Roast Chicken / Lamb Dinner

I have been craving lamb for awhile.  Now I know it's not everyone's cup of tea it's a strong tasting meat and the thought of eating they are eating also turns others off, I just try not to think about it and I just love the flavor and tenderness.  My husband on the other hand is not agreement with me and really cannot stand it so it's hard to justify a leg of lamb for myself, however I succumbed and the recent roast beef dinner just helped to tease me further.  So last night I cooked a small roast chicken with a small leg of lamb, well part of a leg.  Anyway the girls ate both chicken and lamb with no problem (yay!), my hubby was perfectly happy to indulge in the chicken and served it all up with roasted kale and boiled potatoes.  Have to say I was happy with fairly empty plates at the end of the meal plus plenty of left overs for my master plan to have a curry evening tomorrow night yum!  I am breaking out all the stops with tomorrow night's dinner but it's been so long I feel like indulging.  I will be making lamb and chicken curries, rice and aloo papdi chaat (I spent Saturday browsing the wares at a local Indian grocer).

Going to the grocery was a walk back in time for me, I had forgotten they really do get a lot of their supplies and spices from the UK which also means a veritable treasure trove of English delights that are hard to get most other places.  It has been years (like back when I lived in Jersey City) since I have frequented stores like this.  It brought back some pleasant memories and I was reminded of some great meals.  I cook with curry spices and powders on a fairly regular basis, I just happen to love the complex flavors, and I even tried some turkey curry sliders over the weekend (that btw were fantastic).  I am probably going to cheat with the curries and use premade mixes and sauces just as the meal is going to be pretty complex and I am not going to kill myself trying to make this.  I am also thinking I'm going to have enough of this meal left over to freeze for another night, yay!

Roast dinner and left overs

It's been a long time since I've done a full roast dinner with roast potatoes, parsnips and yorkshire pudding, so it didn't come that easily on Monday night when doing one for 10...I only had one small panic attack whilst trying to figure out how to get the meat out of the oven and bump up the temperature for the yorkshires (oh what I'd have given for a double oven).  However I managed with plenty of foil and some tea towels to wrap the meat up and keep it warm.  Overall the outcome was a good one with homemade gravy to boot :)  So glad I did a lot of the peeling a couple of days before so I didn't have to struggle too much although my timing was still a little off ah well there are more goes.  In an effort to make sure there would be plenty of food and fearing I wouldn't have time to make more roast potatoes I threw in some mash.

The total result was plenty of food left over to make into sheppards pie the last night, using the last of the gravy and adding a bit more of my own, some carrots, the last remaining parsnip in the fridge and the last stalk of usable celery (it had been in the fridge just over 2 weeks, foil does work miracles).  I used the last of the roasted veggies to mash in with the potatoes for the topping and added an egg to that mixture.  I also added a little thyme, a bay leaf, some wine and a little mustard, the girls were happy to eat this with a little encouragement and the overall effect was a good meal :)

I do so love winter and I love all these great comfort foods that I just won't cook during the summer.  It's funny how over the last couple of years how our diet has become far more seasonal.  I remember when I was growing up we had no choice but to use seasonal veggies, the wonders of global trade have meant that we don't get so much in the way of seasonal foods and for many years I was just cooking what I felt like.  However just the last couple of years or so I've been just tailoring my recipes more.  Winter I can have the oven on, so slow cooked meats and roasted veggies, summer grill and lighter fair because who wants a hot  comforting meal in the middle of the summer heat wave?  This year I'm partly obsessed about soups, I'm actually trying to incorporate one or two in the menu a week and attempting to make enough for left overs for another meal so I can have a break in the kitchen.

Eating out...we so rarely do it now it's funny it's become again the treat rather than the norm.  Take out...what is that?  Seriously what is that?  I can't remember the last take out we did and I think a lot of that is down to I think I can cook a better meal in the time it takes to go and get the food or have it delivered.

Remembering swede...aka rutabega

So day two of no sides to our cribs any more, and yes it's a challenge, but as our youngest has figured out how to climb out of the crib anyway it seems a moot point although it's certainly a challenge.  So far today no nap...a walk to the store and what seems to be boundless energy makes me hope for a decent night at least of just sheer exhaustion from the girls we shall see.

I've been busying myself in the kitchen doing the food prep for Monday, I have all the root veggies sitting in water, the green beans almost done as well and the apple pie has already been made.  I've also started on making Xmas presents also involving cooking.  James is being a doll and helping out with dinner tonight although I have done a lot of the food prep already so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge and all he really needs to do is follow the instructions on the back of the packet.  We are opting for an early dinner due to the lack of nap by the two horrors thinking that sooner or later they will pass out and won't want to be up too late tonight.

I do have to confess the kitchen smells divine at least and the oven has been put to good use:)  Tomorrow I just have to deal with making pasta and reheating sauce for the girls and soup for James and I, gotta love frozen left overs, far better than premade shop food and much healthier, and actually quick a bit cheaper too.

Tonight I'm finishing off dinner with mashed rutabega which I remember so fondly from my childhood.  For those that don't know rutabega or swede is basically a large turnip, cook until tender then mash with butter and a little milk.  It has a slightly spicey taste to it which is perfect with a stew.

Loving root veggies and roasted kale

It's finally turned colder here which means I can get back into the kitchen and start using the oven to my hearts delight :)  That entails breaking out the bread puddings (yum!).  Also soups, been making a lot of those recently including a very delicious french onion soup tonight.  I've also been craving root veggies, parsnips, carrots and I keep thinking I need to add more squash to the mix as well.  I'm actually aiming at trying to stretch a buck and bulking more meals out with a bit less meat and more veggies, dunno if it will help the food bills or not but hey it's worth a try.

Monday night I kind of made my own recipe up.  It was based on Rachael Ray's mulled cider beef, but I added some other veggies including cabbage and butternut squash, I basted all of that with cider with mulling spices in it and put it all in the clay pot, served along side of course mashed sweet potatoes.  I've also suddenly become obsessed with roasted kale which is just delicious, drizzle of olive oil a little salt and you are good to go in a 350 oven for 20 minutes.

I've also been cutting down on television, three days so far and the only thing that has been on was Monday night football.  I watch a little during the girls nap and we turn it on after they have gone to bed.  I confess it's a challenge specially on wet days tomorrow is going to be interesting.  However I have been getting out more taking the girls for walks, we even went to the state park today, as all three of us are currently snotty messes I'm keeping us away from the general public and going to wide open spaces where we won't run into too many people.  So far it's working a treat, shame we had to miss the play group this morning, but I just don't think it fair on us spreading our germs.

Fantastic Veggie Meal

Anyone reading this blog will know I can struggle with my weekly vegetarian meals.  Number of reasons, kids are picky, hubby won't touch legumes etc. it's a constant battle.  However we did find a major hit last night, red lentil chili soup, yum!  Now here is the trick, try as I might I couldn't find red lentils (try middle eastern / Indian stores) so I substituted red quinoa, worked a treat and it's been aske to be repeated.  Monday was chicken chasseur thanks to Colemans...there is just something comforting about using the package mixes now and then and everyone enjoyed the meal.

Tonight was a one pot meal, honey mustard chicken with roasted kale oh what a treat and I was able to get both girls to eat a good amount of the veggies.  Tomorrow we get meatloaf for Thanksgiving with sweet mashed potatoes and I'm throwing in a green bean casserole to boot.  Pie is done and in the fridge so looking good despite James working during the day.

Snappy Schnitzels

Thanksgiving week, James is working Thursday so I figured turkey meatloaf rather than the full blown turkey experience, the good news is he will be off Friday and Saturday so I'm not complaining.  Now Rachael Ray did a new meal this week, snappy schnitzels with a dill potato salad.  I am planning on making a pumpkin pie that uses a ginger snap crust so I figured this would be a great recipe to try, all I'm going to say is YUM!  The girls loved it and there was little left over which always makes me happy.

We had family photos taken this last week, can I say challenging?!  Anyone got any idea how hard it is to get two year olds to stay still for more than 1 second or both look at the camera?  We were able to get some shots but sheesh I hope its easier next year!

Oh and easiest recipe ever coconut macaroons!  5 ingredients and not a lot of prep they were in the oven within 10 minutes!  Wow.

Another veggie meal to add to the repetoire

Tried a new dish tonight, and yum!  Loved it, roasted mushrooms and kale over mashed sweet potatoes.  A great way to eat kale roasted and tasted delightful.  Girls weren't sure about it but then they are picky sometimes over mushrooms, and Isabel just doesn't like mash a whole lot so I had a backup plan for them.  I did however mix it up a tad and used apple cider to make the mash adding a slight sweetness to the dish, I fully confess going back for seconds but not feeling bad about it.

We have some new recipes coming up this coming week so watch this space going to mix things up a bit :)  I have to confess veggie night is always a challenge but we manage the girls struggle but I plan to plod on and I'm determined to find the perfect veggie dish for em.  I'm also tempted to try them at some point with a quiche.  Ah the possibilities the possibilities.

Where do I begin?

