I have a lot of talents....

....Pastry is not one of them.  Today I decided I wanted to try a recipe for home made Pop Tarts I had been eyeing up for quite some time.

Suzanne McMinn
and
Deb Perelman

make it look so easy and delicious.  They fooled me into thinking I could strike a truce with Pastry.  Pastry and I have never gotten along.  I cannot roll a pie crust out in one piece to save my life.  I usually leave it up to the experts:  Grandma Jean and Richard.  Maybe I am a bit crazed because Spring Break has started and it is still cold and snowy outside and the thought of having the kids home with me for the week has me panicked.  Maybe I still haven't recovered my marbles from losing them to sleep deprivation at the Sparks sleepover this past weekend.

I chose Deb's recipe and dove in.  I could get the dough rolled out (with many breaks outside to let it firm up while rolling) but when it came time to transfer my little squares (measured with a RULER, people!!!) they folded up and got all mushy.  I quickly lost patience with all of this.  I decided to make mini pop tarts and tried to put a dab of filling at one end and then fold the pastry over, pirogi-style.  (Pirogi dough and I are not best friends either, for the record)  The dough didn't co-operate.  After fiddling with this for a the first few squares, I gave up and decided that free-form jam tarts were the order of the day.  I smooshed the uncooperative dough into a circle, put a dab of filling in the center and then smooshed the edges in.  They sure aren't pretty but the kids don't care.  I am quite disappointed.  I probably overworked the dough or something, but the pastry is crumbly and turns to mush in my mouth.  It is too salty.

I am not going to make these again.


PS:  Please click the links I provided at the beginning of the post to find out what my culinary creations were supposed to look like.

Before baking

They don't look much better after!

Menu Plan Monday

Here we are again, another Monday, another Meal Plan. I chose two tried and true cookbooks from my expansive collection this week, plus took one recipe from the new Kraft magazine that was sitting in my mailbox this morning.  The books used are:  Taste of Home New Slow Cooker: The Best Recipes for Today's One Pot Meals and Looneyspoons by Janet and Greta Podleski

Slow cooker Hamburger vegetable soup with biscuits
Sausage pepper sandwiches
Mandarin orange chicken (or maybe lemon dill chicken...I have the ingredients for both in my pantry)
Weenies and Beenies from the Looneyspoons cookbook
Tuna topped baked potatoes
Garlic and herb linguine

As always, these recipes are in no particular order.  We are having the hamburger soup tonight since Monday is almost always a slow-cooker day because of our tight schedule around dinner time. 

Breakfasts this week are oatmeal, toast, muffins, or eggs.  I decided last week to stop buying cereal for breakfast because two of the kids will only eat half of their serving, no matter what the serving size.  I was literally pouring money down the drain every morning since cereal is so expensive!  As much as I am loathe to buy it, Charlotte is loving instant oatmeal right now and there was a good sale at the grocery store this weekend so that is what she is eating.

Lunches are a combination of dinner leftovers, mac and cheese, sandwiches and soup, and giant salads for me.

Menu Plan Monday

I know this is terrifically boring blogging, but I am finding it nice to have all of my weekly menus in one spot.  So, in no particular order, here is what is for dinner this week in the Knitwit House:

 Vegetable Stew over Mashed Potatoes (I am sure the kids will hate this, but a girl has to try)
Beef Burrito Skillet*
Asian Beef with Baby Bok Choy
Capn' Crunch Chicken Fingers and Butternut squash fries **
Baked Chicken Penne 
Buffet



* To make up for the veggie stew and baby bok choy
** Do you think the kids will notice they are eating squash if they chicken coated in Capn' Crunch to distract them??

Menu Plan Saturday

I woke up this morning and looked at the half carton of milk we had in the fridge and realized I would have to go to the store today.  After a cup (or three) of coffee I suddenly remembered the long weekend we are at the start of.  That meant I probably needed to get more than just milk today.

