The girl behind the Lama

What We Eat Wednesday–365 No Repeats Plus a Darn Good Chili

2011-09-21T15:04:00.001-05:00

We’re back to 365 No Repeats this week! I’m almost through the “I feel awful, all day, every day” phase of being pregnant (I hope) and I’m starting to feel like cooking again, which is good because I’m running out of freezer meals and canned spaghetti sauce. It’s also finally starting to cool off which really makes me want to cozy up with a good plate of something warm and yummy.

In addition to our regular food this week we also made one really big batch of chili. We love to eat it, it was great for our football party with friends, and leftovers freeze really well for a cold fall day. Now, we’ve been through many chili recipes. The Mr. is very … we’ll call it particular … about his chili. He has a favorite flavor from a dive on campus and that is what we strive to achieve. This one has been the closet we’ve ever found. The secret is all in the chocolate and cinnamon and I must say that it is fabulous!

So here’s what we’re eating this week! I’m really going to try to get back into the blogging world. Hopefully I won’t feel the need to sleep all day some time soon.

Sunday – Cincinnati Chili
Monday – Chicken and Rice Stoup – 365 No Repeats #122
Tuesday – Honey Orange Glazed Ham Steaks with Spicy Zucchini and Corn Salad – 365 No Repeats #106
Wednesday – Turkey Club Super Mashers – 365 No Repeats #107
Thursday – Thai Chicken with Basil – 365 No Repeats #114
Friday – Peasant Soup = 365 No Repeats #118
Saturday – Swedish Meat Dumpling Soup – 365 No Repeats #125

Let me know if there are any recipes you might want to see!

What are you eating this week?
~LMM

Show Me that Recipe–Chicken, Corn and Bean Soup

2011-09-08T17:11:00.001-05:00

I’m starting something new – just for fun! I know that sometimes I have links posted to the recipes that I’m making each week. I’d love to post every recipe, but let’s be real – I really don’t have the time to type up all of the 365 No Repeats recipes. So we’ll try this. For every recipe that I don’t have a web link to, I’ll post a picture of it. If it looks mucho tasty and you’d like to try it yourself, go to the bottom of the post and look for a little button that say “Reactions”. Click on the little box to the right of it that says “I want that recipe!!” If I get … we’ll say 5 clicks for now, I’ll type up the recipe with my own modifications and recommendations.

So here’s where we start! First up is Chicken, Corn and Bean Soup.

Bring on the Christmas Cards!

2011-09-08T15:08:00.000-05:00

Christmas makes me giddy – it really does. I love all the warmth and cheer that the whole holiday season brings, from the food to the decorations, the first snowfall, and a warm cup of cocoa. My husband knows that the minute I start to see snow falling I’ll burst into song. I stare outside with wonderment just like a little kid. I love the smell of cinnamon cooking in .. well anything. Christmas music makes me sing all day long. Love, love. love! Almost annoyingly so.

Now I usually don’t start to get so excited about it, quite this early in the year, but when you sell holiday cards, you kind of have to start planning those things a few months ahead of time. This is my first real year selling holiday cards. I tried to sell a few at the Quincy Service League Gift Show last year, but they just didn’t go over well. I’m hoping that my new custom cards from Envelopments will help solve the problems of last year. People like custom, I think they are way better than the designs I had last year, they are much easier to make and I won’t make any unless they are ordered. Sounds like a good business plan to me!

I just started getting them listed and I’ll go ahead and introduce you to them as they come out. Remember to order them early because they do take time to make!! Please plan on ordering them no later than December 1st if you’d like them by December 20th! Also keep in mind that if the prices are more than you were hoping to spend, I can tweak things to make it more affordable to you! There are cheaper paper substitutions, layers of paper we can ditch or you can even assemble them yourself. I’ve been able to cut some costs almost in half, all you have to do is ask!

Here are the first few – let me now what you think!

Candy Cane Joy

Lovely Dove Holiday Cheer

Go Nuts!

Candy Cane Peace

What We Eat Wednesday

2011-09-07T11:29:00.001-05:00

It’s been awhile, eh? Sorry about that. My body is growing arms, legs, and you know, a spine – I’m pretty pooped out. The good news is that I’m 11 weeks so in theory my energy should be coming back pretty soon! We had our first Dr’s appointment the other day and everything looks great! Two arms, two legs, a big head, strong heartbeat and a cute little spine all growing like a weed! The peanut is already almost 2 inches long and is rolling and flopping all over the place. I’ve been feeling little movements for a few weeks – which is way earlier than with Jake – makes me giggle every time!

So I haven’t been cooking much. I lived on the slow cooker last week, which was nothing special. We’ve also been using up some of those fabulous freezer meals.

I’m trying to push through though and get some cooking in this week! I at least do some of the cooking. Andrew has been a big help and usually finishes a meal if I get most of it done. It’s a big Rachael Ray week. This week I’ve gone back to 365 no repeats – I’m determined to get through it! Here’s what we’ve got going on this week:

Sunday – Dinner with the fam
Monday – Dinner with the fam
Tuesday – #101 Cheddar-Studded Tex-Mex Meatloaf Patties with Scallion Smashed Potatoes and Spicy Pan Gravy
Wednesday – #99 Chicken, Corn and Black Bean Soup (minus the black beans)
Thursday – #102 Grilled Chicken Paillard with Grilled Rd Onion and Asparagus Salad
Friday – Out to celebrate with friends!
Saturday – #105 Lemony Crispy Chicken Cutlets and Roasted Tomato Salad with Pine Nuts and Blue Cheese

If there are recipes that you want to see typed out – please let me know! Feel free to write a note here or send me an email – I’d be more than happy to share!

Happy eating!
Until next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Chirp … chirp … anyone there???

2011-08-23T16:06:00.001-05:00

I know, I’ve actually been pretty good about blogging this summer, even managing to get What We Eat Wednesdays out almost on time every week. I’ve been MIA for almost a month now hey?

Here’s the scoop. We had a fabulous and much needed 10 day vacation. It was so lovely! We got see two of our very dear friends tie the knot up in Milwaukee, then we headed over to Jackson, MI to visit our cousins and meet their new baby boy. From there we headed north and had a brief afternoon pit stop in Mackanaw, MI followed by the rest of our journey to my parents house in good old Lake Tomahawk, WI. We had a small adventure over to Green Bay for a storm filled family day at Lambeau Field (my first trip there!!!).

We survived 10 days of travel and 30 hours in the car with a teething 1 year old, only to get home just 3 days before the big 1st birthday party.

Now, as if things weren’t complicated enough … we also found out just before we left that …

Jake is going to be a big brother around the end of March!!! So throw in morning sickness, exhaustion for numerous reasons, and raging hormones that have me crying over spilled milk – I’ve been a little busy. We are a little nervous about having 2 kids under the age of 2, but we couldn’t be happier to be expanding our little clan!

More to come on all of these topics, but for now I’ll have to jet – afternoon appointments to get to! I didn’t want you all to think I had fallen off the face of the earth. I know that my Mom knows I’m around, but I think I actually have readers that are neither family nor real life friends that I see on a regular basis. So I’m around! Blog posts to come!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday–on Thursday!

2011-08-11T15:52:00.001-05:00

I’m back! Did you miss me??? We had a wonderful time on vacation, and as soon as I have time I’ll write up a little post about the big trip.

I’m afraid that What We Eat Wednesday is a little boring this week. You see, we didn’t get back until Tuesday and Short Stuff turns 1 tomorrow so we are in total party planning mode! We are living off of freezer meals this week, so I thought instead I’d share with you the menu for the party.

We’re having about 30 people over for a good old backyard party. We’re having:

Pulled Pork with BBQ sauces on the side
Paula’s Italian Pasta Salad (here’s hoping Paula Deen doesn’t let me down!)
Fruit Salad
Veggie Tray
Chips and Dip
and what I’m hopping will be a very cute train cake on each table. Tomorrow is decorating day – we’ll see how they turn out!

I can’t believe he’s going to be 1 already!! Where does the time go??? Seems like just yesterday I was way pregnant and very nervous about this tiny little baby we were about to bring home.

What’s your favorite party food??

Until the next time,
The girl behind the lama …
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday–Freezer Meals 101

2011-07-27T07:46:00.002-05:00

This is a very shot week for us. We are going on vacation – YAY!! We are coming back just a few short days before the short one’s 1st birthday party so we are trying to get ahead of the game and prepare a few extra freezer meals this week. Hopefully when we get home, I can focus on decorating the train cake (details to come!) and get all the food ready for the 30 people plus babies that are going to be coming over. Yikes!
So we really only have 3 meals this week, plus one dessert we took over to a friend’s house for dinner. We had a fabulous time and always enjoy sharing a good meal!

Anyway – and here’s what we’re eating this week!

Monday – Taco Salad (recipe to come!)
Tuesday – Dinner party with friends, we brought Dreamy S’more Pie
Wednesday – Pesto Chicken Penne Casserole (double batch – freeze one!)
Thursday – Chicken Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Pasta Fake Bake (double batch – freeze one!)

There won’t be a What We Eat Wednesday post for awhile – so keep me posted on what you’re eating!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

2011-07-21T16:33:00.000-05:00

Trust me … just trust me when I say that these cookies will change your life. I know! You’ve looked at the recipe (OK maybe you haven’t … do that first…. and you’re back up to the top of the post, good job!) and you think I’m crazy. Who creams butter and eggs together first? The first rule of making cookies is that you always, always cream the butter and sugar together first, then add the eggs, then add the flour etc.

Not true my friends. I make cookies – a lot and this is by far the best cookie recipe ever. It is slightly modified from a cookbook designed to make jars of cookie ingredients. You know, those cute mason jars with the pretty layers of chocolate chips, four, and sugar. They have a cute little tag hanging from them with the rest of the ingredients and the recipe. Fabulous gifts I might add. I have tried a fair share of the recipes in this book and every single cookie comes out bigger and fluffier than any cookie I’ve ever had. I no longer make cookies from any other cook book – caveat *this excludes Christmas cookies from the Wisconsin Electric Company Christmas cookie books from the 50’s, the most awesome Christmas “kookey” collection ever.*

So have a leap of faith. Trust me … try these cookies … then report back. I want reports people! Leave them anonymously if you don’t want to admit it to the world that they rock!

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Spice Cookies - Adapted from “Gifts in a jar – Cookies”

Ingredients
1/2 C butter softened
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmet
1/2 C brown sugar
2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c old fashioned oats
3/4 C chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375. In a large bowl, cream the butter, eggs and vanilla. Add all the rest of the ingredients, except for chocolate chips, and stur until the mixture is well blended. Add in chocolate chips and mix in. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet.

If you’re going to freeze them, stop here and place the whole cookie sheet in the freezer over night. Once frozen place them in a freezer bag. When you want one (or 12), let them defrost for 5-10 minutes then bake as directed.

To bake: Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday – July 20, 2011–Freezer Meals, Taste of Home and Rachael Ray

2011-07-20T16:17:00.001-05:00

This week really seems to be flying by for some reason. We were on vacation all weekend and seem to be rushing around to finish things up before we leave on vacation again next week. I’m also trying to get a few freezer meals done here and there. I’ve got three recipes this week that I’m making 3 of at once (I’ve got those noted below). When it doesn’t take much more effort to make 3 meals vs. 1, I’d rather have the extra stocked up for later. I’m particularly looking at the week we come back from vacation – we get back on Wednesday, short stuff turns one on Friday and the big first birthday party is on Friday! I’ll be unpacking, cooking for the party and getting the house together – who wants to cook dinner?

Here’s what we’ve got this week:

Monday – Chicken, Asparagus and Cheese Stuffed Peppers (2 extra for the freezer please!) from – Mountain Mama Cooks
Tuesday – Parmesan Chicken and Gnocchi With a Tomato Cream Sauce (take out the tortellini and insert gnocchi) – from Taste of Home
Wednesday – Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce and Curly Fries (extra chicken to freeze!) #258 in 365 No Repeats by Rachael Ray
Thursday – Beef, Cheddar, Potato Pie (extra individual servings for the freezer!) – From Rachael Ray Magazine
Friday – Family Favorite Cheeseburger Pasta from Taste of Home

By the way, I love the cheeseburger pasta. I add a little more liquid and a lot more cheese than the recipe calls for to make it more like a mac and cheese. I think it would be fun to make just the meat base with maccaroni and cheese sauce and leave all the condiments as stir ins so everyone can make it like they like their cheeseburger to taste (Note to self – remember this when your kids are old enough to like making the choice).

I’m also kind of excited about the beef, cheddar and potato pie. I purchased some small foil loaf pans (5 for $1!!!) and am planning on spooning the filling in and topping with the puff pastry before I freeze them. Definitely an easy meal, especially if one of us is solo for dinner.

Anyway, enjoy and let me know if you try any of these out!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the Lama
~LMM

The Great Kitchen Facelift–Weekend #4–Faux Tin Backsplash

2011-07-19T18:56:00.001-05:00

Now that we’re done with the counter project, I was happy to put that behind me and move on to what I assumed would be a fairly straightforward project (notice the word *thought*).

We tossed around a plethora of ideas for the backsplash. Traditional backsplashes are tile. I love tile. I don’t love to tile, but I love tile. I originally wanted a nice subway tile backsplash. Wouldn’t this be lovely?

What isn’t lovely is the price tag. Each tile is about $1 each. Now, when you have 23 linear feet … by 18 inches tall … plus the two solid walls … yikes! Not happening on our budget. I did quite a bit of research and decided that I really liked the look of tin tile. Again expensive … until we remembered that you can fake it with wallpaper! Ah yes, just took wallpaper off of most of the kitchen, only to put more back up right? Typical.

So, tin wallpaper. It’s actually paintable wallpaper which means that it comes white and is intended to have paint applied over it. It has a raised texture to it, so it looks and feels sort of like a tin ceiling would. The best part? It costs just $12 a roll. Note – mistake number 1 – we looked at our kitchen, looked at the roll and thought – “I think one roll will be plenty!!” Measure, measure, measure! Here’s the pattern we chose:

So we had a bit of prep work to do before we could start (and by we I really mean “he” – I watched the baby and supervised). Most of our backsplash currently was the same faux wood laminate. The rest was wallpaper and peg board. Here’s a refresher:

Our intent was to wallpaper directly over the backsplash laminate so we didn’t have to deal with ripping that out and filling the gaps between the counter and the wall. The problem we then faced was that the wallpaper/pegboard walls were not in the same plane as the laminate. Lucky for us, the Mr. had some extra MDF that was just the same thickness as the laminate. He slapped it up and voila! It looks like the whole entire wall is all in the same playing field. For the record I would like to acknowledge that the drill bits he was using belonged to one Laura Johnson – yep, me pre marriage. I’m pretty sure my dad bought me these when I as about 21 – thanks dad!! So we primed everything and were ready to go.

So we’ve never wallpapered before. This was a completely new project for us and we just assumed couldn’t be that hard right? We figured it would take us an hour or two at the most. For the record – it’s now 8:00 pm.

We thought long and hard about where we needed to start to make patterns line up and make it easier on us. You know how you traditionally put wallpaper strips up vertically? Well, the Mr. suggested we do them vertically on the big walls and horizontally on the shorter walls to save ourselves some time. The pattern after all consisted of a series of squares, so why make life harder?? (Note – I’m hinting at mistake #2). We measured, we measured again and we cut. We wanted to get all of the pieces cut before we started. Yep, that was where mistake #1 came in. We were about 4 strips short. Grumble. 25 minutes later and the quickest trip to Menards ever, we’re back in business. It’s now 9:00 pm. We got the rest of the pieces cut and were ready to start!

We wanted to make sure we really knew what we were doing so we started with just one piece. It was hard to take pictures during the wet, gooey mess, but you roll up the wall paper strip, place it into a tub of water for a few seconds, pull it out and fold it on top of itself and let it sit for 10 minutes so the glue has a chance to activate. We enjoyed an ice cream break and 10 minutes of Big Bang Theory. Fabulous!

Hanging the tall strips was definitely a two man job. The Mr. got the top part up while I held the bottom and got the patterns aligned and straight. The first piece went up, but the trimming didn’t go well. You have to cut the pieces larger than your area and then trim it with a sharp knife at the ceiling, backsplash and around the outlets. Our razor definitely needed a new blade as we tore up the first piece. Good thing we got that second roll of wallpaper right?

We got into a groove and got that big section done. Onto the backsplash area where we were going to hang the strips horizontally. Right. Yeah, so we got that first piece up and couldn’t understand why the squares weren’t lining up. Right. See, they weren’t exactly squares, they were rectangles. So nothing lined up. Sigh. We had to recut the rest of the wallpaper and it was a very defeating feeling. It was now about 11:000 pm. We were both crabby and the Mr. had to sing at church at 7 am the next day. Fabulous.

We marched on though! I think it was about 2 am when we finally finished everything, but it was so worth it!

We let everything dry overnight and got to painting the next day. It was definitely difficult to get all of the nooks and crannies covered, but it only took an hour and a half. We picked a nice shade of grey that we felt would be very sophisticated for the space and I must admit that I am completely in love it it! LOVE!

A reminder of the before:

And after:

You can see that we still have to put the trim back up at the ceiling, but that’s another project for another weekend. I’ve got all of my dishes out on the exposed shelving. For the record – I didn’t *need* more shelving, I just wanted to have the dishes out for all of their great color!

So we are moving right along! Wallpapering was one of the more tedious jobs we’ve attempted and I’d like to say that we’ll never do it again, but who knows? I think if we had to do an entire room we’d definitely hire people to do it.

How much did it cost?

Wallpaper – $24
Wallpaper wetting tray – $3
Paint – $30
Shelving units – FREE! We purchased them at IKEA several years ago!

Total cost of project – $57

Total cost of kitchen facelift so far – $290

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The Great Kitchen Facelift–Weekend #3–Part 2

2011-07-18T08:42:00.001-05:00

I really meant to get this update posted last week, but things just got crazy busy with the shop – and that’s a good thing! My apologies to the numerous friends that harassed me this weekend!!

So where were we? Counters – prepped, sanded, painted, chipped. That brought us from here to here:

So we had to let everything dry for 24 hours before we moved on. Short stuff got a fun day at the pool with grandma and grandpa, we got … more sanding? Yep. Fist up was to remove all of the loose chips. First you vacuum up what you can. Then you take a scraper and scrape away any chips that aren’t quite attached. Vacuum up these chips, then take sand paper and sand it until it’s smooth to the touch.

This actually proved to be quite challenging. You need everything to be smooth. Your final counter will be as smooth as you sand it. Great! Sand away right? Not so much. If you sand too much you sand away all the chips that are there and are left with nothing but paint – not good. The backsplash and front edge areas were the most difficult. It was really hard to get in all the corners and make sure everything was perfect. The good thing is that if you goof up you can fix it! If you scrape away too many chips, you just apply more paint and throw more chips on it, let it dry and sand again.

All of that sanding now had us here:

It took us most of the day to get here. Every time we thought we were finished we took a bright light and scoured the counter for mistakes. Every time we looked we found bare areas or thin areas, and by the time you paint, let it dry again, sand, vacuum and wash again the whole day has gone by.

We had plans for a 4th of July BBQ at the country club so we worked until dinner time and enjoyed a fabulous family night. Short stuff didn’t hate the fireworks, but he definitely wasn’t too sure of them. He clung to the Mr. and watched them in the reflection of the building for awhile. We eventually got him to turn around, but he still wouldn’t let go of the Mr.’s neck. It was pretty cute.

So we get home around 10:30 and decided we just needed to finish the project. We looked for imperfections one more time and decided that we were happy and if there were blemishes – they were there and that would just be fine. One last step!!

The final step was to apply a 2 part poly top coat. You mix the two parts together and paint it on just like you did with the original black paint. It only took about an hour but we finally had these glossy counters!

Once the top coat is on, you need to wait 24 hours for light use and 7 days before you can resume normal use.

So what do we think?