I've been a bit quite the last month or two, my excuse...I've been busy.  Had a couple of lovely visits from family first Maureen then my parents.  With my facebook addiction I put the blogging on hold for a little bit just till I could regain a sense of calm.  But I'm going to keep this fairly limited to food comments.  Not too many new recipes of late mostly redoing some old favorites to keep cooking times down to a minimum, however there have been some standouts.  There was the turkey meatloaf sliders...all I can say is wow, and my parents want to make them sometime for Jo.  Another must try is the apple-fennel stuffed pork tenderloin, oh wow it was good and relatively inexpensive to make and fed easily 4 adults, 1 teenager, 1 preteen and 2 toddlers, and there were no complaints from any quarter.  Oh and here is another neat recipe, chicken porcini shepperd's pie I had to skip the cheese that this called for due to my hubby's sensitive stomach :) but again a hit with everyone.  Of course had a couple of things that didn't work as well as intended but overall great.

Oh and fair warning when you think the spinach as been in the fridge too long don't use it really don't use it.  I managed to give us food poisoning while Maureen was here and it was the only item that Isabel didn't eat and she was the only one that didn't get sick.  I'm now ultra paranoid about veggies that have been in the fridge too long but none the less keep on trying lesson learned and it's the first time I've ever made anyone sick and hopefully the last.

I hope this gives a few ideas, of course with lots coming in on a weekly basis as the show is on to a new season.  Ah too many recipes too little time.  I shall just keep up with the ideas :) 

Cubano pork chops and bowling

Last night's dinner was oh crazy yummy...took 3 bone in bone in pork chops and marinaded them for 5 min in olive oil, bbq 300, allspice, coriander seed and some agave syrup, then my hubby grilled them for me.  I also took some corn which I wrapped with butter and salsa verde that also went on the grill, topping the whole meal off with chopped tomato salad with fresh herbs.  The whole dinner was a based on this idea from RachaelRay, as I had a really hard time finding the peppers and thinking that they might have been a bit much for my two ladies I opted for the tomato salad from last week that the girls loved, specially easy as I had all the ingredients on hand including the last of my ripe tomatoes from the garden.  All in all a very very lovely diner and one to be remembered.

Then after the super meal we had the girls had their baths and Isabel had her first night without her cup of milk in bed before sleeptime, she did superbly and both slept the night so I'm not complaining.  Abigail has happily been going down for over a week now without that milk as she had a tendency to just throw the cup out of the crib along with her binky now she seems a lot more settled and we have less tantrums and throwing at night so that is a huge improvement.  Isabel I was starting to notice was smelling a lot of stale milk where it was spilling in the crib as she was drinking, not the most pleasant of smells so I decided last night we needed to put a stop to it.  Isabel is one of those children that does adapt to new things easily so I had a feeling it was going to be ok but you never know.  She did look around for her sippy cup but after she saw it wasn't there she just laid back in the crib let me read the story with minimal fuss and they both did a great job of going to sleep pretty easily.

Once the kids were down Mum got to go and enjoy herself at the bowling alley, totally redeemed myself over last weeks showing and had fun as always with the ladies, shame I had another headache but it did manage to fade by the end of the evening only giving me a bit of a problem once or twice.  Oh and my final set of games I achieved a whopping 147!  Not as good as Diane's when she broke her finger but decent for me.  First game was ok with a decent 112 and I managed to walk away the overall winner for a change, and only one game where I zeroed out completely.  Thanks for the fun and games ladies love ya all.

A taste of Denmark

It's been awhile since we have been to a different country on our Monday nights, but I finally went there last night:)  So we started off with some smørrebrød (open sandwich) with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and yes the twins loved it :)  along with everyone else, I then followed that up with frikadeller, with creamed cabbage and boiled potatoes.  Now I could have used ground pork to cut down on the prep time a little but other than that it was fairly basic and pretty successful.  Then the star of the show was a sour cream banana cake.  Now yeah I know that's not traditional Danish no really it's not, who ever heard of bananas growing in Denmark?  But I like the recipe and it does have Danish origins, so I took a little liberty.  All in all a not that far out of there meal that everyone enjoyed for the most part so I deem it an official success.  My secret confession tho I wish I could have had some herring in sour cream but I just knew that would not have gone down well:)  And our next port of call...drumroll please


CYPRUS

Hmm could be interesting, first impressions are it will be similar to Greece but hey I could be wrong.  Either way not a bad place to go visiting :)

Moderation and the lazy days of summer

Moderation on all comments...sorry after some trolling posts in my comments I will now moderate all comments posted to this blog.  I really object to having remove irrelevant posts that have nothing to do with what this is about and I had a spate of them the other day to the point where I wanted to lock this down more.

This week has been jam packed or so it feels.  James has been working hard (not abnormal), but I've been hanging out a bit more with friends and even went on a day trip with them to the jellybean factory.  All in all it's been a fantastic week and one for which I've been proud of my girls as they have been extraordinarily well behaved.  I also managed to have a girls night out with the ladies in the picture and one other which was a blast despite Diane (2nd from right back row) lacerating and getting a compound fracture of her left hand index finger...she had a great game I might add!

Sweet end of summer recipe

This one was a real hit with everyone including the girls, chicken pillards with herb-tomato salad.  I have to say I'm really proud of both my little ones this week, Abigail did well eating pan cooked chicken with Brussell Sprouts, I can't find the recipe I used but it entailed cooking bacon in my iron skillet, removing it then cooking the chicken and sprouts in the rendered fat and then adding back the bacon at the end.  My only problem with the meal is what goes in must come out, the diapers the next day were a little pungent :)

I have some interesting meals coming up this week now the weather has cooled off some.  We are finally taking our trip to Denmark on Monday which should be interesting, and I'm making my cheese less lasagna which is a hit for 2 days and I get to use my lasagna pan for the first time for it's real purpose :)

Saw a great dish set in Costco for pasta and was drooling over that big time.  It's one of the few things I really would like a large round pasta serving bowl with smaller pasta bowls, just because it's one of the staple winter items.  Oh did I mention we are also going to visit Asia with some phunky pho?

Cool dinner new additions and fun

This week has been a blast compared to last week in fact we really only have had one down day so far this week and this morning I was able to order our new TV /drool a 58" flat screen and a new receiver.  We will be getting the hardware we need and doing the pre installation work over the next week, then a week on Monday they will come and take the old piece of junk away and put up the new one.  I cannot wait!  This is a huge tv compared to our current 34" crt.  Now don't get me wrong that CRT has done us proud and got us through the last 6 years but it's time to retire, to heavy to big and not easy to child proof!  We have shelves up on the wall in preparation for the new baby, just seemed the easiest cheapest solution for getting everything out of the way that allows for ventilation.  Maybe I'm just paranoid but I find the majority of tv and electronic cabinets just don't give enough ventilation, they look great don't get me wrong but do the furniture designers know how hot an xbox or cable receiver actually gets?! 

For the love of parsnips...

I am so happy the weather is cooling down early this year and I can start using the oven and breaking out the fall / winter recipes, although as I proved to myself last night you don't have cook everything inside even then.  Now I love parsnips, I really do and my little ladies quite enjoy them as well, I love their flavor which is quite unique in my opinion.  So I was excited by my October issue of the Rachael Ray magazine where they had a recipe idea for parsnip frittatas, oh yeah baby and done in a skillet, easy just use the cast iron skillet out on the grill!  Bingo instant hit with me before I even started cooking.  Unfortunately I used too many parsnips and not enough eggs so they didn't really hold together well so it turned more into a parsnip pancake, I also forgot to buy scallions / green onions for the recipe as well so I dug into the fridge and found the last of my shallots and grated that into the mixture instead, with despite these substitutions and over use of ingredients we still had a fabulous dinner.  So nice to be doing something other than roasting parsnips and learning to use the veggie in other ways.

Another mile stone was also achieved last night, Abi went into her crib and to sleep without her night cap.  I have been getting fed up to be honest of making it for her and it just going on the floor and she has been barely drinking, so when faced with one clean sippy cup and the prospect of messing about with the dishwasher I decided to tempt fate and make one up for Isabel only...it actually was a far calmer bed time routine than it has been in like forever so I shall try again tonight and see what happens. 

New foods, and a promise for more frequent updates

Last night's dinner was amazing!  Oh boy oh boy was it good, I used my new Arizona Dreaming spice mix from Penzy's Spices and made the cover recipe from the last catalog, I have to say this was an absolute hit with the whole family, and fairly healthy to boot.  This new spice lacks sodium which is great for me because I need to avoid as much salt as possible.  The spice mix has a bit of heat but a great mix of flavors and the sauce just complimented the rice, the only thing I didn't do was the corn, I had it but ended up rushing a bit and forgot to put it on the grill early enough so I will leave that to go with tonight's dinner instead.  It's not a hard recipe and can easily be adapted for the grill, this one is a keeper guys.  In addition I also baked the poppy seed berry cake at the back of the catalog, oh yummy!  It's worth trying but you can easily use fresh lemon peel instead of the dried reconstituted peel the recipe calls for., the cake is moist and not too hard to make.  This is also not the first cake I've made this week as I challenged myself to make a coconut cake, I wasn't entirely happy with the final result of that one as the cake em sank in the middle making it a challenge to cover with icing.  However the cake was loved by everyone so not going to complain too much.

