Well.

The food was good.  Really good, if I do say so myself.  And judging by the very reasonable amount of leftovers in the fridge, I finally seem to have hit a sweet spot on quantity.  I started cooking early in the day (with some assistance), and cooked on and off until the final push to finish everything at about 5.  Really not bad.

My dad and stepmom were in town, and I almost felt bad that there was so little I needed by way of food prep assistance.  But hey, they were there to take the kids out for a walk while they were going stir-crazy before lunch, so that in itself is a big help.  And, really, they were just there to see the grandkids.  And see them, they did.  Daniel, especially, seems to just love the extra attention and was on full funny/cute overload.

Unfortunately, I can’t say the rest of the day (or week) was such a great success.  It was cold and rainy, so no outdoor activities.  Rebecca has been miserable and sick and over-tired the whole week (today marked 4 straight days of wailing and flailing with a side of fever and runny nose).  Unpleasant, at best.  She is a pretty demanding child when sick (I will admit she may have gotten that from me), but she feels so rotten that she has no idea what she wants.

“I want oatmeal!
NO OATMEAL!
I want TV.
NOOOO Sesame Street!
I want to sit on the chair.
NOOOOOOOOOO!  NO CHAIR NO CHAIR!
Waaaaaaahhhhhhhh……

I feeling sad right now.”

It’s exhausting.

The kids briefly sat with us for dinner, though there was a lot of demanding to get down, and a lot of “I don’t yike it” when suggestions were made to try anything but the cranberries.  Rebecca had yogurt for dinner. Daniel eventually discovered a love for Pumpkin Bread Pudding and, while devouring his serving and that of the person next to him, exhibited a focus I’d never previously seen.  He is my child, after all.

At any rate, Dad and Stepmom are headed home in the morning, and I can only hope Rebecca gets over this virus and doesn’t pass it along to her brother (a girl can dream).  It’s been, quite frankly, a nightmare. Especially since I feel pretty confident that there is nothing to be done but wait for it to run its course.

Alas.  At least the food was good.

I have a major vegetable problem.  In that I don’t eat nearly enough of them (and neither do my kids, by extension). I don’t have a lot of interesting ways to prepare them, I’m not particularly adventurous in trying new ones. It’s not a good thing.

Enter the always versatile Salad.  Salad is a good thing. Lots of different veggies in one place, endless possibilities.  The go-to lunch of any good dieter.  So why do I have such a mental block on them?  I have great intentions. I bring home a head of lettuce, some tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, broccoli, etc.  And it just sits and goes bad in my vegetable drawer, because making a turkey sandwich sounds like a lot less work.  Oy, the washing and the chopping and the putting away half of a chopped cucumber because you don’t need it all, but hope it won’t go bad before you want to use it again…. this can’t just be me, right?

My other issue is that, as well as I try to dice up the individual components, it never seems to combine as well as I might like.  Even when I hit the almighty Salad Bar, the pieces are just too big.  I don’t want one big honking mouthful of broccoli, followed by an enormous slice of cucumber, and then an unwieldy whole leaf of lettuce.

Take, for instance, this lovely box o’ roughage that I picked up at Whole Foods yesterday:

Lots of great color and variety, but ugh.

ENTER: the Salad Scissors.  (Keep reading if you want to win a pair!)

My mom had a pair of these bad boys, and I instantly knew I wanted them. Two scissor blades with a sort of scoop on one side to hold veggies in place and let you toss them around. Lucky me, she had already gotten me a pair for Christmas.  Wohoo!  Just take your bowl or box of veggies, and start chopping away.

Go nuts. Get all of those giant cucumber slices and wedges of bell pepper. Chop the lettuce into little bits, and get the cherry tomatoes, too.  Within a minute, you have this gorgeous mess:

Everything in tiny little pieces, all mixed together.  I am so much happier, I can’t even tell you.  Just one bite, and I get a little lettuce, some carrot, some onion… everybody just gets along.  And, as an added bonus, I find it much easier to distribute dressing, so you can just use the 2 tablespoons you’re supposed to use, instead of ending up with globs on one leaf of lettuce and a whole lot of dry broccoli.

Et voila, lunch is served and you get your nice chopped salad at home.

– — – –

So, what do you think? Do you want to win a pair for yourself?  Leave me a comment on this post and tell me either what your favorite salad ingredient is, or your favorite vegetable dish.  I need some ideas!  The contest will close on Monday, October 26 at 5PM Eastern.  U.S. folks only, please, as my beloved Williams-Sonoma does not ship overseas.

