Merry Christmas From The Gang!

It's a beautiful chilly Sunday afternoon here at The Gang's Headquarters. Most of the gang is here, sprawled out watching football or Octonauts, coming down off the sugar high that is characteristic of our traditional Cookie Decorating Day. We're waiting for Shaggy and the lovely Miss A to arrive for family pictures and a late dinner together. It's the first quiet, peaceful afternoon we've had together for far too long. 

With the pace we've been keeping and the many "out of the ordinary" additions to the calendar that have come these last ten days, we only just this weekend got around to making holiday treats. Normally, I spread the baking out over three weeks so it works out that I'm replenishing the batches continuously. Like, a slow steady month-long IV drip of butter and sugar. It's glorious! This year, I just couldn't get that routine up and running and The Gang has been letting me know of the lack of holiday treats around here. No one has ever accused me of doing things half-heartedly and in the last 48 hours, LadyBug and I have made 3 double and 1 triple batch of The Gang's favorites. There's Christmas bark, Butter Pecan Turtle bars, German Christmas Cookies (now fully frosted and beautifully decorated) all filling up my cookie bins and my fridge at once. It's glorious! All that was missing were Shaggy's favorite White Chip Orange Craisin Cookies and I could hang up my apron. 

It should have been no surprise to me that by lunch-time today, I was operating in auto-pilot. As in, everything I've made in the last two days has required a lot of brown sugar. A. LOT. Turns out, auto-pilot may just have produced my new favorite cookie of all time!!!! Since they turned out so incredibly tasty and rich, I thought I'd give a present to all of you and share the {BRAND SPANKIN' NEW} recipe!

White Chip Orange Craisin Cookies

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. butter-flavored shortening, softened
          (This is tweak #1 - the original recipe calls for 1 c. butter)

1 1/2 c. dark brown sugar, packed

           (This is where autopilot came in - the original recipe called for white sugar.

            So I set about tweaking the recipe from this "mistake." This TASTY mistake!)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. orange extract

           (This is tweak #2 - the original recipe doesn't call for any.)

1 Tbsp. orange zest or dried orange peel

2 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

2 c. oats

1 c. craisins

1 c. white baking chips

Preheat your oven to 375.

Cream together the butter, shortening, and sugar. When fluffy, add eggs and beat in vanilla and orange extracts.

Slowly add the orange zest, flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Blend till all dry ingredients are incorporated.

Fold in oats, craisins, and white baking chips. Batter will be thick and heavy. And SUPER YUMMY!

Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until edges are dry but do NOT overbake these goodies.

True confession time: the original recipe on which this one is based is an old W#*ght W@tchers favorite that called for things like "light butter," a sugar/sugar substitute blend, and egg whites. NOT that that particular version ever really got made around here.... because, well, "light butter?" As if. I mean, I might have made it the W#*ght W@tchers way once, a looooong time ago. But never again. Ever. And now? With the change-out from white sugar to lovely dark rich brown sugar? Oh.MY.LANDS. I ain't NEVER goin' back, sister friend. NEVER.

So, there ya have it. Thank you, auto-pilot! You are my new bestie bestie, as Mei Mei says. About everyone. Ha!

Merry Christmas

from The Gang's Momma and her gang!

Allllllll-most Fall {and a recipe!}

Yesterday was a cool and breezy day full of little hints of autumn. Football was on the tv screen. BBE spent the whole afternoon prepping our fire pit and side yard for LadyBug's "end of summer" bonfire with friends. The Boss was working in the master bath, prepping for our big re-do (pictures coming soon) that starts on Tuesday. I had spent all Saturday afternoon filling the freezer with yummy casseroles for those weekday afternoons full of junior high football games and other Mommy taxi duties. Yes, fall is definitely in the air these days!

I was really looking for something easy to make for the family, given that I'd cooked for 4-5 hours straight on Saturday. I knew left-overs one!more!time! wouldn't cut it for the Gang, no matter that I felt wiped out. I also think I might be brewing a cold, so I was pretty motivated to simplify my day. This recipe was JUST the ticket! It's been going around the interwebs in a few different forms, with a few variations. It sounded really delish and easy to pull off so I gave it a whirl for The Gang this Sunday. It felt like just the right "introductory" fall meal. 

True to form, I couldn't just leave the recipe alone, so I'm sharing here what I did. Feel free to make it your own. It was indeed very easy and all The Gang members, including Shaggy and Miss A who joined us for Sunday dinner, gave it a huge thumbs up! I hope you all enjoy it as much as we did. The kids are eating it now, as I type this, for a delicious left-over lunch.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings

Ingredients:

 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, in 1-2” chunks

   (or 6 skinless chicken thighs)
2 Tbsp. butter, chunked
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can chicken broth

2 cubes chicken bouillon

1 12 oz. bag frozen mixed veggies, steamed and drained well

Cornstarch and cold water (if needed)
1 roll (10 per pkg) refrigerated biscuits, quartered
Flour to coat biscuits

Directions:

1. Lightly spray a crock pot with baking spray. Place chicken in bottom of crock. Over the chicken, dump the butter, onion, soup, broth and bouillon.
2. Cover crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. If using frozen chicken, cook on high for same amount of time then reduce to low for the remaining time.
3. Around the 3 or 4 hour mark, add steamed, drained veggies and stir well. Re-cover and allow to cook for an additional hour or two.
4. While you are waiting for serving time, quarter the biscuits and toss them to coat in all-purpose flour.
5. About 30-45 minutes before serving, thicken the mixture with cornstarch and cold water (shaken together well) if it’s too loose and soup-like.
6. Drop flour-coated biscuits onto the top surface of the chicken mixture and cook with lid on for another 30 minutes. (For a single batch of these proportions, you might not need the whole roll of biscuits.) Do not stir!
7. Once the biscuits are puffing and the broth is really bubbling well around them, it''s ready to serve. Be careful, those biscuits are HOT HOT HOT inside! Enjoy this hearty dish with your family!