We also made a much needed trip to Ikea this weekend, James was an Ikea virgin mwhaha, although next trip will probably involve my Mum and Dad and we will make a day of it and eat there most likely as well.  We were bummed that a lot of the items even tho they were on display were not in stock when we got there, very frustrating which meant backtracking to another part of the store once we got to the warehouse to find alternative solutions, in actual fact I think the alternate probably ended up looking better than the original ideas.  I was also able to get the spice rack and kitchen tools I've been drooling over for a long time enabling us to free up more kitchen counter space and making it easier to find the items I use most commonly in cooking, and I've finally been able to toss out my oh so useless paper towel holder.  All in all not sure I need much more for the kitchen now, I picked up another magazine holder to keep the most frequently used books and magazines in for cooking.  All in all I'm pretty happy with the look and design of the kitchen and there isn't much I would change although a built in soap dispenser to clean up round the sink.

So the plan is get the shelves up as we have to have those done and prepared for when we get our flat screen.  Why?  Well we need shelves for the electronics to link up to the tv once it's up, and we need to find an alternative place to keep all the dvds that are currently in the entertainment center as once the old tv is removed that whole unit has to go or it will become a climbing frame and we both can see someone getting hurt very easily.

Fun games and some planning

We had a fab weekend kicked off with a bday party on Saturday which was fun except for a little chilly (stupid weather this year).  The girls were a great hit and it was nice to mix and mingle with adults :)  Sunday was relatively calm and relaxing, James worked a bit on the garden, increased my clothes line length so we can hang more than one load out there at a time.  We also had time to just sit and relax with each other as a family.  Course we managed to leave our new sippy cups and a baking sheet over at Kats (would have forgotten my head I swear).  Monday we got to catch up with Debbie and co and tried a new recipe after my Penzy order arrived...I mixed and matched a couple of recipe ideas and made ... deviled chicken with grilled plums, and added an additional sauce which I was just itching to try using an Arizona spice blend...add to that Debbie's fantastic Mexican rice and red velvet cake we had a feast and I was told I can make the sauce again and got a good thumbs up from Sam (always a good sign).

Today I've got a skirt steak marinading in beer and maple syrup and I'm going to pair that with sweet potatoes with a warm pear compote.  I'll let you know how that one comes out and I'm intrigued by the concept of using orange soda and soy sauce on chicken as a marinade.

Hoping for a trip to the park this morning followed later by a girls night out although as Claire's sister is paying a surprise visit this week thanks to Ges not sure if that will happen or not will play it by ear.  I'm also praying my new phone shows up sooner or later.  Oh and the other major news this week we start potty training!  Well soon as we have the cash to run to ikea and get some potties and a side trip to target or somewhere for a step as well so they can reach the sink, I'm also tempted to turn the heat down a bit more on the water heater as even tho it's not set that high the water can still easily reach scalding out of the taps and I'm a little worried once they start washing their hands after potty.

Good grief another week has almost flown by!

Well this week we have had the roofing adventures, old one was ripped off and we almost have a brand spanking new 'energy efficient' cool roof, missing a few of the ridge tiles as they ran out of them and had to order extras, unfortunately they won't arrive in time to be installed this week so they will have to finish up on Monday.  Otherwise I'm pleased with the look of the new roof, although there is no noticeable color difference imo from our old one to our new one, but there is the obvious lack of wear and tear on the new roof.  Have we noticed a huge difference, honestly hard to tell although we did manage to go the whole of today without having to run the ac, but then the temperatures never really soared as high as they did earlier in the week, officially we didn't break 90 although my car said differently.

I had a bad day Monday, and I'm just going to put it down to Monday blues.  Tuesday, Wednesday were sorta a wipe out due to the soaring temperatures although we did manage to get out for a bit on Tuesday.  Thursday was a knock out day with 2 trips out a short nap and a lovely afternoon with plenty of tea and good company, it's also nice to get the girls out of the house although our Isabel tried to give Claire a heart attack by launching herself off the stairs at her.  Food wise oh I made my wonderful watermelon gazpacho soup, I love this recipe and I was still eating it Friday for lunch...seeing as it fed 4 of us Tuesday and Wednesday, lunch for me Thursday it's a very economical meal, if you like that kind of thing.  I can certainly see myself doing it again once my tomatoes actually ripen.

You know it's taken me years and years to regain what I felt I gave up when I left the UK in terms of the close friends and family, it really has, it has been one of the fundamental things I feel I've been missing in my life.  All of a sudden I have discovered the most amazing group of women and that I'm no longer afraid to show my feelings, I feel like I can be me, I can show vulnerability and I can be strong.  It's been a long slow road and to have friends like I have now is so special to all the special wonderful people in my life I love you all dearly and thank you for sharing your lives with us as well, we are honored.

Fun weekend after all

I was worried about this weekend being boring...turns out it was far from it in the end.  I had a lovely evening yesterday with my hubby and Debbie and Matt, which we actually managed sans kids in tow (sheer miracle).  Unfortunately due to stomach flue Claire and her family were unable to join us but we will give that one a rain check for later in the month.  Rather than doing the shopping as a family I ventured out alone, not a bad choice as James stayed at home with the kids and waited for his grandma and aunt to come over, this is the first time Theresa has met the twins, visit went well except we managed to fail to take any pictures on our camera (smacks forehead).

Dinner was a delightful mandarin chicken salad, I followed the basic recipe from the link except I substituted agave syrup for the brown sugar and low fat sour cream for the mayonnaise, we used the left over tea soaked chicken from the previous night.  All in all a fabulous easy meal and we could go back for 2nd's without feeling too guilty.

Tomorrow should be fun as we are having our roof ripped off (yipee!) so we will be camping over at Auntie Debbie's, not sure if we will sleep there or not shall wait and see how hot it gets and how easy it will be with no roof on.  And our social calendar is filling up for the next couple of weeks too!  Watch this space.

Survival of another day

Yesterday...yesterday oh yesterday.  Started off with having to do a rather large costco run, went rather well and the girls were well behaved, then I had to go get a prescription..oops I buried the stroller and the lead backpacks under all the shopping, /sigh well I just need suncream and I need my meds (of all things blood pressure), I figure I will try this no really I will (someone give me a sanity check), three times I'm running around the store trying to find my children who have slipped my hand (argh!) whole experience not one I want to repeat any time soon.  Call Claire to just get a sanity check and respond to a text, ah relief they are hanging out in the backyard and at the pool oh yeah I'm all into that one!  Throw stuff out of the car, throw other stuff back in, run off to spend the rest of the afternoon in the pool.  Girls scare me to death jumping in and out of pool...Isabel dunks herself numerous times comes up spluttering and goes back for more, oh and not to mention the repeated diving out of the boat, no fear except the Mum's watching. 

Urgh a week already...

So it's been an interesting week, no really, lets see I babysat for a friend on Friday so I had three kids and a husband that didn't get home till 8 pm.  Then Saturday we do our usual chores and my poor hubby has to work a full swing shift (have I mentioned I hate the swing shift?) even a half swing puts him home to late to help put the kids to bed or he has to leave too early, either way yuck!  That brings us up to Sunday where we had the TVMOTC summer picnic, which was fab, James got to be in the pool for the first time with the girls although the pool was a tiny bit COLD, yes it really is August.  Food was provided and drinks so all in all a great day out for $10 for the whole family and well worth it.  Oh and there was the bouncy castle (my girls love those), and em balls to play with (not my husband's) and a nice day out for the whole family.

Then we had Monday, first I nuke oatmeal with no water (oops), then I get a phone call from James, someone called out sick on swing and he's going to have to cover the first half (did I mention I hate swing?) then I bake a cake which overflowed the pan, talk about not having fun.  However, I made a phone call and ended up spending the rest of the morning / afternoon with my girlfriends and the kids in the pool oh yeah baby, I left there in a far better mood than I started, left there ran home picked up the cake (it was edible just not that pretty), and went to Debbie's.  At this point I want to mention I have the most amazing friends, they pick me up when I'm down and keep me company and from going insane, then I have others who cut my hair for me.  I get to Debbie's we run to the salon get color in my hair, run back have dinner which Matt was cooking, Debbie prepared, and we ate, at which point I jump in the shower to rinse out the color.  At this point James arrives and gets fed he then takes the children home who by this time are rather grumpy as their only nap was the half hour in the car from Claire's to Debbie's.  James then gets them in the bath and to bed while Debbie cuts my hair in the front garden hehe.