We weren’t 100% impressed. The kit was fabulous and I think it was a great concept, but we were disappointed with the color. If you stick your nose up close to it, you can see the flecks, sort of:

From afar, it is really, really black and very shiny:

Now, I think it looks OK, but the box promised us this:

I guess in hindsight, it does look like the picture of the counter on the box, but we thought it would overall look more like the swatch picture.

So initially we weren’t happy. The Mr. (who never, ever complains about anything) actually complained to Rustoleum and just yesterday we got a check in the mail for $500 because we weren’t satisfied.

Now that we have more done in the kitchen and can see the overall picture I think we like it better. We still don’t love it, but I don’t think we hate it enough that we’ll replace it. Sure, it would be nice to have real granite, but the reality is that we can’t afford it and even if we could, it might be an upgrade that would out price our house for the neighborhood we live in. We know we’ll only be in this house for another year or two (we think) so right now all the renovations are really to make the house in a good place to sell and to make us happy enough with it to stay as long as we can.

So in the end, yes we like it. Was it worth the work? Absolutely. It’s a totally new space and a drastic improvement over what we had. Is it perfect? No. Good enough? Definitely.

So let’s recap. The kits contained almost everything, but here is what we needed for the project:
2 Rustoleum Countertop Transformation kits – $500
Extra sand paper – had on hand
Drop cloths – $4
9” microfiber roller – $5
6” foam roller – $2
Painters tape – Had on hand
Paint trays – $5
Paint brush – $4

Total cost of the project: $520
Refund from Rustoleum: $500

Actual cost of project: $20

Total cost of the project thus far: $233

One last shot of the before and after:

Not bad for $20 right??

What do you think? Would you try it at your house??

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The Great Kitchen Facelift–Weekend #3

2011-07-15T08:27:00.001-05:00

I’ve been hesitant to write this post. Truth be told, Weekend #3 was actually two weeks ago. I’ve been trying to adjust to the change that came with this weekend and make sure I didn’t judge too much. I didn’t want to tell you all that I absolutely hated it until I let it sink in. I’m glad I waited because my initial judgment was wrong and we are really happy with the change. Not 100%, but happy enough that we don’t regret doing it.

Weekend #3 was countertop transformation weekend. It was a big weekend, like a really big weekend. Our kitchen was overwhelmed with not only a faux wood counter, but a complete faux wood backsplash. I’m sure at one point in time it was in style. I’m sure you don’t remember, so here’s a refresher:

It’s the one project we dreaded the most about the kitchen and has been holding us back for the 2 years we’ve lived here. Counters are expensive. Sure you can do laminate for a reasonable price, but I didn’t feel like it would be enough of an upgrade from what we had. We talked about buying pre fabricated granite and installing it ourselves. We’re crazy for DIY, but not that crazy. That seemed a little over our heads.

We have been seeing the “Countertop Transformation Kit” by Rustoleum all over lately. It was on the Today show, Rachael Ray and the Mr. even saw it in Handy Man Magazine. It’s $250 for the kit and promises to transform any countertop into a gleaming granite like counter. It only covers 20 linear feet so since we have 23 linear feet of counter space in our kitchen, spending $500 on two kits that would save us thousands in having to completely replace it with something better than laminate. We did a lot of research and read reviews and decided just to go for it! Our original thought was to use charcoal (which I think would have been a better decision) but decided to go with onyx at the last minute. We wanted dark with flecks. Rustoleum has a 100% money back guarantee, so what did we have to lose? We’re gutsy, we’ll try anything if we can get our money back!

This was going to be quite a big project, so we definitely needed 2 solid days and short stuff stayed with grandma and grandpa (THANK YOU!!!!!!). Before we even shipped him off though, the Mr. had quite a bit of prep work. Here’s the scoop on the stove. At one point in the house’s history it had a stove that had a double oven – two side by side ovens. That oven was later replaced by the glass top single stove which was not as wide. In order to make up for the differences in the stoves we were left with two side pieces of laminate that were slapped on kind of haphazardly. They were lovely and looked like this:

They weren’t really stable and as you can see they definitely weren’t level with the rest of the counter. It took some extra bracing and quite a bit of spackle to get that to at least look level. Lots of love got us to this:

Level and mostly smooth-ish. Amen to that! We repaired any other blemishes to the counters the same way and we were ready to go! After we taped around everything and hung drop cloths everywhere, the first step was to watch the 15 minute instruction video – again. It’s not a project you want to mess up. It took us just about all morning to get all everything prepped including the taping, removing the appliances and covering the sink. Don’t forget to cover the sink! All kitchen use is henceforth on hold for at least 48 hours. Behold:

Here’s where we started:

Step one was to sand the living daylights out of the counter. It’s a process called deglossing and …well … it takes the gloss and shine out of the counter. You have a diamond grit sandpaper block and you sand .. and sand … and sand. See?? No more shiny counters!!

Then you have to vacuum and wipe up all of the dust. It took around an hour to get every surface completely sanded and clean. Counters are ready to go so we did one more check in the instruction book and got all of our supplies ready to go.

Step two is definitely a two man job. You get this thick tar like paint (the color varies depending on the kit you buy). It has to be applied first to the backsplash with a paintbrush, then to the counters. Once applied, you have to take your roller and roll everything back to front to give it a nice even finish. Now you want it to be thick, but not to thick to avoid glops. I think that was part of our problem. We have a few thin areas where you can still see the old counter through it and a few that weren’t evenly spread that look a little gloppy. Here I am with my paint brush in hand! I did the brush work and the Mr. followed behind with the roller (open shelving spoiler!).

So that got us from outdated butcher block laminate to black paint:

Now the other problem is that you have about a 20 minute window to add on the “texturizing chips”.

These lovely chips are in a dispenser and you get bags and bags of them. First you spray the counter with an agent that helps them stick even more and then you crank the wheel and they go flying out, all over the place. What a mess! Make sure you completely cover all the floors and the sink or you’ll be sweeping up chips forever! We are still finding them in drawers and cabinets. We aren’t sure how exactly they go there, but they did. Now there are areas that you can’t really hit very well with the dispenser, so you have to take them by the handful and throw them forcefully at the paint. You want them to stick, so you need to really throw them.

We did these section by section. I kept on painting and as the Mr. finished his section of rolling he went back and added the chips. You want the chips to completely cover the paint. You want more chips that you could ever imagine using.

We definitely needed two kits of the base paint, but didn’t even use all of the chips from one box. So this was the end of day 1.

Chips applied, 24 hours to rest and get set. We were incredibly hopeful at this point, but it looks a little jet black, not so full of the beautiful granite like flecks we had hoped for. All the chips are black, very black. It was really quite the transformation already. We started working on the project 10 am and by the time we got to this point it was almost 5 pm. Prep work was by far the most extensive part of the project thus far. The painting and chipping really only took us maybe an hour and a half.

More to the project coming later! Think this is something you’d try out in your kitchen?

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday

2011-07-13T15:47:00.000-05:00

Lots of exciting things to cook this week! I officially have my kitchen counters back so it feels great to be able to get back in there and cook some amazing food! We really need to do another round of once a month cooking, but just haven’t had the time lately. To be honest, with the kitchen under construction it’s hard to get much of anything done in there. So in stead, we are testing out a few of this month’s recipes and if we like them we’ll put extra together to pop in the freezer. That might be my plan from now on. Instead of taking a whole day to cook. I might try a recipe … if I like it I’ll make it again the next week, just in a triple batch so we have one to eat that night and two for the freezer. We’ll give it a shot!

Here’s what we’ve got for the week:

Monday – Chicken Parm Wraps (we took a night out and never got to these last week)

Tuesday – Chicken Fajitas (ended up having an dinner with the in-laws and skipped this one last week too!)

Wednesday – Dijon Pork Loin Roast ( actually making it with pork ribs because they were on sale – OAMC recipe tester)

Thursday – Pineapple Chicken (#95 From Rachael Ray: 356 No Repeats)

Friday – Chicken Tortilla Salad (it’s actually a soup recipe from 365 No Repeats (#97), but I’m skipping the soup part and making it into a salad – more to come later!)

Saturday – Cheddar Studded Tex Mex Meatloaf with Scallion Smashed Potatoes and Spicy Pan Gravy (#101 from 365 No Repeats)

For those of you that were following along earlier in the year, you can see that I’m getting back to my quest to cook from front to back of 365 No Repeats. I’m up to recipe #101 so we’re 1/3 of the way there!! I’ll try to make sure I post the ones we really like as we go.

We are also running dangerously low on baby food for short stuff so I am also trying to make 5 batches of baby food, which these days doesn’t seem to last very long. I’m making:
~Strawberry, pineapple, banana
~ Pork and sweet potatoes
~ Potato, zucchini, pea
~ Peach, appricot

Enjoy!
~LMM

Beef Stroganoff – Good Old Comfort Food!

2011-07-11T15:35:00.000-05:00

I’m a Milwaukee girl. Born and raised. That means that I have a good appreciation for beer and German food. I don’t think I particularly liked German food as a kid. I remember my mom making rouladen quite a bit but I was always suspicious of the pickle in the middle. We definitely had a lot of beef stroganoff, but I for sure picked out every single mushroom in there.

Now that I am an older and much wiser than I the nose wrinkling child growing up, I have come to appreciate the fabulousness of a good German dinner. Pickles add a wonderful unexpected tang to a normally boring dish. I tend to put a good squirt of mustard in quite a few dishes to give them some zing. I still don’t love to eat mushrooms, but I sure do love the taste of them in a sauce!

So I was delighted to find a recipe for beef stroganoff that boasted it came straight from a grandfather from Germany. Now I changed it a little because the idea of using canned mushrooms over fresh ones makes me cringe and I’m just not a fan of gravy based entirely on beer. We have tried many a recipe and I think this was the first one that we loved and want to start adding on to the “eat frequently” rotation. Enjoy!

Beef stroganoff

2 lb sirloin steak
2 T vegetable oil
2 medium onions, sliced
1 tub of fresh mushrooms sliced (you know, the prepackaged, sliced mushrooms in the produce section)
2 T flour (a generous 2 T)
1/4 tsp paprika (a healthy sprinkle)
1 1/2-2 C beef broth or stock
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (I go a little heavy here)
1/2 – 1 C sour cream
hot buttered noodles

Slice steak into 1/2 inch thick strips (*TIP* Place your steak in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before you slice it! It makes getting nice thin strips a breeze!) Heat a large skillet on medium-high. You really want it to be hot. You know it’s ready when the oil starts to smoke a little. Quickly brown the meat letting it get a good sear on all sides. Remove from pan and keep warm. In the same skillet, cook the onions and mushrooms for about 5-7 minutes until the onions are tender and the mushrooms are golden brown. (*TIP* Don’t add any salt until after your mushrooms are cooked! Adding it in before they are cooked will make them chewy.)

Add in the paprika and flour. Cook for 1 minutes then start whisking in your stock and Worcestershire sauce. Add the stock in slowly, a bit at a time until your gravy is the consistency that you like. Make sure you get all the tasty brown bits off the bottom when you stir! Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Return the beef to the skillet. Turn off the heat and stir in sour cream a bit at a time until it’s the desired flavor. (*TIP* Make sure you take it off the heat! If sour cream gets too hot, it will separate and your sauce will be a mess!) Serve over hot buttered noodles. Serves 6-8

Yum! YUM! YUM!!!!

Dinner for the short one as well! Pureed beef vegetable alphabet stew!

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the Lama
~LMM

The Great Kitchen Facelift–Midweek Project

2011-07-08T11:00:00.000-05:00

Well, it wasn’t a planned for us to have a midweek project last week, but you really find yourself looking for things to do when the power goes out for a full 48 hours. Yep, it was pretty bad around here for a few days. We had an storm roll through last Sunday night that took everyone by surprise. We didn’t even have a severe storm warning let alone tornado sirens that we *think* probably should have gone off.

There was no confirmed tornado, but it sure was the scariest storm I’ve ever been in. We woke up at 12:30 and there was scary lightning and rain. The power flashed a few times and then just went out. We checked the Mr’s phone for text message weather alerts and had nothing. I went to the other side of the house to get my cell and check Weatherbug alerts on my phone and there was nothing. The wind was just howling and did sound a bit like a freight train. It was a very eerie color and just flat out scary. We were debating whether or not we should head to the basement when we heard a tree limb crash down on top of our bedroom. We freaked out for a minute or two and then everything just died down.

In hindsight, we should have made a run for the basement. When morning finally came the devastation around town was pretty bad. Trees uprooted and snapped everywhere. I don’t think there were any city blocks that were spared. It seemed everyone was safe and there weren’t too many that had total losses, but it was definitely an adventure driving around. About 30,000 of the 40,000 residents were without power. Lucky enough though, the main strip of restaurants and fast food joints did have power – yay for food!

Most people had power within 48 hours, including ourselves. We were also incredibly lucky that our wonderful neighbors had a generator and let us plug in our fridge and freezer so we didn’t lose too much food. Can you imagine all of my freezer meals, baby food and everything I purchased at the grocery store just the day before gone? We are truly blessed.

So anyway, without any form of entertainment and a half charged Nook I looked for other things to do – like paint the kitchen! I’m going for something bright and cheery. Yellow to be exact. We have two lovely table runners that we received as wedding presents that I wanted to be the compliment colors of the room.

I picked up about 50 different paint swatches and we hung them all and analyzed the colors and finally decided on “Pad of Butter”. We primed over all of the green and got the paint all up during the daylight hours those two days.

This is actually a better shot of what the room looks like now. I think I had better light when I took the picture. Don’t mind the disaster that is the kitchen table. We were working on the counters when I took this picture.

Quite the change right?? I’m not totally in love with the color. It’s a little more lemon creamsicle than pad of butter. I think I wanted something a little warmer and a little less bright. I’m going to give it a shot though and hopefully once we change the floors and counters out I’ll love it. We are also going to try a second coat of paint. I feel like it’s pulling a bit of the green from the original pint through (not cool!). So we’re hoping that second coat will do the trick!

So that was our midweek paint adventure. Total cost:

$33.93

$12.95 for the primer and $20.98 for the paint. We already had rollers, paint trays and painters tape on hand.

This brings the grand total of 2.5 weeks worth of projects to $213.00.

Ah, I feel better about the kitchen already!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday

2011-07-06T13:40:00.000-05:00

Eating this week is a tad bit different than most. The rule is – I’m not allowed to use my counters this week. I’m not telling you why .. you’ll have to wait until next week to find out (ooohhh, feel the suspense building???). So this week I’m using a bit of freezer cooking thanks to Once A Month Cooking (OAMC) and doing a little bit of my own mini freezer cooking. I’m using 2 freezer meals and one slow cooker meal. The other 3 meals are all from OAMC, but instead of making a big day of it, I spent the morning throwing two of them together. They are sitting in my fridge and ready to pop in the oven as soon as we are ready to eat them. The third I need leftover chicken from a slow cooker meal to make, so we’ll have to make that one on the kitchen table. Intriguing, hey?

So here’s the plan:

Sunday – 4th of July BBQ at Quincy Country Club

Monday – Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Basil Cream Sauce (made ahead, ready to cook!)

Tuesday – Spaghetti Pie (made ahead, ready to cook!)

Wednesday – Greek Chicken (slow cooker)

Thursday – Chicken Parm Wraps (use leftover chicken)

Friday – Steak with twice baked potatoes (OAMC)

Saturday – Chicken Fajitas (OAMC – May Traditional Menu)

So even though I can’t really use my kitchen to it’s full capacity, I still can use it and don’t have to go out to eat all week. Saves us calories and money, that’s for sure. We’re a happy family when we eat home cooked food and have some extra cash.

Stay tuned for more updates on the kitchen!

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The Power Goes Out–The Food Must Go On!

2011-07-05T11:17:00.000-05:00

So yeah, having your power go out is a pain in the butt. Especially when it’s fro a full 48 hours, you have a refrigerator full of food, meals planned and are trying to stick to your weekly budget. I must say that we surmounted all of the hurdles and ended up just fine! We are so grateful to our wonderful neighbors that plugged our fridge and freezer into their generator. Without them, we would have lost everything.

We had some Apple Oatmeal Pie Bars in the freezer that were easy to defrost for breakfast. We did go out to lunch both days, but that was more to be social and share storm stories with our friends. The biggest challenge was dinner. Dinner out gets expensive. I had all sorts of meat and veggies in the fridge that were just begging to be cooked! Well, I’m a Wisconsin girl and grew up camping and vacationing to our cabin in the woods. I’m no stranger to cooking over an open fire, or in this case a grill.

Remember how I was going to make Slow Roasted Beef with Tomatoes? Oh, did I make it! Camper pack style! I took all the basic ingredients:

Beef round roast, carrots, celery, onions, baby Yukon gold potatoes, olive oil, steak seasoning, butter, garlic, rosemary and tomato paste.

Cut everything into small pieces, threw in an ice cube (for steam) and placed them onto large pieces of foil.

I rolled them all up into little packets and the Mr. threw them on the grill for about 35-40 minutes. Once they are done, you smush them around a little bit to distribute the seasonings and you magically have dinner!

This was actually one of the best dinners we’ve had in a long time. I loved that the potatoes and meat got a little crispy, but everything was nice and soft and juicy. YUM!

We actually did the same thing the following night with the garlic lime pork chops. We cooked the chops as is, but made little packets of potatoes with some chili powder and cumin. Not bad for not having power right? We used the food we had, saved money, and had our own little camping adventure. We topped each night off with game night by candle light and we actually kind of had fun! It was a nice way to regroup and bond a little as a family. I did feel a little disconnected from the world and missed catching up on the news, but it was definitely fun.

What do you do when the power goes out??

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The Great Kitchen Facelift–Weekend #2

2011-07-04T10:23:00.000-05:00

So last weekend we did some simple, but very effective changes. We swapped out the dated light fixtures and drawer pulls. What does weekend #2 bring?

This weekend was a great adventure in wallpaper removal. Yay? It has been one of the most drastic changes we’ve tackled, yet was also one of the more annoying tasks. We were lucky, really lucky. This lovely wallpaper:

has been up in this kitchen at least since 1983, we think it could even be 10-20 years beyond that. Based on the family historians recollection and the order that additions and extra cabinets were added .. it’s pretty old. It was actually very charming wallpaper and we thought about keeping it up, but since it was so … vintage … it had rips on the corners and stains from some decorations that had been hanging there for years. It also had about 30 years of kitchen grease and grime built up. I knew it was dirty, but until I held a piece in my hand I don’t think I had realized just how disgusting and grimy it was. It needed to go.

But, since it was put up back during a time where things weren’t so flimsy and cheap it was high quality wall paper and was pretty easy to take down. The Mr. scored it around all the doors and molding and I just started peeling.

Easy as that. No water, no scraping … it just came down in sheets. Lovely! We soon discovered that there was lovely mint green paint behind the wallpaper. It shouldn’t have surprised us. It must have been on sale at one point as it also happens to be the inside color of the cabinets, and the color of the basement stairwell.

Then we got to the fun part – removing the glue! Ugh. I’m glad this was so easy, but I’m really dreading the other two rooms in the house that are covered in wallpaper. We might just consider painting over that wallpaper like we did in the guest room. So having never done this before we did a little research and found that the glue can come off with a 50/50 mixture of hot water and downy. I armed myself with my sprayer and scraper and away I went!

I sprayed and scraped, and scraped and sprayed. The floor was slick with Downy (although it did smell fresh and clean! Behold the fruits of my labor:

We really weren’t getting anywhere. No matter how much I scraped it still seemed like there was glue everywhere. Sigh. We went back to the drawing board and came up with a new plan! We happened to have a wallpaper steamer that we borrowed from a friend. It was definitely a very wet, 2 man job but it worked so much better! The glue just melted off and we hardly had to put any effort into scraping! Yahoo!

After we managed to get all of the glue down, we definitely had some repair to do. The Mr.’s grandma loved hanging things on the walls, so we had quite a few holes to patch up. A little bit of spackle, some sanding and a bit of cleaning and the kitchen was back to it’s original useful state, green walls and all.