I'd be interested in hearing what you did to change it up for your family's taste buds. I'm thinking that I might do a combo of white wine and chicken broth, with a dash or two of rosemary or dill added in with the liquids next time for a little added burst of flavor. There's just something about those flavors that really speaks "fall" to me.

Summer Fun... {A wrap up and a recipe!}

We started and ended our summer with some pretty significant parties. There's not much this Momma loves more than a big celebration of friends and family. And we've had LOTS of fun entertaining this summer, now that the deck and pool area are finished and the landscaping is grown in. The grass is lush and we still, even months later, are raving to ourselves about how restful and refreshing it is in our backyard. We have our own mini-retreat center after years of battling weeds, ugly rocks, ground-boring bees, and drab, colorless aesthetics. I'm so proud of the hard work that The Boss and my blue-eyed boy put in together to create this haven for our friends and family. 

Freshly washed and ready for the first big event back in May!

LadyBug had a Sweet 16 Bonfire and Night Swim party

on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

We "upped" the awesome factor by throwing

over 200 glow sticks into the pool once it was totally dark.

It was SO pretty!

BBE filled 11 hanging baskets with wave petunias in brilliant

red and purple for her party and for the second event,

my mom's 70th b'day celebration just two days later.

All these weeks later and the petunias are still hanging in there!!!!

So at the OTHER end of the summer fun was the Pool Party

we hosted for the local-to-us members of our adoption agency community. 

It was a great mix of old friends and new,

including some beloved staff members from the agency.

Everyone brought their own meat to grill for dinner plus a dessert or side dish to share. I'm telling you this because I made this amazing potato salad that MUST be shared before potato salad season officially winds down. I made it last week for a family event at my parents' house and it was such a hit that I had to try it again. Yes, I made it up. It's a tweak on The Boss's favorite Red Bliss Potato Salad but with a couple twists.

Blue Cheese & Bacon Potato Salad

 5 lbs red potatoes, washed and cut in bite-size pieces.
Boiled in salted water till fork-tender

and then set aside to cool to room temperature.

Equal parts of blue cheese dressing and light mayonnaise.

For 5 lbs of potatoes that is about 1 cup of each.

I particularly like this brand of dressing as it's yogurt based 

and so smooth without being too thick or rich for mixing.

**I am NOT being paid to endorse any of these brand name products.**

Oh, how I wish I were.

About 1 c. (give or take to preference) of crumbled bacon

1 medium Vidalia sweet onion, diced

1 (4-6 oz.) container of blue cheese crumbles

Parsley to mix in to taste AND parsley to garnish on the top.

Mix it all together very well, making sure that

 the salad is a little thicker than you wish for it to be when

serving time actually comes. It will loosen up when refrigerated.

This is one of those salads that DEFINITELY tastes better

when it sits in the refrigerator overnight for the flavors to blend. 

It pairs really well with any beef you might be grilling, 

but it's also super yummy with Balsamic Vinaigrette Marinated Chicken!

Next up will be The Gang's annual "First Day of School" post. I can hardly believe summer is over and my gang is all heading off to school already. ESPECIALLY, {gasp} our little Mei Mei. She's heading off to the sweet little pre-school that Li'l Empress attended when she was 3 and 4. I'm under no illusions that this will be an easy transition for her but we've been talking it up big for the last three weeks and her tour of the building and intake assessment will hopefully still be in her memory banks as a positive experience.

Heh.

One can hope, right? Right?! Sigh... I'm not even sure I believe that. But I'm telling myself that over and over, particularly when she melts down over me leaving her side to run to the grocery store or meeting a friend for lunch. EVERY time. Pray for us, ya'll. Just pray.

"Muffins For Dinner?! YAY!"

I have so much to share about the goings' on of the last three weeks - but until I gather the pictures and the words to share the new stuff, here's a great idea for a yummy Summer dinner I made for The Gang.

Fair warning, I tweaked this from another recipe so it's not entirely original to me. I had four big zucchinis in the fridge that were graciously shared with me and one of them needed to be used immediately. So I washed it down, cut off the mushy ends, and slice it length-wise into four "spears." Then I de-seeded it and ran each spear through the food processor using the grating blade. A 14" long zucchini yielded about 3 1/2 cups of shredded zucchini.

Ham and Cheese Crust-less Zucchini Quiche

1 large, chopped onion
1/4 c. butter
2 cloves garlic, pressed
4-1/2 c. baking mix (Bisquick)
2 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
6 eggs
1/2 c. milk
3 c. shredded zucchini
1-2 c. chopped ham, to preference
3/4 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 c. parmesan, shredded (optional)

In large skillet, saute the onion and garlic in butter till soft and slightly golden. Add shredded zuke and continue to saute on lowered heat till the zuke has softened and is starting to release its juices. Set aside to cool slightly.

