Mother of the Year

Typically, I'm not one to bribe my kids.  Things change a bit at 3 a.m. On Tuesday night, Maddie came in and wanted to "snuggle".  This has become a theme the last few weeks.  Why she picks 3 in the morning, I'm not sure, but every night is the same story.  I, personally have no problem sleeping with her.  I could sleep on the side of the road and would have no trouble.  Nathan on the other hand, just can't do it.  SO…I have to be the bad guy and take her back to bed :) 

Maddie wouldn't stay in her room.  She thought of every excuse in her little two year old head to NOT stay in her room.  I couldn't take it anymore, I had to get back to sleep.  So I bribed her.  Yep.  Not proud, but I did, and it worked!  What did I bribe her with?  Gum!  Yep, not proud of that either.  Who gives a 2 year old gum?  Me, apparently.  Jack is obsessed with gum.  Every time we go to the store Jack needs gum.  Monkey see, monkey do and Maddie needs it too. 

We've been saying that she's a big girl now because she's potty trained and doing so well with it (no accidents…at all).  We keep telling Maddie that she can't have gum until she's bigger.  Maddie's response is, "I am bigger, I go poop on the potty!".  I can't argue with that, can I? 

So, we'll see how this gum thing goes.  Maybe she'll forget about it…HA! 

Cooking Class

Last night I took a cooking class with some friends in our neighborhood. How fun!

The class was held at Bekah Kate’s in Baraboo. http://www.bekahkates.com/modules/web/index.php/id/9

If you’ve never been to this store, it’s a must visit. Bekah Kate’s has kitchen tools, home décor, kids’ products, cheese (yum) and wine (YUM).

Our class was a focus on healthy foods for families. Chef Jeanne Raffetto Tentis was our chef for the night. Chef Jeanne is a “foodie”. Her family has owned restaurants for over three generations. She learned to cook from living it every day and learned a respect for food from her Italian grandmother. Chef Jeanne has been teaching cooking at MATC, Bekah Kate’s, and Orange Tree Imports in Madison. Her focus is on good ingredients, simple prep and buying local.

We enjoyed a glass (or two) of wine while watching Chef Jeanne prepare our first recipe. She taught us about texture and achieving a balance between great taste and visual appeal. The first recipe was a carrot hummus. Most hummus has a brownish color that isn’t very appealing and people tend to shy away from it. This hummus had an orange color that looked smooth and inviting.

It was fantastic. I’ve shared the recipe below for you to try:

CARROT HUMMUS

Recipe by Jeanne Raffetto Tentis

¾ - 1 lb. carrots, peeled, and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 can (15.5 oz) garbanzo beans (or same size can of cannellini beans)

1/3 cup roasted tahini (sesame paste)

1-2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Salt to taste

Dusting of ground sumac (optional) – this is for visual appeal

Steam carrots until very soft. In a food processor, puree carrots, beans, tahini, garlic, and lemon juice until smooth. Add salt to taste. Sever immediately or chill up to one day. Top with baby carrots and serve with wedges of pita for spreading.

Serves 10 (2 ½ cups)

Next up was a flavorful Kale Pesto. Some of you may turn your noses up at the mention of “kale”, but it’s fantastic and very versatile.

We have an abundance of Kale from our Community Supported Agriculture share (CSA) and have found several different ways to prepare it. I hadn’t tried it in a pesto before and I was pleasantly surprised. Chef Jeanne served this over a pasta, but also suggested serving on bruschetta as an appetizer. It was flavorful and packed with nutrition and cancer fighting glucosinolates. Eat Up!

*Kid bonus* - when I fist saw Chef Jeanne pour the pesto over the pasta, I immediately thought that this would be a great recipe for St. Patrick’s Day. The color is a very rich green and I know my kids would get a kick out of it. Maybe some mint shakes for dessert too!