So that was weekend number 2. It did take us a fair amount of nap and post bedtime hours to get it all done, but the walls are ready to be painted and primed. The best part of the weekend? We spent absolutely nothing on the project. Zero dollars required. That’s the kind of weekend project I like!

Have you ever tackled wallpaper? Any tips for those that want to try?

Until next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday

2011-06-29T15:37:00.000-05:00

Time for another edition of What We Eat Wednesday! Back to some freezer meals this week (OAMC). We haven’t been using them as much as we should be. We still have quite a few ready to go so we didn’t do the June OAMC menu, but we are hoping to do another batch in July. We have been adding a few single freezer items lately to refresh our stock of breakfasts and random side items like double baked potatoes. I think the goal is to do OAMC maybe every other month. We’ll have to see what comes up!

Anyway, I digress. You’re here to find out what we’re eating this week and maybe it’ll pop up on your menu for next week!

Sunday – Dinner at the in-laws

Monday – Grilled Gyros (OAMC) – I swear one of these days it’s going to stop raining when I expect it to and we’re going to grill!

Tuesday – French dip with Twice Baked Potatoes (both from OAMC)

Wednesday – Slow Roasted Beef with Potatoes

Thursday – Creamed Chicken with Gnocchi Dumplings

Friday – Ravioli Lasagna

Freezer meals and sides we made this week:

Raspberry Lemon Muffins

Twice Baked Potatoes – I just kind of made my own recipe up, wrapped them up and froze them!

I didn’t plan anything for Saturday this week. With it being the holiday weekend, I’m not really sure what our plans are so I’m leaving it empty for now. Besides, if all goes well next weekend is resurface the kitchen counter weekend, so we’ll have to eat out anyway!! Eek!!

Are you eating anything good this week?

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The Great DIY Kitchen Project–One Weekend at a Time–Weekend Numero Uno

2011-06-27T06:04:00.000-05:00

Ah yes, DIY kitchen remodeling. Scary, yes? To tell you the truth, we are terrified of ours. How in the world are we supposed to go from this:

to something along the lines of this:

We’re crazy right? Can to relatively intelligent and moderately crafty people do this solo? Why would we even try? I’m delusional and the Mr. believes in my grand delusions. We are armed with watching way too much HGTV, just enough knowledge to be dangerous, Google, and YouTube (you’d really be amazed at how much you can learn watching YouTube tutorials!).

OK, so to be less overwhelmed by everything that eventually had to be done, we have (or are at least trying) to be happy knowing that the kitchen will get done, but it won’t be fast. We’ll take it one weekend at a time and one paycheck at a time. We’ve done remodeling before and it quickly becomes a money pit and it has gotten us into debt that we’d rather not have again. So flat out – if we don’t currently have the money in our pocket or the designated bank account, it just isn’t happening. If we want it we have to earn it. It’s kind of like being a kid again. If you want to buy a toy, you have to do your chores, earn the money and save it so that you can afford it. So simple, yet so hard for most adults.

Anyway, weekend number one is here! What can we accomplish in one weekend??

Goals:
~ Get the colors and design ideas ready
~ Replace all the drawer pulls
~ Replace the old light fixture

Not so bad right? Totally realistic for a weekend.

So what are we shooting for? Here are a few things that we would like to accomplish:

A classy, cheery white kitchen with black counters and dark floors

Open shelving to display all of our Fiesta dishes and hang coffee cups

Painted inner cabinets Paintable wallpaper backsplash

A cheery place to eat with bright contrasting decorations.

So there you have it! It seems like a lot of things that don’t go together, but I promise I at least *think* I know what I’m doing … famous last words.

So that’s the GOAL – let’s get to work!

First project – get rid of the light fixtures, that we think has been hanging there since around circa 1960. Here are the originals and their new replacements!

Exhibit A:

Yes that’s just an exposed light bulb. Not sure why, but we found more than one of those in our house so it must have been intentional.

Exhibit B (plus exhibit A in the background):

How about that from outdated to fresh and cheery? You can even see a sneak peak of weekend #2 projects because I’m terrible at getting pictures taken in a timely manner.

Next up – new drawer pulls! You have no idea how much they can change a room. Ours actually were so old, they are now considered retro. They actually were a pretty nice shape, but they were quite worn and just didn’t match what we were looking for. So out with the old and in with the new!

One last project that was by far the nicest change, I have no idea why we didn’t do it sooner. You won’t even believe it … we cleaned the cabinets – gasp!!!! Yes a good old soap and sponge to wash 60 years of kitchen grease and sticky fingers off the white cabinets. I think they still need a good coat of … something on the top to seal them a little bit, but what a world of difference! Dirt be gone!

So that was weekend #1. To be honest, the Mr. hung the new light fixture in about an hour while short stuff napped. The rest we did in about 3 hours after he went to bed. Total cost of weekend #1?

$174.07

We spent $80 on the chandelier, $94 on 47 new drawer pulls and the third light fixture we already had from a previous remodeling project.

Not bad for some pretty big changes and just a few hours of work.

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What We Eat Wednesday

2011-06-22T10:16:00.000-05:00

We are taking a small break from Once a Month meals this week. I’m in the mood to get dirty in the kitchen and whip up some fabulous dinners, so here’s what we are eating this week!

Sunday – Father’s Day dinner with the in laws!

Monday – Fragrant Fried Rice Pilaf

Tuesday – Baby Back Ribs with Potatoes Maureen (aka. Cheesy Potatoes)

Wednesday – Steak Salad

Thursday – Grilled Beef, Tomato and Lemon Kebabs with leftover potatoes Maureen

Friday – Beef Stroganoff

Saturday – Grandma Sue’s Perfect Pasta (Note: I do not have a Grandma Sue, but her pasta sure does sound tasty!)

If there is something listed that I haven’t linked a recipe to, give me a shout out and I’ll make a post about it!

Are you eating anything good this week? Leave a comment if you are! I love new recipes to try!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

My Kitchen Needs Help!

2011-06-20T11:42:00.001-05:00

We moved into our home about 2 years ago. It was my husband’s grandfather’s house. We didn’t really intend on staying more than a few months until we found a place of our own, but once you move into a place and get settled, who wants to move? It definitely needed major updates. Most things hadn’t been updated since the early 80’s. We actually found a picture of the “new kitchen” from 1983 … it actually predates the hubby. It’s now 2011 and we still have the same wallpaper, linoleum floors, cabinets, counters, backsplash, and yes – even the same microwave. It’s a fabulous space, but it just needs a little love.

While we did replace the microwave and dishwasher when short stuff was born, that was where we stopped. Did we really want to put the work and money into it? We have been putting it off, but are finally taking the plunge! We don’t have a lot of money, and lets face it – we love a good DIY challenge, so we are going to attempt to refinish it on our own. I’ll admit that I’m also a bit stubborn about home improvement. I’m pretty delusional about it. See, I grew up with a dad that did everything. He wanted to put a skylight in? He cut a hole in the ceiling, and it was there! He wanted to create a cathedral ceiling? He just busted through the drywall, reframed it and poof! I am finally starting to realize (now that I’m 30), that not all men are that handy. In fact, most families probably hire people to do these projects. The hubby is still in trouble though because I believe that we can do it. We watch enough HGTV and isn’t that why there are YouTube videos for everything??

There is a lot to do so we started off by making a list of all of the projects and then breaking them down into manageable weekend projects. We think we can get our updates done in just 6 weekends. 6 total weekends, not consecutive. We never use a credit card, so things will happen when the budget allows.

Here’s what our kitchen looks like now (OK almost now … I didn’t get pictures in before we replaced the really outdated light fixture, so you get a sneak peak of weekend 1!)

Outdated cabinet handles, grimy, sticky cabinets, and a backsplash that is the same outdated laminate as the counter top.

We still aren’t sure why there is partially painted pegboard behind the stove …

Oh, the lovely backsplash and the grimy cabinets and sticky drawers.

Another lovely pegboard wall, the handy dandy trash compactor, and the sticky linoleum floors.

The lovely gold light fixture (and our dog Luke!) – that’s my sunroom/office in the background!

The back door, a bank of cabinets.

The blue striped wallpaper is actually kind of neat, but it’s peeling up and is full of stains and 30 years of kitchen grease.

A lot of work? Yes. Expensive? We hope not. The goal is to spend around $1500 (hopefully less). That’s right. A total kitchen makeover for $1500 or less. I feel like I’m on Design on a Dime! With a little creativity and some sweat … I think it might just come together!

Stay tuned for projects as we go! What remodeling projects are you tackling?

Until the next time…
The girl behind the Lama
~LMM

Stuffed Pork Chops–Fresh Style!

2011-06-16T11:00:00.003-05:00

OK, So I’m one of those cooks that likes things natural. I’m not into cage free, range free, totally preservative free cooking. I just like to know where my food comes from. I like to know that my gravy is made from the crusty brown bits at the bottom of the pan, butter, flour and low sodium, fat free chicken stock. There are no artificial colorings or preservatives. I know what seasonings I added and for the most part the sodium content. Have you ever looked at the sodium in a jar of gravy?!?!!? There are some that I use, such as stuffing mix used here, but that’s about it.

One of my other big pet peeves is “cream of” soups. I wish I could wipe them off of the planet. I don’t believe that the bits in the cream of mushroom are actually fresh mushrooms, I have no idea what they used to make it, and if it comes out of a can in one large sticky clump, it creeps me out. Now my mom used them all the time growing up, but my stomach just can’t handle it. Literally. Since I started cooking my own food from scratch, anything that has that many preservatives doesn't settle well. Lets not even talk about the day a few weeks ago that I was craving a good old blue box of mac and cheese. It was rough for awhile.
So that brings me to stuffed pork chops. Traditional, home style food. Basic recipe uses a can of cream of mushroom soup dumped over the pork chops and baked. No thank you. Did you know that you can make your own cream of mushroom sauce in about 10 minutes??
Here’s my very own recipe for you to enjoy!

Stuffed pork chops

Serving size: 2 adults, plus one 10 month old

Ingredients

2 bone in pork chops about an inch or two thick
2 cups of stuffing mix (or day old bread cubes seasoned to your liking)
2 T melted butter
about 1/4-1/2 C chicken stock (enough to moisten your stuffing)
1 rib celery chopped
1/2 onion chopped
1/2 a box of sliced button mushrooms
2 sprigs of thyme (or about 1 teaspoon dried)
2 T flour
about 1 1/2-2 cups chicken stock

I’m all about kitchen efficiency so before you even start cutting anything, preheat your oven to 375 and get your pork chops cooking. Heat a pan large enough to fit all of your chops on medium high. Once it’s hot, add in a few tablespoons of olive oil and cook your pork chops for a few minutes on each side, you want them to be lightly browned but not cooked all the way through. It is absolutely essential to wait until your pan is hot! Never put meat on a cold or warm pan. The heat sears the meat which not only gives you the lovely crusty outside, but also the juicy inside.

Don’t sit and stare at them! While they brown, use that time to chop up your onion and celery for the stuffing! Multitasking at it’s best! Once your chops are browned, take them out and just let them hang out on a plate until you are ready for them. In the very same pot toss in a little more olive oil, half of your onion and the celery. See what we’re doing here? The more you use the pot, the more those little crusty bits of flavor accumulate in your pan. You know all those little browned bits at the bottom? That’s exactly what creates yummy goodness of flavor in your sauce. You want them there so resist the urge to clean them out after each bit of cooking! OK, so you’re cooking your onions and celery for about 3-5 minutes. You just want them to be a little soft, but not totally cooked – they’ll finish cooking in the oven.

While those are cooking, start getting your stuffing ready. Put the stuffing mix into a bowl with the melted butter and chicken broth (or chicken stock if you have it, either is fine!). Let your eyes be the judge of how much stock you need! It really depends a lot on the brand of stuffing mix you use, or the texture of your own day old bread. You want all the water to soak in and leave the bread moist, but not so moist that it’s sitting in a big pool of liquid. Once your veggies are all cooked up, add them to the stuffing mix, give it a stir and let it hang out for a bit.

Go back to your very same pot (one pot wonder meal!). Add in about 2 tablespoons of butter. You want butter here, not olive oil – you’ll get a much better gravy! Let the butter melt and throw in your mushrooms thyme, and the other half of your onion. Now, feel free to add as many as you like. We personally like the flavor of mushrooms, but not really eating the mushrooms, so I tend to use about half a box and I chop them up pretty small. Resist the urge to season!! Salt pulls the water out of them and will make them very tough and chewy so always salt them after they are cooked. They’ll probably cook about 5-6 minutes before they are dark and meaty looking.

See all the lovely brown bits that I’ve accumulated? So my mushrooms are cooked. Now it’s time to make the sauce! Toss in about 2 tablespoons of flour. You are making a roux, the base of your sauce. Stir it up and make sure you cook it for about a minute. You want to cook off the flavor of the flour. Make sure it’s not much more than a minute though otherwise you risk cooking off the glue that will pull your chicken stock to a nice, thick, sauce.

Once you’ve let it cook for a few minutes start adding your chicken stock. I also like to play the quantities by ear. Add in about 3/4 c to 1 cup to start off with. Stir it up and make sure you get any clumps of flour dissolved and that you scrape up all of those tasty brown bits at the bottom. Then let it cook. It needs to heat up a bit before it starts to thicken. Always start with small amounts of liquid! It’s easier to thin a sauce out than it is to make it thicker. Keep adding until you have a thick gravy. I apologize for not having a picture. I was so excited to get dinner in the oven I forgot!

Once your gravy is as thick as you want it, you are ready to assemble! I personally don’t care to take the time to slice my pork to actually stuff it. It all tastes the same and it all falls out when you try to cut into it, so why bother? I prefer the unassembled method so I get extra crunchy dressing on top. Put each pork chop down in a baking dish. Put the stuffing in big scoops on top. Use the rest of the stuffing to fill the rest of the pan. Then pour your yummy mushroom sauce over everything. Cover and bake for about 30 minutes. If you want extra crispiness on top, uncover and broil for a minute or two.

I served it up with some steamed broccoli and purple cauliflower and voila! Dinner!

You know what the best part was? I cut off chunks of pork and put it in the blender with some stuffing, broccoli and cauliflower and made a little baby puree for my little one. I felt confident enough with this meal that he was getting fresh ingredients that weren’t full of too many things he shouldn’t be eating. He absolutely loved it and ate every last bite of it. Who says the baby has to eat Gerber mush? Not my baby that’s for sure!

So try it out! Just skip that can of cream of mushroom soup just this once and tell me that this wasn’t easy, healthy and way more tasty!

Please, please please, if you have any questions or don’t understand what I mean by something – ask me! I’m a pretty confident cook, so I tend to forget sometimes that not everyone else is. Enjoy!

Until the next time,
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Menu Plan Monday … er… Wednesday

2011-06-15T16:01:00.001-05:00

I always have high hopes of putting up a menu planning post. Usually most people do these on Monday. What do you care? Menu Plan Monday has a catchy ring to it, but what about What We Eat Wednesday? Dare to different.

I’m still working on the last Once a Month Cooking Post (OAMC) so stay tuned, but hopefully this will help you envision how I use the meals to make my cooking week a little easier, especially in the heat of summer!

So here's what we're eating this week:

Monday - Honey Mustard Pork Chops (OAMC) with roasted asparagus and Butter and Parm Squished Potatoes

Tuesday - Stuffed Pork Chops (I will blog about this one later!) with steamed broccoli and purple cauliflower

Wednesday – Stuffed Bell Peppers with Chicken, Asparagus and Mozarella

Thursday – BBQ Enchilladas (OAMC) with Summer Salad

Friday – Meat Loaf (OAMC) with mashed sweet potatoes

Saturday – Gyros (OAMC) and Zucchini bake

If there is something listed that I haven’t linked a recipe to, give me a shout out and I’ll make a post about it!

Are you eating anything good this week?

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

First, you have to ask

2011-06-08T10:20:00.001-05:00

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. – Matthew 7:7

I was reading the daily selection in the book Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy and was really inspired. The concept of the lesson? Just ask for help.

As I’m sure is common, many women – especially mothers – spend most of their day worrying about those around them. It is so easy to put everyone else's needs above our own. Of course the kids need to play, everyone needs to eat, the house needs to be clean, the school needs an extra hand, your friend needs a shoulder to lean on, the dog needs to go to the vet … the list goes on and on. So what do you do for yourself?

I thought about that and realized that there isn’t much that I do for myself without feeling guilty. Sure, I work because I enjoy it, I read because I enjoy it – but why is it that I do all of these things and still feel guilty, like I’m taking something away from someone else who really needs my time?

I’m slowly discovering that it’s OK to ask for help. Step one: I asked my husband to watch the baby Saturday morning so that I could go swim laps at the pool and read a book. It was so simple. He immediately said, “Yes! Absolutely! GO! Get out!”

A few days later we had a small accident at home involving the baby and our dog. I won’t go into the details, but it ended up with a perfectly happy baby that had a few cuts glued shut on his face and a pretty hysterical mommy. I really felt like I just needed support and wanted to call a friend, but immediately said, “No. She’s busy. She has her own problems. She doesn’t need mine on top of hers.” I kept debating and it dawned on me, that’s what friends are for. Friends are there to help you when you need it the most. Sure, they’re there for a random cup of coffee, or a play date at the pool – but what they are really there for is in times like this. Times when you need someone to assure you that it was just an accident, it could have happened to anyone, the baby is fine, and you aren’t a terrible mother.

So I called, and you know what? I was right. She dropped everything and came over and that was just what I needed. All I had to do was ask.

So why not ask for help when you need it? The worst that could happen is that person says no and you’re back to square one. At least you tried right?

All you moms out there that do things for everyone in the world, but not for yourself – ask someone for help. Ask someone to watch your kids so that you can go for a walk – alone, or to a movie, or to the mall. It’s OK, it’s more than OK and you’ll be a better mom for it.

I’m a work in progress, but maybe some day I’ll ask for help without debating it for an hour first.

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

What you need to know about the girl behind the lama

2011-06-01T22:30:00.001-05:00

I have 126 followers. Crazy right? Blogger tells me that I’ve had 344 page views in the last month (!!!!!). Blogger also tells me that the most visited page in the last week has been “About Me”. That’s a brand new page and I am so glad that you want to get to know me! So here’s a post all about me and the things you might want to know!

My name is Laura. I am 30 years old. Married. Mother to one adorable almost 10 month old (see picture for proof of cuteness).

I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin – land of cheese and beer! This means that I’m an avid Packer fan, a cheese snob, and I like snow. I say “I know, eh?” a lot. I use the word bubbler (although I’m a little self conscious about it now that I live in Illinois). I speak unnaturally fast.

Growing up I loved to do crafts with my mom. I took knitting lessons and went to sewing classes. I was a dancer until it got in the way of my dreams of being an Olympic swimmer (OK, I really just wanted to make Varsity …).

I have always been a bit of a math nerd. Yep, I was on the math team in high school (cool right?). I actually enjoyed calculus. This turned me to engineering as I started college. I graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI with both a bachelors and masters degree in biomedical engineering. What’s that you say? It really sounds scarier than it is. I’m really a mechanical engineer with a minor in biology. During school I spent some time working for a company designing artificial joints – shoulders, elbows, wrists and fingers. During grad school I designed gaming devices for use in arm rehabilitation (think early Wii Fit type stuff). After grad school I worked at a children’s hospital helping doctors understand walking patterns in children with disabilities.

I started selling on Etsy in 2008 after our wedding. My husband was still in law school (read – he was busy) and I had gone into crafting withdrawal. One thing lead to another and POOF Lama Works was born! What’s with the name? It’s not llama … like the animal (which I’ve heard numerous times). First name LAura … last name MAys … put the two together and you get Lama!

OK enough about Etsy, that’s old news that you probably already know. What else might you not know?

I love, love, love to cook. I make most things from scratch because we just don’t like processed foods anymore. Not everything, but most sauces at least. While I love to cook, I really don’t like to bake. I don’t have the patience to measure things so they never turn out quite right.

