Huge list of reviewed recipes!

Alright, here it is!  My giant list of recipes I have used (some more than others) within the last couple months.  I am sorry to put them all in one post, but I keep forgetting to take pictures every time I cook something or don't get a chance to create a single post after every delicious meal.  Anyway, I hope you find some new favorites.  This will, undoubtedly, be the last blog posting before we leave for Michigan.  I apologize in advance for the hiatus, but I will resume blogging as soon as I get a chance.  I am sure you are all anxious to hear about our road trip.  In the future, if you want to keep track of recipes I have tried, you can always check my Pinterest board - Recipes - tried and true.  Here I keep all the recipes we like and I try to include any edits I have made to the recipe.


Breakfast Foods:


Honey Quinoa Flax Granola
I found it to be tasty but a little bland.  If I made it again, I would add more cinnamon.  Also it took a little longer to cook for me to get it crunchy (about ten minutes).  I didn't have any flax seeds so I used chia seeds as a replacement.


Refrigerator Oatmeal
I love the idea of this for a fast easy breakfast.  It didn't seem like it made a lot, but it was very filling!  I love the raspberry vanilla version and am anxious to try the others.  I added chopped walnuts right before I ate it to add some more crunch.


Non-Vegetarian Meal:


Bacon Risotto
This was the first risotto I had ever made and it was phenomenal.  I added frozen peas and extra cheese (mozzarella) at the very end.  It was surprisingly easy to make and gave me (perhaps a false) sense of confidence.  I definitely plan on making risotto again.


Vegetarian Meals:


Veggie and Cheese Quinoa Casserole
Made this and used chicken broth instead of water. Also added peas, carrots and mushrooms and mozzerella cheese. Sooo good, have to double it next time.  Tastes like a veggie mac and cheese.


Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash
This was my first time using quinoa and started my obsession.  I really loved this recipe, but the boys weren't too keen on the squash.  I might use a spaghetti squash instead next time.


Quinoa and Black Bean Taco Salad
So so so good!  I combined the quinoa and black beans and seasoned them together with a taco seasoning mix.  I love how light it is and versatile - I ate it as a salad with lettuce, avocado and cheese and the boys liked it with crunched up chips, cheese and sour cream.  It is even good left over.  The only problem I had was that it made a TON!  We have leftovers and also I froze about half of it.


Miso Soup with Rice and Egg
Made this with half chicken broth stock and water instead of dashi and omitted the scallions because I didn't have any. Was BY FAR the best Miso soup I ever had. The rice added a crunch and texture and the egg added richness. I have used noodles in it too, instead of rice.  I added them immediately after adding the tofu and they didn't take long to cook.  So completely and udderly delicious. The miso paste I found was Cold Mountain brand.


Snacks:


Raw Cookie Dough bites
I couldn't get the oats and nuts ground down enough to where they looked like the picture.  Maybe it was just my food processor.  I wasn't too fond of the flavors, I think I will stick with my energy bar recipe.


Roasted Chickpeas
Delicious snack!  I have made this recipe twice now - the first time, they were gone within 15 minutes.  The second time, I made it with two cans of chickpeas and stored the extra in a zip loc bag.


Crunchy Cereal Trail Mix
I have made this a couple times, mostly when we have multiple almost empty boxes of cereal, and it has always turned out delicious!  Also, I almost always double the recipe because it gets eaten so fast and it really is easy to make.  The kids love it as a snack or as a granola-ish cereal.  Today, I used 3 cups Kix, 3 cups Rice Krispies, 3 cups Multi-Grain Cheerios, 1 cup raisins, 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1/2 cup sunflower seeds and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.  I kept the wet ingredients the same.  Because I doubled the recipe, I used two cookie sheets and roasted the dry mixture for five minutes, churned the mixture around and roasted for another five minutes.  After adding the wet ingredients, I did the same thing as before - roasted for five minutes on one size, flipped it over and roasted another five minutes.  Then after it cools, break it down into chunks and store in a ziploc bag.


