The Dinner Chronicles

Friday October 24, 2008

2008-10-25T11:02:00.001-04:00

I have a raging sinus infection. I'm miserable.

Yesterday Lulu had a playdate with her pal Benny and we made Challah. It got a little messy.

Now, some catching up:

Chicken Dinner

Leftover chicken with veggies in rice paper.

Peanut Butter Noodles

Putting cinnamon and sugar on fresh churros.

Thursday October 16, 2008

2008-10-16T19:08:00.001-04:00

When I first moved to NYC in my very early twenties, I lived in a fourth floor walk up on St. Mark's Place between 2nd & 1st. The apartment had great light and a healthy population of cockroaches. During those few salad years, I survived on the following:

- food leftover after meetings in the conference room of wherever I was working at the time.
- pizza from the Albanian guys on St. Mark's & 1st.
- cheap Indian food from the place on 1st between 6th & 7th. West side, downstairs, not upstairs.
- fresh mangos and fig cookies from the bodega.
- burritos from San Loco (original location)

J was in the city today for a meeting and picked me up some San Loco. I used to be able to eat the "serious" ones, now I can only handle the hot.

He's OK.

Wednesday October 15, 2008

2008-10-15T18:54:00.001-04:00

Breakfast for dinner. Chocolate chip waffles, cheese omelet, apples. Jason's stopping for a sandwich for himself. Whatever.

Tuesday October 14, 2008

2008-10-14T18:47:00.000-04:00

Chicken noodle soup, made entirely from leftovers. With some warm crusty wheat bread, straight from the bread machine.

Monday October 15, 2008

2008-10-13T19:27:00.001-04:00

It was just me, Radish and Lulu for dinner tonight. We spent a great afternoon hiking in the woods before D had to be at the rink, and I was too tired to prepare anything but peanut butter noodles. Luckily, Radish and Lulu are very helpful when it comes to peanut butter noodles.

Here's the recipe:

Not so spicy noodles with broccoli
1 package Udon noodles
2 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup veggie or chicken broth
3 Tbs no sugar or salt added peanut butter
1 Tbs honey
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp ground ginger
dash chili pepper

crushed peanuts (optional)
sliced scallions (optional)

Boil the noodles until soft. Strain and set aside.
Blanch the broccoli florets quickly in boiling water. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, stir together the broth, peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and chili pepper. Stir over medium heat until the peanut butter has melted.
Mix in the noodles and broccoli, top with peanuts and scallions.

Saturday October 4, 2008

2008-10-04T07:46:00.002-04:00

We had a houseful of friends for Rosh Hashana, which is just the way I like it. Unfortunately, with the exception of the photo above, I left D in charge of taking food pictures which he took to interpret as "take picture of your friends with food in their mouths". Not really the way you want to see my roast beef, is it?

Here's a written run-down of the menu, some of it brought by guests or bought at the kosher butcher: sweet challah, apples & honey, chicken soup with matzo balls, gefilte fish, chopped liver, green salad, roasted beets and eggplants, braised carrots, brown rice, potato kugel, roast beef, roast chicken legs, salmon, sorbet, cookies, brownies. The end. It sounds like a lot, but there were a lot of people here.

Since then, we've been scarfing down leftovers.

And churros.

Tuesday September 23, 2008

2008-09-24T09:34:00.000-04:00

It was a soup kind of night. A little chilly outside, and many afternoon hours logged at the rink. D happily reported after practice that he and one other kid were the only ones that didn't have to do "suicides". I'm not sure what that means, but I'm glad.

This soup is potato leek. I cook leeks (the white and very light green parts) in butter until soft, but not brown. I use a nice chunk of butter and cook them on low for a long time so they get nice and gooey looking. Then I added in vege stock from the freezer and cubed potatoes, some thyme, salt & a healthy dose of pepper. That's it. Let it cook for about 30 min until the potatoes are soft and puree with a stick blender. You could add in milk or cream at the end, but I never do. I do, however, top it with shredded cheese, and for the kids, a few croutons.

We also made some lemonade cookies that were a semi-failure. I knew when putting the dough in the refrigerator the day beore that it was way, way too dry. But I was lazy and kind of hoped that just being in the cold would magically make the fat content increase and they would stick together. Didn't happen. Out of two logs I was able to form about 10 pathetic little cookies. I could have added more liquid, or more fat, but I was over the cookies by then and wanted to move on.

This is Monday night. Whatever.

Sunday September 21, 2008

2008-09-21T19:52:00.000-04:00

Sort of leftovers. Baked chicken breasts with leftover pizza sauce from yesterday's pizza. I'm gearing up for another crazy week.

Saturday September 20, 2008

2008-09-21T08:50:00.003-04:00

I finally got around to trying the Pizza Bianca recipe from Cook's Illustrated again. Delicious again. Our dinner guests canceled at the very last minute, but it was fine as the five of us scarfed down this entire pizza. This pizza dough is delicious. Delicate, airy, chewy without being gummy. Perfect. And easy. It's only about 15 minutes of active time, then let it rest.

Try it. Just try it. I'll come back and type in the recipe. I promise.

OK, here it is quickly:

Pizza Bianca from Cook's Illustrated
3 Cups AP flour
1 2/3 cups water, room temp
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast (I used my bread machine yeast and it was fine)
1 1/4 tsp sugar (I used agave nectar)
5 Tbs EVOO

Mix flour, water & Salt in mixer fitted with a dough hook for a few minutes on low, just to combine everything. Let dough rest 20 min.

Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Mix on low speed, just to incorporate all the ingredients, scrape the bottom. Increase mixer to high for about 5 - 10 minutes (I only needed 5) until dough is smooth and glossy and pulls away from sides.

Coat a large bowl with olive oil, transfer dough to bowl, turn dough over in bowl so it's coated, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temp for 2 - 2.5 hours. You'll see large bubbles and it will have tripled in size. Before rising, I put mine in the refrigerator wrapped, then pulled it out about 4 hours before I needed it to let it come to room temp and rise all the way.

Put a pizza stone in oven and preheat to 450. Let the over rest at 450 for a while, so the stone gets good and hot.

Rim a baking sheet with oil and turn dough out onto the sheet, stretching it with your fingertips. If it shrinks back a lot, let the dough rest for a few minutes and stretch it again. Let the dough rest in the pan until a little bubbly, maybe 10 minutes. Poke the surface with a fork all over, sprinkle with salt and bake until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes.

Pull it out and top it with whatever makes you happy and put it back in the oven for a few minutes.

Thursday September 18, 2008

2008-09-18T17:55:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we had chocolate chip pancakes. No excuses. That's all I could muster the energy to make.

Tonight it's just me and the little ones. I was meant to go to Radish's back to school night, but he came off the bus not feeling well and J's at the rink with D, so..... I get the night off. Yay.

Radish has rallied enough to ask if we could make a pound cake together, so we'll have peanut butter sandwiches and make cake! That's OK. Right?

Here's a link to the Fox News Piece, BTW. I couldn't figure out how to embed it.

http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/News/Politics/Detail;jsessionid=AD4B83A7E6D32E37B79C36F05F680652?contentId=7460578&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.14.1&sflg=1

Tuesday September 16, 2008

2008-09-17T09:26:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I used the "chili" from the other night to make these burritos. Turns out, as long as something is smothered in salsa and cheese, my kids will eat it. Except Lulu. She had a peanut butter sandwich on fresh bread from the machine.

Off to class. Which I'm feeling much better about after straightening out a few things with the Director of the program.

Monday September 15, 2008

2008-09-15T20:21:00.000-04:00

Kind of a sad little dinner. I'm in kind of a sad little mood, so it's fitting. Chicken breasts baked in a panko crust. Green beans and fresh garden tomatoes.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I drive approximately 130 miles between school, babysitter and hockey. It's exhausting.

Sunday September 14, 2008

2008-09-14T18:47:00.000-04:00

MYO Taco night. Woohoo! I'm torn about the Boca burgers, which we use instead of boca crumbles because they are much less messy. On one hand, they're not meat so we can use cheese and sour cream (it's a kosher thing), but on the other hand they are a super processed food. I know they have soy in them, but also probably a dozen other unpronounceable things. I'm almost afraid to look at the box.

So I won't. We had watermelon for dessert. A whole food. yay.

On a side note, a crew from Fox News was at the rink interviewing hockey moms about Sarah Palin today. When asked what Sarah Palin and I had in common I said, "We have nothing in common. Except we both have kids that play hockey and neither of us knows anything about foreign affairs." Then I laughed. I may have even snorted. I'm guessing it never airs.

Friday September 12, 2008

2008-09-12T19:05:00.002-04:00

As I was making dinner tonight, I knew it wasn't going to work. We just aren't chili people. I want to like chili. It's such a fun, good-times-with-friends kind of food. To the outsider, we seem like a chili family. Casual, fun, sporty, outdoorsy. We could be in a campfire or Sunday football party ad for chili. We could be the chili poster family. And today was a perfect chili day. Rainy, a chill in the air, kids that played outside in the rain all afternoon and needed to be warmed up. Bring on the hot bowls of steaming chili!

All five of us find chili disgusting. Forget the kosher issue, which has me either making it with fake beef crumbles (disgusting), or with real beef and no cheese (no cheese = bad). There's the mess factor, which even on a regular weeknight isn't ideal, but on a Friday night white tablecloth is a potential nightmare. There's the fact that it looks, and kind of smells, like dog food. It's the color. Beans and meat? That's a lot of brown. And anything else you put in turns brownish too. And the texture. Too mushy. Everything gets mushy until you get to a weird crunchy thing and because of the color issue you aren't even sure what it is.

So, why did I make it? I do not know. I do not know.

Instead we're having turkey soup with rice noodles. Which was just supposed to be the first course. We'll have a lot of challah.

Thursday September 11, 2008

2008-09-11T19:21:00.001-04:00

Comfort food today. Potato pancakes and tomato soup. Both were made a few weeks ago and frozen just waiting for a night we'd need some comfort.

