About Me
We are Sara, Kyle, Noah, and Eli living in the city. These our are adventures: cooking, playing, creating, laughing, and yes, sometimes, crying. We believe strongly in the "it takes a village" philosophy to not only raise children but to also build a community of people to help each other. Welcome to our little hut in this great big world. "Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint you can at it." - Danny Kaye
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Friday Fragments
(If you want to play, check out Mrs. 4444’s site.)
1. Memorable food this week:
-broccoli mashed potatoes. mash the broccoli into the potatoes. Easy and good.
-French onion dip sandwiches with carrot and broccoli coleslaw. I loved the coleslaw because it wasn’t made with mayo. I’m a mayo hater. It was instead made with olive oil and lemon. Mmm-mmm. The sandwiches were also pretty awesome. I felt like I was eating at a greasy spoon – my own!
-Carmel Coconut Fudge Brownies. While the recipes was docked some stars by others for the tough caarmel, I’m not sure what they were expecting. I’ve never met an unsticky caarmel. These brownies were fudge-y, caramel, and coconut deliciousness. I will definitely make them again.
Caramel Coconut Fudge Brownies
2. I’m running the Houston Half Marathon Sunday morning. Hoping I cross the finish line running. My leg has been bothering me because I over did it at boot-camp last week. I’ve been trying to take it easy on the leg. I also didn’t do the best at training for this marathon. Here’s to the finish line for my 2nd half marathon!
3. I am Wendy this week. Wendy from Bob the Builder that is. And I am sick of the Bob the Builder song, but it keeps Noah happy. I guess I will just continue to randomly sing Bob the Builder. Although every now and then I sing Habib the Builder. I don’t know why, maybe to add a multicultural bent to it.
4. School starts for me next week, and I will be working for free in school libraries. It’s part of my master’s program, lucky me! I haven’t worked for almost 2 years now, I’m hoping getting on a schedule will be a good transition, and it’s only for two months. Keep telling myself I can do it!!!! And then I step into a middle school and remember why I left. Ack!!!
5. Looking forward to Jamaica!!!! Going there for a wedding soon!!! So excited!!!!!!!!!! Off to go purchase our tickets. (And I’m also timing myself on the computer so that I get off and do some practical stuff like clean out the dishwasher. I’ve been slacking this morning.)
6. Sucked into American Idol. How do I let this happen???
Peace!
Roasted Garlic Chicken – just eh…
As I sit here, eating my tiny cup o’ Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream and reminisce on dinner, I have to say it was just alright. Rather uninspiring sadly. It could be a reflection of my day. I spent 2 hours too long at the doctor’s office for Eli’s well baby visit. And he officially knows what the doctor’s office is and sensed his impending doom as we waited in the cubby hole. I hate the doctor’s office as much as he does now.
We also had playgroup. Dinner seemed to come together awfully quickly. Little did I know that the chicken was slightly cold, er, maybe even frozen in some spots.
Prep
Head O' Garlic
(I’m feeling rather Irish-y today, must be something in the air.) I prepped the garlic in the morning. Luckily, it was just a smash and de-skin job. I was expecting more garlic flavor from the head of garlic, it was sort of there, lackluster garlic flavor.
Tweedle Yum decided to spill his juice all over his tray. He ate some of the dinner. The other Tweedle spit out his garlic (sorry no photos) and proceeded to have a discussion about how his food tasted “Funny” not “funny ha-ha,” but “funny for kids to eat.” Which I’m still not sure is a compliment or a critique.
It’s a recipe bust and probably won’t use this one again. It was alright.
Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a go:
(I added potatoes, carrots, and cauliflower, another low point in my dinner escapades but I’d rather just let it go away.)
Now back to my Ben and Jerry’s….mmm….
As you ramble through life, whatever be your goal;
Keep your eye upon the doughnut, and not upon the hole.
Three Cheese Macaroni
The Prep
I was able to prep the cheese, portion out the pasta, and cut and clean the cauliflower. So much easier to work with non-meat ingredients. I’m hyper paranoid about meat and spreading some disease.
The Process
Not even 1 second after I took out a bowl, Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle Yum started wanting to go through the cabinets right under might feet.
"Your turn or my turn to start the chaos?"
Cursing Point
Why must water take so long to boil, and why do I know no tricks to speed up the process? Start with hot water maybe?
Boil baby, boil!
Favorite Part
Watching the cheese melt in the broiler inferno! Bubble, bubble, toil and CHEESE!
Is there a Future?
I’d say a definite yes! It was delicious, and I loved the melted muenster on top. It took me back to when I first had melted muenster in a quesadilla. This recipe also reminded me of Sneaky Chef or one the cookbooks that sneak in the veggies. The cheese sauce has cauliflower in it and it’s hidden in all the cheesy goodness.
I was a little unsure about how long to cook the cheese sauce as there are no directions for how to do that. Waiting patiently and not jumping the gun, I was able to discern a visible change from not thick and creamy to thick and cream. It took about 4-5 minutes or so.
I’d like to see if this dish could be prepped on the weekend and frozen for reheat later in the week (month?).
Kid Test
Tweedle Yum approves. Tweedle Dee was more interested in the boxed corn bread muffins.
Tweedle Yum approves!
The Recipe
Three Cheese Macaroni
(Food Network magazine Oct 2009)
Ingredients
* 1 large egg
* 1 12-ounce can evaporated whole milk
* Pinch of cayenne pepper
* Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 1/3 cups grated muenster cheese (4 ounces), plus 4 deli-thin slices (1 ounce)
* 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (2 ounces)
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (1 ounce)
* 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets (4 cups)
* 4 cups medium pasta shells (9 ounces)
Directions
Whisk the egg, evaporated milk, cayenne, nutmeg, and salt and black pepper to taste in a bowl. Toss the grated cheeses in a separate bowl.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the cauliflower and cook until almost falling apart, about 7 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl. Add the pasta to the same water and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking water. Preheat the broiler.
Combine the egg mixture and the grated cheeses in the empty pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the cheeses melt and the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from the heat and add the cauliflower. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth and light (you can also use a regular blender). Stir in some of the reserved pasta water until creamy.
Toss the pasta in the sauce; season with salt and black pepper. Transfer to a shallow casserole dish and top with muenster slices. Broil until golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Twitter: @sarafree- @charliechauvin very sad news you share.
- Word of the day: kleptocrat.
- Chicken and dumplings for dinner, chocolate coconut cream pie for dessert.