kirstencan

Tortillas

A highlight of last week was making dinner one night with my daughter.

We are just so busy and getting busier, and to have an evening of just hanging out making tortillas and listening to Pandora (the New Order station - lots of Smith's and the Cure) was great.

She's pretty good at making tortillas now.

She is just pretty great overall.  Love her.

Time is flying, my friends, and I seem to have some reminder every day of how we only have a few years left with this amazing girl at home.  Blows my mind.

(This time we turned them into breakfast burritos.)

They turned out!

The beef + potato pasties (short A sound, not long A!) were a hit!

I used this recipe (all her recipes look good!).  Other pasty recipes I looked at use pie crust, but I liked the idea of using puff pastry instead (I mean, really, who wouldn't?).  Also, she's from the UK, so... legit recipe!

I made a couple changes, the biggest one that I seared my beef before wrapping it up - because I'm weird about meat if it's not cooked at a REALLY high temperature.  I also didn't cut circles from the pastry.  Wanting to get as many as I could out of the two sheets of puff pastry, I just divided them into quarters and made it work.

Also, I forgot the onion.  I just did.  No regrets, though, really.

I did include the rutabega!  I've never cooked this before, and I'm still not sure I know how it tastes because the flavors all mingled so well.  I will have to try some more rutabega recipes... I think it would be good in Indian curries...

All folded up. Didn't even try to make them pretty.  Can you tell that I was being cautious with the filling at the beginning, and trying to use it up at the end? 

All golden...  Seriously, this is NOT crescent dough, folks. 

Served with ketchup because Sarah said so. 

So flaky and rich and DELICIOUS!  This meal felt decadent.  I love that you sprinkle a little flour and put a pat of butter inside - it really does make it's own buttery gravy! 

Oh my goodness.  So good.

Luckily, no one wanted the leftovers... I had a really yummy lunch today!

 

Pi

Friday we made little quiche 'pies' with phyllo dough crusts.  Monkey LOVED them,  the rest of us aren't so into quiche.

We stirred (and stirred and stirred, but cook and serve is always better!) up some chocolate pudding.

We had a mishap when the redhead and I were whipping up the cream (everywhere!), hence the naked chef up there...

Chocolate pudding pie.  So easy, so ... not real pie, but so yummy.

 I usually do three layers, chocolate pudding, chocolate 'mousse' (pudding folded with whipped cream), and whipped cream on top.  Having to go to the store later for more whipping cream meant skipping the mousse.

We took advantage of our fave pizza place's BOGO pi day deal.

We didn't get around to the pi day art project, due to a nice long meeting at the school, but we did watch a Brainpop video about Pi.  Calling it good.

Extra good:  adding leftover chocolate ganache (leftover from my birthday cupcakes that week - having a daughter who bakes is awesome!) to the pie.  Oh. My.

Having my birthday, Pi Day, and St. Patrick's day all in the same week is a lot of celebrating!  I am trying beef pasties tonight, let's hope they turn out!

Hope you found some green to wear today!  I won't tell you which of us is wearing shamrock undies right now... but his name rhymes with Shmonkey.

Waffles

So I never should have posted my 'new' post. 

Because you can guess what happened, right?

We are now without a working washing machine.  And it's not fixable.

And buying new appliances is always SO frustrating to me because companies just aren't making things to last 20 years like they used to.  I hate throwing good money at something that we'll have to replace again anway.

That's why, while my kitchen redo is almost done and everything is bright white and shiny, we are keeping our old almond junky looking oven.  Because it's 'old school' and is working just fine.

If it ain't broke...

But I'd rather talk about waffles.  Waffles are happier.  And it's the husband's birthday today so WAFFLES!

Haven't been happy with the waffle recipes we've been using. 

So last night I finally played with my Mark Bittman app on my ipad and found his 'overnight waffle' recipe.  With Yeast.  And you leave it out on the counter all night.  I was curious.

(two little waffle irons is the way to go!)

Anyway, these were AMAZING!  Easy and delicious.  Monkey especially liked how they were 'Crispy on the outside but SO SOFT on the inside!'  as all waffles should be.  These are now our Go-To for sure! 

p.s. We usually only have almond or coconut milk on hand, and I feel that other waffle recipes don't handle that switch very well.  They're just not quite right, or a little... bland?  With this recipe you couldn't tell at all!  Next time I want to try whole wheat flour, too.

