January Review

I thought I'd share my progress in January with my New Year Resolutions.

January's verse: "So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content." 1 Timothy 6:8
(Yes, you can just trust me that I typed that up from memory!)

January Miles: 70.71
- This averages out to 2.28 miles per day. A bit short of my daily goal, but I have been having some technical difficulties with my pedometer, so I haven't had accurate readings every day and have just entered 1 mile as a default on those days, even though I feel like I typically get in more. I feel that as the weather warms, I will also be able to get in more each day.

Most days I've been eating my 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. I definitely feel like I'm more aware of when I fall short and can tell a bit of difference in how I feel on the days I don't get at least five.


To life... and my current mantra, "Progress is progress."

Valentine's Day 2013

 

Jeremiah's Valentine Breakfast 

I had fun making Valentine's Day special this year. I like to make the "little holidays" - like Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, etc. special by doing little things like decorating and making themed foods. The way our current schedule is, most often the only meal of the day we consistently eat as a family is breakfast. I decided to wake up a little early and make something special for my two boys.

Zeke's Valentine Breakfast 

I got a cupcake dispenser for Christmas, so I used it to pour the pancake batter into hearts as well as a 'J' for Jeremiah and 'Z' for Zeke. I sliced up some strawberries for all of us and then the adults got red raspberry syrup for their pancakes, to continue with the theme.

Zeke gave Daddy a "Finding Nemo" valentine and I gave an "Incredible" one to Zeke. We also got Zeke a fun new book called "Snuggle Puppy" which is a little love song sung to the puppy about how much his daddy loves him. (Awww! Cute, right?!?) We really enjoy the Sandra Boynton books!

I usually make sugar cookies at Christmas, but no other time of year. This year, I remembered that I had heart shaped cookie cutters and decided we should make some! On Monday I went ahead and made this sugar cookie dough. Then I wrapped it in plastic wrap and kept it in the refrigerator until I was ready to bake them up on Wednesday. I had tried this recipe once before and enjoyed it because the cookies come out nice and soft (which I ALWAYS prefer over crispy!! Always!). This time I actually used Ultragrain flour (which is basically whole wheat flour but is made to bake up more similarly to all-purpose, white flour) and organic sugar, and I was surprised at how good the cookies were even with ingredients I don't typically use.

Ready to help me roll and cut! 

He loves when I give him kitchen utensils to play with while I work. 

They only take 7 minutes to bake!

I waited until Wednesday to make them because Jeremiah didn't have to be at work as early as usual and I thought it would be a fun family project. It was! Jeremiah and I decorated them with an easy buttercream recipe: 1 stick butter, 3 1/2 - 4 c. powdered sugar, ~ 3 T. milk, and 2 t. vanilla. I happened to have a little red tube icing leftover so we used that for accents since a true red is often difficult to make. I also only made a half batch of dough so we wouldn't have so many cookies on our hands. It made about 2 dozen for us. Ahem! Well there were a *few* more but they were consumed along the way... so maybe more like 2 1/2 dozen :o)

So fun!

Up close and personal

I had a very enjoyable Valentine's Day this year! Jeremiah and I even got to go on a date, while Aunt Teresa watched Zeke. We went and saw "Les Miserables." It was well done. I can see why it won several Oscars! We also went out to eat... that didn't go quite as planned, but a fun time was had nonetheless. I was reminded of a year ago when I had a 3 week old and we left for an hour and I barely held it together being gone that long. This year was much more laid back and less stressful! My how things change year by year! I hope all of you were able to have a special day too. 

To life... full of love! 

Friday's Foto

My prodigy 

Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice

Recently I've been tired of eating the same things. Sometimes Jeremiah's restrictions make finding new recipes more difficult since he can't have dairy and certain cuts of beef. But instead I should think of it as a fun challenge! I checked out Pioneer Woman's website on Friday and found this little ditty. I decided to pick up the ingredients on the way home and we made it yesterday for lunch. I thought it was quite delicious! Jeremiah commented that it was pretty salty (it was!) because of all the soy sauce. I hadn't purchased soy sauce in quite some time, so I didn't get the low sodium variety (partly because she didn't specify). So next time I'll probably either try to find the low sodium soy sauce or just simply use less. Other than that -- quite excellent!

Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice 
**From the Pioneer Woman (directions are hers, pictures are mine). 

