As usual in my life, everything has been nuts. This hasn't left me with much time for blogging, but I made this recipe today and it was too delicious not to share. I'm not usually a "side of the box" recipe person, but my husband requested this one when he read it. Its an incredibly delicious dessert that I have officially added to my recipe box.
Prep time: <5 minutes (Chopping banana, measure ingredients)
Cook time - <10
Cool time < about an hour
Total < 1 hour 15 minutes
You'll need:
1 Box of Murray Vanilla Wafer (I stole the recipe from this brand, but any brand would do)
1 Banana (the box calls for 3, but my kids ate two of them before I could make it, I'll be sticking with 1)
1 cup of sugar
4 egg (yolks only)
2 Tbsp flour (all purpose)
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 tsp vanilla
Whipped topping (We didn't use this, it was great without it!)
1 large sauce pan
2 qt bowl
Spoon
1. Mix sugar, flour, egg yolk, and milk
2. Stir over medium until it boils (it'll thicken a little as it heats, keep stirring)
3. Remove from heat when it boils
4. Add in vanilla and stir well
5. Layer bottom of bowl with vanilla wafers and 1/2 the sliced banana
6.Put half of the pudding on top
7. Repeat wafer and banana
8. Top with the rest of the pudding
9. Refrigerate until cool, about 1 hour to 2 hours :)
ENJOY!
Pepper and Mommy
Monday, April 11, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Meal Plan
So, I went shopping a day early this week and cut off one meal from my last meal plan. Since it was pancakes and eggs I can get away with that. :) So having a meal plan doesn't necessarily box you into eating that during that particular night, its just helpful. I will switch things around as suited. I didn't really fill out the breakfast area too differently this week, though I usually do try and switch things up a bit/add new things. I did 10 hours of homework straight on Sunday, so I really didn't want to look at the computer any longer than necessary this week.
This week I'm planning on highlighting three recipes and showing how easy one other process is. I'll be giving the recipes for my pastries (though I stole the recipe from my other friend named Melissa, thank you by the way!) they're similar to a toaster strudel, but they're (mostly) homemade and come out of the oven. You can make them entirely homemade, but having two kids I don't always have time to make my own dough. These cheats save over an hour of time, so they're definitely worth it.
I'll also be giving the recipe for my pork chops, but I'm not quite sure which ones I'm going to make yet. So I'll post more details about that after they're made.
I also want to highlight a food option (meatless, how cool is that?) that I don't feel people make enough in their own homes. Falafel. Its seriously easy to make, extremely delicious, and if you cheat and buy the box mix a quick option too. I'm planning on take some pictures of the making process (no fryer required, just a fry pan and some veggie oil) and also some serving options. Since a lot of people don't make it, some people are really stumped with what to do with it. I can also include my tzatiki sauce, which is delicious with it.
So here's my meal plan for the week.
Some other tips for meal planning:
*Know your schedule and plan accordingly. My husband has a doctors appointment in Richmond today, so I'm keeping it simple. While I can cook with my two kids stuck to my legs like barnacles, its nice just to keep it simple. So I'm having sandwiches and salad for dinner. Higher in sodium than I like, but its only one meal. The rest of the weak balances that out.
*Holes in the schedule are okay. Saturday and Sunday I'm not sure what I'm making for breakfast. I have a box of pancake mix in the cabinet for mornings like this. Or if I'm tired, cereal and fruit it is.
*Breakfast can be any meal. Egg in a hole sandwich (ignore my spelling on my spreadsheet, I didn't spell chick it) is delicious, and the kids think its cool. I just use whatever cookie cutter shape they like at the moment, and put cook the egg in the hole. I'll post some pictures this week.
*Do baking all at once if possible. On Thursday I'm planning on making french bread pizza (it says pockets, but the dough wasn't on sale this week) So while I'm baking my pizzas for lunch, I can be preparing my pastries and just throw them in right after the pizza is done. Breakfast for the next morning: done. All I need to do in the morning is reheat and serve.
*Some times I don't know my side dishes. It depends whats in the cabinet, what we have laying around, or what I feel like cooking. Ergo Monday's question mark.
*Ask your families input. My brain was seriously fried when I did this (ergo misspellings) and I had a hole on Thursday night and I did NOT want to shop until I filled it. So I asked my husband and he jumped on the chance to beg for the enchiladas again (they're his favorite of the moment)
*Ready made meal options are okay every once and awhile. So I'm not totally proud of it, but some mornings handing my kids pop tarts is all I can really muster. I just try and make sure the majority of their week has less sugar than that.