Carbs:


Easiest White Bread recipe ever
It really is easy!  I have made it multiple times now and have never had problems with it.  If four loaves of bread are too much for you, I have cut the recipe in half and had no problems.  Also, I have frozen the loaves before in vaccum seal bags, left them on the counter to thaw and they tasted just as good as when they were first baked.  Not dried out, not crunchy in spots, just delicious.  I have made this recipe with regular white flour, with bread flour and with whole wheat flour and all the loaves have been good.  It says in the recipe that you use 7 cups to 9 cups of flour, depending on how much the dough needs.  I have almost always used between 9 and 10 with white/bread flour and I used 9 today with whole wheat.  I start the kneading process in my KitchenAid until I hit cup 7 of flour and then take the dough out and add the last two by hand on my counter top.


Pizza Dough
Love love love this recipe!  I am so glad I was pointed towards it by a friend on Pinterest.  I have used other pizza dough recipes before, but this is by far the best when you are trying to match homemade pizza to delivery pizza.  I do recommend that you use bread flour for this recipe, I have never tried it with regular.  It makes two large pizza crusts.  I have split the dough in half and froze it, thawed it out overnight in the fridge and it was just as delicious as freshly made.  I love the bread stick recipe that she includes in this post.  Also, if you are making this for kids, a friend recommended rolling the dough out and putting it inside a 8" cake pan - tastes and looks just like a personal pan pizza from other delivery restaurants.  


Dessert:


Chocolate Caramel Cookies with Sea Salt
I love this recipe with and without the caramel in the center.  When I made it with caramel, I used the squares you find around Halloween time and cut them in half.  The batter looks a lot like a brownie batter, very moist, but works wonders for kids that have egg allergies.  I have doubled the recipe every time I have made it.  

Road Trip packing list

I have been insanely busy preparing for our trip to Michigan and I apologize for the lack of updates.  We are doing well.  Calla is busy cutting her first two bottom teeth, Zander is cutting his two year old molars and Gabe is getting his six year old molars.  Happy happy house!  In other news, Matt will be home on Friday, just in time to help me pack and gather odds and ends before the kids and I leave with my brother (who is flying in next Monday) on next Tuesday. Whew!  I am exhausted just thinking about it.  Before Matt gets here, I am trying to do as much running around as possible so we can enjoy our 'Daddy' time.  I do, really quickly, want to share with you my ideas for our survive-the-journey-to-Michigan car ride.  

Do I need to repost 'Mayhem' as a reminder of my fear?  I didn't think so.

Last time, I showed you how I made the magnetic faces with the cookie sheet and exposed the greatest entertainment secret of all time (plastic soldiers with magnets on the bottom).

Since then, I have been busy making activity books for each of the boys:

Absolutely, ridiculously easy to make and incredibly cheap and cost effective.

I bought two soft binders (from Target - $.79 each), the portfolio ones, two sets of 25 sheet protectors (PX - $5.99 each - most expensive part and you could probably find them elsewhere cheaper), and three coloring books from the Dollar Store ($3 total) to create these.

To assemble, rip the coloring book pages out of the book and put them back to back inside the sheet protectors and then inside the portfolio.  The kids can color on them (with any kind of crayons) and they will wipe off with a rag.  I have seen this idea before with dry erase markers, but there was no way I would give Zander a marker in the back seat of my van unsupervised.  Crayons work just as effectively!

I chose to buy coloring books because they have activities other than just coloring in them to keep the kids busy, and I didn't want to waste a bunch of printer paper or ink.  To use the whole coloring book, I ended up sticking multiple pieces of paper in each sleeve.  Then when the kids get bored of whatever pictures are in front, we can switch them out with new pictures. 

I did print some educational coloring pages and letter writing ones from this site Mr. Printables.  I love this website.  Very very cool stuff for all ages.

At Easter time, I ordered these (picture below) for the boys.  They are chalkboard mats that roll up and can be taken anywhere you want.  I love them.  The part you write on is vinyl (I think) and works perfectly for writing and cleaning up after.  These were a part of a Very Jane deal, but you can order them anytime from Crafty Momma's etsy page.

I always talk about how great the Dollar Tree is (and it is pretty awesome for bargains), but I really love Target's Dollar Spot.  I found these two wooden puzzles there.  Both boys really enjoy them, but they weren't travel ready.  So I bought some velcro patches and adhered it to each puzzle piece and space they belong in.  Now they can take all the pieces off, put them back on and they will stay on (even if the puzzle falls on the floor).  I don't know why they didn't come with velcro, I think it should be mandatory.