I like to garden. I usually grow mostly tomatoes because I love making my own spaghetti sauce. I also usually have peas, lettuce, zucchini, onions and tons of herbs. I have more oregano than I will ever know what to do with.

I’m also super musical. Growing up I learned to play the piano, violin, flute, piccolo and trombone. I still play the flute almost weekly in some musical group or another. I still play the piano quite a bit, but just for fun. I met the Mr. playing in the band in college (awwwwww). I am truly blessed that I have someone that will hum along (usually in harmony) pep band music when we are watching a Marquette basketball game. Even with the addition of the little Mr. we still play in our community band once a week and are in the church choir together.

I’m a super positive person and I try to live to make the best of each and every day. I once went to an interview and (after giving me the job) told me that they thought that I was a bit fake because no one could be that happy and excited about life. Once they got to know me they realized that indeed someone can be genuinely that happy and excited. My glass is always half full and I try to see the best in everyone.

I’m a bit shy, especially in big groups, but if you get to know me I can be pretty goofy.

I love being a mom. I love being a work at home mom and do not regret giving up my day job. I’m proud to be a cloth diapering mom. I make almost all of our baby food. I sing “The Wheels on the Bus” a LOT. I refuse to read him “I’ll Love You Forever” because I can never read it without crying.

So that’s a lot about me. Is there anything else you want to know? I’m an open book!

Thanks for taking the time to read this!
Until the next time…
The girl behind the Lama
~LMM

Get Ready for Once a Month!

2011-06-01T08:28:00.001-05:00

It’s that time of the month again! The new Once a Month menus are out and ready for you to cook! Now the premise is that many of the foods used for this month are generally either in season or on sale in the month of June, so use the entire month to shop the sales and stock up so you get the best deals. I have yet to do this so I might give it a try. In theory you shop all month, cook at the end of the month and then eat these meals all through the month of July.

I still have about a dozen meals left from my May cooking day and I think I still have one or two left from April that we haven’t eaten yet. We are almost out of breakfast foods. Honestly, we can’t get enough of those pancakes, so we’ll definitely be making more of those this weekend. We still have plenty of lunches left for the month too.

The amazing women at Once a Month Mom have created not one, but FIVE different menus to choose from depending on your dietary wishes:

Traditional
Whole Foods
Diet
Gluten and Dairy Free
Vegetarian

So keep me posted – I’d love to hear if any of you are going to try this out! I may just try out the Whole Foods menu this month. I probably won’t make all the add on’s, but I think that menu has more things we’d enjoy this month. I am definitely enjoying not having to cook every single night, especially in this heat. We’ve also noticed that we hardly ever go out for dinner anymore. Why go out when the food you have at home is just as good, if not better and way cheaper? I’m all about saving money any place I can.

Happy summer!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The Goodness of Whole Wheat Sour Cream Pancakes

2011-05-30T08:49:00.001-05:00

I don’t make pancakes often. They aren’t hard, but I very rarely care to take the time to make a big stack that we eat just a few of. Now that my little drool bomb has discovered the wonderfulness of sweet potato pancakes I make HIM huge batches and freeze them. Freeze the pancakes … why have I never thought of this before? Make a ton, flash freeze them, pop them in the toaster on defrost and you have a wonderfully warm and better yet, crispy pancake! Huh …. it’s like a whole new world opened up to me. We did this last month with the once a month cooking waffles and they were great! It did take us awhile to get the settings on the toaster right, but once we did it was like buying frozen waffles – but better and healthier!

I was pleasantly pleased to find pancakes on the May Once a Month Cooking menu. I didn’t blog about it (but should later this week maybe?) but it was another successful cooking night! While my hubby has been stealing almost all of the pancakes, I had my very first this morning, slathered in a good coating of Nutella. FYI – I also just tried a scoop of Nutella stirred into my morning coffee – YUM!

Anyway, I was skeptical about the pancakes but they were great! I’ve never made pancakes that don’t come from a box and you just add milk or water and these had of all things wheat flour and sour cream in them. Could that be good? I’m on a mission to open my eyes to new things and try more foods that I *think* I might not like. Who am I to say that I don’t like something until I try it and give it a chance? It’s a grand theme I’ve adopted to my whole life in the past few years. You’ll never know unless you try, so what have you got to lose? So I tried the pancakes and who knew they would be fabulous and healthy?? Try them out, and make sure you freeze the leftovers for later! Lay them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet and pop them in the freezer. Once they are frozen, just stack them into a Ziploc bag. To reheat them we used the defrost button on our toaster, which I think just toasts them slower and longer so they don’t burn on the outside.

Let me know if you try them and what you think! Thanks again to Once A Month Mom!!

Whole Wheat Sour Cream Pancakes

Makes 8-10 3” pancakes

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk (dairy or nondairy)

1 egg

3 tablespoons sour cream

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt.

2. In a measuring cup or small bowl, whisk the egg into the milk. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Add the sour cream and give the batter one final stir.

3. Spoon a quarter cup of batter onto a griddle or skillet set over medium heat that has been coated with nonstick cooking spray. Flip after 3-4 minutes, just as you notice bubbles forming around the edges of each pancake, and cook 2 minutes more.

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Another new look!

2011-05-29T13:10:00.001-05:00

So who knew that you could add different pages to your blogger page? Not this girl! I just spent the last month searching for a web design host. I don’t think I want to sell things on this web page (yet!), I really want it there so that customers in my area can find me. Google “Wedding invitations Quincy, IL” and voila – my page pops up!

So I went through a couple of vendors and designed my own page, which by the way you can view at www.invitedbylamaworks.com. What I really wanted was just my information, maybe a gallery of projects, and most importantly – a way to contact me! I had no idea I could do all of this right in blogger and it would be FREE. Good-bye intuit! No need to pay $20 a month for a website that no one sees. At least I know that my blog gets seen. It already has followers (right? You are out there aren’t you???) and I’m comfortable using it.

Also, I love Etsy, but with my latest journey into Envelopments, I am a bit restricted. It’s a long story that I’d rather not get into, but Etsy won’t let me sell some Envelopments products, but they won’t tell me which ones. Since I don’t want to get shut down again, I have to be cautious. I still want to sell all of the designs I have available to me and I want people to know about them! So check out the tabs at the top of the page! I’m going to get up all of the different Envelopments invitations that I can sell. If you see something there that isn’t in my Etsy shop, just use the new “Contact Me” tab to find my email address. I also love working on custom designs, so if you don’t see something you like, but like me (YAY!) I can copy just about anything that you’ve seen elsewhere online – just send me a picture!

It’s a work in progress for sure and it will definitely take time. I’ve also made a tab for more information on my donations to the American Cancer Society (ACS Donation tab) to take away some clutter from my side bar. You can also find out more about me and Lama Works, in the “About Me” tab – picture included! In case you didn’t notice I’ve also changed the look a little bit. I wanted something simple. Nothing fancy, nothing too distracting.

So that’s what’s new! If you’re reading this in an RSS feed, I would highly recommend taking a gander at the actual blog page to see what’s new!

Thanks for reading!
~LMM

Little Life Lessons

2011-04-18T17:18:00.001-05:00

I know he’s only 8 months old. I know he’s cute. I know he won’t learn all of life’s lessons at once … but if he could please, PLEASE learn the following as soon as possible:

1. Mommy’s hair is not for pulling as hard as you can
2. Mommy’s hair is not to be used as a tool to keep your balance
3. Mommy’s hair is not to be used as a climbing device
4. Pulling the hair of the woman in front of you in church is definitely not OK
5. Mommy’s shirt is not a Kleenex

That’d be great.

Sincerely,
The girl behind the lama .. AKA
Mom

Once a Month Cooking–Recap Thoughts

2011-04-17T16:26:00.001-05:00

So, what did I really think of once a month cooking? I think for spending 2.5 hours in the kitchen it was a huge success! I think on a normal day I would probably cook with more vegetables, but for a quick and easy meal that I’ll grab on a day that I’m too tired to cook – I’ll take it.

I think there were a few key things that made it such a success.

1. I had a great partner. Since he’s my husband we work really well together. He was anticipating my moves and was always right where I needed him to be. He was so efficient he even cleaned a spoon before I was done with it. I was anticipating what he would be doing next and prepped his labels for the bags or got his ingredients to him before he even knew he needed them.

2. Good pots. I think I used 3 different pots and 2 cookie sheets throughout the night. I absolutely love my Rachael Ray cast iron pots and they served me well last night. I believe I have both a 5 quart and a 7 quart. I personally would love to get a few Le Creuset pots if I could (hint, hint family members!). I also used one other large pot while the cast iron ones had food that was being packaged in them.

3. I skipped all the pasta. I don’t care for pasta dishes that are frozen and then reheated. Maybe you can help me and tell me what I’m doing wrong, but mine always end up mushy and kind of bleh. The way I see it, if I’m too tired to cook I’ll grab a frozen dish. If I’m too tired to also boil up the pasta to go with it, I’m probably too tired to throw a casserole into the oven.

4. Look ahead! I found that as I was cooking I had some down time. Why not get started on another recipe while you wait for meat to brown up? Take advantage of every spare minute you have and you’ll finish ahead of schedule. This also means reading and almost studying the instructions ahead of time. You may be able to find shortcuts that work for you by reading everything over first.

5. Food processor. Amen to whomever it was that bought us the food processor as a wedding present. I’ll admit, I don’t use it much. Pie crust … bread crumbs … sometimes baby food, but that’s about it. I don’t know how long it would have taken me to chop all of those vegetables. So pay attention to the notes in the direction that denote veggies that you can use the food processor to chop.

6. Counter space. Room to groove meant I had a place for a soup to sit for awhile until I got the next sauce going. Once that didn’t need my attention I could package up the soup. I recommend using every inch of counter/table/floor space your kitchen will allow.

7. Fast rinsing. Do yourself a favor, rinse all those pots out ASAP before anything gets caked on!! You know how long it would have taken to get all the broccoli cheese soup out of that pot? If you rinse it while it’s still warm and hasn’t started to stick, it cleans in a jiffy!

8. Parchment paper. I recently discovered parchment paper and I’m not sure how I ever lived without it before. It keeps everything on your cookie sheet perfectly cooked without over browning and it’s so easy to just throw it out, no clean up necessary!

We’ve got two freezer dinners on the menu for this week and we’ve been eating waffles and pop tarts galore.

I’m really encouraged by how many comments I’ve received about this both here on my blog, my lamaworks facebook fan page and my personal facebook page. Keep them coming! I’ll try to post again the next time I try it out. Maybe we can all try it together!

Next on my list is once a month baby food … that is as soon as I use up the 50 bags we already have in the freezer – I’ll admit that I’m addicted to making baby food, but that’s for another post.

Thanks for reading!!!

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Once a Month Cooking–How did it go??

2011-04-16T13:09:00.001-05:00

I would consider our first attempt at once a month cooking a success!

If you’re looking for the recipes that we went with check out this post.

First thing Friday morning I loaded 8 chicken breasts into the slow cooker so that by the time we started at 7 I had that ready to be cubed. You have no idea how much time this alone saved! So much easier than cubing the chicken … then sautéing. Great idea!

Throughout the day I got all of the vegetables chopped. All but the asparagus could be finely chopped, which meant I could make good use of the food processor. With a zip, zip, zip I had 3 onions, 2 carrots, 2 heads of garlic and 4 heads of broccoli chopped. That took maybe 30- 40 minutes?

We finished dinner and my hubby got the kitchen spotless and ready to go. We started right around 7. I did a majority of the cooking and he followed me around stealing my dirty dishes and packaging up the stuff to freeze. He was also on baby duty and managed to wash a load of diapers, give the kiddo a bottle and get him down for the night. I truly couldn’t have done it without him. He had my pots clean before I even realized I needed for another dish. He also kept things moving into the freezer to cool, then into labeled bags to freeze.

I got the beef going for the taco sleeping bags and taco pasta while he got the baby ready for bed and make the Teriyaki chicken. While that was cooking up I got the batter all set for the waffles. With the waffle batter done I finished up both the taco dishes. Delish! We had already made both of these earlier in the week so we knew they were good.

While Andrew got those packed up and started making the waffles, I got the broccoli soup going. I added a bit extra cheese to the soup, but I grew up in Wisconsin, I add extra cheese to everything. At this point it was 8:00, only one hour in!

Broccoli soup was easy enough, and the chicken chili was even easier! Dump all ingredients into pot, simmer for 20 minutes! Chili was a little spicy for my liking, but I think a good dollop of sour cream will take it down a bit.

While that simmered away I made the pesto. I don’t make pesto enough, and I should because I grow bushels of herbs in the summer. I’ve never had one made with asparagus, and it actually was pretty tasty!

Not much left after that! We threw together the artichoke sundried tomato chicken pasta minus the sundried tomatoes because I realized mine were really old and way past the point that I could rehydrate them. We decided we’d just freeze as is and mix it with pasta sauce when we ate it later.

I’m pretty sure Andrew was still working on waffles at this point. I kept walking past the waffle iron and couldn’t wait to try one. It make the kitchen smell like a snicker doodle cookie. YUM! We had some for breakfast this morning and they were delish!

We closed the night with some pop tarts that I forgot to take pictures of. I filled the pop tarts with peach butter and apple butter that I made last fall and man, are they good!

We made all 10 recipes in about 2.5 hours. We ended up making 13 dinners, 7 lunches and about 14 breakfasts. Not bad for a Friday night hey?

More to come later on my thoughts on the whole process … for another post!

Think you’ll try it?

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Once a Month–Let’s Go!

2011-04-15T16:00:00.001-05:00

So earlier this week I posted a bit about once a month cooking. I’ll admit, I’m intrigued. I cook a lot, so I don’t feel like I need to cook all of my food for the month, but it sure would be handy to have a bunch of meals in the freezer for those days that I just don’t want to cook or when I have a friend or family member that needs an extra meal.

We tried a few recipes last weekend and they were a hit!

So here we go! We are using 9 of the recipes from the April OAMC menu and one from last August because I couldn’t resist:

So last night I did a little grocery shopping – total cost?? $120

That’s right, $120! Out of this cooking adventure I should be able to make 14 dinners, about 2 weeks worth of lunches and about a month’s worth of grab and go breakfasts for the two of us. Officially each recipe is supposed to make 2 dinners for a family of 4.

I cannot tell you how much I love this website! The organization of how the meals and ingredients are chosen, the grocery lists, the step by step instructions, the “how to” instructions are just all fantastic!

So here we go! I *think* I can do all of this cooking in about 4 hours. The hubby and I are looking forward to a fun date night cooking together! Who says you need to go out to have fun? Why not a night in the kitchen?

Stay tuned for a review of what actually happened!!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Maybe a new way to look at cooking?

2011-04-12T17:02:00.000-05:00

I love to cook for my family. Love, love, love! Not every day though. So what do we do on those days that I just don’t want to cook? We go out to eat. We order pizza. We stare longing in the fridge just hoping that something will magically appear. Let’s face it. Options one and two cost money and option three will probably lead to options one or two. We are not unlike many families that are trying to live on a budget so going out to eat every time I don’t want to cook is just bad for the budget.

Today I happened to stumble upon a website called Once A Month Mom. I actually found it when I was looking for new baby food recipes, but I think I’m going to use it more for big people food. Each month she posts about 15-20 recipes. The theory is that you shop throughout the month for the ingredients you need and cook all day (or over the course of two days) to have all these meals ready to go. She plans the menus seasonally so a fair number of ingredients should be on sale during that particular month.

Now, it’s designed for two people to cook together. Two people split the cost of the food and spend a day or two working together and at the end of it, each of you has 15-20 meals that will feed your family of 4. Genius! It’s not enough to feed your family every night of the month but it’s definitely enough to keep you going on those days you’re just too busy or too tired to cook.

What I really love is the organization of her recipes. She not only has a spreadsheet for you to keep track of the food you need and how much you spent on it, but her instructions are fabulous! She optimizes everything from the order in which you chop the vegetables to the order in which you cook things. Example, you’re making Taco Sleeping Bags (a nifty taco hot pocket to pop in the microwave for lunch) and Taco pasta. Make all the taco meat together, kill two birds with one stone!

Did I also mention that she also has labels you can slap on your freezer bags to remind you of what is is and how to reheat it??

I’m not ready to dive right in quite yet but I did test out a few of the ideas. The Taco Sleeping Bags were a huge hit for lunch today! I also made the taco pasta sauce. I’m thinking I’ll freeze the sauce and while I reheat it make the pasta. I personally have never been able to freeze pasta without it coming out all mushy. So that cooking took me about 30 minutes and included 3 lb of beef, 2 packets of taco seasoning, 3 tubes of crescent rolls, a can of tomato sauce and a can of diced chilis. What did I get? Enough taco sleeping bags for 4 lunches and a meal of taco pasta.

This might be my solution to having quick breakfasts, lunches, and a few meals in the freezer ready for me when I’m just too tired to cook.

Think you’ll try it??

Until the next time …
The girl behind the Lama
~LMM

Introducing ….

2011-04-10T16:45:00.001-05:00

The first 3 Envelopements invitation suites available through LamaWorks!! I’d like to introduce you to ….

Pamela and George

Elizabeth and Philip

and Aubrey and Isiah

Step one was to convert all of my current listings to the new paper and pricing. Step two is to sort through all of the Envelopments templates and figure out which ones I have the fonts for. There are plenty more to come!

I’ve got my design and parts kits so I can start to get together my own designs soon. My hope is to have some ideas done by the end of the week, order the paper while I’m gone for Easter and get some new listings up at the end of the month!

What do you think???

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Kicking it up a notch

2011-03-30T10:33:00.001-05:00

If you follow me on Facebook you have no doubt been following along with my “big news coming!” messages. I’ve been researching a new direction for LamaWorks for awhile now. I struggle with finding a streamlined, concise vision for the store. I think I’m at a point with both the shop and my life that I really want to turn this into a serious business. Make a name for myself and really bring in an income for the family. So what did I come up with?

You are looking at a girl that is now an official Dealer and Designer for Envelopments. Never heard of Envelopments? Open up a copy of the Knot magazine

or maybe Martha Stewart Wedding

or maybe you’ve seen them on the Today show when they have wedding segments.

Envelopments is an invitation company that allows me to sell not only their designs, but gives me 231 different paper colors in over 90 different shapes, plus hundreds of coordinating graphics to make my own designs.

It also allows me to sell invitations to every type of bride imaginable. Are you the DIY type? Just purchase the paper from me, you do all the work! Do you want to be DIY but hate the idea of formatting and printing everything? Pay a little bit more and I’ll print and cut everything and leave it to you to assemble. You don’t want anything to do with making invitations, you just want to send them? I’ll do the whole thing for you!

I’m also looking forward to meeting with clients in town – so if you live in the Quincy, Il area, I’m your girl! I’ll get a complete design book that displays the different paper and graphics options. We can pull each piece out and see how things look together and build it to anything you can imagine!

For now I’m going to start things slow. Convert all the products I have currently in the shop to new colors and new prices and then work my way up to new designs. I’m hoping that by the end of the year I’ll have my very own non Etsy website where you can design your invitation right there.

My goal is to keep you posted each step of the way with new designs, updates to my Etsy shop and hopefully a new website!

First up in the design category – Graduation party invitations!

Where did you go??

2011-03-30T10:17:00.001-05:00

Yes, I’ve been MIA. Do I like to blog? I do, when I have time. I thought I’d try something new this year with the recipes, but it doesn’t seem like there are many people in the world that really care about what I’m cooking every day {if you do care and want to see the recipes, or at least what I’m making, give me a shout out!!} It was really taking far too much time to type up all those recipes and remember to take pictures, especially with a baby who is nearly mobile.

So, I’m not sure where things go from here, but maybe I’ll find some way to get some rambling thoughts out there that people might be interested in. If you have any ideas I’d love to hear them!

I do know, what my next blog post is about though … big news coming up! Stay tuned!

Photo Contest!

