It was a cooking extravaganza!

OK, maybe not, but do you ever get those days when you are just in a cooking mood?

I usually don't mind preparing meals -- it's creative, it's fast, and there's a decent payoff at the end -- but this was one of those days when I REALLY felt like cooking. I try to make the most of it when these sorts of moods hit, because I know they will leave just as quickly as they came!

It started when I realized we had no bread to give the kids toast for breakfast before Mass. Rats. That meant we'd either have to buy some when we got doughnuts after Mass, or I could just bump up my bread making day one day early and do it today. I was going to be in the kitchen anyway, so why not?

That, of course, would require me to grind some more wheat. Again, not a big deal since I would be in the kitchen anyway, so why not?

And since I had the grinder out anyway, I might as well grind a bit extra so I could try a new bread recipe I wanted to do for supper this evening...

And while I was doing all that anyway, I might as well whip up some granola since we didn't have any cereal either...

So with the windows open, and the kids happily playing outside, I settled in for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon of cooking! First, I made a double batch of granola (it always turns out dark like this, but it tastes fantastic!) that the kids can add chocolate chips and raisins to and eat it plain or sprinkled on top of yogurt.

Then I made our usual bread for the week...

... and then I got to try out my new recipe: Schlotzsky's deli bread! I love their veggie sandwich on wheat, and I was wanting to try to make my own version of it for some time now. My bread didn't rise quite as nicely as the picture they showed... I'm not sure why... since you can see my other bread did just fine. hmmmm.

Oh well. I cut it open...

...brushed a little bit of olive oil on both sides, then added cheddar cheese and black olives (although next time I think I'll try a tiny bit of butter instead of the oil)...

...and layered on the onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach leaves, and a little ranch dressing.

I made two of these sandwiches... cut both into eighths... and we had that as a side to the main attraction: Minestrone soup from the New England Soup Factory cookbook. This book is seriously becoming a fast favorite. I've tried about 6 different soups so far, and loved every one of them! As an added bonus, her recipes all serve "8 to 10," which means that I can make it for my family and have LEFTOVERS! whoo hoo! (I mean, look at the picture... I have to cook it in the TURKEY pan, for goodness' sake! That's a LOT of soup...)

 

After that I was completely "cooked out." 

As we packed up all the food after dinner, I looked in the refrigerator and said, "Guys, it looks like we're having leftovers for the next couple of days...". Nobody seemed to mind. Kathryn was especially glad, since she's claimed the last wedge of veggie sandwich for her breakfast tomorrow.. *grin* 

Home Cooking

We have had the blessing of many, many meals brought over after Joseph's birth, and I am so thankful for the love and care that went into each one of them. However, after four weeks my family is missing "Mom cooking," so I'm cooking a simple supper tonight -- burritos, with a side of rice and black beans. A great culinary experience it is not.

And yet...

One by one, my children have come into the kitchen, bent their heads over the pots on the stove, and exclaimed, "Oh, this smells so good!" (Sean actually proclaimed it to be "heavenly"... God bless him!)

After they left I smiled as I stirred the food, and I thought:

"By virtue of my office, I dictate what home is for ten people."

I'm not a master chef, and yet the way *I* cook is the way my children think things are supposed to taste.

The way I fold clothes is the "proper" way to do it.

The atmosphere I create here forms what my family considers to be home.

What a privilege! To think that I, just mucking around doing my job, am somehow forming their lifelong perceptions of how things should be is stunning. I shouldn't be stunned, because after all these years, I am still trying to do things the way MY mom did them. No one can make roast beef and browned potatoes the way my mom does. Her meatloaf is the standard by which I judge all others. I set up my kitchen based on how she set up hers. I fold clothes the way she does.

It makes sense to me that I should emulate her, but it's mind-boggling to me when I realize that I've got eight little ones following ME, watching and learning.

It covers much more than simple homemaking, however. Many, many times I have caught a glimpse of my children watching me as I pray, or read the Bible, or participate in Mass. What are they seeing in me? What sorts of lifelong perceptions of God have they formed in their heads because of my actions?

May the Lord repair what I've done badly, and may He bless all the good that has been done in this family!

Anyone else inspired?

I am thrilled to see that Money Saving Mom and her dh were able to buy their first home WITH CASH. I think that's one of the most inspirational financial success stories I've heard in quite some time! Many congratulations to MMM and her family!!!

Over at Grocery Shrinks, there is a great link to a tutorial (from Little Green Notebook) on how to convert those cheap ugly blinds into Roman shades. This is exactly what I needed! I've got fabric on roller shades right now, but I'm tired of having to replace the rollers every two years or so, and I think turning that fabric into Roman shades would work wonderfully well!