Also, I feel obligated to share this super cool deal with you.  I had no idea that Barnes and Noble sells audio books for kids in the mp3 form.  Did you?  They are only the sound file of the book being read (no book included) but only cost between $1 - 2.50 a book.  My kids LOVE listening to books on tape.  We have many books already, but I always love to surprise them with new books to listen to.  The best part is that you can download these instantly to iTunes and sync them with any device.  I currently have an 'Audio Books' playlist on both the iPad and iPod just in case.  Barnes and Noble has MANY different books to choose from, but here is the list of ones I have purchased for our trip - note all the Jamie Lee Curtis books (I absolutely love her).  Also, the Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) book for kids!

I expanded my arsenal of reading books today when I got an email from Amazon about their "Big Deal" sale on Kindle books.  Having an iPad has really come in handy in that I can order books for the nook (from B&N) and for the Kindle (from Amazon) and read them from their apps.  In their "Big Deal" sale, they have ebooks for all readers at a super discounted price.  For the kids, I bought three books for $2 each and one for $1.  They are fully illustrated and will work perfectly.  As much as I ADORE the act of holding a book and reading to my child, when we travel like this (packing as light as possible) I am glad I can still read to my kids without having to tote our library with us.

You can't see the titles as well as I thought, so I will list them for you:
"Little Pea" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Little Hoot" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Little Oink" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
"Chicken Big" by Keith Graves
 and for me, I bought:
"Farmer Jane: Women Changing the Way We Eat" by: Temra Costa
"Fifteen Minutes Outside" by: Rebecca Cohen
I am excited - both were $2 each.  That's $11 for 6 books.  I think it's a steal.

Lastly, I have two exciting food finds from Target today.


You read it right, applesauce on the go!  It is applesauce in pouches that have twist off resealable lids, perfect for traveling.  I would rather stock my car (and take up precious cargo space) with wholesome food than have my kids eating fast food for the three days we will be on our way.  This 12 pack cost $6.49 at Target, equaling less than $.50 a pouch.  Baby food costs more than that.  They have different flavors (cinnamon apple and strawberry apple), but I stuck with original because I am planning on feeding it to Calla too.  This is genius.

That's right, peanut butter in to go cups!  I love this idea for multiple reasons.  It is pre-portioned for my kids.  I can give them one of these and some crackers and apple slices and say "Go to town!  Enjoy!" and that can be a lunch meal.  Also, it cost $2.19 at Target - less than a box of Uncrustables ($2.49 for 6).

Originally, I was planning on packing sandwiches, but that came with lots of negatives:

Gabe only likes PB and honey sandwiches - no honey in my van.
Zander picks the sandwich apart and eats each half individually.
Sandwiches always get crushed in a cooler, then you have sandwich guts all over the inside of the bag.

Instead, by going with the pre-portioned peanut butter cups, I have less mess and less worry.  Although, I am a little nervous about Zander.  That kid was made to keep me on my toes.  This might be a snack they eat when we are pulled over for gas or at a rest stop.  Even then, it is still something they can eat on their own and that makes me happy.

In the end, you can see I have put a mountain's worth of thought into this trip.  I am, and will always be a planner at heart, and I am just hoping that all this planning pays off!  If you have any tried and true methods of entertaining kids while road tripping across the country (other than watching DVD's, trust me I have that set up as a fail-safe), please share!  I know I am not the only one making a trip this summer and we all benefit from collective ideas.

Otherwise, this could be the last you hear from me before we embark on our journey!  I do have one other blog post I have been working on, a huge list of recipes we have been using, and will hopefully get that posted before we leave.  If not, I can post it from my iPad (it just might be sans pictures).

Make Your Own: magnet faces for car trips

I have been scouring Pinterest for road trip activities for the kids for our three day trip to Michigan.  I always anticipate the worst.  But seriously, the drive time by itself is 27 hours.  This is hard road time, not including a hundred pit stops for bath room breaks, gas fill ups and whatever else we end up stopping for.  While I am anxious to be back 'home', I am not looking forward to this car trip.

This is what I envision.  Brace yourself.