Now that brings us to Tuesday, where I spend time in the mornings with another local Mum with twin boys.  Not a bad morning and we were able to sit out in the garden.  Tuesday night James cooks these lovely club burger sliders with avocado ranch dressing, I have to say the ranch dressing is amazing and worth making extra for dipping, the girls also enjoyed the dinner and we had left over cake for dessert.  That brings us to tonight, I pulled out a few stops for this one, we had deviled chicken and grilled stone fruit, using plums as our fruit, oh amazing and wonderful and much love for this one.   I paired the meal with the grilled potato salad, and grilled brussels sprouts, worth the extra time it took to make this meal.  Oh and I also did a trip to the park we managed about 40 minutes there till after 2 runaway attempts I packed up the girls into the car and took them to Fosters for an ice cream.  Not a bad week.

Bowling ball finally getting some use

Lets turn the clock back a bit to when we used to live in Livermore I don't remember much about it but we decided that perhaps we would try our hands at bowling.  We took some lessons, bought a bowl and shoes each (after all who really wants to wear the shoes they have at the alley?) and who knows where fingers have been in some of those holes?  I'm not a germ a phobe but bowling alleys they just look grotty as does most of their equipment.  Oh and in addition I have big hands...most holes are simply not large enough for my fingers, it's as simple as that I normally end up having to use a ball far to heavy for me.  So anyway we invested in some gear went a few times dreamed of joining a league then moved then got pregnant then well the best laid plans and all that.   Where is she going, well I've been finally able to use my gear again!  Every other week we are trying to go bowling in the evenings...just me and a couple of girl friends.  It's a relief it really is we get to be adults we get to drink we get to let our hour loose and I get to hang out with new people.  Yay!  Totally win on all fronts.  I've not totally disgraced myself and it's relaxing and pretty cheap.  Ah bliss!

So dinner last night was something new, italian-style grilled chicken lettuce wraps (yep that's a mouthful!), not too bad on the flavours and I was able to use some lovely fresh basil from my herb garden which is always a bonus.  I have to say prep and cooking was a breeze and start to finish we were eating within half an hour.  Seriously guys I don't slave away in the kitchen I really don't and I still haven't used the oven or burners much in the last 2 months.  I am so totally curious as to what our electricity bill will be like for the summer as we are on a prorated plan, but given I'm not watching as much tv we are out more and we have barely run the ac this year so far I think we will be doing good.  Oh not to mention I've started to hang the washing out on the line as well.

The garden is going well, my herbs seem to have taken nicely now and the thyme is still alive, it's alive I tell ya it's alive!  I'm already planning next years additions (yep I'm that crazy!).  Anyway I want to add to my plant collection a bay laurel as I am a huge fan now of fresh leaves rather than the dries tasteless things on the spice aisle.  I'm also contemplating a pepper plant and I will try again to get marjoram to take, I may also go for some lavender as that always just smells divine.  As for the gardening I really don't do that much, and I always bring the girls out into the garden when I'm working on my little patches, it's surprising what you can get to grow in a small space.  Of course I will be happy when we can take down some of the flowerbed protectors which will make weeding and gathering of herbs a bit easier, but better to keep them up for now and protect the irrigation systems.  I'm useless at watering and I mean useless if I didn't have an irrigation system my plants would be dead because I would forget to give them the tlc they need.

Now I'm slowly learning with the gardening, and trust me it's taken three attempts to get thyme to grow successfully, 3 basil (1 normal, 1 varietal and another normal set) to get those going.

Same old same old...

Nothing really new at the moment on the cooking front, although I am itching to try some old fashioned cakes...we shall see.  Other than that rehashing the same good old bbq recipes that are tried and true, mostly because they are quick and easy.  Tonight's concoction involves portabello mushroom burgers with the side of potato salad.  Oh the nice part tho is the fact that I could use thyme from the garden as it appears to have taken finally, that is unless goliath swamps everything out of there...we shall see.  I have definite tomatoes appearing on the vines which is a great thing and I'm already contemplating what I shall try to grow next year.  Could be interesting as I hope I can get the little ones involved in growing a bit next year too.  Although not sure what I'll grow as it seems one of my choices I don't think will grow properly here, peas (sob), most years it's just going to be too damn hot for them, shame although maybe I could do them as an early spring crop, hmm maybe strawberries.  I don't want to overrun the garden completely with produce as I want to keep it manageable.

Plans for a new roof are well underway and we have put down the deposit, so I think at this point there is no real return.  I hope the cool roof we are putting on will make a difference with cooling costs, and my husband is considering putting in a 2nd vent fan to reduce the heat up there as well.  Oh and I've been heavily influenced by a new friend to start hanging out the laundry to dry.  It's a habit my Mum always did, and one I've not done in years due to mostly living in apartments or renting space and not having the availability of a line.  However, there is no reason why I can't save ourselves a little electricity and quite honestly I love the smell of freshly hung laundry to boot.

Yet more fun...

It's good to find more friends it really is and even tho I've only really gotten to know them this well over the last few weeks I've had a blast, I'll miss it when everyone goes back to school.  However this summer has been one of the best seriously.  We spent the day again by the pool, the girls are feeling more and more comfy each time we go with spending time in the water which is a good thing.  Oh don't get me wrong they give us heart attacks as well but it's fun as well and the more I'm in the water with my girls the more comfortable I am as well, and Brittany is fantastic and I always have a spare pair of hands with one to watch over one while I have the other.  In fact I'm actually keeping a calendar at the moment so I can keep track of up coming events...this is something very new for us and quite a novelty.

So no new dinners of late just rehashes of past meals, partly to keep costs down and partly I'm starting to actually run out of bbq ideas if you can believe that one.  Tonight tho is a sorta mix between meals, going to just do some pulled chicken sandwiches, mostly because I had burgers on the list but found out last night I actually had no more meat in the freezer oops, so change of plan and use up what I did have available.

Lol and my husbands work schedule changes by the minute, tell me something new!

Being lax in the old postings...

Ooops really last Wednesday since I made a post?  Shame on me shame on me.  So end of last week and the weekend was unpleasant, in fact I'm trying not to think about it too much.  Between not enough sleep, a stuffy nose, and a hubby working lots of overtime it was a tad trying.  However! I survived and the kids are still here to tell the tale as well so how bad can it really be? I just wish I could have had a bit more sleep but ah well that's life.  Also today is the beginning of a new week :)

The twins are adjusting very nicely to their new sleeping routine, I'm such a proud Moma, I should have been doing this a long time ago, but well I wasn't ready I think to let go, but now that I have life seems a bit less chaotic and James and I are getting some needed time for just the two of us which is nice.  Still haven't cracked the having to get up at least once for Abigail but working on that, just if she looses that binky all hell works loose, give it back to her and leave and she is just fine go figure.

Let see dinners...oh Thursday I did these red pepper pesto and shrimp pizzas oh wow they were great, chicken can be substituted successfully for the shrimp for those that don't like the shrimp.  They will be made again...Saturday I tried jerk fish with pineapple rice, meh they were so so, I like the rice the fish was well bland I felt although the spice did add a bit of zing, however it was eaten by the rest of the family so I am not going to discount it, I did love the rice and as I had pineapple already cut up from the night before the whole meal took no time at all.  I'm still managing to do my one veggie night a week and one fish night so overall I'm a happy camper.

Oh and then there was the baking experiment that seems to be pretty successful...oh and I made these lovely pecan cookies that are just soo good...ah bliss, although I can't find the recipe on line to share with you but they were pretty easy.

Trying to work out the weather...

Alright it's July it's CA and it's 79 degrees!  That's downright chilly for us, ah well it keeps the cooling costs down at least tho it's very odd, and despite the cooler weather they kids (not mine I think it's too chilly) still wanted to go to the pool.  But tonight I have a girls night out!  Yay going to go bowling which should be a lotta fun, I've even dug out my bowling shoes and ball from the depths of the garage for the occasion.  I'm certainly thinking give it a couple more weeks and I might see if I can find a babysitter and maybe see if I can arrange a date night for James and I.  Ah the freedom, it's funny almost not sure what to do with myself at times...

Anyway, so I've made these divine chocolate wafer cookies, simple recipe and great cookies...oh the reason for the cookies I'm making a no bake cookies and cream dessert, well ok technically I could have done it with store bought cookies but I just couldn't find the ones I needed so I made my own.

Have to also say my newer tomato plant never looked so good, it's taken off like a trooper, and so far the thyme is still alive...I'll give it another week tho before I declare it successfully planted in the garden.  Still dunno what to do with the patch of land we have down the side of the house, it's just an odd space, I am thinking tho the ac unit will end up out there although that might take a bit more work wiring it but I think it's a good spot and I really then think once the central ac unit is positioned we should just pave the rest of the area and make it into an outdoor bbq area put in another table to help with food prep on the grill and make an even spot to place the grill.  Diane did give me an idea tho that we could partially pave it which would probably work given the ac and save us a bit of money as it's not really big enough for putting anything down there, maybe a chair eventually but we can certainly just make it a cooking area, put an all weather surface area and I think it could be pretty nice.  Not like we have an extra car or anything to put there.

Oh the lovely days of summer

2nd playdate went well!  Will be continuing this as we both recognize we need to get out more for our sakes not just those of our children.  Tomorrow I think I'll bake cookies and maybe go visit Sherry and Brodie, and with a bit of luck a girls night out bowling too!

