Leprechaun Chow for The Girl

Bubbie and I made some St. Patty's Day Muddy Buddies for snackin' on and packing up for The Girl.

I ended up using two of the smaller boxes of Crispix since I couldn't find the big ones.  And pretty much the entire box of powdered sugar.  I've never made Muddy Buddies - I find them to be way too sweet, but all of my peeps enjoyed the recipe.  Go here for the one we used.

 I put Bubbie in charge of melting the butter with the chips and the peanut butter, spreading the gloopy cereal out to cool.

 We had to shake the cereal in batches, then we piled them into this big roaster to stir up.  It's starting to look more like Muddy Buddies!

 

 We tossed the Lucky Charms marshmallows in at the end.  Yes, we painstakingly removed every charm marshmallow from the Lucky Charms cereal.

 She joked that Wednesday was her "half birthday" and since we didn't get to see her on her real birthday we made her up a gift bag of laundry soap, body wash, shampoo, Muddy Buddies...all the essentials.

 We tied it with a ribbon and met her at her apartment in Waco to take her out to eat, followed by buying her some groceries.

She's nervous about recruitment next week - already has three interviews lined up and there may well be more. It's been a boring Spring Break for her; she's done nothing but work.  It was nice to see our girlie and give her some supplies and love.

Gina

Freezer meals #7

I took advantage of a quiet day when I was all caught up on my "to do" list and I restocked the freezer with easy meals.  This time I had the kitchen completely clean and ready to go, with my zip locs all labeled, and my recipes sitting out before I hit the store.  It made clean-up easier, too.

Today's collection includes:
Baked Ziti with Sausage
Simple Chicken and Rice Casserole
Crock Pot Italian Turkey (I got a good deal on turkey, so I subbed for the chicken)
Honey Mustard BBQ Pork Ribs
Green Chile Chicken (for tacos)
Indian Spiced Meatballs
Easy Crock Pot Mongolian Beef

It looks like a lot of work, but everything came together pretty quickly.

For the Baked Ziti, I followed my old faithful recipe, subbing in some ridged elbow macaroni.  (See link above for recipe)

The cooked pasta gets mixed with cottage cheese and mozzarella, the sauce got cooked and crumbled sausage as an add-in.

It all gets layered in a dish lined with foil - that way, when it's frozen I can pop it out of the dish and into a gallon ziploc.  To cook it, I will simply reverse the process, and bake it about 30 minutes at 350 when thawed.

The clear dish won't stay in here once the contents are frozen.

The Simple Chicken and Rice reminds me of the Stouffer's version, but this has a lot more chicken.

 I simmered four good-sized bone in thighs and pre-made 2 c of rice while I was assembling the other meals.

 While the chicken cooled a bit I made a sauce of 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1/4 c. milk, 1 cup chicken broth, 1/2 c. white wine, and a tablespoon of olive oil.  When that was at a simmer I added a bag of frozen mixed veggies and cooked 5 minutes. 

Then I added in all the chicken and rice, plus a 1/2 c. of shredded cheese and poured into a casserole dish to freeze.  I will thaw and bake at about an hour, with some kind of crunchy crumbs on top.

The Italian Turkey is nothing more than a turkey breast with a cup of so of Italian dressing poured over.  I added a little extra garlic and Italian seasoning to it.  I plan on putting it in the crock frozen, and cooking all day.

For the Honey Mustard BBQ Pork Ribs, I poured a sauce of 1 c. honey BBQ sauce to 1 c. mustard over country style ribs.  Frozen, they will go into the crock on low and cook all day.

For Green Chile Chicken I mixed  a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs with one can of mild, diced green chilies and 2 t. of garlic salt.  After cooking in the crock all day on low, I will serve as a taco filling.

The Indian Spiced Meatballs might end up being a fail - we'll see.*

I poured a can of curry soup over frozen meatballs and a bag of chopped, frozen spinach.  I added in a touch more curry and some garlic.  I will simmer this on the stove top and serve over rice.

Last but not least was Easy Crock Pot Mongolian Beef from Who Needs A Cape?  Since my family loves Chinese food, I'm sure this one will be a hit. And that, my friends, are eight freezer meals, which if I use two per week, will carry us for a month of Mondays and Tuesdays when I am too pooped to cook from scratch!

*The Indian meatballs were GREAT!

Gina

Bopping around: Cream Whiskers and UT

Another of the blogs I read mentioned a cute little cream puff bakery near UT, so since it's Spring Break, we decided to head down there and check it out.

 $10 bought us three cream puffs and a couple of bottled waters.  I got the cookie crust puff with coffee cream and chocolate ganache drizzle.  It was all I could do not to lick the plate.

Can I have another three or a hundred, please?

 Scout was enjoying the free Wifi and Snap-chatting his sister.  They have been sending each other funny Snapchats a dozen times per day.

 Bubbie enjoyed his, too, clearly!  He's pretty much been an eating machine lately.

 We had an hour and a half on our parking meter, so we headed towards campus.  I don't remember there being so much graffiti everywhere west of campus!  This was just a tiny bit of it - it was on every fence.

 This fence with the tree growing in the middle had a sign labeling it specifically for graffiti.  It reminded me of last Spring Break when we drove around Austin looking for murals to pose by. 

Even graffiti can be beautiful

 Scout got better pics than I did of the whole walkabout.  Even tho the day was cloudy at times and it was Spring Break, there were LOTS of people on campus.