So, in an effort to minimize the screaming, cup and snack throwing I have been brainstorming ideas of time wasters. 

I found how to make these magnet faces on a link from Pinterest.  

I did a couple things differently than in this post.  This blogger mod-podged the base face to a cookie sheet and then printed all the clip art face shapes on magnetic paper.  I want the boys to be able to use the cookie sheets for multiple activities, so I cut everything out, laminated it with contact paper and attached magnetic stickers to the back of each piece.

My old nemesis - contact paper

There are a couple hair pieces that I skipped out on because my printer ran out of ink.  Also, a couple of the pieces I traced and cut out of construction paper.  These pieces are a lot more sturdy than the regular printer paper, but I didn't want to take the time to trace and cut every single piece.  I ended up making three face bases (tongue twister) instead of just one because I know that they will end up fighting over it and there really are enough facial shapes to go to more than one face.

Once it was done, the fun began:

Side note - The blonde one looks surprisingly like my sister Rosie and her patented death stare.  In fact, that just became the contact picture for her in my phone.  I guess you'd have to see her to believe it.  But trust me when I say that this is a perfect replica, and also that you never want to be on the receiving end of this face.

Cost of project::

Two cookie sheets from the Dollar Tree:  $2

Magnet strips (from Walmart - only used half the pack) - $1.25

Contact paper - already had

Printer/construction paper - already had

In the end, it is super cheap to make this fun time waster, but it is a little time consuming to make.  I think you can probably buy something like this, but I am not sure where or how much it would cost.  If you have a free hour and want to make something to keep your kids entertained, I highly recommend this.

On the same post, the blogger has multiple other ideas for using a cookie sheet or pie pan to make car activities, but my Grandma actually gave me the most genius idea ever.  It will blow your mind (especially if you have boys).

Put magnets on the bottom of the plastic Army guys.

Seriously?  Where have you been all my parenting life?  You mean my crazy-Army brat-fighting-battle kids can now play Army guys in the car on a cookie sheet without them falling all over the car when ever we hit a bump?  Or have to stop?  And they don't have to pick them up, just lay them on their seat when they get out?

You want to put Army guys climbing up the refrigerator?  Sure.  Up the dishwasher?  Why not.

Mind completely blown.

Thanks Grandma.

You have no idea how much you just revolutionized our car trips.

First day of summer, Our plans (or lack there of) and Instagram

And so... Gabe is officially done with Kindergarten. Despite his graduation being a couple weeks ago, the school year ended on Wednesday.



He cried. "I am going to miss my friends. I am going to miss my teacher."

A couple hours later, all was resolved with a community water gun fight, sprinkler session and sand/rock/weed cake-making.



And also static hair from playing in the tent. I love summer.
Today was the first day of no school and I kept thinking it was Saturday. All day, I couldn't figure out the lunch rush at Subway. Couldn't figure out why the gate was so backed up. What are all these people doing on base on a Satur- oh wait. When there are no school days and no work days, they all blend together in a complete, lazy lack of schedule.




The boys got haircuts today. Gabe has been begging for a mohawk.




So, as you can tell from the picture of my weekly calendar (that I so obviously ripped off Pinterest) we have very little planned. Not usually the way I like it, but it seems to be working for us right now. The countdown to the road trip to Michigan is now 19 days away. Eek! So many things to do still. So many things to purge. So many things to pack.

I know everyone wants to know our plans and everyone is going to want to see us. But I really look forward to a vacation time. I say that every time and invariably end up running all over Michigan to see everyone. This time, I am putting my foot down and determined to make this a vacation, not stress-induced, juggling circus act where I drag all three kids (and dog) all over the state. I have been making some plans, but for the most part, I want us to enjoy this summer. Very soon, we might be making some big changes and our family needs this down time for relaxation. Thank you for understanding.

On a sidenote, these pictures were all taken with the Instagram app (follow me!) just made available for the Android phones. I am brand new to the Instagram revolution and am conflicted. I love the instantness, being able to take pictures and edit them and post them withn a mater of a couple seconds. I love being able to develop a collection and have a social media following. I don't like the resolution and lack of quality that a regular camera offers. Maybe this is just my camera. I also don't like that I can't access my photos until after they are published. I am a control freak and for this reason I think I dislike Instagram the most.