This week I'm planning on highlighting three recipes and showing how easy one other process is. I'll be giving the recipes for my pastries (though I stole the recipe from my other friend named Melissa, thank you by the way!) they're similar to a toaster strudel, but they're (mostly) homemade and come out of the oven. You can make them entirely homemade, but having two kids I don't always have time to make my own dough. These cheats save over an hour of time, so they're definitely worth it.
I'll also be giving the recipe for my pork chops, but I'm not quite sure which ones I'm going to make yet. So I'll post more details about that after they're made.
I also want to highlight a food option (meatless, how cool is that?) that I don't feel people make enough in their own homes. Falafel. Its seriously easy to make, extremely delicious, and if you cheat and buy the box mix a quick option too. I'm planning on take some pictures of the making process (no fryer required, just a fry pan and some veggie oil) and also some serving options. Since a lot of people don't make it, some people are really stumped with what to do with it. I can also include my tzatiki sauce, which is delicious with it.
So here's my meal plan for the week.
Some other tips for meal planning:
*Know your schedule and plan accordingly. My husband has a doctors appointment in Richmond today, so I'm keeping it simple. While I can cook with my two kids stuck to my legs like barnacles, its nice just to keep it simple. So I'm having sandwiches and salad for dinner. Higher in sodium than I like, but its only one meal. The rest of the weak balances that out.
*Holes in the schedule are okay. Saturday and Sunday I'm not sure what I'm making for breakfast. I have a box of pancake mix in the cabinet for mornings like this. Or if I'm tired, cereal and fruit it is.
*Breakfast can be any meal. Egg in a hole sandwich (ignore my spelling on my spreadsheet, I didn't spell chick it) is delicious, and the kids think its cool. I just use whatever cookie cutter shape they like at the moment, and put cook the egg in the hole. I'll post some pictures this week.
*Do baking all at once if possible. On Thursday I'm planning on making french bread pizza (it says pockets, but the dough wasn't on sale this week) So while I'm baking my pizzas for lunch, I can be preparing my pastries and just throw them in right after the pizza is done. Breakfast for the next morning: done. All I need to do in the morning is reheat and serve.
*Some times I don't know my side dishes. It depends whats in the cabinet, what we have laying around, or what I feel like cooking. Ergo Monday's question mark.
*Ask your families input. My brain was seriously fried when I did this (ergo misspellings) and I had a hole on Thursday night and I did NOT want to shop until I filled it. So I asked my husband and he jumped on the chance to beg for the enchiladas again (they're his favorite of the moment)
*Ready made meal options are okay every once and awhile. So I'm not totally proud of it, but some mornings handing my kids pop tarts is all I can really muster. I just try and make sure the majority of their week has less sugar than that.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Italian Meatloaf, One Version
For my family meatloaf is sort of synonymous with "clean out the fridge". We'll pretty much try anything in it, and have never experienced something that doesn't work. So I say get crazy with your meatloaf. If you think you might want to add it, go for it. Once again, I'm not a measurer of spices. I just add them until I feel they look good. Another thing to do is to add things that are already seasoned, (like the pasta sauce in this one) just keep that in mind to adjust the saltiness when you're adding spices. Here's one that was a particular favorite.
Pepperoni Meatloaf
Approx 6 oz. Mozzarella cheese
1/4 lb of pepperoni
left over jar of pasta sauce
1 egg (a few spoons of sour cream can be used as an emulsifier if you want to leave this out, when we made this we were just out of eggs and it tasted great)
1 and 1/2 - 2lbs of ground beef. We usually use 90/10 or 95/5 depending
Salt
Italian herbs
Garlic powder
Italian bread crumbs (or left overs from a loaf of bread, torn up)
Pepper
Pre-heat oven to 350
Mix ground beef, spices, egg (or sour cream), and bread crumbs in a large bowl until well mixed.
Place half the mixture in a loaf pan
Spread thin layer of pepperoni, cheese, and sauce
Add other half of mixture on top
Add pepperoni, cheese, and sauce on top
Cover with foil
Bake for 1 hour or until heated throughout
Drain off any excess grease, this is optional, but I prefer to do so to cut some of the fat out of this
*Tips - I use the sauce on top, this keeps the cheese from melting.
The amounts of cheese, pepperoni, and sauce vary, because they're usually left overs from another recipe during the week. You can adjust this to pretty much any amount of these ingredients you have left, or you like. We like ours moderately cheesey, so we don't use a whole ton.