 We walked up to the Tower and went inside.  It looks very much like the Capitol on the inside with it's wide staircases framed in scroll-y iron. Most of the UT buildings went up from mid 20's to late 30's.

The campus is really pretty; it bought back a flood of memories. 

Gina

Mealplan Monday #101 and Ralph

I've said it before - I am dog tired of making this doggy.  But something about him is kinda irresistible to me.  The floppy ears, the giant sad eyes.

Or maybe it's that the pattern belonged to my mother and I know she made several, including this one:

This is Ralph - he's mine.

Monday - (freezer) Chicken strips, BBQ beans, mac and cheese
Tuesday - (freezer) Ham and Potato Skillet, lima beans
Wednesday - Dr. Martin's Mix, broccoli/cauliflower
Thursday - Creole Honey Mustard Chicken sammies, chips
Friday - Cowboy Casserole, salad
Saturday - Dad grill (Fajitas!)
Sunday - Crock Pot Tender and Tangy Ribs, masheds, corn
Dessert this week is Hot Fudge Pudding Cake (and these menus are flexible since we are probably going to take The Girl to dinner one night)

Every time I cut him out, he looks a little wonkier. 

 This pattern is in danger of disintegrating.  I glued it onto notebook paper a few years ago to make it easier to cut out.  I think I have now made 12 of them.

 That face!

 Such a booger to pin and get straight, but it's so nice to be able to leave the sewing machine and ironing board out as long as I need to get a project done.  

It's Spring Break, so next week I will sew a little extra something to match the doggie. This week belongs to Scout and Bubbie and me - sleeping in, eating lunch out, and relaxing.  And hopefully we'll visit with both The Girl AND Firstborn!

Gina

Buttermilk Bacon Quiche

This week I was on a mission to use up some of what we already had in the freezer.  I hate wasting perfectly good food, and we love eggs and cheese - so it was a no-brainer to make quiche!

 It helped me use up some pie crust, bacon, buttermilk, and cheddar cheese.  

Buttermilk Bacon Quiche
1 refrigerator pie crust
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
1/2 a jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced fine
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 T of the bacon fat (or use butter)
8 large eggs
1 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. milk (I used a high protein 2%)
1 T flour
salt and pepper
2 c. shredded mild cheddar

Pre-heat the oven to 350.  Spray your deep dish pie pan with Pam and lay the crust inside.  Cook the onion in the reserved bacon fat til tender and add the diced jalapeno in.  Cook a couple minutes more to soften the jalapeno, then spoon into the crust.  (I always make the bacon in the microwave in a special bacon cooking doodad.  Then I save the fat.)  Whisk the eggs, buttermilk, milk, and flour then season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle half the grated cheddar on top of the onions, then pour on all of the egg mixture.  Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on, top with bacon, and bake for 55 minutes.  Let sit 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

 Thank goodness I used a deep dish pie pan!  I served this with skillet potatoes and a salad.

And that was a very easy and filling meal!

Gina

Bubbie's gallery wall

I got the gallery wall together and here is where it stands - for now:

There's room for improvement, but I think it's a nice arrangement - only took an hour or so to figure out and a million nail holes to patch...

These are the pics I initially settled on - but I had forgotten that the beach pic was actually the one I'd chosen to have a canvas print made out of - so I subbed a piece of his art in that frame instead.  The photofinishing from Walgreen's was way off, so some of the black and white looked tinted an odd color.  The photo lab guy suggested that next time I ask for "true" black and white.  

After I butchered the wall with holes trying to get the best layout, I patched with this:

I just have always used the eyeball method.  I have to see the actual picture there.  It usually looks great in the end.  

 The tiny holes will disappear forever. This is touch-up paint drying.  FYI, did you know that Home Depot will "shake" your old paint for you?  They did that while I picked out some satin finish black spray paint paint to touch up all of the frames so they would match.

And this is how I store the paint roller in the fridge, so I can make sure all the touch-ups are truly done.  There is nothing worse than putting it all up and seeing a spot you missed!

I kind of love it.  I think the wall color is great in here as a backdrop for the black and red.  Hope he likes it, too!

Gina

Mealplan Monday #100 and a bit of decor

100 meal plans!  Whaaa???
This week I'm digging in the freezer to see what I can use up, so I can give it a good cleaning and make some more freezer meals.  

Monday -  (freezer) BBQ French Bread Pizza, salad

Tuesday - (freezer) Pulled Pork on Hawaiian buns with Asian slaw 

Wednesday - Chicken Alfredo, broccoli and cauliflower

Thursday - Buttermilk Bacon Quiche, salad

Friday - Pork Chops with gravy,  (freezer) stuffing & sweet potatoes

Saturday - Dad grills

Sunday - (freezer) Black eyed peas with kielbasa, corn muffins

Dessert this week is a (freezer) yellow cake with maple cream cheese frosting

I already had these $1 mercury glass votive cups, some sprigs of greenery and some scraps of burlap ribbon.

 

I ran a sharp knife along the inside of the votive cup to slip the half-melted candle out.  Then I went through my greenery stash and wired some small stems together.  

I folded up a scrap of burlap ribbon and poked a hole through it with the bundled stem ends.  Then I put some florist foam in the newly emptied votive cups and pushed the stem ends into it.

And voila!  I had a tiny vase of stems.

They look sweet up there and fill the empty spaces where the Winter greenery was.