In large bowl, combine parsley, baking mix, parsley, basil, and thyme. Beat together the eggs and the milk and pour over dry ingredients. Lightly mix till just moistened. Add the zuke, ham, and cheese and finish mixing gently till all of it is incorporated. Don't over mix!

Pour into 2 generously sprayed deep dish pie plates, or 2 9x13's, or a deep 11x14. Bake at 400 for about 18-22 minutes until they are golden brown and have raised gently. They will be moist and dense inside but a knife inserted in the center should come out clean to be sure they are done.

This time around, I poured it all into 22 sprayed muffin cups. (Yes, I was just shy of the full 2 dozen but I liked that they were nice and high and full when they were done. It's a trade-off, I guess!) I used my Pampered Chef muffin stones and they turned out moist and lightly golden all around. Li'l Empress thought I was kidding when I told her we were having muffins for dinner and Mei Mei shocked me into tomorrow by downing 1 1/2 of them. She - of the great veggie boycott! We let them dip the bites into their choice of mustard and served it all with a side of salad and broccoli.

It's another healthy way to get some good veggies into your kids and they really are delicious.  I've got two really big ones zucchinis left and I'm getting a hankering for my other Summer Favorite. Anyone else have a good zucchini recipe - other than zucchini bread! - that they want to share? Share some of your favorites in the comments!

Tweaking with Curtis Stone

Heh. Bet that title got your attention, 

didn't it?! Did I make you grin just now?

Sorry to disappoint, that's not a typo.

And the only tweaking going on around here

is in the kitchen. With recipes and such.

Earlier in the fall, I saw cutie-patootie chef Curtis Stone make a dish that he called Savory Beef Cobbler. I had actually originally seen him make it on Matt's show, err, The Today Show about a year ago and noted then that it looked yummy. But the original recipe is more time intensive than I usually have on a regular weekday. So, while it looked delectable, making it from scratch was not on my horizon at all. Especially since I knew that Mei Mei's surgery was approaching quickly. Time to play in the kitchen has been a rare commodity since her procedure and I'm trying to simplify where ever I can.

I knew that I had stashed a good amount of leftover London Broil from one meal and roast beef in its own juices from yet another meal, so I knew I'd have enough beef and broth to make my own version of the dish. This week's snow storm provided the perfect opportunity to play around and tweak things for a similar feel with some short-cut steps.  If you love to putter in the kitchen and have some time to try the original (link above) from scratch, PLEASE let me know how yours turned out. In the meantime, here's what my tweaking produced!

I chopped up about 4 cups of medium rare thawed London Broil, enough to cover the bottom of my deep, heavy Pampered Chef baker. On top of that, I layered 1 medium-sized rutabaga that I chopped slightly smaller than the meat pieces. You can use white or golden potatoes if you prefer. Over that, I poured two cans of store bought gravy and about 1-2 cups of the beef broth.

I added about 3-4 cups of steamed, drained mixed vegetables. (Seriously, ladies. You should always have at least one or two large bags of mixed veggies. They are SO versatile!)

Don't forget, you don't have to get the fancy ones.

It's just how we roll here!

I almost forgot to add the mushrooms but we chopped them up quickly and threw them in before it was too late. This time around, I used the whole 12 ounce container of baby bellas. The original recipe called for a hearty red wine but we didn't have any in the house this week, so I added more mushrooms than I normally would use. 

I lightly seasoned it all with parsley, rosemary, thyme, and basil and mixed it well. I popped the top on that baker (boy, that thing is a beast!) and stuck it in the oven at 400 for 1 hour. If I was more on the ball, I'd have done it at 300 for 2 or so hours but I started late and that baker doesn't really overcook anything, so I was safe in the attempt.

(Remember the old one that used the 9x13 baker

as its lid for a stone dutch oven?

LOVE mine for this big ole gang of eaters!)

While that was stewing and simmering all its flavors together, I mixed up the dumplings. Again, in the interest of speeding things along, I used 2 cups of baking mix with one stick of softened butter. I generously seasoned the dumpling mixture with the same spices as the beef mixture.

But to make them extra rich and delectable, I added a lovely pre-shredded mix of Asiago, Parmesan, and Romano. About 1/3 cup went into the dough, reserving another 1/3 cup for the top of the biscuits when they are baking in the stew.

Keep the biscuit dough very loose, mixing in milk 

a little at a time until it's about the consistency

of oatmeal cookie dough, or even a little wetter.

Once the stew was bubbling nicely, I used my cookie scoop to drop the dumpling mix all across the top of the stew mixture. I topped the dish with the rest of the cheese blend and allow the dumplings to cook for a couple minutes more. 

Be careful not to let them crisp up, the dumplings really should be soft and gooey for this dish. Using the cover again while it bakes really helps with this. Remove the lid at the very end to let the cheese get a little golden if you like.

This was a huge hit and everyone (except the two youngest who are naysayers of all things veggie most nights) agreed that making it again would be an excellent idea. We didn't miss the wine at all this time around but I will be using it next time to experiment with the flavors. Next time I won't use as much additional broth. The mushrooms and the rutabagas generated a lot of juices while cooking, so before I added the dumplings, I actually had to pull off about 1-1/2 cups of juices to keep the stew from being too runny. That will make a great base to the beef barley soup I'm planning for later in the week. I also think next time, I'll throw in some flour or cornstarch and stir it in really well before baking, as this gang really prefers their stew meals to be thicker.