Sliced deli pepperoni works better than the packaged, because its easier to cut with a knife for serving.
To save money while shopping, have this recipe in the same week as a homemade pizza, or homemade pizza pockets. You can use the leftovers to make this, and save from having to buy ingredients for a whole different meal. (recipe for those to follow in a few days!)
You can add almost anything to this recipe you like thats in the fridge. Don't be afraid to experiment with your meatloaf.
Pepperoni Meatloaf
Approx 6 oz. Mozzarella cheese
1/4 lb of pepperoni
left over jar of pasta sauce
1 egg (a few spoons of sour cream can be used as an emulsifier if you want to leave this out, when we made this we were just out of eggs and it tasted great)
1 and 1/2 - 2lbs of ground beef. We usually use 90/10 or 95/5 depending
Salt
Italian herbs
Garlic powder
Italian bread crumbs (or left overs from a loaf of bread, torn up)
Pepper
Pre-heat oven to 350
Mix ground beef, spices, egg (or sour cream), and bread crumbs in a large bowl until well mixed.
Place half the mixture in a loaf pan
Spread thin layer of pepperoni, cheese, and sauce
Add other half of mixture on top
Add pepperoni, cheese, and sauce on top
Cover with foil
Bake for 1 hour or until heated throughout
Drain off any excess grease, this is optional, but I prefer to do so to cut some of the fat out of this
*Tips - I use the sauce on top, this keeps the cheese from melting.
The amounts of cheese, pepperoni, and sauce vary, because they're usually left overs from another recipe during the week. You can adjust this to pretty much any amount of these ingredients you have left, or you like. We like ours moderately cheesey, so we don't use a whole ton.
Sliced deli pepperoni works better than the packaged, because its easier to cut with a knife for serving.
To save money while shopping, have this recipe in the same week as a homemade pizza, or homemade pizza pockets. You can use the leftovers to make this, and save from having to buy ingredients for a whole different meal. (recipe for those to follow in a few days!)
You can add almost anything to this recipe you like thats in the fridge. Don't be afraid to experiment with your meatloaf.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Roasted Carrots with Honey
This is a super easy one, that my toddlers love!
*NOTE: Honey (even cooked according to some sources) should not be fed to infants under 12 months. Home cooking methods can not get the honey hot enough to destroy the botulism toxins.
Carrots (I use regular bunch carrots, you can use baby carrots or sticks too. Adjust cooking time accordingly)
Olive Oil
Honey
Pepper
Salt
Preheat Oven to 350
Drizzle with olive oil
Roll them to coat with oil
Pour honey over, I use a few drizzles to sweeten, about 1/8 of a cup, but my mom always used closer to 1/4 of a cup. You can adjust the sweetness as needed
Season with salt and pepper
Roll around again to coat evenly
Bake between 40 minutes to an hour. Bake longer to make them softer, less to make them crunchier. I bake them an hour for my two toddlers.
*Variations- Skip the honey and just use oil and pepper
Use butter in place of olive oil
Replace olive oil and honey with butter and brown sugar (just a few sprinkles of sugar and roll them a few times while baking to prevent burning.
*NOTE: Honey (even cooked according to some sources) should not be fed to infants under 12 months. Home cooking methods can not get the honey hot enough to destroy the botulism toxins.
Carrots (I use regular bunch carrots, you can use baby carrots or sticks too. Adjust cooking time accordingly)
Olive Oil
Honey
Pepper
Salt
Preheat Oven to 350
Drizzle with olive oil
Roll them to coat with oil
Pour honey over, I use a few drizzles to sweeten, about 1/8 of a cup, but my mom always used closer to 1/4 of a cup. You can adjust the sweetness as needed
Season with salt and pepper
Roll around again to coat evenly
Bake between 40 minutes to an hour. Bake longer to make them softer, less to make them crunchier. I bake them an hour for my two toddlers.
*Variations- Skip the honey and just use oil and pepper
Use butter in place of olive oil
Replace olive oil and honey with butter and brown sugar (just a few sprinkles of sugar and roll them a few times while baking to prevent burning.
Chicken Enchilada
Chicken Enchiladas:
Baking Dish- 13 x 11
Chicken - I used about 3/4 lb boneless skinless breast
Tortillas
Enchilada Sauce (I use red)
Monterey Jack Cheese
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Ortega Taco Sauce (This is optional)
PreHeat Oven to 350 -
Cube the chicken
Cook over medium heat until no longer pink.
