Sorry for the absence all week. Last week was the toughest week of parenting to date. And I know there will be more.
But, when life is tough I’ve come to not turn to blogging. I really did find solace in the Word last week and journaling some prayers for mommas this morning.
But, I also didn’t turn to cooking, either. When I’m trying to eat healthy, I don’t always want to cook. So, poor husband didn’t have a lot to eat last week. One of my comforting things to do is to bake – well, that means I eat it – which won’t go well for me when I’m struggling because then I will eat all the cookies. NOT GOOD. But delicious.
Chicken Korma – finally, if I can find Paneer without haven’t to go to every grocery store in Atlanta.
Turkey enchiladas. I didn’t get to make them for my friend who visited this past weekend, so since I have all the ingredients I will make them for us this week – and my boys like them.
Dark Chocolate Cranberry Orange muffins for our end of the semester Bible study brunch.
A strawberry elmo cake for a neighbors birthday party.
Some moms ask me how in the world I make dinner and bake and cook the way I do with two littles two and under. Well, its not always easy and you have to do what works for your family (like mine is really easy or fast food healthy-ish lunches) and leftovers so I’m not cooking everyday. My mister also gets home at the boys’ bedtime, so I can cook our dinner as they are eating theirs.
So, I whipped this together in a couple of steps. I relied on Publix with a Mojo Rotisserie Chicken. Pulled it apart a few days ago and made stock. Froze the stock for later. Kept the chicken in a bowl in the fridge. Then as the boys were eating their dinner, I was working in the kitchen right beside them (to make sure they didn’t toss things on the floor, which did happen) – I was talking with them, playing with them, showing them what I was doing (I do want my boys to love to cook if that is the Lord’s plan). These were in the oven in less than 20 minutes. Then as they baked, I had time to put my younger to bed and read to my older one, then come back, put some cheese on top while my older was watching some Thomas the Train waiting on Daddy to arrive. Easy!
Pumpkin overload – right? Pumpkins are everywhere, even now that Halloween is past and we are moving headlong into the Thanksgiving season.
Do you know what my favorite Thanksgiving commercials are – ever – the Publix pilgrim little figurines – that get so full from all the Publix food that was served on Thanksgiving that their outfits tend to pop buttons. So fun. Growing up in Lakeland, FL – the home of Publix – I saw my share of Publix commercials – and am so glad to be living again with a Publix on every corner.
Anyway, back to pumpkins. As a Mom, sometimes I stress about my kids’ nutrition. I mean my older son could down all the fruit he could ever eat if I let him. My younger son loves those little pouches that are fruit-filled. We have instituted a donut morning one day every week, and I usually bake something sweet, and we eat out just to make life easier. So, I’m not the healthiest Mom out there – but that isn’t the end all either. They love their fruits and veggies so that is great! And neither of them really dig french fries – so that’s a plus!
These muffins – both of them are gobbling up. I feel good about giving them one because there is no added fat in it from butter or oil – so that makes them healthier, right? And, they are very yummy! You can change up the add-ins for the muffins, and this time I had a small amount of white chocolate chips left – they are a very nice addition.
Wow. We’ve already started a new month, new food budget, and gearing up for the biggest family food fest holiday. Though Thanksgiving is a few weeks away, I’m already thinking of our menu (it will be our family and my in-laws). But, this week – just normal stuff!
Feta Herb Scrambled Eggs
Baked Ravioli from a Freezer Food Party I went to in September
My days in seminary were days that were hard pressed for cash. I was very thankful for work, scholarships, and help from the parents, but still, I didn’t eat out that often, especially the first couple semesters. But, when I did, I would venture around the corner to my favorite Mexican place, Las Margaritas. It was a small chain, but I liked this location the best. And then I tried their spinach and mushroom quesadillas. I fell in love. Gooey, cheesy, healthy (?), and warm, especially good for cold, NC winters.
And this is how life is funny: one of the friends I went to this restaurant with back then, is now my neighbor. She got me started on making my own enchiladas with this recipe. And tonight, she is getting these for dinner as she babysits my boys so my mister and I can go to a concert. Life is grand.
