Intentions

My intentions for this blog was not only to provide my successful recipes but also to write about finding the perfect recipe for my life, which of course is my family.  The only problem is that it is so much faster to post recipes and I hardly have time for that as you can tell.

So my goal is to write more about my family.  Right now I have a quiet moment, which rarely happens.  Chloe is taking a nap, Claire is at a friends house and Cade is at school, but this will only last for about 10 more minutes.  I spent my time talking with my friend who is about to have twins about carseats and double strollers.  The rest of the time I spent making "Mother Lode Pretzels", recipe coming soon, for her shower on Saturday.  I did sample them and they are very good!  

I have to laugh because Casey and I are starting a budget February 1st.  We wrote it up mid-January and decided to wait until February to start.  So what does he do today?  He goes and buys a shotgun.  His excuses are 1- He has wanted one for protection 2- He is going pheasant hunting next weekend and they don't have enough guns, so he HAD to and 3- We are starting the budget in February so it doesn't count!  I don't know if they are 100% valid, I have fought him about guns for almost 7 years now.  He works hard and rarely spends money on himself.  Plus he did miss out on two Christmas presents because one of us threw them away.  (We have no idea how it happened but it was a NIGHTMARE!  It's taken me awhile to get over that, don't really know if I am but I have accepted it.)  

Italian Chicken Salad

This is a great salad.  It is missing a few things because we didn't have all of the ingredients.  I took the picture before I put the dressing on but you get the idea.  We usually don't use the beans but I'm sure it tastes great.  If you have someone who doesn't like salads for dinner this also is a great marinade.  The chicken is really really good!

3 T balsamic vinegar

3 T olive oil

1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

4 oz Italian bread, sliced

4 cups torn romaine

2 cups chopped seeded tomatoes

1 cup white kidney or cannellini beans

1/3 cup minced fresh basil

In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the first six ingredients; shake well.  Remove 1 tablespoon vinegar mixture; brush over chicken.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  (I use more and pour it into Ziploc bag.)  Set aside remaining vinegar mixture.

Coat grill rack with cooking spray before starting the grill.  Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat for 4-6 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.  Brush bread slices with 1 tablespoon reserved vinegar mixture.  Grill bread, uncovered, over medium heat for 2 minutes on each side or until toasted.  Slice chicken and cut bread into cubes; set aside. 

In a large bowl, combine the romaine, tomatoes, beans, basil and bread cubes.  Drizzle with remaining vinegar mixture; toss to coat.  Arrange on salad plates.  top with chicken.

A great tip for coughing kids!

Claire has been sick for the last couple of days and has been coughing all night.  My friend told me a great tip and it works, I don't know how but it does!

At night when they are going to bed, put Vick's Vap-O-Rub or Mentholatum on their feet and put socks on.  I only heard Claire cough a couple of times last night!  We all know that when our kids don't sleep, we don't sleep!

44 more days!

The kids always want to go to Disneyland and Casey and I have decided to make our yearly trip in March.  The problem?  I made the HUGE mistake of telling them we were going, mostly because I wanted to measure Claire to see if she was tall enough to ride the roller coasters.  Last year when we went, she LOVED the Matterhorn and the one in Toontown and she kept saying that next year when she was bigger she could go on the choo choo train roller coaster.  So I HAD to make sure.  She didn't have shoes on and was barely tall enough and I was so excited for her that I let it slip out, so now we have a countdown. One year that we went I made a calendar and printed off as many Mickey Mouse faces as we had days until we went and that helped for them to visualize how long they had to wait.  As our kids get older it gets more fun to go and I can't wait for this year.  Unfortunately, Cade is not so excited as Claire is about the roller coasters.  I took him on Space Mountain last year and I was laughing and having a great time, I looked over at Cade and he was terrified.  I felt so bad.  We are hoping he gets into them a little more but I'm not sure this is the year.  Here are some pictures from our trip last year.  Good times!

Baked Potato Soup

My friend Rebecca introduced me to this recipe and it is delicious.  It has a little kick to it but my kids ate it.  Well, Claire didn't but she is going through a phase where she doesn't like anything unless it is mac and cheese or chicken dinosaurs.  This soup is great in a bread bowl!

