Monday, 3/7/2011

I haven't been to Costco in a while, and my supply of frozen lean ground beef is long gone.  While at Fred Meyer this week, I decided to buy a couple pounds of beef to get me by until I could make it to Costco.  I was surprised to see how much more expensive it is at F.M, especially when looking at the lean beef.  It was $2 more per pound.  So, I opted for the more fatty, less expensive beef this week.  It was still more expensive than at Costco. The dish I made tonight tasted sooo much better with the fattier meat.  What a cruel reality!  The fats really do enhance flavors. 

Anyway, we had Green Beans and Ground Beef with some white rice.  Katie ate some rice and one green bean.  And, it took her twice as long to eat that as it did for us to finish off our full servings.  Next time, we will be serving it with leaner beef and less flavor.

Sunday, 3/6/2011

I knew I was going to want to make pizza this week, but was pretty sure I wasn't going to want make my own dough.  So, I went with a package of two eight-inch pizza crusts from Boboli.  Tonight Ben made up a batch of Zesty Pizza Sauce, added it to the crusts, and then covered them with mozzarella and pepperoni.  Boy, did it ever hit the spot.  Katie ate a little of it, and was kind enough to share her left overs with with two of us.  Score!

Also, the sauce recipe makes enough for a couple medium pizzas.  We put the extra sauce in the freezer to use some other time.  

Saturday, 3/5/2011

Today I was at the Fauntleroy UCC women's retreat all day at the St. Mary's on the Lake Peace and Spirituality Center.  The guest speaker/facilitator was Jane Kurtz, an award winning childrens' author.  She led the group through several creative writing exercises, which I loved.  The first one of the day was my favorite.  She started by reading us a poem titled "Where I'm From", written by George Ella Lyon.  Jane then invited each of us to take 15 minutes to write our own poem, beginning with "I am from..."  I don't know if I am done with mine yet, but here it is, as it stands at this moment.

Where I'm From

I am from
chocolate, for medicinal purposes only
from keys, sharp & flat, black & white
from songs, solo, duet, & family quartet
from rainbows, dancing, beautiful, and full of promise.


I am from
purple- lavender & lilacs, fragrant & fresh
yellow- sunflowers & gloriosa daisies, bold & bright
red- scarlet runner beans & geraniums, private & poised.

I am from
Pinecrest, the house on the lake
from hours spent floating in the sometimes chilly lake
from talent shows, always fun & silly
from rousing games of pinochle- bid, pass, trump, YES!

I am from
a family- a mother, a father, a brother
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends
from tickles, hugs, laughter, and love
from Ben & Katie, meant to be.

I'd love to hear what you think of this poem.  I'm sure I haven't written one since high school.  

Oh, and I suppose I should talk about dinner too:)  After the retreat, we were invited to Lyn's house for appetizers and drinks.  I wasn't sure what or how much was going to be served, and thought it might be a while before it was ready.  So, I stopped at McDonald's for a quick burger before going.  I'm glad I did.  There was plenty of food for all, but it wasn't my kind of food.  Lyn served smoked salmon with cream cheese and capers to spread on bread, a toasted mushroom spread on bread, seasoned cashews, and brownies.  The cashews were delicious, but I feel a couple handfuls of cashews is enough for anyone at one sitting:)  Even though the food wasn't my cup of tea, I had the most wonderful time with the women of my church.  What a compassionate group of people.      

Friday, 3/4/2011

Our church's women's retreat began tonight with a potluck at one member's home.  I made a chicken and pasta casserole to take.  I started with sweet Italian chicken sausage, sliced thin and then pan fried it until a little brown around the edges.  The sausage was mixed into a store-bought, creamy, four-cheese alfredo sauce with rotisserie chicken.  Once it was all hot, I added some cooked penne pasta, and stirred it all together.  There was enough to make two small dishes (see photo) for Katie and Ben and one medium casserole dish for the potluck.  We topped each dish with shredded mozzarella cheese and put them in the oven to let the cheese melt.  

I was running a bit late, so I didn't do any more with my dish other than cover it and transport it to the potluck.  Ben had more time; so, he turned on the broiler and got the cheese a little crispy and golden brown on top.  I wish I had had more alfredo sauce for the dishes.  Although very tasty, they were not as moist as I hoped they would be. 

Thursday, 3/3/2011

We had enough rotisserie chicken remaining to have chicken burritos again tonight.   For the second night in a row, Katie played with her burrito, but didn't eat more than a few tiny bites.  I wonder when she will switch to being hungry at the same times we are:)

Wednesday, 3/2/2011

I shredded a rotisserie chicken yesterday, getting it ready to use for meals this week.  It is so much easier to shred the meat when it is still warm, rather than waiting to do it after it is cold.  For tonight's meal, we made burritos with some of the shredded chicken.  I put a couple handfuls into a frying pan, heated it up a bit, added chicken taco seasoning and water, brought it to a boil, let some of the moisture simmer off, and then add it to tortillas with grated cheddar cheese.  It was a tasty, simple meal. 

We are really struggling, as most parents of toddlers do, with getting Katie to eat what and when we want her to.  She is rarely hungry when we are.  And, when she is sitting at the table to eat, she spends so much time playing and trying to get our attention to look at whatever she is doing, that it takes an hour each meal.  She is an expert at pushing our buttons during meals.  For instance, she won't take a spoon full of food directly from her bowl to her mouth.  She has to make a pit stop and rub the food on her other hand first.  Then she needs to get our attention to show us the mess she made, maybe ask us to clean it up, but still hasn't eaten anything.  Argh!!!  It gets very frustrating.  We know that she is just programmed to experiment and push boundaries.  We just don't have to like it.

But at the end of the day, we say our prayers and she is our sweet girl again.  She folds her hands in her lap and says "Dear God."  We then take turns thanking God for the people and things in our lives that make us happy and asking God to help those we know need it.  She finishes with a sweet "Ah-men."  What a dear girl she is:)

Tuesday, 3/1/2011

We went to Jen, Andy, and Jackson's home for PEPS tonight.  They served pasta with a puttanesca sauce. It was my first time eating that sauce, and I had to ask what it was.  It's a tomato based sauce that includes garlic, onions, chili peppers, olives, capers, diced tomatoes, and oregano.  It was pretty good, although I did avoid the olives.  Those of us contributing to the rest of the meal brought a caesar salad with great croutons, bread, doughnut holes and brownies.  I feel very fortunate that we were placed in this group two years ago.  What nice, caring, and funny people to know and see regularly!

The little boys ran back and forth through the house so much that they were sweating.  For a good 20 minutes, two of them ran while holding their shirts up and yelling "belly button."  They were hilarious:)  Katie ran after the boys, but was always about a half a length behind them.  I do think she is slower than they are, but she was mainly behind because she would watch them run away from her and then start to follow.  It is a delight to see them actually playing with each other.