Tuesday September 9, 2008

2008-09-09T19:08:00.002-04:00

I had lofty plans today for bringing dinner to the rink for Lulu and Radish while D skated. Then the power went out all day. So, we're having Subway.

Shut up.

I did have an interesting conversation with the kids on the way to the rink about high fructose corn syrup. We're all going to make an effort to cut it out of our diets. The kids are fans of the occasional Coke, so I promised to go to Whole Foods to see if there was an acceptable substitution.

Monday September 8, 2008

2008-09-08T20:03:00.001-04:00

Pineapple chicken on rice noodles with peas. The chicken is in a marinade of honey, pineapple, lemon juice, dash of red wine vinegar and some crushed red pepper. The rice noodles with peas were a little creamy. Some might say "mushy". And then refuse to eat them. But those people are three year old girls who are not known for their culinary expertise.

Some catching up - Friday night pizza. Saturday night lasagna at a friends house (deliciously cheesy) with apple pie for dessert. Sunday night bbq party where there was an awesome corn souffle. I must get the recipe. I brought chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodles are a perfect food.

Thanks to D for this picture.

Thursday September 4, 2008

2008-09-06T10:33:00.001-04:00

Meat Loaf. I make a damn good meat loaf. I'm sure others would claim it's all about the golden beef and at $8.99 a pound for kosher grass fed beef, it had better be damn good. But I think it's all about the caramelized onions. Other than the standard meat loaf ingredients of egg, bread crumbs (I use homemade), the usual suspects of spices (oregano, thyme, basil) and a healthy dose of ground pepper, the only place my meatloaf differs from my moms is the onion. They add a great sweet/savory thing that really enhances the flavor of the golden beef.
The green and purple beans are straight from the farm stand. Yum.

I must also mention that D, my 10 year old son, has taken an interest in photography and will be my official Food Photographer from here on. Thanks D!

Wednesday September 3, 2008

2008-09-04T08:01:00.000-04:00

Not such an impressive looking dinner, I know. Previously frozen baked ziti with red peppers and onions. There was garlic bread too. Store bought. It looks like I'm going to have to rely more and more on dinners I freeze so as to avoid take out and fast food. Yesterday I easily logged over 100 miles in the Jeep.

Now I'm contemplating meals that will freeze.

Tuesday September 2, 2008

2008-09-02T19:31:00.000-04:00

I felt rushed every minute of today. And I have to say, it's really quite unpleasant.

Most of my days are somewhat rushed, but today was insane. From the time I woke up at 6:15am I was running from one thing to another or from one place to another completely unable to complete anything to satisfaction. Sucks. Even now, I'm trying to rush through this so that I can finish my homework and print it out for tomorrow. I have to head out early tomorrow for an oil change before taking Lulu to school and driving to New Haven for class after which I have to blah, blah, blah.... And if my printer doesn't work for some reason, which is not unlikely, I'm just screwed.

OK, dinner tonight was eaten at the rink since I picked the kids up at the bus stop and drove directly there. They all had a snack in the car, then the little ones ate the above while D had practice. He'll eat the same thing when J brings him home. Chicken, couscous made from the fat after cooking the chicken, a delicious roasted beet and eggplant side that no one but me thought was delicious, and grapes. They both really liked the chicken and couscous.

Wednesday August 27, 2008

2008-08-27T17:05:00.009-04:00

Casserole? What the hell? Who eats casseroles? I know that people still make them, there are a million casserole recipes out there, and I sometimes see them on the "What's for Dinner?" thread on the Cooking forum I visit, but casseroles were never in my regular dinner repertoire.

I recently read Eileen Sax's essay "The Age of Casseroles" from Saveur magazine, and I agree with her, although not about encountering a casserole at a dinner party. At least not one I'm hosting. Just about bringing them back into my regular food repertoire.

Casseroles can be tough for those of us that keep kosher. Cream of anything soup won't work because of the whole not mixing milk & meat thing. That's just as well because I wouldn't use any of those sodium filled canned soups anyway. I have some frozen soup on hand that I thought might work, but when I opened the fridge I realized I had hit the jackpot - a container of Stew Leonard's Creamless Cream of Mushroom soup. It's so creamy and delicious, part of me thinks that it really does have cream in it and the ingredients and nutritional information are entirely fictional. I don't really want to know the truth. Because right now I can eat half the container, be completely stuffed, and only have ingested 100 calories and 2 g of fat. I'm going to play with the ingredients and see if I can recreate it. Someday, but not today.

I sauteed some onion and celery, added s&p and fresh thyme and rosemary, removed it from the pan and browned chunks of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. While doing that I boiled a package of egg noodles. I mixed it all together with the creamless soup, a bag of frozen peas, adjust the seasoning (it needed more pepper, lots more pepper) and cooked the whole thing.

It's cooling now, we'll eat it soon. I might also give it a whirl with chicken broth and rice milk thickened with flour. Or maybe my tomato basil soup that's thickened with a rice milk roux.

Hmmmm, let's see how it's received by the kids first.

Update: Not too bad. No one, except me, would even allow a mushroom on their plate but everything else was eaten. Next time I'll use two packages of chicken instead of just one, and still more pepper.

Monday August 25, 2008

2008-08-25T20:34:00.003-04:00

Just me and the kids for dinner tonight. We had a late lunch with friends so none of us were very hungry. I put out a tray of carrots, cucumbers, cheese and fresh bread for snacking. The bread is a french bread recipe that I alter to replace some of the white flour with whole wheat and flax seeds. The kids don't like the texture of bread that's too grainy but I find replacing 1 1/2 cups of white flour with whole wheat and flax doesn't alter the soft texture too much. I meant to just make dough and then form dinner rolls, but it's just so easy to let the machine do all the work.

Mostly I only use my bread machine to make challah on Fridays, but I'm using it more and more since J came home with a $6.50 loaf of bread. I know our little town market is pricey, but that's just insane.

There's a new post up at The Ramen Chronicles

Thanks for reading.

Sunday August 24, 2008

2008-08-24T19:10:00.002-04:00

Tonight is a "fend for yourself" night. J made the kids bagels with tuna or cream cheese. Someone had a leftover slice of pizza. I'm trying to finish up some work before school starts and I become buried in school and after school and driving.

There's a new post up at The Ramen Chronicles

Thanks for reading.

Saturday August 23, 2008

2008-08-24T09:11:00.000-04:00

The kids and I spent the past week in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire, at an AMC Family Camp. So, so fun. We saw a bear and a moose, hiked mountains and waterfalls, went canoeing and kayaking and enjoyed all kinds of naturalist activity with our friends. I'll post pictures on The Ramen Chronicles blog soon.

We were back yesterday and had an improptu cookout with some friends. Hot dogs, grilled portobello mushrooms with a cuke/tomato salad, chicken skewers and corn. Corn muffins too.

The salad was dressed with just a little EVOO, red wine vinegar and s&p.

There was a lot of wine and beer too, but no photos of that.

Thursday August 14, 2008

2008-08-14T18:18:00.007-04:00

Produce from Ambler Farm (the red pepper in front is my own).

One of the treasures in my new neighborhood is Ambler Farm, a 22 acre, 200 year old farm that the Town of Wilton wisely decided to purchase when the last owner died and preserve as open space. Remarkable, considering that most open space in this area is quickly snatched up by developers and transformed into 100 2-acre plots of land that grow 5,000 square foot homes. There's a working garden on the farm, staffed by volunteers and a great farm stand with an impressive variety of organically grown produce.

It was raining this morning, so the kids' 9am swimming lesson was canceled and replaced by a trip to the library for some books on CD for our drive to New Hampshire, and the next episode of The Wire - Season 3 for me. (I have a monster crush on Stringer Bell). By the time we left the library, the sun was out, so we abandoned our other errands for the day in favor of a bike ride to the farm.

I was a little freaked out about letting Radish ride since his accident, but the streets around our house are fairly quiet and the kid's got to get back on the bike sometime. The boys stayed a short distance in front of Lucy and me so I was able to yell out "Car!" when one went by me and most of the time Radish remembered to ride up on the grass and stop when he heard my screams.

After arriving at the farm we were rewarded with chickens, rabbits and an absolutely adorable farm stand, where the absolutely adorable farm stand worker was not only sweet to Lulu, but complimented the boys on their bike riding and had a conversation with me about beets. Nice boy.

On the way home, with our carrots, beets, eggplant, collard greens and beans, D asked me what we were going to have for lunch. I said, "We're going to have a vegetable feast!" And the kids rolled their eyes, made puking sounds and asked if we had any salami.

Here's my dinner. Roasted beets and eggplant.

When the boys get back from hockey they're going to have cheese sandwiches on the above loaf of bread, fresh from the machine, and some of the carrots and beans. Whether they like it or not.

Wednesday August 13, 2008

2008-08-13T19:16:00.000-04:00

My big chicken idea yesterday was great in theory. In practice, however, I needed to make 3 times as much chicken because apparently boys who have just skated hard for three hours are HUNGRY. They sucked back every piece of chicken. As my boys get older my grocery bill is growing to outstanding proportions.

So tonight it's pizza. Not the pizza bianca dough of a few days ago, but the regular made in the bread machine pizza dough. Lulu likes mozzarella and cheddar on hers.

Tuesday August 12, 2008

2008-08-12T16:29:00.006-04:00

Chicken. Here's my plan:

The boys have hockey camp every night this week from 4 - 7 pm. Great timing because I can drop them off and J can pick them up after work; bad timing because it makes a proper dinner impossible. When we leave the house at 3:20, they've just had lunch a few hours before and can only handle a light snack, and when they get home at 7:40pm they're too tired to use utensils. Last night they had cheese quesadillas, which left me feeling like a bad mom who only feeds her kids greasy crap, so today I cooked up a big batch of chicken seasoned with salt and lemon pepper.

