I am a recipe collector. It has started getting out of hand years ago when I used to sell Pampered Chef. In the package you get at least one recipe with every product purchased. So, after the holidays, when everyone went back to work and school, I took all my recipe books off the shelf and started taking them apart. I cut out and kept the recipes I knew I would make and put the rest of the pile in the recycle bin. Someday I will put together my very own cookbook. Right now they just live in a binder. There were a few we had never tried before. One of the Pampered Chef recipes I found is Asian Beef Noodles. It sounded very easy and fast. I can't remember which product this particular recipe came with:
1 pound lean boneless beef top round steak, cut into 1/4-inch strips (I used sirloin because that's what I had on hand) 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed 2 small pieces (1/2-inch) fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped 2 cups water 2 packages (3 ounces each) baked beef flavor ramen noodles 3 cups broccoli florets 2 carrots, sliced 2 green onions
Heat stir-fry (or large non-stick skillet) over medium heat until hot. Lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Stir-fry beef, half at a time, 3-4 minutes. Remove beef from skillet; set aside
Add garlic and ginger to skillet; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add water; bring to boil. Add noodles, broken into pieces, broccoli, carrots and seasoning packets from ramen noodles.
Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer 3 minutes or until noodles are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Return beef to skillet; heat through. Sprinkle with green onions.
Serves 6. Copyright: The Pampered Chef, Ltd., 2001
Everyone liked it. I liked that is was quick and easy to make. I thought it was a little salty. I don't think it was quite 6 servings. You could probably add just about any vegetables you like and it would be good. You could probably also make it with chicken. I would make it again!
#1 - Christmas! Need I say more? Well, I will anyway. Christmas parties, shopping, wrapping, hosting, decorating, cooking, eating, etc.
#2 - Christmas Knitting
On Jim's side of the family we draw names and give homemade gifts. I usually knit something for the person I draw and Jim usually helps the boys build something for their cousins. I planned ahead. I started my gift knitting just after Halloween. I finished two weeks before Christmas. I thought that was good planning on my part. I wanted to enjoy the holiday and not feel rushed. Well, Jim had an unusually busy time in his workshop this year. He and his friend started making these Oil Vials this fall on their lathes. they are made out of real olive wood from Jerusalem.They took some orders from people in the neighborhood and from family. After a few weeks word spread and they got more orders. They kept getting orders until about a week before Christmas. In total, they turned about 120 oil vials! That kept him super busy. Needless to say he was unable to help the boys with their Christmas projects. That leads me to...
#3 - Last-Minute Christmas Knitting Just when I thought I was going to be able to have some fun time before Christmas, I started realizing The boys needed help with their gifts. I spent most of my evenings knitting the cutest things for my niece and grand-niece. The first got a cute, pink, felted purse and the second got some adorable, purple, kitty slippers. The third cousin got a store bought present. It needed to travel to St George so we decided that would be OK.
#4 - Jib Jab I meant to post some of the crazy videos we made for Christmas on the blog but was having too much fun with the boys once they started their vacation. I rarely get on the computer anymore because they are all on facebook. And, Kyle had discovered that he can watch past seasons of his favorite shows on Netflix. It's not my computer anymore. But on the bright side, and a little late, here's some funny Christmas cheer...
Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!
#5 - Jim's Favorite Time of Year Most of Jim's company shuts down the week between Christmas and New Year. Jim looks forward to this all year long. We love having this time to spend together as a family. You can usually find us hanging out at home, in our jammies, playing with our new Christmas toys. But this year was slightly different. The boys earned some money and used it to buy season passes to a local ski resort. They headed to the slopes as much as they could during their time off from school. All they needed from us was a ride up to the shuttle stop in Eden, UT. We tried to split the drop offs and pick up's with other parents in the neighborhood so we didn't have to go up there twice in one day. They are LOVING it!
