After Breakfast...

While I took the boys, Sloan & Lincoln stayed with my friend Sonja because Chris had a board meeting at the same time as the breakfast. It was so helpful! Just fun to do something for T. At any rate, we all arrived home about the same time. Sloan & Lincoln haven't had too much time to play with the hands as they've been too new for Tiernan to share yet. (Once the newness wears off, he's more apt to share the toys but until then....). So the kids were yelling "Huk Mash" for us all morning. 

Breakfast with the Hulk!

On Saturday the 15th, I was able to take Tiernan & 3 of his friends for breakfast at the Children's Museum. I won tickets for this meet & greet in an on-line contest last weekend. We headed out early to be downtown by 8:30am. The guys were so ready to go! We ate breakfast & then the Hulk came out so we got in line to meet him & take pictures. Jackson brought paper Hulk masks for everyone so the boys were quite the show with their t-shirts & masks. T was the only one in full Hulk costume. I brought our "Hulk Smash" hands because they're so fun & they make the outfit :) After meeting the Hulk, we were able to go to the Super Hero exhibit & play around for a while. The morning was great. The kids were so polite & not super crazy hyper. Don't get me wrong, they were so excited but they still did a great job listening. We left CM by 10am (which is when it opens) & the lines were amazingly long. The Hulk was going to be there from 10am-3pm, but no special meet & greet for the general public. I was so grateful that we were in & out before the crowds! 

Man I've been slacking!

Can't believe it's been since November 4th that I've been on here. Not too much has been going on - just life in the fast lane with the kids and Chris working. Here are a couple of recipes that were HUGE hits here.

Pasta with Bread Crumbs 

Salt for cooking pasta

8 ounces short pasta, such as penne

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons olive oil

3 cloves minced garlic

1 cup coarse soft bread crumbs 

1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning, oregano or basil

1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1) Cook pasta according to package.

2) Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of the olive & and the garlic. Cook about 1 minute. The add bread crumbs, seasonings & salt - stir to coat the crumbs with the butter mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until the crumbs are crisp & golden brown - about 6-10 minutes. 

3) Drain pasta well & pour into serving bowl. Drizzle remaining oil over pasta. Add cheese & toss well. Just before serving, add bread crumbs & toss well. Serve immediately.

Notes:

1) I used 1-1lb box of penne, so I didn't measure the rest of my ingredients.

2) I used rosemary, basil, oregano for my seasonings.

3) I threw some bread ends into the food processor to make the bread crumbs. It was super fast & they were good! 

4) Could totally add tomatoes, chicken, whatever. The kids ate 2-3 servings at least. There were no left-overs! 

Granola

I know, I know - you can buy it at the store & it's pretty good. But this stuff has my kids & Chris snacking on it!

Cooking spray

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup pure maple syrup or honey

1 1/2 cups lightly packed light brown sugar

6 cups oats (quick cooking or old-fashioned)

2 cups chopped walnuts, almonds or pecans

1 cups wheat germ

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup raisins

1 cup sweetened dried cranberries or cherries

1) Place oven racks in center positions & preheat oven to 350. Spray 2 11x17 jelly-roll pans with cooking spray.

2) Combine oil, maple syrup or honey & brown sugar in 1-quart bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on high power until the sugar starts to melt, about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl & whisk until any lumps dissolve.

3) Combine the oats, nuts, wheat germ & coconut in big bowl. Toss to mix well. Pour the syrup mixture over oat mixture & stir until well mixed. Spread evenly onto jelly pans.

4) Place a pan on each oven rack & bake for 10 minutes. Remove, stir & switch the pans so the 1 that was on the bottom is now on top. Bake for another 8-10 minutes, taking care not to let the granola get too brown.

5) Cool in pans for about an hour. Sprinkle with raisins, etc., over each pan. Stir to mix well. Store in air-tight containers, preferably glass jars or tins, for up to 2 weeks.

Notes:

1) I used honey.

2) Instead of cranberries, etc., I used 1 cup raisins & 1 cup dates.  

3) I used both chopped walnuts & pecans to make the 2 cups.

4) Browns really fast in a dark pan - if you have silver ones - use those.

5) I skipped the wheat germ & coconut but did add 1/2 cup of ground flax seed.

Anyone know...

... about child labor laws in Indiana?

Are they trying to tell me something?

If this is how we start our morning - with helmets - what am I in for?