Here's the menu:

Tues - chicken on skewers with broccoli and red peppers.
Wed - chicken on hamburger buns with sides of carrots and celery
Thurs - chicken tacos with salsa, shredded lettuce and perhaps some vegan cheese if I have time to run by Whole Foods.

What do you think?

Thursday August 7, 2008

2008-08-07T20:46:00.001-04:00

Pizza Bianca. Take One. The recipe comes from the Sept/Oct 08 issue of Cook's Illustrated. We love pizza (duh), and this looked like an easy new recipe for dough. Mine didn't end up as thick as the one in the article - maybe I let the dough rest too long? The recipe says 2 - 2 1/2 hours and we went to the beach for longer than expected, so my dough sat for closer to 5 hours. Still pretty good though. I knew there was no way my kids were eating this pizza with the traditional toppings of rosemary and salt, so I slapped on the sauce and cheese with some basil. Too much basil according to D. We'll try again another day.

Tuesday August 5, 2008

2008-08-05T18:17:00.004-04:00

Falafel night. My kids love any food they can assemble themselves - pizza, tacos or burritos, sundaes. It gives them a feeling of independence. Or just lets them make a huge mess. Either way, MYO nights are fun, fun, fun.

Tonight was falafel. There's falafel, broiled eggplant, tomato, cucumber, a special sauce (light sour cream and Penzey's Bangkok Blend), pita and hummus in the middle.

I like mine with chopped egg as well, but for some reason I spaced on the egg tonight. If you've never had falafel with eggplant and egg, you are totally missing out on a taste sensation. Think of s'mores: each component is fine on its own, but the marriage of chocolate, toasted marshmallow and graham cracker is what makes it a classic. Same with the eggplant and chopped egg on your falafel. Trust me. Try it.

Monday August 4, 2008

2008-08-04T19:58:00.005-04:00

So here's how dinner went down tonight:

3:00 pm - after a day of running around with the kids, playing 15 minutes of tennis, fixing a toilet, attempting to garden in what can only be described as a jungle of poison ivy and weeds, cleaning, laundry, feeding a neighbor's cats and running to the hardware store, I finally think about what I'm going to cook for dinner.

3:05 pm - pull some boneless chicken breasts out of the freezer under the delusion that they will be defrosted by dinner. I am often delusional when it comes to defrosting times.

6:15 pm - J calls to say he's on his way home and asks "what's for dinner?" "Chicken" I say. Of course.

6:16 pm - I have a plan. Chicken seasoned with a Penzey's blend - I'm thinking slightly spicy maybe Tex-Mexish, then browned and baked. Corn bread from a Jiffy mix with some fresh jalapeño peppers from the garden mixed in and a vegetable from the freezer, TBD.

6:20 pm - cornbread in the oven. Chicken still frozen. I poke it a couple of times through the plastic, then open the package and slice it into smaller pieces so that it will defrost more quickly.

6:30 pm - No vegetables in the freezer. I have stuff for salad, but no one will eat that but me. There's some fresh eggplant, but again, no one will eat that but me. I brave the depths of the basement freezer and find a package of Trader Ming's Asian Vegetables with Beijing Style Soy Sauce. Oooooh, Olympics! I love a theme meal!

6:40 pm - Stir fry isn't as popular with the family, but too bad. I cut the chicken into even smaller pieces and I am fairly confident that it will actually cook now without staying raw in the middle and poisoning everyone. I'm still going to serve the cornbread, but open two packages of Thai kitchen rice noodle soup. I toss the soup mix powder, spring onion, in with the chicken pieces and throw the noodles in the microwave with some water.

6:45 pm - J home. Cornbread's done. Overdone, actually. Whatever, at this point I'm feeling a little resentment towards the cornbread because it no longer works with my Asian theme. I brown the chicken pieces, toss the veggies in and add the sauce, put the noodles in a bowl and top with veggies and chicken. Cornbread on the side. Kids set the table.

7:10 pm - dinner. I think it's pretty good. Nothing remarkable, but pretty good. The kids and J completely dissect their stir fry, eating their chicken with ketchup (mustard for J), and only eating the noodles, baby corn and a few small pieces of broccoli. J even goes so far as to put his chicken on a bun. The cornbread, however, is a big hit, they don't even noticed that it's burned.

I live with savages.

Sunday August 3, 2008

2008-08-03T20:05:00.000-04:00

I'm going to have a zit tomorrow. For sure. Scrod with a panko crust, eggplant in a cheesy crust and couscous. I'm covered in a not-so-thin layer of oil. I have to go shower.

Wednesday July 30, 2008

2008-07-31T07:37:00.002-04:00

Friends came over last night. Since Radish can't get his stitches wet, I've had to cancel a few water related play dates and yesterday's canceled-on friends were kind enough to take pity on me and come over with a pizza for an early dinner. Since I can't leave well enough alone, I made a chick pea salad and an eggplant dip. Take an eggplant, dice it up, drizzle with olive oil and salt and roast in the oven on a cookie sheet at 425 for 30 minutes or so. Toss it around occasionally and when it looks roasty and soft, take it out to cool. Mush it up with fresh lemon juice, parsley and garlic. Usually I puree it, but didn't feel like getting the stick blender out last night, so the consistency was more like a bruschetta topping then a dip.

Thursday morning another friend is taking pity on me and coming over for an early play date and coffee with her son. I'm up early making corn muffins.

On the upside, Radish seems to be feeling a little less stiff and sore, so eventhough swimming is out, we can get outside and play today.

Tuesday July 29, 2008

2008-07-29T19:52:00.002-04:00

Seven stitches = McDonald's for dinner.

I knew this day would come.

And I'm thinking there will be more.

Monday July 28, 2008

2008-07-28T19:49:00.000-04:00

Burritos. Refried beans, black beans, some leftover rice, cheese and a mix of cukes, tomatoes & onions. Cover with salsa and more cheese and bake. Delicious.

Friday July 25, 2008

2008-07-26T10:23:00.011-04:00

I'm not sure what the kids had for dinner last night. I went on an afternoon tour of Phillip Johnson's Glass House in New Canaan which turned into coffee with some friends, so Jason was in charge of dinner and the kids. There are no new pizza boxes, so I'm guessing they either had leftover ziti or a frozen pizza.

A few more Glass House shots:

A folly on the pond and a climbing folly, which Johnson referred to as a "safe danger". You can easily climb to the top, but there's nothing to grip. They didn't let us climb.

The brick guest house in contrast to the Glass House.

The pool was perfect. I love how it isn't overly landscaped and is seamless with the house and property.

A view of the studio from Da Monsta.

One of the paintings in the underground painting gallery. Frank Stella.

It was really a perfect afternoon. I went with two friends, not close friends, but friends that I thought would enjoy the afternoon and it turned out to be a great choice. One of them is an artist and one is an architect, so they both had really interesting takes on the house.

Thursday July 24, 2008

2008-07-24T18:33:00.003-04:00

The beginnings of a baked ziti. I had every intention of buying whole wheat ziti, since my family can't seem to discern any difference when it's covered in cheese and sauce and baked, but regular ziti was $1 a pound, and whole wheat was $2.39. Now, I usually run the aisles of the supermarket completely indifferent to prices. I buy what I need or what I want without a second thought. But lately it's been getting ridiculous. My local town market, where it's so quick and easy to stop in for some eggs or bread or milk, charged me $7.50 for a half gallon of orange juice. Crazy! So even at the large supermarket in the next town, I've been cautious, and today I got the cheap pasta, the cheap ice cream and the cheap chips.

It's a very standard baked ziti. I did add in some caramelized onion and some grilled eggplant. I'm totally on an eggplant kick. It's so...eggplanty.

Friday July 18, 2008

2008-07-18T19:15:00.004-04:00

After a two month break, I'm back, but not raring to go. The month of June culminated in a perfect storm of final exams, a work overload, and end of year kid activities. I'm pretty sure we ate, but have no idea what. Then it was a few weeks of traveling to Ohio and Israel. Now I'm home, things are relatively mellow, and I'm trying not to have motivational issues.

Tonight we had rosemary chicken, rice, a salad of tomatoes, cukes and chick peas and fresh challah.

Rosemary Chicken is crazy easy. I used herbs from my garden (rosemary and a little thyme), with a drizzle of oil and let it marinate for a few hours. I was going to grill, but instead used the stove top to sear and then finish in the oven. I deglazed the pan I used for the chicken and made some jasmine rice, mixing in some frzen veggies.

The end.

Tuesday May 13, 2008

2008-05-14T07:06:00.005-04:00

I must now revise my ongoing list of "Worst Restaurants and Bars in Ice Skating Rinks in the Northeast". I had thought that the rink restaurant at Stamford Twin Rinks was the worst, but last night after Radish's practice with a new spring team, we dined at the restaurant upstairs at the Brewster NY Ice Rink and it now claims the title. After the apathetic (and slightly dirty looking) teenage waitress assured me that "all the salads were really, really popular with an awesome 'vinagrettish' dressing", she brought me a boring chopped iceberg salad with canned vegetables in a salty vinagrette. The chicken fingers were so over baked and dry that Radish wouldn't eat them even after drowning them in ketchup and D's pizza was on a soggy pita. On the upside, Lulu was cool with her Kraft mac & cheese and J loved his fishwich. Go figure.

Monday May 12, 2008

2008-05-13T12:35:00.002-04:00

Good to back. With school and work adding to my regular nightmare of a life, something had to go, and that something was this blog. But now I'm back, hopefully.

Last night I made hamburgers with ground grass fed beef, carmelized onion, garlic and just a little worchestershire sauce. They were good, but the kids still prefered hot dogs. J was out for the night at Stoli Hotel, so it was just me and the kids. We had birthday cake for dessert, since we had just celebrated both boys' birthdays.

