At first look, we thought this one was OK, however that is not oily skin under her nose. Gross.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Photo shoot time
We had the photo equipment out this weekend so we thought we might as well get some new pictures of the girls. Here is how DQ's photos turned out.
At first look, we thought this one was OK, however that is not oily skin under her nose. Gross.
At first look, we thought this one was OK, however that is not oily skin under her nose. Gross.
The Fairy Tale
What do you want to be when you grow up? The dance teacher asked Princess.
The princess responded without a pause "Cinderella".
Wouldn't it be great to be 4 again and think life is a fairy tale? Your dad is the king. All headbands are crowns. And of course if you eat all your vegetables, you will become a real princess.
I am sure I should be directing her more towards careers like doctor, lawyer or techer, but what is the fun in that? At some point she will relize life is not a fairy tale. I am not going to be the one that breaks the news to her.
The princess responded without a pause "Cinderella".
Wouldn't it be great to be 4 again and think life is a fairy tale? Your dad is the king. All headbands are crowns. And of course if you eat all your vegetables, you will become a real princess.
I am sure I should be directing her more towards careers like doctor, lawyer or techer, but what is the fun in that? At some point she will relize life is not a fairy tale. I am not going to be the one that breaks the news to her.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Awesome Potato Skins
Here is the recipe for the potato skins I made Sunday afternoon. I found the recipe here.
Potato Skins
6 small to medium sized russet baking potatoes
Olive oil
Cooking Spray
salt
Freshly ground pepper
6 strips of bacon
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 green onions, thinly sliced, including the greens of the onions
1. Scrub the potatoes clean then bake the potatoes using your favorite method, either oven or microwave. If using an oven, rub with olive oil and bake in a 400°F oven for about an hour until the potatoes are cooked through and give a little when pressed. If using a microwave, rub all over with olive oil and cook on the high setting for about 5 minutes per potato. (obviously I should have microwaved mine...)
2. While the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool. Crumble.
3. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half horizontally. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the insides, reserving the scooped potatoes for another use, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skin.
4. Increase the heat of the oven to 450°F. Spray cooking spray all over the potato skins, outside and in. Sprinkle with salt. Place on a baking rack in a roasting pan (don't use a cookie sheet, it will warp, use a roasting pan or broiler pan that can take the heat). Cook for 10 minutes on one side, then flip the skins over and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.
5. Arrange the potato skins skin-side down on the roasting pan or rack. Sprinkle the insides with freshly ground black pepper, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon. Return to the oven. Broil for an additional 2 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Use tongs to place skins on a serving plate. Add a dollop of sour cream to each skin, sprinkle with green onions.
Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6
Potato Skins
6 small to medium sized russet baking potatoes
Olive oil
Cooking Spray
salt
Freshly ground pepper
6 strips of bacon
4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 green onions, thinly sliced, including the greens of the onions
1. Scrub the potatoes clean then bake the potatoes using your favorite method, either oven or microwave. If using an oven, rub with olive oil and bake in a 400°F oven for about an hour until the potatoes are cooked through and give a little when pressed. If using a microwave, rub all over with olive oil and cook on the high setting for about 5 minutes per potato. (obviously I should have microwaved mine...)
2. While the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool. Crumble.
3. Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half horizontally. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the insides, reserving the scooped potatoes for another use, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skin.
4. Increase the heat of the oven to 450°F. Spray cooking spray all over the potato skins, outside and in. Sprinkle with salt. Place on a baking rack in a roasting pan (don't use a cookie sheet, it will warp, use a roasting pan or broiler pan that can take the heat). Cook for 10 minutes on one side, then flip the skins over and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.
5. Arrange the potato skins skin-side down on the roasting pan or rack. Sprinkle the insides with freshly ground black pepper, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon. Return to the oven. Broil for an additional 2 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Use tongs to place skins on a serving plate. Add a dollop of sour cream to each skin, sprinkle with green onions.
Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6
More smoke
Sunday we decided to have our own little Super Bowl party and have junk food for dinner at the castle. I could really care less about the game, but I wanted the party snacks. The menu consisted of nachos, potato skins and whatever the girls wanted to eat.
I found a recipe for potato skins (I will post later - they were awesome!) and started to make them Sunday afternoon. The recipe stated to rub the potatoes with olive oil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Obviously I was supposed to put the potatoes on a pan first, not just throw them in. The oil started dripping off the potatoes and the next thing I knew, the smoke detectors were going off.
Ugh. You would think I would learn...
Kitchen update:
The new kitchen cabinets are MOSTLY installed. We are using cardboard for a counter top, but that should be installed Wednesday. Once the counters are in we can get the dishwasher and sink installed. I can't wait to stop doing all our dishes by hand!
We had a small problem with measurements when buiding one of the new walls. Now we have to move a load bearing wall to fit the final cabinet and refridgerator in. They keep reassuring me it can be done, but it makes me a little nervous.
I found a recipe for potato skins (I will post later - they were awesome!) and started to make them Sunday afternoon. The recipe stated to rub the potatoes with olive oil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. Obviously I was supposed to put the potatoes on a pan first, not just throw them in. The oil started dripping off the potatoes and the next thing I knew, the smoke detectors were going off.
Ugh. You would think I would learn...
Kitchen update:
The new kitchen cabinets are MOSTLY installed. We are using cardboard for a counter top, but that should be installed Wednesday. Once the counters are in we can get the dishwasher and sink installed. I can't wait to stop doing all our dishes by hand!
We had a small problem with measurements when buiding one of the new walls. Now we have to move a load bearing wall to fit the final cabinet and refridgerator in. They keep reassuring me it can be done, but it makes me a little nervous.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Kitchen Tip Tuesday
Pack your lunch as you clean the table.
The King and I both bring a lunch to work every day. 90% of the time our lunches consist of leftovers. I used to just dish out my lunch in the morning, but now I am finding I don't have time to do this with the normal morning chaos. On top of that the king refuses to dish out his own lunch in the morning. Apparently it is more important to him to watch 30 minutes of golf tv at 6 a.m. than it is to pack a lunch. I used to have the attitude that if he didn't want to make the effort to pack his own lunch then he can starve. However this theory went out the window when I ended up throwing leftovers in the trash because they were never eaten.
Now I pack lunches as I clear the table after dinner. Everything is portioned into individual servings. I also portion out any sides or extras like buns, chips and cut up vegetables. Each "meal" is stacked neatly in the fridge (I even include the stuff that doesn't need refrigeration so everything is in one spot) so all we have to do is grab a stack and go.
Another lunch tip: When making a big batch of soup\chili, freeze the leftovers in individual servings. They will last in the freezer for a long time and are perfect for the days there are no other leftovers in the fridge.
Check out more tips at Kitchen Tip Tuesday!
The King and I both bring a lunch to work every day. 90% of the time our lunches consist of leftovers. I used to just dish out my lunch in the morning, but now I am finding I don't have time to do this with the normal morning chaos. On top of that the king refuses to dish out his own lunch in the morning. Apparently it is more important to him to watch 30 minutes of golf tv at 6 a.m. than it is to pack a lunch. I used to have the attitude that if he didn't want to make the effort to pack his own lunch then he can starve. However this theory went out the window when I ended up throwing leftovers in the trash because they were never eaten.
Now I pack lunches as I clear the table after dinner. Everything is portioned into individual servings. I also portion out any sides or extras like buns, chips and cut up vegetables. Each "meal" is stacked neatly in the fridge (I even include the stuff that doesn't need refrigeration so everything is in one spot) so all we have to do is grab a stack and go.
Another lunch tip: When making a big batch of soup\chili, freeze the leftovers in individual servings. They will last in the freezer for a long time and are perfect for the days there are no other leftovers in the fridge.
Check out more tips at Kitchen Tip Tuesday!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Using what I have for dinner...
I have been on a mission the past few weeks to use the food I have at the house and not waste anything. I am trying to shave some $$$ from my grocery budget and this should be the easiest way - quit throwing money in the garbage!