This was my lunch today

It's leftovers from dinner last night.  Mondays I have time to cook (REALLY cook, not like burritos cook) so I like to try new recipes.  Last night I tried Indonesian Pineapple, Chicken and Spicy Peanut Salad.  LOVED it.  Love to find more ways to get everyone eating cabbage and other veggies.  Plus the dressing was killer.  I've tried other peanut-type dressings before that were okay.  This was more than okay.

I filled my plate last night and went.  Whoa.  This looks fancy!  And it tasted amazing.

So, just saying, you should try it.  My veggie-hating daughter is even eating leftovers right now, too.  She has a cold and this meal is PACKED with vitamin C.

Just realized I skipped the cilantro!  What?!  Next time.  I stuck very close to the recipe, except omitting salt in the dressing (didn't need it), only using 1tsp. of sriracha sauce (we can handle heat, but it was perfect this way) and using more peanuts than it called for.  Obviously I didn't toss everything as directed, just served it up individually.   I used canned pineapple, and if you have a food processor it doesn't take long at all to make.  This would be great meatless, too.

Don't forget the limes, though.

Which one, which one?

So to start out:  I know I am totally spoiled.  We love our kitchen gadgets and I am so lucky to have both of these awesome mixers.

But.  I think I value the real estate space in my kitchen more than having both.  Right now the kitchenaid lives on the counter, and the bosch lives in the (tiny!) pantry.

The logical thing to do is get rid of the kitchenaid, since the bosch can handle way more loaves of bread, which is why I bought it.  We can get used to it for cookies and pizza dough, right?

It's not as pretty as my kitchenaid.  That's for sure.

Also it's harder to clean.

The thought process started out because I think I want the blender attachment for the bosch.  The girl doesn't like foods like ... fruits and vegetables, but she'll eat anything in a smoothie, and wants to make them more often.  But we have a stupid old cheap blender that I hate, and a magic bullet.  The magic bullet is actually pretty awesome, and now that I've found more parts to it (sheesh), I'm going to break that out and see if it works well enough for now.

BUT.  If I need a good blender, I want the bosch blender attachment.  And if I want her to make smoothies regularly, I need to keep it out on my counter and accessible.  SO.  I think I need to get rid of the kitchenaid.

When I first got the bosch, people told me to keep both, as you still want it for cake mixes/rolls, etc.  but we have a nice hand mixer, too, so that works for cake...

Okay, I've talked myself through it.  My point was to ask for opinions.

Any reason why I shouldn't get rid of the kitchenaid?  

If we do, I think it's going to my mom, who would love it. 

Also, do I need the cookie paddles for the bosch?

 

In other news, we've been sharing colds around here, and I've been down for the count.  Respiratory stuff kicks my butt.  Much better today than yesterday, but since Mom was here, I stayed in bed all day and rested.  It felt like a day off, yet my kids still kept their routine.  That was awesome.  Thanks, Mom!  (See, she deserves the kitchenaid!)

Things I love at Trader Joe's

SO.  Not too many IT Crowd fans out there, huh?

It's cool.  I guess.

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Here's something fun we look forward to on our CA trips - going to Trader Joe's!  We recently got one in our area, but it's not at all convenient for us, so we've only been once.  On vacation, though, TJ's is the closest grocery store.

Everyone knows about Joe joe's cookies (and if you don't know about their ice cream, you should - we definitely take advantage of the fact that our hotel has a freezer!), but here's some other treats we enjoyed on our latest trip:

Chocolate Almond Granola.  I think maybe Monkey ate it as cereal once, the rest of us just ate it out of the box.  YUM.

Seriously, I'm not sure what the difference is, but these PB cups are WAY better than Reese's.  AWESOME.  The mini ones were slated as cookie filling but... I don't think they'll make it.  The lid has been opened.

My fave snack at TJ's (also just fave snack):  Crunchy Curls.  I love them SOOOO much.   I always buy a few bags when I get a chance.  They are AWESOME.  I just wish I could get them more places!



So we've pretty much only tried snacky stuff there, and cereal, juice boxes, muffins, etc.  I've heard awesome stuff about their curry simmer sauces and pizza dough.  What else should I try next time I get to one?