Season with cumin, garlic powder, a few pinches of salt and pepper, and approx 1/4 cup of Taco Sauce (I don't measure spices.. everyone's tastes are different, season to your family's taste level)
Cook on low for an additional few minutes.
Spoon mixture into tortilla shells and roll. (You can also add cheese in the shell and roll for extra cheesiness)
Place seam side down on the pan
Pour enchilada sauce generously to coat
Cover with cheese generously
Place aluminum foil over baking dish
Bake approx 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly
Let stand a few minutes to cool
Serve with your choice of toppings. We use sour cream, and my husband adds some hot pepper flakes to taste
This is a family favorite of ours that is so simple to make. They sell kits to make this, but the sodium is so much higher, and they include MSG. Once you learn to season to your taste, you'll never want to buy a taco kit again!
Baking Dish- 13 x 11
Chicken - I used about 3/4 lb boneless skinless breast
Tortillas
Enchilada Sauce (I use red)
Monterey Jack Cheese
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Ortega Taco Sauce (This is optional)
PreHeat Oven to 350 -
Cube the chicken
Cook over medium heat until no longer pink.
Season with cumin, garlic powder, a few pinches of salt and pepper, and approx 1/4 cup of Taco Sauce (I don't measure spices.. everyone's tastes are different, season to your family's taste level)
Cook on low for an additional few minutes.
Spoon mixture into tortilla shells and roll. (You can also add cheese in the shell and roll for extra cheesiness)
Place seam side down on the pan
Pour enchilada sauce generously to coat
Cover with cheese generously
Place aluminum foil over baking dish
Bake approx 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly
Let stand a few minutes to cool
Serve with your choice of toppings. We use sour cream, and my husband adds some hot pepper flakes to taste
This is a family favorite of ours that is so simple to make. They sell kits to make this, but the sodium is so much higher, and they include MSG. Once you learn to season to your taste, you'll never want to buy a taco kit again!
Monkey Wrench in the Plans
So, David wasn't able to ship out this time. This changed my entire food list. I've had to go back and re-work everything. So, here's my first week plan. Things are a little crazy with a tight budget, and I've got a fussy toddler who only eats certain things now, so there isn't a large variety, especially with breakfast and lunch. This will change over the next few weeks. I like to think of this as an evolving work in progress. These are some really simple dishes, making my oven work over time this week. None of these involve anything special or complicated. Next week, when things settle down I'm planning on putting a few of my favorites, such as homemade baked potato soup. This is also really simple, and sooo much better than from a can, so please check me out again next week.
Some tips for making your own food plan:
1. Start on the day you go shopping. I shop on Wednesdays or Thursdays, so my list will always start there.
2. Use the freshest food first. This applies to meats AND veggies. My chicken and beef dishes are in the beginning of the week, and my fish toward the end, as I'm using a frozen variety this week. For the veggies, I use the salad first, then my root veggies, before going to the frozen veggies at the end of the week.
3. Give yourself a no cooking day. Mine is Friday this week. Cereal for breakfast, Peanut Butter and Jelly for lunch, and then ordering out for dinner. Mom's work 24/7, I like having a day out of the kitchen once and awhile.
4. Waffles are my quick go to for a hot breakfast for mornings after I've been up doing homework late (or watching Grey's Anatomy, hence Friday being no cooking day!)
5. Normally I don't do so many pre-made lunch meals in a row, but its been a crazy few weeks, and sometimes we just need a break!
6. When you put something on the list, you can type out a shopping list at the same time. Mine are usually on the same spreadsheet.
7. If you want to save paper and ink, you can skip printing it, and keep your food list in a folder or save it as your background picture.
8. If you run out of ideas, breakfast for dinner is ALWAYS a hit!
Here's a quick idea of how I do mine without further ado.
Some tips for making your own food plan:
1. Start on the day you go shopping. I shop on Wednesdays or Thursdays, so my list will always start there.
2. Use the freshest food first. This applies to meats AND veggies. My chicken and beef dishes are in the beginning of the week, and my fish toward the end, as I'm using a frozen variety this week. For the veggies, I use the salad first, then my root veggies, before going to the frozen veggies at the end of the week.
3. Give yourself a no cooking day. Mine is Friday this week. Cereal for breakfast, Peanut Butter and Jelly for lunch, and then ordering out for dinner. Mom's work 24/7, I like having a day out of the kitchen once and awhile.
