Whip it Up Challenge: Week 2

Well this week we actually ended up trying three new recipes because that's what was on our July Menu, and I'm in the process of prepping for another new one for tomorrow because the local festival is going on this week and the parade and fireworks are tomorrow and we're having company for a chicken barbecue. Yippee! I'll include all three recipes here because I did mention them a few posts ago and I don't want to disappoint anyone who may (or may not) have been waiting for pictures of the results.

Officially, however, I present to you - for the WIU Challenge, Week 3 - Citrus-Pineapple Salsa. Here's the recipe which was adapted from one my Mom found somewhere several years ago:

Ingredients:
1 red grapefruit, peeled & chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 orange, peeled & chopped
8 ounces crushed pineapple with juice
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped
3-4 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
Juice from one lime (or about ¼ cup)

Directions: 1) Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl. Serve immediately or chill first.

Serving Suggestions: Serve with crackers, tortilla chips, or over grilled chicken or fish.

The Q & A:
Was the recipe easy to follow? This recipe could NOT have been easier to prepare. I didn't use a whole jalapeno, just the parts from one serano pepper that hadn't yet gone bad.

Did it taste good? It was great! Mr. J. would've liked a LOT more spiciness, but that's just like his Non-Taster self. I found it just about perfect. It was so light and fresh - and hello! - NO FAT and lots of citrusy nutrients. What could be better? We sampled it with Ritz crackers and some multi-grain saltines because we didn't have have tortilla chips, but we officially served it with chunks of barbecued chicken (coated with a spice rub something like this) and rice.

Would we make it again? Yup. In fact the ingredients are on this weeks grocery list. Only this time we'll get some tortilla chips to have with it.


(Sorry for the poor lighting in the pics.)


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Now, the other two recipes:
Easy Peasy Orzo Salad: After I cooked all the pasta I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like this salad. There was just so much PASTA! But it turned out pretty well and Mr. J. loved it and said he would definitely eat/make it again. It's better the day after when the flavours have had time to mingle and it makes enough to be a good (and reasonably cheap/easy) potluck contribution.
Ingredients:
Dressing:
1/3 cup Italian dressing
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salad:
2 cup uncooked orzo pasta
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
½ cup orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
½ cup frozen green peas, thawed
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
¼ cup black olives, chopped (Optional) <-we omitted these, because - ugh - olives! *shudder*
2-3 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves, minced
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Directions:
For dressing: Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. For salad: Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Mix together orzo and all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Add dressing and toss to coat. Cover and chill overnight for best flavour.
The last recipe we tried was Bacon, Cheese & Tomato Crescents which were SO GOOD! Ours didn't look much like the picture and we didn't have any red pepper but we will totally be making these again. They didn't require much effort at all and would be a great appetizer. We did bake them in the oven, but it wasn't too hot out that day. In the interest of keeping most of our summer cooking outdoors we may try them on the barbecue next time.

Dear Universe,

Please conspire to make my child sleep at night. Please.

Thanks.

-Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

*********

For real, bloggy friends, God must be trying to teach us just heinous amounts of patience because we haven't had a decent nights sleep in a week and it's a good thing our house is so clean which requires me to actually DO very little around here during the day because my ability to produce anything more constructive than a run-on sentence right now is nil. Nil!

Also, feel free to judge the depths of my exhaustion by that previous, grammatical terror of a paragraph.

We can't even figure out when this started....maybe it's because Mr. J. has been working a lot of doubles lately and hasn't been home at bedtime. Our Little Goat will go down to sleep reasonably well at her regular bedtime which is anywhere from 7:30-8, right after bathtime, but will wake up 2-3 hours later and will NOT go back to sleep. I nurse her, then try to put her down when she seems really sleepy, but she wakes up pretty much right away and just starts screaming. (Clean diaper, not teething....) Argh! So I lay her back down and rub her back and she seems pretty relaxed. As long as I'm rubbing her back or at the very least, standing where she can see me, she's fine, but the second I step out the door - WAHHHHHHHHHHH! WAHHHHHH! MAHHHHHHHHHHH! Etc.

The other night we thought we'd let her cry herself to sleep, but (beware: possible bad parenting moment ahead!) after 25 minutes of crying, we couldn't take it anymore and Mr. J. went in there. I want to do the whole 'cry it out' thing because I don't see what else will work right now, but I don't know if I'm really 'ready' for it. But then, will I ever be? Do I really just need to bite the bullet and get over it?

We're just so tired. Help!

Whip it Up Challenge: Week 1

As I mentioned, uh, I think it was yesterday, summer is the perfect time for trying out recipes that require little to no effort. Not only because we have this hungry little mouth around now - who hasn't quite mastered the art of self-feeding - but also because we have to hurry to eat so we can go back to parking our roasting sticky selves on the couch after bathtime and bedtime. (Less movement, less sweat, as you know.)


It's not unusual for us to try more than one new recipe in a week around here and this week was no different. I made quite a stellar variation of this key lime pie a few nights ago but decided not to submit that as my recipe this week because I never managed to get one 'perfect' piece of pie out of the plate without one of us inhaling it five seconds later.