Dear Trader Joe's - we need a second Salt Lake Valley location!

I just made this.

You should too.

Basmati rice, cucumbers, cilantro, jalepeno, pickled carrots and onion, asian meatballs.

Add a little sriracha mayo - mmmmm.

This was an excellent recipe - pretty well recieved by the fam.  Except the redhead, who put ketchup on his (of course) and will eventually will eat it, otherwise no smores for him!  Next time we'll do the more traditional sandwich, though.  Rice sounded way good today.

Thanks to my sister for pinning/recommending this recipe!

Bahn Mi Bowls - recipe by Budget Bytes

edit:  It should maybe be noted that I followed this recipe very closely.  Minus the basmati for jasmine rice, and I used beef instead of pork because I have quite a big of locally-grown beef in my freezer.  Also, I felt like the jalepenos weren't totally necessary.  The meatballs have TONS of flavor, and the sriracha mayo heats it up a bit.  I just had the leftovers for lunch.  And I still am impressed.

More Bread

Hope you're not sick of bread, but I have done the next natural step in my bread-making journey:

bought a wheat grinder!

It's cool, and the kids are fascinated. 

Using my own flour now to bake our weekly bread.  Still using the same recipe, but where I stretched it to get 5 loaves before I now do 4 loaves (as the recipe calls for).  I think the first time I made it I overproofed it, so I thought I should do five loaves.  Now I've gotten the hang of it more, and 4 turns out better. 

Even if todays are a little ... floofy on top.  It was a bit warm where they were rising... I think?

Last weeks were PERFECT, check it:  (even if I forgot to butter the tops)

We still do the artisan bread often, which has been our go-to bread recipe for the past few years.  It is handy to have a bowl of bread dough in the fridge, for when you decide to make soup and want crusty bread with it, to give away, or to make naan or last-minute pizza dough (our go-to pizza dough is from this book and we make it the day before).

This bread is CRAZY easy, and always so gorgeous.

So this morning I ground wheat for half-whole wheat muffins, for my batch of bread dough, and filled the canister with more flour to keep in my fridge for baking throughout the week.

Cool.

However. 

I do not love the taste of whole wheat.  I'm sure I'll get used to it but... luckily the kids aren't phased by it at all.  Maybe cuz I'm a super taster?  That's partly why we're easing into the whole wheat stuff.  We're up to 3/4 whole wheat in the bread and I still love that.  I've always been okay with it in bread, it's the other stuff... I've got to try the orange juice suggestion that supposedly cuts the wheat-y taste, anyone try that?

ps - It's a Wondermill, and yes, I researched it and am happy with my choice.

ps2 - I tried another bread recipe a week or so ago - it's this one, and it's AWESOME.  It doesn't have as much whole wheat in it, but it also has oats (I used rolled) and it turned out SUPER soft.  The kids scarfed a whole loaf for lunch.  It's definitely going in the recipe rotation!

Mostly Red, Then Pizza

Chinese New Year happened.

This year we tried a new noodle recipe (Ants Climbing Trees, I don't have the link, Aaron remembered a chinese colleague bringing this in one day and looked it up) it was yummy!  Definitely a keeper.  Also had miso soup with tofu and green onions (Japanese celebrate the New Year, too!).  And by 'we', I mean Monkey and Aaron, no one else loves the stuff.

Then Valentine's day happened.  No party this year, but we had a special day nonethless, starting with a love-fest and small gifts and finished off with cream puffs.

We haven't made these for a while - they are easy and so fancy-seeming!  We fill them with a vanilla pudding (cook-n-serve) with whipped cream folded in, and then drizzle with melted chocolate.  Om-nom-nom!

A big pat on my own belt - I filed the kiddo's schoolwork!  That red box fills up awfully fast, but look!  It's red!  And EMPTY!  Woo!

Not red, but awesome:  a valentine from a little girl in church.  We discovered we both like giraffes the very best, and she made this for me, love her giraffe!  Made my day!

Sunday is always Pizza Night, unless we're going to Grandma's for Family Dinner (Indian this week, yum!), like this week.  So we did it early.  This time we rolled the dough smaller and everyone made their own personal pizzas.

Talk about om-nom-nom!


Ahhh, pizza.  You are so good to us. ;)