Monday March 31, 2008

2008-04-01T08:10:00.000-04:00

If you have yet to discover the wonders of the Soy Vey VeriTeryaki marinade, you are missing out on a treasure. I've been so overwhelmed with work and school (test on Sat!), that dinner has really fallen by the wayside. But last night's dinner took less than 15 minutes of active time to pull together. Chicken breasts in a last minute marinade, Israeli couscous with other nutty looking stuff (I picked up the package from Trader Joe's) and a salad from which my kids only ate cucumbers. I'm beginning to realize that they prefer raw veggies to cooked. Maybe I knew that already and just forgot? At any rate, I'm going to try to have a plate of raw veggies at every meal for them to eat and just make them take one bite of any cooked vegetable.

On a side note, I got a call from the admissions people at the school to which I'm applying letting me know that all my admissions papers and transcripts are in order and I'll be getting my Fall '08 acceptance letter in a few months. I have to make an appointment with the director of the Dietetics and Nutrition program to figure out exactly what classes I need before I can begin my internship.

Thursday March 27, 2008

2008-03-28T07:37:00.003-04:00

Boring chicken last night. Boring chicken with an orange glaze, boring potatoes, boring asparagus. That was the report from my children. Radish tried to hide his asparagus in the following ways:

1. Under his chicken. I could see it sticking out.
2. Under his plate. His brother ratted him out.
3. In his hand behind his back while he tried to slink into the bathroom to throw it away. I busted him.
4. In a desperate attempt, he threw it on the floor, claiming it "slipped" off the fork. We threw it away, but he got no dessert.

Tuesday March 25, 2008

2008-03-26T08:45:00.003-04:00

Dinner at the rink last night. Radish had a two hour clinic with a coach who calls him "Sparkle". A turkey wrap for me, all manner of fried foods for the kids - french fries, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, etc. It was gross, but they're now offering vegetable sticks instead of french fries, which is a nice change.

New post at The Ramen Chronicles

Thanks for checking it out.

Monday March 24, 2008

2008-03-24T19:29:00.001-04:00

One pot meals are quickly becoming my favorite dinner.

Tonight was soba noodles with vegetables, tofu and salmon. I made a spicy sauce with miso paste, garlic, ginger and fish oil. Now that I think about it, this was actually a 2 pot meal, since I cooked the salmon, tofu and veggies separately from the soba noodles, but still delicious and very quick and easy.

There's a recipe here:

The Ramen Chronicles

Wednesday March 19,2008

2008-03-19T20:09:00.001-04:00

This evening's dinner inspiration was the leftover chicken from last night. Soba noodle stir fry. I do love a one pot meal. There's a little terriyaki in there, some garlic and some Chinese 5 spice to heat it up a little. I only like cauliflower roasted, not in stirfry, so I tossed it with some olive oil, garlic, turmeric and S&P then roasted it at 400. The cauliflower was great, the kids ate it, but Jason wouldn't even try it.

After dinner we made Hamantaschen (Purim is tomorrow night and Friday, FYI). Some of the most pathetic looking Hamantashen ever.

Tuesday March 18, 2008

2008-03-18T20:20:00.003-04:00

Not an impressive meal this evening. J and D didn't arrive home until late and immediately put on the Montreal game. I think it must be an important game, as everyone grabbed a chicken cutlet, threw it on a bun and ignored any side dishes. They're all sitting in front of the TV right now and apparantly have lost the ability to use utensils.

I could have put anything on that bun. They'd have no idea.

Lulu's 3!

2008-03-17T12:22:00.006-04:00

Lulu has a bit of a personality disorder. She’s probably pretty typical for a little girl with older brothers, but still, how are you to plan a party for a girl who likes reptiles and ballet? Princesses and hockey? Luckily, I’ve never been one to get hung up on sticking to a theme. So for Lulu’s party she wore plastic chandelier earrings and a pink tutu, and happily held a snake around her neck that the animal lady brought. We had Diego Animal Rescue party decorations, and a pink Barbie cake. Good times.

There was one major mishap – the girl from the pet store locked her keys in the car along with all the animals and the Weston police had to show up and bravely save the snake, hedgehog, millipede, bunny, gecko and dragon lizard. Thanks Weston Police! You’re the best, even if your dispatch lady did laugh at me. The good part was that the kids got to see a cop car along with the animals.

The highlight of the day was Lulu’s friend Benny, who brought her a corsage. I have no doubt that Lulu has never seen a corsage before and has no idea what a corsage is, but the second Benny handed her the plastic container with the pink rosebuds all kinds of synapses fired in her little pink brain. All of a sudden something clicked and Lulu knows now and forever that boys are meant to bring her flowers. Particularly flowers that are worn on your arm so can also be called jewelry. Benny is setting the bar very high for all of Lulu’s future boyfriends.

Happy Birthday Lulabelle. I love you.

No posts for a bit.

2008-03-12T10:02:00.003-04:00

My mom is visiting. And if you don't think that's a valid excuse for not blogging. Well, you just don't know my mom.

Wednesday March 5, 2008

2008-03-05T18:50:00.000-05:00

Vegetable soup and outerspace. Perfect for a rainy Wednesday.

Tuesday March 4, 2008

2008-03-05T08:17:00.002-05:00

Tuesday was a fend for yourself kind of night. I had just received my boxes of FLOR carpet tiles and the kids spent an hour helping me install them. And by "helping", I mean, playing hopscotch on the tiles, eating pirate booty directly over the stickers, taking carpet tiles to their room to build a fort, and other such definitively non-helpful helping. But it got done, and looks pretty good for a cheap 11x14 rug. Not exactly luxury, but perfect for a playroom. On top of the Flor installation, I had a gutter guy coming to give me an estimate, so dinner was hot dogs for 2 kids, leftover pasta for another, and a sandwich for me.

Monday March 3, 2008

2008-03-03T19:01:00.005-05:00

First, let's get tonight's dinner out of the way. Tilapia, breaded with cornmeal and fried, served with whole wheat spaghetti in pesto with sundried tomatoes and asparagus. I know you can't see any of the sundried tomatoes, but trust me, they're in there and they are delicious.

I am still feeling overwhelmed with work and school, but as hockey season comes to an end and I am awarded a brief respite before spring sports begin, I am feeling far calmer and happier than I have in weeks. I have a couple of boulders looming on the cliff very close to landing on my back, including an exam in bio, a lab midterm, 3 work projects and my soon-to-be 3 year old's birthday party, but for just a day or two, I can relax.

So, I cleaned out the refrigerator today. Relaxing, right? I had just placed an order from Peapod, and since the fridge was nearly bare to begin with, I grabbed a sponge and went to town. Want to know what I found? Four half filled bottles of soy sauce, a can of tamarind juice, an open and spilled jar of crushed garlic, 3 open bottles of wine (1 red, 1 white, 1 zin), and two baggies with substances so decomposed I have no idea what they once were. My best guess is a red pepper.

This past week was tough - I know we had sandwiches one night, pizza another. We were at Blechy Bertucci's in Darien for dinner on Saturday, and Friday night I made something everyone hated, but I just can't remember what it was.

There was salmon seared in ginger oil one night:

And breakfast for dinner another:

Things are going to be sketchy for the next couple of weeks. But I'll do my best.

Wednesday February 20, 2008

2008-02-20T06:56:00.007-05:00

I am so grumpy. Mostly I'm grumpy because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel that is my current work project, but I keep getting derailed by Excel and Powerpoint gremlins insistant on messing with my formatting. Grrr.... Plus, I have all 3 kids home this week as it's winter vacation week. Why aren't we in South Florida like everyone else, you ask? Blame hockey. D has practice in preparation for this weekend's state tournament, so we can't go anywhere. So, I'm jealous of everyone that's on vacation. My kids and their friends have made a complete mess of the house and I'm out of skim milk Lactaid.

I think that about covers it.

One of the reasons I'm upset about the skim milk is that I am addicted to Venti Non-fat Green Tea Lattes from Starbucks (yeah, I'm totally one of those women), but it kills me every time I drop $4.19 for a drink. Finally, I had an epiphony the last time I was in Trader Joe's. I saw the above. An unfocused small container of Green Tea Latte Powder. I already own a handheld milk frother thanks to J and Restoration Hardware, so I could hardly wait to get home and try my hand at a Green Tea Latte. And, it was great. Not quite as good as Starbucks, but pretty darn close. The milk only froths properly with skim milk, so I'm going to have to run to the store today with 3 kids. I hate that.

Dinner? I made a fresh turkey breast a few nights ago and we've been living on that and Planet Pizza for days. Not my finest work this week.

Saturday February 16, 2008

2008-02-16T20:43:00.002-05:00

I'm still in crunch mode. Loads of boring, boring work to do. I spent all day in my bio class where I just got more and more confused as the lecture went on. I'm going to have to spend quite a few hours this week figuring out just what the hell the teacher was talking about. On a high note, I got another quiz back on which I did well (20 out of 20) and I also got my first test back. 96%. As my son would say, "Go me!". I'm not getting too excited though, I have another test in 2 weeks and as of right now, I'm completely confused.

Last night I was too tired for dinner, so J picked up Subway on his way home. We ate while watching TV. Bad habit, I know. Tonight was better, everyone was tired after 2 hockey games (one per kid) and a day of school for me and a day with the kids for J. I made skirt steaks on the Foreman grill (kosher AND grass fed, that's some expensive steak), and the boys had steak sandwiches with leftover couscous. I went bunless.

Thursday February 14, 2008

2008-02-14T18:08:00.005-05:00

J's been out of town for the past 7 days. He's missed 3 hockey practices, 1 game, Valentine's Day (almost), the brief but active life and death of Goldilocks the goldfish, the aquisition of a new Beta Fish (Saku Koifish Jr.), an ice storm, some minor roof leakage, a brief fever in 2 kids, and one nine year old's emotional meltdown. He gets home late tonight and in my mind, I had a great night mapped out: House perfectly clean, me perfectly clean, kids fed, bathed and sound asleep.