So last night we had grilled pork tenderloin with an Asian twisted bbq sauce (it was actually the leftovers of the sauce from Friday night), I also made the grilled potato salad which was a big hit with everyone, and I had the satisfaction of using some ingredients from the garden again.  The little ladies went to bed so easily!  In fact I was done in 20 minutes and they were fast asleep with little or no fuss at all.

Today the weather is absolutely fabulous, not too hot not too cold and perfect for chilling in the garden for a bit, nothing fancy for dinner tonight just good old fashioned beef burgers although I'm sure we will throw in a twist somewhere but shouldn't take a lot of work.

Have to admit last night was downright weird...the girls were asleep so early we were almost at a loss as to what to do with ourselves, ah well I'm sure we will cope.

Swimsuit shopping...

Alright I hate swimsuit shopping, my figure is not what is was and I've been lusting after the miracle suits after borrowing one of Debbies, but the $150 price tag really put me off of them.  However I did manage to find a body slimming suit in Kohls with the sale price and a discount coupon I was able to buy an $88 suit for $33...a bargain really.  The miraclesuit was just too pricey when I'm going up and down a bit in my weight right now although realistcaly I'm probably not going to loose too much now but still I can dream.  Anyway this one I feel comfy in and will last me the rest of the season if I drop more weight I'll do the miraclesuite next year, if I don't well I have a back up.

I actually took Abi with me round the store leaving Isabel with James, it was nice to just take one child around with me and made both of them a bit easier for us to handle, plus ya know I think it's important for each of them to have one on one time with their parents.

Dinner tonight was a pretty easy fish taco using grilled fish which helps with the figure, and as you guys know right now anything done on the grill outside I'm all for it.  I had decent success getting the babies down for their nap again today so tonight will be night three of the sleep training.  Not that I'm really following any plan other than my instincts, it's a lot of trial by fire but it's already seeming to be a bit easier than the first time, so I'm just hoping that although this is a bit late if we continue down this path things are going in the right direction.

Major breakthrough

So Thursday I had a date with a pool and two toddlers, which was absolutely fab.  The girls although nervous at first were happy campers by the end of the morning and quite happy in the water.  Thank you to my new friends for helping to take good care of them in the pool and thank you for the use of the pool and your company.  Now during this time I had a bit of time to talk to one of the other Mom's (in fact said owner of pool).  I have to admit there have been a few events in the last couple of weeks that have made me want to do this and just seeing another child younger than mine be less fussy in a crib and able to go to sleep gave me more confidence as well.  This is going to ramble a bit but bare with me.  At Brodies bday party on the 3rd I was pretty amazed at how Sherri was able to leave him in the pack'n'go crib in the living room and not have him fuss too much.  Now he was excited but still eventually fell asleep with just being left alone, this planted the seed of thought, which I have been having awhile and kinda have been trying to do a little bit but well yeah it's hard and we have just been breaking all the rules.

Anyway, Claire sat down with me and gave me some good advice and said she did the same thing with her eldest and that I had to break this, start putting them down earlier etc. and get them in the cribs for their naps.  I really did take her advice to heart, on returning from her house I put both girls who were asleep into the cribs and left them there for an hour then woke them up, after that we started our nightly routine an hour earlier and instead of holding each girl until they fell asleep they went into the cribs and stayed there.  Now we had the crying, sobing, talking but eventually they both dropped off, it took nearly two hours but we got there, today at lunch I did the same thing I darkened the room, left them in the cribs and ignored them, I read a little and played on my ipod but I pretty much ignored them except for the occasional thrown binki but even those I would wait before returning them .  That left me with this evening...James is working the graveyard having worked a full day shift, I had dinner ready for him when he got home and he was able to retire to the bedroom by 5pm, then I bravely said I will get the girls to bed don't worry (gulp) just make sure you have an alarm set in case I'm still in the girls bedroom, just unplug the monitor and don't worry about it.  Now all credit to my husband he said wake me if you need help...now it was tempting as it's always a bit of a rush to run a bath, undress two dirty little girls, heat up bottles and then get them out of the bath dried dressed hair brushed but I managed, fortunately the girls bedroom looks directly into the bathroom so it's possible to leave one in the draining bath tub and get the other changed all the while having line of sight on the other child.  In the event of an emergency I can dump one on the floor whilst charging into the bathroom...probably not the safest solution but it works.

Fun filled day

Alright, yesterday I admit it I got bored...go figure.  Anyway, had an invite today to go over to Claire's and hang out at the pool with everyone including Diane and Brittany.  Looking forward to it although I have a little swimsuit issue which I will try to rectify this morning (ie I don't have one!).  Dinner last night ended up a little bit crisp (oops!), but will try again tonight and not burn things, I know it was only the veggies but I actually had to put out a piece of broccoli.

Girls slept again last night yay!  It at least seems now they are sleeping more through the night than not which is a blessed relief.  Supposed to be having a roof estimate today but we are going to postpone it due to the trip to the pool heck I really don't want to pass up another trip to a pool...I really want to expose the girls to more water in a safe way.

Sitting and relaxing

Whew yesterday was a bit of a blur and not sure if I enjoyed it that much although dinner worked out wonderfully.  Here's a confession, the pita tasted tons better than the store bought variety even if the texture was a little odd, so going to be doing that one again, specially was really they weren't that hard to make, however just need to think ahead as they do require the oven being on which in the summer isn't necessarily something I want to do too often, plus I just need to leave them in a warmer spot to rise, and you know with practice and all that:)

Debbie assisted in forming the cookies for today thanks hon!  The cookie are great and I love the milder sweeter Ceylon cinnamon that I used to dust them.  The recipe was pretty simple and the dough fine after it was chilled down.  The desert for last night's dinner was fun!  I may do that one again sometime, I think I would like to try it when the pastry is still a little crisp tho rather than having sat in the fridge overnight.  I actually am looking forward to the girls being a bit older so that we they can help me in the kitchen and have fun baking, ah what delights we can turn out from the kitchen.  I do really like cooking from scratch rather than using store bought items if I can help it.

'I'm going slightly mad' - Queen

For some reason that song is stuck in my head today.  Not sure why but maybe it's what I'm trying to achieve and trying to maintain my sanity.  I've had this great idea that I wanted to try to make pita bread from scratch.  Yep you just read that right, so I currently have 8 pitas sitting in the garage in a vain attempt to get them to rise, ah well worst case I have some store bought ones just in case.  Oh I've also made a pound cake (which I'm not happy with it didn't really rise properly I may have over mixed it) and I'm also attempting some snickerdoodles.  Did I mention mad?!  The pound cake and snickerdoodles are for tomorrows affair while the rest of the stuff is for dinner tonight.  You know tho if this does work out I'm so doing this again.

I also have to say one of my great moments was going out into the garden and getting mint from my 'herb' patch and harvesting it from there.  So far I've not killed the basil, oregano and rosemary that I planted a couple of weeks ago, and the mint has been established in there since April.  I also appear to be getting tomato flowers on both of the heirlooms and from the new one in the new spot so we shall see if any fruit actually grow.  Not sure to be honest that any of them have enough sun but if at first right?

I'm still bummed I cannot get thyme yet to take, that the one herb I used on a regular basis that I just need a small amount of.  Right now I just have a shriveled dead plant.../sigh, I'm thinking I might need to wait on it until we can take down the boards and let in a bit more sunlight, although I did plant it in a spot which has a fair amount so I'm really still at a loss as to why it won't take.  But as they say if at first try again, and so I plan on it, even if I have to resort to growing it in a pot in a different spot entirely I will not give up darn it!

Oh and I am not a baker!  So if this stuff really doesn't work at all it's not my fault I'll just stick with cooking and keep dabbling with the baking for the girls sake.

Where did the weekend go?!

Sheesh it's Sunday night already darn it!  Things were a little screwed up with Saturday as the 4 hour half shift James should have worked Saturday night turned into a full 8 hour shift instead (bleargh).  Anyway we got the Saturday shopping run done before he went back to bed for a few hours, then we had a lovely dinner with Mexican red snapper sandwiches per my husbands request.  I did do the fish on the grill but for some reason it stuck a little but the end result still ended up in something edible that we both enjoyed.

Sunday, well yes I overstretched myself a little but decided with people coming over this week the kitchen was well overdue for a good clean and I mean a good clean between naps and lunches etc it took me best part of the day but it is now spik and span and ready for the week.  Oh not to mention I've started preping for Monday's dinner, it's not an official trip around the world dinner on Monday as the next stop is going to be Denmark, the first country we got we skipped because it was America and well we cook American style foods all the time even native American so that just get's covered by default.  But we had dinner out at a local Greek taverna the other week with Matt and Debbie and I convinced myself I could come up with just as good a meal but at a fraction of the cost and without all those extra charges!  Anyway, I've got the makings of tzatzki in the works already in that I've drained the yogurt and I'm drying out the cucumber so we shall see.  Then I'm going to do chicken souvlaki (which frankly is one of the easier recipes to do) and finishing off with galaktoboureko (yes I am making it from scratch!), it's actually already sitting in the fridge and ready for consumption and frankly looks divine.