KALE PESTO

Recipe by Jeanne Raffetto Tentis

½ cup plus 2 T EVOO

½ lb. kale, tough ribs removed and leaves chopped (either regular, curly or Tuscan kale, Tuscan is more tender)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup pine nuts, toasted

¼- ½ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano or a mixture of parmigiano & pecorino romano

¼ - ½ cup chicken stock or warmed/hot pasta water (optional)

For garnish: ¼ cup prosciutto, chopped and fried until crisp, if desired

Heat 2 T of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped kale and salt and pepper to taste and stir to coat the kale with oil. Add about 1/3 cup of water and cook until the kale is tender and the pan dry, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the kale to a blender/food processor. Add the garlic, pine nuts, cheese, and the remaining ½ cup oil. Blend until pureed. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

If the pesto is to be used as a sauce over pasta, add enough warm stock or pasta water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve over spaghetti, linguine or ravioli. Top with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano and prosciutto if desired.

Makes 1 cup

The kale recipe was fantastic. When making this personally, I plan to cut down on the oil and cheese.

Last we enjoyed a spicy ginger pork lettuce wrap. It reminded me a little of the lettuce wraps P.F. Chang's has on their menu. They were excellent. There are many different variations you could experipent with. You could use tofu, chicken, beans, etc. I think I'll throw some quinoa in the mix when I make them myself.

Here's the recipe:

SPICY GINGER PORK IN LETTUCE LEAVES 6 first course portions
Recipe by Jeanne Raffetto Tentis
¾ lb. ground pork (chicken or turkey can be substituted)
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 T fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1T Thai sweet chili sauce
1T Asian fish sauce or soy sauce
1t dark Asian sesame oil
1T +1t cooking oil
1 can (8oz.) water chestnuts, drained and diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2T oyster sauce
2T fresh cilantro, chopped
24 Boston lettuce leaves
1c carrot, julienned

In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork with the bell pepper, garlic, ginger, chili sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and 1T of the oil.
In a large skillet or wok, heat the remaining 1t of the oil until shimmering. Add the pork mixture and stir-fry over high heat, breaking it up, until it is cooked through and starting to brown, about 8 minutes.

Stir in the water chestnuts, scallions, oyster sauce and cilantro and remove from the heat.
Spoon the pork into bowls. Stack the lettuce leaves on plates.

To eat, spoon the pork onto the lettuce leaves, tope with carrot, roll up and eat.

Note: Romaine lettuce or Belgium endive can be substituted for Boston lettuce. To eat, use them as more of a scoop than a roll.
This class was a great thing to do with a bunch of friends. We shared different ideas and then got to shop in the store! It was a great night.

Have you ever taken a cooking class? What kinds of tips did you learn?

Christmas Decor

I haven't had a chance to post the pics of our house from this past Christmas.  Even though this was technically our 2nd Christmas in our house, we moved in last December and didn't really do too much except for put up the tree. 

I had so much fun decorating for Christmas!  A few of these ideas came from Pinterest...have I mentioned how much I love pinterest?  HA! 

Now it's time to take the Christmas decorations down and start decorating for Valentines Day.  I don't have many decorations, but plan on making a few new things! 

 Using my Cricut, I cut out letters to fit into these IKEA frames.  For the background I used a 12x12 piece of Christmas scrapbook paper.  I used raffia ribbon and attached a piece to the back of each frame and then connected the two pieces together.  I used this to hang some of our Christmas cards on. 

 This was an idea I found on Pinterest.  These are fresh pine bows and pine cones from Dave and Debbie's house.  I also got this grate Coca-Cola crate from Dave!  I used mason jars and votive candles inside the jars. 

These letters started out as plain cardboard.  I painted them red and then brushed on some brown paint to add dimension. 

Challenge to myself

So I've been pretty addicted to "Pinterest" lately.  Like really addicted, I might have a problem actually.

I suppose there are worse things to be addicted to.  Anyway...I've decided to challenge myself to only make recipes for our week found on Pinterest.  I figure people wouldn't post food that didn't taste good right?   Right?  I hope not.