#6 - Happy New Year We have found a fun New Year tradition that works for us. It is something my family used to do when I was really little. We get together with friends in the neighborhood and have a multi-family sleep-over. We play games, watch movies and eat way too much. When midnight comes, we let the little kids jump on sheets of bubble wrap. It sounds like fireworks but we don't have to go outside in the cold. This year we didn't get to do the sleep-over but we did everything else. I spent most of the day slicing, dicing and preparing. The New Year spread is quite comparable to the usual Super Bowl spread. We started pretty early and it had to last all night so it is nice to have a lot of yummy snacks readily available. It was a super fun night and a super sleepy January 1st!
#7 - Austin's Eagle Project Austin LOVES animals. When he was deciding what he wanted to do for his project he knew he wanted it to help animals in some way. When we were at the county fair we stopped at the Davis County Animal Shelter booth and asked them about projects. The lady took our number and we went up to see here at the shelter. She showed us the bland cat room. She asked if we could do something to brighten things up and make something for the cats to play on.
Austin was Super excited about this. So excited he could hardly wait until after the holidays to get started. But that was something he needed to do because Jim was so busy with his other projects. We finally got started with the building. It is nice to have two other scouts in the house to help out with the labor!
On the day before his 18th birthday we headed to the shelter and installed these colorful, playful boxes for the cats to play on. The people at the shelter were so appreciative and we had so much fun with the cats while we were there. We got Austin's paperwork signed just a few hours before he officially turned 18! He still needs his board of review and we will probably have his Eagle Court of Honor this summer after Kyle completes his project. We can have them both at the same time.
#8 - Shoveling Snow We were worried about this winter because we didn't have a white Christmas. The day after Christmas it started snowing and has snowed in regular intervals since then. We don't get too much because we are so far west but The walks and driveway still need to be shoveled or it turns into a frozen slab of ice. Generally the best time to shovel is the middle of the day (as long as it is not snowing at the time) so the driveway has time to drain and dry before the sun starts going down and it starts to freeze. That means I get to be the shoveler because I am the only one home at that time of day. I usually don't mind it as long as I can stay warm. It just takes some time because we have a very wide driveway!
#9 - Reality Check, Again... As soon as the days start getting cold and very short, I start to feel yucky. That's my cue that it is time to visit the doctor again. We switched up some meds and I got my yearly chest x-ray and heart ultrasound. He also wants me to go and get a lung function test so we can make sure we know if I start getting pulmonary hypertension (but I keep forgetting to make that appointment). As long as I stay warm, get plenty of rest, take my meds and take my daily walk, I feel good - normal - well, at least my "new normal".
And #10 - We Bought a Business I have always been very reluctant to make my boys go out and get an after school job. I feel like right now their job is to work hard at school, work hard at scouts and work hard at whatever their other interest is at the time. For a while it was sports and music. It still kind of is but things have shifted over the years. I want my boys to be well rounded but I also want them to be hard workers. Kyle had a early morning paper route for a little over three years. He was able to use his savings to buy a car.
Jim has a friend at work that started this business with his family. Now his kids are grown and have gone away to college. He mentioned it to Jim and they sent some work our way. We started by cleaning out foreclosed homes for banks. We have done about six. Some are pretty gross. Others are not too bad. It is something we can do on a Saturday for a couple hours and the boys can each earn just about as much as they would flipping burgers. They can still do their normal weekday stuff and homework. It's win/win. The other part of their business is putting up the posts and signs for real estate agents. We officially bought the inventory and data for their business called Kizmet Clean Up and Kizmet Posts.
We are now the proud owners of about 200 vinyl 6-foot posts and all the tools and equipment that goes along with the business. We get an email from an agent when they want a post up or down. We have a check list of things to do. I make a little packet of paperwork and after school the boys, usually Kyle, head out to put up the post. Some days we don't get an email. Some days, like yesterday, we get seven! In a month or so, as soon as I get the hang of being a business owner, I will probably start doing a little bit of marketing to build a bigger client list.
I think this will be a good thing for the next few years. I think it is important for the boys to learn to work. I also think it is important for them to feel like they have some ownership in the work they do. And I think it is important that they see the rewards from hard work. I like that they were able to buy their own season passes for the ski resort. I like that they are also saving some of that money for their future.