On top of this I need to make a pound cake for Tuesday morning sometime tomorrow and I am going to try a snickerdoodle recipe as well.  Yeah I know I am crazy!  Oh and there will be a shower fitted in somewhere.  At least I've managed to get the main bathroom clean so that's one less chore for tomorrow and I've even cleaned the french windows, although I will probably have another go at those tomorrow.  Sheesh time to calm down relax and sleep!  Goodnight mon ami.

Great week so far

Alright confession the Art Smith Koftas well I wasn't so hot on them, the flavors worked really well together but I dunno, maybe a touch too much spice, I like my things subtle you can tell the spices are there but I don't like to over power too much and I think that's what happened.  Also the texture, no idea why but it felt dry, ah well I did it I tried it if to be repeated lets modify the spices and add a little more moisture.  Don't get me wrong btw I love spices as anyone will tell you just something about this didn't entirely work right.  Now lets see anything else new?  I redid meat and potato salad, using a slightly different recipe and adding a few ingredients of my own, for some reason I love mustard over the potatoes so I added a little of that and some lemon.  Not a bad combo although I could have used a better cut of meat as the steak I had was a little tough, but, then again I was trying to use up what I had in terms of meat so I made it work somehow, next time I'll splurge on a better piece of steak but sometimes beggars can't be choosers.

Ooo managed to get out and about more this week, did a trip to the park, trip to the store, and a trip over to see Brodie again.  I think Sherri needs some company so I hope to be able to give her some now and then.  In addition I have a couple of other MOTs (mother's of twins) coming over next Tuesday for a coffee / tea morning well more like a playdate but we shall see how that turns out.  I think hanging out a bit more with Diane and again last weekend round at Sherri's has boosted my self confidence a little more and I'm starting to reach out to people a bit more, which is a far cry from me a few years ago.  Small steps it's small steps but hopefully in the right direction.  The weather this year has been so fantastic, not too hot, so it's been nice to spend more time outside taking advantage of it.  I'm certainly not complaining although it's going to be a bit stinky this weekend but ah well you can't win them all.

New recipes, return of Rachael and a great weekend

Whee Rachael Ray is back with new recipes/ideas.  I admit I skip some of the show but that's the advantage of the good old dvr.  This week included more recipes and ideas from her block party earlier this year back in Chicago, and today I'm busy preparing kofta kebabs, raita and jeera rice from Art Smith.  I can say so far the raita tastes great and the kebabs smell divine and the rice is currently resting, but I have high hopes for this meal, but I should have started the rice a bit sooner.  Yesterday we had slow cooked ribs which were finished over the bbq and a non mayonnaise potato salad done on the grill.  The ribs were cooked to perfection and finished off with a carolina bbq sauce.  We loved the potato salad and in fact given a days rest it actually tasted better the next day, however it was still great with the ribs so don't knock it all in all a wonderful meal to be repeated.

This week I am doing a few new recipes and a few oldies, I do believe I think I've skipped my veggie meal for the week tho this week, however we did have two last week so I don't feel quite so bad.  We have been managing to continue with the one fish meal a week and the last few weeks my husband has been eating the same as I which has been great, shame the girls haven't but hey it's easy to throw on a chicken breast for them instead.

I have ideas and plans a plenty still left for the rest of the summer too!  I do want to do souvlaki for dinner next Monday night, although James is probably going to be having a rough time with work so we shall see, oh and that won't be a RR I've found another recipe online I would like to try:)

This is where I'm going to do a little shameless plugging for some of my favorite products.  Recently I've discovered a great pickle...wickles try them if you dare, all I have to say is wickedly delicious, look for them in your local grocery store and be prepared for a little zing to the bite, absolutely wonderful on burgers or an addition to a salad.  Another of my favs is gourmet temptations south of the border honey lime sauce, I admit to it being the secret ingredient and the little kick to my salad dressings, I love this stuff and will be sad when I reach the end of my lone bottle and will probably have to order some more it's that good, Karen thank you for that bottle it's been great!

I also have a few hot sauces I love, I'm particularly fond of a cherry hot sauce that adds some kick with a little sweet so it's not too hot which is great for my little ladies.

Fabulous Day

What a lovely day today, didn't do that much other than hang out and enjoy some good company a glass of wine and some cake.  My wonderful hubby cooked dinner tonight and I had a great night sleep on top of it all, what a great birthday and so much better than last year as I had more rest.  Had burgers which my hubby put together, and hung out with my neighbor tempted to make it into a block party next year lol as three of us share the same bday...what are the odds?  Oh and friends Rachael Ray is back on and plenty of ideas for the weekend...so many I can barely get my head around it lol.  Anyway, I have ideas brewing new ones old ones and I will be continuing with the theme of using the grill and trying to avoid as much indoor cooking as possible to keep the heat down in the house.  Time for this happy tired and rested bunny to get some sleep.

One of the best yet...

Tonight's dinner had to be one of my ultimate favorites, skillet corn fritters with grilled tomato toppers, the first of two vegetarian meals this week, and yes this week is also corn heavy but I'm not regretting it in the slightest.  I will fully confess last night's dessert to me was better today than yesterday and I have no idea why, maybe I just wasn't as full or something, anyway I enjoyed it more.  The main course was a concoction made from more creamed corn.  I love corn and I love fresh corn off the cob, there is nothing like it it grills great and so sweet, it's loved by us all.  I am loving my iron skillet also it's opened up a few more recipe ideas and allows me to do a few more different things on the grill I wouldn't have done before.  A great buy to be honest and one you can do so much with it as the last week or so I've used it on several occasions.

Random early morning ponderings...

This post so isn't about food, it's just random thoughts I'm having this morning.  Yesterday we had our first roof estimate, chap was very nice, think I was talking into a lifetime roof, and in all honesty that tends to make sense when you are spending a lot of money on doing it why not get it done right?  After all neither of us really has any plans of ever wanting to move again.  No really I don't want to move again...too much like hard work thank you very much!  That and we are loving this house and neighborhood at the moment.  Now of course it's hard to say how it will end up being in 30 years but right now I love it.  And lets face it you put a lifetime roof it will add value in the long run to the house for anyone if we do end up selling it.  It's weird to be putting money into our on home but there ya go.  Oh and there is the tax rebate as well we will probably end up getting next year, which would be nice.  There are new rules and regulations out on roofs so we have to be a bit more energy efficient, honestly not a bad thing as long time it will benefit us with lower heat and cooling costs.

So today is still going to be warm, not up near the 100's of the last two days but still into the 90's.  At least I should be able to let the horde out into the garden for a bit this morning which will help, although their sleeping patterns haven't been too bad.  I did have to get up for Abi for a bit last night but I was able to let her stay in the crib, just had to put in a binky and stay with her about 5 minutes until she feel back into a good sleep, I've found if I don't do that I invariably have to get up again as she will just toss and turn toss and turn and eventually scream and cry ending up in not a lot of sleep for us.  I would rather just do the 5 10 minutes it takes to get her settled again, heck I made the mistake of not doing that a couple of nights ago and we ended up with her in bed with us for 2 hours tossing and turning.  Yeah I should let her cry but I just can't get over the fact that it will eventually wake Isabel and then it's a nightmare to have to get both back to sleep.  As it is if you get her crying early enough she doesn't wake too much of the household and my husband can get back to sleep.

I have a craving for red velvet cupcakes.  It has been a slow growing craving but I want to try to make some myself, I've found a recipe from another person's blog which just sounds fun and I am dying to try them out.  I also found out from the same blog which they are red...it's a chemical reaction from the coco powder and the buttermilk.  I'm going to try to make 2 batches I think one with red dye and one with none at all just for the fun of it and I may mix up the toppings and do some with cream cheese and others with more of a frosting.  Either way I want to have some fun with it.

I also cannot believe I made a cake successfully on the grill!  I kind of wish I had some white flour as opposed to whole wheat as it made it possibly a little drier and more grainy with the cornmeal, I will experiment more with this recipe me thinks and I honestly think it could have used a little more liquid although as it's a cake hard to judge. 

Whew bit too hot thanks!

The temperature has turned up a few notches the last couple of days so glad that we are still cooking out on the grill.  So the question some of you may be asking is what have I been cooking.  Well lets see Saturday night we repeated the honey wasabi shrimp because they were just so good last time, in actual fact my husband did a good job cooking those for us.  Sunday I made pizzas, yep you heard me right pizzas.  They were ok I messed up the dough a little so they weren't as flat as I would have liked and in a couple of places some weren't cooked all the way through because of the dough.  However they tasted great, I cooked off some bacon in my lovely iron skillet, removed the bacon then cooked an onion in the fat from the bacon, we then topped off the pizzas with cheese and some tomatoes with a little thyme for seasoning.  All in all great pizzas great taste next time I need to do better with the dough.