So tell me, what have you been playing with in the kitchen? Any other comfort foods that you've been tweaking for your dinner table? I'd love for you to share in the comments!

Leftovers and the Frugal Re-do

I love to cook. I've shared tons of great recipes here that I've gleaned from friends, family, and other sources. You've shared some of your favorites with me. But one thing about cooking that I haven't tackled much here on the blog is the topic of leftovers. It seems to me that the word brings up a "love them" or "hate them response" among my friends. I'm in the "love them" camp. Because, really, as much as I love to cook, I don't love to do it from scratch every single night. Nor do I really have the time in our busy calendar to do so. To help keep things fresh and interesting, I have a couple ways I like to deal with leftovers.

One of the best things we do here at The Gang's house is our "Leftover Smorgasbord." It's exactly what it sounds like. I empty the fridge (and sometimes the freezer) of the smidges of this and the dribs and drabs of that. I put them all out on the counter and the gang lines up to pick a couple portions to fill their plates. It's kind of a "First come, first served" night and the slowpokes around here have learned that sometimes it's a good thing to live life at a slightly faster pace. Heh.

But the other thing I love about leftovers is a challenge of a complete re-do. I enjoy taking what I have, be it from the fridge, the freezer or some additions from the pantry to make a whole new meal that fills The Gang's bellies and makes them all sigh in satisfaction. This post is to walk you through the most recent, most successful re-do that I did this week.

I made a simple, but amazing pork roast a couple Sundays ago. Man, it was juicy, tender, and full of flavor. Literally ALL I did to prep it was lay it on a bed of thick cut onion chunks in a well-sprayed crock pot. Then I sprinkled the top with garlic powder and pepper. That's IT. This thing was HUGE, so while it was slow-cooking, I was already starting to dream up meals to make with the leftover meat. The pleasant surprise was that I also had at least 4 cups of thick, flavorful pork broth to use. I asked around on F@cebook and got some good ideas for using the broth. Here's what I settled on!

I started by thawing out the 4 c. of rich broth.

To that, I added 4 c. of water, a touch of salt and some olive oil.

(That's my new thing, olive oil in my rice water instead of butter.

Gotta get my healthy fats where I can!)

To the boiling broth & water, I added 2 c. white rice

and 2 c. brown rice. I let it simmer low and slow

until all the liquid was absorbed and the rice

was light and fluffy.

(Truthfully, I could have left it on a tad longer

as some of the brown rice was a little tough.)

Once the rice was up and running, I started a big bowl of these.

You don't HAVE to buy the fancy kind.

But that's how we roll in my kitchen!

Ha.

As the rice cooked and my fancy veggies steamed,

I chopped the freshly thawed leftover pork.

It was really cold but my new Tigger mug

kept my fingers from suffering too much.

The awesome thing about this meal, which by now I think you might have guessed to be Pork Fried Rice, is that I prepped all the ingredients early in the morning while we watched Fox News and hung out in our jammies with our coffee and pancakes.

   

Later, when it was time to assemble the whole kit and kaboodle,

I made sure my griddles were well prepared with this.

I have found this little bottle to be my secret

weapon for AWESOME fried rice.

I forgot to get pics of the assembling,

as there was SO much going on in the kitchen

& immediate surrounding areas at that moment.

Shaggy decided to go from THIS

to THIS!

At the very same time that The Boss and I

were warming the meat on one griddle,

stir-frying the rice on another, and warming the veggies in the microwave.

When everything was sufficiently heated through and blended well 

on our huge griddle and Shaggy was all cleaned up from The Big Shaving,

 I made two wells in the rice and poured in 6 eggs that I'd scrambled lightly.

We let the eggs set up and didn't incorporate them into the rice

until they were almost cooked through.

The Boss gave the whole batch one more big toss around

and brought it to the table. Doesn't that look YUMMY?! 

Everyone had a ball trying the chopsticks that Shaggy

brought home from his trip to Cambodia.

By the end of the meal, both Li'l Empress

and Mei Mei were quite proficient.

But everyone decided that the Congo Bars for dessert

were best eaten with our fingers! YUM.

So, let's make this interactive! You leave a comment with your favorite or most recent leftover re-do. Or with a link to your own blog post like this, sharing a leftover re-do. I'll come by and visit. If you aren't a blogger, share this link on Facebook and tag me with your recipe. Let's share our creativity to help beat the winter dinner rut that so many of us battle. If nothing else, you'll have some fun new reading material for the big snow day that most of the East Coast is bound to have tomorrow.

Can't wait to hear from you all!

What's a Girl to Do?

It's likely because of the cold weather and biting winds we've had lately but this momma has been CUH.RAY.VING. some good old fashioned comfort food. In particular, as I was compiling my grocery list Tuesday night, I was craving a heaping dish of The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti. But my frugal side could not bring myself to actually fork over the money at my nearby grocery store for such recipe specific ingredients when I wasn't at my normal "discount" store. It was meant to be a quick run out for just the immediate needs. But the craving would not go away.