It's nice to aim high.

In reality, the house is a disaster since I've been single-parenting it all week along with school work and work work. Did I mention we had an ice storm yesterday? That was fun. My nerves are shot, I'm going to have to put in a couple of hours working after the kids are in bed and I'm pretty sure I didn't shower today. I think I showered yesterday. And I'm frustrated with school because I'm having a really hard time understanding how Adenosine Triphosphate becomes energy. I can spout the logistics of the Phosphate breaking off and energy being released, but I just don't "get" it. It seems so small and impossible. I've lost you, haven't I?

On to dinner:

Does that look gross to you? Cause now that I'm looking at it, it does look kind of nasty. But it was delicious, I promise! Again, I needed a neat package of food for D to eat in a car on the way to practice. I took some seaweed, spread on the couscous and vegetables, slapped on some previously breaded and frozen chicken breasts, and rolled the whole thing up.

The other kids had theirs on a plate, the old-fashioned way:

Tuesday February 12, 2008

2008-02-12T22:59:00.001-05:00

I tried. I looked at food history websites, I checked my Lincoln books and I even asked for assistance on my old standby cooking forum, but I just couldn't come up with a dinner appropriate for Lincoln's birthday. The closest I got was a log cabin made out of tootsie rolls, and who has time for that kind of thing? Not me. Lincoln wasn't a foodie. He would often forget to eat, and rumor has it, on the day of his assassination, he ate an apple for lunch. One apple. He was a coffee and egg fan, so I dedicated my breakfast to him, but I just couldn't give the kids a latte and an omlette for dinner.

So we had tacos. Make your own veggie tacos. With a side of TJ's frozen veggies.

Monday February 11, 2008

2008-02-11T19:14:00.000-05:00

Sushi Night! I'm thrilled that we have nothing going on tonight. The kids finished their homework quickly, helped me with dinner and are now playing knee hockey in D's room. I can already hear some screaming, but no one has come into my office yet, so I'm going to assume there's no blood.

We used kosher fake crab, which isn't as good as real crab, but fine for our purposes. Radish had a hot dog since he's allergic to fish.

PS Tomorrow is Lincoln's birthday, which in our house is a pretty big holiday. It's particularly exciting this year, since D is doing a report on Lincoln and begining to share my enthusiasm for our 16th president. Any suggestions for a Lincoln appropriate dinner are appreciated.

Sunday February 10, 2008

2008-02-10T08:16:00.000-05:00

It's early on Sunday, but I'm posting now since I'm expecting to be fully exhausted by the time we get home tonight. Plus, I have to transcribe my class notes from yesterday, and this is a good means of procrastination.

The past 2 nights it's been just me, Radish and Lulu. J and D have been at a hockey tournament in a northern snowy location. Word on the street is that the kids took a trouncing. It's ok to have a trouncing every now and then. A nice lesson in hubris. Particularly for the coaches and parents. While I missed my husband and oldest son very much, I'm always glad to miss a hockey tournament. I'm completely out of my element surrounded by sports parents. Although waiting in hockey rinks in random cities outside of my son's locker room while he gets changed and goofs around with his teammates does remind me a little of the many hours spent waiting in then smokey bars in random cities for some "boyfriend" to get his gear together after a show. Less drugs and more children in a rink. Same stench. I've gone from rock groupie to child hockey groupie. Less fun and now I pay for drinks.

Dinner you ask? Well, good and bad. There were frozen pizza bagels, but I served them with a platter of fresh raw veggies with fresh fruit for dessert. There was a homemade whole wheat challah, but I used it to make grilled cheese. There it is, you sort it out.

Thursday February 7, 2008

2008-02-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

Behold!! The $14/lb organic kosher bison london broil! Smug sense of self righeousness included. Unfortunately, it's delivered via overnight courrier, so while my family is healthier, the Earth as a whole suffers in terms of the extra fossil fuels used to get the food. Rock and a hard place. That's what that is.

Whatever you do, don't read The Omnivore's Dilemma. You'll forever spend 25% more on all your food. And if you also happen to be kosher, well then you're really screwed.

The gold plated bison was tasty, for sure. I seasoned with S&P and a little bit of bicentenial rub, then grilled it on the George Forman. It was very tender, although I overcooked it a little for my taste. The rest of my family likes little to no red, but I like it fairly rare. The texture was a little mushy, almost liver like, but not that mushy. Nice flavor, rich and very meaty. Just a few pieces were all I needed, but for once D ate and ate. It's nice to see my skinny 9 year old scarf down meat that's good for him.

Wednesday February 6, 2008

2008-02-06T19:29:00.001-05:00

I always think I have a jar of marinara sauce on hand, but in reality I never do. Why is that? I must either use more than I think, or buy less than I think. It's a mystery.

I wanted to do a quick dinner of pasta with TJ's meatless meatballs, but ended up having to make a quick sauce. Not a big deal, but dinner was a little later than planned. I also roasted some fennel, potatoes and carrots in olive oil. Delicious. J only ate the potatoes. He's lame.

Monday February 4, 2008

2008-02-04T20:06:00.001-05:00

D had practice, so I made a quick piece of salmon and slapped it on a roll. Or a "muffin bun" as D calls it. Hee, "muffin bun". Anyway, I'm still grumpy. My friend Beth suggested taking B12. I'll give it a try. Although I think my grumpiness is more of a situational issue than a nutritional issue, I'm willing to give it a shot.

I have my first exam this weekend. Yikes. Library time tomorrow.

Friday February 1, 2008

2008-02-01T18:58:00.000-05:00

No photo today as I'm a little grumpy and nervous about my class tomorrow. We start every Saturday with a quiz. I haven't taken a non-Cosmo quiz in, like, 20 years, so, yeah, I'm a little nervous. I think I'll be fine. The nerves are more about taking test than they are about whether or not I know the material. Easier than writing a paper though!

We had lasagna tonight. Cheese loaded with vegetables. Same as this one. Let's see, last night we were out late skating in the yard, so we just had sandwiches and on Wednesday it was snack bar food at the rink. I need to get some more vegetables into these kids!

Tuesday January 29, 2008

2008-01-29T20:06:00.000-05:00

Yikes. Look who needs to sharpen her knives. That tuna steak was massacred when I sliced. Although to be fully honest, it wasn't such a great specimen to start. The tuna steaks came from the local grocery store, Caraluzzi's, where I've been disappointed in the fish every time I've bought it, and where I got sick from the sushi at the sushi counter. You would think that by now I would be smart enough to stop buying fish there. And you would be wrong. But I'm done now. I promise. I'd rather deal with defrosting something from Trader Joe's or driving the 20 minutes to Wild Oats or Stew's than cook another piece of this crap.

The couscous was nice. I sauted onions and carrots before adding the couscous. At the end I tossed some flax seeds and parsley on for color. The entire process took under 20 minutes, but it was a little unrewarding.

Sunday January 27, 2008

2008-01-28T08:09:00.000-05:00

Pizza Sunday night. We had a full crowd of hockey boys from the time the kids' games ended around noon, until after the NHL all star game, which ended long after I had gone to bed.

I'm moderately careful, and definitely conscious of what my kids eat. I might not always do the right thing, but I always think about it. Yesterday, which was Sunday, I went to the grocery store to get snacks for the hordes of kids that I knew were going to be invading my backyard and my kitchen. I am not at all embarassed to say that I didn't even make an attempt to drive to Whole Foods, as I usually do for snacks, but went straight to the local grocery store to the aisle that should be labled "Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated Oils", and got the kids cheap microwave popcorn (movie theater butter flavor!), cheap hot chocolate mix, cheap chips, cheap juice, and a case of clementines. I had briefly toyed with the idea of making homemade granola bars, but my kids begged me to stop. Fine, I just bought some cheap brownies and ordered pizza.

So yes, I fed the kids crap. But as I'm short on time and money, but mostly time, I opted for the easiest, if not healthiest, solution. That's just how it goes.

Friday January 25, 2008

2008-01-25T19:17:00.000-05:00

My latest obsession is the ginger oil I made for some carrot ginger soup last weekend. The ginger oil was supposed to be on top of the soup, but I forgot to use it. So I've been using it for everything else. It has a nice flavor, but turns food, hands, countertops, stovetops and tile floors a shade of yellow that is thankfully more reminiscent of toxic waste than, well, the other yellow color reference I was going to use.

I used the ginger oil earlier on some chicken cutlets and tonight I used it for salmon and the asparagus and artichoke hearts that went with the pasta. It was not only a beautifully colorful dish, but simple, quick and delicious.

The Truth? I was the only one that ate the pasta with the asparagus and artichokes. It was really good though. I swear. D had his salmon on a bun and Radish and Lulu opted for peanut butter sandwiches. All the kids had raw red pepper. J was stuck in traffic on the Merritt Parkway and looked more than slightly relieved at not having to deal with artichokes. I'm guessing he'll eat a tuna sandwich later.

Thursday January 24, 2008

2008-01-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

It's not sushi.

That's cooked chicken in the seaweed roll with rice and carrots. I needed to make something that D could eat in a friend's car on the way to hockey without making a mess. Everything is so nicely rolled together in the seaweed, I think I'll be doing this more often.

It's super easy. I sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts into long slices, seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon pepper, then browned them in EVOO. While they were browning, I made the sushi rice. Then I spread the rice on the seaweed, arranged the chicken and shredded carrots, rolled it up, and off he went.

Hockey

2008-01-22T15:27:00.000-05:00

It's been hockey, hockey, hockey here lately. I've been through countless cups of hot chocolate and microwave popcorn for the boys that have invaded my back yard.

D is the kid in the gray sweatshirt.

Tonight we're having baked chicken and rice. Veggies, you ask? I haven't been to the market, so it will have to be something from the freezer. And a salad. I have lots of salad.

Sunday January 20,2008

2008-01-20T17:35:00.000-05:00

A little catching up is in order.