* * * * * * *
Now that things are settling down a bit, I hope to write more often. (If I do the posts won't be so long!) I also hope all is well with everyone and that the New Year brings wonderful things for you and your loved ones!
I haven't posted a menu in a few weeks because the last few weeks have not been worth sharing. No offense to Rachel Ray and Kraft, but not everything they create is a hit with our family.
But today will be a hit! I know because I have tasted it before. I just haven't made it for the family. Thanks to my Freezer Meal group, I how have the opportunity to serve it to my family AND I didn't even have to make it! I just pulled it out of the freezer, let it thaw and warmed it up! (I love those women and the dinners they prepare!)
Today we will be having White Chicken Chili. It's original origins are unknown. My friend, Brenda, got the recipe from a neighbor who's recipe card had the name "Charlotte Dopp" on it. So, to you, Charlotte Dopp, whoever you are, we say a big thank you from our family and everyone in our neighborhood who has enjoyed this chili over the years!
White Chili 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast 1 medium onion 1 Tablespoon oil 2 cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed 2 (4 oz) cans chopped green chilies 1 (14 oz) can chicken broth 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 cup whipping cream, 1 cup sour cream
In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in whipping cream and sour cream. Serve immediately.
We are also having baked potatoes with this... Enjoy!
(I don't presume to be anything even close to an expert on this subject. These are just some observations I made while we remodeled our Family Room.)
1. Keep your strengths strong, accept your weaknesses and be patient with the weaknesses of others.
I have always had a pretty good head for math. I also have a talent for being able to visualize things. I can picture things in my head and be pretty close to how they will turn out.
When we started laying the wood flooring, it was hard to imaging EXACTLY how it would look but we did our best to imagine it, snapped our chalk lines and started gluing down the edge pieces. Jim was nice enough to "let" me figure out the measurements and angles. We had to let the glue set over night. Then the work began!
The two of us started gluing the boards together, making cuts at the angle and around the doors. There was a bit of a learning curve but once we both figured out each others strengths, we were on a roll.
2. Know when to ask for help.
It took us about 6 hours to get this little hall done. There were so many cuts! By the time we got into the bedroom/office we were on each others nerves just a little. Thankfully our friends, "B" and "A", came over to see the progress. "A" was kind enough to let "B" stay. She also took Austin to Tae Kwon Do and picked up the pizza I had ordered so I could stay and finish helping. What a great help that was! "B" stayed as long as he could and was an awesome helper!
It took us 15 hours, but we got all the wood flooring down before the carpet had to come the next morning.
3. Choose your battles or You don't have to get your way ALL the time.
I have written several times about how much I don't like carpet. You can go back and read about it if you'd like or you can just take my word for it. I REALLY didn't want carpet until I started figuring out how much it was going to cost to do something other than carpet. I could have begged and pleaded for something else. I do know how to get my way when I really want it. This time it wasn't as important to get my way. I wanted some new furniture and I knew the only way to get that was to save some money on flooring.
It actually turned out pretty good. The boys seemed to like the coziness of the carpet. Before I was able to get the camera, Josh was rolling back and forth on the new carpet and making "carpet angels".
4. Sometimes you have got to take the good with the bad.
We got the tape pulled up and got Kyle's room put back together. He was happy to have it back for a couple nights before he had to give it back up so Grammy could stay in it while visiting for Thanksgiving. He's a good sport for sharing. But sometimes when you have the biggest room and your own bathroom you have to give it up when visitors are in town.
5. If you hang in there, It usually turns out well in the end.
We were able to make a run it Ikea and get a little couch for the boys and their new TV area. We moved the flat screen from our room and put it in its new home. We also moved the Xbox and Wii up from the Theater. Of course, the boys love it! We still need a few other pieces of furniture to make the room cozy, but it will do until we can save up some more funds.
And now, sometime soon, we will get a new flat screen TV for our bedroom. I thought we would have some time without a TV in our room but Jim thinks we need one. So we have the old clunker 27" giant tube balancing on our dresser for now.
I am pretty happy with how it turned out. We still have a ways to go. There will be new rock around the fireplace and Jim is going to make built in bookshelves on either side of the fireplace. Eventually we want to replace the French doors. They are pretty bad! I would like a soft chair by the fire that I can sit in while I knit or read.
