Merry Christmas!

 

So this whole stay-at-home-mom-of-two-little-boys is kind of kicking my you-know-what.  I honestly was delusional to think that it wouldn't be too hard.  Um, wrong.  This is the HARDEST thing I've EVER done.  To include three years of law school, studying for, and taking the California Bar.  I am NOT KIDDING.  However, I love my life.  Every minute of it - I have a hubs who loves me, a two year old who has declared me his "bestie," and a four month old who lights up the room with his little smiles when he sees me.  My heart is full.   

Owen is holding a fueling tank and is giving Elliott some "gas."

I have been cooking despite my lack of posting - something had to give!  I have a couple backed up blog posts that hopefully I will get to in short order!  We've had an awesome December - mostly because Jeremy finished up school and is officially halfway done - yay daddy!

 And this guy is so smiley - I love it!  He has started rolling over unintentionally.  I am crossing my fingers he isn't an early crawler like his big brother!

 

Please note Elliott spit up all down the front of the Moby right before we took the picture...

This is the only picture we have thus far this Christmas season...and apparently Owen has started sucking his thumb??  Actually, he is getting his 2 year molars and has his hands in his mouth all the time.  I don't even want to think about the germs he is inviting into his system.  Big surprise he had a touch of the flu a few weeks ago!

So I'm not much of a baker, but my sister swore by these little homemade peppermint oreos so I tried my hand at them for a cookie exchange.  Holy moly, they were out of this world!!!  And I know what you are thinking; they may look like whoopie pies but they do not taste like them - I'm not a fan of whoopie pies.  I don't know what it is about them, maybe they are too cakey?  Anyhow, these cookies look like them, but are SO MUCH BETTER.  Save this recipe for your holiday baking!

Homemade Peppermint Oreos
~ From www.iheartnaptime.net ~

Ingredients:
{batter}
1 box devils food cake (I used Betty Crocker)
1 egg
1 stick of butter softened
{frosting}
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
1 TB milk, or heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon Peppermint extract
Andi’s crushed peppermints (I used crushed up candy canes)

Owen has a sixth sense for when I am cooking.  His little cooking homing beacon zeros in on my location and he comes racing in the kitchen pushing a stool over so he can help me :)  Tonight he called himself a "chef" :)

Instructions
For Cookie:  Combine egg and butter in a large bowl. Mix until combined. (I had to resort to my mixer, I couldn't quite get it to come together.)  Pour in devil’s food cake and mix until the batter is smooth (about 2 min). Roll dough into a ball and push flat onto a lined cookie sheet. (I used my small cookie scoop - my cookies were a little larger than an actual Oreo.)  Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Remove to cooling rack and allow cookies to completely cool.

For frosting: Mix together butter. Next add milk, vanilla and peppermint extract. Then slowly add powdered sugar and beat until fluffy.

Assembly: Frost one cookie on the BOTTOM and then sandwich another cookie on top. Use enough frosting so it is oozing out the sides. Then dip the sides of the cookie into crushed peppermint andis (or candy canes).

Pop one in your mouth and taste a little piece of heaven!

How could you not love this little face!  He is such a joyful little dude!!  So excited to see what the new year brings!

Babies, Bread Salad, Back to School, and Brothers!

So, as most of you know, our little family of three is now a little family of four :)  We reached the one month mark and we are...surviving.  I think "surviving" is the best word to describe it as I am pooped, overwhelmed, re-learning the infant phase, and learning the terrible two phase!

The night I went into labor, the Jman made this amazing Greek Panzanella - or bread salad.  I couldn't get enough of of it - delish!  J, out of necessity, has become very adept in the kitchen.  I am one lucky girl!

Greek Panzanella
Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients
Olive Oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1 inch cubes (6 cups) (I think Jman just used a left over end of a baguette)
Kosher salt
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/4" thick (we didn't seed it)
1 each red and yellow bell pepper, large diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced in half rounds
1/2 pound feta cheese, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 cup calamata olives, pitted

For the Vinaigrette 
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/3 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil 

Instructions
1)  Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Add more olive oil as needed.
2)  Place the cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
3)  For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper in a small bowl. While still whisking, add the olive oil and make an emulsion.
4)  Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta, olives and bread cubes and mix together lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

If you are close to your due date, try this bread salad!  

Look at me: so hopeful that on Saturday night/Sunday morning we would welcome our new addition...little did I know that the madness would continue four 44 more hours.  Swell!

