Building Nests

I'm nearing the end of my third pregnancy... and I can definitely tell you I'm going through the "nesting stage". My house is almost immaculate (almost because there are things that are too heavy for me to lift or move...) and I'm going crazy trying to make sure everything is ready for the baby. There is still four weeks to go...

Chicen Nuggets and Potato Wedges

Chicken nuggets and kids seem to go hand in hand... at least at my house they do. That's why I make homemade ones with baked Potato Wedges - two super easy things that are a tasty and healthier option to the fast-food variety.

Chicken Nuggets
375 for 25 mins.

I use whole boneless skinless chicken breasts (still slightly frozen - they cut easier)
4 breasts cut into 1/2 inch strips
2 eggs beaten with T water
about 2 Cups flour
1-2 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
(really whatever spices you enjoy)

Mix the flour and seasonings in a bowl or plastic bag. Coat the chicken in the egg and toss around in the flour. I then use one of those cooling racks (like for cookies) placed on top of a baking sheet (keeps the chicken from sticking to the sheet and cooks all around). Place the chicken on top of the rack and pop it in the oven.
Note: I tried this with crushed cereal instead of flour - turned out okay but more work since you have to crush the cereal first and you need like 4 Cups of cereal to have enough.


Homemade Potato Wedges
375 30-35 mins (till cooked through)

Wash and de-eye all potatoes. Cut in half length wise. Then place potato with flat side down and cut length wise into three ("triangular") sections - you know... wedges.
Place skin down on a baking sheet and season with salt, season salt, pepper... whatever you want. They will darken and some will get a "bubble" - Nice "tough" skin and soft inside... dip them in ketchup or BBQ sauce or Hines 57 - yum. You can do this with yams or sweet potatoes as well.

Finding time for it all...

I was just introduced to this awesome blog site, thanks to my amazing mother-in-law, love you! Here's the link: http://thepioneerwoman.com I've been reading and perusing it all afternoon... it's so addicting! Someday I hope my site could be as cool. Looks like I need to add pictures. Time for a digital camera! Ya, I'm a little behind the times - I guess just letting go of our 35 mm camera is somewhat of an emotional process. I took a black and white photography class in college and absolutely LOVED developing my own film... but I digress.

This woman has some awesome recipes and is quite funny to read. She's also a photographer and has written some books. And home-schools her 4 kids. Neat! Anyhow, I'm going to be busy in the kitchen trying out some of those recipes.

I wonder though, how she finds time to do all the things she writes about as well as keep the blog up to date and teach the kids and cook... okay run on sentence. Probably because her kids aren't toddlers. Oh, well maybe I'll get there someday. Maybe. At least my kids and husband are fed and loved. - that's what counts.

Creating a Calm Atmosphere

There have been days when the kids are almost literally climbing the walls. Simultaneously my patience level decreases while my temper rises. It's surprising, I know, being the worlds most patient mom is a tough job... ;) I have observed though, that when I have soft music playing in the background that an almost magical transformation occurs (almost 100% of the time). My little darlings calm down and act like the sweet children I know they are.

So far it seems that you get pretty much the same results from any soft music, whether it be church hymns, instrumental with no voices, or something like Enya where you can't always understand what they are saying anyway.

Once the peaceful calm falls over your house, it sure makes it easier to do things like think. Oh, and leaving the t.v. and computer games off will help - that way you don't have the radio trying to compete with them as well.

Funny thing too is that the opposite occurs when playing loud rock-like music. The kids can quickly turn into half-crazed Monkey Mexican-jumping beans. Try it sometime - it'll make you feel like Pavlov doing experiments on his dogs... blow a whistle and give them a treat when they do the correct behavior. (I'm not really suggesting you should do this - would be sorta funny if you did though.)

Dinner Party

My husband and I love to have dinner parties with our friends. We try and throw one once a month if possible. If you are like us and have a kid or two (or three...) finding time to go out or keep in touch with friends can be hard.

A dinner party is a great way to keep in contact. It can be as casual or fancy as you like. You can have it themed or just make whatever you have on hand. Save some money and make it a potluck - each friend brings their favorite dish. Have an early dinner followed by boardgames or a movie (one you own, since none of you probably want to pay a babysitter). Murder mystery dinner anyone?

Most of our dinners revolve around a specific food. My husband ordered some sausage from Louisiana (I think) along with spices so we could make some authentic Jambalaya. The flavors were amazing but it sure was one spicy dish!
Another time we had foods from Spain. All were quite good and very different from what we usually eat.

Here are some other ideas:
-Have everyone make a dish from their ethnic background - or from a place they've visited.
-Dress up as your favorite Hollywood star, or movie character.
-Make it all about the appetizers or a large cheese platter with crackers and fruit (for all those cheese lovers, my husband and I included).
-Have an Iron Chef party (potluck style) plan ahead what special ingredient everyone has to make their meals around and pick the winner after dinner.
-Hands only foods (no utensils allowed)
-School Cafeteria foods - I've also heard of people calling this one Trailer Trash foods - though I don't really like that name.