And if you’re wondering about disclosure, nobody paid me for this or sent me these things to give away.  I just really like them, and will be swiping no one’s credit card but my own.  Enjoy!

Pouring rain, yet again. Toddlers are going bonkers, as am I. (And, no, New England bloggers will not stop talking about the crappy weather until it actually turns into summer.) The mall play area was a mob scene this morning, and the new indoor playspace nearby was apparently so crowded the other morning that there was a line out the door. Insanity. Need sun.

In the meantime, I decided to do a little baking with the kiddos. Our favorite: zucchini muffins (see end of post for recipe link and info). While they were waking up, I laid out my strategy. When I’ve tried cooking with them once or twice before, I realized they have zero tolerance for me trying to find ingredients. This called for a full-on mise en place.

Oh, sure, it sounds snooty and French. But there’s a reason all of the TV chefs have everything laid out in little bowls ahead of time: it makes things go a whole hell of a lot smoother. That’s true enough when cooking by yourself, especially with certain fast-moving recipes with lots of ingredients. It’s even more critical when there are impatient 23-month-olds involved in the food prep.

In an unusual twist, Daniel was awake while Rebecca stayed asleep. Great, a little one-on-one activity. After putting his fingers in the eggs a few times (doh), he proved a good helper when it came to pouring things from one bowl to another, and had an… unusual whisk technique.

Was I a little nuts to do this? Especially right after my beloved cleaning ladies had been over and made everything smell nice and stop sticking to my feet? Ah well. I even let him help get the batter into the muffin pan.

The aftermath was not pretty, but it could have been worse.

And with the joy of the mise en place, do I feel like I used nearly every bowl in my kitchen? Totally. But hey, the dishwasher had already been emptied. In they all go.

And, in the end, we get super yummy muffins (yes, I just flipped them out of the pan and let them cool upside down).

By the time they came out of the oven, Rebecca was up and joined in on the fun. Yumminess was shared by all.

- – - – - – - -

We use the Stonyfield Farms recipe for zucchini bread. Only slight modifications. I substitute whole wheat flour for about half of the all-purpose. It makes two full muffin tins, or two loaf pans, so be prepared that it’s quite a lot. As with all muffins and quickbreads, make sure not to over-mix. And I bake the muffins at 375 for about 25 minutes. Enjoy!

Play along with Makes My Monday at Twinfatuation!

Like lots of people  in the Continental US today, we’ve got snow. Not quite the 14 inches they predicted, but a solid 6-10 and a world away from this past Friday. And while the phrase “snow day” doesn’t inspire quite the same glee as it did back in my school/work days, I’m trying to make it fun instead of freaking out about the fact that we’ll be inside all day.

My first order of business this morning?  Pumpkin Waffles. Yes, that’s right.  Say it with me, and see if you can avoid drooling: Pumpkin. Waffles. While the kids were eating their usual banana and Eggo combo, I got to work on a batch of these bad boys.

I make ‘em with a little extra pumpkin, a little extra spice, and some wheat flour. They’re super yummy, smell awesome, and I freeze most of them to throw in the toaster for the rest of the week. (Just make sure they’re completely cooled before you put them in the freezer.) 

If you want a tasty and more nutritious topping alternative to syrup, I strongly recommend cream cheese.  Hat tip to my real-life friend and HDYDI mom Rebecca for both the original inspiration (she and her hubby served these to us when all of our kids were much smaller) and the topping suggestion.

Both kids were extra nutty for them, despite having already eaten breakfast.  Both kept signing “more” and asking for “wa-wa.”

Other than that, M is upstairs hiding working from home. We’re all staying in our pajamas.  I’m allowing a bit more TV than we normally watch. Play-doh has already come out three times, and I built my very first fort (well, first since being a mom…).  Where I saw a tunnel, the kids saw a climbing structure and slide. To each their own.

So far, not a bad day to be stuck inside.  Hell, we’ve made it nearly to lunchtime without major injury or meltdown. With toddlers, that’s a success!

I feel like I’ve done a lot of cooking in the last two days.  Maybe it’s because I’ve barely cooked a thing in the last month while I was at my parents’ house.  Maybe it’s because I’m trying to get back on the WW wagon.  Maybe I just missed being productive.  But anyways, it reminded me of a question on my Q & A post from MereCat:

Here’s my burning question.. what do you feed your kids? Food is such a pain at our house, I’m always looking for ideas. And it’s different with twins, don’tchaknow.

