divide in half and shape into two loaves.  Place in two greased loaf plans and let rise in a warm nondrafty place for another hour.

During this last rise time, preheat the oven to 350F and if you have a pizza or bread stone, preheat this in the oven for about 45 minutes on the middle rack.  After the last rise, place the two loaf pans directly onto the pizza stone and bake for 35 minutes or until golden on top and hollow-sounding when you flick the top.

Let cool completely before slicing.

a valentine’s gift afterall

the third trimester has succeeded in skyrocketing my sweet tooth to epic proportions.  don’t get me wrong, i’ve always loved sweets.  mainly peanut butter and chocolate.  but i’ve never needed to have a dessert with every meal or something really decadent every day.  now, not so much.  now i neeed something sweet.

so when i got home last night (after working late. on valentine’s day. boo.) and found these little beauties chilling in the fridge, i was one very happy pregnant lady.  the hubs is so good to me.

 

recipe found here

 

valentine’s and to do lists

happy valentine’s day everyone!

ross and i have never been super diligent about going all out on valentine’s day.  i actually can’t recall if we’ve ever even given each other valentine’s day gifts.  for us, birthdays and anniversaries outrank v-day every year,  and i’m totally fine with that.  this year, we “celebrated” a few days early – going out to dinner at a favorite restaurant in roanoke with a gift card my parents gave us at christmas.  so technically we celebrated for free – can’t really beat that.

i also had a monstrous bake-a-palooza on saturday (in between helping ross with a wood-working project – how’s that for variety?), making lots of valentine’s day treats for church (and eating a bunch ourselves as well).  i think i have pictures of those that i’ll add soon.  on the menu were:

- red velvet cake balls

- chocolate valentine’s day cookies and

- red velvet sandwich cookies.  and everything turned out really well!

i know it doesn’t seem like there’s been a whole lot to see on the blog lately, but trust me, it’s coming.  this week will be huge for getting several projects done around the house, a LOT of work done on the nursery, and lots of other things that have been piling up on my blog to-do list.  the plan is to work like a maniac from now until wednesday.  then i’ve taken off thursday and friday because my parents are coming into town to help with all the aforementioned house projects.  there will be painting, plumbing, drilling, electrical, organizing, decorating, shopping, and of course, some good eating.  i can’t wait.

january grocery challenge: week 4

and so ends the final week of the january grocery challenge.  i should warn you that we didn’t exactly end the challenge on the best note:  i forgot to take pictures of half the week’s meals.  but i did throw in a “grand finale” meal from tonight that capped off the challenge well.

Day One

the meal:  after all the fantastic food at our baby party, we were too stuffed to even eat dinner.  but it was totally worth it

Day Two

the meal:  rice crusted quiche

ingredients used:  leftover brown and white rice, leftover artichoke hearts, steamed broccoli, a yukon gold potato, cheddar cheese, local eggs, parmesan cheese

Day Three

the meal:  pot roast sandwiches, deviled eggs, and leftover pot roast and elbow macaroni

ingredients used:  pot roast, cheese, homemade bread, elbow macaroni, deviled eggs (leftover from the party)

Day Four

the meal:  taco bell.  mmm, healthy.  the youth group had its monthly “last tuesday” gathering, grabbing dinner at taco bell and playing games in the restaurant.

Day Five

the meal: deviled eggs and grains mix with pot roast

ingredients used: leftover pot roast, cheese, deviled eggs, trader joe’s mixed grains

Day Six

the meal: brunswick stew, salad, toast

ingredients used: frozen brunswick stew, homemade bread, salad mix

Day Seven

the meal:  pasta and pasta sauce

ingredients used:  elbow macaroni, pasta sauce, parmesean cheese

Grand Finale:  1.31.11

the meal: chili over rice, corn bread

ingredients used:  last of the leftover brown/white rice, last of the grass-fed ground beef, kidney beans, black beans, last of the carrots, last of the pasta sauce, tomato paste, homemade corn bread, creamed corn, last of the sour cream

Overall, this was a really fun challenge.  we succeeded in forcing ourselves to use ingredients we already had on hand, be creative with what we made, and spend hardly any money on groceries this month.  not that i’d want to limit myself like this all the time (my grocery list for this month is a mile-long with all the ingredients that i can’t wait to buy again), but it was definitely fun to work with what we had.  sure, there were a lot of repeats, but i was never scared we wouldn’t be able to come up with something for dinner.