I went into labor on Saturday night, but Mr. Man wasn't ready to make his appearance until Monday night - good times!  So we took two "before" pictures...The above picture was taken Saturday night - we headed to the hospital but were sent home three hours later as I had made no progress.  Please note: the contractions were strong enough that NO SLEEP occurred for 44 hours...so fun!

We made it past triage!

We attempted the hospital once again on Monday morning - only after laboring at home with Owen playing "Mommy Tunnel" (I was on all fours during contractions and he mistakenly thought I was playing a game) and saying "mommy feel better?" 

He's here!  And I'm feeling no pain!

Once I finally got the epidural, it was smooth sailing.  We were admitted around 11 and Elliott Edward Stephens, 7 lbs, 12 oz, 20 inches was born at 6:04 PM.

Happy Daddy!  His first day of lectures are the furthest thing from his mind!

If only sleep came this easily in the wee hours of the morning when NO ONE should be awake!

This picture cracks me up - J had already started school, but this was his first day of actual lectures.

We are blessed in so many ways!  We have two healthy little boys, Jeremy has a great schedule with school, and our families have dropped everything to help us out.  When I am frustrated that Owen is screaming at me because he wants to take his toy crane in the shower, or Elliott is refusing to sleep at 4:50 in the morning, I count my blessings and think of this picture:

Love these little boys!

New Breaky Fave

So this is my very favorite new face that Owen makes.  He makes it when he is thinking about his next move in life.  In this particular instance, he was thinking very hard about where he was going to throw his handful of acorns that we collected on our little hike in Shenandoah National Park.

 

We took Jeremy's parents on a little hike (ha!  look how flat this "hike" is - isn't it amazing??) and a picnic.  Owen LOVED hiking with Grandma and Grandpa and walking almost the entire 1.3 mile loop!

Little Mister even picked up a hiking stick that Grandpa carved his name into :) 

On this particular hike, Grandpa was the Dear Spotter - seriously.  My father-in-law has mad dear-spotting skills and pointed out about 5 deer.  And they are so not afraid of the human-kind.  This little guy walked right past us!

Owen and the ladies :)

Anyfood, the whole point of this post is to share a Pinterest success.  I had been wanting to try German Pancakes because they looked vaguely like my family's Curly Pancake recipe.  BUT, they are baked and not fried in shortening...which is the key ingredient in making Curly Pancakes curly and thus only made once in a blue moon.  Not only are they saturated in grease but the kitchen is a beast to clean up after frying all of that doughy goodness.  Enter baked-pancakes and you have a healthier version with very little clean-up! 

The German Pancakes were similar in consistency, super easy, and they received two thumbs up from both of my boys.  If I knew more about the science of food, I would play with the batter and figure out how to get a little different texture but I am completely clueless in that respect.  I guess I will wait for my mom to get here in a week and a half and see if we can come up with something!

German Pancakes

Source:  www.tastesbetterfromscratch.blogspot.com via Pinterest

Ingredients

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup flour

dash of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp butter

*Optional: dash or two of cinnamon - I am addicted to cinnamon in anything and everything!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425*.  As oven pre-heats, put the butter in an ungreased 8 x 8 baking dish and place in oven, just until melted.  

Place the eggs, milk, flour, salt and vanilla in a blender; cover and process until smooth (I just whisked mine together in a bowl as I hate cleaning my blender). Pour batter into baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and puffy. 

When done, sprinkle generously with powdered sugar and serve with maple syrup. 

Happy Breakfast!

How fabulous is this heart-shaped stump?  I Heart it :)

 

Chock-it Dump Truck Cake

For Owen's 2nd Birthday all he wanted was a "Chock-it Dump Truck Cake."  I kid you not.  We started talking about his birthday about a week before and he totally remembered the Wilton Dump Truck pan we bought at Hobby Lobby before we moved to Virginia.

 

So the day before his little birthday party, we made a cake together :)  He insisted on wearing an apron because Mommy was wearing one. I found the manliest one in my arsenal - and of course he needed the "Merry Christmas" chef hat! 

 

And what cake-making experience is complete without licking the mixer paddle?

 

And the rubber spatula??