3 T butter

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 T flour

1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

1 tsp dried basil

dash Tabasco sauce

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 cup half & half (you can use fat free half & half, I do)

Garnish with:

Grated cheddar cheese

Crumbled bacon

Sour Cream

Chopped green onions

Melt butter in a 2 quart saucepan on medium heat.  Add onion and saute for 2 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over the onions and cook about 5 minutes, stirring often.  Gradually add chicken broth.  Add potatoes, salt, white and black pepper, basil, Tabasco and garlic salt.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir in half & half; heat through.  Serve with garnishes.  Serves 4 but doubles easily.

Lemon Grilled Salmon and Herbed Oven Potatoes

This is for Courtney since she commented that the last recipe wasn't healthy enough!  This is actually a picture of Casey's plate.  There were more green beans on the but he had already eaten some before I took a picture of it.  The salmon was good but Casey likes the other recipe I make better, I'll post that this week if we have it for dinner.  Casey loved the potatoes, so much in fact that we are having them again tonight.  I didn't use a large fillet of salmon, just the frozen precut ones from Costco.  I also didn't have any onions or lemons so I didn't put them on but I'm sure it would add a lot more flavor.  Surprisingly enough, my kids love salmon so we usually have it 2-3 times a month.

Lemon Grilled Salmon

2 tsp snipped fresh dill or 3/4 tsp dill weed (I used dill weed)

1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning

1/2 tsp salt, opt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 salmon fillet (1 1/2 lbs, I used 3 of the individual fillets)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

3 T chicken broth

3 T vegetable oil

3 T soy sauce

3 T finely chopped green onions

1 small lemon, thinly sliced

2 onion slices, separated into rings

Sprinkle dill, lemon-pepper, salt if desired and garlic powder over salmon.  Pace in a large resealable plastic bag or shallow glass container.  Combine brown sugar, broth, oil, sou sauce and green onions; pour over salmon.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning once.  Drain and discard marinade.  Place salmon skin side down on grill over medium heat; arrange lemon and onion slices over the top.  Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Salmon can be broiled instead of grilled.  Place the fillet on a greased broiler pan.  Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 6-8 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Herbed Oven Potatoes

1/2 cup oil or vegetable oil

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 envelope onion soup mix

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried marjoram

1/4 tsp pepper

2 lbs red potatoes, quartered 

In a shallow bowl, combine the first six ingredients.  Add potatoes, a few at a time; toss to coat.  Place in a single layer in a greased 15x10 inch baking pan.  Drizzle with remaining oil mixture.  Bake, uncovered, at 450 for 50-55 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.  

Cream Cheese Sheet Cake

I tried out this recipe mostly because I had bought a huge block of cream cheese at Costco over the holidays and wanted to use it up.  It was really moist and nice change from Texas Sheet cake.  

1 cup plus 2 T butter, softened

2 pkg (3oz each) cream cheese, softened

2 1/4 cups sugar

6 eggs

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups cake flour

Frosting:

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla.  Add flour; mix well.

Pour into a greased 15 x 10 inch baking pan.  Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool completely.

For frosting, combine the sugar and milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cover; cook for 3 minutes (do not stir).  Stir in butter and chocolate chips until melted.  Cool slightly.  Stir; spread over cake.

Apple Walnut Tossed Salad

                                   

I love this salad and it is so easy to make.  The only bad part is that it calls for cranberries so you have to buy them now and freeze them because they are hard to find during the summer.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup fresh cranberries (when I made them last night, I just put them in the blender frozen)

2 T honey

1 T sugar

1 T chopped red onion (it chops itself in the blender so don't worry about getting it too small)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3/4 cup vegetable oil

2 packages (5 oz each) spring mix salad greens

3 medium Red Delicious apples, thinly sliced

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

For cranberry vinaigrette, combine the first seven ingredients in a blender; cover and process until blended.  While processing, gradually add oil in a steady stream.  Transfer to a serving dish.  In a large bowl, toss the salad greens, apples and walnuts.  Serve with vinaigrette.  Serves 8

Sorry about the picture.  I forgot and took it after we had already served out of it, but you get the idea!

Our favorite dinner

   
Whenever we have people over for dinner there is a 90% chance they are going to get Flank Steak and Twice Baked Potatoes.  We love it and it is always a hit so why fix something if it's not broke, right?  

