Pens, Paper, & Ammo

After four failed attempts at sourdough, we (I say we since my husband made the starter and I did the baking) finally got something that looks and tastes like sourdough!  It’s not the prettiest bread, but it has a lovely flavor.  Recipe is here!

Wow, it’s only day two of NaBloPoMo and I’m already out of ideas of what to post.  Instead of anything deep and profound, I’ll leave you with this quick recipe:

 Spicy Cracker Dip

Cheap, plastic skull goblet optional.

• 2 pks. soft cream cheese (regular or low fat) - softened to room temp.
• 1 small jar of salsa
• 1 lb hot, lean turkey sausage - casings removed
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Brown turkey sausage, drain fat, and set aside
3. Mix all ingredients together and place in casserole dish
4. Top with mozzarella cheese
5. Bake until hot and bubbling.  Serve with Ritz crackers.

Not to be confused with Salad Fingers.  (it’s disturbing, don’t say I didn’t warn you)

This must be one of my favorite meals from childhood.  I remember my mom making it a lot during hot summer days.  It’s also a good way to tricking kids into eating lots of fresh veggies. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pre-baked pizza crust (this is the recipe I used) - cooled
• 1 small head cauliflower - cut into tiny pieces
• 1 small bunch of broccoli - cut into tiny pieces
• 1 large carrot - grated
• 1/4 c. light ranch dressing
• mozzarella cheese (to taste)
• Chili powder or paprika - for decoration

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Slather pre-baked crust with ranch dressing.  Top with veggies and then cheese.
3. Completely forget what you were doing, watch an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and entertain 1 year old for half and hour.  (optional step)
4. Throw entire thing in oven long enough to melt the cheese.
5. Sprinkle with either chili powder or paprika for extra pretty-tude.
6. Let sit in fridge to cool, forget that you made supper and eat a chunk of husband’s homemade pizza bread.
7. Eat eventually.

First of all, I do plan to update this site more.  I just seem to have run out of things to talk about.  I always finish a project and dream of the insanely exciting blog post that I could write about it… then lose all interest as I sit in front of the computer during my precious little “mommy time” after The Nooblet goes to sleep.  That aside, I feel as if I have accomplished a fair bit in the past month.  While I have been productive, I am extremely backlogged on pictures to share.  So, instead of bombarding you with all of them now… don’t be surprised if whatever I post in the next couple weeks aren’t actually from a month ago.  Anyway, here ya go:

I managed to finally crochet a doily.  I have no idea why I felt I needed one.  I think I just had to prove to myself that I could, in fact, actually follow a crochet pattern without going all googly-eyed.

The Nooblet’s birthday is coming up (the 9th) and I am determined to make an awesome cake.  I have forever been intimidated by fondant, but wasn’t fond (HAH!) enough of the taste to actually go through the hell that is the process of making it.  However, with some help from The Internet, I found an easy, cheap, and *gasp!* tasty way of making fondant with only mini marshmallows, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a microwave!  Hallejulah!  The basic recipe can be found here!

And since we’re talking birthdays… here’s a picture from The Nooblet’s birthday at her Ammie’s!

I’m also sharing this picture, since tiny food is adorable.

Okay, I’ll stop… for now!  *ominous music*

First of all, I have become hopelessly addicted to Doctor Who recently.  After surfing around on Ravelry, I found a pattern for a Dalek dishcloth called EXFOLIATE!  I mean, how could I NOT knit one?

 Let us please mourn the loss of my Harry Potter Ravenclaw scarf which sacrificed its short life to become this amazingly awesome dish cloth.  Amen.

Secondly, what do you do when your husband makes pounds upon pounds of spaghetti?  You make spaghetti frittata!  Om-nom-nom!

The recipe can be found here!  You can basically add anything to this dish - we added a bit of leftover ham lunchmeat and some shredded cheese.  It was amazing!

 And, finally, the requisite cute baby picture!

I was fiddling around with a few oatmeal cookie recipes last week and eventually came up with these:

This plate of cookies lasted for all of 5 minutes.

