Things I Love Thursday

I found I new blog I really enjoy called Diaper Diaries So far, I love what she is writing about. I thought I'd participate in her Things I love Thursday and share some things I love with you all!


I just finished this book, and I couldn't put it down! I cried for the last 100 pages. As a woman, it was such a wonderful read. The characters felt like they were my friends.


I love my dishes! I have spent many years building up my set. Every night, when I pull them out of my cupboard, I smile.

For today, that's it. I hope to make this a weekly thing!

Cooking at home

I've mentioned before that I'm fascinated by what Jamie Oliver is doing to revolutionize food in America. One of the reasons I try to cook at home most nights of the week is to keep my family healthy and make sure they know how to eat and what they should be eating. It keeps all of us feeling better and eating better. I can also teach my son (and hopefully my stepson) that we eat real food and I can teach him how to cook. When he grows up and moves away, I hope he will pass this value on to his family. Please take 20 minutes to watch Jamie's video. Its so eye-opening to what we are doing as a nation to our children.

Lunch- woohoo!

I love packing lunches for my husband and my son. My husband laughs at me because he says I take so much care and time to do it. My perspective is that I can tell them both how much I love them during the day by taking a couple minutes to make their lunches special. My son is with his dad all week. When I went up to visit him today at lunch, he asked if I'd make his lunch on Wednesday. Sure! So, alas, I want to come up with something fun and special. I think I'll be doing a little extra lunch browsing this week to see what I can come up with! Let me know if you have any ideas for me. I think homemade brownies or cookies may be involved!

Weekly Menu

Here's this week's menu.

Monday: Prosciutto, Fontina, and Fig Panini

Tuesday: Pampered Chef Round About
This one is a family favorite. My husband would be so happy if I made it once a week!

Wednesday: Lemon Spaghetti I've wanted to try a recipe like this for a while. I'll probably add some broccoli or asparagus to it.

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: homemade pizza

I'm a woman of few words tonight! We sat all afternoon in the sun at my alma mater University baseball game. All that sun wore us out I think. Have a great week, and tell me if there's any new recipes you've been wanting to try.

Weekly plan

Wow! I was just signing in to post this week's menu, and I realised I've written 50 posts! I enjoy talking about what I'm cooking in my new kitchen. Cooking for my family is truly one of my favorite hobbies. Its the way I calm down and center myself and relax. There are days I just want to get through it, but when I have family around who appreciates my cooking, it makes it all worth it!

So, here's this week's menu (I'll be following it more closely since we go back to work and school tomorrow)

I am inspired by Jamie Oliver's show Food Revolution. I thought I'd try one or 2 of his recipes this week.

Monday- sausage meatballs

Tuesday- breaded chicken strips and twice bakes potatoes

Wednesday- Ravioli with homemade pesto

Thursday- leftovers

Friday- Party for volunteers from my son's school fundraiser

Saturday- sloppy joes and home-baked fries

Vacation Cooking!

I am going off my menu plan this week because I love having the opportunity to wake up in the morning and decide what I'm cooking! I also love having time to do it. This morning it was pouring rain and cold and I decided I wanted to put a brisket in the oven. Then I love that I can decide around 3pm that I can bake cupcakes. This is my idea of a vacation, that, and I have a house full of boys that I can feed it to.

Zinfindel Brisket
5 lb brisket
4-5 small yukon gold potatoes, quartered
4-5 small purple potatoes, quartered
1 bag baby carrots (I don't often have bagged carrots, but I was using what I had in the fridge)
1 red onion
2 tbsp chipoltle infused salt (or regular large grind salt)
fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 cups zinfindel wine
1 cup water

Method:
Preheat oven to 275.
Trim excess fat from the brisket, salt and pepper the brisket on both sides. Place on the bottom of grill pan. Quarter potatoes and onions. Add carrots, onions, and potatoes around the brisket. Turn burners on the stove to medium (I have to use both my front and back burners to fit my beautiful grill pan on the stove.) Add water and wine to the pan, make sure you drizzle some wine over the top of the brisket.

We had a 5 lb brisket and cooked it for about 6 hours. I drizzled more wine over the brisket about 1/2 way through cooking, then again about an hour before we took it out. Cut across the grain, and enjoy! Its even better the next day!

Oh, it was so good! My husband kept eating those, and had to be asked if he wanted a cupcake 3 times!

Egg Dying (a little late!)

My son was at his dad's house last weekend for Easter. So, this weekend, we celebrated it at our house. We read the bible story of Easter this morning, dyed eggs on Friday afternoon with my friend and her 3 1/2 year old daughter and went on an Easter Egg Hunt. I'm not sure which my husband, stepson, and son liked best; the homemade cinnamon rolls or the Easter Egg Hunt. We're now watching The Prince of Egypt and listening to the rain outside helping my garden grow!

For egg dying, I used food coloring, vinegar, and warm water. The kids colored on them with crayons and dropped them in the dye. I bought some scrapbook punches and adhesive paper and had a little fun! I want to try it again and experiment with the dye colors. Maybe I'll blow some eggs and try it. I've always wanted an Easter Tree!






Here's a picture of the pure joy of son hunting for Easter eggs! (I couldn't resist)



And... Here's the cinnamon rolls from Pioneer Woman I halved the recipe, which I'm glad I did! It made 2 1/2 pans of yummy cinnamon rolls! My family already devoured a whole pan of them!

This Week's menu

We are all home for vacation this week. We have a few day trips planned, but we're mostly hanging out, working on house projects, and I get to cook some more complicated recipes that I don't usually get to do. This is very exciting for me!

Sunday: I found a recipe for low-fat spaghetti carbonara YUM! Perfect for a cold, rainy day!

Monday: I am going to make Pastitsio I watched Barefoot Contessa today, and she made a version of this. I think I'll look at a couple more recipes and make my own version.

Tuesday: Chicken panini with grilled vegetables

Wednesday: Heading to my in-laws for my step-son's birthday dinner

Thursday: Tamale Pie bake

Friday: we'll be in the city, then off to a friend's house for dinner

Saturday: Lettuce Wraps and maybe I'll try my hand at cheesecake!

Its going to be a crazy week!

I was just thinking about what this week is bringing and I'm a little shocked! We eat out about once a week, sometimes twice, but rarely like its going to look this week!

Crockpot Monday: Thai Peanut pork tenderloin (karate night)

Tuesday: My fundraiser at Aqui in Campbell for Team In Training

(Here's my fundraising page if you'd like to check it out)

Wednesday: My hubby will probably be on a bike ride, my stepson will have leftovers, and I am going to my son's kindergarten class mom's night out

Thursday: Out with my running team after track workout

Friday: The beginning of vacation, its homemade pizza and movie night!