Christmas '09

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Empanadillas de .........

Carne, Queso, Guayaba, anything/everything you can think of.
These are a hit in our house, I've been making them since I was about 18, my hubby has been eating them all his life, combine the two of us and they are perfect (if you ask anyone here).

What you need to prepare them:
*pot to deep fry in
*about 1L of your favorite veggie/canola oil
*any type of spider skimmer (btw hubby, I want this one pictured)
*paper towels for draining
*a few oven safe plates
*small bowl of water
*fork
*Goya discos (usually 10 to a pack so your choice on how many packs)
*pan to cook meat in

Ingredients for meat filled ones:
*1lb or more ground beef (pork, turkey, chicken if you choose)
*1/2 onion diced
*2-3 garlic cloves diced
*tsp dried oregano
*1 package Sazon (any your choice)
*1 tbsp Adobo (any your choice)
*2 tbsp each Reciato & Sofrito ( I get the tall skinny jars that can be refrigerated-pictured in the caribbean section)
The above if very family friendly, but if all agree, you can add in
*a few green olives diced(yummy)
*a few mushrooms diced

Get your oil started in your big pot (I heat mine up at 5-6 on my electric stove)
In your pan brown & mix all the above ingredients until done. Once done turn it off and let it sit.
As the meat is cooking get your other stuff out and ready,
I use up a counter top for this,
I get my now defrosted discos out of the package and separated,
I get my small bowl of water ready with fork nearby.
Don't forget your plate with paper towel for draining.
All this should preferably be near the pot of oil.
Set oven at its lowest/keep warm temp (170f I believe).

Now your ready to get started.
Lay out a disc, spoon about 2tbsp meat mixture on to the center top half, wipe water all around the inner edge with your finger, fold the bottom half of disc up, slightly press and seal with your finger, then gently press with fork around the outer edges where water is now touching, flip and press with fork on the other side, (make sure your oil is hot-should be by now) drop in the first empanadilla, it will rise once the first side is done, your looking for golden brown in color, once it rises flip and brown the other side, take your lovely spider skimmer and set on plate to drain, repeat repeat repeat, once your plate has about 6 you can place in oven to keep warm while you do the others.

Possibilities are endless really,
quick and easy ones are cheese (any kind- just lay inside, fold, seal, fry and your done)
pizza ones are fun, dab of sauce, bit of cheese, slice or two of pepperoni or veggie
My favorite mozzarella, tomato, green olive, prosciutto

Now if you've actually bought all these ingredients to make this recipe I know you have plently left over, keep them, I'll share more recipes to use them in.

Please note we call these empanadillas-most call them empanadas

camouflage

Oh too funny, I had to share.
Don't show your hubby if he's anything like mine, "Hey where can I get that couch?" would be the first thing out of his mouth.

letter of the day .....

"P"

~I went to bed Past midnight Pleasantly Pleased to have our first snow fall.

~I awoke Prematurely to my Pink Phone, the Principal was saying Preschool was cancelled.
~For lunch the kids & I Prepared Potatoes.
~After we did Paper Projects.


~The Postman forgot to Pick up my Priority Package that was out on the Porch.
~L Practiced her colors and Perfected Pink & Purple.
~Dinner was Petite Pesto Pasta w/ fresh Parmesan.

Petite Pesto Pasta

Super quick and easy!
20 mins-serves 6

1 pkg bite size pasta
1 cup chopped chicken
(great way to get rid of leftovers)
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 jar/tub pesto sauce
butter or olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta as directed,
Chop up your broccoli and get it started with a dab of butter or splash of olive oil,
Chop up your left over chicken and toss it in with the broccoli,
Once heated through add in your pesto sauce,
Once pasta is done drain & add to sauce mixture,
Mix & toss,
Serve w/ fresh shredded Parmesan.

Caribbean-Spiced Roast Chicken

I have a whole chicken defrosting in the fridge but couldn't figure out what to do with it.I need to cook it tonight though.So.......After searching around allrecipes.com I found thishttp://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Caribbean-Spiced-Roast-Chicken/Detail.aspxLooks good and I believe I have all the ingredients,hum I may have to sub rum w/ tequila but that should be ok.