 

Tada!  Chock-it Dump Truck Cake complete with cream cheese frosting and M-Ms (as Owen calls them).  I generally don't like chocolate cake - but both of my boys do.  I used an old standby recipe that my mom makes for my family when chocolate cake is requested - she doesn't like chocolate cake either :)  I don't know what it is, but I just don't like chocolate cake...or chocolate ice cream.  Anyfood, this recipe I actually like because it is nice and moist and has chocolate chips in it!

Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients

1 package Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (I use Duncan Hines)

1 (4 oz) package Instant Chocolate Pudding

1 small package semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 2 cups)

4 eggs

1/2 cup veggie oil

1 (8 oz) carton of sour cream

3/4 cup water

Instructions:

Blend together all ingredients except chocolate chips with a mixer.  Blend for 1 minute on low then 4 minutes on medium.  Add chocolate chips.  Pour into a well greased 12 cup Bundt Pan (or a well greased Dump Truck Cake pan)*.

Bake at 325* for 1 hour.  Dust with powdered sugar or cream cheese frosting.  (But really, why would you bother with powdered sugar when you can use cream cheese frosting?)

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 box powdered sugar (3 and 3/4 cup - and as a side note, I used the Target brand of powdered sugar and it ended up v. v. granulated and not appetizing in my opinion...)
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese - softened
1/2 to 1 stick of butter (I use the whole thing - and make sure it is salted butter)
1 tablespoon vanilla

Blend together in the mixer and enjoy!  I freeze my extra and enjoy it on graham crackers when no one is looking!

* Some chocolate chips will sink to the bottom of the pan during cooking.  When you invert the pan and attempt to remove the cake, it may give some resistance as the chocolate chips like to stick to the pan!

Owen enjoying a tire of the dump truck cake while I breath through some contractions/the baby actually flipping around so that he or she is now head down - that was not a fun experience!

Brought to you by City Market

I have a few minutes to myself this morning as J took Mr. Man on an adventure, AKA: errands!  I thought I would, for once, follow through on posting when I say I will!  And I have a feeling that once B2 makes his or her debut, there will be v. little cooking, let alone blogging!

Like I said, we went to the C'ville Farmers Market, locally referred to as the City Market - bestill my heart, it runs through December!  We bought some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes for a steal ($3.60 a pound, I paid upwards of $6/lb in Seattle!) and a heaping bouquet of basil so I decided to make these yummy Pesto Chicken Burgers!

Pesto Chicken Burgers

Adapted from Everyday Food, July/August 2012 ~ serves 4

Ingredients

1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 cup fresh spinach (I love that this is pseudo healthy pesto!)
1 clove garlic, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup walnuts
4 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for grilling
Coarse salt and pepper
1 pound ground white-meat Chicken (surprisingly hard to come by - I had to go to two stores to find it.  I did find ground turkey with "natural flavorings."  Huh?  If you are flavoring the turkey, I suspect it isn't all that natural...)
3 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced (tip: pop the mozzarella in the freezer about 30 minutes before you slice it, makes it much easier!)
4 buns (the recipe calls for focaccia and it was a huge flop for us - we tried this recipe once before and the the focaccia fully fell apart and was a huge disappointment)

Instructions

1.  In a food processor, puree basil, spinach, garlic, walnuts, oil, and 1 tablespoon water.  Season pesto with salt and pepper.  (We made this pesto last week and still have a ton and it keeps nicely!)

2.  Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high.  Combine 1 tablespoon pesto, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (I eyeballed the salt and pep) and chicken and form into 4 patties.  Clean and lightly oil hot grill.  (Okay, the recipe also said to brush tomatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper and grill with the patties - I do not like grilled tomatoes so we skipped this step.)  Grill patties, covered, 4 minutes.  Flip patties and top with cheese.  (At this point you add the tomatoes, flipping once until they are lightly charred.)  Grill burgers for 4 more minutes or until they are opaque throughout.

3.  Assemble burgers by spreading pesto on each side of the bun, add toms and lettuce.  I added a bit of mayo because I hate a dry burger!

Bon Appetit!

I Heart Farmers Markets

First of all, this baby is coming sooner than I thought.  We rolled right over the one month mark yesterday and I might have thrown up in my mouth a little bit.  Is that gross to say on a food blog?  Sorry for those of you who are feint of heart.  Seriously, who moves at 32 weeks pregnant with a toddler??  This unpacking thing is for the birds.  Hopefully B2 is nice and cozy in the womb and gives us at least another three weeks so we can feather the nest!