I hate buying groceries on a Saturday more than you could know.  Added to my stress was the fact that the grocery store I shop most often at is under renovations so every trip there is like a scavenger hunt where they keep moving the clues around on you every time you go.  I sucked it up.  I put on my big girl panties and trekked out since I knew the "nice" grocery store in town would cost me a lot more money.  Richard stayed home with the kids so that made things a bit easier.  I also spent enough to get the "free" gift this week which was a nice bonus.  (Who doesn't need an extra 30 rolls of toilet paper?  OK, maybe households with fewer people than mine, but really.  Our toilet paper consumption is crazy)

Anyway, this is a long story for a short menu plan!

Here goes:
Saturday:  Buffet**
Sunday:  Oven fried cod fillets and potatoes of some sort
Monday:  Sausage stuffed spaghetti squash
Tuesday:  Lemon Chicken and rice
Wednesday:  Pasta fagioli soup
Thursday:  Hamburgers and Sweet potato fries
Friday:  Who knows?  It's my birthday and I am not cooking!  (OK, it might be buffet for the kids and husband, sushi with the girls for me)

**Buffet is code for leftovers in my house

Toffee Apple Oatmeal cookies

I whipped these up today.  I adapted another oatmeal and cereal cookie recipe to fit what I had in my cupboard.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening, room temperature
2 cups unpacked brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 cups Apple Cinnamon Cheerios
1 cup toffee chips (like Skor chips)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 F, line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream together fats and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.  Mix flour with baking soda and salt.  Blend into sugar mixture.  Stir in oats.  Carefully stir in cereal and toffee chips (you don't want to break the cereal up too much)

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets and bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown.  Cool on racks and devour with a big glass of milk, hot tea or coffee.

Yield:  approx 3 - 4 dozen cookies

**I am going to try adding chopped dried apples to my next batch to get even more apple flavour into the cookies**

Menu Plan Monday

Sausage and vegetable medley
Stuffed Chicken breasts
Java Pot Roast
Chicken Salad Panini and  vegetable soup
Beef and Bean tacos
Pasta fagioli soup

Menu Plan Monday

Hello again!  This menu is brought to you by Hub's freakout over our recent credit card bills.  I am not saying these meals are especially budget-friendly, but I am saying that this week I have to make my shopping list and stick to it.  There have been too many impulsive trips to the grocery store lately.  As we all know, a "quick stop for milk" can sometimes end up turning into several bags of unplanned things.  I am going to try very hard to make my list and stick with it.

Chicken soup with dumplings and brownies for dessert
Hamburgers with raw veggies on the side
Tuna Noodle casserole
Beef stir fry with brown rice
Spaghetti and sauce
Hawaiian-style slow cooked ribs

If you need some more ideas to spruce up your family meals check out some other Menu Plan Monday posts at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Check in Wednesday.

Hello everybody!  So, let's just get the bad news out of the way:  I am up two pounds this week, which cancels out my entire loss so far.  It is a good thing I am not using this challenge to lose weight as much as I am using it to get me into a regular workout routine.  That, I did fantastically on.

So, yes.  There was a birthday party this week.  There was some unauthorized snacking.  I am not going to let that get me down because this weekend I worked out for an hour (30 min Power Sculpt DVD + 2 mile run on the treadmill),  and then a friend called and invited my family to go sledding with hers.  My legs were already sore and tired but I said yes anyway.  Taking three kids sledding for an hour is hard work!!  So, I feel like that was a triumph in and of itself.  I was sore for the next two days, but I only took one off from my workouts and got back on the treadmill even though I didn't really want to.  That is why I am doing this.  To make my body strong and healthy so I can take my kids sledding, even after I have worked out.

