Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What were we talking about?

We were having an ominous conversation yesterday, my husband and I, about plans for the future, finances, and the like. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad conversation, just a serious one, one that involves my going back to work and being the sole source of income and how to proceed with that.

Anyways, we were in the thick of the conversation as we had come back from having dinner out and the kids were getting out of the car to go inside. Evy and Seren were running like crazy nuts up and down the sidewalk and Penny was taking a long time of it to get out of the car.

After a period of time, Penny finally got out of the car and, as the parent of a two year old, I'm keen on her whereabouts when there are cars.  I look out the window to verify where she is and I see her approaching the sidewalk, like a good little girl, but with her farmer pants (overalls) down around her ankles!  So, here we are, in the thick of a serious discussion and, somehow, Penny took her straps of her farmer pants off her shoulders, and there she stood in her purple "World's Greatest Sister" shirt, Hello Kitty panties, pink and leatherette boots, and a crumple of farmer pants at the ankles, as she innocently watched her sisters run up and down the sidewalk while she tried to navigate her way over the curb to join them.

Nothing is more comical than catching someone with their pants down!  On a toddler, it couldn't be more cute either.  Now, what were we talking about? Lol

Oh, and the day ended with a Serenism.  We were coming home from our late night meeting last night and Mike was using the van's rear sprayer to clean the back window of the van so he could see.  Evy heard the sound and, since we don't use that feature often asked, "What was that?"  Mike turned the sprayer on again and we all saw a stream of water running up the back window of the van while the rear wiper cleaned it off.  Seren answered the question matter of factly, "Evy, the car is just peeing and wiping it's bottom."

Monday, February 27, 2012

Onion and Mushroom Soup

Based upon the recipe I posted earlier, this is what I made as shown in the photos.  I started the recipe off right with onions then added some mushrooms I had to use up.  I also added some garlic and, unfortunately, added a bit of wine that was turning the wrong way.  Thankfully I caught it in time before I added more and a Pinot Noir along with some Sherry bailed me out.  Of course, I didn't add the sugar or corn starch.  The soup was topped off with my not so fluffy bread I made yesterday. So, how did it turn out? Pretty good after all :)

I had the same soup as everyone else, but topped it directly with shredded Swiss.  Awesome!



White Bread

Yup, my oven was not warm enough yesterday.  I warmed it up well today and the dough rose real nicely.  Now, Evy will try it and let me know how it turned out :)

The verdict is in: It's a hit!  Evy said, "It's the best bread I ever had. You always make the best bread, Mama."  You just can't get a better  compliment than that!



Dinner Tonight

Is Onion Soup Gratiné.  I've made this before and it was absolutely awesome!  Happy to make it again.  I will be using my failed bread from yesterday as the floater on top with the cheese.

Speaking of bread, I am retrying yesterday's recipe and the dough is currently in a warm place for its first rise. We'll see how it goes!



I messed up...

...the white bread.  It didn't rise.  I think it's because the oven wasn't warm when I stuck it in to rise.  Also, I overlooked the step where I was to oil the dough, which would give it elasticity to rise.  I'll try it  again today.  Despite the fact that it didn't rise, my husband absolutely loved it!

I didn't mess up on low carbing though and it seems the weight is dropping off.  I wore a dress yesterday that I haven't worn in 6 weeks and it is slightly loose whereas it used to fit before.  I haven't weighed in almost a month.  Xander has a doc's appt this Friday, so I'll weigh in then.  BTW, the artichoke dipped in melted brie w/truffles last night was absolutely HEAVENLY. I'm out of artichoke, which makes me sad, but I'm not quite out of brie, so I got to figure out where I will be using it soon ;)

Sunday, February 26, 2012

White Bread

This is what I am making for the family tonight.  I've tried it before and it is one of my favorite breads (theirs too). 

Dinner tonight will be leftovers served with fresh baked bread.  My dinner will be Chicken w/artichoke, which I am serving with melted brie w/truffles.  I just love the Atkins diet! And low carbing in general :)



Saturday, February 25, 2012

Marinated Chicken w/Spiced Pears, Rice, and Artichokes

That's what we had for dinner. The kids loved it!  Of course, I just had chicken with the artichoke.

As you can see, I marinated the chicken pieces instead of using the whole chicken.  I made the rice almost as directed but I think I put too many carrots in there (although it was great). The pears were supposed to be made with cranberry juice cocktail, but no one here will drink the rest of the juice but me (and it's off limits for me for now), so I used grape juice and added a few tablespoons of lemon juice to give it the tart flavor.  The kids couldn't get enough!

I made the artichokes by sprinkling salt, garlic, and lemon juice over them, then steaming until the leaves detached easily.