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??