This was a week even crazier than usual. I know there was at least one pizza night, one hot dog night and one night of cheese quesadillas and french fries at the restaurant at the ice rink. The syncronized skating team was practicing right before D's team took to the ice. That's some impressive syncronization from those girls! D's team can't even figure out how to complete a decent pass most of the time, I'm guessing that they'd suck at syncronized skating. Although it would be pretty fun to see them in the outfits.

Here are some of the week's healthier highlights:

This is carrot ginger soup. Despite no one in my family being even a little willing to try it, this soup was a winner for me. Simple flavors that combined really well in a soup. A bit of a kick from a jalepeno, and topped with lime-cilantro creme freche. Delicious. I'll post the recipe on the Ramen chronicles when I have a bit of free time. It was also meant to be topped with ginger oil, but I forgot about that part. I ended up using the ginger oil last night to make some chicken:

The kids don't like strong flavors, so this chicken was perfect for them since it was gingery without being overpowering.

Tonight D has a friend over and we're having burgers and snacks while watching football.

And once again, be sure to check out the new post up at The Ramen Chronicles

Monday January 14, 2007

2008-01-14T18:05:00.000-05:00

This is the backyard rink. I hope we get a few more cold weeks so the kids can enjoy it.

90 Minute delay today. For about 2 inches of snow that melted almost immediately. The local public school was cancelled. D had hockey practice tonight up in Bridgeport, so I defrosted some homemade mac and cheese and gave them some raw broccoli with it. I'm finding that the kids are more willing to eat vegetables if they are served raw. Fine with me.

Last night we went to a friend's for dinner and she served a delicious roast beef of grass fed Bison, salad, roasted potatoes and asparagus. I love asparagus. Everything was delicious.

I know I said it before, but there's a new post up at The Ramen Chronicles

Saturday January 12, 2008

2008-01-12T19:46:00.001-05:00

MYO veggie Tacos with the kids tonight. J is at a hockey cocktail party that I luckily begged off. He likes those people more than I do anyway.

I was on the phone with my non-cousin Jamie a few days ago listening to her tales of customer service woe and was silently thankful that it has been so long since I've had any kind of customer service issue. Well, you guessed it, that lucky run ended tonight with an altercation with the Geek Squad. I won't go into details, but it started with a no-show "agent" and ended two hours of frustrating phone time later with an email to their VP of customer relations and a lousy $25 Best Buy gift card. A highlight was a rep that cut me off to watch the Green Bay game. Stay tuned for any response to my email.........

PS New The Ramen Chronicles post and recipe.

Friday January 11, 2007

2008-01-11T20:07:00.000-05:00

Cheese lasagna with garlic bread and wine. Lots of wine. D brought a friend home for a sleepover after hockey practice tonight. A great kid, but two nine year old boys is one too many. I don't love a lot of my kids' friends, but this kid had three helpings of lasagna and the peer pressure made D have two helpings, so I love him. He's also a complete doll with Lulu.

I made the lasagna earlier in the day, cheese with carmalized onions and red peppers. I used regular lasagna noodles, but didn't boil them first, just threw it together because my friend Amanda said you could. She was right. I noticed that they were a little on the gummy side, but no one else seemed to notice or mind. A salad would have rounded out the meal nicely, but you can't have everything. I'd be the only one to eat it anyway.

Here's a recap since last I posted:

Wednesday dinner - pasta? sandwiches? I'm not sure, that was so long ago and I've had a half bottle of red wine.
Thursday - Georgetown Saloon after car shopping. The kids had fish & chips, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.

Tuesday January 8, 2008

2008-01-08T19:22:00.001-05:00

Lulu wanted "Princess Food" tonight. I don't know what princess food is, so I just made pink stuff. I salt & peppered the salmon, then seared it on the stovetop in some olive oil. For the sauce, combine about 1/3 cup orange juice with a couple tablespoons of wine vinegar, a couple tablespoons of soy sauce, some brown sugar and some red chili pepper. Bring it to a boil on the stove top and let it cook for a few minutes. If you want you can thicken it with some cornstarch, but I'm fine with it a little runny. On to the couscous. Thinly slice some shallots and beets and saute them until soft. Add the couscous and then follow the directions on the box, adding any seasoning packet and the recommended amount of liquid. Yes, it all turns red from the beets. If you have an aversion to red food, you can use golden beets, but it won't be "Princess Food".

Monday January 7, 2008

2008-01-07T19:26:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year.

Although I enjoy this exercise immensely, my blogging isn't going to be as consistent in the new year. I'm starting a class and any free moments that I used to spend photographing and logging my family dinners will now be spent studying the difference between meiosis and mitosis. I'm not sure what my end game is, but I know it starts with a biology class.

Tonight's turkey was leftover from the weekend. I also made buckwheat noodles with carrots, red pepper and tofu. The kids ate the turkey and noodles but very little of the veggies. Hey, I tried.

PS I lied to my son today. We were listening to Dylan's "Tangled up in Blue" in the car, and when the line came about "She was workin' in a topless place" and he asked me what a topless place was, I told him that Bob Dylan had said "tapas place". Not only does my 9 year old know what tapas are, but it made complete sense to him.

2007-12-21T11:23:00.000-05:00

OK. I know you're rolling your eyes and making comments about how I have way too much time on my hands and how I can't possibly be as busy as I'm always claiming to be if I have enough time to screw around with a pie chart of my family dinners. Because,I mean, blogging is one thing, but Excel spreadsheets and Power Point charts are an entirely new level of obsession and dorkiness. I know. I know. Just give me a minute.

Let me explain that I create these kinds of charts for my job, so this really wasn't as time consuming as it might look.

And it's interesting. At least to me. Here are my thoughts:

- we eat more meat in the summer than in the fall or winter months. It's the grill.
- although it looks like almost 1/3 of our meals were vegetarian, that's a little deceptive because most of them were cheese-laden concocotions which were not as healthy as the "vegetarian" lable might suggest.
- I'm going to work on upping the fish and lowering the meat, although because Radish is allergic to fish I always feel like he's getting short-changed with a peanut butter sandwich on fish nights.
- My impression was that the amount of take out & eat out was going to be much higher. It's still not great, but at only 17%, not so bad either. I'd venture to guess that's a lot less than many families with 3 kids in our socio-economic demographic.

I'll refrain from organizing the above thoughts into a power point presentation. That's too dorky, even for me.

Thursday December 20, 2007

2007-12-20T19:22:00.000-05:00

Ah, the humble meatloaf. A standard on dinner tables for centuries. That's just a guess. But I think it's a pretty safe assumption that I'm not the first mom to find herself in the position of needing to use up a pound of ground beef before it's too late. My family prefers meatballs, but meatloaf is less time consuming and allows me to puree a bunch of leftover vegetables and mix them in to the meat. I'm not being deceptive, just efficient.

We had some spicy rice with mixed vegetables along side. This was a great dinner because there was so little left over that it could just be tossed without any nagging guilt.

Wednesday December 19, 2007

2007-12-19T18:51:00.000-05:00

It's so loud in my house. I've recently decided to plug my headphones into my computer to drown out the combination of kid playing/loud hockey game on TV noise that permeates my home and my head. I suppose I could take the computer upstairs, it is, afterall a laptop, but I'm comfortable at my kitchen desk. I can still see my family, but I can't hear them. It's really quite perfect. And I'm not even listening to anything, just blocking noise.

Miso soup for dinner. With big fat soba noodles, carrots, broccoli and tofu. here's a close up of mine in a nicer bowl.

Tuesday December 18, 2007

2007-12-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

We had a cheesy, tomato saucy, noodley thing tonight. Diced onions and red peppers had a small cameo appearance, but mainly went unnoticed.

I love this time of year. For someone who is basically grumpy all the time and abhores crowds like Emily Dickenson, I love Christmas crowds. I spent the morning in the grocery store as well as some nearby gift shops wandering around, grinning like a loon, and I assure you, there was no medication involved. And everyone seemed to be in the same charmed spirit.

Monday December 17, 2007

2007-12-17T19:25:00.000-05:00

An uninspired photo, I know. Kind of a dull dinner too. Drumsticks baked in cornflake crumbs, rice and zucchini. Boring, basic, easy. It's just that kind of a night. I got the Mark Bittman Vegetarian cookbook out from the library today. I'm looking forward to sitting down with a cup of tea and checking it out. Oh, and we got a Harry and David gift tower in the mail today, so I'm in truffletown!

Saturday & Sunday December 15 & 16, 2007

2007-12-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

Behold Radish's game face. He works the face off through intimidation.

Mite Hockey. In an outdoor rink. In Connecticut. In December. Those are some hardcore 5 & 6 year olds. For anyone who might have been wagering on the game, it was a 3-3 tie.
This was my birthday weekend and I've been drinking all weekend, so I'm taking some liberties. I know I missed Friday, but that feels like years ago and I can't remember what we had. I believe there was chicken involved. Maybe rice.

Saturday was a hockey day. All day, both kids, rink to rink. That night a friend had us over for an amazing birthday dinner and a tree trimming bash.

Cheese lasagna was served:

We are a difficult family for whom to cook. First, there's the kosher issue. Then there's J's general persnicketiness when it comes to foods with which he is unfamiliar. And don't forget my somewhat intimidating habit of taking photos of every meal and posting them online for about 50 people to see (really, 50 - 60 a day, who are you people and how weird is it that the same 5 people visit a few times a week from Singapore?). So big kudos to my dear friend for not only making a delicious lasagna, but also for stepping up to the plate and making her first ever cake from scratch. Absolutely top notch coconut cake.

Here's the cake in progress. I thought I had taken some pictures of it with candles and the "Happy Birthday" decorations, which were very nicely done, but I can't find them. Did I mention there was quite a bit of champagne involved?

If the photos magically show up, I'll post them. But take my word for it; it was great.

