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A Working Mom’s Best Friend

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I’ve been loving my crock pot lately. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I would survive working, laundry, cleaning, gymnastics, football, and homework without it. Planning ahead is key here. It’s called a SLOW cooker, friends. If you’re not up for dinner prep before work, then just stop reading here. My crock pot is programmable, so I can set it to go for eight hours and then it turns to warm. Isn’t technology wonderful?

 

The crock pot liner is my 2nd BFF. I’ve been trying to reduce consumables, like Swiffer refills, and disposable mop pads. This is one disposable that I can’t possibly give up. My crock pot has always been a huge chore to clean. Not so much after finding this product! It just sits right inside the crock pot and when dinner is over, the mess goes right into the garbage. I still wash out the crock pot, but there is absolutely no scrubbing.

 

Earlier this week we had crock pot chicken. I put a whole chicken in the crock pot with a little water and garlic salt. Dinner is just about done when we walk in the door. This time I made a batch of quinoa with veggies and threw some of the chicken into the dish. Instant balanced meal! Gotta love that!

 

Image from Food Network

Then it was pot roast night. We trying to eat less red meat, so this was a treat. A few veggies and water in the bottom of the crock pot, along with a little garlic salt, and voila… dinner is served. I roasted some potatoes when I got home from work and made GRAVY from the leftovers in the crock pot. How’s that for a quick fall meal?

 

Image from Sodahead.

One of my neighbors just posted a picture on Facebook of her crockpot sitting in the front seat of her car. They have 3 kids and spend Tuesday nights at the soccer field FOR THREE HOURS! Ugh! I think she’s brilliant for making a pot of clam chowder in her crock pot and bringing dinner to the field. Nice work, Michelle!

Happy Crocking!

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Sunday Night Supper

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Warm, homemade wheat bread with butter and jam.

 

Seastar Chef, John Howie’s Crab and Corn Bisque.

 

Apple crisp, served with vanilla ice cream for dessert.

 

Yep, it’s fall.

A friend from work saw my Facebook post about what we were having for dinner and requested the crab and corn bisque recipe. Chef John Howie came to ccok for us at church a few months ago. He shared this recipe and IT WAS AMAZING. Here it is:

1/2 pound butter, salted
1/2 cup onion-white, mined fine
2 TBSP shallots- minced fine
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup corn kernels – fresh
1 cup clam juice
1/2 tsp thyme – dried
2 quarts half and half
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp sea salt.
12 oz crab meat

Melt the butter in a large sauce pan. Add onions and shallots and saute until semi-translucent.

Add the flour to make a roux, stirring constantly.

De-Glaze with sherry, add half and half to roux stirring constantly.

Bring to a simmer stirring constantly.

Place clam juice and corn into a blender until pureed. Add to the sauce bot and simmer.

Lower head and add thyme, salt, and pepper.

Add crab.

***I added diced potatoes to the recipe. My kids love homemade clam chowder, especially the potatoes. I diced four white potatoes and boiled them until soft. Then I added the potatoes at the same time I added the crab. I also used fresh thyme because I had it growing in my garden. I think if I made it again, I would only use one stick of butter, add more flour to the roux, and OBVIOUSLY add more crab. You can NEVER have enough crab. I thought the whole puree of corn and clam juice was freaky, but I just followed the recipe John Howie gave me. It was really good! The whole family loved it. Making bread, soup, and dessert (all from scratch) for my family brings such joy to my weekends!***

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Making Applesauce with Kids

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Well, Friends, most of you know I’m a kindergarten teacher. I also have two kids at home, one of them being a kindergartener. Many of the activities I do at school, I also do at home. So, when we had “apple week” in kindergarten we had apple week at home too.


I shared those cute little apple pie pockets last week. By the way, the little pie mold came from Williams Sonoma.

 

We also made applesauce at school and at home. At school, we let the apples cook all day in a crockpot until they were soft. At home, we just cooked them in a pan with a little water. They were soft in about 20 minutes. We add a little sugar, a little cinnamon, and suddenly the house (or classroom) smells amazing.

 

I like to make my applesauce with a food press. The kids love smooshing the applesauce out. It’s great for kids to see how our food is made. Applesauce doesn’t just magically appear in a Tree Top container at the grocery store.

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There’s nothing better than homemade applesauce! Well, homemade cookies are pretty good too.

Buttermilk Pancakes- The Whole Ball of Wax

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My brother’s two kids stayed with us last night. I thought this recipe and story deserved a repost, since we made Nanie and Baumpa’s buttermilk pancakes for breakfast this morning. After I told the kids the story of where the recipe came from, my neice said, “They do taste kind of different and special.” I’m not sure it’s the recipe that makes the pancakes taste so great… I’m going with years of love and family togetherness that make these pancakes special. Enjoy!

In the early sixties my grandparents bought a small piece of property on a lake. It started with a little cabin and an outhouse, as a weekend getaway. Through the years they added on to the little cabin (even adding a bathroom) and before long it was their home. Nanie and Baumpa (as well called them) lived on the lake for most of the years I remember.