Well, I feel like I’m in a bit of a rut, always making the same few things.  But then, I realized, other people are in different ruts!  So maybe we can all share our current toddler food ruts and switch things up a little. So here, in no particular order, are my go-to meals for the kids:

• Grilled cheese – This is pretty much the first thing I make when I can’t think of anything to make. I like a mix of American and Mozzarella.
• Pasta – Preferrably something filled like tortellini or ravioli, usually with jarred pasta sauce or pesto. Not to be attempted with light-colored clothing.
• Roasted chicken – An easy go-to for parents and kids alike.  I get the big package of bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts, and roast a whole bunch of them at once and keep them in the fridge.  Cut ‘em up for a casserole, shred for tacos or burritos, or just cut some up for a sandwich.  Rub some olive oil and season with salt and pepper, cook in a 375° oven for about 45 min.  Let them cool, then store them (intact) in the fridge.  Cut or shred as needed.  For the kids, I’ll cut up chunks, toss them in a touch of barbeque sauce, and heat in the microwave with shredded cheese.  We call it “Chicken à la Mommy.”
• Turkey Chili – I make this recipe all the time for me and M, and the kids also love it.  Especially with some cheese. And cornbread.
• Hot Dogs – Second only to grilled cheese on my “aw, hell, I don’t know what to make” list.  I prefer Hebrew National (since they don’t have Vienna Beef in Boston).  And yes, I put both ketchup and mustard on it.  M makes fun of me every time.
• Fried Rice – Just made a big batch this afternoon.  Rice, frozen mixed veggies, eggs, and tofu with a little sauce.  Try to get in as many food groups as possible.  Medium-grain brown rice makes it a little healthier and stickier (easier for little hands to pick up, and doesn’t dry out as quickly in the fridge).
• Bell & Evans Chicken Nuggets – A little pricey and I can only get it at Whole Foods, but it’s awfully tasty.  Especially with some barbeque sauce for dipping.

Other than that, I do try to give the kids leftovers of whatever M and I had.  Do they love all of this stuff?  Hey, they’re toddlers.  Sometimes Rebecca will eat a big bowl of chili and still want some of her brother’s.  Sometimes she’ll look offended if I try to give it to her.  You just never know.

I’m trying not to get into the habit of preparing multiple things for each meal.  I’ll put a few different things on their plate, like a bowl of chili plus some cut-up fruit and some veggies.  But if they decide they don’t want chili, I’m not going to go make a grilled cheese.  And some days they eat very little.  Some days Rebecca will finish it all and Daniel will have none, and vice versa.  They won’t starve.

So, everyone, what’s your food rut?  What are your go-to easy toddler meals?  Maybe we can all swap ruts for a while, and it’ll feel new… right?

Another quick recipe as a companion to my post today over at the Ladies of Loserville: the pork chops my mom always used to make, which are awesome with a little fresh applesauce.

Pork Chops

Ground Allspice
Garlic Powder
2 Bay Leaves, crumbled
Salt
Fresh ground pepper

3-4 boneless center-cut pork chops

Amounts are totally approximate, but I’m going to say roughly a tablespoon each of the allspice and garlic, maybe half as much salt and some healthy grinds of pepper.  Mix the spices in a small bowl, then coat pork chops with the rub.  Be generous and fully coat the meat.  Store them in an airtight container or ziploc bag (feel free to toss in any remaining spice mixture) for several hours (you could easily do this in the morning to have for dinner that night).

When you’re ready to cook, first wipe off as much of the spice rub as you can, and pat the chops dry.  They’ll be plenty well-seasoned.  Either saute in a pan with a little olive oil or nonstick spray, or grill them.  Be careful not to overcook, because they can really dry out.  Serve with applesauce (instructions below, if you need them).  I like steamed broccoli and couscous as side dishes.

Fresh Applesauce

This is so easy, it’s almost embarrasing to post the instructions.  But if you’ve never made your own applesauce, you really must do it now.  You may never go back to the stuff in the jar.

Apples, however many you like (at least 2 pounds, I think!)
Lemon
Cinnamon stick
Sugar (optional)

Equipment:
large saucepan or pot
food mill or potato masher

A mixture of different types of apples is always nice, I think.  Some, like Granny Smith, will stay firm when cooked and make for a chunkier applesauce.  Some, like McIntosh, turn to mush almost immediately.  I don’t think you can go wrong with a mix of Golden Delicious, Macoun, Jonagold, Gala, and the like.  There’s plenty of charts out there if you need help picking.