Second, we took a break from unpacking and checked out the C'ville Farmers Market - AMAZING.  And it is not just because I am used to the v. sad Little Apple Farmers Market.  This market rivals what we used to see in the DC Metro area - it was huge!  There were a plethora of vendors and a fabulous selection of fruits and veggies!  My one complaint is that there isn't a single organic stone fruit farmer.  As peaches and nectarines are on the "dirty dozen" list, I try to buy organic.  Alas, I resorted to organic California stone fruit from Whole Foods...not my first choice, obvi.

Anyfood, I made this YUMMY corn salad tonight from corn and basil we bought at the market.  I used my new "Food Network" app for the iPad - so fun!  And of course it is an Ina gem :)

Fresh Corn Salad

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook ~ serves 4-6

Instructions
5 ears of corn, shucked
1/2 cup small-diced red onion (one small onion)
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
3 Tbsp good olive oil (do you think my Kirkland Brand EVOO qualifies as "good?")
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup julienned fresh basil (I didn't use such a large amount and it was still delish)

Directions

In a large pot of biling salted water, cook the corn for 3 minutes until the starchiness is just gone.  Drain and immerse it in ice water to stop the cooking and set the color (I'm not too concerned about setting the color - but apparently Ina is...).  When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cop, cutting close to the cob.  (The best way I've found to cut corn off the cob is to stand it on the stem end in a bowl and cut down - avoids a serious mess.)

Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Just before serving, toss int eh fresh basil.  Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temp.

Tomorrow I will share the recipe for these yummy chicken burgers!  Owen even liked them :)

Girlfriends' Weekend, Part 3 and Finale!

Okay, final installment of Girlfriends' Culinary Weekend! To go along with the Grilled Stuffed Peppers, Meg made Crispy Fried Potatoes and Pork Tenderloin.  The pork tenderloin recipe I am very familiar with as it is my mom's recipe (and the yummiest, easiest marinade ever).  But the crispy fried potatoes - what the what??  SO AMAZING.

I shy away from frying.  I am a nervous nelly about: a) all the grease; b) the amount of oil you have to use (for some reason, it seems so wasteful to me); and c) it is just not a healthy option.  HOWEVER, I will be making giant exceptions for these babies!  They were salty and crispy on the outside and tender and delish on the inside.  YOU MUST TRY THESE!!!

Crispy Fried Potatoes  

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 medium baking potatoes (Meg likes Yukon Golds)

3 cups oil (This is Meg's best guess at the amount; enough to cover the potatoes in the pan. She use a combo of canola and extra virgin olive; canola fries better but she loves the olive oil flavor and so did I!)

2 – 3 cloves fresh minced garlic

Salt (Meg prefers kosher or sea salt)

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium high heat in a wide sauce or sauté pan until very hot. Cut the potatoes into 1-inch cubes. Add garlic to oil and cook briefly and then add potatoes.  Cover and cook on medium high/high for approx. 15 minutes.  Then take the cover off and finish frying until dark golden brown, about another 5 – 10 minutes. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.  Put potatoes in a brown paper bag and add salt to your liking.  Shake potatoes in the bag and then serve immediately.

Meg says that the KEY is to re-use the oil 3 or 4 times, as it retains the flavor and gets better each time!

Meg carving up the piggy for our feast!

Okay, if you don't normally grill pork tenderloin, you need to get on board.  It is the easiest weeknight or dinner party main dish that takes little to no time but has the most amazing flavor.  You need to add this to your repitoire!   

Pork Tenderloin/Chicken Marinade

Ingredients

1 cup oil

1 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (substitute red wine vinegar and use on chicken!)

4 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp rosemary

Tons of pepper

2 pork tenderloins

Instructions

Dump all the ingredients, save the pork, in a zip top bag and mix it together.  Add the two tenderloins and marinate overnight.  I have done it the morning of, but it is really better if you can let it soak up all the flava flave overnight.  

When you are ready to grill, pull it out of the marinade and pitch the juices.  I live in the world of pink pork, so this recipe is geared towards medium.  Heat your grill to medium.  Sear for one minute on all sides and then cook for 20 to 25 minutes.  (We check the temperature of the meat at 20 minutes.)  When meat thermometer reaches 137* in the meatiest portion, you are dones-o.  Pull it off and cover it with foil and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.  Cooked to 137* in the meatiest part will make the ends more done with the center more pink.  (Thank you Ina Garten for that little tip!)

