Crossing My Mind

Update and a Recipe

Wow!  Where has the time gone?  My blog has been neglected.

Our school year is done and our move to Oklahoma is a mere four weeks (or so) away.  We all sort of roam around the house not sure of what to do.  I'm in the process of getting our school stuff for next year organized.  I'm also trying to organize my library hoping against hope that the moving company packs my books in some semblance of order.  Yes, I believe in miracles.

I've decided cleaning my house would be pointless at this time.  I'm waiting for June 1st so I can start doing a room-by-room deep cleaning.  We are renting this house so I have to get it in tip top shape in order to get our deposit back.  Note, however, this house has white carpet (stupid, stupid, stupid) and I have three boys.  Steam cleaning is a must.  Another reason I'm avoiding cleaning is that my sister-in-law and her six children will be here on Saturday.  Again, white carpet..

So, as I sit here trying to get caught up with my cyberlife while making pumpkin muffins, I thought, "Oops, I didn't put my menu up for Menu Plan Monday."  It'll have to wait until next week. Maybe I'll post a "Survival Meals for Crowds" menu.  But in the meantime I thought I'd post the best pumpkin muffin recipe known to man:

Best Pumpkin Recipe Known to Man

3 Cups Sugar (2 Cups white, 1 Cup brown sugar)
2 1/2 Cups flour (1 1/4 C white, 1 1/4 wheat)
1 Cup Oats
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. (heaping) nutmeg
2 tsp. (heaping) cinnamon

Mix the above ingredients.  Then add:

4 eggs
1 Cup oil (I use olive oil)
2/3 Cup water
2 Cup canned pumpkin (NOT pie filling)

Mix all together.  You can put this in loaf pans and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour.  But I never do that.  I use a small melon-baller and scoop the batter into well-greased mini muffin pans and cook them for about 15-20 minutes.  I turn them out on a wire rack to cool.  They get sort of crispy on the outside.  My kids love them!

Note: To the dry ingredients I also add about two scoops of vanilla flavored protein powder and about 1/4 C milled flaxseed.  I'm trying to fatten up my oldest son who, like me, has an annoyingly high metabolism.  It's hard for both of us to gain weight so try to put protein powder in just about anything.  This doesn't change the taste of the muffins.  If anything, they are a bit sweeter.

Oh, and they make the house smell great.  I tried to only bake these in the fall because they are so fall-ish, but my family wants them year round.

Enjoy!

Menu Plan Monday

This is one band wagon I'm planning to get on.  Menu ideas, what busy mom doesn't need that?

We are pretty burnt out on our current menu. I think I'm going to enjoy this.

I don't have a menu to post for this week as I am recovering from surgery and the women of our church are bringing meals. That beats any menu plan!!!

However, I do want to offer up some great cookbooks that have helped me out of the 'same-old, same-old' dinner rut. I'm pretty picky about recipe books. Usually I buy a cookbook and I end up only liking maybe one or two recipes. This is isn't the case with the picks below.

The first book on my list is this gem from the   BAREFOOT CONTESSA: INA GARTEN. I received this from my boys for Christmas (a hint?) and have been happy with many of the recipes.  One thing you need to know, though, this woman is not worried about salt, fat, or calories. Which is what makes the recipes so good....

Another cookbook that has been a fun one is KEEPING GOOD COMPANY: ROXIE KELLY AND FRIENDS.  Not only is this book a delight to look at, the recipes are realistic and very yummy!  So far, everything I have made has been well received by my gang. Also in this series of cookbooks are: JUST A MATTER OF THYME-A SIMPLE COLLECTION OF SATISFYING RECIPES, GOODNESS GRACIOUS -RECIPES FOR GOOD FOOD AND GRACIOUS LIVING, and HEART AND SOUL  -FAVORITE RECIPES FROM OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY.  Again, these cookbooks are just as much for the eye as for the taste buds!

Lastly, and most recently is this book from Giada De Laurentiis EVERYDAY PASTA.  O.K., if you can get past the cover picture of this drop-dead gorgeous woman, you'll find the majority of these recipes are very doable.  My family loves things like bruschetta and pesto so the recipes in this book aren't much of a stretch for us.  I also like how Laurentiis explains pasta basics. Who knew adding a handful of salt would help the pasta sauce stick to the noodles? I didn't.  I haven't checked out EVERYDAY ITALIAN by the same author, but it's next on my list.

Once I'm up and running again I'll post menus. 

No Brainer Vegetable Soup

Thought I'd pass on another recipe from my "No Brainer" collection for Works For Me Wednesday

Vegetable Soup for Dummies

Ingredients:

3 lbs. cooked ground beef (I buy a bunch from Costco, precook it, portion it out, and put it in freezer bags.Thaw for this recipe...just take it out of freezer the night before)

1 lg. bottle V8
2 pg.s Lipton Beefy Onion soup mix
1 lb pgk frozen vegetables
3 bay leaves

Directions:

Stumble into kitchen around 10 AM. Pull crock pot off shelf and plug in. Turn on low. Dump in hamburger, V8, soup mix, frozen vegetables, bay leaves. Add some water if it looks too thick. Put lid on crock pot. Double check to make sure it is plugged in (I speak from experience).  Walk away. Dinner's done.

Life is good, God is better.

Lynn

Good-bye Advil: Revamping the Menu

Food.

It can be a four-letter word. Especially if it's being used in the context of, "What's for dinner?"  I am of the opinion that the origin of the tension headache can be found in that annoying little phrase. It has certainly made me reach for the Advil on more than one occasion.

If you share my "love" of cooking on demand and are needing some good "get-out-of-the-rut recipes", I can help. But first let me go on record as saying I don't watch fat, sugar, salt, or calories. I'm a strict believer in balance. For instance: If I allow my kids to eat some of my Ding-Dongs, they have to have a salad at dinner. When we have mammoth sized bowls of popcorn (with butter and Frank's Red Hot sauce), I make sure some fruit and protein was consumed at some point earlier in the day. And if we go get Frappacinos, well, we just go get Frappacinos. You get the idea.

In the spirit of sharing, I'd like to pass along some of the recipes I've recently come across that have radically changed my opinion of the dinner hour. This will be an ongoing Food Segment, so to speak.

Let's start with Beef.  It's what's for dinner, right? And what husband doesn't like coming home to the smell of a roast in the oven? Well, put on your best Carol Brady smile and wow your family with this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa (I know, she's eccentric and a little out there, but the woman can cook!)  Careful, she tends to be really heavy handed when it comes to the salt. Also, I double this recipe for my family of five. We like left-overs.  Brisket with Carrots and Onions.

Enjoy!
Lynn