I'll post the recipes that I try along with a rating from Nathan and the kids.  The kids gotta like it, otherwise what's the point.  I'm not running a restaurant and won't make two things for dinner.

First Up:  Steak & Roasted Shallot Pie with a mustard crust

Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1104648/steak-and-roasted-shallot-pie-with-a-mustard-crust

Stay tuned to find out what the fam thought!


-Happy Cooking-

Girls Day Out

Today was the second Saturday that I have taken Maddie into Madison to do some shopping and run errands.  Can I just say that she is the BEST shopper a mom could ask for?!?  She's the best.  Maddie not only gets excited about going to another store, but she also helps me find a parking spot! 

Today we ran to about 5 different stores and she was a peach!  I can already see that this is going to become our "thing" for Saturday's in the future. 

On the way home, Maddie took a nap surrounded by shopping bags, her hair in pig tails with frilly bows, bright pink sunglasses and completely zonked out.  I wish I had taken a picture. 

Jack and Nathan were busy at home changing the oil on the tractor...er "lawn tractor", getting the oil changed on the Jeep and fixing the Tivo.  They were busy too. 

Now we're of to Pizza Hut.  Not my pick, but Jack got a "book it" for a free personal pizza.  I remember when I was a kid I would get these too, but I got a huge pin, like the size of my face.  Now, they just give the kids a certificate to turn in.  Maybe the pins were too expensive...or maybe pins are totally 90's!  Anyway, Jack's excited and Nathan's happy because he likes Pizza Hut. 

Have a good weekend! 

Oh yea, wish me luck on Monday...I start my new gig.  I have tiny baby butterflies in my tummer.  Not huge one's, but they're still there :)

Happy Fall

It's been a crazy busy couple of months for this fam!  School started, new job, party planning and more!  I'm hoping to get back to blogging on a regular basis again.  Don't hold me to that though. 

Jack's having fun and doing great in school.  He really likes his class and his 1st grade teacher.  He comes home with very funny stories, which he tells in great detail!  He loves to write and illustrate his own stories, which is incredibly cute. 

Ms. Maddie is cracking us up.  She says the funniest damn things, like referring to her Uncle George as "Curious George" and getting upset with us when we correct her.  Oh, and she found some attitude somewhere!  Like the other day when she asked for more chocolate and Nathan said "no", Maddie turned and looked at him and said, "I was talkin' to Momma"!  Ok then...  :)

On Saturday we took the day off from responsibility and party planning and traveled "north" for some much needed outside time.  We went to Grandpa Dave and Grandma Debbie's land for the day.  The kids spent some time riding the four wheelers and Nathan and I went for a hike.  It was a great fall day and was just what I needed to get rid of my stress...for the day. 

Halloween was  really fun this year. Jack and Maddie dressed up as a Cowboy and Cowgirl, which was Maddie's idea.  Maddie was able to actually trick or treat and understand what she was doing.  Jack ran with his friends and would always grab a piece of candy for his sister at the houses that left a bowl on the step.  I dressed up as a cowgirl too.  It was fun...and cold, which I guess is expected for October in Wisconsin. 

Thanks for checking in on us!

Your mom goes to college...Kiwi College

Ever thought about making your house "green"?  Not the actual color green, think Eco Green.  I found this great site that offers free webinars on topics about going green, eating organically, raising organic/chemical free families and more. 

Check out the free webinars.  I participated in my first webinar last week, "Inspiring Health - Robyn O'Brien".  The session had a lot of great information about additives in the American food supply, food allergies and ideas to slowly incorporate organic and chemical free foods into your homes. 

You can check out this session and many more here:

http://www.kiwimagonline.com/college/

I think most of you know that we're pretty conscious about what we feed our kids.  Even Jack knows all about "high fructose corn syrup" and how we don't like it.  It's pretty funny to hear him talk about why it's bad and what we can choose that's better. 

I think it's great that Jack and Maddie would 9 times out of 10 reach for fruit over cookies. 

I hope you find some helpful information. 

Happy Learning!