Then onto last night...fortunately I had bragged to Debbie earlier in the day about the shrimp we had on Saturday, so she bought a bag for us to make some for them to go along with the New York steaks my hubby had planned.  Then to top it all off we did a glazed cornbread cake.  Johnathon actually said this one was of the best meals we had done, which is a compliment indeed.  Might I add that making a cake on the grill was deemed very successful, not something I would have dreamed up in a million years but damn it was good.

Why is it fresh corn tastes so damn good on the grill...

Last night was had a feast having again the tea soaked chicken, (alright that's a definite new favorite, so quick easy and tasty), with grilled corn.  I have found that wrapping corn in foil after removing the husks, adding a little butter / margarine and a squeeze of lime or lemon juice they come out perfect every time.  I do move them around the grill a little and turn them but the butter helps to steam them along with the juice, if you want the grill marks after about 10 minutes you can remove the foil and grill them over the flame, it also helps that the girls love corn as well so it's one of our go to sides in the summer, as the chicken has been marinading since the morning it's a case of putting them all on the grill at once and about 15 minutes later your dinner is ready.  I also had a side of spinach for the adults with a nice dressing.

The coming week I have some interesting new recipes to try although I'm also throwing in some old favorites as well.  Tonight we are having the wasabi shrimp again after all it's fish night tonight :)  I'm actually doing three vegetarian meals over the next week, and that is because they just sound so yummy, and I'm adverse to eating vegetables, and those night's it's always interesting to see if the girls will eat it as well.  I'm also going to do my tandoori chicken, it's my version it's quick it's easy and about as authentic as I'm going to make it but that doesn't really matter does it?

The weather this year is definitely weird.  We are so much cooler this year than we normally are, not that there is anything wrong with that but it's weird.  However, by cooking outside and letting the girls run around outside as well we are keeping most of our bills down including the electric bill.  I'm certainly not making the house hot by having the oven on which helps, we aren't watching the tv so it's all good.

Warm weather...

I really don't do so well in the warm weather, I feel drained a lot and I really can sleep like a log, heck I didn't even notice my husband get up this morning or remember the alarm going off.  On the bright side the girls are sleeping well again and we aren't really having to get up too much for them at the moment, I say too much as it seems I have to get up once a night with a new binky for Abigail, however, just by giving her one and standing there for a couple of minutes she seems content to go back to sleep without too much fuss, which I will honestly take.

Anyway Monday we went out for dinner, not bad I had issues with all the additional charges they wanted to put on, doesn't really want to make me go back in a hurry to be honest, but I love their gyros and there really isn't anywhere else like that around here.

That then leads me onto last night, which was a lovely dinner of caprese style chicken with salad, eaten of course in the backyard.  The chicken was just rolled around mozzarella cheese, sliced tomato and basil.  All very light and refreshing, the left over cheese and basil went into a cheese and tomato plate with olive oil.  Tonight I will be doing some portabello mushroom burgers, not very hard either but hopefully tasty, oh and the obligatory salad to go on the side of that dish too :)

After a few days of not getting the paddling pool out I broke it out for the girls today.  It's nice to bring the pool out like every few days or so as it's then again something new to play with for them, plus I get a chance to dry out between dips:)

Weekend, father's day and no power

The weekend was pretty low key, we had grilled red snapper sandwiches, with a relish made from gardenia (pickled vegetables) for Saturday night's dinner.  Due to a very snotty child I opted to do the shopping solo leaving my husband to baby sit and do some of the chores, just as well we got everything done Saturday...Sunday we lost power from 9 am to 7 pm thanks to someone who decided to park their car up a power pole, fortunately I am back on my grill kick and had planned a dinner that was to be done on the grill anyway.  I was also barely able to get in my breakfast and a cup of tea before the blackout.  I have to say the grill rules, we had peruvian style steak, that basically comprised of skirt steak with potatoes, tomatoes and onions all just grilled with a little olive oil and then served with lime and cilantro, tasty, easy and delicious.  Unfortunately James had to work on Father's Day and it also meant with no power I was unable to call my dad either, so much for that day hehe.  Ah well there is always next year and lets face it it really doesn't mean much to the twins at the moment anyway.

Spanish chicken with tomato bread

What a lovely relaxing evening.  I think I'm in am amazing mood because of events earlier in the day which has me more stress free than normal.  The girls are in a great mood as well.  Dinner tonight was a grill out.  I have to confess tonight was probably one of the easiest quickest meals ever, grilled spanish chicken and tomato bread!  Debbie I will be sending this one your way.  Easy to do on the bbq and very quick to prepare, and clean up was a breeze.  My husband was over the moon with the whole experience and requested this one again.

Sending lots of love and best wishes to a friend of mine back in the UK right now...her 17 day old son is in hospital with a high temp, so far they have yet to figure out what is wrong but something seems to be a bit off with his gut somewhere, but everything up to this point has come back negative.  I wish them well as parenthood has not been easy for them to achieve.

Not about food...

So today I was invited by my next door neighbor to go with her and her two children to meet some more friends of hers and go to the park, I have to say I jumped at the opportunity and I'm so glad we went.  What a fabulous little park, a great climber for the little ones, and Diane's kids are fantastic with my two to the point where I was able to relax and take my eyes off of them for awhile and let the older kids watch over the younger ones and not run around :)

I was also introduced to two other mum's from the area, now all of the kids are quite a bit older than mine, the youngest being 4 but even still I found I had a lot in common with these women.  For starters age as they are all around the same age as I, I think the oldest of the group was 44 but it meant I was comfortable and we had a lot in common.  In fact one of her friends hails from Yorkshire, England...and we were both amazed at how both of us used to do field at school and a lot of sports.  I do believe I will be meeting up with all of these people again, in fact Claire has a pool and it may well be we taking them there so we can learn to swim!

The other funny facts, both Diane's husband and Roy across the street and I all share the same birthday...this was so good for me today, it felt good to meet new people and get out of the house, and I do believe we are on a good start to making new friends in the neighborhood.  I feel so blessed with this house all over again.  Ah life is good at times life is good.  Thank you to all the amazing people currently sharing life with us and for making it so special right now.

Left overs and a good burger

There was so much food left over from Monday night's extravaganza that I decided to use up the left overs Tuesday night.  I have to admit it was just as yummy the next night as it was the first and I still have more lamb left and I'm certainly not complaining!

Unfortunately when doing the girls breakfast this morning I ripped the tops of a couple of bananas, that meant they had to be used up today, oh what a shame, so dessert consisted of bananas foster, and yes I did flame them:)  I as a little lax as we had burgers with grilled cauliflower and I was going to add a guacamole, the last item there ending up on the table after we had finished eating the burgers oops.  Ah well it was still good.  My own recipe and I don't know the quantities :)  Oh if anyone wants links to the recipes I used on Monday night let me know, I have to admit the tagine chicken was really good along with it's corresponding couscous recipe.  The lamb doesn't really have a recipe as such but I have a link for that and the harrisa as well.  Lets just say the harrisa was good enough for my husband to say I'll make that again if you give me the recipe.

Tomorrow night I get to christen the iron skillet and I'm looking forward to it :)  I admit I have strayed from RR the last couple few days so I'm returning to her tomorrow night.

Epic Dinner...mechouia, coucha, tagine, farka...Tunisia!

Ah I have been looking forward to and planning this for it seems weeks, but it's finally the day, Tunisia!  The menu is a three course meal...(yes I really am that crazy).  We are going to start with brik a l'ouef, harrisa, olive oil and roasted garlic with bread and a mechouia salad, there will be some olives as well on the table to nibble on, this is known as meze, small dishes and is popular in the Mediteranian, I'm also throwing in a non traditional Tunisian dish made with ham, cheese and puff pastry.  We are then following this up with koucha, chicken tagine, and couscous, finally to finish the meal we are going to have farka.  So what exactly are these dishes?

Brik a l'oeuf is a deep fried package of pastry (a cross between phylo and egg roll wrappers), as you cannot get the pastry for these in the US I'm substituting egg roll wrappers, inside the pastry is tuna wrapped around an egg, these are then deep fried in oil (oh so not healthy but a traditional starter).  Harissa is a condiment made from hot peppers, garlic, olive oil and caraway seed, at least that's my version :)  And the final starter is mechouia salad, this is a roasted pepper and eggplant dish, and yes it contains spicier peppers along with bell peppers. 

Koucha/coucha, I've seen is spelled with both a k and a c is mainly lamb roasted in a low oven in a clay earthenware pot.  The lamb has been rubbed with paprika, cayenne, thyme and rosemary.  The clay pot is sealed and the lamb cooks in it's own juices.  I'm so looking forward to this dish it's not even funny.  Tagine is fairly basic chicken cooked with tomatoes, onions, garlic and a few other spices.  To go with the tagine and koucha I'm making up some couscous that will have some spices and the addition of tangerines, and to help cool things down I'll add a dollop of yogurt as well, (alright I forgot the yogurt).

The finale will be farka which is a dish made from couscous, dates and nuts served with warm milk and sugar.  I guess it's like a version of rice pudding.  I actually made the first dish on Saturday, Sunday I had a day off then started cooking around 6 am...yep you read that right 6 am!  That's not to say I've been working my butt off because I've had a lot of time in between courses and dishes to sit and chill and give the girls a nap.