This past weekend I was pretty successful:
French Bread
Thursday I purchased a loaf of french bread at the grocery store to top our French Onion soup. Yes, I could have made the bread a lot cheaper, but I am still not set up to do a lot of baking yet (or to make a huge mess in the kitchen). Friday night I used the bread again for French Bread Pizzas.
Saturday there was still bread left (and very dry) so I cubed it up and made a breakfast casserole for Sunday morning. I was able to also use the leftover green peppers and mushrooms from pizza toppings also. It wasn't a huge casserole, but it was perfect for the king and I. An added bonus: I used up the eggs in my fridge.
Whipped Topping & Milk
I had a container of whipped topping in my fridge. I remember purchasing it two weeks ago, but I don't remember why. We only used a few spoonfuls of it at the time. I also ended up with 3 gallons of milk in my fridge this week - and one of them is approaching the expiration date. I found a box of pudding mix and made "Candy Bar Pudding". Vanilla pudding, whipped topping, heath bar pieces (left over from my holiday baking inventory that never happened) and chopped up chocolate chips. The girls thought I was a culinary genius.
Chipotle peppers
I love these things, but since I normally only use 1-2 peppers per recipe, the rest of the can usually goes to waste. I originally opened the can for Black Bean Soup that I made the weekend before. Saturday I made a crock pot full of baked beans and added a big pepper and some adobe sauce to the mixture (Bonus: I also threw in some leftover chicken meat to the beans). Sunday I made White Chicken Chili and added two peppers to that also. I still have two peppers left in the fridge so I am trying to figure out what I can add them to. This may be a bit of a challenge since most of our meals this week are not really spicy. (Chipotle spaghetti anyone?)
Here are my plans the next few days to use what I have:
I have a little bit of french onion soup left and no bread. I am going to pull out the onions and fry them up and use them as a topping on my French Dip sandwiches on Tuesday.
With the leftover roast from our French Dip sandwiches I am going make a casserole with beef, barley and any other vegetable I can find.
This past weekend I was pretty successful:
French Bread
Thursday I purchased a loaf of french bread at the grocery store to top our French Onion soup. Yes, I could have made the bread a lot cheaper, but I am still not set up to do a lot of baking yet (or to make a huge mess in the kitchen). Friday night I used the bread again for French Bread Pizzas.
Saturday there was still bread left (and very dry) so I cubed it up and made a breakfast casserole for Sunday morning. I was able to also use the leftover green peppers and mushrooms from pizza toppings also. It wasn't a huge casserole, but it was perfect for the king and I. An added bonus: I used up the eggs in my fridge.
Whipped Topping & Milk
I had a container of whipped topping in my fridge. I remember purchasing it two weeks ago, but I don't remember why. We only used a few spoonfuls of it at the time. I also ended up with 3 gallons of milk in my fridge this week - and one of them is approaching the expiration date. I found a box of pudding mix and made "Candy Bar Pudding". Vanilla pudding, whipped topping, heath bar pieces (left over from my holiday baking inventory that never happened) and chopped up chocolate chips. The girls thought I was a culinary genius.
Chipotle peppers
I love these things, but since I normally only use 1-2 peppers per recipe, the rest of the can usually goes to waste. I originally opened the can for Black Bean Soup that I made the weekend before. Saturday I made a crock pot full of baked beans and added a big pepper and some adobe sauce to the mixture (Bonus: I also threw in some leftover chicken meat to the beans). Sunday I made White Chicken Chili and added two peppers to that also. I still have two peppers left in the fridge so I am trying to figure out what I can add them to. This may be a bit of a challenge since most of our meals this week are not really spicy. (Chipotle spaghetti anyone?)
Here are my plans the next few days to use what I have:
I have a little bit of french onion soup left and no bread. I am going to pull out the onions and fry them up and use them as a topping on my French Dip sandwiches on Tuesday.
With the leftover roast from our French Dip sandwiches I am going make a casserole with beef, barley and any other vegetable I can find.
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