2011-03-14T11:36:00.001-05:00

Paper Source (the company I purchase 95% of my paper from) is having a photo contest! They are looking for super cute babies to put on their 2011 Baby Announcement collection. As luck would have it, I happen to have one uber cute baby! Am I right??

I need help picking a photo though! I’m thinking it should be a very clear photo with minimal “junk” in the background. It doesn’t have to be a newborn photo, just a baby under the age of 1. So pop on over to my Facebook Page and either “like” your favorite or leave a comment! I’ll make my final pick by Wednesday!

Thanks for the help!
The girl behind the Lama…
~LMM

25. Taco Chili Mac

2011-02-27T21:04:00.001-06:00

Wow, did the hubby love this one! Well, we both did actually! I made a full batch and we have about one serving left. I made it through dinner one night and two lunch portions in the days after.

It’s nothing fancy, just a good old tex-mex pasta. It’s actually a rehash of the Salsa Stoup I posted yesterday. Virtually the same ingredients and method, but a totally different meal! I think that’s why I love this cookbook so much for people that are learning how to cook. You can master a few techniques and have so many versatile meals.

**This recipe comes from Rachael Ray 365 – No Repeats. Most of the recipes are directly from the book, but some I do change out ingredients a bit for things my family prefers. I’ll add my own comments in with a **.

What do you need?

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
2 teaspoons hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 pound macaroni
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of pan
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped **I skipped this
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped with greens **use the leafy greens at the top of your celery – it adds great flavor!
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
1 cup shredded Cheddar, available in pouches on dairy aisle

Now what?

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan and brown the meat crumbling with a wooden spoon, then season with the hot sauce, Worcestershire, cumin, chili and salt and pepper. Add the jalapenos, bell pepper, onions, celery and garlic.

Season with salt and pepper then sauté veggies 5 minutes, add tomatoes, and crushed tomatoes and bring to a bubble. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in cilantro.

Stir in the pasta and serve with sour cream, cheese and/or guacamole.

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

24. Salsa Stoup And Double-Decker Baked Quesadillas

2011-02-25T11:16:00.001-06:00

This one is a fan favorite in our house! It’s kind of like a spiced up chunky tomato soup. You can never go wrong with quesadillas on the side either! This is a also a good soup to serve to your vegetarian and gluten free friends!

This is a good recipe to experiment with your own favorite flavors. We don’t like things too spicy, so we always skip the jalapeno’s. Add in your favorite quesadilla toppings too! Chicken, beef, pork, a mix of cheeses, salsa ….

Stay tuned tomorrow for the follow up to this one – Taco Chili Mac. It’s the same base recipe and techniques, but with a few swap ins you have a whole new meal!

What do you need?

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of pan, plus some for brushing tortillas
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped **I skipped this
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped with greens **use the leafy greens at the top of your celery – it adds great flavor!
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 (28-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
6 flour tortillas, 6 to 8 inches
1 cup shredded Cheddar, available in pouches on dairy aisle
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese **we used cheddar jack
Sour cream, to pass at table

Now what?

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan and the jalapenos, bell pepper, onions, celery and garlic.

Season with salt and pepper then sauté veggies 5 minutes, add tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and stock and bring soup to a bubble. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir in cilantro.

Paint 1 side of 2 tortillas with oil and place them next to each other, oiled side down, on a large cookie sheet. Mix cheddar with scallions and divide the cheese between the tortillas evenly. Top with another tortilla and top each of those with equal amounts of Pepper Jack cheese. Set the last tortillas on top and brush tops with extra-virgin olive oil. Cook 10 minutes in the oven to melt cheese and crisp up tortillas. Cool quesadillas 5 minutes to set then cut each quesadilla into 6 pieces. **We prefer to cook ours on the stove top, but do whatever you’d like!

Serve bowls of stoup with 3 wedges quesadilla along side each bowlful.

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Rate it!

2011-02-23T17:15:00.002-06:00

I was playing around on blogger today and found a new option called "Reactions". Below each post, you can now click on a little button that says either "I made it YUM!, I made it Ew!!, I'll try it! or No Thanks"

I never have any idea who (other than my mom) actually reads my blog, let alone tries the recipes. I know it's daunting sometimes to leave a comment, so this is your way to contribute to making me feel loved while remaining anonymous. Does anyone actually read what I have to say an/or care about the food that I make???

On the topic of love, there should also now be a button below each post that makes it easy to share on Twitter, Facebook, email, etc. Try it out!

26. Florentine Meatballs

2011-02-23T10:19:00.001-06:00

A traditional turkey or chicken Florentine is creamy and filled with spinach. These meatballs don’t disappoint! It puts the spinach in the meatballs, served with a creamy, cheesy sauce.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the sauce on this one. It was a bit heavy for my liking. I think I would have preferred a good red sauce, but this one was OK.

There is a small discrepancy with this recipe. The book says use 2 packages of turkey, whereas online on two different RR websites it calls for one package. All other ingredients remain the same. I had good luck with using two packages, but you do get a TON of meatballs. I had about 3 cookie sheets full. Now it seems like a lot, but they freeze and reheat really well. On a night when we don’t really feel like cooking, I throw some into the slow cooker with some spaghetti sauce – dinner ready!

Meatball tip of the day! I don’t like huge meatballs. I also hate ending up with a bunch of balls that are different sizes, they cook differently. Use a cookie scoop! You do end up with one flat side, but all you have to do is scoop them out and you have meatballs that are all the same shape and size. Genius right? I don’t claim originality on that one, but it is a fabulous idea.

What do you need?

1 box frozen spinach, defrosted in the microwave
2 2/3 pound (2 package) ground turkey breast **I’ve seen this recipe online and it calls for 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey … not sure if this is a typo in the book, but it turned out great with 2, you just get a million meatballs!
1 medium onion, finely chopped, divided
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups milk, divided
3/4 cup bread crumbs, 3 handfuls
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, 2 palm fulls
Coarse salt and black pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock
1 (10-ounce) sack shredded provolone or blend of Italian cheeses, available on dairy aisle
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, eyeball it
1/4 cup parsley leaves, chopped

Now what?

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Wring defrosted spinach dry in a clean kitchen towel. **Tip to defrost spinach – put it in the microwave for 4 minutes on 70% power, but be careful when you wring it out. The water may be hot! ** Place turkey in a bowl and make a well in the middle of it. Add the spinach, all but 3 tablespoons of the onion, all of the garlic, 1 large egg, about 1/4 cup milk, bread crumbs, grated Parmesan, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Form into 12 large balls and drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil. **I used a small cookie scoop and got around 50 meatballs** Arrange on a nonstick cookie sheet and roast 20 minutes, or until cooked through.

While balls are in the oven, heat a small sauce pot over medium heat. Add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter. Melt butter, add remaining finely chopped onion and cook 2 minutes then whisk in flour. Cook flour 1 minute, then whisk in 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 cup stock. Bring liquid up to a boil then stir in shredded provolone or blended Italian cheeses. Season the sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg, turn heat to lowest setting.

Place 3 balls on dinner plates and top with sauce, garnish with parsley. **I also cooked up some whole wheat fettuccini because I thought this dish needed some pasta!

4-6 servings with plenty of meatballs to freeze

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Beef and Chicken Fajita Burgers with Seared Peppers and Onions

2011-02-22T15:17:00.001-06:00

First up this week were some good old burgers! The weather wasn’t great last night so we had to make them indoors, so I think they would have been even more fabulous on the grill. We also didn’t see the need to make 8 burgers, so we skipped the chicken ones completely. I only made two of the beef burgers and have enough to make two more for lunch or dinner later this week.

You also get a bonus recipe today! My wonderful hubby got me a deep fryer for Valentine’s Day – totally not romantic, but the best gift ever! We tried our hand at french fries last night and they were awesome! I would never have guessed that they weren’t directly from a restaurant.

Great meal! We had a pretty crabby 6 month old, so I’m afraid we didn’t really enjoy dinner, but the food was fantastic! I think these would be great to have for a cook out. They definitely have a different flavor than a traditional burger, but we loved it!

What do you need?

Beef Fajita Burgers:

1 1/3 pounds ground sirloin
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, (eyeball it)
1 tablespoons chili powder, (a palmful)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, (half a palmful)
2-3 tablespoons fresh picked thyme leaves, several sprigs
Several drops hot sauce
1 tablespoon grill seasoning (such as Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling

Chicken Fajita Burgers:

1 1/3 pounds ground chicken
1 tablespoons ground chipotle (smoky flavor) chili powder, (a palmful)
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Several drops hot sauce
1 tablespoon grill seasoning (such as Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling

Seared Peppers and Onions:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), 1 turn of the pan "
2 red or green bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 medium yellow skinned onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 jalapeno or serrano, seeded and chopped **Don’t like the heat, so we skipped this
2 cups tomatillo, green chili salsa or chipotle-tomato salsa, your choice **I buy salsa in bulk, so we used that instead of tmatillo
8 crusty rolls, split

Now what?

Heat a grill pan or large skillet over medium-high heat.

For Beef Fajita Burgers:
Combine sirloin, Worcestershire, spices, thyme, hot sauce and grill seasoning. Mark meat into 4 sections and make 4 patties, 1-inch thick. Using the reserved 1/4 onion piece, grate half of it on the burgers. Drizzle EVOO on the patties. Cook patties 4 minutes on each side for medium or, until desired doneness.

For Chicken Fajita Burgers:
Combine chicken, chipotle powder, cilantro, hot sauce and grill seasoning. Score and divide meat into 4 sections and form big patties, 1-inch thick. Using the rest of the 1/4 reserved onion piece, grate the other half of it on the burgers. Drizzle patties with EVOO and cook 6 minutes on each side or until meat is firm and cooked through.

For Seared Peppers and Onions:
Heat a medium skillet over high heat. Add EVOO and peppers and onions. Stir-fry the veggies tossing them with tongs to sear them at edges. Add the jalapeno or serrano pepper. Toss and turn the mixture about 3 minutes, then add salsa of choice and toss a minute longer.

Place burgers on each bun bottom and top with 1/4 of the pepper and onion mixture and bun top. **I added a slice of cheese on top of this and let it get all melty and gooey before I put my bun top on!

4-6 servings

Bonus!!!

Double-Fried French Fries

Ingredients

4 (4 to 5-inches long) russet potatoes (about 2 pounds)
2 quarts canola oil
1 tablespoons fine-grain sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Peel potatoes on the sides, leaving the ends with the skin on. Cut the potatoes into 1/3-inch slices and then slice into 1/3-inch sticks.

Fill a large bowl with water and soak potatoes, submerged, for at least 30 minutes up to 24 hours. This will help remove the excess starch from the potatoes and keep them from oxidizing.

Heat a heavy stock pot fitted with a deep-fry thermometer with oil to 325 degrees F.

Remove potatoes from the water, and pat dry to remove excess water. Add 2 handfuls of potatoes to hot oil. There should be at least 1-inch of oil above the potatoes. Par cook until potatoes are light brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove potatoes, gently shaking off excess oil and let drain on rack. Repeat until all of the potatoes are par cooked.

Raise heat of oil to 350 degrees F.

Cook potatoes again, 2 handfuls at a time, until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove from oil, shake off excess oil, and season lightly in a bowl with salt and pepper. Repeat until all potatoes are cooked.

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

365–Week 6

2011-02-21T14:17:00.001-06:00

I’ve been a little off track lately, so I’m starting fresh this week. I’m starting to find that by the time Friday gets here I’m pooped and not in the mood to cook, so I’m trying to plan a slow cooker meal for that night. As luck would have it, it’s slow cooker week on Rachael Ray!

Not too many other things going on in my life these days. Cooking TONS of baby food! If I could make Jake vats of sweet potatoes and squash I’m pretty sure he’d eat it all! We’ve just been enjoying the beautiful weather here. I’ve got a few knitting orders to get out this week, so I better get knitting!

Here’s what we’ve got this week:

Slow Cooker Chicken and biscuits – from Rachael Ray’s daytime show
24 – Salsa Stoup and Double Decker Quesadillas
25 - Taco Chili Mac
26 - Florentine Meatballs
27 - Pumpkin pasta – I don’t really like pumpkin, but we’re going to give this a shot in the spirit of being adventurous!
29 - Beef Fajita burgers

I’m also skipping quite a few in 365 this week. Here’s what and why, just in case you want to buy the book and make them on your own:

20 – Black Bean Soup and Southwestern Monte Cristos – I think black beans are really, really icky
21 – Citrus Marinated Chicken and Orange Salad – eh, not in the mood
22 – Boo’s Butternut Squash Mac-n-Cheese – I’m not sure why I don’t want to try this one. This and the following two recipes are actually Rachael’s dog’s favorites … that might be a turn off to me
23 – Boo’s Smoky Chicken Patties on Buttered Toast – see #22. Something about chicken on toast just doesn’t do it for me
28 – Pasta with Spinach, Mushrooms, Pumpkin and Hazelnuts – I’m reserving this one until I see how I feel about the pumpkin recipe this week.

What are you cooking?

Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

7. Smoky Chipotle Mac-n Cheddar with Tomato and Chorizo

2011-02-18T10:17:00.001-06:00

Yet another yummy mac and cheese! Same method, as Mac and Cheddar with Broccoli, Mac n Smoked Gouda with Cauliflower and Tex Mex Mac n Cheddar with Beef and Peppers … new flavors. Not too many changes in this one. I am not a fan of chorizo, so I used kielbasa. Conveniently 1/2 a kielbasa for this meal and 1/2 for the corn chowder.

We aren’t big on spicy food either, so we only used 1 chipotle in adobo instead of 2. They aren’t super spicy, but 1 definitely adds a bit of a kick. What the heck is chipotle in adobo?? They are smoked jalapeno peppers in a red sauce. One other tip – you only need one or two for this recipe. Freeze the rest and cut off a piece every time you need it! They are usually near the Mexican food and look like this:

Chopped up it looks like this:

Overall this probably isn’t one of my favorite mac-n cheese recipes, but it was pretty good!

What do you need?

Coarse Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi (corkscrew-shaped pasta)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (Once around the pan)
3/4 to 1 lb chorizo, casings removed, diced ***I used 1/2 of a kielbasa link
2 chipotles in adobo
1 15 ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock or broth
3 cups grated smoked cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to season the cooking water, then add the pasta. Cook for 8 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente . Drain well and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, preheat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of EVOO and the kielbasa. Brown the meat, then add the onions and chipotle peppers and cook together for 5 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

**I actually changed the making of the sauce a bit for this recipe. I wasn’t in the mood to dirty yet another pan, so I went ahead and cooked the sausage and onions. I removed it from the pan and used that very same pan to make the cheese sauce – I had to make use of all the caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan!**

Add the EVOO and heat with the butter until it melts. Add the onions and cook for 3 to 5 minutes to sweat them out and turn the juices sweet. Raise the heat a bit, then whisk in the four, cayenne, and paprika. Whisk together until the roux bubbles up, then cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a bit higher to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Once it bubbles, drop the heat back to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. **I whisk in about half of my liquids to see how thick it becomes, then keep adding in more until my sauce is the perfect thickness. For this recipe it’s really important to leave it a little thicker than usual. Once you add the tomatoes it will thin out a little bit**

Add the cheese to the thickened sauce and stir to melt it, a minute or so. Stir in the tomatoes and mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour over the cooked pasta and toss to combine. Fold in the beef and bell peppers. Adjust the seasonings, transfer to a large platter, and serve.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Beef and Scallion Roll Ups

2011-02-17T12:51:00.001-06:00

Overall, not a huge fan of this one. Great idea, might have been poor execution on my end. I think part of my problem was that my roast beef was too thinly sliced so I had a really hard time rolling them up without tearing all the time. There was no chance that I could secure them with a toothpick either so they kind of fell apart a little. Something about the flavor didn’t quite do it for me either. Eh well, I tried right? Not a bad meal, just not one I’d care to make again.

I took this one from the weekly meal planner through Rachael Ray Magazine. I’ve got the recipe below with my own edits as to what I changed, but give the original a try if you want!

What do you need?

Salt and pepper

2 bunches scallions, cut into slivers
1/3 cup beer
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
12 thin slices deli roast beef
Salt
1 cucumber, seeded and cut into slivers
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Cooked white rice, for serving
Chopped cilantro, for garnish

Serves 4

Now what?

In a medium saucepan of boiling water, cook the scallions for 30 seconds; drain. In a bowl, whisk together the beer, soy sauce and sugar; set aside.

Trim each roast beef slice to about 4 by 5 inches. Season with salt. Lay a small cluster of scallion and cucumber slivers on the bottom edge of each slice and roll tightly to form a log; secure with a toothpick along the length of the roll. Repeat with the remaining beef, scallions and cucumber. Using a basting brush, coat the logs with the reserved beer sauce; let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the beef rolls (reserve the sauce) and cook, turning, until the sides are brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the reserved beer sauce to the skillet and simmer until syrupy, about 2 minutes.

Remove the toothpicks from the beef rolls; discard. Cut the rolls into quarters. Top with the sauce.

Top the cooked rice with the cilantro and serve with the roll-ups.

Did yours turn out better than mine?

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Lazy Bolognese-Style Lasagna

2011-02-15T14:43:00.001-06:00

I’m not really sure where the week went, but I believe I owe you a few recipes from last week. Sorry!

First up is a fast and easy lasagna! I did cheat a bit and used this a bit as a refrigerator cleanup night. I added in some dollops of ricotta a. because I had half a tub leftover and b. because I like it.

I also added some asiago cheese to my béchamel sauce. I know … it’s not traditional, but I had some leftover and no real intent of using it, so why not? While I’m on the topic of béchamel sauce … don’t be afraid to add the nutmeg! I really think it adds a nice pop of flavor both to white sauces. Not sure what to do with it? Here’s what a whole nutmeg looks like:

Just shave a little bit off into your sauce with a small microplane grater.

I also can my own spaghetti sauce, so why reinvent the wheel right? I have about 20 pints on hand just for such occasions!

This is a great time savor if you want the same flavors as lasagna, but without all the work. I took this one from Rachael’s daytime talk show. I’ve got the recipe below with my own edits as to what I changed, but give the original a try if you want!

What do you need?

Salt and pepper
1 pound wavy lasagna noodles, broken into irregular pieces **I used about half a box because that was what I had leftover from another meal months ago
2 tablespoons EVOO - Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 pounds ground beef **I used 1 pound because that was what I had
1 onion, finely chopped
2 to 3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped or grated
**I skipped everything from here through the row of *** because I used my own sauce, you could also use store bought sauce
1 spring of rosemary, finely chopped
A sprinkle ground cloves
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup white wine
2 cups beef stock
*******************************
3 tablespoons butter
2 rounded tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk **I used whipping cream
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Serves 4

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente.

In a Dutch oven, heat the EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the beef and brown well. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, rosemary, cloves and lots of salt and pepper and cook until tender, 7 to 8 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, then stir in the wine for 1 minute. Stir in the stock and simmer for a few minutes longer. **I skipped this and just used my own sauce***

Preheat the broiler and position a rack in the center of the oven. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and let it cook for a minute.

Then add the milk, and let thicken enough to coat a spoon; season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. **I also threw in a handful of asiago cheese for good measure.

Toss the pasta with the meat sauce and arrange in a casserole. Pour the béchamel sauce over the top in an even layer. Top with a layer of parmigiano-reggiano and broil in the oven to brown the top. **I layered mine similar to a real lasagna, but I think next time I’d mix the noodles with the ricotta and then layer the noodles and sauce with cheese on top.

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

Corn and Kielbasa Chowder

2011-02-10T15:08:00.001-06:00

I took another one from Rachael Ray Magazine this time. I’ve made this before, and it’s one of our favorites so I couldn’t help but throw it in the rotation this week. After all, it was on the suggested recipes of the week on her website.

I just cant’ say enough about this soup … it’s creamy … it’s sweet … it’s got kielbasa in it … how can you go wrong? I’ll definitely make this one again and again.

I’ve got the recipe below with my own edits as to what I changed, but give the original a try if you want!

What do you need?

