Jetrocket-Quick Ohio Trip

The year was 2008. A longtime friend of the family made the treacherous journey from Ohio to California, with a toddler in tow and a baby girl on the the way. All because I was getting married. All that to say this: it was my turn to pay a visit. ;-) Off I went, into the wild blue yonder. First of all let me say that traveling in airports is not a big deal, at all. But, for weeks before the trip, I stress out about it. Will I make my connecting flight? Will I have a Todd Beamer moment just before my untimely death? Will I contract a deadly staph infection in those disgusting moments at the TSA walk-through where I am forced to remove my shoes? Frankly, I never worry about most anything when it comes to traveling, because my lovely hubby has a career in Aviation. He knows just about everything there is to know, and mostly I just follow along behind him with my face shoved entirely too close to my iPhone, producing my ID when he tells me to. Traveling alone is a completely different animal.

Once I got to the freezing cold state of Ohio, the few days I spent there passed like a blur. The kids are so big now, and I got to meet the youngest two for the first time. It was a 3-day gab fest. That first night, we stayed up until 3:48. Ouch! I had such a great time, and I'm hoping to convince my lovely friend that the next turn is indeed hers. At least I have warm weather & beach to further my cause! :)

Within 5 minutes of being in 34-degree weather, my face felt completely numb. My official tolerance time for cold is 7 minutes. I now refer to Ohio as "frozen, God-forsaken tundra." I can't imagine how I would have survived had it actually snowed.

Even after staying up till nearly 4am, how can you resist this face the next morning??? Lauren is 3 mos. old. A shiny new human! 

She is literally the happiest baby on the planet. 

Cutie! 

Ashley is three. She loves to sing songs and read books! And yes, it's true. No matter what type of person you are, when a three-year-old hands you a toy phone, you say hello.

Sisters! 

Jason is six. He was not prepared for a photo op at this exact moment because he was playing a game. He's quite a little gentleman.

My feeble attempt at playing with action figures, and a few snapshots of the kids.

We toured the Anthony Thomas Chocolate Factory. It was incredibly fun, although I'm not sure how wise it was of me to hang out in a building with thousands of tons of chocolate on hand. :) 

A 235-lb buckeye. Who in the world would pay $3500 for this thing!!! 

f

Joanna and me. I'm not sure what happened here but I look insanely awkward. At least she looks great. She looks way to good to have a three-month old! 

Lauren and mommy! 

Cream Puff Cake

Recently, I took a jetrocket-quick trip over to Ohio to visit a friend. While I was there, she made a delightful cream puff cake. Needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I think you should all make it. :-) It was light, creamy, easy, and it utilizes vanilla pudding which might by one of my favorite things ever.

I didn't used to know anyone who is so organized that all of their recipes are typed, laminated, and organized in a binder, but now I do. I mean check this out. Ha! Please keep in mind that the recipe pictured is for CREAM PUFFS and we made a CREAM PUFF CAKE. So don't be confused. :-)

Cream Puff Cake

1 cup hot water 

1/2 cup butter

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup flour

4 eggs

Filling 

1 small pkg instant vanilla pudding

1-3/4 c milk

1/2 tub cool whip

Mix together the pudding mix and milk, and refrigerate until it sets. Fold in the cool whip. 

(You may use the entire tub if you want, but we used the "other half" right on top.)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small pot, bring water, butter, & salt to a full, rolling boil, then add the flour all at once and stir quickly to form the mix into a ball. 

Now, dump your perfect little dough ball into a mixing bowl. Duh.

Now, beat in the eggs with a hand mixer,  one at a time.

Spread the dough out into a 9x13" pan. Be quick about it. Don't overthink it or overstir it, like I tried to. It's a warm, clumpy mess, and you're going to feel like you've done something wrong. Don't be afraid. It will be okay. Pop this little sugar in the oven for 15 minutes, then lower the temp to 350 and continue baking it for 25 minutes. You will be tempted to take it out early, because it smells really fragrant. Don't do it. Seriously, it needs the entire 40 minutes to bake. 