Be creative and have fun! I'll write about them as we have them... maybe come up with a few new ideas as well...

100 things to do for FREE

I found this site that lists 100 things to do for free... thought they had some pretty good ideas.

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/07/17/100-things-to-do-during-a-money-free-weekend/

Anything Goes Muffins

I'm all about ease in the kitchen and let's face it, sometimes you get a craving for something and don't always have all the ingredients. What do you do? Run to the store or just forget it and eat something else...
I got this great muffin recipe from a friend, its called Anything Goes Muffins. You can substitute so many of the ingredients that you almost never make the same muffins twice.

2 C flour (white or whole wheat)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (opt - but I usually add it because of its great health benefits)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 honey (I've used brown sugar before in a pinch, though I prefer honey)
1 egg beaten
1/4 C oil or yogurt
3/4 C Milk or Juice
1/2 C raisins (craisins or other dried fruit work nicely)
1 C fruit or shredded vegi like zucchini

I mix all wet ingredients then add in all dry ingredients - mix until wet.
Bake at 375 F for 15-20 mins.

Enjoy!

Pancakes and a starving toddler

I jumped out of bed this morning remembering we don't have anything quick for breakfast. Okay, so pancakes for the kids. I mix up the batter quickly and my husband asks for some eggs over-easy. Cool, I can do that. I cooked up the eggs first, since he had to leave to go to work, while my almost two year old is hugging the syrup and watching my every move in great anticipation. The eggs by the way turned out really well - not over cooked and not broken - success!

Then the thought occurred to me... why not whip up a bunch of pancake batter and keep it in the fridge?? I suppose you could do that with waffle batter, muffin batter, etc. What a wonderful idea, I thought, then I just have to wait for the griddle to heat up - no more starving kids and breakfast will be on time.

I did something different with my pancakes this morning and they were amazing! My some-of-the-time picky 6 year old ate three (when other days one will fill him up!). My usual pancake recipe calls for oil but I put in some of my homemade yogurt instead... the result was yummy creaminess. I bet it may be a little healthier as well.

Homemade yogurt

Okay Wow, I haven't written in a long long time. My goal this year is to write at least once a week. Lets see how long that lasts...

I wanted to share with you my joy in homemade yogurt. I love yogurt! You can eat it plain, add any fresh fruit to it, put it on potatoes, spread it on toast, whatever your taste-buds like. My husband found a recipe online and since we are always looking for ways to save money - and for me, to dabble in the kitchen, I jumped on the opportunity. The fact that making yogurt is soooo super easy was great too.

Since I can't remember the site (I searched for it later with no luck) I will tell you from memory how to make it - its that easy. Start out with whole milk - You could use a lower % fat or goats milk if you'd like - I just think whole milk works better. You'll also need a starter yogurt. This is any store bought yogurt that is plain and has live/active pro-biotic cultures in it... ya little things that are alive! Great aren't they?

It'll take two tablespoons of yogurt per quart of milk. First thing I do is put a quart of milk in a sauce pan and heat it to 180 deg. F stirring the whole time. Takes about 8-10 mins. Then pour the milk into the jar or containers that you'll be keeping the yogurt in. Now it's time to cool the milk down - don't want to kill all those friendly critters now do we? You're aiming for a temperature anywhere between 110-120 deg. F. This will take anywhere from 45 mins to an hour and a half (depends on how hot or cool your house is). Now's a good time to turn your oven light on (just the light will keep it warm - cool huh?) and get some dish towels handy.

At this point take a little of the cooled milk and your store bought yogurt and mix well in a separate bowl. Add this mixture to your jar and mix well again. Cover the jar with plastic wrap and put the jar on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish, covered with the dish towels. Place your incubating yogurt in the oven and your job is now done! Leave the rest of the work to the happy little cultures. They will turn your milk into yogurt in about 4 hours. I'd suggest leaving them alone for several more hours because it'll be very mild at this point. Taste it if you like... the longer you leave it the more tangy or sour it'll become. If you need to turn your oven on for a second to raise the temperature that's okay. I leave mine for about 8 hours - I suppose you could leave it upwards of 12 hours or more. As soon as it gets to your desired tangyness put the jar in the fridge - this'll halt the process and might help thicken it up a little.

You might notice that your homemade yogurt is somewhat "runny"- at least compared to store bought ones. This is perfectly fine - all the liquid has great pro-biotic stuff in it - I just stir it back in. If you prefer your yogurt thicker go ahead a strain it with some cheese cloth before placing it in the fridge.

Now enjoy your yogurt... doesn't it feel good to know you can make something that doesn't have all that added high fructose corn-syrup and other additives? You'll also be saving money - or at least stretching your dollars. I'm currently on the WIC program and so all my whole milk is essentially free - also since my toddler likes to eat yogurt mixed in or with things then I'm not misusing it (I personally think they give you way too much milk anyhow)

PS it would be a good idea to get a kitchen thermometer - that way you wont have to play "guess what temperature the milk is"...