Here are my stats:
Starting Weight:       159.6
Last week's weight:  157.8
Today's weight:        160.0
Gain:                         +2.2
Total Gain:               +0.4

Weekly Accumulated Miles:  7.27 plus 30 min strength training (according to Run Like a Mother 10 min cross training = 1 mile so you could say I "ran" 10.27 miles this week)

I am so proud of myself for finally learning to fit exercise into my day (that almost always means stepping away from the computer).  It is so easy for me to talk myself out of getting on the treadmill, but then once I tell myself "just 15 minutes"  after 35 I am kicking myself because I feel so good.  Why do I always try to sabotage that???  And dude, I ran one mile farther than I did last week!  The 10K I have my eye on this spring is feeling like it could happen.

How was your week??

Check in Wednesday

 Is it Wednesday already?  I had another good week.  I am getting over my chest cold so I got a couple of good runs in.  I am drinking my water and getting back into the habit of having a big salad for lunch. 

I think in addition to the obligatory weigh in I am also going to record my weekly miles here as well.  I keep track at a website called RunKeeper, and it is very motivating to see the miles pile up under my shoes. 

All right, here are my stats for this week:

Starting weight:         159.6

Last Week's weight: 159.0
This Week's Weight  157.8
Loss                             1.2
Total Loss:                    1.8

Accumulated Weekly Miles:  6.31

 How was your week?

Running with the Sisters.

Yesterday I was supposed to run a Virtual 5K with the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans.  My body had other ideas.  Starting around Jan 1 I came down with the sniffles.  The sniffles got worse and worse and started moving into my chest.  I pushed through my workouts, being careful not to irritate my exercise-induced asthma.  By this past Thursday I was coughing hard.  I barked like a seal all night on Friday, finally giving in to some cold meds so I could get some sleep.  This didn't leave me feeling very strong yesterday (heck, standing up in the shower made me a bit dizzy because I was so tired)  I rested yesterday and took my Vitamin D and C.  I actually had a good sleep last night and didn't cough.  So, today, to show my support for The Sisterhood who has been with me through all of my ups and downs, I got on my treadmill and did 3.52 miles (5.66K) with a little help from my embarrassing play list (Weird Al and Hanson, anyone?) and my salbutamol inhaler.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was also quite inspired by Jim Carrey's recent apperance on the Jimmy Fallon show, where he did his entire interview from a treadmill.
 
I am SO bummed I couldn't run with everyone else yesterday, but today I stopped the pity party, laced up my shoes and just kept on going.

Check in Wednesday.

Hello everyone!

Today is check in day.  My first week back on the wagon has gone pretty well.  I stuck to my commitment of not snacking pretty well--I fell off the wagon twice, but one night I was SO hungry my stomach was growling.  I reached for a bowl of cereal with milk while my husband plowed through a box of chocolate covered cherries.  Not too shabby!  I have exercised three times, twice on the treamill (named Jillian) and once with a DVD.  I still need to increase my water intake, though.

Here are my numbers:

Last week's weight:  159.6
This week's weight:  159.0
Loss:                            0.6

It is nice to be in a downward-facing trajectory, even if I don't have a weight loss goal in mind.  I am coming down with some sniffles so I am finding it all-to easy to talk myself out of working out today.  I think that pushing the rug shampooer around my boy's room for 45 minutes (after moving all of the furniture out BY MYSELF) will count as today's workout.  I sure worked up a sweat doing it! 

Power of One, Part 2

So, yesterday I recorded my weight for the world to see.  Today, before I started my workout I snapped a picture to record my progress and grabbed my tape measure.  I also went digging through my hard drive and found a couple of pictures I snapped before I started running last year. I am glad I have them to remind myself that even though the scale has not moved much, I have and my new muscles prove it.

Here are my numbers:
Bust:  37.5
Waist: 36
Hip:  39
Right Thigh:  22
Right Bicep:  12

Under the cut, you can see some pictures I took.  Clearly, I still have a long way to go, but it is nice to see some visible change happening.  In the first picture I was wearing size 12 jeans and now I am in 10s.

New Year, New Challenge

Well, hello blog!  Long time, no see!

There is a new challenge starting up at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans

It is The Power of One Challenge.