Once it's all baked up, let it cool completely. Now, you're ready to top it. 

Now hopefully you were smart and mixed your pudding in that ginormous, yawning 40-minute time gap, but if not, you're just gonna have to wait a little longer. 

Dump out the remaining half tub of cool whip, and spread it out.

Isn't everything better with a drizzle of chocolate????

Eat me. I'm yummy.

Old-Fashioned Pot Roast

Let me preface this post by saying that I'm not particularly a fan of red meat. I prefer poultry. When I say, "not a fan," understand that I mean that I can barely touch or cook the stuff without triggering my gag reflex. It just smells and looks horrid when it's raw. However, a couple of weeks my husband had a manly meltdown and begged me to cook red meat. So I did (three times, actually) because I felt horrible for unwittingly making him slightly miserable. :-) There must have been something to his desperate cries for red meat, because even our pets circled the kitchen like hungry vultures. Weird. :-) 

I know this will come as a shock, but there was actually a time when Pot Roast was cooked.....in a pot! Haha. It seems like nowadays the only recipes to be found are crock pot recipes. I did some reading on roast, and even made a special trip to a store to buy a special cut of meat (chuck roast), and also devoted my entire afternoon to making said roast. I also decided to make this roast with assorted root vegetables instead of carrots and potatoes. That was interesting. Not bad, just different. ;-)

You will need:  chuck roast, onions, carrots, rutabaga, turnips, parsnip, kosher salt, pepper, beef stock, fresh thyme, fresh rosemary (if you have it; if not, dried is fine). If you already know that you hate "assorted root veggies," go ahead and use potatoes and carrots.

Wash and drain your root veggies.

Get your roast ready to go--unwrap it and put it on a plate (I always use paper!) near the stove. Add generous amounts of kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. LOTS! You're seasoning a lot of meat and you've gotta make sure it will taste good. 

Next: cut the onions in half from root to tip, peel 'em, and then slice off the "icky part" on top and bottom. Cut the other veggies into large chunks. Heat about 4 tbsp of olive oil in a dutch oven, and cook the onions for 1 minute on each side. Add your other root veggies next. You may need to do this in batches, because the veggies all need space and time to get their outsides delightfully caramelized. As the veggies cook, sprinkle them LIGHTLY with salt & pepper. Once all the veggies have been browned,  set them aside. *Note: do not peel the carrots/parsnip etc. Also keep in mind you are not trying to COOK them, just get a nice color and flavor going on the outside.

Add some fresh olive oil (you can wipe out the pot in between veggies and meat if you are totally neurotic), and sear the meat about 2 minutes per side until a beautiful, golden-brown crust forms. Now--remove the meat from the dutch oven and, with your burner on medium-high, deglaze the pot with about 1-1/2 cups of beef stock. Use a nice, strong wooden spoon that won't break--and scrape off every bit of "brown stuff" from the bottom of the pot. That stuff will add amazing flavor to your dish. Toss in a couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce if you're feeling it. Or not. I have a feeling it wouldn't really matter to much. :-)

Now, I'm a freak and I removed the liquid into a measuring cup, then place my meat and veggies "just so" in the Dutch oven. I sprinkled some rosemary and thyme on, too. About a teaspoon of each. Delightful. 

I then poured the liquid back on top, added an extra cup of stock (2-1/2 cups total liquid), put the lid on, and put this into my pre-heated oven @ 275 degrees. Plan on a minimum of 3-1/2 hours of cook time for a 3-lb roast. Add an extra hour for each additional pound of meat. Don't touch it, talk to it, look at it,  or even so much as open the oven. Go do your thing. Dance. Clean. Whatever. Just don't touch the oven for at least 3-1/2 hours. 

Your patience will eventually be rewarded, and you can remove your pot roast to a serving platter and sweetly nestle the root vegetables around it for a great photo. If you like, go ahead and run the liquid through a fine strainer, and make some gravy. A couple of tablespoons of corn starch dissolved in cold water and added to the liquid will be magical. Bring it to a boil, then turn the heat to low and stir for a few minutes, until the liquid thickens enough to be called gravy. Add browning or whatever if you're fancy. I'm not. It won't change the taste, but it will make you feel fantastic. 