**Side note - I've let this month's meal planning and regular grocery shopping slide far too long with the crazy grumpy weather we've had so it's my own darned fault, I know. I'm sorry. Moving on.**

When I got home from the quick run, I took stock of the pantry and left-overs to plan Wednesday's dinner

What's a girl to do when she has a big batch of left-over shredded BBQ Chicken and can't face eating one more sandwich from it?

What's a girl to do when she finds a huge R*bberm@id container of whole wheat spaghetti left from Monday night's family feast? (Shaggy has been gone since September and I'm still making spaghetti portions like his carb lovin' self is at the table every time! Oh well. He's coming home Saturday so why bother adjusting portion sizes now?!)

(Yes! I said Saturday! Shaggy is coming home on SATURDAY!!!!!! 

Yay, Yay, YAY!!!!!)

Where was I?

Oh, yeah. The spaghetti. Lots of left over spaghetti.

Here. Right there. See?

Well, the girl gets inspired and turns on the Phillip Phillip tunes while she creates her own knock-off of a yummy family favorite! Who knows? Maybe the girl is about to stumble upon a brand. spankin'. new. family favorite? Crazier things have happened 'round these parts. Here's how it went down. In case you want to try such craziness in your own kitchen!

I warmed both containers up slightly, to loosen them up and make them easier to mix. Please. DON'T forget to cut up the spaghetti in smaller pieces once it's warmed... it'll be a lot easier to blend in with the other ingredients. NOT that that ever happened here. Heh. I'm just sharin' the benefit of my mistakes, er, wisdom.

I put all the meat and long stringy spaghetti in my largest mixing bowl and started adding the yumminess.

For my-sized crowd, I used about 2 cups of cheddar. 

If I'd had two cans of beans, I would have used both.

But one can, rinsed and drained well, went into the bowl.

Followed quickly by these little green bites of scrumptious,

drained lightly, of course.

It was a little thick and hard to mix thoroughly,

so I added a can of this. Low fat, low sodium.

Cuz that's how I roll with the cass-ah-rollz!

It looked like this while I was adding and mixing.

Poured it all into my trusty P@mpered Ch*f

9x13 deep baking dish.

Well-sprayed to avoid sticking and staining.

I slid it into the oven without covering it.

Voila! Dinner was done before 1:00 in the afternoon!

Do you use your timed cooking and delay start

options on your oven?

If you have them, you should use them.

I LOVE them. They have set me free from the madness

that is 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. 'round these parts.

Homework, lessons, chore charts, meltdowns, you know what I mean.

Back when the older kids were really little,

my mentor-mom-friend called them the "witching hours."

Cuz if a momma isn't careful, 

she can get pretty witchy-like.

Yeah. You know what I'm talkin' about!

Anyhoo..... back to our story.

As the madness subsided, I had Li'l Empress and Baby BlueEyes set the table.

LadyBug made the salad and all the fixin's for it.

All that was left was the eatin'. Mmmm, the eatin'.

Oh. Wait. Can't forget that once it cooked all it's yummy goodness

together for about 45 minutes, I added a little bit more of this on the top.

I cooked it for another 10 minutes or so

till it got to this stage of melty, ooey-goodness.

You can see, we almost forgot to snap a picture before digging in!

YUM!

You're welcome.

My Mission

Whew. I am finally recovering from the insanity of the last ten days.  Here at The Gang's house, we've had some of the craziest happenings we've ever experienced in just this one 10- day time period.

Shaggy had his first car accident. He's fine. But the car isn't. So Momma is back on taxi duty. For his job, for Dr. D's football lifting schedule, and for all the other stuff that The Boss can't help with when he's at his part-time job.

The Boss has had several interviews and is working lots of hours at his part-time, fill-in-the-blanks job. He's also managed to finish his part of Baby BlueEyes' room and knock some random little jobs off his "Honey Do" list. Today, he's starting Li'l Empress's new room. We are getting SUCH a kick out of how cheaply we are able to transform these rooms.  Really, it's a sickness, I think.

Baby BlueEyes' room is all but done. A few pictures to hang and voila! I also have to find a bulletin board and a couple lampshades. A big reveal post should be coming soon. If it stops raining and I can get out to my local B!g L@ts on the way to Shaggy's night shift, that is....

Li'l Empress has successfully and even cheerfully navigated the change from her tiny, cozy little room to the bigger room she will eventually share with Brynna. She experienced a couple bumps but a smooth transition over all. Even after we moved BBE over into his new room and she re-adjusted to sleeping in a room alone again.

The Boss chaperoned a trip with BBE to historic sites around Philly with the whole 4th grade. He did it with the older kids too and I'm so, so grateful that they had a safe, fun time. When I asked BBE what the best part of the day was, he replied, "Seeing the Rocky statue." Ugh. That SOOOO would not be my answer!!!!

We had a big "Happy 13th" birthday party here for LadyBug. I took it easy on myself with the crazy schedule I've been keeping and just ordered pizza. You'd have thought THAT was her gift, she was so happy to consume pizza with her cousins!

LadyBug had not one but THREE major concerts in less than a week. (Really, what is UP with that?! THREE IN FIVE DAYS!) The final one was a competition with the organization called Music in the Park and was outstanding! Both sets of grandparents got to hear her ensemble perform, which was such a treat for all of us.