On to today. Yep, you guessed it. More hockey. Mercifully, the 6:50AM practice for the little one was cancelled because of a minor nor'easter overnight, but the big kid's game was on. I forget the score, but it was a win. Then on to a Christmas party at a teammate's beautiful home where the kids ate pizza and there was a spread of sandwiches and other good stuff for the adults. But here's the important photo - the dessert table:

And now, I must sleep.

Thursday December 13, 2007

2007-12-14T09:13:00.001-05:00

SNOW DAY!!!

Woohoo for the kids. For me, not so much. Although I am pleased not to have to get to Bridgeport for hockey practice, having the kids in and out of the house all day is not condusive to either working or cleaning. In fact, it's rather counterproductive.

I cleaned out Lulu's closet, so now her closet is neat and her room is a mess. Ditto Radish. His new furniture is organized and stocked with clothes and other 6 year old essentials such as lego bits, scraps of very important paper, rocks, sticks and pieces of a dismantled alarm clock. I did not, however, get any of my actual paying-job work done, so I'm kind of screwed today.

Pizza for dinner Thursday, which J picked up on his way home. Lulu fell asleep in the middle of hers. On her brother. Radish was a good sport, such is his nature.

Wednesday December 12, 2007

2007-12-12T19:25:00.000-05:00

I took advantage of J having a late night to meet a friend and her kids for Chinese food. J hates Chinese food. He claims it's a visual thing. I can't imagine how anyone in their right mind could not like the appearance of Chinese food, but be ok eating a nasty looking tuna melt. Takes all kinds.

Radish loves sesame noodles, as does Lulu. D ate spicy broccoli with "water chestnuts" (code word for shrimp, since we are supposed to keep kosher- little family secret), and I had vegetable chow fun, with actual water chestnuts since D wouldn't let me anywhere near his shrimp. Not even a bite.

PS My friend's son is a juggling prodigy. He had 5 bean bag balls going at once. Impressive, right?

Tuesday December 11, 2007

2007-12-11T17:03:00.000-05:00

Growing up, I believed that macaroni and cheese came from one of two places: dried in a blue box or frozen in an orange box. Imagine my surprise when I realized that mac and cheese is one of the easiest and quickest meals to prepare. I use half regular macaroni and half quinoa elbows. Delicious. Not so nutritious. But still delicious.

Monday December 10, 2007

2007-12-10T18:33:00.000-05:00

I have lost my will to cook.

I just don't feel like it. I think it's because both last week and this week I've been busy every second of every day, stopping only to feed my family or fall into bed. Now that I'm finally home one night at a reasonable hour all I want to do is to ignore the mess of my house, which is just one litter box short of crazy hording cat lady, and crawl into bed with a box of Teddy Grahams and a diet coke and watch an Intervention marathon. Because nothing makes me feel better and more in control than watching people who are completely out of control. My laundry might need to be folded, but hey, it's clean and I'm wearing something, unlike crazy naked meth girl. But such decadance must be saved for another time, as I have laundry and kids' homework and dishes and, oh yes, my actual paying job, all of which are calling to me. At least I can take care of dinner by throwing some hot dogs at my kids.

Sunday December 9, 2007

2007-12-10T13:01:00.000-05:00

????????????????

I don't remember what we had for dinner yesterday. Our timing was all messed up. I wasted my morning waiting for my computer guy who AGAIN was a no-show with no phone call. I'm done with him. I can figure out how to add extra memory to my computer myself, I mean really, how hard can it be? It's basically being a less-dirty car mechanic. Being a car mechanic actually seems much harder because you need physical strength as well as mechanical ability. Anyway...... after I wasted my morning, I met J at the rink to catch one my kids' games and we dashed off to New Jersey for a party stopping at McD's on the way. So a very late lunch, then some bagels and chocolate pie at the end of the pary (we were about 2 hours late, as anticipated). We got home late and just put the kids to bed. They had a big breakfast this morning.

PS My husband claims that I only say unkind things about him on my blog. He never reads it, so I'm assuming that someone else mentioned it to him. So I hereby announce that I love him and he is awesome. And that's not just because for Chanukkah he gave me a gorgeous modern silver necklace with blue topaz and amythest and a foot spa. It's bubbly. The foot spa, not the necklace. If you see him, please tell him I said nice things.

Saturday December 8, 2007

2007-12-08T20:31:00.000-05:00

Humble fish sandwich
melted crispy greasy joy
post hockey game bliss

Thursday and Friday December 6 & 7, 2007

2007-12-07T21:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was just too tired to post. Leaving the house in the dark and returning to the house in the dark, even if it's only 6PM, is just awful. J was still out of town (he's home now, in case any stalkers out there are taking notice) and I had spent all day at the kids' school working the book fair, making latkes for the 1st graders, a few other school activities and then waiting for D's bus to return from their field trip.

And can I take a moment to rail about the incredible rudeness of the no-show? Yesterday I had two volunteers not show up for their shifts at the book fair, my conference call with my boss never happened (I got an email later, so that's not so bad I guess) and my computer guy to whom I OWE MONEY was a no-show last night to install more memory. I guess he doesn't want to get paid. That's 4 in one day. I felt completely invisible yesterday.

There was no way I was cooking dinner. Actually, I wouldn't have minded cooking, it was cleaning up afterwards that I was trying to avoid by going to the diner. A different diner than Wednesday. One kid had eggs and pancakes, one had grilled cheese. Maybe 2 had grilled cheese. I don't know. They ate, someone else cleaned up. We came home, lit Chanukkah candles and waited for the computer guy that never showed up. Then we all got in my bed and watched Survivor. Radish kicks a lot.

Today, in celebration of the end of the book fair (it's all over but the accounting), I made a proper dinner. Plus, my Mother in Law was here. In true MIL fashion, she was 2 hours late, so I had already fed the kids and myself.

The chicken is in a spicy miso paste. It's a throw together recipe with miso paste, soy sauce, ginger, chili pepper, fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar and I forget what else. It's tasty, and kind of spicy. Usually I serve it over rice, but since it's Chanukkah and all, I made latkes. Here they are in the hot oil:

And the finished product:

I know the die-hards only use a grater, but that's not me. I use a food processor. I like about 1/3 of the mixture pureed and the rest grated. I like 3 large potatoes, 1 sweet and 1 large onion. 2 eggs, salt & pepper and the potato starch from the potatoes. Then I fry in peanut oil. That's it.

Wednesday December 5, 2007

2007-12-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

Dinner at the coffee shop in town. It's a grease pit. I was at the kids' school all day working the book fair, where we had quite a few no-show volunteers. I wasn't home with them until after 5pm. Thankfully hockey practice was cancelled so I didn't have to drive to Bridgeport. We tried to attend the Menorah lighting in town, but Lulu was having a meltdown so we came home and lit candles. I had gotten the kids the Electronic Battleship game, but it was broken. I hate you, Target. All in all, kind of a bust of a day. The picture captures my mood nicely.

Tuesday December 4, 2007

2007-12-04T20:03:00.000-05:00

Lousy photo tonight, sorry. We're busy with Hanukkah. Lots of fried goodness tonight, in honor of the oil from the story of Hanukkah. Besides fish, there were chicken nuggets, onion rings and smiley fries. Asparagus too. We had our fill of doughnuts on Sunday, so none tonight. J's mom is coming on Friday and I'm planning a more traditional menu of latkes and doughnuts.

Monday December 3, 2007

2007-12-03T23:57:00.000-05:00

Hooray for Planet Pizza.

Yesterday I was at the school book fair until 7pm. I had the kids with me from school dismissal until J picked them up and took them home around 5:45. He was smart enough to not ask me what I had prepared for dinner and just called Planet Pizza on his way home. He even got me a salad. He's a prince. I think I'll give him a present tonight after all.

Saturday and Sunday December 1 & 2, 2007

2007-12-02T18:03:00.000-05:00

These are the doughnuts I made all day today. Doughnuts are traditional Chanukkah fare, along with potato latkes because of the copious amounts of oil involved (there's an oil connection in the Story of Chanukkah. Every year, I go to a local synagogue for a doughnut making bonanza. It's a yeast dough, so I have to get there early to allow for 2 rises, then the first batch of Sunday School kids decorates freshly made doughnuts with powdered sugar, icing, sprinkles, cinnamon and chocolate to take home to their families. Then the Special Needs Sunday School kids show up and do the same. Usually I have a small group of helpers, but because of the snow today, I was alone. It was fine, I don't mind being in the kitchen alone and there's a great feeling of accomplishment to look out over hundreds of finished doughnuts. The Special Needs group was cancelled for this week because of the weather, so they'll freeze the treats for next week. This year I made enough so the Special Needs adults group could decorate when they meet during the week.

Now I'm tired, my feet and throat hurt, and I'm feeling really greasy, but I'm happy to be able to help in a small way.

On to dinner, last night I had planned on leftovers from Friday, but there were none, so the kids had noodles and butter and I don't remember what J & I had. Today J had all three kids at the rink all day for games and practices since I was busy. I'm too tired to even think about dinner, so J's running out to Subway and I'm going to bed after I exfoliate my pores.

Friday November 30, 2007

2007-12-01T01:56:00.000-05:00

I am so full I actually can not sleep. I haven't felt this uncomfortable since I was pregnant. Our friends came over with their kids and I got a little carried away with the food preparation. There was wine involved. And quite a bit of butter and oil. I get dizzy just thinking about the fat content. I will have to either fast all day tomorrow drinking cleansing tea, or spend two hours in the sauna to rid my body of the butter currently coarsing through my veins.

The kids had chicken nuggets and french fries then went off to play Wii, shoot pucks or play with Pokemon cards. I'm not sure what they were doing as we ignored them much of the night, as they did us.

Let's start with the soup.