So for Week One, I submit to you: Pizza Pasta Salad.

Was the recipe easy to follow? Quite, but we made ours with the following 'alterations': We didn't use penne because we didn't have enough, so you'll notice from the pictures that we used fiori; we used one and a half big tomatoes, seeded; we only used three relatively thick slices of some sort of pepperoni or salami that Mr. J. picked out and it was perfectly spicy; and finally, we didn't use the mozzarella crumbles, we used about 1/3 cup of fresh mozzarella cut into cubes.

Did it taste good? Yup. Really good. So good that I'm not sending the rest of the leftovers to work with Mr. J. tomorrow. It didn't taste exactly like pizza, but that's okay. It was a hearty pasta salad, definitely good enough for a meal with a side of fresh veggies.

Would we make it again? It's very, very likely. Yum! Here's a couple pictures because I couldn't decide which one I liked better.

Because We Have to Eat...and Have a Wee Contest

This week is the beginning of the Whip it Up Challenge and if you aren't participating, well, my sympathies to you. It's going to be great and we're excited.


First I will tell you of my major accomplishment for the month of July - and no it's not that I actually finished all my painting. *sigh* We sat down on Sunday, June 29th and made a menu/meal plan. And not just for the week, but for the ENTIRE month of July plus the first two days of August! (There are only two repeat meals.) I have wanted to do that for a long time because it means I don't have to devote useless time in my day to determining what we will be eating for dinner. I can look ahead the day before, see what we're having, thaw the requisite meat or chop the veggies or otherwise prepare ingredients all ahead of time. It is also saving us money because this way we are buying groceries for a very specific purpose and we will use exactly what we buy and will hopefully waste next to nothing. Of course, this major menu feat has become a bit of an obsession now. I might actually spend MORE time thinking about what we're going to eat because we have so many exciting things on the menu and new recipes I can't wait to try.

Now getting back to the WIU challenge. The idea is to try one new recipe each week for the next eight weeks. (We will be away for two weeks in August, but will probably be eating new things while we're away and will probably also have our computer along so I will attempt to post during those weeks too. ) I thought I would give you a sneak preview of the recipes we're planning to try. These aren't set in stone and we tried to choose a variety, but it's summer and summer is for light easy foods that don't require much effort so that's primarily what we will be attempting. In no specific order, the recipe experiments will be:

1. Pizza Pasta Salad.
2. Easy Peasy Orzo Salad. (This is from an old issue of Reader's Digest and I will write out the recipe when I post about it.)
3. Apple Dumplings - maybe
or Key Lime Pie.
4. Southwestern Bean Salad.
5. Cottage Cheese (yes, from scratch).
6. Lemon Pudding Souffle.
7. Bacon, Cheese, & Tomato Crescents.
8. Citrus-Pineapple Salsa.

The only problem is that six of the eight recipes are all on the menu plan in the next three weeks which means we need more recipe ideas. So, give me some suggestions - if I try your recipe (and love it!) your prize will be my gratitude....or maybe something a little more tangible. Okay, for real something a little more tangible because I just made one of what I think the prize can be and it was easy enough to do again. So yes, there will be a PRIZE. And no, this contest will be in no way related to the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival which is a mere three weeks away. THREE WEEKS!

Picnics and Cake

Yesterday was almost fabulous. We were actually on time (I know, I know....we can't figure out what went wrong) for church. The sermon was good, the hymns were nice (except for the patriotic ones - sorry, but I'm all anti-patriotic songs in church; without going into it further, I just find it irritating), and communion was meaningful. We stopped by the Wal*mart on the way home to pick up some pictures and a few other things we needed for a present we're working on (and one we are super-excited about), stopped by K-mart to check out front-facing (!) car seats because we can't seem to decide on one but I am REALLY ready to be able to recline my seat again, and then went to Lowe's to return a couple of boards.

Sidebar: We now have 'everything' needed to create the platform for and install our new pellet stove which will hopefully be the source of some much-needed financial relief this winter, not to mention significant coziness. Mr. J. is going to build the platform and will learn the new skill of laying tile and such and then a friend from work is going to come over and help him install the actual stove and chimney thing. There will be pictures (and probably cuss-words) involved.

After we got home, we made lunch which consisted of some incredible barbecued pizza, some beverage, and an ice cream sandwich for Mr. J. We made one pizza with fresh mozzarella and basil and one with feta and bacon. We have since decided that for the duration of the season, we will no longer be baking pizza indoors. Barbecued pizza is genius! And it takes half the time of oven-baked. Plus, our 'no-fail' dough was even MORE perfect in its grilled form.

Our pizza was the perfect treat for our first backyard picnic of the year - ants be darned! The Little Goat had her walker wagon, some toys and many cheerios to keep her occupied while we ate and lazed around for almost three hours. It was blissful.