I imagine sitting there, knitting in front off the fire, while one of the boys plays soft music on the piano but I know, in reality, I will probably be sitting there watching them killing each other on some Xbox game, while yelling at them periodically, "Would you PLEASE turn it down!"
What was #4? Oh, yes, sometimes you have to take the good with the bad...
I was so excited that weekend in July when we started to take the family room apart. I even wrote about it. Then things were on pause. The last few months we have been in the process of refinancing our house so we could have the finances to do the remodel. It took longer than we had hoped but it is finally over and we can move forward with our plans. Here's the update:
This is Josh putting up the last piece of drywall on the south end of the family room next to the fireplace. He has been a great help to Jim. His favorite part of the drywall process is "rasping" the edges of the cut pieces. This makes lots of noise and dust; two things that are always closely associated with Josh!
This is from further back. we were going to replace the fireplace but, after pricing the flooring, we are going to keep the little, not so appealing, fire that came with the house.
This is looking left into the room that was formerly the office and is now Kyle's room. It will be an office again in the not so distant future so we will be putting down wood floors in this room, into the little "hall" just outside the room and up the stairs that lead to the entry/kitchen.
Anyone who is a regular reader of our blog knows how I feel about carpet. After lots of thought (and pleading by Jim) we have decided to put carpet in the family room. I would have preferred to have stained cement or any other surface that can be "swiffered". But carpet will be the warmest and the most cost effective. There will be rules about shoes and dogs. Hopefully that will help minimize the wear and tear that made our last carpet so gross.
The wood flooring is scheduled for tonight and the carpet is scheduled for Friday morning. I think there will be an Ikea run on either Friday night or Saturday to get a couple of the furniture pieces we have been eying.
So now when we have visitors there will be a place to sit that is not around the dining room table. The dining room table that we got as a hand-me-down about 15 years ago. The dining table that was well used before it made its way into our home and has been well used ever since.
The kitchen table that hopefully will be replaced before Thanksgiving!
And so am I. I took a little blog break. I don't know why. It just wasn't a priority for a while but I have missed it.
Now, back to food...
Now that the weather is sufficiently chilly, I feel the need to make cozy, yummy dinners. I have also tried to keep introducing new foods to my family. Food is to magical to keep preparing it the same way over and over. That's why I started New Menu Monday. We try something we have never tried before every Monday. I record a variety of food related shows and I browse a few favorite food websites. Sometimes I present several ideas and let the guys decide which one sounds best to them but most times I just prepare something and everyone tries it.
Even when the kiddos were little, I used to make them try new things. If they thought they didn't like it even before they tasted it, I would make them take "No Thank You Bites". The amount of bites would be their age (age 5 = 5 bites). Most of the time they would find that they liked the taste after a few bites. Sometimes they didn't, and that's OK. If the majority of us didn't like it, I would throw away that recipe and never make it again. But most of the time we have a wonderful new addition to Mom's Cookbook and I try to incorporate it into the rotation.
I have heard that a lot of you have a hard time getting out of your dinner rut so I am now going to post our New Menu Monday choices on the blog. Happy Cooking and Happy Eating!!!
* * * * * * * *
We had this last Monday and thought it was GREAT!
Cheesy Hash Brown Chili by Rachel Ray
Ingredients
2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 pound ground beef
Salt and pepper
1 15-ounce can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 1-pound bag frozen shredded hash brown potatoes
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Yields: 4-6 servings (We had a little left over)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°F. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven.
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste. Add the beef and cook, breaking up the meat, for 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
Add the beans and the tomatoes with their juice and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Transfer to an 8-by-11-inch baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine the potatoes and cheese. Scatter the potato mixture over the chili. Place the baking dish on a baking sheet and bake until the potatoes are cooked through and the chili is bubbling, about 35 minutes.
(c) MMIX KWP STUDIOS INC. All rights reserved. 132 E. 43rd St., P.O. Box 543 New York, NY 10017 917.332.3100