8 ounces kielbasa, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
One 14.5-ounce can chicken broth
1 large baking potato (about 12 ounces), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup half-and-half
One 1-pound bag frozen corn, thawed
Salt and pepper
Chopped fresh dill, for garnish

Serves 4

Now what?

Heat a deep skillet or a wide 4- to 6-quart pot over medium-high heat. Add the kielbasa and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions and butter to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes. Add the broth and potato and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer until the potato is tender, about 10 minutes. Add the half-and-half and corn and cook, stirring, until heated through.

Using a blender or food processor, puree 1 cup chowder until smooth. Stir the puree back into the chowder along with the browned kielbasa and season to taste with salt and pepper. ** I actually just used a stick blender to lightly puree it with still leaving some chunks. ** Top with the dill.

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

365–Week 5

2011-02-08T16:38:00.001-06:00

More diversions this week. There are two other RR resources that I like to use other than her cookbooks. On her daytime show she cooks a meal every episode. You can go on her website and get the ingredient list for the recipes each week, but you can’t get the recipe until that show airs. Her magazine also has a weekly menu. That one tends to have food that is a little more adventurous to me so I don’t use it too much, but I do always check it. Both of these resources are nice if you want to try to cook all of these meals in one week. You can just print out the grocery list and be on your way! Some day I’ll have to try to follow one of these week by week and cook them all … maybe…

So I’m throwing in a few recipes from both this week! Here’s what we’ve got:

Lazy Bolognese Style Lasagna – from RR daytime online and also featured in the February 2011 magazine

Corn and Kielbasa Chowder – from Magazine weekly menu

Beef and Scallion Roll Ups – from Magazine weekly menu

7. Smokey Chipotle Mac and Cheese – from 365

19. Rosemary Corn Cakes with Prosciutto and Chicken Sausages with Hot and Sweet peppers – from 365

What are you cooking?

Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

Parsley and Pancetta-Flavored Ricotta-Stuffed Chicken

2011-02-07T11:11:00.001-06:00

I took another one from Rachael’s daytime talk show. I switched things up just a bit. I had no need, and no ambition really to butterfly a whole chicken. We really prefer the white meat anyway, so I just used some bone in, skin on chicken breasts.

We served it up with some potatoes roasted with Penzy’s Old World Seasoning and some corn that we made over the summer and froze. I live in the middle of corn country, taking the corn straight from the cob is so much better than the frozen stuff from the store!

Tasty dinner! It wasn’t hard to throw together. I started it a little later than I had anticipated, but the bright side was that the kiddo was down for the night at 7, and with dinner at 7:15 we had a nice, quite, adults only meal which was wonderful!

I’ve got the recipe below with my own edits as to what I changed, but give the original a try if you want!

What do you need?

4 starchy potatoes, peeled **I used a handful of baby yukon golds that I had leftover from earlier in the week
Salt and pepper
EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for liberal drizzling plus 1 tablespoon, divided
1 head garlic, 3 cloves peeled and minced, the rest left whole and cracked, divided
A few sprigs fresh rosemary
1 4- to 5-pound chicken **I used 2 bone in, skin on chicken breasts
1/3 pound pancetta, cut into fine dice **You can also substitute bacon if you don’t want to worry about pancetta
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 small Fresno or red cherry chili, seeded and finely chopped **I don’t like chili’s so I skipped this one
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped or processed
1 1/2 cups fresh regular or sheep’s milk ricotta, drained well
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Serves 4

Now what?

Parboil potatoes 5 minutes in salted water. Let cool then cut into wedges or chunks and dress with oil in a roasting pan. Toss with whole, cracked garlic cloves and chopped rosemary, salt and pepper. **I skipped the parboiling completely. I just chunked the potatoes, tossed them with EVOO and Old World Seasoning and popped them in the oven for about 45 minutes**

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Using a cleaver, a large sharp kitchen knife or shears, split bird down the back, open and flatten it. **You might be able to get your butcher to do this for you** Butterfly it then loosen the skin all over the bird, being careful not to tear it. Dress with EVOO, season with salt and pepper.

Heat EVOO, about 1 tablespoon, in a small skillet. Brown pancetta then combine with shallots, minced garlic and chili. Stir 2 minutes then transfer to bowl to cool.

Stir in parsley, cheeses and nutmeg. Spread the cheese and parsley mixture all over the chicken under the skin in an even layer.

Roast on a baking sheet covered loosely with foil for 30 minutes then uncovered an additional 30 minutes.

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

Home Sweet Home!!

2011-02-06T21:51:00.001-06:00

I just have to say ….

GO!!! PACK!!!! GO!!!!

So happy to see the Lombardi trophy back where it belongs! You can bet I’ll be wearing my Aaron Rogers jersey **which should be coming in the mail tomorrow** all week long!

Missing Wisconsin like mad tonight!! Should have gone up there for the weekend! Better yet, should have gone to Dallas!!

18. Turkey Saltimbocca Roll-Ups, Mushroom and White Bean Ragout, and Spinach with Pancetta and Onions

2011-02-06T14:26:00.001-06:00

Well a few changes to this one. My grocery store doesn’t have turkey cutlets so I had to use chicken that I made into cutlets myself. We also don’t need to make this much for 2 people, so we cut it way back. I’ve left the recipe as written, but we definitely don’t need to eat 12 pieces of turkey! I actually used one giant chicken breast that I cut in half. Portion control!

We’re also not a fan of mushrooms or beans, so we skip that part completely.

I needed one more side, so I cheated and baked up the rest of the tater tots from dinner a few nights ago. We like it!

What do you need?

12 turkey cutlets, 1 to 1 1/2 pounds in all **I used 1 large chicken breast butterflied, then cut into two pieces
6 slices prosciutto di Parma, cut in half **If you can’t find this in your store or don’t want to spend the money on it, you can swap in a bacon
12 whole fresh sage leaves plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped sage **next time I would skip the whole sages leaves and just use a sprinkle of dried sage
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), plus more for drizzling
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning (2/3 palmful)
2 tablespoons wine vinegar, white or red
2 cups chicken stock or broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dry white wine (eyeball it)
1/8 pound (3 slices) pancetta, chopped **I just used the rest of the prosciutto from the turkey**
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 pound triple washed spinach, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg (eyeball it)

Now what?

Using a meat mallet or a heavy, small skillet, pound the turkey between sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap to 1/8 inch thickness. Top each turkey cutlet with a half slice of prosciutto and a whole sage leaf.

Roll up the cutlets and drizzle them with EVOO, then season with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of EVOO, once around the pan. Arrange the roll-ups seam side down and cook for 6 minutes, then turn and cook for 6 minutes more.

After the turkey roll-ups have cooked on both sides, transfer to a platter and reserve. Add the butter to the skillet and reduce the heat to medium low. Add the flower to the melted butter and combine with a whisk. Whisk in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock to make a gravy **I add mine in a bit at a time until I have the right gravy consistency, better to have it too thick than too thin!** Add the remaining chopped sage, then season with salt and pepper. Slide the roll-ups back into the gravy and simmer over low heat until ready to serve.

For the spinach, heat a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of EVOO, once around the pan, then the chopped pancetta. Brown the pancetta for 1 minute, then add the onions and cook until the pancetta bits are crisp. Add the spinach to the pan and turn to wilt it while combining with the onions. Season the spinach with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

**A note on the spinach. I use one whole bag of spinach. It looks like a TON

Just keep turning it with tongs over and over and I promise it wilts down to …

Serve 3 roll-ups in gravy with a portion of the ragout and the spinach along side. **I served mine on a platter on top of the spinach and put the gravy on the side.

4 servings (2 if you cook the way I do)

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

Muffaletta Stuffed Pizza Rustica

2011-02-03T10:42:00.001-06:00

So we’re going away from 365 this week a bit. Being a work at home mom, I get to watch the Rachael Ray daytime talk show every day and get great ideas for meals.

Last week she made this fantastic stuffed pizza. Now, I did take the liberty of changing a few things here. First, I don’t like olives much, let alone an olive tapenade, so I took out that whole section and replaced it with a jar of pesto. I think next time I’d still use the pesto, but maybe only half a jar.

I was also in fridge clean out mode, so I used whatever toppings I had on hand. I think I used pepperoni, genoa salami, and pancetta. For the cheese I used a mix of mozzarella and Colby jack. The hubby gets made that I always seem to buy cheese every week and our cheese drawer is overflowing. I caved this week and decided to use up what I had. For the record, there was only one partially used bag that was expired.

I’ll say that in the end this pizza was OK. I think ours cooked a little too long and was a little too brown. I used a thin crust pizza, so I think next time I’d use a thicker dough. It ended up being a lot of greasy, salty meat, cheese and pesto … with just a little bit of dough. I think thicker dough would balance out the the toppings much better.

I’ve got the recipe below with my own edits as to what I changed, but give the original a try if you want!

What do you need?

For the olive salad: **I skipped this whole section and used a jar of pesto**
About 1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed olives or pitted Sicilian olives About 1/4 cup pitted black olives
1 cup drained giardiniera (hot pickled vegetable salad)
1 tablespoon anchovy paste, optional
1 roasted red pepper, homemade or store-bought, chopped
2 large clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
A few leaves of basil
A scant handful of flat-leaf parsley

For the pizza:
2 1-pound balls pizza dough, homemade or store-bought
Flour, for rolling out dough
1/2 pound thinly sliced mozzarella or smoked mozzarella
1/3 pound sweet sopressata, thinly sliced
1/3 pound sliced hot ham, coppa or cappacolo
1/2 pound mortadella, thinly sliced
1/2 pound deli-sliced provolone cheese
EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for brushing
Sesame seeds

Yields: Serves 6-8

Now what?

Preheat oven to 450°F.

In the bowl of a food processor, add olives, giardiniera, anchovy paste, roasted pepper, garlic, basil and parsley. Pulse to form a finely chopped relish.

On a floured surface, roll out doughs into 2 thin rounds. Transfer the first to an oil-brushed baking sheet. Top with a layer of olive salad **or pesto**

then even layers of cheeses and meats, leaving a 1-inch edge.

Brush edges with water and top with remaining dough. Pinch all around to seal.

Brush with EVOO and sprinkle with sesame seeds. (Tip: Brush with egg wash for sesame seeds to really stick to the top!) Bake 20-25 minutes to deep golden. Let cool 10 minutes then cut into 8 wedges and serve with a green salad alongside.

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

6. Tex-Mex Mac-n-Cheddar with Beef and Peppers

2011-01-30T21:46:00.001-06:00

Ok, so this one didn’t turn out quite as tex-mexy as I had anticipated. I couldn’t find shredded white cheddar at the store and I wasn’t in the mood to shred my own (lazy I know!) so I used a mix of white and yellow cheddar. I also got to cooking this and as it was the end of the week, I realized that I had either not purchased enough peppers this week, or poorly rationed them through earlier meals, thus no peppers. It was the very last meal of the week so all I had left in the fridge was a bag of spinach, so wilted in spinach it was!

It actually ended up tasting really good, but a bit of a deviation from the original plan :)

What do you need?

Coarse Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi (corkscrew-shaped pasta)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (Once around the pan)
1 pound ground sirloin
1 red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock or broth
3 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to season the cooking water, then add the pasta. Cook for 8 minutes or until the pasta is cooked al dente . Drain well and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, preheat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of EVOO and the beef. Brown the meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Add the peppers and cook together for 5 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

**I actually changed the making of the sauce a bit for this recipe. I wasn’t in the mood to dirty yet another pan, so I went ahead and cooked the onions with the beef. I removed it from the pan and used that very same pan to make the cheese sauce – I had to make use of all the caramelized bits at the bottom of the pan!**

While the beef cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium-low heat. Add the EVOO and heat with the butter until it melts. Add the onions and cook for 3 to 5 minutes to sweat them out and turn the juices sweet. Raise the heat a bit, then whisk in the four, cayenne, and paprika. Whisk together until the roux bubbles up, then cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a bit higher to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Once it bubbles, drop the heat back to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. **I whisk in about half of my liquids to see how thick it becomes, then keep adding in more until my sauce is the perfect thickness. **

Add the cheese to the thickened sauce and stir to melt it, a minute or so. Stir in the mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour over the cooked pasta and toss to combine. Fold in the beef and bell peppers. Adjust the seasonings, transfer to a large platter, and serve.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

12. Spiced Lamb Chops on Sautéed Peppers and Onions with Garlic and Mint Couscous

2011-01-28T08:36:00.001-06:00

If you’ve never had couscous before, you are missing out! It’s a very tiny little pasta and just about goof proof. Use equal parts broth and couscous. Bring the broth to a boil, stir in the couscous, cover, take it off the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes. Voila! It’s a little bland when you just use water so I always try to use broth and stir in some kind of vegetable or spice to give it a little flavor. I also like serving it as a base under whatever my main food is so that is soaks up the juices.

We made a few changes here. We don’t really like lamb, so we swapped in some New York strip steaks. We also don’t really like mint in our couscous, so we just took that out and added some parsley.

What do you need?

8 lamb loin chops **we used 2 strip steaks**
Coarse salt and coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin (1/3 palmful) **I skipped all spices and just used seasoned salt**
1 teaspoon ground coriander (1/3 palmful)
1 teaspoon sweet paprika (1/3 palmful)
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 1 inch squares
1 large yellow onion, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 cup grape or cheery tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley (a couple of handfuls), chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 1/2 cups couscous
5 or 6 sprigs of fresh mint, finely chopped (about 3 tablespoons) **I skipped this and used some more parsley)
3 tablespoons pine nuts (I skip this as well)

Now what?

Cove the chops with wax paper or plastic and whack each chop with the heel of your hand to flatten it out. **Not necessary for steaks** Season the chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Combine the cumin, coriander, and paprika and sprinkle the mixture evenly over the chops. Pat the spices in place and wash up. Let the chops stand for 15 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the VOO. When the oil is hot, ad the peppers and cook together for 5 minutes, then add the tomatoes and continue to cook until their skins begin to burst. Add half of the parsley to the skillet and toss. Transfer the vegetables to a platter and cover loosely with foil to keep warm. Do not wash the skillet.

Place a tablespoon of the EVOO (just eyeball the amount) in a small pot for the couscous. Heat the oil over medium heat and add the garlic. Sautee for 1 minute, then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the couscous, remove from the heat and cover the pot. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Fluff the couscous with a fork and stir in the mint, the remaining parsley and the pine nuts. The couscous makes a nice bed for the veggies and lamb to catch the juices.

Return the skillet you cooked the veggies in to the stove and add another tablespoon of EVOO, once around the pan. Add the lamb chops and sear for 2 to 3 minutes on each side for medium rare, 4 minutes each side for medium well. Arrange the chops on top of the peppers and onions.

4 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

A new approach to keeping my house clean- All you need is 15 minutes!

2011-01-26T10:14:00.001-06:00

I’ll admit that I’m never one to keep a really clean house. It’s always tidy-ish, but never clean and I find my self franticly cleaning every time guests are coming over. Life doesn’t have to be that way.

I also don’t want to miss out on spending time with my cutie 5 month old son, Jake.

More food mom!! Your squash is Yum-o!

Ah, Jake :)

Anyway, this cleaning thing! So I’ve adopted a new practice and have been going strong for about 3 weeks now and it seems to really be working!

It’s all about 15 minutes. My friend Sara commented the other day that if you’re just dreading cleaning your house, break it into 15 minutes. Clean for 15, then do something fun for 15. Set a timer and go!

My strategy is all based on nap time. Jake usually takes about 2 or 3 good naps a day. So for the first 15 minutes of each nap I clean. I pick one room or cluster of rooms per day and focus just there. Rather than dreading dusting the whole house or vacuuming every single room, one or two rooms a day doesn’t seem all that bad!

The best part is that once you start, it gets easier because you just cleaned that room a week ago. In theory you can’t have created that much of a mess in a week, so it’s not the deep cleaning you have to do when you only get to it once a … month? If I finish before my 15 minutes is up, then it’s just more time I can do something fun. So today in my first 15 minutes I picked up all the baby and dog toys strewn across the living room, picked up all my random knitting projects, dusted the living room and even had enough time to sit down and write this blog post. The only thing left to do is vacuum, which can easily be done during nap #2 and, voila! My living room is clean!

Easy enough since Jake isn’t destroying my house on a daily basis, but you work with what you’ve got right? Start small, it really works!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

13. Saucy BBQ Chicken Sammies with Pepper and Scallion Potato Salad

2011-01-26T08:43:00.001-06:00

Who doesn’t love a good shredded BBQ chicken sandwich? This one will definitely not disappoint! We weren’t a huge fan of the potato salad, but it was pretty good. I think I would have preferred roasted potatoes, but this was a pretty good side kick!

What do you need?

2 1/2 pounds small potatoes, such as baby Yukon Gold or red-skinned
2 ounces jarred hot pepper rings, drained and chopped, about 3 tablespoons (reserve the juice) **I skipped this because I forgot to buy them at the store**
1 small red bell pepper cored, seeded and chopped
4 scallions, chopped
3 tablespoons cider or wine vinegar (eyeball it)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1 cup Mexican beer (or more chicken broth)
4 6 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 ground cloves, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (eyeball it)
1 tablespoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend such as McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning (2 palmfuls)
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large sour pickle, chopped **We skipped the pickles on top and just had them on the side
6 to 8 sweet bread and butter pickle slices chopped **not a fan, so I skipped this**
6 soft burger buns

Now what?

Chunk up the potatoes, cutting them into large bite-sized pieces, and place them in a pot with water to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the hot pot to dry them out. Add the hot peppers, bell peppers, scallions to the pot, then dress everything with a splash of the hot pepper juice and the vinegar. **Before I added the seasonings, I added all the veggies and then just put the cover on while the rest of dinner cooked so the peppers steamed a bit** Toss to combine, then drizzle with 1/4 cup of the EVOO to coat the salad evenly. Season with salt and pepper.

While the potatoes work, bring the stock and beer to a simmer in a small or medium skillet. Slide in the chicken breasts and gently poach them for 10 minutes, turning once after 5 minutes. **my chicken breasts were HUGE so it took mine an extra 10 minutes to cook**

While the chicken poaches, heat a second medium skillet over medium-low heat. To the hot skillet, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO, the garlic, and the onions and gently sauté until cooked through. Turn off the heat and set the pan aside.

Combine the Worcestershire, hot sauce, grill seasoning, brown sugar and tomato paste in a medium bowl. Add 2 ladles of the poaching liquid to the bowl and mix well. Transfer the chicken breasts to the bowl, then use two forks to shred the meat, and combine it with the seasoning. Stir the shredded chicken into the pan of sautéed onions and garlic and combine well. Reheat together for 5 to 10 minutes, adding some more of the poaching liquid to make your chicken as saucy as you like.

Combine the sour and sweet pickles in a small bowl. Split the rolls and fill with scoops of shredded chicken. Top with pickle relish and serve with the potato salad.

6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

17. Honey Nut Chicken Sticks

2011-01-25T10:16:00.001-06:00

We are a chicken finger loving family. I would make them any time. Put them on a salad, in a wrap or just dip in some honey mustard.

I happened to have some extra potatoes on hand so I diced them up and coated them with some EVOO, parmesan cheese, and Penzy’s Sandwich Sprinkle (one of the most useful seasonings ever!) and roasted them at 400 for 45 minutes. A very tasty side dish!

I’m very perplexed by my missing pictures on this one. I took pictures while I cooked, yet the only picture on my SD card is of the final meal, which I guess is better than nothing right?

What do you need?

2 pounds chicken tenders (**I used one package which was 1.33 pounds)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs
A splash of milk
2 cups Honey Nut Corn Flakes (**For the life of me I couldn’t find the honey nut corn flakes at the store, so I just used plain old corn flakes)
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
2 tablespoons grill seasoning, such as McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning (2 palmfuls)
1/2 cup vegetable oil (eyeball it)

Now what?