Does this mean I will stop using this app? Of course not. But if any one has any tricks of the trade or can recommend anything about using this app, please let me know. Maybe the Apple system just works better with this. Until my phone is eligible for an upgrade next year, I guess I am stuck with my Android.

Double side note - Zander's potty training is going much better than expected. I plan a follow up post at a week's mark. Fair warning, if you don't want to read about my son's bodily functions, I suggest you don't read it.

Also, I have a ton of new recipes I am trying to push out. Many don't have pictures (I apologize) but that is what happens when you have to inhale your food while trying to entertain the baby and keep the two year old at the table, while bartering with the six years about how many more bites until he can get down and play.

For my kids... a letter from your Momma

I have been so busy this past week.  Worry about this or that.  Trying to control things outside my reach.  Cleaning.  Working out.  Forgetting to take time and enjoy my children.  

On Saturday and Sunday, we took the time to have fun.  

Saturday night, the boys and I had a water gun fight.  It was the first time this summer we had played together, all together.  It was so fun and such a release from the stress of life.

Sunday afternoon, I set up a sprinkler for Zander and Calla to play in and Gabe rode his bike.  I just sat back and took pictures.  Soaked up the fun and the joy from the simple things that entertained them.  Sitting there reminded me of all the small things I love about my kids.

Dear Calla,

I love your smirky smile and your chubby cheeks.  I love the way you wave your arms when you see me and need me to pick you up.  I love the way your ears stick out, just like your older brother.  You are your own person and won't bend to anyone's will.  You know what you want and will scream (literally) until you get it. I am thankful for you every day.  Thankful that (even though we didn't think we were ready) you came out knowing what was best for us.  I can't imagine a minute without you in my life.  

You make me smile.

Dear Zander,

I love your fearlessness.  You enjoy every second of life and embrace each day with a happy, upbeat attitude.  I love how much you talk and when you get frustrated with me trying to understand your made up language.  You stand up for your brother when he gets in trouble.  You try to make Calla laugh when she is upset.  Your smile and sweet voice reminds me that you are only two years old.  And will only be two years old for a blink of an eye.  I would keep you small if I could, but the world needs the man you will become.

You make me laugh.

Dear Gabe,

I am so proud of you.  I love your sensitive nature, how deeply you care about your friends and family and believe the best in everyone.  I love that you are starting to become your own person.  This week is your last week as a Kindergartener and I am so thankful that you love school and learning.  You are my constant shadow and reminder to hold my tongue and cool my temper.  With you, I became a parent and I am blessed to have you for a son.

You make me happy.

First day of potty training Zander

This is an update from my iPad. I am trying to get used to doing this since in 23 days we will be leaving all our worldly possessions (minus what I can fit in the van) and road tripping it back to Michigan for the summer. That means the desktop stays here, along with my PSE 8 and other awesome photo editting software. It also means that my updates will probably be sparse and mostly pictures. I am not sure how many recipes or projects I will be accomplishing. But we are extremely excited to be headed out of El Paso for an extended amount of time.

Looking forward to fresh, breathable air with no sand storms.

Green grass to frolick and run around with bare feet.

Relaxing days are in our future.

But I digress, I started this post with the intention of talking about our first successful day of potty training Zander.

This morning, after waking up and stripping off his diaper, he decided to start potty training himself. He used his potty chair and refused to wear a diaper. Put one on and he would immediately take it off.

So. I guess it is time to start. I was planning on waiting a little longer for him to be able to communicate more effectively, but if he is ready, who am I to make him wear a diaper?  He got to wear Gabe's underwear (since I hadn't planned this out very well and don't have any for him yet) which just made his day.

Summary of the first day:

One used diaper (put on while we ran errands).
Two accidents (was too busy playing with Gabe).

Success!

Side note - I found that if I set a timer for a minute and had him sit there until the timer went off or until he got tired of messing with the buttons, it helped keep his attention away from getting up and he went more often.  We will see if he continues to be entertained by this method.  I got the timer at the Dollar Tree (score!).  Also, he likes looking at the pictures of the Sesame Street characters on the seat and at books we have for tub time.

Future black mail picture