Sweet & Sour Chicken AND Mini Ravioli Soup

Grown-Up Sweet & Sour Chicken

Salt for cooking rice

1 1/3 cups long-grain rice

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon oil

3 medium-size carrots (about 1 1/2 cups sliced)

1 large onion (about 1 cup sliced)

1 clove minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 large green bell pepper (about 1 1/2 cups sliced)

1 can (15 1/4 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice

2 tablespoons rice vinegar or white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons cold water

1) Bring 2 2/3 cups lightly salted water to a boil. Add rice, stir & reduce heat. Cover pan & simmer until rice is tender - about 20 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, peel carrots & slice at 45 degree angle into 1/2-inch thick slices. Add carrots to skillet with oil over medium heat. Cut onion into 1/2-inch wide crescent-shaped slices, adding to skillet as you slice. Stir to mix well. Cook about 2 minutes until carrots soften.

3) Cut chicken into bite-size pieces, adding to skillet as you cut. Add garlic & ginger & stir well. Cook about 5-6 minutes until chicken is no longer pink.

4) While chicken cooks, stem, seed & cut pepper into 1/2-inch strips, adding to skillet as you cut. Drain pineapple juice from can into a 1-cup or larger measure, reserving the chunks. Add enough water to the juice to make 1-cup liquid.

5) As soon as chicken is done, add juice mixture to skillet & bring to boil. Then add vinegar, soy sauce & brown sugar. Stir well.

6) Mix cornstarch with cold water in small container w/tight lid. Shake well until lumps dissolve. Add mixture to skillet a little at a time, stirring constantly. Stir in about 1/2 pineapple chunks. Save rest for another use. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce thickens - about 2 minutes. Remove from heat & serve at once with additional soy to pass.

Notes;

1) Instead of rice, we've served over chinese noodles. 

2) It's good with pork as well.

3) I increased garlic & ginger to 2 teaspoons.

Mini Ravioli Soup

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 large onion (about 1 cup chopped)

8 ounces fresh mushrooms

1 clove minced garlic

2 (14 ounce) cans fat-free chicken broth

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic & onion 

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

2 cups mini ravioli

shredded or grated parmesan for serving

1) Heat oil in 4 1/2-quart soup pot over medium heat. While oil is heating, peel & chop onion, adding to pot as you go. Cook about 3 minutes.

2) Rinse, pat & slice mushrooms, add to pot. Cook until they begin to release liquid, about 2 minutes.

3) Add garlic, broth, tomatoes w/juice, worcestershire & basil. Raise heat to high , cover pot & bring to boil.

4) When at rolling boil, add ravioli. When returns to boil, cook about 3-4 minutes until ravioli is tender. Serve at once, with parm.

Notes:

1) I added more worcestershire - maybe 2 teaspoons. 

2) I also added extra garlic.

3) I used frozen tortellini & was fine, but increased chicken broth to 6 cups.

 

The morning after...

Well, costumes were still abound Saturday morning here. The kids were being silly with dressing up. Sloan loved being the Hulk (no picture with the Hulk Smash hands though). She quickly switched to Super Girl (once Tiernan realized she was playing with his stuff). Notice her doing her hair & talking on the phone - apparently Super Girls can do that sort of thing! Tiernan graciously loaned his Batman costume to a bud for Halloween so was unable to turn from Bruce to Bat. He purchased Batman gloves on Friday (with allowance money!) so he's been wearing the mask & gloves all over the place. He will be very excited to put it all together when the costume comes home. Good ol' Lincoln even got a little into the mix with glasses & beads. That's big time for him. He rarely joins in any of the reindeer games involving costumes around here.  

Happy Halloween

Last night was fun! I'm not a huge fan of Halloween (why do we glorify spooky, scary, gory stuff?) but it was a beautiful night & our Super Heroes were ready to go! Here are a handful of shots. Sloan just wanted Da last night. She had to hold his hand as we walked down the street so I thought this a sweet picture. Tiernan & his bud, Ben, raced ahead of us as fast as they could but we all met up on our front steps. The individual shots were of the kids on the porch steps while waiting for Da to get home from work. Chris really has been a champ the last few days with balancing work & doing "holiday" stuff with the kids. He didn't even go into the house when he got home - just grabbed the kids & started "tick teeting" as Sloan or Lincoln were saying. The twins were in it for the long haul. I bet they lasted almost 2 hours. Their buckets weighed as much as they do, but they wouldn't let go of them to save their lives. In regards to costumes, Tiernan & Sloan could barely wait to get theirs on. They were SO excited. Lincoln, on the other hand, cried. He would not put his Superman costume on. He totally got the whole not getting candy if he wasn't dressed up. Instead we ended up in Superman pjs. It worked - we've had Super Heroes 2 years in a row now. 

Just 1 more pumpkin

Tiernan & Da wanted to carve the "big" pumpkin together. However, Chris has worked a lot this week & it never quite meshed with carving. So Thursday night was the night. And of course, we needed the Bat Signal. So that's what we have. It turned out really well. Could even see it on the ceiling, & the porch when we moved it outside.