Recipe for Cooking with a Toddler

Ingredients:
1 box of brownie mix
eggs
oil
water
love
patience
lots of towels

Preheat oven according to box instructions. Add all ingredients in a bowl. Let your toddler stir. Be patient when toddler knocks half the mix out of the bowl. Share lots of brownie batter flavored kisses. Pour into greased 9x13 pan & bake.

Hints & Tips:

Pose for obligatory picture with Momma!

Make sure to taste test the batter often!  Fingers work best.

Stir, stir, stir!

Grocery Shopping Fail

Katie laid down for an unexpected early nap this morning and since tomorrow morning is her well-check, I took that as a sign that I should hurry and go to the store while Doug was here and I could go by myself.  I barely had a list and knew that I just didn't feel like cooking anything for the next 6-7 days.  So, I bought frozen junk galore, pizza, ravioli, fish sticks, and hot pockets.  With a couple of cans of soup & some spaghettios thrown in for good measure.  I did get the stuff to make cabbage rolls, so at least one meal we eat in the next week will be decent.

What do you make when you just don't want to cook?

YUM!

Today was a looong day at work.  So it was especially nice to come home to leftover casserole that my MIL brought over.  I really wasn't planning to eat any, but I wanted to try just a little bite.  Mmm...yeah, I ate a whole bowl and am seriously trying to restrain myself from having another.  It was that good.  Here's the recipe that she left for me.  It's going to have to go into our rotation.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 tbsp oil/fat
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup tomato sauce or puree
1 cup sour cream
1 cup cottage cheese
1 pkg medium wide noodles (10 to 12 oz.), cooked & drained
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1.  Brown meat in oil, add salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion & tomato sauce.  Simmer 10 minutes.

2.  Combine sour cream, cottage cheese & noodles.  Mix well.

3.  Put meat, sauce & noodles in casserole in alternate layers, top with grated cheese.

4.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

She made a few substitutions, instead of ground turkey she used shredded turkey.  I think you could easily substitute chicken, but I also think a version with ground turkey/beef would be yummy too.  I'm thinking it would be super easy if you bought a rotisserie chicken at the store and shredded it.  She also used lasagna noodles (if I were making the recipe without having seen hers, I probably would have thought it meant egg noodles or whatever), but I think any kind of noodle would work well here.

Perfect Pancakes

I made perfect pancakes this morning. I used the griddle plates for my countertop grill and it worked so much better! Usually I make them in my frying pan on the stove and they get all burnt and gross. I can't believe I've had this option for about a year now and this was the first time I used it.

No new information about Doug's dad. We're going to go visit him today. I'll keep you posted.

Day 1

This was going to be a long post, but I'm running out of time here. I have to leave in about 40 minutes for work today and I'm not even close to being ready. :( I'd have had plenty of time if the pumpkin gooey cakes I baked last night didn't get so messy when I cut them this morning. We're going to a weenie roast at Doug's dad's house tonight and they just sounded good. I'm afraid it's not going to work very well though because they are truly gooey. Just like the name says. They are so good though!

So today is going to be a busy day. Doug is planning to head over early and help his dad set up and I'll go over there after work. Then maybe we might go to a movie or something late tonight. Our weekends go so fast anymore. I guess that's what happens when you have opposite work schedules. At least this weekend is daylight savings time. Don't forget to fall back.

Post # 100!

Wow...100 posts! I wish I had something more exciting to post about tonight, but oh well.

What I really came to mention was our dinner. It was sooooo good tonight! I made pork roast in the crock pot (with Doug's help, I dump everything in and he monitors it), mashed potatoes, homemade applesauce and crescent rolls. Doug made the brussel sprouts. We invited Doug's mom up and we had a really nice meal. With plenty of leftovers for tomorrow night's dinner. Yum!

Merry Christmas (Eve)

It was Christmas Eve morning and all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a cat...

Okay, that's not true. BJ has really been having fun with the tree now that I have moved the ornaments down again, but Doug is still sleeping (he had a long day yesterday) and Tess is really almost always quiet. The house is fairly quiet for us though.

We spent most of yesterday getting the house ready for our family dinner tonight and now all that is left is the cooking. I think we figured out how long it will take everything to cook, so we are good to go there. The presents are all wrapped and under the tree. So I guess we're ready!

With that said, I need to get started on my cake for tomorrow.

From our house to yours, Merry Christmas! Love, Doug & Misty

What?? Another Post? But it's Only Been 4 Days!

I'm just killing some time waiting for the chicken to be done (yes, I make chicken at 9:30 in the morning, doesn't everybody?). Back to work this week and it was not fun. The kids at the library had that little taste of long weekend and now there's no looking back until Christmas break. I feel sorry for my brother-in-law and his wife and all the rest of those teachers out there! It's going to be a very long 4 weeks.

I started the Christmas shopping this morning by ordering a few things online. I'm so paranoid that they won't arrive in time. I love shopping online though. It's so much nicer to be able to sit here in my bathrobe, enjoying my coffee and clicking around online looking for the perfect gift. Eventually that's probably how I'll do all my shopping.

Now I'm watching BJ play with his new favorite toy...a paper towel tube! He loves rolling it across the floor and wrestling with it. At least he's not messing with the Christmas tree right now. He & Tess both have been caught under it and in it. So far we've only had one ornament casualty and it was just one of the cheap-o shiny Christmas balls. I can deal with them breaking those and of course the really precious ornaments are at the top of the tree anyway. I'm just waiting for the day when I come home and the whole tree is on the floor. I know it's going to happen at some point!

Well, my chicken is done now and I need to get in the shower and get ready for work so that Doug & I can actually have lunch together before I leave. Happy Tuesday!