4. Waffles are my quick go to for a hot breakfast for mornings after I've been up doing homework late (or watching Grey's Anatomy, hence Friday being no cooking day!)
5. Normally I don't do so many pre-made lunch meals in a row, but its been a crazy few weeks, and sometimes we just need a break!
6. When you put something on the list, you can type out a shopping list at the same time. Mine are usually on the same spreadsheet.
7. If you want to save paper and ink, you can skip printing it, and keep your food list in a folder or save it as your background picture.
8. If you run out of ideas, breakfast for dinner is ALWAYS a hit!
Here's a quick idea of how I do mine without further ado.
Any questions or suggestions please email me at Melissa.Brook@hotmail.com
If anyone wants the recipes for how I prepare things please feel free to email me! Eventually I'll work up to adding them all on here as a database sort of thing. (For examples, my pop tarts are homemade, and easily done! as are my mashed potatoes, and baked carrots.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Getting Ready To be a Married Single Parent.
I know I haven't been updating this as much as I should, but since my husband is leaving in 6 DAYS, I'll have a lot more time...
So, now I'm in the process of getting everything ready for him to leave. My first order of business was making a playroom. Since I only have a two bedroom apartment, how did I accomplish that? I moved K's "big boy" bed into our bedroom. This solves plenty of dilemmas for me. The first one is that I'm a hard sleeper, and I'm worried about K getting out of the apartment when I'm sleeping. The second dilemma that this solved was how to put two kids to bed at the same time. Since I still co-sleep with P, I lay with her in our bed until she falls asleep. We can all snuggle up together and read our good-night books until its lights out time. K can hop over to his bed and know I'm still in the room with him while he's falling asleep.
The playroom now holds their clothing, toys, and diapers. I have a small plastic table and chair set that should be here today(!). We can spend most of the day in there, and if I let them, they can even eat in there. I'm not sure about that quite yet..
I'm working on finalizing my weekly meal plan, and it should be done by this weekend. One of the cool things I added to my meal plan, is a shopping list on the next page of my spread sheet. When I add a meal to my planner, I can just scroll down and add the ingredients I need to buy during my weekly shopping trip. Right now I have my meal plan set up for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; I'm thinking of making one that includes snacks too, but I'm not sure yet.
Right now in my notebook, I have a master list of things I like to cook organized by main ingredient, (Chicken, Beef, Pork, Pasta, Egg.. etc) So I can go through my list and plug things in there depending on what's on sale, and make sure I still vary their diet. While my cooking isn't the healthiest yet, I like to think of it as a work in progress. Every day I'm finding new recipes to add to my collection, and new healthier options. I anticipate by the time David comes home, I'll have added an entire new diet to our list!
I look forward to seeing where this adventure takes my family!
So, now I'm in the process of getting everything ready for him to leave. My first order of business was making a playroom. Since I only have a two bedroom apartment, how did I accomplish that? I moved K's "big boy" bed into our bedroom. This solves plenty of dilemmas for me. The first one is that I'm a hard sleeper, and I'm worried about K getting out of the apartment when I'm sleeping. The second dilemma that this solved was how to put two kids to bed at the same time. Since I still co-sleep with P, I lay with her in our bed until she falls asleep. We can all snuggle up together and read our good-night books until its lights out time. K can hop over to his bed and know I'm still in the room with him while he's falling asleep.
The playroom now holds their clothing, toys, and diapers. I have a small plastic table and chair set that should be here today(!). We can spend most of the day in there, and if I let them, they can even eat in there. I'm not sure about that quite yet..
I'm working on finalizing my weekly meal plan, and it should be done by this weekend. One of the cool things I added to my meal plan, is a shopping list on the next page of my spread sheet. When I add a meal to my planner, I can just scroll down and add the ingredients I need to buy during my weekly shopping trip. Right now I have my meal plan set up for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; I'm thinking of making one that includes snacks too, but I'm not sure yet.
Right now in my notebook, I have a master list of things I like to cook organized by main ingredient, (Chicken, Beef, Pork, Pasta, Egg.. etc) So I can go through my list and plug things in there depending on what's on sale, and make sure I still vary their diet. While my cooking isn't the healthiest yet, I like to think of it as a work in progress. Every day I'm finding new recipes to add to my collection, and new healthier options. I anticipate by the time David comes home, I'll have added an entire new diet to our list!
I look forward to seeing where this adventure takes my family!
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