The best part of the competition is that the day included a trip to Dorney Park. It was the actual day of her 13th birthday and I chaperoned the trip. It was fun hanging out with her and her two friends. Such sweet kids. At the end of the day, there was an awards assembly and her ensemble won both categories that they were entered into, resulting in some pretty neat trophies.

My on-line yard sale is still running, but it has slowed down a bit so I've been creating some sales and incentives and trying to get creative with moving all that stuff out of my garage and into someone else's home.

Today, I've set aside the day to reclaim the counter-tops from the flowing piles of paperwork. So far, I've accomplished the following, all before I ate my late breakfast:

• updated my freezer inventory
• planned about 1/2 of the meals we need for the remainder of the school year
• made a rough grocery list
• updated all my sale sites on FB and on craigslist
• cleaned off the front of the fridge

Man, I hate the cluttered mess that my fridge and my counters become when things are busy here - scraps of notes and reminders all over the place. It makes ME feel scattered and phrenetic.

I call it reclaiming my territory. This time around, it really felt like the land was taken over by crazy alien invaders and I had to go in with a conqueror's mentality. Slaying the dragon of chaos. Vanquishing the enemy of order and peace. Restoring order to the kingdom.

Yup, today it's all about recovery. That's my mission and considering the condition of things around here, I have no choice BUT to accept it!

I Just Can't Leave It Alone...

I found the below recipe inside the box of my generic low-fat cream cheese last month. I've been just waiting for the right time to make it. Frankly, to be home for a morning long enough to play around with it.

Normally, when I find a new recipe, I try to make it exactly as written for that first time. I might jot notes in the margins or think out loud while I'm cooking about the possibilities for tweaking it, but I really try to just follow the recipe. The first time.

However, when I saw this one, I knew immediately that I just wouldn't be able to do that. It's a simple, straight-forward pasta dish and when I read it, I could all but hear it BEGGING me for some creative touches. Some panache. Some wow factor changes. Really. I heard the little white cut-out card whispering to me.

It's a sickness. I know. Leave me alone with my voices, thankyouverymuch.

I canNOT wait for dinner, now. The smells in here are making me swoon. The texture of this dish and the look of it, even just waiting to go into the oven for tonight's feast is making my fingers itch. I want to pick at the tender pasta and sample the chicken smothered in sauce. I can't stand it.  And as of this writing, I have about 6 hours of this torture to go.

I'll share the bare-bones original recipe with you here, then I'll give you all my tweaks and tricks that have produced this masterpiece sitting on my counter.  I'll add more pictures later, to show you the bubbly yummy goodness, after it gets topped with these babies and cooked to perfection.

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake
1 1/2 c. multi-grain penne pasta, uncooked
1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves
1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp. basil
1 jar (14.5 oz.) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained
2 oz. low-fat cream cheese, cubed
1 c. shredded mozzarella
2 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375. Cook pasta as directed, adding spinach leaves to the pasta water at the very last minute.

While pasta is cooking, cook and stir chicken and basil in a large non-stick skillet on med-high for 3 minutes. Add spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in low-fat cream cheese.

Drain pasta and return to sauce pan. Stir in chicken and sauce mixture and add 1/2 c. of mozzarella. Pour all of it into a lightly sprayed 9x9 baking dish.

Bake 20 minutes and sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake another 3 minutes till cheese is melted.  Makes 4 servings.

What I did:

• I doubled everything, of course, in my handy-dandy 9x13 P@mpered Chef stoneware baking dish. LOVE my PC stoneware, incidentally!
• I used almost 4 c. total of uncooked pasta (to make up for the added water in the spinach - see below).
• Once cooked and drained, I poured the pasta into a sprayed 9x13 stoneware pan.
• I grilled the chicken breasts low and slow on the outside grill (it was a gorgeous sunny morning and I wanted the flavor that only grilling can produce.). I didn't add it to to the sauce either. Once the chicken was cooked, I chopped it up and layered it all over the pasta in the 9x13.

For the sauce, I did this:

• I omitted the basil, as my sauce was already quite flavorful.
• I used more than 2 oz. of cream cheese - I was trying to use all the left-overs from another recipe.
• I added two little triangles of Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb spreadable cheese, as they needed to be used up. (Hey, I'm frugal, what can I say?!)
• I added extra parmesan to the sauce - probably about 1/4 c. (I am 50% Sicilian, after all!)
• I added about 3/4-1 c. of white wine. (See above note about my Sicilian roots.)
• I used a box of frozen chopped spinach, and just put it right in the sauce mixture from the start to thaw it and retain the nutrition in the mix.
• Just before I took it off the stove, I added 1 c. of mozzarella and about 1/2 c. of an Italian blend of shredded cheese left from another recipe. (Frugal. Sicilian. Cheese Lover. Whatever.)
• When it all came to a boil and simmered for a while (I lost track of time while I was breaking up fights over Little People weddings at the Little People zoo.), I poured the sauce over the pasta and chicken in the 9x13 and gently mixed it all up.

It's in the oven now, set on time delayed baking and waiting to be topped by yet more cheese. Don't worry, my heart will be fine. All my mozz is of the part-skim variety. I promise.

I can guarantee, when this baby makes it to the table, I will NOT be the only one who can't leave it alone. If heaven has a smell, it is this dish. Really.

Mmmmmm, just look at this beautiful, cheesey,

creamy, wine-y goodness.

