Getting Creative in the Kitchen

One thing I've been thinking on lately while just weeks away from crossing into the threshold of my 3rd trimester of my first pregnancy... is FOOD.

I've always had food issues as far back as I can remember, at least back into middle school {yes I know most call it "junior high" but us rural country folk, we did not}. My brother and I would sometimes concoct weird food combinations when it was just the two of us and he was "watching" me while mom was still at work after we got home from school.

Granted his "watching" me also included occasionally tying a rope onto the bathroom door, around the corner to the family room door, and hearing me squeal as loudly as I could {i.e. "hissy fit"} when he would let me stay locked in there for a little bit. Ohhh sweet sibling rivalry. Can you believe I have every hope & prayer that I have a little girl after this one so that I have a boy and a girl, and that my girl would get the joys of an older brother just like I had?! Because who cares about getting locked into a bathroom when you're younger if when you're older you get the greatest big brother ever?!?!? Love and admire him more than words can say, and I pray that for my own children.

Wow, I got so off track.... Anyway, I had ketchup on my Oatmeal Creme Pies, melted butter onto my bread with some sugar in the microwave {we didn't have a toaster}, and so on. I remember raiding our kitchen cabinets for anything out of the ordinary. But only when mom wasn't there. I was a stinker. I remember starting to struggle with weight around that time, and starting to make bad health choices because I enjoyed those things more than I enjoyed what was given to me and told of me to eat.

My little rebellious heart started roaring its ugly head.

And my rebellion and struggle with food has lastest decades. I always feel really badly for my mom here, because quite frankly, she did everything right. Raised me properly to have healthy foods and to be active. My rebellious heart just couldn't handle the "no, don't eat that" and wanted to eat it anyway. Sounds a bit like Eve in the Garden of Eden, eh?!

So yeah, all of this is definitely not something I am proud of. It's my thing. I never struggled with alcohol, drugs, or smoking. Never wanted any of that, never touched any of that. My issue is food. Ohhhh how I love food.

As I look toward raising a son who makes good choices, hopefully better ones than I have, I struggle with what I feed myself right now. I've done the uber healthy choices and forced food down my throat despite wanting to gag {ugh vegetables... hello learning to hide them again to trick my brain!}. I've done the splurges of allowing milkshakes and junk all for the sake of just mindless eating because an apple was just "too hard" and pregnancy was "so tiring". I've done the in-between and the roller coasters, and I'm just so fed up with worrying about food!!!! Gah!

All that to say, I'm happy with the results of the past week {well, now two weeks ago, it was the Tuesday to Tuesday that ended last week... I'm a bit behind on publishing this post!} of getting more creative in my kitchen at home. Feeding us new recipes or experiments, and trying to change things up from being so boring and same-old things. We were eating out quite a bit, and I want to watch our spending {at least somewhat, cuz I have money-spending issues too...} as we draw ever closer to baby. Though, buying food at the grocery store isn't so cheap these days either!

So I diverted into Pinterest and found a couple of recipes to try, plus two experiments of my own that, for whatever reason, I just hadn't done at home yet.

Now just please pardon the iPhone pics....

Chicken Potpie Pasta:

Original recipe: Martha Stewart

I was surprised this took roughly an hour to prep and cook. Granted, when I don't know a recipe, I tend to go more slowly and take my time.

My biggest frustration with this was seeing "3/4 pound penne pasta" on my printed recipe sheet and having no clue how much that meant in box terms at the store {I bought 2 just in case}. I looked it up on Google after getting home so that I didn't screw up the recipe. 1 16 oz. box is exactly what you need, though I can't remember the yummy whole-wheat brand I chose. Same with the green beans, I used a 12 oz. fresh bag of Green Giant, pre-washed/pre-trimmed {though I cut them in half and washed them again} and it was perfect. For the chicken broth, I bought Swanson's Organic {low sodium} in a 32 oz. container and used about half.

It was delicious! The cinnamon rolls {Pillsbury - they slide right out of the tube quite nicely ;)} on the side were a special treat for preggo lady. :) I didn't say I did a terrific job with the healthy stuff... but I'm on my way. It was a craving. Don't judge me.


Steak Fajitas:

Of course I neglected to take a picture before we tore into them.

Being the busy lady that I am {40-50 work weeks plus 1.5 hours on the road every weekday}, I do shortcuts. I do the best I can to be healthier with preservatives and what not, but I don't cook from scratch all the time. If I even attempted that in my crazy, tiny, no counters kitchen I really might scratch my eyes out!!

So this was made with Tyson's Grilled & Ready Frozen Seasoned Steak Strips. They contain no preservatives and are easy to toss into a skillet. It's either short-cut like this or eat out. That's just how I roll. You will not see me spend time to grill a steak {or have Tim do it} to pop them into something like this. That would mean putting a potato and a veggie on the side and call it a day. Oy. Just not my thing. Anyway, I had also purchased pre-cut peppers from Target and I sliced up part of an onion {we don't go overboard on onion in our house, phew!}. Sauteed those with some Fajita seasoning and we were set to go!

I set out sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, mild salsa, and our own tortillas {I use low-carb, whole wheat, 6" Mission tortillas, and he uses the larger whole wheat tortillas--whatever we can find that is somewhat low-carb}. We built our own and we loved every bite!!

Ham, Potato, and Green Beans in the Crockpot: 

Original recipe: Food.com

I didn't love the way it looked at first in the crock pot, so I added about a cup more of ham. I didn't use enough broth or I should have stirred it better. The ham was sitting on top of everything else and ended up being pretty dry. I figured since it was smaller and would cook faster, the potatoes should be toward the bottom. My bad.