My only "inspirational" bit to contribute is that I was able to make 2 batches of blueberry jam this weekend. My family is LOVING IT. The taste is so much better than store bought I have to say that I think I've permanently spoiled my family. I can only hope that somehow we can save some of this jam I've been making for the winter! (I've got 29 jars of strawberry and blueberry jam tucked away in the pantry. The only other fruit I want to try to make into jam is peach -- living in South Carolina, it would be almost a sin not to, doncha think?)

I wish my garden would produce enough food for me to learn how to can vegetables but alas, it's just not going to happen. We have way too much shade in our yard -- a good thing for South Carolina summers and keeping our house cool, but totally wrong for trying to grow a fabulous garden. I seem to be able to grow peppers (jalapenos, that is) and some herbs small containers, but that's about it.

Where did the past week go?

I've been keeping myself pretty busy, obviously!

The strawberry season is winding down, but I was able to get myself going this past weekend and make TWO batches of strawberry jam!

That bumps our total to twenty jars of strawberry jam (since we opened one already and ate it). What does one do with that much jam, you may ask? I'm not sure, since jam is not one of those crucial staples here in our house, but as I was canning I kept hearing this voice in a very clipped British accent going through my head:

"Dear me, Jenkins! It's the apocalypse! Thank heavens someone thought ahead to make jam!"

I found it rather funny...

Anyway, like I said before, I'm doing this for the experience more than anything else. Now, if I had some massive garden out back and was able to can fifty quarts of tomatoes or something like that, THEN I would feel like I had accomplished something. We go through so many tomatoes each week, it would be a great help if I were able to can my own.

Oh well. Strawberry jam it is.

In other food news, after watching this video umpteen times (points if you see the picture of Madonna and Child!) **You may want to click through to see this on youtube instead... I can't get the width right..**



my kids started asking if we could ever have tabbouleh. I've made it before (from a box) and truth be told, they hated it. However, they asked several times, so I decided to do a "theme night." I got a recipe for tabbouleh, falafel, and pita bread, and started cooking. We paired it up with some Turkish music:



...and had a fantastic meal! I have to say, homemade tabbouleh and falafel (and pita bread) tastes a WHOLE lot better than boxed stuff...

Does anyone else do theme nights, or are we just a bit weird over here?

To boldly go where I have never gone before

I realize that canning is routine for most people, but I have always had a fear of it. After reading so many different articles and books on canning, I had this dread in the back of my head that somehow I'd do it wrong, and my whole family would wind up with a horrible case of food poisoning.

But, with the encouragement of my friends, and almost 3 hours worth of work (I'll explain that part in a minute..)

SUCCESS! Homemade strawberry jam!

Yes, I have that same "look what mine hands hath wrought" sort of feeling that I got the first time I made pudding from scratch (are you sensing a theme, here? It was a milestone moment of my cooking career...)

OK, so WHY THREE HOURS worth of work?

Well, my flat-top stove just doesn't like to co-operate with me, especially when the pans that I'm using are not suited for it. My mom had given me an old canning pot, and it took TWO HOURS to get the water to boil. TWO HOURS! That was incredibly frustrating. The actual work itself was much, much less than that.

In the long run, did I save any money? No, not really. By the time you factor in all the ingredients, I'd have to say each jar cost about $2. However, I went in to this for the learning experience and to be able to provide something homemade for my family. It is nice to know that with this particular batch of jam, I know everything that went into it and what sort of cleanliness standards were involved. That actually means quite a bit to me. Having worked in several food establishments, I know that -- even though the people I worked with were very conscientious -- there would have been nothing stopping me from touching the food with filthy hands (or doing something worse) if I had been the malicious sort. Sad, but really true.

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On a completely different note, I just had to share these pictures!

On Saturday, I was greeted with screams of "there's a cicada killer in the house!" As you are probably aware, these are majorly big wasps. As I made my way into the kitchen, I found these brave folks ready to do battle with it:

Truth be told, however, they chickened out once they heard it buzzing rather ferociously in the bathroom (it was stuck behind the shower curtain) and yours truly had to finally finish it off.

Finally, in the "no good deed goes unpunished" category, poor Christopher tried to comfort his little sister (who had been having a rough afternoon) by reading to her, only to have this happen...

He was rather uncomfortable and had to be rescued so that he could get up and let Grace take a much-needed nap.

Thursday ramblings

I'm sure everyone is just anxious to know if our new Lenten project is working or not.