And that taste, is what I’ve recreated in this enchilada recipe. I’ve fallen in love with enchiladas. I love making them. By far, my favorite homemade mexican food to make. So, I always try to come up with different ones. So, today, I used what was in my fridge.
Now that Halloween is over and a new month is upon us, must of us are gearing up for the other two big holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas. Let the baking season begin (or, um, continue).
Some people wonder what inspires me to cook what I do. One of the ways is by following great foodie people on Instagram. That’s how these came about. One of the best places in Savannah is Back in the Day Bakery. Cheryl Day, co-owner and baker, featured a chocolate covered rice krispy treat yesterday in her feed.
Well, I thought I would just run to target with my littles and get the ingredients. Little did I know that it would be the worst Target run ever. In front of our local Target store, the city has been demolishing a building. The backhoes and front loaders and bulldozers are in full force. Yes, I’m a mom to two little toddler boys! My older one is mesmerized by their action. So, cue drama and meltdown as I pushed the boy-filled cart toward the Target entrance, away from the construction site. Then, I get in there and finally am able to calm him down, when my younger one who is usually happy as a clam in a store, completely screams his head off for 20 minutes while I’m in the store. He was teething. But, I couldn’t find the marshmallows. I had everything else. Finally just put everything back on the shelves and walked out. Forget making dessert.
Well, later that afternoon I decided I still wanted to make them and we tried again. This time at our local Publix. No construction site. Employees with candy and balloons. They were happy. Momma was happy.
Thankfully, these were made. I’m not usually a fan of milk chocolate anything, but I’m glad I went with the milk chocolate frosting as it was just perfect paired with the peanut butter in the rice krispy treat.
This is a perfect way to use up all of your leftover Halloween candy – or give you a perfect excuse to go buy more!
Here are two disclaimers for this recipe post about a delicious cookie:
1. I am a purist when it comes to Oreo Cookies. None of these fancy seasonal flavors or even the double stuff or reduced-fat. No, give me the original!
2. I wouldn’t say that peanut butter cookies are my favorite. There are plenty in front of it.
So, when I passed by the Peanut Butter Oreos in the Wal-Mart aisle today, it could only be my creative streak and giving into my son when he said “cookie” that made me want to whip up a batch of these.
But how would Oreos and Reece’s Pieces (E. T. Phone Home – my husband’s favorite childhood flick) go together. I guess there was only one way to find out!
Bake!
These cookies were like pillow-soft. I loved that about them. Perfect texture. I loved the chewiness with the texture from the Oreo pieces and candy coating from the Reece’s. My husband said he wouldn’t change a thing. I’m glad. I adore these cookies.
We are finally out of celebration mode – and I’m happy to say I didn’t gain any, but actually lost some in the last month even with the celebrations. Thankful for exercise and grace! I definitely ate too much – but new mercies are every day!
This week I’m cooking high protein and low carb, to jump start my weight loss again – and also using Pinterest. One other thing I hope to start doing is going back through my old food blog and recreating those recipes and taking better pictures and making improvements. I’ve hopefully improved some in both photography and cooking in 9 years!
If there ever a Southern food besides collards, cornbread, and fried chicken – it would be pimiento cheese.
I think you could really leave the pimiento’s out and it would still be good – but they offer tang which is needed.
Why not eat cheese and mayonnaise? What could be better for you?
Pimiento Cheese may not be good for your waistline (though this one is slightly better) but it is definitely good for your food-loving soul.
I definitely recall not liking this sandwich growing up. I would always opt for the chicken salad to eat at parties and leave the pimiento cheese for the other people. But, somehow, as I’ve refined my Southern palette, I’ve come to really like grilled cheese. I even chose to make this over chicken salad for a church gathering we were having. Who am I?
Anyway, this pimiento cheese is great by itself, on crackers, on white bread, grilled on Mountain bread to make a tasty grilled cheese and you might just want to add bacon – you know, if you are looking to make it healthier! 🙂
Another week is here. This one is a big and busy one for us.
We celebrate our little turning ONE! I can’t believe it! I feel like a lifetime has passed in the last year with so much happening in the life of our family.
And the littles and I are heading to Little Rock to follow-up with a nutrition study we were doing and see lots of friends and celebrate his birthday up there. We can’t wait.