The recipe suggested serving it with fresh, sliced tomatoes, so I did. It also suggested serving it with cornbread, so I did! We were both absolutely going nuts over the amazing-ness of this cornbread. It was Krusteaz Natural Honey Cornbread, and it is mouth-wateringly perfect!!! I will not confess whether or not there was any leftover after the evening was over....

Give it a whirl, trust me, it's easy and SO delish!


"Sausage & Gravy Biscuit Casserole" / now "Sausage & Cream Cheese Crescent Casserole":

Updated on my can't-believe-how-many-hits-I've-had-via-Pinterest previous post here.

So glad I ventured out a bit and gave this all a try!!


Disclaimer: The products represented here are entirely my choice of what I wanted to buy. No advertising and no requests from these companies to promote them. The opinions here are fully my own.

Easter

We love our church so much that we agreed several years ago that we would no longer travel over Easter. It's been really great to always be at our church for our incredible services.

This year that meant 6 Good Friday services on the main church campus {between which I hear we had 12,000 people in attendance, wahoo!}, where they did it differently than ever before {transformed the stage and had it go through the middle of the room like a runway, it was really cool!} and it was truly phenomenal, and extremely powerful! As always the room was dark and somber, and they encouraged everyone to dress in black to remember the solemness of the occasion.

Our pastor posted a clip on his blog of one of the songs they sang at the GF services. It was interesting to hear this rendition, and I especially loved the way the orchestra did it! You can't tell because the room was so dark, but there are a few thousand people surrounding the stage in a half circle, and the orchestra was off to the side behind them. So cool!

Then Sunday comes and we truly celebrate like nowhere else I've ever been {and going from the somber Good Friday services the way we do, the celebration is even more memorable and real}, with loud cheers, clapping, shouts of joy, signs saying stuff like "He is Risen" or "He is Alive", and this year we also had confetti! So fun, a true celebration, and we just love it!!

Here's a video clip of what hubby captured on his little video camera during the celebration. :)

A couple hours later, at about the same time I managed to start feeling sickly, we headed the half hour to Tim's mom's house where we had a mini-family gathering {only 2 of his siblings were there}... and I wound up spending the two hours we stayed there {very unusually short} between the couch and the bathroom. :(

Here are a few pics from my viewpoint on the couch...

nephew Ashdyn

niece Carrissa, looks mad here but she's really not, just chilling out

bro-in-law Chris getting licked by Oreo

niece Hayley

Carrissa & Hayley comparing hand sizes

On Saturday night & Sunday morning {before getting all sickly}, I made my food contributions for the gathering.

Crock-pot Cheddar Cheese Spirals {fancy way of saying Mac n Cheese :) - from my sis-in-law Jeremi}:

1 16 oz package spiral pasta {I use Dreamfields Rotini}
1 16 oz container {2 cups} half and half cream
1 10 3/4 oz can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 c. butter, melted
4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Cook pasta according to package, drain. Pour cream, soup, and butter into 5 qt. crock pot and stir until smooth. Add pasta and cheese, stir. Cover and cook on low for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until cheese is melted. {For me when I'm traveling, I cook it for 1 hour and 15 min on low at minimum, then cook on high when I get to my destination for at least 30 min. It seems to do the trick, but my crock pot also cooks faster than some.} Makes 12-15 servings.


Chocolate chip peanut butter squares {a staple in Tim's family gatherings now as it's regularly requested}

My personal modifications to this recipe: I slightly grease the pan. I also add a little more than half the dough to the bottom because the bottom always needs more than the top. When mixing the sugar, p.b., and vanilla, mix together with your hands toward the end to ensure sugar has blended in well and there aren't any chunks. My oven cooks fast so I normally pull it out at 28-30 minutes. If you chill for more than an hour, let it sit out for 20-30 minutes to soften a little or it's too hard.


Brownies {from my coworker Joe's wife - these are also a constant staple in family gatherings now}

2 13 x 9 Family Size Betty Crocker Brownie Mixes {you don't have to use that brand but that's my preference and I think it turns out the best}
Add ingredients according to package {making sure to double the amount for 2 mixes}
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 15 x 10 {or so, note that this is an unusual size, it makes the brownies thicker and more awesome} pan with parchment paper. Very lightly spray the edges with cooking spray to keep the corners in place. Mix together brownie mixes, ingredients on packaging, and about 1/4 bag of chocolate chips. Pour into pan and spread until even. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean.


Hope you all had a really wonderful Easter!!!

No Salt? They're Kidding, Right?

Where would we be without salt?

Well, we might be able to find that out soon enough! Check out the full story here at the NY Daily News. I think the line about going to a hospital for their food instead was just spot on.

Really? Maybe this isn't a terrible idea. Maybe we could all use a little less salt. But ban it altogether?

Hmm, food for thought.

Salad and Bread

As most of you know, I'm trying really hard somewhat hard to lose weight. I wish I could say I was fully and completely in this thing, but sadly I am not. I don't know why, but don't worry, I'm working on it. I just hope I get there sooner rather than later! I'm there with the exercise. I still need to get there with the nutrition.

So tonight after my workout, I was feeling a bit vulnerable... and knew we had hardly anything good to work with in the fridge that I actually felt like utilizing. Thankfully we had enough ingredients on hand to make a decent salad, and I'd hardboiled eggs last week, so... I threw together a salad.

And tossed in some bread.

The salad had romaine lettuce, mini cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, and already cooked ham but I sauteed it on the stove to brown/warm it a bit.

What do you think? I'm glad it tasted yummy and filled our tummies, cuz I had no other bright ideas brewing! I think ordering a pizza would have been the next step!

And yes, the bread is from a package... Pillsbury French Bread Loaf from the grocer's fridge section. I've never made homemade bread unless in a breadmaker. I'm just not domestic.

Um... at all.

And it was mmm mmm good!