Veggie Frittata

My kids love broccoli. They eat it cooked and raw. Especially with ranch dressing. They’d eat cardboard with ranch dressing. But stick broccoli in a frittata and they think you’re trying to kill them. Regardless, I made my frittata last night with broccoli. And it was amazingly delightful. Gabe actually ate it without complaint. But Eli thought we were trying to poison him. He says he doesn’t like broccoli with eggs or cheese. Go figure. Dan and I couldn’t get enough of it. Usually frittatas include bread or noodles. But this recipe actually didn’t call for either. It said to serve it with bread on the side. Which is fine with me when you have…

S’More Croissants, Please!

I like finding easy peasy recipes online. I like to pin them so that when I get a burst of creative flare, I can easily recall them and make them in a jiffy before my motivation wears out. These are perfect for such times. They are refrigerated croissants filled with chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows. All things that I typically have on hand. (And easy enough to get if I’m at any old grocery store.) Now, I hate to admit it – being a homeschool mom and all – but I have very little patience in the kitchen. The rule in our house is that everyone needs to be OUT of the kitchen while mama’s cooking….

Hearty Banana Oat Bread

  I’ve been dying for some banana bread. I’ve had three bananas in the freezer for quite a while waiting for the right time to make bread. Then the other day, Vince (he lives on our third floor), came down and was about to throw away four more bananas. “WAIT! No! Don’t throw them away!” I yelled at him. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me. “They are turning brown up there,” he said. “I’ll bake with them.” He didn’t even know you could do that with slightly browned bananas. So today, after putting the boys down for naps, I pulled out the frozen bananas and all the ingredients to make my…

Up the Velveeta Ante

We’re taking a step back in the food department today as it’s that kind of a day and it’s just the kids and me for dinner tonight. Eli asked for Mac N Cheese. But instead of making it the special way, I pulled out a box of Velveeta and added a few things to increase the nutritional value. Ingredients: 1 box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese 1/2 head of cauliflower, rinsed and cut into tiny pieces equivalent of one chicken tender or 1/4 – 1/2 chicken breast, cubed   1. Boil the pasta as per the package directions. At the end of the boiling time, add the cut up cauliflower to the water for a…

jack johnson kind of morning

Okay, it’s not raining. In fact, the sun is shining beautifully outside. But does it count that yesterday was rainy/snowy/sleet-y?? And I might add that I completed my first full week of working full time. And we are all alive and well. Except Eli who threw up before 7:00 this morning. So far, though, he seems fine. But I’m not holding my breath. Just my gag reflex. Maybe pancakes isn’t the best food to prepare a child who just threw up, but it was that kind of morning. So I turned on Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson and made them for us. Dan is out helping friends move into their new home. So it’s just…

Save some pennies. Make your own syrup.

Growing up, my mom always made our syrup. We never bought it from the store. In fact, I didn’t even know about store bought syrup until I was older and then I thought it was a luxury. Homemade syrup was so good and it was always served piping hot. Cold, thick, slow-moving syrup just added heaviness to the delicious cakes on which it was served. As an adult, I have tried to recall the frugal living tips my mom taught me by example. Syrup is one of them. And I have to say, I feel so much better about not buying it (as cheap as it is) and I love the nostalgia that comes with…

Today I…

… Made an awesome breakfast that consisted of… get ready for it… eggs. Yup. It wasn’t all that awesome. But it tasted great.Toast would have been nice. And it was on its way, but unfortunately it was sort of forgotten about. And the toaster over doesn’t exactly turn itself off. We have to unplug it to turn it off.It’s never proven to be a huge issue since I usually hear the beep and remember that I’m cooking something. I mean, yeah, I’ve burned things a time or two. Or three or four… Or so.But this time, I really totally and completely forgot about the toast. I even smelled something burning and walked into the kitchen wondering…

Homemade Pasta

For the past seven and a half years, Dan and I have been making pasta together. Every December, we make homemade ravioli. Gram was always a ready and willing participant until the last year or so of her life when standing for long was too much for her. We remember those times with fondness… Of course, ravioli isn’t the only kind of pasta, thank heavens. Making pasta a regular activity in our house isn’t that far-fetched. It’s easy enough. And goodness knows, anyone who’s eaten well-made pasta will be able to tell you how incredible it is. It’s so much lighter than store-bought pasta, cooks so much faster and fits in the pan so much…

Southwestern Chicken

I’ve gotten a lot of hand-me-down recipes from my mom. There’s something nostalgic about serving the same dinners that your mom served. Naturally giving it your own twist to make it personal.
This recipe came from my mom, but I didn’t grow up with it. She started making this after I’d
flown
the
coop.

Crack N Cheese

I love mac n cheese. Who doesn’t? We’re having dinner with our neighbors this evening and I told them I’d bring Mac N Cheese. Now, I’ve tried a lot of different mac n cheese recipes over the years. I would like to find the absolute best go-to recipe for mac n cheese, so that I don’t have to think twice about it every time I want to make it. I did a little reading up on it… again. And found an article in the New York Times about addictive Mac N Cheese. Evidently, it’s a hot dish. (“Geniene’s a hot dish,” I can hear my husband saying… ahem.) Since everyone else in the house was…