If you have a food mill, don’t even bother to peel them.  Just core and cut into sections.  If you’ll be using a potato masher, take the peels off before you core and section.  Dump them all into a pot, add maybe an inch or so of water in the bottom of the pot.  The juice of one lemon is a nice addition, as is a cinnamon stick dropped into the water.  Add a couple spoonfuls of sugar if you want, but you don’t need much at all (if any).

Cook on medium-high heat (covered) until the apples start to get mushy (some varieties will just get soft, others will practically disintegrate).  Once nice and soft or mushy, turn off the heat and remove the cinnamon stick.  Mash with a potato masher, or put the cooked apples through the food mill (if you left the skins on and had some red apples, the sauce will be kind of pink).  Include the water that’s still in the pot.

Seriously, that’s it.  Just grab a spoon and dig in (yes, warm fresh applesauce is awesome if you’ve never had it).  It will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week, I’d say.  If it lasts that long…

Thanksgiving is a mere two days away, and I am in big-time prep mode.

First, there was the debate over the menu.  That’s settled, and it’s nearly the same as last year.  As we’re down to probably only three adults and two picky toddlers, we’re cutting out a side dish (goodbye stuffing, I like you a lot but I don’t think I’ll miss you terribly) and taking it down to one debatable dessert.  Much as I adore our usual pumpkin bread pudding and some kind of pie, it’s just way too much.  After the big dinner, we stuff some dessert into our bellies and still have entire platters leftover for the weekend.  And you know what?  It just isn’t necessary.  Yes, this is largely motivated by my current Weight-Watching (and things are going pretty well, if I do say so myself), but everyone else is in agreement: it’s just unnecessary.  So we’re actually only making pumpkin cranberry bread.  It hardly even counts as a dessert, it’s really just a quickbread.  But maybe we’ll saute the slices with a little butter and serve ‘em with a scoop of ice cream to make it dessert-y for the holiday, and then whatever leftovers we have will just be a simple quickbread and not a dense, eggy (delicious) lump of bread pudding.  Even the side dishes, which I refuse to make “light” versions of, will be moderated by only making half portions in order to have less leftover the next day.

Alright, so made my list of the menu.  Then, I made the ingredient/shopping list for each menu item.  Long list, some overlap, some things we already have.  But you have to start with a good list.

Actually, since it was such a big list (and it was already typed and easy to cut and paste), I went a little nuts and organized it by sections of the grocery store.  Because I hate getting all the way to the freezer case and realizing I forgot something in produce.  And with the two kids that will be strapped into the cart this afternoon, I want to be as efficient as I can be.

The pièce de résistance of Thanksgiving meal prep lists is my actual cooking plan.  For each menu item, I made a rough list of steps, so that I know which ones will need the oven (for how long, at what temperature), stovetop, or cuisinart; when in the day they need to be cooked (whether they can be made in the morning or need to be done at a certain time relative to the meal); and who will do what (M is in charge of smashed potatoes, SIL is making the pumpkin bread and cranberry sauce).  And the turkey has been thawing in the fridge since Sunday.

All this for a single meal for three, maybe four, adults.  Ah well.  I enjoy doing things big from time to time, and though it won’t be the enormous family gatherings I grew up with, I don’t think I could ever just skip the festivities entirely.

In the meantime, it’s pouring rain and Daniel seems to be boycotting the nap for the second time today.  We could be quite a spectacle at Stop & Shop this afternoon…

Thought I’d post a recipe as a companion to my post today over at The Ladies of Loserville.  Overall, I’ve had a good first week back on the wagon, and this was one of my old favorites that I remembered and cooked up.  You can debate it’s ethnic authenticity, but it’s how my Puerto Rican father-in-law told me how to make the weeknight version, so I’m going to go with it.  So, here you have it: Puerto Rican Pork with Rice and Beans.

Pork

You can use a number of different cuts, but I just go with the easy and quick pork tenderloin (make sure you don’t accidentally pick up one of the ones that comes pre-marinated!).  Season on all sides with salt and pepper, and then positively douse the thing in garlic powder.  Seriously, don’t be shy.  Coat it with garlic powder. Lots of it. Then cover or put in a ziploc bag for anywhere from 6 to 24 hours.

At dinnertime, preheat the oven to 350° and spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.  Put the pork in the dish, and cook until the internal temperature is 160° (maybe 45 minutes? depends on the size of the cut).  Let it rest a few minutes before you slice it.