I'm pleased to say that so far, it's been a great success (thanks for asking!) In fact, Kathryn just came in a minute ago and said, "Mom, it's gorgeous outside! As soon as Reilly and I donate our five minutes, can we go out and play?" I'm hearing words I NEVER thought I'd hear in this house, such as, "Wow! This carpet really needs vacumming! I'll go do that and then I think I'll wipe down a few windows!"

Seriously, I think I'm going to cry...

Cleaning aside, however, what I REALLY want us to learn through all this is the value of little mortifications -- that saying "wait" to ourselves when we're anxious to do whatever is a great way to learn to master our appetites and desires. I keep telling the kids that the day will come when they will be faced with a big temptation -- something that appeals to them on every level, and the counsel on all sides will be to go for it. It is in that moment that all this training will pay off. They will have conditioned themselves, so that it will be easier for them to turn away and say no.

That is my prayer.


In other news, I made those chicken tenders again. WONDERFUL, just like last time... although this time I finally wised up (duh) and cut all the meat at one time, dumped it into the bowl with the batter all at once, and then used a spoon to drop it in the hot oil. Last time I did everything in batches, and spent over an hour and half cooking the darn things, as well as having to wash my hands constantly. Blech. This time it was one mess, one handwashing, and only 40 minutes worth of work to cook up over 4 lbs of chicken. Yippee!

Spending that much time in the kitchen isn't a waste for me. When the kids are otherwise entertained, I use that "alone time" to read. I just finished He Leadeth Me, and am currently reading Mark Shea's trilogy Mary, Mother of the Son. While the style is not as conversational as some of his other books that I've read (Making Senses out of Scripture and By What Authority?), I am enjoying the books greatly. When I'm finished with these I think I'll go back and finish Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth, and then... who knows? Maybe I'll jump into some of the Early Church Fathers again.

So many books, so little time...

Who's with me?

Wow... turns out that Faith & Family also had a post yesterday about making things from scratch! Great minds think alike, huh? *grin*

Anyway, in that post she links to A Year of Slow Cooking, which takes us all step-by-step through making yogurt in the crockpot!

I guess I have no excuse now... I'm going to have to give it a shot. I'm thinking this is going to be a weekend project (barring major sicknesses... typhoons... or me forgetting to buy whole milk at the grocery store)

I'm not turning anti-social!

I just can't figure out WHY blogger decided to stop notifying me of comments posted on my blog. So, in an effort to make sure that no comment gets unnoticed... and no one feels unappreciated when they graciously took the time to stop by and write something.... I am putting comments on "waiting for moderator approval." Hopefully THEN at least I'll know that someone left a comment, and I can respond quickly!

So, please be patient while I try to figure this out. In the meantime, I'll try to check FREQUENTLY for comments.


In the meantime, please continue to leave any and all great ideas for homemade food!

In our house, I make a lot of our own bread, and I do grind my own wheat. (Suburban Cowgirl, you'd love it!) That one change alone made me want to cook more from scratch for my family!

I also make salsa and pico de gallo... my own spaghetti sauce... granola... cookies... brownies... hot chocolate mix... and other things like that. I haven't made a huge lifestyle change, but I do try to make more things from scratch than not. I have not, however, crossed the line and made my own yogurt or pasta (hey there, Malia!), and I have not wandered into that sacred zone of "making my own crescent rolls," as she does on a regular basis. (they take SIX HOURS to make!!!)

I also make my own laundry detergent and cleaning products. Vinegar, baking soda, and tea tree oil truly do work wonders when you're cleaning up around the house.

But, I'm still buying crackers... and cereal... and too many things to mention that are filled with high-fructose corn syrup and a whole host of other ingredients that I'd probably rather not be feeding my children. We eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and don't ever buy soda, but sadly I can't say that we "eat healthy."


I do have to share one funny story: I was reading Martha Stewart Living and stumbled across a recipe for pudding. I was flabbergasted... I had no idea anyone could make pudding from scratch! (sad, I know...) So, I whipped up my first batch and was so pleased with myself that I called my mom and proudly announced, "Mom! Guess what I just did!!! I made pudding! Look what mine hands hath wrought!" Needless to say, she was less than amazed. I tried to explain that no, this wasn't BOXED pudding, it was REAL pudding... still, the amazement just wasn't there.

Oh well. If I'm ever on a deserted island and have no access to a grocery store (and yet miraculously have all the fixins' on hand), never you fret. This chick can whip up a batch of pudding.

Labor of Love

I bought a bag of overripe bananas at the grocery store today. With Kathryn's help we turned that banana stash into....

Four loaves of banana bread (for breakfasts) and banana pudding (for dessert tonight).

Why is this a labor of love?

Because I cannnot STAND the smell or taste of bananas. I won't be eating a bit of this.