Tomato Basil. Looks innocent enough, almost deceptively healthy with it's brilliant orange color, flecks of basil and chunks of plum tomatoes. Well, it starts with a generous heap of butter in order to properly caramelize the leeks, vidalias and celery that make the base of the soup. Then add some herbs, the tomatoes and veggie broth and let it simmer. Garlic goes in at the end, right before the puree. It's finished off with heavy cream, and although I only use about a half cup, it's more than rich enough. I've often substituted soy milk or regular milk with much success. But tonight it was heavy cream.

The entree was salmon. Very simple preparation from "The 150 Best American Recipes" cookbook, which I highly recommend. The fish is quickly seared on the stovetop then finished in a very high heat oven - 500 for just a few minutes. No sauce, it's topped with butter blended with chives and fresh ginger, because you know, what fatty salmon really needs is a tablespoon of more fat right on top. I'm getting the Gout just looking at that picture.

The salmon came out really perfectly. The kitchen smoked up quite a bit, but it was worth it. The fish stayed moist and the ginger butter had a great kick to it. But the fat-fest didn't stop there. No simple rice or steamed veggies for this crowd. Since I'm gearing up for Chanukkah, I made a batch of potato latkes. J ate about a dozen. Next to the latkes is a balsamic beet puree, which is delicious hot, room temp or cold. Besides being a gorgeous color, the tangy flavor of the beets is a nice compliment to the fish and the potatoes. Rounding out the plate is a spinach salad with tomatoes. I had also considered making asparagus, but I know when to pull back.

Our friends took the leftover soup with them. I'm on nothing but clear broth for the rest of the weekend.

Thursday November 29, 2007

2007-11-29T18:13:00.000-05:00

Is there anything worse than bad pizza? Yeah, I suppose there is, but still, bad pizza sucks.

I was looking for a night out with the three kids. It was a long day spent setting up the school book fair, then after school we went to the vet's office to pick up the remains of my sweet cat Chester, so as you might imagine, cooking was the last thing on my mind.

Our first pick was a Mexican place in Georgetown, Rancho Allegre, where the festive atmosphere, attentive service and powerful margaritas make up for the mediocre food, but the place had a deserted look to it, so we passed rather then make the trek up the many steps to the front door. I suppose I could have sent D up to check it out, but I didn't think of that until now. Next door is another favorite of ours, the Georgetown Saloon, but it was packed, and a crowded restaurant is too risky for my frisky gang of four. So down the street we went to Lombardi's. It's one of those places that easily could be better. They're doing so many things right - decent kid's menu, nice sized portions, fine salads, nothing is great but everything is fine. Except the pizza. The pizza is awful. They commit every pizza crime: soggy crust, pools of oil on the cheese, bland sauce, uneven topping. What a disappointment. Even the kids were bummed out. We skipped dessert and came home.

Wednesday November 28, 2007

2007-11-28T17:35:00.000-05:00

We're out the door in 30 seconds to go to Bridgeport for hockey practice. I had nothing prepared in advance, so tonight was a throw together. Soman noodles with carrots, edamame and a healthy dose of soy sauce. This meal took under 10 minutes to prepare and most likely has a sodium content that only a child that is about to sweat out 10% of his body weight should consume. It has the added bonus of taking a little longer to eat because none of my 3 kids are proficient with chopsticks.

And, we're off....

Tuesday November 27, 2007

2007-11-27T19:57:00.000-05:00

On the cross trainer today I was listening to a story about something that happened "years ago" in 2003 to a soldier during the Iraq war. I had to stop for a second, because 2003 isn't "years ago", is it? Yeah, it kind of is. 5 "years ago" actually. How is that possible? Is the planet spinning more quickly as time goes by or am I just so preoccupied with every day minutia that I'm not feeling the turn? Maybe I ought to drink more.

Nothing like an existential crisis to mark an important day! Today's my anniversary. 13 years. Talk about "years ago". On TV and in the movies couples celebrate their anniversary. That would be nice, but it just wasn't meant to be this year. D had a late practice, I had to pick up some stuff for the kids' school, etc, etc... So, no romantic dinner out this year. I ate earlier and J's eating late to the sounds of the Montreal Canadiens hockey game. The Toronto Leafs just scored. J's grumpy. Damn you, Darcy Tucker!

I did take the night off by making my version of fast food. Steaks grilled on the Foreman with Penzey's Chicago Steak seasoning, Trader Joe's Chimichuri rice with extra peas added in to cut the spicyness a bit. Not a great dinner. Trader Joe's carries David's Kosher Meat, which is really fatty and not very tasty. I try to only get meat from the kosher butcher, but sometimes in a pinch I'll use the TJ's. I'm always disappointed.

I'll add it to yesterday's list of complaints.

Money's a little tight right now, so we went light on the gifts. I got J some much needed clothes for work. Utilitarian, much like tonight's dinner. He got me something that didn't get delivered in time so I'll get it tomorrow. I'm not upset because I know what it is and it is awesome. And yes, I did tell him what to get me. Sometimes, you have to help out in order to not be disappointed. Oh, he did get me a card. Same card as last year. Really.

Monday November 26, 2007

2007-11-26T18:55:00.000-05:00

The last of the turkey. Turkey soup with wontons filled with turkey and vegetables. I made the turkey stock Thursday night and froze it. We are done with turkey for a while now.

The first day back after being away is always tough. I have a lot to catch up on and a lot going on in the next few weeks. It's almost a relief that Chanukah is early. Although it makes this week stressful, once it's over I can sit back and relax and watch all my non-Jewish friends run around like mad.

Saturday and Sunday November 24 & 25, 2007

2007-11-26T07:55:00.000-05:00

For the past two days I've been in hockey purgatory, otherwise known as Springfield, MA. To get the food out of the way, on Saturday we ate with most of the team at Champions, a sports themed chain that was in the hotel. I don't remember exactly what was eaten, but I can promise there was a lot of oil and ketchup involved. That includes the salad. On Sunday it was pizza on the way home. Sicilian, just to switch it up a little.

On the CBS News Sunday morning show, you know, the one called "Sunday Morning", Bill Geist did a fluffy story titled "Complainers United in Song". Seems there's a growing number of choirs worldwide putting their complaints to song. It was a silly bit of reporting, but it made me feel so much better about the litany of complaints running through my head while watching it. I had just spent a sleepless night sharing a bed with my kinetic 2 year old and a small room with the other 3 male members of the family who, despite my efforts, are sadly lacking in many areas of personal hygiene. Up at 6am, to sit in a freezing rink for a 7am semi-final game, then back to the hotel for a greasy breakfast buffet before resting up in the room for an afternoon championship game. I was miserable and my complaints were many, but they would have fallen on deaf and uncaring ears. So I saved them up for you:

There's nothing to do in Springfield, MA
People from other parts of country have bad haircuts.
Ice rinks are cold and bleachers are uncomfortable.
There is no excuse for not having a diaper changing station in the restroom of an ice rink.
People who hold, and use, their cell phones like a walkie-talkie are idiots.
Other people's children annoy me.
The video game where the object is to shoot deer is stupid.
The crane machine is like crack cocaine for 6 year olds.
Hotel food is awful.
Lulu whines too much.
Sweaty hockey equipment airing out overnight in my room is disgusting.
The ramp to the indoor parking that circles around is too narrow and makes me think I'm going to hit my bumper. I never do, but it makes me nervous.
Hotel rooms are too small.
It takes J & D too long to come out of the locker room after a game.
I don't much care when the ref makes a bad call as it's just part of the game, but the parents screaming is annoying, so I wish the refs would play fair and not be so blatant with local bias.
D won't hug me in front of his friends.
I wish the coach would bench kids for not passing and being puck hogs.
Snack bars should offer healthy alternatives.
7am is too early for a hockey game.
$50 is too much money for a cheap commemorative t-shirt that will have a hole in it after 3 washings.
Other parents are generally nice, but I get tired of them after 3 days.
J screams and complains loudly at games, but gets mad if I complain about anything.
The smell of meat in a breakfast buffet makes me nauseous.
J doesn't help enough with the kids.
Feeding them m&ms and skittles isn't helping.

Now you try putting that to song.

Friday November 23, 2007

2007-11-23T17:37:00.000-05:00

Leftovers. Duh.

Thursday November 22, 2007

2007-11-22T19:32:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving. Here's the quick runddown:

Butternut Squash and Pear Soup
Roast Turkey with Lemongrass Gravy
Spicy Roasted Winter Vegetables (Squash, Rutabega, Sweet Potato)
Mashed Potatoes with Garlic
Cranberry Clementine Sauce
Green Beans with Fennel and Leeks
Corn Fritters

For dessert we're having sorbet. No one except me likes pie, and well, you know how that goes....

As you might imagine, I have more to say on Thanksgiving, but I'm too tired.

Wednesday November 21, 2007

2007-11-21T17:58:00.000-05:00

Light meal tonight since I'm prepping for tomorrow. Cream of mushroom soup all around.

Tuesday November 20, 2007

2007-11-20T18:26:00.000-05:00

Meatballs are my comfort food. Simply served, in a bowl over rice with green beans, they are best eaten in pajamas with a large slice of challah.

My kids agree.

Monday November 19, 2007

2007-11-19T19:31:00.001-05:00

MYO taco night. Those are veggie burgers with Penzey's Taco seasoning (neater than veggie crumbles), lettuce, shredded cheese, peppers, onions, tomatoes, salsa & sour cream. D had 3.

Sunday November 18, 2007

2007-11-18T23:58:00.000-05:00

My kids have had crap, crap and more crap this weekend. J and I usually don't go out so much, but this weekend was a packed one. Sunday night we had to attend the annual school auction. We didn't bid on anything at the live auction and I didn't stick around to see if I won anything on the silent auction. I'm sure they'll find me if I did.

I threw these chicken nuggets (compliments of Empire frozen foods) at the kids as I left. Sarah the babysitter is building quite a bank off of us lately. Good for her, she deserves it. Lulu loves her and the boys seem to behave while she's here.