I Gotta Getta Grippa.

so, starting monday dave will be done with his gone-for-a-freaking-month trips.

HIP HIP HOORAY.

PRAISE THE LORD.

THANK YOU DEAR JESUS.

ahem. sorry. it's been a long few months.

but i have made it through these months...thanks mostly to the help my grandmother IN LAW, lucille. god bless that woman. and not just lucille, but my mom, dad, mother-in-law, sister-in-law and a few choice friends too. THANK YOU ALL OF YOU, YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I LOVE YOU.

but back to lucille.

she has been my crutch through these crazy months. she picks up hallie off of the bus everyday (except monday - thanks barb!) from school and keeps her until i get home with henry around 5pm. most days she will find a basket of clean clothes to fold, or cloth diapers to stuff or hallie's bedroom to clean.

god bless that woman.

and did i mention she makes us supper? everyday? yeah.

GOD BLESS THAT WOMAN.

luckily, i pay her back. she gets to do this as much as she wants:

and then see him do this:

i'd say we're even, dontcha think?

ANYWAY.

dave will be home to pick up hallie, which is great, but it means i will start needing to cook for our family. waaah.

5pm-ish is a tough time at our house. everyone is hungry, i have a baby on my boob and need to get hallie fed before starting the bedtime routine at 6:15. that's 1.25 hours to get dinner on the table. but first i have to nurse henry. always. nursing. henry.

so i need to get a GRIP and start using my crockpot more.

so, all of that to say...

GIVE ME YOUR FAVORITE (easy) CROCKPOT RECIPES.

ones that i can make up the night before, plug in first thing in the morning and have cooked to perfection when i walk in the door at 5pm.

GO.

(thank you)

Homemade Fishsticks.

We have tons of frozen blue gill/bass from our pond filling up our deep freeze. So it's either have a fish fry or find some recipes to use it up. We already had a fish fry a month or so ago, so I decided to try my hand at some homemade fishsticks.

These were pretty good! Next time I will ramp up the spices, but all-in-all it was good - crunchy, not too fishy, good!

Panko-Crusted Fish Sticks with Herb Dipping Sauce


from Everyday Food

Ingredients:
1 large egg

coarse salt and ground pepper

2 cups panko

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound tilapia fillets


Sauce:

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, plus lemon wedges for serving

2 teaspoons prepared white horseradish


Directions:
Preheat oven to 475 degrees F, with racks in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with non-stick aluminum foil.

Cut tilapia filets in half lengthwise, and then again the other direction. You now have 4 sticks per filet.

Crack egg into shallow bowl, lightly beat with fork. Season with salt and pepper. In another shallow bowl, combine panko, Old Bay, and olive oil.

Dip each tilapia stick into egg, shaking off the excess; then into panko mixture, pressing mixture so that it sticks.

Place on prepared baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes, until panko is lightly browned and fish is cooked through.

Meanwhile, mix all sauce ingredients in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and serve alongside fish sticks.

Lot Lizards Love Enchiladas.

These were awesome. I was drinking the sauce. Gross, but oh-so-good.


Tex-Mex Truckstop Enchiladas



1 lb lean ground beef

1 onion, diced

1 jalapeño, minced (just used a bit of diced)

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Black pepper, cumin, and chili powder for seasoning mixture

1 roasted mild pepper such as Pablano (I omitted)

1/2 cup beef stock (I used beef broth - would have used chicken too)

1/3 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen (frozen)

salt to taste (kosher)

double recipe of Jessica’s Enchilada sauce (below)

corn tortillas (I used flour, because think corn is gross)

grated cheese of your choice (mozz and cheddar)

Chopped onion for garnish (optional) (nah)



Brown ground beef in a skillet with onions, jalapeño pepper, and garlic. Season with black pepper, cumin, and chili powder. Drain excess grease.



Add stock, chopped roasted pepper and corn. Simmer, covered, 10 minutes. Filling can be made 1 day ahead. Reheat filling before using.



Preheat oven to 350. Grease a baking dish.



Warm tortillas in microwave until softened and pliable. Using tongs, dip tortilla in sauce to lightly coat. Lay on a plate and add about 2-3 rounded tablespoons of beef filling on top. Sprinkle grated cheese over mixture and roll enchilada snugly. Transfer to baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas.



Pour remaining sauce over enchiladas, submerging them in the sauce. Bake for about 25 minutes (I covered them with foil). Once sauce is bubbling and enchiladas are heated throughout, remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese and onion (if desired). Place in oven for a few minutes to melt cheese.



Enchilada Sauce

(Jessica)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce

2 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder





Use this economical sauce to prepare enchiladas or any recipe calling for enchilada sauce.



*Heat oil in large 2-quart saucepan; stir in flour and chili powder; cook for 1 minute.

*Add remaining ingredients bring to a boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.

*Makes about 3 cups sauce.

Fail.

Remember my food goals? Here's an update.

1. Try to cut out McDonalds and other fast foods. Fail.

2. Clean out pantry and toss (or donate - who wants them??) the stuff that is full of the nasties. Fail.

3. Cook from scratch as much as possible, using as many fresh ingredients as possible. Success.

4. Fresh fruits, veggies and home-made treats for snacks. Fail/Success.

I suck.

The whole "clean out the pantry" thing just didn't happen. I weighed my priorities. Do I want to be in the kitchen making all homemade treats during my time-off from work? Nope. It's a lovely idea, but it really eats into my family time.

I still cook supper from scratch, and I love doing that. I love nice, family meals. And we are big fans of fruits and veggies around here already. So Hal will chow on some watermelon, but then might also have some Cheez-Its or Pringles too. And I'm cool with that.

You dig?

Food Goals.

We'll see. Some are pretty lofty (see numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4).


1.  Try to cut out McDonalds and other fast foods.

2. Clean out pantry and toss (or donate - who wants them??) the stuff that is full of the nasties.

3. Cook from scratch as much as possible, using as many fresh ingredients as possible.

4. Fresh fruits, veggies and home-made treats for snacks.


Sounds like fun, huh? Who wants to eat at the Mason's?

Anybody?

Nobody?

Hello?

Food Revolution.

I'm hardly the first person to blog about this, but dang. I really love that show.

It made me want to get up and throw out every bit of nasty, processed food in my pantry and start from scratch.

Almost.

To throw away fudge-striped cookies is just wrong. So I ate them instead.

But I really do love this show. It has made me want to make some major changes in the way that we eat. It's not just healthier, but it is more natural.

It's cooking with fresh, un-processed food. It's looking at a label and not scratching our heads over the ingredients. It's more fruits, vegetables, home-cooked food. It's less chemicals, dyes and other what-nots.

Dave is really into the show too, so he is on board with making some changes. For us, but mostly for Hallie. She already loves her fruits and vegetables, so that's not difficult - although she hates onions. I don't get it??? Who loves broccoli and hates onions. I blame the Cat.

So we'll see. I'm making a list of goals. Stay tuned. Or not. Whatever.

Who Knew?

Peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

Yum.

Life of Pie - Part II

This time, I rocked it. Thank you, 3 TBSP of flour I forgot the last time. You truly made this a rockin' pie.

PS - these pictures don't loook quite the appetizing, do they? Half eaten food isn't really pretty, so suck it.