Making Dough

Onion Ring is making a little money this summer selling french bread of his own baking to some of our neighbors. Check out his recipe here.

Doesn't it look good? It is!

Gratitude

This is what I made for dinner last night.

This is what Junior said when I asked him to say the blessing: "Thank you for this gross soup."

From Me to You

These are the treats I (I wish I could say "we" but I've never been that great at letting the boys help out with stuff like this but I'm working on it) made for the neighbors this year.

For the truffles I used Pioneer Woman's recipe found here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/10/chocolate-truffles-with-sea-salt/. I also used a variety of chocolate chip flavors for the fillings, such as butterscotch, mint, cinnamon, white, and dark chocolate, and for the coating I used white, milk, and dark chocolate creating a variety of combinations and toppings. Although I forgot to try the sea salt topping recommended by PW. Silly me.

I have to say they are mighty good.

So good that I wanted to share them with all of you who don't live in my neighborhood.

Consider it my gift to you--virtual chocolates!

Is your mouth watering? Can't you just almost taste them?

In case you didn't know, virtual chocolates are calorie free. I could call them "Choc Zero".

Enjoy!

The Magic Tuna Loaf

ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL EVENTS OR LOCALES OR PERSONS, LIVING OR DEAD, IS ENTIRELY INTENTIONAL.

There once was a fat baby.

He had a double chin, huge chunky thighs, and rolls of squeezy baby flesh in every place imaginable.

This fat baby loved to eat. He happily ate many good and nourishing foods such as beans, turnips, and squash. He gobbled up meat, potatos, and bread. He loved apples, bananas, and peaches. He was known to eat large bowls of oatmeal by shoveling huge spoonfuls into his mouth without spilling a drop. Anything that his good mother lovingly cooked for him, he ate with gusto.

His parents looked upon his chubby baby body full of pride. They imagined their son growing up rosy and robust, winning football games for his school and becoming national chess champion (because he was smart,too).

They delighted in their young son's physical prowess, marveling that he crawled and walked and ran at such a young age.

But then one day the fat baby refused to eat his supper. His parents were aghast. "How can this be?" they queried. They had expected him to gobble up the potato and ham casserol his mother had placed before him. They decided it must be a phase and gave him toast.

Days became weeks then months then years and still the baby refused to eat anything but toast and milk though what he really craved was junk food.

However, his mother refused to feed him junk food on a regular basis so he subsisted on toast and milk. The fat baby became a skinny boy. His parents tried everything: coaxing, threatening, punishing, rewarding, taking him to the doctor, but still the skinny boy would only eat toast and milk.

His bones began to protrude sharply and his legs were like sticks. His parents looked at one another and sucked in their breath in dismay day after day when the skinny boy continually refused the tasty morsels his mother labored so diligently to prepare.

After many years of this hardship, on a cold, sunny November day, his mother made The Magic Tuna Loaf.

Though she didn't know it at the time, it was soon apparent that it was magic because the skinny boy ate serving after serving of this tuna loaf. His parents were aghast. "How can this be?" they queried once again.

And while his parents are uncertain as to whether the tuna loaf's magic will have lasting effect, they don't mind because now they at least have hope for their skinny boy.

Recipe for Magic Tuna Loaf

Add 1 1/2 cups dry macaroni (I like whole wheat) to boiling water to make 3 c. cooked

In a large skillet or pan fry together:
1/4-1/2 c. chopped onion
2 T. butter

Then add:
1 can evaporated milk plus enough water to make 2 cups
1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese
Bring to a quick boil and remove from heat.

Then add:
1 1/4 c. soft bread crumbs (again, I like whole wheat, and I just tear or cut up a couple of pieces of bread to make the crumbs)
1 can tuna, drained
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper

Beat 3 eggs and temper them with the hot mixture before adding, and mix it all together thoroughly along with the 3 c. cooked macaroni.