Most family parties were held at the lake. They built a home big enough to have the entire family sit together at the dinner table, and enough space for after dinner seating in the living room. Some of my best memories are of family parties at the lake.

One truly special day at the lake was Opening Day of Fishing Season. Once upon a time the lake was stocked with fish each year. Shortly after, fishing season would open. We’d all head to Nanie and Baumpa’s the night before it opened for a big sleepover. By that time they had a two bedroom house, a living room big enough for two families and their sleeping bags, a guest house out back, and a camping trailer. We’d wake up early in the morning and head out for a little fishing. At around 7am, when we heard the bell ring, we knew it was ready… the whole ball of wax.

(The same bell is now at my house.)

We’d have sausage, bacon, french toast, eggs, and the best buttermilk pancakes you could imagine. Baumpa called it “the whole ball of wax” and the name stuck.

Reading a blog last week (I wish I could remember which one), the memories came flooding back. The Blogger wrote about Grandma’s pancake recipe. Thinking about the ball of wax brought back so many good memories for me and I started telling opening day fishing stories to my kids. It’s funny how, when I tell them stories about when I was little, they really seem to listen and imagine what I was like.

Nanie is now 92 and living in an assisted living home. Along with so many wonderful memories, I also hold her recipes. Many, many years ago she scratched down a recipe for buttermilk pancakes on a piece of scrap paper and delighted us with this recipe for many years to follow. (By the way, I know her recipe says Tablespoon and the recipe I typed below says teaspoon. She also had a typed version of the recipe. We’ve tried it both ways and we all agree that the version with teaspoon works best.)

I made Nanie’s special buttermilk pancakes with my kids yesterday.

As we were eating them, my son said, “Wow! These really are the best pancakes I’ve ever had. They are SO good!” That’s a pretty good compliment, coming from a nine year old boy. My daughter was super impressed with the fluffiness of the pancakes. Me? I was thrilled to share some wonderful memories with my family and delighted that the pancakes were just as good as I remembered. So, this one’s for Nanie. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I do.

Nanie’s Buttermilk Pancakes

2 Cups Flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 Cups buttermilk

Combine egg yolks in buttermilk. Add remaining ingredients, except egg whites. Beat egg whites until stiff.


Fold egg whites into the mixture.



Here are a few linky parties I’m joining!

Cooking With Kids

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My kids and I love to bake together. They love to roll out the dough for sugar cookies, and then help frost and decorate. When we make bread, they help knead the dough. (Yes, the flour gets everywhere.)

Last week, my daughter and I got out all of our “kid cookbooks” and picked out a few new recipes to try. I have a pretty big collection of cookbooks written specifically for kids. Every year I do a cooking unit in my classroom, so I’m always on the lookout for inexpensive cookbooks to add to the collection. Cookbooks for kids are easy to find. There are usually big bins of books for sale at my grocery store. I find some on ebay or at Half Price Books. You’ll see them everywhere if you’re on the lookout.

This time, instead of choosing something to bake, my daughter and I picked a few recipes for dinners and snacks. We picked a broccoli mac and cheese, clam chowder, and a cereal based snack.

My daughter is only 5, and had a great time being in charge of dinner for the family. I love the way directions in kids’ cookbooks are written so simply. They are easy to follow and the language is just right for a beginning cook. They are full of photographs too, which make them ideal for young chefs. (But, really, who doesn’t love good pictures in their cookbook?)

Here are a few things we made:

Here’s the whole wheat mac and cheese with broccoli. Whole wheat pasta does not photograph well. It tastes better than it looks.

This is the cereal based snack mix we tried.

Here’s the clam chowder.

Overall, we had a great afternoon together. We had Sunday night dinner, snack for the week, and a casserole to put in the freezer for later. I purposely didn’t share these recipes because my daughter’s favorite part of cooking together is the hunt for the perfect recipe. If you haven’t cooked with kids before, I encourage you to find a few kids’ cookbooks and give it a try. Each year, when I do my cooking unit with my class, I’m amazed at how many kids NEVER help out in the kitchen. So, put them to work washing vegetables, tearing salad greens, and mixing ingredients. Cooking with kids is a joy!

Here are a few linky parties I like to participate in:
http://homeiswheremystorybegins.net/linky-parties-i-like-to-participate-in/

Fresh Juice – My Newest Craigslist Find

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The reason for my latest purchase starts way back in October. Remember in the fall, when the whole Swine-Flu-Freak-Out began? It seemed like the whole world was living in fear. No one really knew what to expect with this flu and no vaccinations were available yet. Well, that was about the time it went sweeping through my kindergarten classroom. The Center for Disease Control had just said that they would not shut schools down any more. Within days, half of my class was out sick and I was in quarantine (confined to my bedroom, where my family would leave Jamba Juice and Tylenol at my door). On top of Swine Flu I got Strep, two weeks later got Strep again, then Pneumonia. I honestly do not remember most of Fall. I tried going to the pumpkin patch with my kids and was too weak to stay the whole time. I missed almost all of my son’s football games.