Experimenting in the Kitchen

Ooooh, I'm going a little stir-crazy here at the Gang's house. Runny noses, cold, rainy, windy days (sometimes all at once!) and (gasp!) boring menu plans. It happens about this time every year. And you, my dear readers, get the benefit of my antsiness. In the form of a new-to-me (and now maybe to you!) recipe.

Bear with me, this one came to me as I was boppin' in the kitchen to old 70's tunes.

"I Woke Up In Love This Morning" quickly followed by "I Can See Clearly Now" then "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and some awesome CCR tune I can't remember the name of.... Seriously, it was one  great tune after another in here while I was whipping this baby together. 

Heh. That might explain the wine.

Then again, it might not.

Creamy Apricot Porkchops
4 bone-in porkchops
1 package stuffing mix, prepared as directed and set aside
3/4 c. apricot preserves
          (or jam, as long as it's got pieces of apricot in it)
3/4 c. light sour cream
3/4 to 1 c. white wine
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Spray a 9x13 baking dish lightly with baking spray and place porkchops in it so they are all flat and not layering over each other.

In a bowl, whisk together the apricot preserves, sour cream, white wine, and garlic powder till well blended. Pour over the pork chops. Bake uncovered for 1 hour at 300. If cream sauce starts get too brown, cover with foil for remaining hour.

Remove 9x13 dish from oven and turn heat up to 400. Across the top of the cream sauce covered pork chops, dollop the prepared stuffing mix as evenly as you can without burning yourself.

Be careful not to drop the stuffing mix from up too high - the splatter is ouchy.  Drizzle the whole dish with the melted butter and return to hot oven. Allow to brown and crisp up lightly.

It smelled amazing in here while it was cooking up - and who doesn't love pork and apricot together? Especially when it's cooked low and slow like this. Be sure to let me know if you try it and what changes you and your gang make to the dish. Enjoy!

Cold Weather Comfort Food

LadyBug has been taking a mini-course at school in Latin. Since the marking period ends very soon, the kids are busy doing projects and papers on ancient Roman culture.  Last night, as I was helping LadyBug whip up her baking project, it occurred to me that this just might be a brilliant ploy on the part of the Latin teacher. After all, this is now the 3rd baking project I have done with one of my gang members for this class. I'm thinking teachers really like repeat students in situations like this. I mean, what's not to like? This yummy pan of good gooey-ness features all the essentials of the perfect winter comfort food. Especially if you have a sweet tooth! Once our fast is broken, LadyBug will have to make this one again, just for The Gang. Let me know if you make it, and how you like it. Enjoy and try to stay warm today, my friends!

Old Roman Apple Cake

Ingredients:

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 c. orange juice
1 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3-4 lg. apples, sliced thin
4 eggs

Cinnamon, for sprinkling

Brown Sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

Mix all ingredients (except apples, cinnamon, and brown sugar) until well blended. Pour 1/2 of batter into a greased and floured tube pan or 9x13 cake pan.

Sprinkle half the apples on top. Sprinkle some cinnamon over apples. Cover with remaining half of batter. Top with other half of apples and sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar on apples.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 1/2 hours, testing with a knife after about 55 minutes. Cake is ready when knife comes out clean but wet.

Allow to cool. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar to serve.

Just in Case....

I'm taking a little break from the holiday giveaway links, because I just realized the date AND because I just realized I hadn't shared it here earlier.... Time's a tickin' for this one.

As many of you know, The Boss and I began another adoption journey last year about this time. It's been slow going, as our "must-do-now" bathroom project took over our little nest egg that we'd been planning for the first few steps of the journey. I've been selling tons of stuff, donations from friends and things we have purged and cleaned out from our own belongings for a while now and we're finally feeling like this process is going somewhere now. I've also been looking around for some creative and purposeful ways to raise money for our documentation fees and travel expenses.

Recently, I  got connected with a Pampered Chef consultant who was willing to work with me on a fundraiser sale. Basically, it's an on-line sale and a percentage of the sales will be translated into a monetary donation directly to our adoption agency in our family's name. Additionally, I'm hosting a party here in my home on Friday night, Dec. 2nd at 7 p.m. If you are local, I'd love for you to come out and join the fun. Free food, a chocolate fountain, and some great weeknight meal ideas will be on the agenda.

So, just in case you are interested in a little

Pampered Chef with a purpose, 

click here to be taken to the link. 

The show will close on Monday, December 5th.

(Really, I can't believe I waited this long to blog about it!)

If you have questions about the shows, please contact me via email (in my profile).

Rock and a Hard Place

At dinner the other night, I served some Sauteed Brussels Sprouts, some fresh steamed broccoli, and some garden salad to go along with our grilled salmon and noodles. And I served them, knowing full well that the only veggie offered that all 5 kids can even half-heartedly agree upon as potentially edible would be the salad.

Now, I'm sure you've had similar conversations around your table, but this particular one just got me....

Setting the side dishes on the table, "Guys, tonight you need to choose two veggies. Period."

Upon spying the choices on the table, Dr. D groaned and hung his head. The other kids perked up and looked to see what got him so distraught.

They all looked at each other in dismay.  Truly. It was dismay, plain and simple.

The Boss and I couldn't help but grin at each other.  Heh. Sometimes I love being a mom.

Yes, I know. That's evil.