The only major hitch in our fabulous day began when the LG missed her afternoon nap since we got home late and she foiled our plot to nap outside on the picnic blanket and then by 5:30 she was falling asleep eating her yogurt and applesauce (not mixed - yuck!). So we gave her a bath and put her to bed just after 6. She ended up waking up at around 9 and didn't go back to sleep until - GACK! - just after 1 AM!!! I laid on the floor blocking the doorway in her room and dozed while she played, in the dark, with her books and shoes and whatever else she could find to amuse herself. Needless to say, I am more than a little tired today. I was going to have a nap while she napped this afternoon, but the Painting Project that Will Not End required attention and then there was lunch to eat and this post to write and blogs to read.....

Today it's hot outside but just cool enough in the house. My water glass has condensation on it because it's that time of year when we actually keep cold water in the fridge (yes, Mom, for REAL) and I'm wearing lovely summery clothes. Also today I am thinking about cake. Mr. J.'s sister is getting married in exactly six Saturdays and my cake-baking expertise (har!) has been called into service. I've only made one other wedding cake and that was....I think three years ago for Mr. J.'s cousin. It tasted really good, and didn't look too bad. It made the bride yell at me and cry, but that is another story......and everyone said it tasted great.

This is the cake I made. I deliberately chose a picture that was NOT a close-up because I'm still unhappy with how rough the icing looked. I didn't make the sheet cakes. They were extras in case there wasn't enough (which there was - oh my goodness!) and came from Costco.

This time around, the cake will be better. I have a friend who has much more experience making wedding cakes than I and she has filled me in on the best kind of cake (from a mix - phew!) to make and some decorating techniques. I've also discovered a new icing recipe that I think will be perfect and some ideas for decorating tools that are making me really excited about this project.

When we got married, we made our own wedding cake. It was just two layered sheet cakes laid side by side and the icing did NOT go according to plan. The icing, in actual fact, when so awry - three of my best friends who were there will tell you - that it drove me to drink. Truly. Trish, my Flower Shop Manager friend who also did all the other wedding flowers, came to the rescue by decorating the top of the cake with leftover flowers. It was festooned with gerbs, white daisies, tulips, freesia and some greenery and it looked amazing. We loved it!

As for this upcoming cake, I don't know nearly enough of the details yet, but the cake will be round (I think) and have ribbon (I think) and two orchids on it. The cake itself will be white and will very likely have raspberry filling. In my head, it looks amazing. Tell me about your wedding cake - or your dream wedding cake if yours also drove you to drink.

Gramas Makin' Babies

It's Saturday morning and while we were standing around feeding the Little Goat and making some tasty yogurty pancakes, we heard about this on the news.

Which also brought to mind this and this.

We think it's disgusting and irresponsible. What do you guys think?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmeme

Kristi tagged me with this meme WEEKS ago and I am finally getting to it. Here you go!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

1998. That doesn't really feel like 10 years ago. already. Let's see. At this time 10 years ago, I was working at a summer camp, counseling random hooligans, falling in love with a boy (and it went really, really well, er, poorly), and becoming an archery expert.

2. What are 5 things on your “To Do” list?

Is this a to-do list....like a lifetime one or just for tomorrow? Let's go with 'lifetime' so we can stave off just a bit more dullness. Therefore, the following five items have been pulled up from my Lifetime To-Do List in no random order: 1) Have a nice, somewhat lengthy holiday in Ireland with Mr. J. and NO children (sorry, Little Goat - you can go to Grama and Grampa's); 2) Go back to our 'home' church in WA which we will get to do not just once but TWO TIMES this summer and we are so stinking excited we can hardly think straight!; 3) Win some sort of fabulous contest; 4) Build a guest cottage in our backyard (but not our backyard here....our backyard in some future house in a future town that we will actually WANT to love living in); and finally 5) Get a pedicure, during which I may have to be drunk or otherwise out of sound mind because my toenails are an embarrassment to humankind.

3. What are 5 snacks you enjoy? (In no specific order)

Cookies, anything with lime in it (except Tequila), anything with lemon in it, nachos, and anything with chocolate in it. <- Those were very non-specific and also in no specific order.

4. Name some things you would do if you were a millionaire.

Travel, buy a newer car that I wasn't paranoid was going to break down on a darkened highway in -50C weather, travel some more, move someplace we really wanted to live, and then, after we'd settled in, go travel some more. Oh, and maybe go for a camel ride.

5. Name some places where you’ve lived.

Manitoba (not that I don't love my Hometown, but I am particularly proud to have lived in The Niv for two whole school years, cause, you know, all the 'cool' people have lived in The Niv), Chelan, WA, Pateros, WA, and now here, Frozen Tundra, ME.

6. Name some bad habits you have.

Bad habits? Who, me? Well, fine. Hmph! I start things I never finish (hello scrapbook from Brit Tour 2000), I eat too many tasty things (but they're just so tasty!), and I nag. *sigh* Poor, poor me.

7. Name some jobs you’ve had.

Hot dog stand employee, grocery bagger, farmer's market clerk, janitor, camp counselor, security guard, library lackey (*shudder*), college canteen clerk, camp director, donut store clerk, church secretary....and that is all.

8. Name those whom you are tagging.

Brenda, Beth, and Erin K. - YOU'RE IT!