Preheat the oven to 400 F

Season the chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Place the flour in a large, shallow dish. Coat the chicken in flour. Beat the eggs and milk in a shallow dish. Combine the cereal, bread crumbs, paprika, poultry seasoning, grill seasoning, and vegetable oil in a food processor. Transfer the breading to a shallow dish.

Place a nonstick baking sheet near the chicken breading station. In batches, dip the flour-coated chicken into the egg mixture and then in the breading and place on the nonstick cookie sheet. **I like to place a cookie cooling rack onto my cookie sheet and bake the chicken right on the rack. It helps the heat get around the chicken so it’s crispy all over** When all the tenders have been coated, bake them for 15 minutes, or until evenly browned and cooked through. Cool enough to handle and serve, or pack up for a picnic! This chicken may be served hot or cold.

4 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

365 – Week 3

2011-01-24T10:24:00.001-06:00

Lots to cook this week! It’s cold out there so a steamy bowl of home cooked food is just what we need. Here’s what I’ve got going for the week:

6. Tex-Mex Mac-n-Cheddar with Beef and Peppers –

7. ~~Smoky Chipotle Mac-n-Cheddar with Tomato and Chorizo~~ – I have no need for mac-n cheese more than once in a week, so we’ll try this one later!

12. Spiced Lamb Chops on Sautéed Peppers and Onions with Garlic and Mint Couscous – we don’t really like lamb so we’re making this with steaks

13. Saucy BBQ Chicken Sammies with Pepper and Scallion Potato Salad

14. ~~Fiery Hot Texas T-Bones with Chipotle Smashed Potatoes and Hot and Sweet Pepper Salad~~ – we made this once a few years ago and didn’t really care for it

15. ~~Super Tuscan Burgers and Potato Salad with Capers and Celery~~ – we aren’t a fan of fancy burgers and hate capers, this one is out!

16. ~~Oregon-Style Pork Chops with Pinot Noir and Cranberries; Oregon Hash with Wild Mushrooms, Greens, Beets, Hazelnuts and Blue Cheese~~ – We don’t care for mushrooms, kale, beets hazelnuts or blue cheese so this one just doesn’t seem like it’s for us

17. Honey Nut Chicken Sticks

18. Turkey Saltimbocca Roll-Ups, ~~Mushroom and White Bean Ragout~~, and Spinach with Pancetta and Onions

So overall, 5 recipes this week! What are you cooking?

Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

11. Italian Sub Stoup and Garlic Toast Floaters

2011-01-24T10:06:00.001-06:00

I love soup in the winter. A steaming warm bowl just warms you up on a blustery snowy day.

I’ll have to admit that I didn’t love this soup. It was pretty good, but just not what I like in a soup. The pepperoni and sausage needed a lot of straining to get all the fat off. The flavor was great, but there is just something I don’t like about sausage in soup. I like sausage in sauces …. or on a bun.

Loved the croutons! I don’t make croutons often, but I should, yum! I was so in love with the croutons and wanted to eat that I totally forgot to add the spinach. Sad :(

What do you need?

Stoup:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (twice around the pan)
3/4 pound (3 links) hot or sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
1/4 pound piece pepperoni, diced ***(I don’t like big pieces, so I get the thinly sliced pepperoni and chop it)
1 ham steak, 1/2 to 3/4 pound, diced ***(Not a huge fan of ham in soup so I omit this)
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded and quartered, and sliced
1 medium yellow onion, quartered and sliced
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup gemelli pasta or other shaped pasta
4 cups arugula (2 bunches, trimmed and coarsely chopped) ***I prefer to use a bag of spinach instead

Croutons:
1/4 cup EVOO
3 large garlic cloves, cracked from skins
5 cups crusty bread, cubed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano0Reggiano (a couple of handfuls)
***I completely skipped the garlic, red pepper flakes and oregano and used Penzy Spice’s Sandwich Sprinkle (otherwise known as crouton seasoning)

Now what?

Place a soup pot on the stovetop and preheat to medium high. ***I love this cast iron pot from Rachael Ray***

Add the EVOO and the sausage. Brown and crumble the sausage, drain off excess fat if necessary, then add the pepperoni and ham. **While your meat is browning, cut up the veggies ** Cook for 2 minutes, then add the bell peppers and onions and cook for 2 or 3 minutes more.

Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the pasta and cook for 8 minutes.

While the pasta cooks, heat the 1/4 cup EVOO in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the bread cubes, toss and toast the cubes for 5 or 6 minutes. Season the toasty cubes with the red pepper flakes, oregano and grated cheese.

Stir the arugula (or spinach) into the stoup just before you serve it up. Float several bread cubes in each bowl.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

5. Mac-n-Smoked Gouda with Cauliflower

2011-01-22T09:58:00.001-06:00

This recipe is a swap out meal from recipe #4 (Mac-n-Cheddar with Broccoli). Exact same method, different veggie, different cheese and voila! A whole new meal! I loved the flavor of the smoked Gouda in this one.

I also found that since we were out of town this week I definitely didn’t have whole milk on hand. Usually I just use whatever milk I have instead of buying whole milk just for this dish. I decided to use up a container of half and half and my oh my was this a good decision! It was even the low fat version. YUM!

Another good side note …. we use Fiesta dishes. We have found that one cereal bowl full of dry macaroni is just enough pasta for the two of us in a meal … plus a little extra for snacking.

What do you need?

Coarse Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi (corkscrew-shaped pasta)
1 head or bag of cauliflower florets (Fresh if available, frozen if not in season)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (Once around the pan)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock or broth
3 cups grated smoked Gouda
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to season the cooking water, then add the pasta. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the cauliflower and cook for 3 minutes more or until the pasta is cooked al dente and the florets are just tender. Drain well and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, heat a medium sauce pot over medium-low heat. Add the EVOO and heat with the butter until it melts. Add the onions and cook for 3 to 5 minutes to sweat them out and turn the juices sweet. Raise the heat a bit, then whisk in the four, cayenne, and paprika. Whisk together until the roux bubbles up, then cook for 1 minute more. Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a bit higher to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Once it bubbles, drop the heat back to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. **I whisk in about half of my liquids to see how thick it becomes, then keep adding in more until my sauce is the perfect thickness. **

Add the cheese to the thickened sauce and stir to melt it, a minute or so. Stir in the mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour over the cauliflower and cooked pasta and toss to combine. Adjust the seasonings, transfer to a large platter, and serve.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

365 – Week Two

2011-01-22T09:32:00.002-06:00

My husband and I unfortunately were out of town unexpectedly for the week, so week two was a short one! Here’s what I’ve got going for the week:

5. Mac-n-Smoked Gouda with Cauliflower – This is a swap out recipe.

6. ~~Tex-Mex Mac-n-Cheddar with Beef and Peppers~~ – I have no need for mac-n cheese more than once in a week, so we’ll try this one later!

7. ~~Smoky Chipotle Mac-n-Cheddar with Tomato and Chorizo~~ – See #6

10. ~~The T2 – Turkey Chili-Topped Turkey Chili Burgers with Red Pepper Slaw and Funky Fries~~ – We really like our burgers plain. A good old fashioned beefy burger with cheese, ketchup and mustard. Try as we might, we have never been a fan of these fancy burgers, so we are skipping them all.

11. Italian Sub Stoup and Garlic Toast Floaters

So overall, 2 recipes this week! What are you cooking?

Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

9. Turkey Noodle Casserole

2011-01-19T15:00:00.000-06:00

This is just a good old fashioned turkey noodle casserole. Now I know many of you make this and use cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup and love it. I just can’t do the cream of soups. My stomach doesn’t like it and all we taste is processed soup. So it isn’t for us.

We are all about fresh, made from scratch sauces and this is a great one. We really don’t like mushrooms, but love the flavor of mushrooms in a sauce, so we usually keep them in.

Another good side note …. we use Fiesta dishes. We have found that one cereal bowl full of dry pasta is just enough pasta for the two of us in a meal … plus a little extra for snacking.

What do you need?

Coarse Salt
1/2 pound extra-wide egg noodles
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (once around the pan)
3 slices of bacon or turkey bacon, chopped
1 package (about 1 1/2 pounds) ground turkey breast
1 pound white mushrooms, wiped, trimmed and sliced **I buy the ones packaged ones that are already cleaned and sliced!
1 medium onion chopped
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons ground thyme or poultry seasoning
1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken stock)
1 cup chicken stock or broth
1/2 cup heavy cream (about 3 times around the pan)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (one 8 ounce brick) **I am not a huge fan of Gruyere so I use just a shredded mozzarella or pizza cheese, you could also use Swiss if you wanted to keep the Gruyere flavor
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the egg noodles. When it boils, salt the water and cook the noodles al dente. Drain well and return to the pot.

While the pasta cooks, preheat a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the EVOO and the bacon. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the fat is rendered and the bacon begins to brown at the edges. Remove to a paper towel. Add the turkey and brown it, crumbling it with a wooden spoon. Move the meat over to one side of the pan and add the mushrooms and onions to the opposite side. Cook the mushrooms and onions for 3 to 5 minutes, then stir the meat and veggies together. Season the mixture liberally with salt and pepper, and sprinkle in the ground thyme or poultry seasoning. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, using a wooden spoon to scrape up pan drippings and browned bits. Stir in the stock and bring to a bubble, then stir in the cream and reduce the heat to low. Add the nutmeg and stir. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Preheat the broiler to high. Combine the noodles with the turkey and sauce. Grease a casserole dish with a little softened butter. Transfer the turkey-noodle mixture to the dish and top with Gruyere cheese and then bread crumbs. Place the casserole 8 to 10 inches from the broiler and brown for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crumbs are brown. Garnish the casserole with the parsley.

4 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

8. Mega Meatball Pizza

2011-01-18T14:48:00.000-06:00

Love homemade pizza! It’s just so easy and way better than frozen pizza. This one was fabulous. My husband wants it ever week now I think.

I think this one was better than most that we made and it was because of the crust. This time I used just a Pillsbury pizza crust out of the tube, but I bought the thin crust. Yum!! I will say that by using the thin crust I had to adjust my cooking times a little. I precooked my crust for 10 minutes and it was pretty much done, so instead of cooking the pizza with toppings another 12 minutes, I just popped it under the broiler to melt the cheese.

Now this is a meatball pizza, but doesn’t actually have any meatballs on it, it just has the flavor of a good meatball. So tasty!

What do you need?

Coarse Salt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (Once around the pan)
1 pizza dough, store-bought or from your favorite pizza shop
A palmful of all purpose flour or cornmeal
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (a couple of sprigs) or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 to 6 garlic cloves finely chopped
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
1 3 ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese **I just use plain Parm
A handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 pound fresh mozzarella or brick mozzarella, sliced or grated **I use a sack of pizza cheese

Now what?

Preheat the oven to 425.

Drizzle a round pizza pan or a rectangular baking sheet with EVOO. Dust the dough with flour or cornmeal, then spread out eh dough to form your crust. Poke the pizza dough in several places with the tines of a fork. Drizzle the dough with EVOO, then season it with the rosemary and a little salt. Bake for 10 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons of EVOO (twice around the pan), then the meat. **While the meat is cooking, cut up your onions and garlic** Brown and crumble the meat for a couple of minutes, then add the onions and garlic. Season the meat with salt and pepper, then work in the tomato paste using the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the cheese, parsley, and oregano.

Remove the pizza crust from the oven and top with the meat mixture. Arrange the cheese over the pizza, working from the center to the outside edge. Return the pizza to the oven and bake until the cheese is golden, another 10 to 12 minutes.

4 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

4. Mac-n-Cheddar with Broccoli

2011-01-17T14:35:00.000-06:00

We always love a good Mac-n-Cheese at our house. I’m a Wisconsin girl by heart and love cheese, and will cook with it at any given opportunity. It’s so much fun to swap out different kinds of chesses, veggies and meat.

We’ve made this one before and it’s a great base recipe. I’ll have to admit though that I don’t always follow the measured ingredients exactly. I like my cheese sauce pretty thick, so I only add as much stock and milk as I need to make it as thick as I like. I’ve found that if you add it all in at once then your sauce is too thin. It’s always much easier to make it thinner if it’s too thick, than to try to thicken up a cheese sauce.

Another good side note …. we use Fiesta dishes. We have found that one cereal bowl full of dry macaroni is just enough pasta for the two of us in a meal … plus a little extra for snacking.

What do you need?

Coarse Salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi (corkscrew-shaped pasta)
2 1/2 cups broccoli florets (Fresh if available, frozen if not in season)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) (Once around the pan)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups whole milk
1 cup chicken stock or broth
3 cups grated sharp yellow Cheddar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground black pepper

Now what?

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to season the cooking water, then add the pasta. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the broccoli and cook for 3 minutes more or until the pasta is cooked al dente and the florets are just tender. Drain well and return to the pot.

Whisk in the milk and stock and raise the heat a bit higher to bring the sauce to a quick boil. Once it bubbles, drop the heat back to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. **I whisk in about half of my liquids to see how thick it becomes, then keep adding in more until my sauce is the perfect thickness. **

Add the cheese to the thickened sauce and stir to melt it, a minute or so. Stir in the mustard and season the sauce with salt and pepper. Pour over the broccoli and cooked pasta and toss to combine. Adjust the seasonings, transfer to a large platter, and serve.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

3. Lamb or Beef Goulash

2011-01-16T14:36:00.000-06:00

I think this could have been better. I decided to go on a limb and try the lamb because I really haven’t had much lamb in my life. Overall, not a huge fan of the flavor.

I think this would have been awesome with the beef. Hubby liked it and at it anyway, so I guess that counts as a success.

If you make the Turkey Shepherd’s Pie yesterday, you’ll notice that this recipe is very similar. Take out the potatoes, peas, and egg. Swap lamb or beef for the turkey. Swap beef stock for chicken stock. Add in egg noodles and voila! So if you think you can’t make this … if you made yesterday’s meal – you can make this one!

Sorry, no pictures this time. Once I start thinking ahead, I’ll actually start taking pictures as I cook.

What do you need?

Coarse salt
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (twice around the pan)
1/4 pound bacon chopped (I used about 5 slices)
2 pounds ground lamb or sirloin
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (or substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each of sweet paprika and cumin)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (5-6 sprigs) or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs from the heart, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef stock or broth
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 to 12 fresh chives, chopped or snipped

Now what?

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the egg noodles according to package directions while you make the beef topping.

Heat a deep, large skillet over medium0high heat. Add the EVOO to the skillet, then add the bacon and brown it up. **While the bacon is browning start chopping the veggies.** Remove the bacon to paper towels and drain off the excess fat from the bowl, then add the lamb or beef to the pan and break it up with a wooden spoon. Season the lamb or beef with the smoked paprika, salt, pepper and thyme. **This is a great time to finish copping those veggies!**

When the meat is browned, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Season the veggies with salt and pepper (**I know you just seasoned the meat, but add more to the veggies, it really makes a difference if you layer the flavor!**). Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the red bell peppers and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the stock and combine. Stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream and simmer the mixture over low heat to thicken. Stir in the bacon.

Serve the goulash over cooked egg noodles, dressed with the butter and chopped chives.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

2. Smoky Turkey Shepherd’s Pie

2011-01-15T11:18:00.000-06:00

I LOVE this recipe! I have made it many times before and will probably make it many times again. It’s a lighter version of a traditional beef based shepherd’s pie. By swapping the beef for a lean turkey it can really make this a lean meal. I also hate cooking with premade sauces. My body just doesn’t agree with cream of soups and premade gravy. Fresh, fresh fresh in my house!! I’ve really learned how to make a good gravy and sauce thanks to recipes like this. Want to make it even healthier? Try turkey bacon, light sour cream, skip the egg, skip the butter and use a little skim milk instead.

I also like to play around with the potatoes on this depending on my mood. The last time I made it I skipped the whole casserole part and just served the potatoes on the side. Sometimes I put the filling on top of a baked potato instead of mashing them. Use your imagination!

(Image from Food Network)

What do you need?

Coarse salt
3 large Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (twice around the pan)
1/4 pound bacon or turkey bacon, chopped (I used about 5 slices)
1 package (about 1 1/3) pounds ground turkey breast
1 tablespoon smoked paprika (or substitute 1 1/2 teaspoons each of sweet paprika and cumin)
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (5-6 sprigs) or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs from the heart, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
2 cups frozen peas
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, beaten
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 to 12 fresh chives, chopped or snipped

Now what?

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil, salt it, and cook the potatoes (10-12 minutes) while you make the turkey filling.

Heat a deep, large skillet over medium0high heat. Add the EVOO to the skillet, then add the bacon and brown it up. **While the bacon is browning start chopping the veggies.** Remove the bacon to paper towels and drain off the excess fat from the bowl, then add the turkey to the pan and break it up with a wooden spoon. Season the turkey with the smoked paprika, salt, pepper and thyme. **This is a great time to finish copping those veggies!**

When the turkey is browned, add the onions, carrots, and celery. Season the veggies with salt and pepper (**I know you just seasoned the meat, but add more to the veggies, it really makes a difference if you layer the flavor!**). Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the red bell peppers and peas and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add the stock and combine. Stir in 1/2 cup of sour cream and simmer the mixture over low heat. Stir in the bacon.

Preheat the broiler to high.

When the potatoes are tender, stir in a ladle of cooking water into the egg, then drain the potatoes. Return the potatoes to the warm pot to dry them out a little. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sour cream, the butter, and salt and pepper. Smash and mash the potatoes, mashing in the beaten, tempered egg. If the potatoes are too tight, mix in a splash of milk.

Pour the turkey mixture into a medium casserole dish. Top with the smashed potatoes and spread evenly. Place the casserole 5 inches from the hot broiler. Broil until the potatoes are golden at the edges. Garnish the casserole with the chives and a sprinkle of smoked paprika.

4-6 servings

How did yours turn out??

Until the next time…
~The girl behind the lama

365 – Week One

2011-01-14T10:48:00.000-06:00

Let’s start at the beginning shall we! Here’s what I’ve got going for the week:

1. ~~Scramblewiches~~ – Not a fan of breakfast for dinner – SKIP

2. Smoky Turkey Shepherd’s Pie

3. Lamb or Beef Goulash

4. Mac-n-Cheddar with Broccoli

5. ~~Mac-n-Smoked Gouda with Cauliflower~~ – This is a swap out recipe. I have no need for mac-n cheese more than once in a week, so we’ll try this one later!

6. ~~Tex-Mex Mac-n-Cheddar with Beef and Peppers~~ – See #5

7. ~~Smoky Chipotle Mac-n-Cheddar with Tomato and Chorizo~~ – See #5

8. Mega Meatball Pizza and Zippy Italian Popcorn

9. Turkey Noodle Casserole

So overall, 5 recipes this week! What are you cooking?

Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

Back to Business – Let’s Cook!

2011-01-14T10:42:00.001-06:00

New year! New blog posts right? Who am I kidding .. I’ll probably forget about my lonely little blog by about February, but I’m back for the moment and I have a sleeping baby, so let’s talk food!

I get in a rut sometimes on what I’m in the mood for, so I thought I’d try something different. As you well may know, I’m a Rachael Ray fanatic. I have a fairly large collection of her cookbooks, and I love that I can cook a well balanced, healthy meal from scratch in about 30-40 minutes every single night.

Now her cooking takes some time to get used to. Sometimes you have a lot going on at once and you need to learn the method. You have to be able to look ahead and see that there’s no point in cutting up all those veggies before you even start cooking because you’ll have about 5 minutes of free time to cut them while your ground beef is cooking. You can’t be afraid to have 3 pots of yummy simmering goodness going at once.

Anyway, I’ve decided to go back through her cookbook “365: No Repeats!” cookbook. It’s delightful! The recipes are arranged in a pretty random order. The idea is that you can cook your way from front to back and have a new meal each day. Now for those of you that absolutely need organization, there is also a category list in the front if you specifically want to find pasta, chicken or dinner for 2.

It also has a lot of “swap out” recipes. You learn the technique on how to make the meal in the first recipe, then you swap out 3 or 4 ingredients for 3 or 4 new ones and voila! Completely new dinner!