Flank Steak

2 large flank steaks (lean)

Unseasoned meat tenderizer

1/4 cup lemon juice

3/4 cup oil

1 packet of Good Seasons Italian Dressing

Sprinkle flank steaks liberally with unseasoned meat tenderizer. Pierce over and over with fork tines on both sides.  Whisk together the lemon juice, oil and Italian dressing.  Place steaks in a 9x13 glass dish and cover with the marinade. Turn several times as the meat marinate for 4 to 6 hours.  Barbecue outside 7 minutes on each side.  Slice cross grain.  

Twice Baked Potatoes

Baked Potatoes

Bacon

Sour Cream

Butter

Cream or Half & Half or Milk (optional)

Cheddar Cheese

Salt

This is one of those none measuring recipes and I usually don't like these but I don't measure but please feel free to ask me if you have any questions.  

Bake potatoes on 400 for one hour or until done all of the way.  It's a good idea to let them cool a little bit.  Cut in half lengthwise.  Scoop out inside of the potatoes leaving very little but the skins and place in a large bowl.  Put in butter, sour cream, and the cream.  You don't have to put the cream in, it just depends on if you want your filling creamy or not.  Blend with a hand mixer, fold in bacon and salt to taste.  Place filling in the potato skins and top with cheese.  Place back in oven until heated through and cheese melts.  The time depends on if you make these ahead of time and keep in refrigerator until you are ready for dinner.  If you make it all at the same time, it doesn't take long at all.  I love that I can make these either the night before or the morning that I am going to serve them because they do take a while to put together but so easy.

Cade made lemonade!

  
When life gives us lemons we make lemonade, right? Well, that is what Cade has done in the past 4 months.  As most of you know, we had to go to battle against the medical field because they didn't believe us when we said that Cade had a hearing loss.  We started noticing it when we was three and his speech just wasn't where it should have been and then we started paying more attention and noticed that he could hear but only when he was facing you.  We went to a doctor recommended by the school district after they performed a hearing test with the results that he had a moderate to moderate severe hearing loss and the lowest he could hear was 45-55 decibels.  Basically that means that a normal voice level was a whisper to him.  The doctor had us do an ABR, which is similar to a newborn screening when they measure the response of the brainwaves.  When we got the results back we were so relieved because it showed that it wasn't as severe as we thought and would do fine without hearing aids.  Of course we had fasted and prayed and were hopeful that this was an answer to our prayers.  He went to an early childhood education preschool and made some improvements but in January of the next year, so 6 months later, I knew that something wasn't right.  He was clearly reading lips.  When he would be talking to me and I was looking somewhere other than at him, he would touch my face and move my head so I was looking at him so that he knew that I was listening to him.  Why else would he do that unless that is how he "hears"?  Then a few weeks after that he got a REALLY bad cold and due to the fluid in his ears, the only way he could hear me was if I literally shouted in his ear.  So we started the process all over again.

This time we went to a private audiologist recommended by some friends of ours.  They came up with the same results as the school the previous year.  They told us that they need a recommendation from a doctor to get hearing aids so we went to the doctor that they recommended.  We went to this appointment with high hopes and I have never met a doctor that knew less about what he was talking about.  He obviously deals with people who have trouble breathing because he was asking if he wet the bed at night and snored because that could be sleep apnea.  He was trying to rule everything out but some doctors don't like to be told what to do.  We knew the problem and the solution and after all of that he said, well why don't we do the test again.  After that, we knew we needed to find a different route.  We decided to get some direction from our pediatrician.  He recommended an ENT that I had gone to for my sinus surgery a few years back.  We felt so much better with him and even though he suggested the ABR again and a CT scan we were more confidant in him than anyone we had been to.  We hated to put Cade through the ABR again because in order to measure his brainstem responses they have to put him under which means an IV.  Doing that to a 4 and 5 year old is no easy task and he remembered it.  The CT scan was going to be a pain too because if anyone knows Cade, they know that no amount of bribery will make him sit still long enough to get a clear and concise picture which meant sedating him for that as well.  Dr. Sikand wanted to get a picture of his inner ear to see if there was any physical damage or abnormality to see if maybe that was the cause.  We thought that we were in the home stretch at this point.  We were on the right track and ready for some answers.  We tried to do the CT scan in the office so we wouldn't have to go somewhere else, he sat as well as we could have asked him to but when you are 5 years old and a big machine is moving around your head with lights the chances that he won't keep his head facing forward and not look at it are slim to none.  The picture wasn't clear enough so we had to be outsourced.  The technician said that it sometimes takes a few months to get into a radiology center that does sedations but that she would give his file to the person in charge of scheduling his ABR in the mean time and then she would make the appointment for a scan after.  We got the appointment set up for the ABR which happened to be the second to last day of school and he ends up sick.  When there is fluid in his ears he can't hear as well which would have effected the test results so we had to cancel.  I was so upset because now we had to wait another month because they only do those tests on one day a month.  We hadn't heard about the CT scan so Casey called and let it be known that we weren't happy, I guess the ABR scheduler never gave Cade's file back so an appointment was never made.  We saw a glimmer of hope because it didn't take as long to get an appointment as we thought.  The morning we went down to the radiologists office, something was going on with the anaesthesiologist and we had to wait over an hour after our scheduled appointment time, which if I recall correctly we had to be there 30 minutes early.  We finally got called back and Cade got his kiddie cocktail and that took 45 minutes to kick in for the less then 2 minute scan.  Now we waited for the ABR.  It turned out that we had the same nurse and doctor as the year before and they were surprised to see us again.  Of course it was a nightmare to get the IV in and were relieved to get the test over and done with.  Now it was answer time!  We couldn't wait to get back to the doctor and have him authorize hearing aids.  