That was the beginning of my downward health spiral. I have had one weird illness after another for the past seven months. My doctors keep telling me that the Swine Flu took a toll on my immune system. I asked how long it will be until my immune system is built back up, but they don’t know. I was one of the first people at my doctor’s office to get the Swine Flu, so I’m kind of the guinea pig. They don’t really know what is happening with me, just a theory that it’s all connected. So, that brings me to my Naturopath’s recommendation to start a juice diet.

I didn’t own a juicer and didn’t really want to pay several hundred dollars for one. Then I found this on Craigslist. $40!!! I normally sells for about $200.

We washed a bunch of fresh fruits and veggies.

The kids LOVED making the fresh juice and were eager to try new things.

I have to say it was REALLY good.

I ordered a few books on juicing, which haven’t come yet. I’m excited to read more about the benefits because I really don’t know a lot about it. Tonight we added some really odd veggies to the juice. The kids drank it all up… every last little vitamin!

Here’s to my health!

Buttermilk Pancakes – The Whole Ball of Wax

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In the early sixties my grandparents bought a small piece of property on a lake. It started with a little cabin and an outhouse, as a weekend getaway. Through the years they added on to the little cabin (even adding a bathroom) and before long it was their home. Nanie and Baumpa (as well called them) lived on the lake for most of the years I remember.

Most family parties were held at the lake. They built a home big enough to have the entire family sit together at the dinner table, and enough space for after dinner seating in the living room. Some of my best memories are of family parties at the lake.

One truly special day at the lake was Opening Day of Fishing Season. Once upon a time the lake was stocked with fish each year. Shortly after, fishing season would open. We’d all head to Nanie and Baumpa’s the night before it opened for a big sleepover. By that time they had a two bedroom house, a living room big enough for two families and their sleeping bags, a guest house out back, and a camping trailer. We’d wake up early in the morning and head out for a little fishing. At around 7am, when we heard the bell ring, we knew it was ready… the whole ball of wax.

(The same bell is now at my house.)

We’d have sausage, bacon, french toast, eggs, and the best buttermilk pancakes you could imagine. Baumpa called it “the whole ball of wax” and the name stuck.

Reading a blog last week (I wish I could remember which one), the memories came flooding back. The Blogger wrote about Grandma’s pancake recipe. Thinking about the ball of wax brought back so many good memories for me and I started telling opening day fishing stories to my kids. It’s funny how, when I tell them stories about when I was little, they really seem to listen and imagine what I was like.

Nanie is now 92 and living in an assisted living home. Along with so many wonderful memories, I also hold her recipes. Many, many years ago she scratched down a recipe for buttermilk pancakes on a piece of scrap paper and delighted us with this recipe for many years to follow.

I made Nanie’s special buttermilk pancakes with my kids yesterday.

As we were eating them, my son said, “Wow! These really are the best pancakes I’ve ever had. They are SO good!” That’s a pretty good compliment, coming from a nine year old boy. My daughter was super impressed with the fluffiness of the pancakes. Me? I was thrilled to share some wonderful memories with my family and delighted that the pancakes were just as good as I remembered. So, this one’s for Nanie. I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I do.

Nanie’s Buttermilk Pancakes

2 Cups Flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
2 Cups buttermilk

Combine egg yolks in buttermilk. Add remaining ingredients, except egg whites. Beat egg whites until stiff.


Fold egg whites into the mixture.



Here are a few linky parties I’m joining!

Clam Chowder and a Pretty Table

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I love clam chowder and I’ve passed this love down to my kids. My daughter is a picky eater, but one food she loves is clam chowder. I think it’s a odd thing for a picky eater to like. Clams are an acquired taste. Since it’s something I know we’ll all eat, Sunday afternoon I decided to try a new recipe. I found a recipe that looked pretty good on the Food Network website. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/mikes-clam-chowder-recipe/index.html
The kids were in a good mood so I convinced them to help me make the chowder.


They peeled and cut the potatoes (with my help).


This is my absolute favorite kitchen tool. It’s a little mini chopper from Pampered Chef. I use almost daily to chop herbs, garlic, or onions. I don’t think I could live without it. We used it to chop the thyme and parsley for the chowder.


They stirred and added ingredients. Then they lost interest. My son took the puppy to the dog park and my daughter drew pictures. I decided to get ready for Tablescape Thursday on Between Naps on the Porch.

It may not be anything fancy, but my kids thought they were royalty. I don’t usually set a table quite like this when it’s just the four of us. My youngest was so excited that her cup wasn’t plastic! I love taking a simple soup dinner and making it into a special night for my family. Seeing their smiles gives me a joyful heart.

Here are a few linky parties I like to participate in:
http://homeiswheremystorybegins.net/linky-parties-i-like-to-participate-in/