So my plan is to go from front to back and really try some new things. Now, I reserve the right to skip things that I know dear hubby and I don’t like. So I won’t get through 365 of them, but I’ll get through a fair number right?

Want to try it out? I’ll try to get as many recipes and pictures up as I can, but with a 5 month old – no promises that I’ll remember, so if I post a recipe title that looks awesome and you want the recipe – tell me about it!

Happy cooking!
Until the next time …
~The girl behind the lama

BLT Creamy Mac 'n' Cheese

2010-07-29T18:13:00.001-05:00

Dinner today was rather tasty so I thought I’d share the recipe! This one comes from the Rachael Ray Magazine website and is a 30 minute meal. There’s a chance it actually took me 20! I’ve made a few changes to it – most importantly I cut it in half, so if you want the original you can find it here.

Makes 3 Servings

Ingredients:

Salt
1 cereal bowl full of mini shell pasta (somehow we figured out that when cooking for the two of us, if we measure the dry pasta in our Fiesta cereal bowls that plenty for us plus some leftovers)
Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
3 slices bacon, chopped
1 leek—trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise and rinsed in cold water
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
4 oz cream cheese, cut into pieces
1 cups shredded asiago, grana padano or parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
2 cups spinach

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.
While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat a drizzle of EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp at the edges, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the leeks and cook until softened, 3 minutes. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute. Stir in the cream cheese until melted. Stir in the reserved pasta cooking water, most of the shredded cheese and stir until melted together.
Add the pasta and spinach to the sauce and toss until the spinach is wilted.
Optional: Pile into a casserole and top with the tomatoes and remaining shredded cheese. Bake until browned on top, 7 to 8 minutes.

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!! If you try it, let me know how it went!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Technorati Tags: 30 minute meal,Rachael ray,Mac n' Cheese,recipes

What’s To Eat This Week?

2010-07-26T09:24:00.001-05:00

Technorati Tags: meal plan,rachael ray,recipes

How do I plan my meals? There are two websites I always check first. I am a huge Rachael Ray fan. About 5 years ago I started watching 30 Minute Meals and it has changed my life. I learned how to make quick meals that were all from scratch – good bye mixes and cream of soups! By watching I also learned about vegetables and spices I had never head of and learned how to chop everything in a jiffy.

It made cooking a complex meal easy to do because you could watch how she multi tasked and had 3 pots going at once. Better yet? How to make a meal and not have to worry about coming up with 2 other sides to go with it – these meals had it all built right in.

Since then I’ve really leaned what I like and how to swap things I don’t like out for things that are more to my tastes. So the first two places I always go are two RR weekly meal sites to see if anything good pops up:

Weekly Grocery List – on her day time talk show she always cooks something. This list gives you the ingredients you’ll need to cook along. They don’t post the recipe until the day of the show, so it’s a bit of a mystery on what you’ll be cooking.

Weekly Menu Planner – Each issue of the Rachael Ray Magazine always has a section that is a weekly meal plan. On the magazine website they also have a different meal plan for each week.

After that? Well then I go through other recipes I’ve pulled from other magazines and websites. If I don’t have enough for the week I go to my trusty recipe binder. Each time I find a recipe that we really like, it gets numbered and catalogued into my binder. Yes it involves a spreadsheet – I’m a nerd like that. But that way everything is in a random order and I can just open it up to the middle somewhere and take the next 3 recipes in the book and be done with it. And yes, if I’m looking for something specific I can sort my spreadsheet alphabetically, by category, by type of meal and by main ingredient – no joke – I’m that much of a nerd.

So here’s where that brought me this week!

Sunday – Pancetta Wrapped Pork Tenderloin, Parsley Potatoes and Johnson Family Corn
Monday - Meatloaf with Cheesy Cauliflower
Tuesday – BLT Mac & Cheese
Wednesday – Chicken and Ham Rolls with Spinach
Thursday – Warm Provencal Chicken Salad
Friday – LMM’s day off :)
Saturday – Date night – Steaks, Fried Ravioli and Creme Brulee

Cooking I did last week that you might be interested in:

Dill Pickles
Spaghetti Sauce (back from the Spaghetti Sauce Adventures of 2008!)
Peach Cupcakes

Which recipes do you want to see??

~LMM

Who has forgotten about the fact that she has a bolg??

2010-07-22T11:20:00.001-05:00

ME!!!!! I have been so absorbed in work and summer and you know … that baby on the way … that the blog has been severely neglected. Not for long! I finally have some creative mojo again – so be prepared!

What’s to come?

Big shop announcement (unless you already heard the news on Facebook …)
More adventures in cooking – if you are really lucky I’ll get back to Meal Planning Monday blogs so I can share what we’re eating for the week
New store products
Baby updates

Anything else you want to read about??

Until the next time (soon!)…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

I need your help!!

2010-05-22T09:18:00.001-05:00

Eek!! I’m leaving for Ireland in just 4 days and I need books to read!! It’s going to be a long drive to Chicago and flight to Ireland and back and I need some reading material and am coming up uninspired … what should I read??

When I get back I’ll make sure I post on all my book findings as well as all the fun adventures in Ireland!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the Lama
~LMM

Baby Shower #1

2010-05-12T17:18:00.001-05:00

Can you believe I’m 25 weeks pregnant already?? According to my weekly email he is about 13 1/2 inches long and weighs as much as a rutabaga. A rutabaga?? I don’t even know that I have ever seen a rutabaga let alone know how much it weighs! According to BabyCenter.com it’s about a pound a half. Now you know …

We had our first baby shower this morning and got so many great gifts! I am super excited to have a crib and bedding set … now if only I could put it all together. Our master bedroom is still a work in progress so hopefully in a few weeks we’ll be able to move back in and get this baby’s room started!

I can’t tell you enough, how impressed I was with the entire party and how much work my mom put into it. Now I’m a crafty girl, but I had to get that from somewhere right? The apple does not fall far from the tree at all. She has been having a lot of fun taking different classes and using the Slice so she came up with all sorts of fun ideas! Did I mention that she also knitted a hat and sweater?? She might work harder than I do! THANKS MOM!!!

Enjoy the pictures from the party! Thanks to my sister in law for taking such awesome pictures!

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Carry On Campaign

2010-04-21T09:10:00.001-05:00

I am happy to report a very successful opening year for the Carry On Campaign! As some of you may remember, my friend Matt is a singer/songwriter who performs concerts in the Milwaukee/Chicago area to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Each year he has the big Concert For Life,which is his main event.

This year marked his 10th concert and even though we could not attend, we heard it was a great success! This year he raised $43,000 bringing his 10 year total to over $271,000!!!

At last year’s concert, he challenged us to join him in the Carry On Campaign and find a unique way to raise $100 over the course of the year. It wasn’t about writing the ACS a check, it was about community and getting those around you involved and aware of all the wonderful things the ACS has to offer.

At the time, my shop was just starting and I had a sale or two every month. With what my current sales were I decided that if I donated 10% of my sales to the cause, I might … just *might* hit $100. Well, I’m happy to announce that not only was the campaign a success, but Lamaworks has become a much larger success than I could have imagined in just one year. I was able to raise $552!!!

The group of 18 volunteers had pledged to donate $1,800 and surpassed that immensely! The grand total for the Carry On volunteers was a whopping $4,810!!

I am so proud to have been part of this group and can’t wait to see what it turns into next year! Due to my success and a few other changes with the shop I am still pledging to donate, however I have had to change my donation to 5% of my sales, making it more of a challenge for myself – one I look forward to! So far my sales from March and April have brought me to $48, so I’m almost half way there!

Thanks to all for the support!
Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama …
~LMM

Me??? In the Storque?!?!?!?!?

2010-04-12T13:46:00.001-05:00

So I just sat down to look through my blog list for the day and I’m scrolling through the Storque post for today. It’s just lovely! All about weddings. Not only do I love weddings, but I’m trying to get my wedding invitations and paper goods to take off ….

Low and behold as I’m scrolling through the lists of beautiful wedding products – there are my table numbers!!!!!!! Me??? In an Etsy feature?!?!?! How cool!!!

Here is the link:http://www.etsy.com/storque/spotlight/etsy-finds-i-love-hue-forever-7720/

Maybe this little shop is really going to go somewhere!

Until the next time…
The girl behind the lama
~LMM and baby boy growing more and more every day!

A World of Bud Vases!

2010-03-22T10:39:00.002-05:00

2 years ago I was planning my own wedding. That was where the bud vase madness started. We were planning a wedding for 300 guests, which is not a cheap endeavor. I decided to make a few things myself to save a few bucks. It started with the invitations and programs. So how do you make inexpensive favors for 300 guests? I combined a few ideas I saw online to come up with some wonderfully cute bud vases.

I had no idea at that point, that I would start selling these and that people would love them! Since then I have sold over 1300 of these little guys! They have been at weddings, corporate events, bridal showers, baby showers and even private dinner parties. Here is just a sampling of some of the great projects I have been able to work on:

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama …
~LMM

Baby Update!

2010-03-05T10:00:00.002-06:00

I told my husband that I keep waiting for pregnancy to be blissful. I want the “glow” you know? Between the heartburn, the hurling, and the aversion to raw meat (which makes it really difficult for one to cook ..) it has so far definitely been far from blissful.

Last week changed that a lot – I started to feel the baby move! I was just over 14 weeks when I felt the first few flutters of movement and I must say it’s pretty cool :) It’s not often, but I usually feel it every day and it almost always makes me laugh because it tickles so much. It definitely makes pregnancy a little more blissful than the first few months have been.

On other news I’m craving fruit like you wouldn’t believe. It started very innocently with me eating a few apples and clementines a day. Now I have moved on to melons. I’m not exactly proud of it but on more than one occasion I have eaten half of a melon. That includes but may not be limited to both cantaloupe and watermelon. Last night my husband got sick of cutting up melons so he literally gave me half of a cantaloupe and a melon baller which I used as a spoon. I will not be ashamed – there is nothing wrong with fruit. I do of course have the occasional Oreo and Chex Mix binge, but I’m definitely all about the fruit. Having a girl maybe???

To all you moms – what did you crave when you were pregnant??

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Enough is Enough!

2010-03-03T15:46:00.001-06:00

I am back to being an active member of the world again! I think I am finally feeling more like a human being for the first time in awhile! Where have I been? Miserably curled up on the couch. I have been A) Pregnant and B)Sick. One or the other alone I think I could have handled, but throw the two together and it just destroyed every ounce of energy I had in me.

I had this sinus/respiratory infection thing that I just couldn’t kick. My sinuses were clogged yet draining which meant I hacked up a lung all day but also couldn’t breathe. They ruled out walking pneumonia and decided I just had a bad cold – which when pregnant you pretty much just have to deal with. Now add that to my already queasy and exhausted pregnant state and I was completely wiped out. My doctor finally gave me a Z-Pack last week and it has just been a wonder drug for me! Within 48 hours I felt my energy pop back in and now a week later it’s safe to say that I’m almost done coughing (I hope) and I can breathe with ease once again.

We also have renovations going on to my office/sun room so most of my supplies are either hard to get to or hard for me to find. The walls are painted, the new carpet is in, and the desk cabinets are well on their way so hopefully in another week or two I’ll be back in business with my workspace. I’ve got a bunch of new things I’ve either been working on or dreaming about so stay tuned!!

Until the next time …
The (healthy) girl behind the lama…
~LMM

Etta the Meerkat Visits – With BIG News!!!

2010-02-10T13:39:00.001-06:00

There is excitement abound at LamaWorks this week with the arrival of Etta the Meerkat. Etta is making a journey around the world to tour the workshops and cities with different members of the Etsy Treasury Team. She started her journey in England where she was born, with Heather of NiftyKnits. Since then she has visited Jacqueline of Mozo in Oregon, Jeannie of Beadstylin in Kansas, and both Mary Ann of LindenAvenueDesigns and Lindi of Lindesigns and Lindenleafstudios in Texas. Today she arrived to spend some time with me in good old Quincy, IL!

First on the agenda was to make sure she was friends with Luke, our ferocious Puggle.

“Mom?? What is this thing?”

“I’ll give it a sniff ….”

“I guess we can be friends ….”

“Mom?? Can I go back to bed now?”

Success! Friends they are as I knew they would be.

Etta couldn’t have arrived at a better time because I had a LOT of work to do! Wedding season has begun and I’ve got the task of making 450 bud vases this week! I definitely needed some help.

We cut paper, scored it, printed out the bride to be’s wedding logo and cut the holes for the vases.

Etta tried and tried to help me glue the last batch of them together, but I’m afraid the glue stick was just a little to big for her.

The vases were just her size though, so we made a great team getting the final assembly ready to go.

With the last of them packed up and ready to ship – I’d say we had a pretty successful day – Thanks Etta!

Day two in the shop Etta and I spent working on some new stationary. I just got a shiny new Cricut cutting machine a few weeks ago and just loved the images that I was able to get from it so we decided that today was the day to put them together into stationary!

Which one is your favorite Etta??

The bird?

The Leaves?

Maybe the bird on the branch?

No wait! The owl for sure!!

Etta’s vote?? Her favorite was the delicate butterfly – good choice Etta! Wait a minute … I know all of those cards are blank on the inside, but I think that one says something on the inside. Hey Etta – What does it say??

That’s right! The girl behind the lama has a baby on board!!! We are so excited about the news!! We just had our first Dr’s appointment today and all is going well. I am about 12 weeks along and our little bundle of joy should arrive around August 25th! Our ultrasound showed a little jumping baby that wouldn’t sit still, arm and legs moving all over the place. Mom and Dad fell in love at first sight for sure.

I definitely can’t top that, so as sad as it may be, I packed Etta up with her treasures from along the journey including her favorite stationary from LamaWorks and she is off to the next leg of the journey to visit Jaci at BytheWay.

Thanks for visiting Etta!!
Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama – plus one!
~LMM

Does it bother you if …

2010-01-22T12:53:00.001-06:00

We all have our own obsessive compulsive tendencies right??? I’m not alone am I?? It’s just little things. The toilet paper has to spin in a certain direction. Your books all have to be alphabetized and in my case that also applies to your spice rack. My friends at this point are all shaking their heads and remembering how they used to swap two of my spices and see how long it would take me to freak out and swap them back.

I consider myself a bit of an organizational freak. My house is never ever spotless, but I absolutely LOVE to organize things and pretend that it is. Love the label maker. Love baskets. And yes, my yarn is all organized first by type, then by color.

Today I was baking cookies and came across another organizational thing that bothers me that I’m really hoping some of you can relate to so I know I’m not alone. Does anyone else have to have equal numbers of cookies in rows and columns on a cookie sheet?? I seriously tried to rearrange my cookies today because the corner of parchment paper was ripped off and I couldn’t fit that one very last cookie on the sheet to make the perfect rectangle to cookies. What’s wrong with me?

I noticed the same thing happened when I made meatballs a few weeks ago. I had one row that had 2 fewer meatballs than the others and it actually bothered me. Not enough that I did anything about it, but I did pause to make sure there weren’t enough scraps left to put together two more.

What little things drive you crazy??

Until the next time
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

The wonders of a new computer

2010-01-18T08:50:00.001-06:00

I’m still exploring this new computer but I’m finding thing I like about Windows 7 more and more each day. Like the program I’m using right now! Anyone out there use Windows Live Writer???

I love it! It’s like I’m writing something in Word. An easy click of the button and I change fonts or colors all just like I would in Word. Ctrl+K and I add a hyperlink … Ctrl+L and I add a picture. Then I’m done and I hit Publish and voila it appears in my blog!

So much better than working in blogger! You have no idea how long it used to take to import pictures. They all come to the top of the post and then you have to drag them down because Copy and Paste don’t work. Now I can import them right where I want them to be and I can even edit them right there!

I’m also a huge fan of having sticky notes on my desktop. Especially during the holidays it was so nice to have a running list of all the orders I had to fill and the order they came in on so I didn’t have to run to Etsy. It was nice to have a separate list for the orders that I was waiting on the yarn to come in so I could give better shipping time estimates.

My other favorite? Having a little weather icon. I have two actually. One for where I live and one for where my parents live. It makes me feel a bit more connected to home and gives me a good reason to call and complain that it’s colder here than it is in the frozen tundra of northern Wisconsin.

So there … Consider me a fan of Windows 7!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Welcome little flowers!

2010-01-15T08:58:00.001-06:00

When something new comes into the shop, I rarely can take credit for the idea. I have a lot of people that come to me and say, “Hey I really like product X, can you make it but change XYZ??”. Thus the birth of a new product for the shop.

This new one comes with many thanks to my sister-in-law. For Christmas she really wanted a knit ear warmer headband with a flower on it. Not something I carry in the shop, but I can work with that right?

Well the ear warmers are coming soon, but the flowers have premiered today! I used some more great yarn from Knit Picks that comes in … get this … over 80 colors!!! Knit up some petals … sew them together … add on some beads and voila! A super cute flower pin!

Now available with free shipping to all of you blog readers! By the way, I have to share … I received an order earlier this week and she mentioned that she loved my blog and it really made my day. I always love reminders that more than just my family read my blog :)

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

All the Best in the New Year!

2010-01-09T10:49:00.001-06:00

Well I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed taking 3 wonderful weeks away from the shop. True I spent the first week finishing up orders and Christmas presents and I spent the last week curled up on the couch with a pretty bad cold, but all in all it was a wonderful vacation!

I got to spend time with my family and friends and that is what’s important during the holidays right?

I was just complaining that I had absolutely nothing to write about. I’m just blank. Drained from the cold. Nothing exciting in life other than cold and snow.

Then the events of today transpired …

It’s a normal Saturday – my husband’s birthday actually. Happy Birthday sweetie!!!! I was just getting ready to bake him a cake and I thought I’d check my email. Look at that an order! Exciting yes, but who knew what that order could do for my day??

In the “comments to seller” section it said “Love the gray merino wool cable knit hat! Saw it on the Lucky Magazine blog. Thanks!”

Lucky Magazine????? What??? As in the fashion magazine??? You know the one that is published and sold on news stands everywhere??? Back up the truck!

Lo and behold I went to their blog and there I was!!! I don’t think the model is actually wearing my hat exactly, but it looks like my hat and more importantly it’s my hat that’s pictured below and is linked to my little Etsy shop!!!

http://www.luckymag.com/blogs/luckyrightnow/2010/01/fashion-copycat-cozychic.html

Woah!!! I have no idea how it got there or how they found me, but they did! This is so surreal to me! I’m just a girl that knits. A girl that sits in her comfy chair, watches the Today show and Rachael Ray and knits most of the day away. I don’t put a lot of money into marketing. I’m active in the Etsy community and I have some great friends and relatives that talk me up around town, but other than that I’m just a simple girl with knitting needles and a love of yarn. Who knew?

We’ll have to see what comes of this, but I’m hoping this isn’t the end!!

Until the next time …
The girl behind the lama
~LMM

Mexican Wedding Cakes

2009-12-09T09:00:00.000-06:00

First up on the cookie baking adventure is by far my most favorite cookie in the world and I think they should be eaten year round. Mexican Wedding Cakes!! YUM!! They are soft, buttery, sugary goodness.

When I moved into my first apartment, I couldn't believe it but my mom gave me one of our treasured cookie books! Of all things it is a collection of recipes from the Wisconsin Electric Company. They used to put it out every year. This particular edition is from maybe the 1950's or 60's??? It is full of pictures of little dolls with the cookies and is definitely very German - true to Milwaukee's heritage. It has recipes for Lebkuchen, Springerle, Pfeffernuesse, and Stollen - all things I love to try to pronounce.

Not exactly part of the German theme - but tasty are the Mexican Wedding Cakes

You should try them!!

Mexican Wedding Cakes
1 cup butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
Extra powdered sugar

Cream butter; add sugar gradually; blend in salt, vanilla and flour. Mixture is stiff. Pinch off small pieces of dough; place on ungreased cookie sheets (actually the recipe says "cooky" and it makes me laugh). Bake at 400 degrees about 12 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar. Makes 4 dozen.