 

Weekly Grocery Purchases

- salad

- bananas

- butter

- applesauce

 

more grocery challenge stuff:  the why, week 1 recap, week 2 recap, week 3 recap

january grocery challenge: week 3

although the pantry and fridge are getting more and more bare, i think we ate really well this week.  here’s a quick recap of week 3 of the grocery challenge.

Day One

the meal: homemade pizza + salad

ingredients used:  trader joe’s whole wheat pizza dough, dried thyme, onion, garlic, artichoke hearts, cheddar and parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, homemade garlic scape pesto, salad, walnuts

Day Two

the meal:  breakfast for dinner

ingredients used:  pancake mix, local eggs, frozen blueberries, milk, chopped milk chocolate bar, cinnamon and cardamom

Day Three

Ross and I used one of his gift cards from Christmas and ordered a most excellent pizza from Papa John’s.

Day Four

the meal:  grilled cheeses + salad + pasta blend

ingredients used:  homemade bread, cheddar cheese, local egg, salad, trader joe’s harvest grain mix

Day Five

the meal:  beans and rice with an egg on top

this was the one meal that ross pitched a fit about – until he tasted it.  although i have to admit i wasn’t super optimistic about it at first either.  basically the meal was glorified beans and rice – i got tired of the 1/3 remaining boxes of white and brown rice in the pantry and just decided to cook them all up in hopes that i would incorporate them into meals.  the pesto, chicken, and some well-placed spices, not to mention the egg on top (mine over easy, and ross’s fried) made this a really tasty meal.  a happy surprise.

ingredients used:  white and brown rice, black beans (and i ended up not using the kidney beans), homemade garlic scape pesto, local eggs, parmesan cheese, and packaged diced chicken breast

Day Six

the menu:  beef pot roast over elbow macaroni

ingredients used:  our first crock pot meal in a very long time.  maybe even the first this winter.  a huge piece of local beef pot roast, topped with veggies, tomatoes, tomato paste and cooked on low all day.  then put over artichoke elbow macaroni.  delish.

Day Seven

Ross and I spent the night at his parents’ and ate a wonderful meal prepared by his mom and sister.  My parents were in town as well, preparing for the baby wilsie throwdown planned for the next day.  more on that little shindig later.

Weekly Grocery Purchases

- bananas

- container of salad

- cheese

- 2 containers of blueberry yogurt  (buy 1 get 1)

more grocery challenge stuff:  the why, week 1 recap, week 2 recap

january grocery challenge: week 2

Week 2 of our grocery challenge is now complete.  here’s how we creatively used (and even reused) what we had.

Day One

the meal: a thanksgiving inspired meal.  venison, mashed potatoes, and leftover cranberry sauce + salad + honey pudding bread

ingredients used:  cousin bry’s venison tenderloin (marinated and seared on both sides on top of the stove, then finished off in the oven for perfect tenderness), handful of yukon gold potatoes, sour cream, butter, cranberry sauce from thanksgiving (yes it was still good!), store-bought lettuce

for the (crumbly, hmm) bread:  all the baking ingredients you’d normally see in a zucchini bread type of recipe, but with 3/4 c vanilla pudding for upping the moist factor

Day Two

the meal: biscuit wrapped apples, corn, salad

ingredients used: u-pick apples from cville, homemade biscuit recipe, papa’s corn, salad

Day Three

[oops, we forgot to take a picture!]