Rice & Beans

Pink beans are the preferred ones, here.  And if you can find it, the Goya Pink Beans in Sauce (Rosadas Guisadas) are the best.  Otherwise just plain canned pink beans.  Crack open that can, put it in a saucepan over low heat, and add a couple of big heaping spoonfuls of Sofrito sauce (which you can also find in a glass jar in the section of the supermarket with all the other Goya stuff).  Heat it up, and you’re good to go.  Serve over white rice, I prefer medium grain rice with just a touch of olive oil added to the cooking water, along with a generous amount of salt & pepper.

Seriously, this couldn’t be easier for a weeknight.  Just prepare the meat either that morning or even the night before, and then all you have to do is throw it in the oven, heat up the beans, and make some rice.  Hell, if you have a rice cooker with a timer, you can even do that ahead of time!

From a “diet” standpoint, I love that this is not only quite tasty and easy, but I make it exactly the same way whether I’m counting calories or not.  I don’t like to go nuts with recipe trickery in the name of lowering calories, and this one is exactly as-is. For the point-counters out there, this is a 9 point meal.  3 ounces of meat is 3 points, 1 cup of white rice is 4, and 1/2 cup of beans is 2.  Yum!

This evening marked the design phase of the Thanksgiving ‘08 Project.  My sister-in-law and her boyfriend came over to make me a birthday dinner (delicious braised sea bass), and conversation turned to the upcoming holiday of feasting.  My sister-in-law will be joining us, though her boyfriend will sadly be away for the weekend.  It’s possible we might pick up another person or two, but it’s just as likely that it will be the three of us, plus two toddlers.

In the past, we’ve gone way overboard.  Our first Thanksgiving together, probably six years ago, it was also just the three of us.  We ended up making an entire 12-pound turkey, and I’d have to guess five sides and three desserts.  It was enough for our entire neighborhood.  I’m not sure we had enough storage space for all the leftovers.  Since then, I’d say we’ve added more people without really cutting back all that much on the food.

But now, back down to only three (plus kids), we put out the idea that we needed to cut back a little.  Except that once someone would suggest a dish that could be cut, someone else objected strongly.  M said the green bean casserole was unnecessary, I refuse to give it up (I make a rockin’ one from Cook’s Illustrated).  I said I could live without mashed potatoes, M balked.

We ended up talking in circles about what could go and what had to stay, until M put on his project management hat, and informed us that we needed to survey customer expectations and put together a scope document.  It all ended up getting very, very silly.  But I think we’ve agreed in principle on this year’s menu.  The only slight question mark is dessert, but we are in agreement that there should be only one dessert (typically, we make three, and maybe half of one gets eaten), and that the one dessert should not be pumpkin pie.  I know, we’re so un-American.

This year’s menu:

• Turkey (duh), and I think we will still make a whole, though hopefully smaller, turkey.  Primarily for the purposes of leftovers, and the holy grail of late November: turkey sandwiches.
• Green bean casserole (I win!), though only a half-portion.
• Mashed potatoes (also a smaller quantity), with gravy.  The potatoes are M’s responsibility, since he’s the one who insisted they remain on the menu.  I suspect I’ll be the one doing the gravy.
• Cranberry sauce (homemade, not canned).  M advocated a sort of chopped cranberry relish that his mom used to make, but I had to be honest: I really didn’t like it at all.  So my cranberry sauce wins.
• Stuffing (I think, or did this one get nixed?), half portion.
• Salad, because we need something vaguely healthy.
• Dessert.  Likely something with pumpkin, but not pumpkin pie.  Possibly a half-portion of pumpkin bread pudding, possibly some extra pumpkin cranberry bread (which we decided could qualify as dessert if we sort of grilled/sauteed it with some extra butter and then put ice cream on top, otherwise it’s just brunch food.  Really awesome brunch food, too.  But not dessert.)

I admit.  It doesn’t exactly seem minimalist.  I don’t think, in the end, that we cut down the number of dishes except in the case of dessert.  But we do intend to reduce their quantities.

What about you?  What are your must-haves on Thanksgiving, and what traditional dishes can you happily do without?

Sometimes I’m not sure which era I live in.  In some ways, I totally feel the whole modern woman thing.  And in some ways, I think part of me lives in the 1950s.  What have I been doing in between watching the Olympics in the evening?

Working on another new quilt, this time for my niece…

… and baking chocolate chip cookies.

I’m all about multitasking, people.