Carve into 1-1/2" slices and serve with root vegetables. If you cooked it long enough, when you start to cut it up, it will sorta "shred" because it should be pretty tender. Delish. 

Egg Muffins

 The last two weeks have been insanely chilly for our area. It's actually dipped into the high 50's a time or two. I know, go ahead and laugh. But since it's normally in the 80's and 90's my blood is about as thin as water, I think.  The frigid climate has left me with the urge to prepare for winter hibernation. (ha, ha!) Deadly winter foods suddenly jumped into my shopping cart. Delicious homemade soups and stews, muffins, dinner rolls, etc. have made their way into my life. Carbs, carbs, carbs. Then it was time to do my weekly weigh-in. That +5 was infuriating. So of course I trudged back to the grocery store tonight to stock my house with all the things I should be eating, even though I don't always feel like it. After a sad plod around *only* the outside of the grocery store, I have everything I need for the week... including 15 different veggies.

The cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle is preparation...so, I prepared my week's breakfast. If I see (aka smell) another hard boiled egg I think I will vomit, so I decided on egg muffins from Kalyn's Kitchen. They were assembled and in the oven in 15 minutes, and need 30 minutes to bake. They look good and smell good, so hopefully they won't disappoint in the morning. I've got 6 days worth of breakfast premade. Yay me.

Egg Muffins

6 eggs (Yes, I use organic, cage-free eggs. Use whatever you want)
1 c. + 2 tbsp egg whites (Organic valley is my go-to.)
8 oz pkg of diced ham (I used Cumberland Gap)
1/2 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese (Kraft)
1 bell pepper
2 bunches of scallions
salt, pepper, paprika, & garlic

Finely dice the veggies and set aside. Toss the ham and cheese together with a fork, then add about 1/2 tsp salt, a few dashes of pepper, and a hearty dash of smoked paprika. Stir until well combined. In yet another bowl (I know, dirty dishes galore) beat the eggs and egg whites together.

 

Place 12 "metal" muffin liners in a muffin pan and spray with nonstick spray. I "layered" these muffins: ham and cheese as the first layer, veggies next, and then poured the egg on top. The tins were about 3/4 full. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Cool at least 20 minutes before refrigerating.

Nutrition Facts: 1 muffin = 80 calories, 3 g fat, 2 g carbs, 10 g protein, 1 g sugar

Creamy Potato-Veggie Soup

Living in the tropics, we usually get about 5 minutes worth of weather that's cold enough for long enough that the hubby will be willing to eat soup. The weather has been "so chilly" lately that I decided to capitalize on prime soup season. Mmmmmmmmmm, soup. My favorite! I was inspired by the delicious simplicity that was the potato soup on my friend Ashley's blog, and decided to make another type of potato soup tonight. I have a lot of potatoes, and had a couple of bags of fresh vegetables that I got on sale for $1 each this week. Creamy potato-vegetable soup started to take shape in my mind. Ok, now get to work.

5 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1" cubes

3 cups broccoli florets, stems removed

2 cups cauliflower, stems removed 

8 cups water (you will remove 2 cups...read the directions!) 

2 tbsp chicken bouillon granules

1 tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

4 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

3 tbsp corn starch (Rumford brand is non-gmo!) 

1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar

Bring 8 cups of water to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil for about 7-8 minutes, then add the broccoli and cauliflower. Bring to a boil and stir in the chicken bouillon, salt, pepper, & herbs, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer about 15 minutes, until the potatoes and veggies are tender. I know it sounds crazy, but now, REMOVE 2 CUPS OF WATER, then add the butter. Once the butter is melted, it's time to puree the soup if you want to make a cream soup. I used an immersion blender and it took about 2 minutes to get the thick, creamy consistency I wanted. (You could also leave it alone, or puree it only slightly.) 