We made the appointment for as soon as we could because the results had to be evaluated and summarized by the neurologist.  We are waiting in the room and Dr. Sikand comes in and says, "Great news!  He can hear normal!"  I know Casey's and my face just dropped.  How could this be?  We know there is a problem and we know that he can't hear very well.  I'm sure the doctor was thinking what is going on with these ungrateful parents?  I just told them their son could hear and they don't seem to happy about it!  This was supposed to be the tell all test that told us everything and instead it told us nothing.  He was going on about how he could put tubes in but that there really wasn't very much pressure in his ears.  Casey finally spoke up first after the shock kind of wore off and said, "There's something wrong.  We know he can't hear.  He reads lips and has to see you looking at him to talk with him."  Then Dr. Sikand did the best thing imaginable for us but we didn't know this at the time.  He sent us to a place called T.A.L.K.Specialists.  It is a speech therapy office that has audiologists there as well that specialize in the deaf and hard of hearing.  That is where we met Jill.  

Jill was the answer to our prayers.  On our first visit we explained what we had been through and showed her all of the test results we had gotten.  She did a few tests and had to agree with us, even though he wasn't fully cooperating, that he did have some type of loss.  We scheduled to come back the following week and found that the results were similair to those of the previous audiologists.  She still had more tests and so Cade went back another week.  She then said that she was going to order the raw data from the ABR to see exactly what was they read and she would get back to us.  She called us the following week when we were in California on our way to Craig and Taylor's wedding to tell us that she could not believe that the results were summarized the way they were l because there was little or no brain response at 40 decibels.  (Normal conversation level is 30-35)  Apparently this happened because the neurologists that summarize the results don't have faith in the technicians performing the test at the hospital we went to so they just rounded up.  We then had the option of going to the neurologist office to do the test again or she would summarize everything that she found along with the raw data and send it to our ENT recommending hearing aids.  We had already waited so long that we didn't want to go through that again only to get the same results so we asked that she send the information to our doctor.  When we met with Dr. Sikand he was blown away by what Jill had found out.  He couldn't believe it and immediately said that based on this information he needs hearing aids.  He looked at us like, are you ok with that?  I think most parents aren't too excited about their child getting them but we just said, yeah!  Ok, how do we get them?  I have to admit that had you asked me a year ago at that point I would have been less enthusiastic about it.  As a parent, I didn't want him to become the object of ridicule on the playground, even though I knew it was best for him and would do anything for him.  We decided instead of going through his office to get the aids we would stick with what worked for us.   