• 1/2 whole Pineapple, Cut Into Spears And Skewered
• 2 cups White Or Brown Rice, Cooked
• 6 whole Pork Chops
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• 1 Tablespoon Peanut Oil Or Canola Oil
• 1 whole Large Onion, Sliced
• 6 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (more To Taste, Or If More Liquid Is Needed)
• 1 Tablespoon Rice Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons Honey
• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha, Or Other Hot Sauce
• Salt To Taste
• 3 cloves Minced Garlic
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 jar (small) Drained Pimentos
• 1-1/2 cup Frozen Peas
• 2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce (additional)

Cook rice according to package instructions. Set aside.

Grill or saute pineapple spears until they have good marks/color on the outside. Slice, then set aside.

We don't have a grill, so I cooked these in the skillet and they came out just fine! 

Heat butter and oil over medium high heat, then add the pork chops to the pan. Saute on both sides until they have nice color.

Throw in the sliced onions and work them into the crevices between the chops. Shake the pan and move the onions around and let them cook for a good couple of minutes.

Starting to smell lovely in the kitchen! 

When the onions are starting to soften, add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and hot sauce. Shake the pan, stir it around, and let it cook and bubble up for a good couple of minutes until the pork chops are completely cooked and the sauce is thicker. Remove the pork chops to a bowl, then let the sauce bubble up and cook for another 30 to 45 seconds. Pour it over the pork chops. Set aside.

Add a small amount of oil to the same pan (without cleaning it) and return it to the stovetop over medium-high heat. Add garlic and stir it around, then crack in the eggs and immediately stir them to scramble them a bit. Add peas, pimentos, and a couple of tablespoons (additional) soy sauce. Add cooked rice and stir it around to cook for a couple of minutes.

Making fried rice is surprisingly easy! 

To serve, pile rice on a plate, then top with pork chops and onions from the sauce. Drizzle a little bit of sauce over the top.

Colorful and delicious! 

To life... full of making recipes that in the past I would have never given a chance! 

Friday's Foto

Very few can make messy look this cute! 

Unbelievable Chocolate Cake

I made this cake twice recently... once for practice and the second time for a birthday party. It was a success! It definitely came out better the second time when I let it bake thoroughly. In my opinion, it has more of a dark chocolate taste. But I still like it quite well and so did most everyone who tried it. The first time I made this frosting (I have tried it twice and have not been successful yet :( ). The second time I made a cream cheese frosting and I think it was a better combination. Hope you like it too!

The Best Chocolate Cake
INGREDIENTS:

1 ¼ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 ½ cups sugar
2 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk
1 ¼ cups warm water
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, making sure the baking rack is in the middle of the oven. Prepare your cake pans by cutting out a piece of parchment or wax paper to line the bottom of the pan. Grease the pans, place the parchment or wax paper in the bottom of the pan and lightly grease again. Dust the pans with flour (or cocoa powder if you don’t want the white dusting on the finished cakes). Set the pans aside.

Using a fine mesh strainer, sift together the cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add the eggs, yolk, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Mix on low speed (with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of an electric stand mixer) until smooth, about 3 minutes.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cakes for about 32-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean or with moist crumbs. Do not overbake! Remove the pans from the oven and set the pans on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes. Gently run a thin knife around the edges of the pans and unmold the cakes, removing the parchment paper liners from the bottom of the cakes. Let them cool completely, top sides ups, on a wire rack.

Trim the tops of the cake layers with a long serrated knife to make them level. Frost as desired. **From Mel's Kitchen Cafe. 

To life... full of birthday cake! 

Side Dish: Kidney Beans

I'm not sure how many ingredients you need to combine to consider something a "recipe." Just two or more? Because I felt this was so easy, I have debated about even posting it, but maybe if you're like me, it will be something worth trying.

I like to try to use all my food; I feel wasteful having an overflowing refrigerator and pantry. Yes, there are times when you need to stock up and it can even be wise to do so if you are using coupons, saving money, have a big family, etc. But sometimes, it seems as Americans, our eyes are OFTEN bigger than our stomachs and we buy more than we need and accumulate way more than we need. So here's something I threw together *quite skeptically!* one night when I was attempting to be creative and use what was on hand. I never really considered beans as good on their own... in my mind, they belong in soups and maybe occasional other recipes. But I decided to throw together some tacos and these were a nice accompaniment as both a side and to add on to the taco.

Taco Tomato Beans 

1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes 
1 oz. taco seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a skillet or small saucepan and heat thoroughly, mixing often. Serve with tacos or other Mexican food. 

I had diced, cooked, and frozen some tomatoes back in September, so I threw those in to cook with the beans, but I'm sure a can of diced tomatoes would also be good. This is extremely simple I know, but I thought I'd share anyway in case it inspires you to give something a try that you might normally hesitate  to make.

To life... full of making your own recipes!