Dinner overall was successful!  Most items were well received and the surprising hit was the harrisa.

Sometimes I amaze myself

There are times I am totally amazed by the meals I make, tonight's dinner was one of those wow moments.  For those that have been following me they know that this has been a week of wow's and now we are starting a new week with our first WOW!  Tonight's offering, parmesan crusted swordfish skewers, loved by us all, and the girls even ate some of the zucchini!  That they were eating the veggies amazed me for sure.  I love grilling!  The clean up is a breeze and we eat outside minimizing the clean up as well.  I will be breaking my cook out run on Monday but so far grilling is a hit and we do better with consumption as well.  Rachael Ray's magazine issue for June/July is all about the outdoors and I can tell you at the rate we are going we may end up doing every recipe in the issue.

Today I also invested in a cast iron pan, the reason for this will be apparent in the coming weeks, Matt you are going to appreciate this new addition to the family.  In addition my clay pot arrived in one piece, that means I'm all set for Monday's extravaganza.  I've started preping a little for the meal already to cut down on the amount of work I will do on the actual day, and if everything turns out as great as the little dish I've made so far we are in good shape.  The truth of the matter is Monday can't come soon enough I'm so itching to cook the menu I have planned, and the little taster I've had so far I'm looking forward to it even more.

More outdoor grilling

So the temperature is rising again, which means I'm looking to reduce the heat factor at home.  Probably going to pick up a 2nd gas tank...that way we have a spare when one runs out and we don't have to go running for gas in a hurry.  I'm certainly contemplating the idea of creating a stone table or something outside near the grill to give me more counter space when I'm grilling, wonder how much something like that would cost us to build.

Last weeks dinners were a huge hit with everyone including the little mites so lets see if I can impress again.  Today's presentation included grilled chicken legs (1 breast) coated with some fennel seed and a mix herb, the creamed corn from Wednesday was finally used up!  That was worth the effort making the one night and I was able to add more corn to the relish from Thursday to make more than enough for all of us.  Monday night will be the exception to the grill rule as I will taking us to Tunisia, I have to say I am terribly excited and I do hope I don't disappoint myself.  I will post up a copy of the menu after the event, I don't want to ruin the fun for some people (I know I'm evil).  My secret weapon of choice should also be delivered tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to exploring the possibilities after Monday.  All shall be revealed later I promise.

Good week so far...

This week every meal so far has been a hit, I had some vegetable skewers made up for James and the girls when I went out for dinner on Tuesday night, they were a hit, (no recipe for these as I make it up as I go along), although the basic concept is a little oil, a little agave syrup, some kind of juice (lemon or lime), some mustard a dash of a gourmet honey lime sauce and this time I added a little pineapple juice, and a mix of vegetables (mushrooms, peppers, onions).  Now I did cheat a little this meal and did the rice on the stove top, although in my defense I could have used the grill burner, but as I don't have a hand timer yet, so much easier to do it inside.

So last night we had oh these delightful chipotle-corn turkey burgers, I have a love hate relationship with turkey burgers and ground turkey, some cases I've had hits, other cases I've found them to be a bit on the dry side.  These ones were some of the best I've made!  I was a little worried about the chipotle for the girls so I substituted bbq in their burgers, I shouldn't have worried as they were not that bad so I think next time I will save myself the extra step.  The whole flavor was just outstanding.

Now given I have corn left from last night's dinner (I did plan on this!), I'm making grilled pork chops and poblano-and-corn relish which I'm looking forward to, specially as some of the work is already done for me.  I have some extra veggies for the grill as well either way oh yum!

An instant hit..

A new recipe for today, tea-soaked chicken...about all anyone could say for this dish was wow.  Moist, tender and full of flavor, a great hit with the whole crowd from every age group at the table.    Debbie came up with a lovely cucumber and tomato salad and an asian lettuce salad which complimented the meat so perfectly.  Then we indulged for dessert with grilled strawberry cheesecake.  Dinner and dessert divine and both recipes keepers in all our books.  It's so wonderful to be able experiment and try things that just sound interesting sometimes.

Garden Grilling...

This week it's all about grilling out in the garden.  Partly to take advantage of our wonderful weather, and partly to keep the temperature down in the house by not using the stove.  Tonight's offering is going to be honey and wasabi shrimp skewers...I'm going to gill up some baby bok choy as well so it is going to be somewhat interesting to see how it all comes together.

I've finally gotten to see something of my husband today (does a little dance), although we had to post pone his nap when he got home from work to babysit Abi while I took Isabel off to the Dr.  Nothing too serious just a little pink eye (conjunctivitus), but enough so that we wanted to get something for it, and I'm praying noone else gets it although the Dr kindly added a refill on the prescription just in case Abi comes down with it, like her thinking as I would not appreciate having to go back for the other child knowing exactly what is wrong :)

It's been a weird week specially as last week we had James all the time and to go from all to nothing has been a challenge and I was feeling it.  Things should be fairly sane next week and with a bit of luck we can make some calls about a roofing contractor to come and replace the roof.  It's gonna be a big project but one that really cannot be put off.  Put off Tunisia for a week for a number of reasons, but, going to do a tea soaked chicken dish which sounds very interesting, I will start the soak Monday morning, oh yeah baby!

Tons of ideas...

I think I have my menu for Monday and it's gonna be a crazy meal, but I hope worth it, but crazy, I can say I'm looking forward to it.  I should be starting our dinner soon, tandoori chicken (it's been marinading since yesterday morning in yogurt, spices and lemon juice).  I'm going to throw some rice on the oven and make a sauce to go with it, we have pita which will substitute nicely for naan, I know it's not traditional but it will work.  The girls quite like curry so they will be happy.  My poor husband is exhausted after a rough night getting Abigail to sleep, although once she finally went down at 12:20 for real that was the end of any disturbances for the night thank goodness.

I have a confession I think Tunisia is so far my favorite destination on the wheel of randomness, I'm so excited to try some of the dishes.  The cuisine is influenced by the Mediteranian, Northern Africa and the middle east, there is a lot of variety there and something that really does excite me for some reason.  I have a feeling I will be looking for more meal ideas from there in the future depending on how well that dinner goes.  I have some standby dishes as well for the discerning appetites but I hope people give the dishes a try.

Tunisia...

Takes a deep breath.  Ok this one is proving already to be a challenge, but not from lack of availability, just doing a little research I'm already drooling...the trouble is not sure how much of what I've seen so far would be eaten by other people.  Couscous their national dish so I will have to include that, I have seen one I like, but I know it says you can use things other than lamb but oh lamb how I love thee and miss thee.  I might put one lamb dish on the table...but it will have to be a small dish, I think only Matt will join me in eating that one although the girls might also have a bit.  Hmmm, dollar store might be worth investigating too...I'm thinking I'm going to need a bunch of smaller serving dishes.  My real concern with this is biting off more than I can chew and going overboard and doing too much, then I have the complication of I have to cook all of this stuff too.  Oh but does it look good!  Oh and the temperature is going to be up as well so I don't want the oven on all day and and argh!  But grazing meals just sounds so tempting, lots of little dishes for people to try if they don't like one thing they can try another.  I really want to step out of people's comfort zones a bit but aware they have to eat this as well.  This is a challenge when you are cooking with kids in mind, although, I could keep make sure I have an alternate option just in case...

Humms and hars when we get out in the backyard I'm going to have a good look and try to plan my menu.  I think this one is going to be a cool evening and could introduce people to things they have never tried before, which is really the whole point in going around the world.

I'm trying...

It's not easy right now, I feel like a single parent...on the bright side at least at night the girls are cooperating and sleeping fairly well and I've yet to have to cope with both of them waking up (and I bet I just jinxed myself for tonight).  Spent a long evening outside and hoping I've worn them out enough, soon I'll be waking the other half for the bedtime routine and praying...

Dinner tonight, well blew chunks I really did not like the halibut which is a shame I normally love Trader Joes stuff, but it just didn't work for me or the girls.  Pity I was looking forward to trying it, the redemption was some garlic bread from costco and the salad but overall disappointing, better doing my own thing, tomorrow should be an improvement tandoori chicken.

Relishing in homemade foods again...

So having spent a week on the road and now a week back home both James and I are relishing in home cooked food.  For awhile there my stomach wasn't appreciating the abuse, oh I wasn't sick or anything just bloating and general not feeling as healthy I guess.  It's so nice to be in control again more than anything.  Today I had the last of my sandwiches to use up the broccoli sprouts from last week, the girls will get ham sandwiches or a cooked meal depending on the temperature of the day, right now they are enjoying fish nuggets from Trader Joes, (love that they eat fish!).  Oh a follow up on my cheesecake (did I mention I made another one?), that one so did not turn out half as well as my first attempt, next one will include the full fat cream cheese again and I need to figure a way out to prevent water seeping in from the banmarie, it wasn't a good thing, the cheesecake was a bit more dense and I missed the crunch on the base from the water (although the lower fat content might have had something to do with the texture), the taste was spot on tho so if at first or something like that.