**The perfect side (besides the crispy fried potatoes, of course, is Garlic Roasted Cauliflower!

Girlfriends' Weekend, Part 2

The girlfriends and I walked around a beautiful little lake after our fabulous lunch at the Creekside Cellars (see Part 1).  It was a perfect day!  Thanks Meg!

Oh my, it has been a while.  I fully intended for Part 2 to be published fairly close to Part 1, but the summer has made me lazy!  Oh wait, that is a lie.  I have been packing, jetting to California to meet my new niece, packing, going to the zoo, going to the pool, saying goodbye to old friends, and packing some more!  By this time next week, we will be official residents of Charlottesville, Virginia!  I cannot believe our last few weeks in Kansas are coming to a close!

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes!

So to continue on the Girlfriends' Culinary adventure, Miss Meg made us the most amazing Buttermilk Oatmeal Pancakes - they were AMAZING.  Now, these are not healthy pancakes pretending to be the traditional pancakes, they definitely have a different flava flave. 

I would call them more nutty - I could eat them everyday!  Meg served them with real maple syrup, which I don't normally like.  But when I tried my version at home with some Log Cabin, I will say the maple syrup takes the cake on this one.  The fake stuff just didn't do it for me.  My mom would be proud :)

Oatmeal Buttermilk Pancakes 

Makes 16-20 pancakes

Combine in a large bowl:

2 C old-fashioned (or quick) oats

½ C flour plus 2 Tbsp (I used whole wheat)*

3 T sugar (Meg uses less)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Whisk together in a medium bowl, then add to dry ingredients:

2 ½ C Buttermilk (I used low fat)

2 large eggs

¼ C unsalted butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk all together until blended, but some small lumps remain.  Batter can be made up to 1 day ahead.  Ladle batter by ¼ cupfuls onto hot skillet.  Cook until bottoms are golden brown and bubbles form on top, about 2 minutes.  Turn and cook another 2 minutes.

*Meg lives in Denver, thus this recipe is for high altitude.  We added a couple extra tablespoons of flour to make them a little thicker.  The recipe creates naturally thin, "lacy" pancakes and with the altitude, more flour is key. In case yours are too thin, feel free to add a couple extra TBSP of flour!

 

Shopping with the girlfriends.  Wish I could do this every Sunday afternoon!

Girlfriend's Culinary Weekend - Part 1

Lunch with the girls at Creekside Cellars

Over Memorial Day weekend, my loving hubs bought me airline tickets to meet up with my 7 oldest friends for a Girlfriend Weekend!  IT WAS FABULOUS!  The last time all 8 of us were together was my wedding in 2008!

 

I love these ladies!  We spent the entire weekend catching up, eating, drinking delightful margs (for those who were not pregs, of course) and just enjoying spending time with one another!  Our gracious host, the other Megan, not only cooked every meal (with a smile on her face),  she also planned a little day trip for lunch in a little town in the foothills called Evergreen.  We ate at Creekside Cellars and I wish I could have lunch there every Saturday with the girls! 

 

I ordered the heirloom tomato caprese salad with 12 year aged balsamic reduction - holy crap.  It was AMAZING.  And I am so glad I got it just for me!!  The rest of the ladies got a fig and prosciutto panini that sounded amazing, and then it didn't as I am pregnant and my taste buds flip flop that quickly!

Katie, Meg, Di and Steph prepping the food for dinner!

 Meg made such WONDERFUL food!  This post is dedicated to the stuffed mini peppers that were delish!!!

 

We had them as a side dish to yummy pork tenderloin (a marinade from my mom that I have been meaning to post!) but I think they would be fabulous as an appetizer as well!

 

The eight of us ate every last one of these puppies...with very little guilt I might add!

Grilled Stuffed Peppers (serves 4)

1/3 C -  1/3 less fat cream cheese

2 T chopped fresh cilantro

2 T light sour cream

8 mini bell peppers

2 T chopped green onions, more or less

2 T chopped shallots (mild onions worked for me)

1 1/2 T lime juice

Combine all ingredients save the mini bell pepers.  Halve peppers lengthwise and discard seeds.  Divide cheese mix among pepper halves.  Place peppers on grill rack coated with cooking spray over med. heat (I used a grilling pan placed on the rack).  Grill 7 minutes or until charred.

Stay tuned for fried potatoes and oatmeal buttermilk pancakes!

Please note Steph trying to sneak into the picture!