the meal:  burgers with cheese, lettuce + corn + salad

ingredients used:  local ground beef, leftover hamburger buns thawed from the freezer, lettuce from salad mix, sharp cheddar, papa’s frozen corn, store bought salad, ketchup, mayo

Day Four

the meal:  lasagna

ingredients used:  ross’s mom brought us lasagna a while ago and what we couldn’t eat in one or two meals, we froze.  so this week we thawed out the rest and ate it over a few days

Day Five

the meal:  leftover lasagna, broccoli, homemade biscuits, green bean-pasta mix

ingredients used:  MIL’s leftover lasagna, frozen broccoli, homemade biscuits leftover from Day Two, half a can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup of mixed grains from Trader Joes, half a jar of papa’s green beans.

Day Six

the meal:  leftover green bean-pasta mix and grilled cheese with a fried egg + salad

ingredients used:  other half of canned cream of mushroom soup, remainder of jar of green beans, TJ’s mixed grains pasta, homemade Honey Oat bread, slices of cheddar cheese, one egg from the egg lady, store bought salad

Day Seven

ross and i treated ourselves to a date night dinner at Outback.  we had giftcards.  so it was free.  can’t beat that.

Weekly Grocery Purchases

- quart of milk (we’ve been buying Homestead Creamery milk, and when you return the empty glass bottle, you receive $2 back.  the milk costs $2, soooo…free milk)

- sharp cheddar cheese

- two boxes frozen chopped broccoli

- 5 bananas

- container of salad

 

more grocery challenge stuff:  the why, week 1 recap

january grocery challenge: week 1

so Week 1 of the january grocery challenge is complete.  i figured it might be fun to recap each week of dinners we made to see just how creative we got.

i should probably also mention that all breakfasts and (nearly all) lunches are also made from just the ingredients we have in the house, but i’m not documenting each of those because they’re kind of boring.  think oatmeal, peanut butter toast, sandwiches, and dinner leftovers, and that probably covers 99% of those meals.

Day One

The meal:  Chicken, Cheesy Broccoli, and Rice Bake + Salad+ Tiramisu

Ingredients used:  One chicken breast, steamed broccoli, brown rice, can of cheese and broccoli soup, salad, grated cheese, ranch dressing

For tiramisu:  one random leftover package of lady fingers, instant espresso, package of cream cheese, powdered sugar, heavy whipping cream, cocoa

Day Two

The meal:  Elbow Macaroni with Meat Sauce + Salad + Toast

Ingredients used: whole wheat elbow macaroni, tomato basil pasta sauce, tomato paste, ground turkey, homemade garlic scape pesto from this summer, parmesan cheese, grocery store salad mix, sunflower seeds, ranch dressing, homemade bread

Day Three

We got a break from the grocery challenge because we had dinner over at a friends house to watch the Hokies play in the Orange Bowl.  But we did contribute one jar of my grandfather’s green beans and the rest of the tiramisu.  At least dinner was good, even if the game wasn’t :-/

Day Four

An unplanned break from the grocery challenge because we ended up mooching a dinner of PB&J’s and Doritos from our youth group kids.  Not bad, right?

Day Five

Back to home-cooked meals!

The meal:  Turkey Chili + Salad

Ingredients used (aka the dinner from a can):  can of black beans, can of kidney beans, two cans of diced tomatoes, the rest of a jar of tomato sauce, a can of tomato paste, a few large spoonfuls of homemade garlic scape pesto, diced carrots, onion, and garlic, the rest of the ground turkey from Day One’s meal, a bunch of seasonings, 1/2 cup of red lentils, a few slices of cheese and a dollop of sour cream for garnish

Day Six

The meal:  Cheesy Pasta Bake + Salad + Tapioca Pudding

Ingredients used:  almost a whole box of rigatoni pasta, half a jar of homemade tomato sauce, several generous scoops of homemade pesto, can of tomato paste, several handfuls of grated cheese, grocery store salad mix, ranch dressing, a sprinkle of grated cheese