But it's a small way I can let my husband know how much I love him. He is one of those rare few who is content to do little acts of kindness without letting anyone know about it (unlike me, who seems to be posting about hers! *ahem*) He amazes me with how he can go through the day, serving in big and small ways, without ever wanting to stand on the table and shout out, "Hey! Somebody better be appreciating all that I'm doing here!" (oh, that is so me I hate to admit it... but there it is... )

So if I can return the favor... even in just a small way... but stomaching the smell of bananas and making all of this, then it was truly worth it indeed.

[Now, I just need to check and see if I can freeze banana bread... otherwise, my family will be eating a ton of bread this week!

OK, I checked. Yes you can. Whew!]

Some favorites

My "food photography" abilities are basically nonexistent, so I will offer you this photo (and this recipe) from Cooking Light. It is one of my favorite magazines and this recipe is truly wonderful. Trust me. Make it. Your family will thank you.


Reading Elizabeth Foss' blog is dangerous business. Not only will she inspire the heck out of you with her words of wisdom and incredibly creative homeschooling ideas, she will also point you to all sorts of fun links that you just HAVE to visit, and then you'll find even more wonderful ideas that just make your head spin.

Case in point: 2 Peas in a Bucket.

OK, someone help me.

I am a font junkie.

I held myself back... I really did!... and limited myself to 3 new fonts to play with. (I could easily justify six dollars). And then I started playing. I pulled out some fun scrapbooking paper I bought recently and started redoing all the binders that have bugged me for years, like my recipe binder (here's the new and improved version)



Then I decided to make my own address book. I've got an electronic version, but there's just something about having an actual BOOK that means so much more to me. I go completely nuts in stationery stores, oohing and aahing over paper, journals, address books, etc. However, it isn't very often that I find one that has everything I want in it, in a font that I find attractive, etc etc etc. So, I decided to whip up one this weekend and play with it.


Here's the inside, and you'll just have to forgive the horrible picture. For some reason, the flash makes everything look horrible, so I have to go for the no flash mode, and it comes out blurry.


It's still very much a "work-in-progress." I've got tabs for websites, dates to remember, gift ideas, Christmas card lists, etc.

I'm toying with the idea of taking it down to the printer and having them spiral bind the final product, but then I'm left with the problem of not being able to replace pages if (gasp!) a mistake is made, or someone moves, or whatever. Or if I have to put someone in and they are out of alphabetical order. Grrr. Hate that.

[If you want to know how flaky I can really be, I'll confess that in high school, if I made ANY mistake while taking notes, I would TEAR. OUT. THE. PAGE. and start over. Yes, I really would. Now you can see a bit of why living in a small house with a LOT of chaos and visual clutter in the form of children's stuff just drives me NUTS!]

But the point of this post is not to highlight my flakiness (however amusing that might be!), but to direct your attention to some fun sites. I hope you have as much fun browsing as I did!

No knead bread recipe

I found this recipe and video from Homespun Living (a fantastic blog that never fails to inspire me!), and she claims that the recipe really is as easy (and as wonderful) as it looks. I wasn't going to post this until I had actually tried it, but it seemed too wonderful to keep it to myself.

If you try it before the week is over, let me know! (I hope I will have gotten around to trying it myself by then but, as you know, life with a newborn is rarely predictable!)

What on earth is going on in my kitchen?

Welcome to a new great toy for kids... a bucket full of 25 lbs of wheat berries!



Mommy, they won't let me get in there!



Seriously. It was a child magnet. Every single one of them (you can't even SEE poor Kathryn in the picture! She's buried in there next to Reilly) was compelled to put their hands in the bucket, wriggling their fingers and straining to see if they could reach the bottom.

I know, you're asking yourself, "Wheat berries? Does that mean that Ouiz is becoming one of those 'make everything from scratch' types?"

Hardly.

I am, however, pleased to say that my neighbor and I have gone in together to buy a wheat mill. She needed to get one for health reasons (for one of her children) and I jumped on this chance to be able to go in "halfsies" and use it as well.

I have a friend who has one (yeah, you know who you are!) and she makes the most incredible bread. I have used the same recipe for years now, and while my bread turns out pretty decent (I must say), the texture and taste *is* noticibly different with freshly ground wheat.

On days when I actually make bread (and don't think this happens on a weekly basis!), the kids hang around the kitchen, just waiting for the loaves to come out of the oven. If I play my cards right and get the whole process started in the morning, I can have fresh bread by lunchtime -- which then consists of warm bread with honey or crunchy peanut butter on top, with a hot cup of tea. For the kids, there is no finer lunch around!

So, I'll have to keep you posted on how our neighborhood "experiment" goes...