Pour mixture into a large, greased loaf pan and bake in a 325 degree oven for an hour and fifteen minutes. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into slices and serving.

Pumpkin Pancakes

It's pumkin season! Most Saturday mornings we have pancakes for breakfast and this morning we had these pumpkin pancakes. The recipe I use is found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Pancakes/Detail.aspx and I use whole wheat flour in place of the white. It's my personal favorite and the boys really like them. It's a great way to use up the pumpkin from the garden.

Dinner Tonight

Here is what we had for dinner tonight.

The reason I am sharing is because this is one of the few (healthy) meals that all of the boys in this house will eat--a very big deal around these parts. If you are interested, the chicken nugget recipe is here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/parmesan-chicken-recipe/index.html. I used whole wheat flour and whole wheat bread crumbs to avoid refined carbs and I made it shake 'n bake style, alternately shaking on the flour, eggs, and bread crumbs in a big zip-lock bag so I didn't have to dip every little piece of chicken and it worked quite well. The salad is simple--green leaf lettuce with chopped green onion and crumbled bacon--but it is the dressing that makes it a winner with the boys. Three out of the four boys ate salad which is even more miraculous and is directly attributable to the tasty dressing found at the end of this post: http://picky-palate.com/2009/05/04/10-minute-creamy-purse-pasta-and-pecan/ . We ate this with homemade baked french fries.

A Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Would you like a glimpse into our lives on a lazy Sunday afternoon? Here is what the kitchen and living room look like. Pretty much every other part of the house looks similar. Even though we cleaned it on Friday.

Are we slobs? Do we lack discipline? Please don't answer. Just come clean my house.

These two were conquering in the back yard.

And just hanging out.

These two were deeply involved in "Gregor the Overlander" sequels and had been ensconced like this for hours.

And this is what I made for Sunday dinner. If it looks good to you, here is the recipe: http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/2008/09/corn-and-black-bean-salad-with-cumin.html. If you think it looks gross, then you think like the young boys in this house. The young boys in this house are not the good little kind of boys who willingly eat their vegetables. They wouldn't touch something like this with a five hundred and three foot stick.

They had pancakes left over from breakfast for dinner.

Food, Glorious Food

I recently made the absolute best and most fabulously, fantastically, wonderfully delicious pizza that I have ever made. So in order to glory in my creation I'm posting about it. I also think it is fun to take note of the different likes and dislikes of the boys, food-wise.

One thing that made this pizza so awesome was the crust. Here is where I got the recipe:

http://rosas-yummy-yums.blogspot.com/2008/10/basic-pizza-dough-daring-bakers.html. For a long time I have been trying to figure out how to make pizza crust as good as restaraunt crust. This recipe is it! I altered it by replacing the white flour with whole wheat and about 1/3 cup of vital wheat gluten flour because I wanted a whole wheat crust. I also had to add a lot of extra water. I don't know if the extra water would have been necessary with white flour, but I had to add at least a half cup more water to achieve the soft dough described in the recipe. I used my bread maker to mix it since I don't have a bread mixer. It worked like a charm. The overnight rest is the key. I was even able to stretch the dough by tossing because it was so soft and elastic.

For the boys I made half pepperoni and half cheese (no sauce on the cheese side) in order to accomodate certain picky eaters. (I won't mention names-cough!-Buttermilk Sky-cough!)

For Brandon and myself, I made this beauty. Here is where I got the recipe for this heavenly thing: http://www.picky-palate.com/2009/02/some-smokin-valentines-day-recipes-and.html

Here is Buttermilk Sky downing his cheese pizza.

Here is Junior/kitty enjoying the pepperoni/kitty food.

Eggs on Toast enjoyed his pepperoni, too.

Somehow I missed photographing Onion Ring eating his pepperoni. He can put that stuff away unlike anything I've ever seen.

Luckily no one else was interested in The Best Pizza on the Face of the Whole Entire Earth. Brandon and I got it all to ourselves.