We went and got the molds taken and two weeks later on September 29th Cade got his bright green hearing aids.  We were so nervous that he wouldn't want to keep them in because he has never liked to be restrained, for example, only likes to hold hands on his terms.  The first week, he did great.  We were told that it would probably take a month or two before he really liked them and got used to having them in all day.  That first week, he would take them out every once in a while but when the tv went on he automatically asked for them.  The first day, I told him that I loved him in a normal voice and he looked up and said he loved me too.  I of course started crying because he would never have heard me with out them speaking that softly.  We went back after two weeks and Jill could not believe how well Cade was doing.  She said that it took him only weeks what it takes some kids months.  My biggest fear was that Cade was not going to like them in his ears and just rip them out and chuck them.  Just so you know they have a great warranty and you can purchase insurance on hearing aids.  When he took them to school for the first time I went with him and showed his teachers how to put them in and there was one kid that asked, "What the HECK are those?!"  Mrs Roberts did a great job explaining that they weren't toys and nobody should touch them.  I didn't tell her this but Cade was worried about other kids taking them.  When she was explaining it she said, "You know how I'm always saying 'CADE, CADE' to get his attention?  And all the kids nodded their head and said yes.  It was cute.    

Cade has had the volume turned up 4-5 times and is talking so much better and just enjoying life.  Most kids are curious as to what those green things are in his ears but as soon as you explain that they help him hear better because he can't hear as well as them then they accept it and that's that.  He never complains about them and they truly have blessed his life.  People actually understand what he is saying now and his attention span has greatly increased.  He goes to speech therapy at school twice a week and he also goes to TALKS once a week for one on one time.  He takes such good care of them and when getting in the bath, he is so good about remembering to take them out so they don't stop working.  One thing that was so cute was that first week he had them he recognized how much they helped him that he said, "I can share these with Claire!"  What a great little boy.

My favorite pancakes

       

I love pancakes and was tired of the Bisquick ones so I started to look for a better recipe.  I found one that used buttermilk and liked that one for awhile and then I came across this one.  These pancakes are light and fluffy and use ingredients that you always have on hand.  They don't really require more work then Bisquick pancakes.  That's Chloe enjoying them this morning for breakfast!

1 1/4 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 T sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 T vegetable oil

Mix together and bake on a hot griddle.  Serve with your favorite syrup.

Lasagna and Cheesy Garlic Bread

I mean really, who doesn't like lasagna and garlic bread.  This lasagna may take some planning because it takes a long time to make the sauce but it actually is very simple to make and assemble so don't be intimidated by the length of time.  Plus, you get lasagna smell in your house all day!  Casey thinks this is the best lasagna he has ever tasted and loves it because it will last for a couple of days.  I was tentative at first because in the past I have put in extra noodles because I like a lot of noodle in my lasagna but you get plenty with only 9!  

1/2 lb ground beef

1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage

1 large onion

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes, undrained

1 can (6 oz) tomato paste

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup salsa (I use mild and have noticed a little more kick when I used medium)

2 tsp sugar

1-2 tsp chili powder (I only use 1)

1 tsp fennel seed (I have never put this in because I don't have any, but you might want to give it a try.  Let me know if you do!)

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

9 lasagna noodles

1 carton (16 oz) cottage cheese

4 cups (1 lb) shredded mozzarella cheese

3/4 grated Parmesan cheese

In a large kettle or dutch oven, cook beef, sausage, and onion until the meat is browned and onion is tender; drain. Stir in the next 10 ingredients.  Simmer, uncovered, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.  

Meanwhile, cook lasagna noodles according to package directions; drain and rinse in cold water.  In a greased 9x13 baking dish, layer a third of the noodles and meat sauce, half of the cottage cheese, a third of the mozzarella and a third of Parmesan.  Repeat layers.  Top with remaining noodles, meat sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan.  Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes; uncover and bake for 20 minutes.  Let stand 20 minutes before cutting.   

Cheesy Garlic Bread

If you like garlic you will love this bread, it's definitely not just buttered bread.  Of course you can dial down on the garlic to fit your family's taste because it does call for a bit.  Very easy!

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1 loaf french bread, halved lengthwise

3 T grated Parmesan cheese

In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic and oregano; spread on cut sides of bread.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Place  on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Broil for 3 minutes or until golden brown.  Slice and serve hot. 

I finally did it!

Yes, I am officially a blogger.  Can you believe it?  I thought I would combine two of my favorite things, my family and cooking.  That way I have my favorite people and recipes in the same place.  I am going to do my best at posting a recipe a day but we will see if life permits me.  I take no credit for any recipes listed, I just like to find them and try them out.  I do pretty good at trying a new recipe or two a week so I'll let you know how it goes.  I will eventually post pictures with the recipes but that means that I have to make them first.  I hope you enjoy it!