Today's mission is to look my scale in the eye and then record my goals for the upcoming year.    Well, I had a backslide and my weight has been creeping up and up and up.  Of course this is not being helped by the steady diet of cookies, candy, and assorted other rich foods I have been living on for the past couple of weeks.

So, here goes.....


Previous weight:  155.8

Challenge starting weight:  159.6

My goals for the upcoming year:

1.  Control my snacking.
2.  Drink more water.
3.  Exercise 3-4 days per week.  I have great workout games for my Wii, a treadmill and an aerobic step and dumbbells.  Weather can be no excuse for me.

You will probably notice a lack of weight loss goal.  This is on purpose.  I tend to fixate on weight in a very unhealthy way.  I know that if I can get those other dominoes to fall into place, my weight will too.  I need to focus on HEALTH and not a NUMBER.

Happy New Year!

Menu Plan Monday

It's Monday again.  Time to figure out what to feed my hungry crew.

Monday:  Slow-cooker pot roast with potatoes and baby carrots

Tuesday:  Farfalle with butternut squash (for my Milk Calendar Project)

Wednesday:  Hot Turkey Sandwiches  (Thanksgiving is long over so we aren't sick of turkey around here!)

Thursday:  Cheeseburger Pasta

Friday:  Chicken minestrone and garlic-cheese toast

Saturday:  Leftover Buffet

Go to Orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas!

2011 Milk Calendar: Ginger-Lemon Beef and Broccoli

Confession time:  I decided to do this project after I made this dish so there is no picture, and I tweaked the recipe to fit my pantry (like all home cooks do).  My sister-in-law stayed for dinner last night so I had to cook the beef separately because she is a vegetarian. 

So, go check out the recipe here:  Ginger-Lemon Beef and Broccoli.  When you come back, I will let you know how I tweaked it and how it worked out.

Notes: OK, so I didn't have any fresh lemons on hand so I subbed the zest and juice out for orange zest and juice.  I also didn't have six cups of broccoli on hand so I used a bag of frozen California Mix vegetables instead.  I cooked the beef in a separate fry pan while I stir-fried the veggies and then gave the meat  a splash of the sauce instead of mixing everything back together.   This worked out really well and is a good way to serve carnivores and vegetarians together with very little fuss.  I cooked plain spaghetti noodles to serve with the stir-fry, but rice would be great too.  The grownups garnished their bowls with Sriracha sauce since I went light on the red pepper flakes for the kids.

The Verdict: Everyone gobbled it up and my husband commented that he really liked how the added milk added a creaminess to the stir fry sauce.  I think it helped it stick to all the ingredients and noodles.

2011 Milk Calendar: Sweet Cornmeal Surprise Muffins

I like baking on Sunday mornings.  I love cornmeal muffins.  I was really happy to try out this recipe.

Check out the recipe here:  Sweet Cornmeal Surprise Muffins

My notes: I love how you soak the cornmeal while you are prepping the rest of the ingredients.  It softens it up and takes away from the grittiness that corn muffins can sometimes have.  You don't soak it so long that you lose the lovely crunch that a corn muffin has.  I used Smuckers Double Fruit Strawberry Jam for the filling, but I am sure anything you have in your pantry would work well since the flavour of the muffin is so mild.  I might add a dash of cinnamon next time I make them.  I think cinnamon adds a nice flavour to almost any baked dish.  I also think lining your muffin tin with cupcake liners instead of just spraying with nonstick spray is a must since you run the risk of jam leakage and sticking with this sort of baked good.

I must make small muffins since I got 15 instead of the 12 the recipe specified.

The Verdict:  The muffin is moist, with a bit of crunch and the jam is a nice addition.  You definitely don't need butter with these.  Charlotte and Matthew gobbled theirs up.

Menu Plan Monday--Clipping binder edition with bonus recipe!