 Next, stir the corn starch into the cold milk, until well blended, then add to the soup and once again return to a boil. Return heat to low and stir in the cheese until melted. I cooled my soup for about 15 minutes before serving it with julienned cheese topping and warm yeast rolls. ;-) 

After I served our bowls, I managed to drop my iPhone into the soup on the stove. I went after that phone, plunging my hand into boiling, creamy soup as if I had dropped an infant into the ocean. In the dark. During a tsunami. Thankfully I was able to rescue it, and its otter box prevented damage from being done. ;-) Enjoy your soup. The burns on my hand will thank you. (Snicker!!!) 

Allow 45 minutes from start to finish! ****Lifestyle tips: Use low-fat dairy products. This recipe has a 10-cup yield. Each cup is approximately 193 calories. If you are trying to reduce fat and carbs in your diet, try the soup before adding the cheese! It's actually pretty good, and brings the calorie count down to 127 per cup. A little cheese garnish might do the trick.

Sunday Chicken Roast

Right about the time that fall rolls around, I have the sudden urge to begin cooking lots of homey comfort foods, usually something with gravy that's also accompanied with buttered dinner rolls. Today was no exception. If you prepare all of the ingredients ahead of time, this easy crock pot lunch will take about 5 minutes to throw together in the morning, and it will be ready in 3-1/2 hours. This recipe is for 2 people. Double, triple, etc. as needed!

"Night before" prep:

2 frozen chicken breasts--in a tupperware container, cover with water and add 1 tbsp of chicken bouillon powder.
2 baking potatoes--peel, cube, and cover in salted water in a separate tupperware container
1, 12-oz bag frozen green beans--remove from the freezer and place in the refrigerator overnight.

"Morning of" prep:

Drain potatoes and place in crock pot. Add 2 tbsp olive, add salt, pepper, garlic, and 1 tbsp of dried herbs, then stir to coat. Rinse the green beans and pour on top of potatoes. Then, remove the chicken breasts from the water and place on top. Next, add salt/pepper/additional dried herbs to the top of the meat, and add 1 tbsp of bouillon granules to the pot with 1/2 cup of water. Lastly pour 12 oz additional SEASONED liquid over top. This can be chicken broth, etc. Today I used a small jar of chicken gravy. Cook for 3-1/2 hours on HIGH.

If desired, you can thicken the liquid from the finished crock pot meal to make gravy. Strain it into a small pot over medium-low heat and add 2 tbsp of corn starch (dissolved in about 1/3 cup of cold water!) Cook about 5 minutes, until thickened.

Georgia Road Trip

The past week has been an extremely full one. Last Monday, Rich started a great new job, and Thursday we took our first road trip in our SUV. It's only 8 hours drive to GA, and so we buckled the dog in his car seat and took off. We really enjoyed spending time with his family. Also the cotton was in full "bloom," and it is so pretty! I cajoled Rich into pulling over by a cotton field so I could take a couple of photos and also steal a piece of cotton. :) 

 Just leaving for our road trip. Rich is a very serious driver!!! 

The best little road tripper, looking out the window from his car seat. hehe. :)

The reason I bought an SUV: to avoid an awkward little tray of belongings on the back of my car. 

We finally found some hills in FL!!! I know, my CA friends, it's nothing. But you just don't understand how exciting these small rolling hills are when the place you live in is generally like the Kansas prairie. :)

On our way to the rehearsal. Did I mention that this is the time Apple maps failed us??? We drove 50 miles out of our way because apparently, Apple doesn't do country. 

Gorgeous cotton fields!

Fluffy cotton! 

The house where the wedding was held. So much property, here we call it a town. 

Bad lighting, I know--but see the cows? Somehow black and white cows seem friendlier than brown cows. Just sayin. 

My perfect little stolen fluff of cotton.

The "handsomest"best man ever! 

Dan and the minister waiting for the bride! 

Rich's Aunt Sylvia and cousins.

Someone is a little exhausted from our long vacation!