For tapioca:  milk, one vanilla bean, tapioca pearls, two eggs, sugar

Day Seven

The meal:  Leftovers! + Salad

We finished off the rest of the pasta bake (having finished off the rest of the chili after several lunches – yum), mixed up a bowl of salad to split, and topped it off with some leftover tapioca for dessert

Weekly Grocery Purchases

I guess I should also mention how we use our $10 grocery allowance each week?  So for Week 1, we purchased:

- a quart of milk

- 5 bananas

- container of salad

- 4-pack of butter

 

::why we’re doing the grocery challenge: here::

the january grocery challenge

it’s new year’s eve eve and in the spirit of discussing resolutions, i thought i’d throw out this challenge that the hubs and i are taking on for the month of january.  (actually, we already started the challenge this week, but will continue through the entire month of january.)

since thanksgiving through new year’s is usually a time of indulgence, i thought that january would be a great time to just lay low and hibernate.  with a nursery to start working on, money will end up flying out the door pretty fast if we don’t keep an eye on it, so here’s the plan:

starting now and continuing through the end of january, we don’t go grocery shopping.

now, i’m not totally naive, there are certain things that just may not be good to go without for a month:  like milk, salad, cheese, and fruit -  so staple things like that are able to be restocked – but only to the tune of $10 a week max.  for everything else, we scour the pantry, fridge, and freezer and come up with creative ways to use the things we usually pass right over when it’s so easy to make a grocery run.  in general our stash includes:

- lots of rice, pasta, lentils, and other grains

- cans of chickpeas, black beans, and white beans

- diced tomatoes and tomato paste

- an assortment of dressings, dips, mustards, and marinades

- leftover pesto from this summer

- lots of hummus – must have been on sale, we have like 4 tubs of the stuff

- pasta sauce

- boxed mac and cheese

- canned green beans

- frozen corn

- a couple pounds of yukon gold potatoes

- maple syrup

- frozen meat (ground turkey, local grass-fed beef, some soup bones, and even some venison that came from a family hunting trip) – haha, is that redneck?

- snacky things like pretzels, popcorn kernels, and a few leftover gingersnaps

- frozen blueberries picked over the summer

- lots of jam and jelly

- oats for oatmeal and flour for baking bread, rolls, biscuits, or pancakes

and some fun things that i can’t wait to be creative with:

- random chocolate bars

- a small package of lady fingers

- some leftover whipping cream

- frozen pumpkin puree

- a pie crust

- tapioca pearls

- chocolate covered espresso beans

- pecans, almonds, and walnuts

so there you have it.  i’m pretty excited about the challenge and am confident that even spending the $10/week on groceries will be vastly less than our usual (read: virtually nonexistent) monthly grocery budget.  plus it will really make me have to menu plan, as i imagine putting a spontaneous meal together will become harder and harder as time goes by.

here’s to a fun culinary start to 2011!

thanksgiving recap

sigh.  what a wonderful thanksgiving break.  it was the perfect amount of holiday bustle combined with relaxation and having no agendas.

ross and i spent the break at my parents’ house, and enjoyed lots of quality time with the fam as well as a visit to see a friend’s new baby!

mom was in charge of decorations and had all the tables decked out before we had even arrived.

we divided up the cooking, doing some on wednesday and the rest on thursday morning, for a very non-stress meal.

as promised, here was our menu for turkey day:

old faithfuls:  turkey, spiral ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, and stuffing – all prepared by my aunt and grandfather

other wonderful sides:

- sweet potato casserole

- homemade cranberry sauce

- my grandfather’s green beans

- mushroom, zucchini risotto

- apple pancetta goat cheese salad

- yeast rolls, sweet potato biscuits, and potato rolls

take a look.  i got a little bit of everything.

and for dessert:

pumpkin caramel cheesecake with a gingersnap crust, mini chocolate chip tarts and pecan pie tarts

we were all in comas for hours afterward, ending the evening with a walk down the road and a front yard bonfire.  hope everyone else’s thanksgivings were wonderful and relaxing as well.