Hello blog! It's been a long time!  I took some time off to be sick.  I didn't feel like cooking when I was ill so the family lived on soup, sandwiches, pancakes....easy, quick and minimal cooking.

I am back, and this time I pulled one of my clipping binders off the shelf to make my menu.  There was a reason I saved all of those recipes, right???

Monday--Cheeseburger soup*, bread from my bread machine (handwritten, I have no idea where I got it)
Tuesday--Psycho Chicken (Cooking Light, June 2002), steamed vegetables, buttered noodles
Wednesday--steak. sauteed mushrooms, blue cheese crumbles, mashed potatoes and steamed green peas.
Thursday--Pork Chop Suey (cheating...Eat, Shrink and Be Merry)
Friday--Salmon Loaf (my Mom's recipe)

Saturday--Balsamic chicken with caramelized onions (Woman's Day, Feb, 1999)

You can check out more menu planning ideas at I'm an Organizing Junkie

*Cheeseburger Soup
1/2 lb ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp parsley flakes (I am subbing in fresh)
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp. basil
4 Tbs butter or margarine, divided
4 cups peeled, cubed potatoes
2 cups cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Brown beef in a large soup pot.  Drain and set beef aside.  Place pot back on heat and saute onions, carrots,  basil, and dried parsley  in 1 Tbs butter until tender.  Add broth, potatoes, ground beef and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes until potatoes are tender.  Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining 3 Tbs butter.  Add flour.  Cook and stir 3-5 minutes until bubbly.  Add to soup and bring back up to a boil.  Cook and stir 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to low.  Add cheese, milk, salt, pepper.  Stir until cheese melts.  Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and garnish with fresh parsley if you didn't use dried.

Serves 4-6,  I think.

Menu Plan Monday--Kid and Husband friendly edition.

So, last week's menu did not go over very well with my family.  Veggie lasagna night was met with tears by my children, the salmon made them gag, and the black bean and corn salad made hubby's tummy upset.

Ok. Fine.  I will try to be even more stealthy with my healthy food.

Back to basics this week.

Shepherd's Pie (from my new Weight Watcher's Cookbook....don't tell)
Steak Sandwiches on ciabatta buns, raw veggies and dip
Panko-crusted chicken and steamed vegetables and oven fries
Roasted Chicken with twice-baked potatoes

Chicken fried rice

Menu Plan Monday--Pantry Clean-out Edition

Following yesterday's post about my newly cleaned and organized pantry, here is this week's menu plan.  I will be highlighting the ingredients for my meals that I found in the depths of my cupboards while I did my clean out.

Three Cheese Vegetarian Lasagna (lasagna noodles found in a dusty box, stewed tomatoes,canned spaghetti sauce, mushrooms and zucchini that were going South in my fridge, sundried tomatoes found at the bottom of the crisper)

Roasted Chicken, potatoes, steamed vegetables (all out of my pantry and freezer)

Chicken Fried Rice (brown rice, leftover roasted chicken)

Honey-Lime Salmon on black bean and corn salad (black beans and frozen corn)

Spaghetti Pie (wilting broccoli, whole wheat spaghetti)

Balsamic Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Mashed potatoes

Bonus dessert:  Apple Pie bars

Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for more meal plans!

Pantry Clean Out

This month's monday project has been to clean out your pantry.  I didn't think to take before and after pictures, but I spent an afternoon spreading all of my food out on every available surface on my kitchen.  I had hit my breaking point after one too many times of  losing things I knew I had in there, and then going out and buying more.

As far as junk goes, I am happy to say there wasn't much to throw out.  I keep one container of small candies in the pantry for the kids and that is about it.  I did find out I don't need buy stewed tomatoes for a very long time!  I had seven cans scattered throughout the shelves.

The cherry on the organizing cupcake for me will be printing out these adorable labels so I can mark all of my jars and canisters.  I am nerd like that.  I couldn't find the decal paper the instructions specify, so I settled for clear adhesive label paper (the full-sheet kind, not the ones pre-perforated)