They’re even kind of almost good for you… almost.  Kind of.  Well, maybe if you have the self-control to only eat a couple… Anyway, here’s the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. applesauce
1/4 c. Smart Balance
1/2 c. firm-packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. fat free half and half
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 c. oatmeal (quick cook or regular)
6 oz. package chocolate chips
2/3 c. chopped walnuts

Stir together the flours, baking powder, and salt.  In another bowl, mix the butter, applesauce, sugars, egg, half-and-half, and vanilla.  Slowly add the flour mixture and blend well.  Add the oatmeal, chocolate chips, and walnuts.  Drop by spoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 10 - 12 minutes or until lightly brown around edges.  Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Om. Nom. Nom.

What type of insane human being buys 8 lbs of carrots, 10 lbs of potatoes, and ungodly huge bags of spinach for no real reason other than “hey, they were a good value.”?  Me, obviously.

Now, what do you do with said truckload of veggies?  Why, make a truckload of baby food, of course!

Left:  Chicken/veggie medley  Right:  Spinach, carrots, and potatoes. Yummy, huh?

 

Carrots and potatoes

From the Longcat Scarf pattern

Longcat is LOOOOOOOOONNNNNGGG!

 

Oh apples, how I love you!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I adore receiving gifts of fresh produce.  Thoughtfully, my best friend recently brought me a gift of a peck of lovely apples from a local farm.  Excited to break out the crock pot, I sat down and began the task of peeling, coring, and slicing the red beauties.  Even before they hit the pot, the smell that filled our small apartment was the very embodiment of autumn.  This simple act started a love affair with homemade applesauce and apple-butter.   Later that evening my mother called asking if I had need for some apples from the apple tree in their backyard.  When I visited I was greeted with bags upon bags of apples at my disposal.  I was thrilled!  Again, I started the arduous task of peeling and chopping dozens of apples.  The hard work paid off twelve hours later in the form of the most wonderful applesauce I had ever tasted - warm, right from the crockpot and bursting with such comforting spices.  Half of this applesauce was then turned into apple-butter which was given as gifts to my mother and mother-in-law.  Another small portion (taken out before sugar and spices were added) was ground smooth and frozen into cubes for the Nooblet - which I am happy to report was well-received!  All-in-all, I think I have a new traditional fall favorite!

Basic applesauce recipe:

• 1 dozen apples - peeled, cored, cut into chunks
• Sugar - to taste
• Spices - nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves

Directions:  Put prepared apples into crockpot at medium, cook for 12 hours or until mushy.  Add sugar and spices to taste.  Mash with a potato masher until desired consistancy.

To make into apple-butter - continue cooking with lid off crockpot until mixture thickens, add additional spices to taste.

Easy enough!

Wanted for yarn etin’.

Ah, Sergio. I love the little guy - he’s loving, affectionate, and always willing to cuddle up next to me when I’m having a bad day. He does have one major flaw - he’s a yarn junkie. I’ve often heard of knitters having troubles with their feline companions meddling in their animal-fiber yarns, but Sergio is happily willing to chow down on any and all items in string form. I do everything in my power to assure that cat doesn’t meet yarn… but every once in a while he finds things that were put in areas thought to be “cat proof.” Case in point:

Arrrgghhh!

He ate right down to the short rows of the Curly Purly soaker I made a few months ago. I have no idea how he found it. I can probably salvage the soaker, but I’m certainly not happy about it.

Anyway, I also threw together a simple summer salad with tuna today in a vain attempt to counteract all the Oreos that I had eaten over the past two days*.

Refreshing!

Cold Tuna Salad

• 1 can light tuna in water, drained
• 1/4 lb fresh green beans - blanched and cooled
• 1 ear of sweet corn - cooked, cooled, and cut from the ear
• 1/4 small pepper, chopped- any color
• 1/4 small onion, chopped
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredient together in a bowl and eat!

It was nice to have something light and healthy for supper. I’ll definitely make this again sometime. I imagine pretty much any vegetable would be excellent in it.

*It’s often easy to tell when the MH does the grocery shopping…