But please. Sometimes, the only fun we get

around here is torturing our kids.

With healthy food options, nonetheless.

I know. We are such cruel parents.

Go ahead. Call Children's Services.

Snort....

We sat down, bowed our heads together while Li'l Empress prayed one of her "Grandpa Ed" prayers over the meal, and settled in for the meal.

I noticed that the kids weren't exactly looking around or making eye contact. With me. Or with the side dishes at the middle of the table.

So I reminded them, "Guys, tonight you need two veggies. Salad, broccoli or Brussels Sprouts."

Dr. D looked up at the offerings, looked at me, and hung his head again, "Man. Choosing from those options is like choosing how I want to die."

Really.

Dramatic much?

Gearing Up for Change

It's the last Monday of summer break for this Gang.  There are a host of big changes coming our way, and this Momma has been awake since about 4:30 a.m. trying to wrap my brain around all of it. You know, all the things that have to happen between now and the first day of school (Sept. 6, after Labor Day) in order to facilitate those changes.

My To-Do list is ramming around inside my head, almost impossible to pin down and wrangle into a manageable, linear list of bullet points. My head is pounding, and it's NOT from lack of caffeine! It feels like tangled Slinkys in there. Rusty, tightly wound, tangled Slinkys.  It's really not pretty. Especially at 4:30 a.m.

So you must all bear with me while I process...

Yes, I'm processing it here. My blog, my rules :)

Here we go!

I've accepted the opportunity to care for two children of some friends of ours, as an attempt to supplement and  expedite the savings process for our adoption. (I start next Monday, hence the "last Monday of summer break for this Gang" line...)  For the downstairs of the house, that means this week has to be all about sorting toys, child-proofing, consolidating the play area to one part of the house, and cleaning out a space for kiddie arts and crafts.

Heh. Written down in a paragraph like that,

it doesn't really seem like all that much work.

But it's almost crippling me right now,

and I feel so completely overwhelmed by where to start. Ugh.

I've been struggling to find time to sit for a while and plow through my friend's novel that I'm editing, because of all the taxi-duty that I've been pulling for Shaggy, Dr. D, and Ladybug's various activities. This week, I'm down-sizing all the taxi-runs and trying to dig into this work of art and give it the attention it deserves. And guys? This novel is beautiful. Rich, layered, and captivating. The characters have really drawn me in - I miss it when I can't get to it for a few days. When she gets it published, I will be sure to let you all know to look for it!

I also have to figure out what to do with all these beautiful pieces of collectibles that folks have given toward our adoption cause. I have some things out for bids already, but Cr@igslist-ing them majority of them will net very little, I'm learning. I'm unfortunately hearing the same thing about Repl@cements.com and now I don't really know where to turn. I have no eB@y "seller cred" and don't really want to get "taken" there either. But they are filling the dining room and I have to get them out of here soon. I can't take the clutter much longer.

I have a bunch of other things already on Cr@igslist that aren't moving and I'm getting impatient about those. They are of some value so I just can't bring myself to donate them if they can add to our little Adoption Jar instead. Especially given that there are likely a bunch of other things in the attic that I can choose to list if and when The Boss and I get in there and start cleaning.

I have no idea of what is in the freezer, so I am guessing that my freezer inventory is way out of date. I also have no stash of supplies for snacks, school lunches, or quick meals. I haven't "stock up" shopped in a while, and I'm thinking that might be where I have to start. Well, there and defrosting the freezer so that I can see everything I purchase. It's so bad in there, it might take a couple days to thaw and clean it all out... Then, I'll have to really dig in and plan meals for the month of September to help me through the learning curve of "working" four days a week.

I must also wrap my brain around the idea of our new schedule. Li'l Empress will be doing three mornings a week at her little pre-school, with an arrival time between 8:25 and 8:45 a.m. Baby BlueEyes is heading off to our wonderful little elementary school at 8:05 every morning. LadyBug will be starting a brand new adventure in the middle school, leaving here around 7:20 each day. And Shaggy and Dr. D head off to the local public high school, we think at 6:50 or 7 a.m. daily.

Speaking school, have you seen the prices of school supplies this summer?! OMIGOSH, I was in T@rget the other day (I despise that store, on almost every.single.level. Really, I do.) and the mothers were scary. Grabbing. Snatching, Shoving carts. Snarling at their kids. I had to leave. With my incomplete list of two of the kids' needs. But I just couldn't stand the tension and the chaos. I mean, really. A three-inch binder is a three-inch binder. Is it really worth the horrible example to your kids to get the TEAL one instead of the royal blue one?! Really, the stuff I heard and saw scarred me for the entire day.

Finally, (well, really, not finally, cuz there is so much more going on here that is weighing heavily but is not blog-able) I am contemplating the arrival of my two new little friends at 8:30 for four mornings a week. Things like figuring out when I'll need to get up and get showered. When I'm going to exercise. Or blog. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I was planning to join The Boss's gym and working out the mornings that Li'l Empress was in school, which would allow me to head out, bed head and all, and then come home to shower at my own leisure before picking her back up from school. But the need to earn some money and accommodate this alternative schedule trumps that plan. And now, just writing it all out here, I feel even more stressed than I did at 4:30 a.m.......

{Mumbling and shuffling away as I pull on my hair}

Oy..... Coffee. I need coffee. Just get me some coffee!