Ingredients:1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice2 fluid ounces rum1 tablespoon brown sugar1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper1/4 teaspoon ground clove1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon1/2 teaspoon ground ginger1 teaspoon black pepper1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves1 (3 pound) whole chicken1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions:*Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).*In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, rum, and brown sugar; set aside. Mix together the cayenne pepper, clove, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, salt, and thyme leaves. Brush the chicken with oil, then coat with the spice mixture.*Place the chicken in a roasting pan, and bake about 90 minutes, until the juices run clear or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest part of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F. Baste the chicken with the sauce every 20 minutes while it's cooking. Allow chicken to rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Nutritional Information:Caribbean-Spiced Roast ChickenServings Per Recipe: 4Amount Per ServingCalories: 508Total Fat: 29.1gCholesterol: 146mgSodium: 432mgTotal Carbs: 4.8gDietary Fiber: 0.5gProtein: 46.1g

changes

Hubby is due to leave in Jan-uugghh-again.

I'm changing my work days at work to accomidate being a single parent.

For the first time ever I'm hiring a sitter for my two little ones 2 days a week.

I really want to be able to do it all,

I want to stay home

I want to work outside for the income and time alone

I want to still sew for my shops

I want to attend all the sports games and band performances.

Is this possible?

YES

Dangit it has to be.

Oh and if all falls into place

in the next week or so we should be finally getting into a house,

lets say goodbye to this this temp place and hello to our boxes,

Please.

free Applebees

Yay for a free lunch or dinner

Veterans day Nov 11 Applebees is offering a free meal

It's Fall for sure

The two little ones gathered pumpkins at the pumpkin patch for the front porch.

J's first day of school

Oh my I can't believe he's starting school.

He's so ready though....

Today was a slow start day,

half the kids go in and learn the routine,

parents stay for about 45mins and then dwindle away.

Heres my handsome big boy!!!

Here he is riding his scooter to school

Once we hit school grounds

Standing at the door waiting to go in

His Ben10 backpack

The goodmorning song with his teacher

Taking his picture for his cubby

Eating breakfast with daddy watching

Oh and we can't forget sissy.....

a try at

Meal Planning...........

I'm so used to just having a food budget but with our house not selling yet we're now down to specific meal planning.

But it's working so far.

I'm writing out actual lunches and dinners.

Last weeks menu was created using up our pantry/freezer items and then shopping for what was needed to make them into a meal.

Granted I also needed breakfast- which was easy with 3 boxes of cereal and 2 dozen poptarts but I needed to think of snacks & hubby's lunches which would differ from the kids and I due to him not being home when I cooked.

But over all not to shabby at $120 last week with plenty of cereal,potatoes,eggs,snacks & hubbys sandwich supplies leftover for this week.

So my grand total for this weeks 5 lunches & 5 dinners was $43

Can you believe it! I was so ecstatic when I looked up to pay.

Please note:

meat will be skipped every other night but beans are replacing it.

Nobody complained last week- which was nice,snacks are the biggest hurdle for the kiddos but slowing they seem to be getting that snack is snack which is at about 2:30 - 3:00 between lunch & dinner. Not after breakfast, not after lunch, not after dinner, or even at bed time.

I'm very interested to see what this totals out to on food for the 15 days, normally we spend $300 every 15 days, so far we are at $163 with 8 days to go, but then I have to remember that we had stuff left over from last month, so my true budget/value/cost will be the next 15 days following payday.

Aug.13,1996

Alexander Lee was born!

I was a week over due,

running across the street to beat the red light bounced him right along.

I labored at home until mom could come get me and drive me to the hospital,

we got there and I delivered around 30mins later.

7lbs7oz 21in long

He was a surprise-I didn't know his gender-I could have sworn I was having a girl.

The names I had where Angelica or Angelina or anything with Angel- in it.

I can't believe he's 13 today.

I can't believe I was 17 having my second child.

Oh these boys better not make me a Nonna anytime soon.

Isn't he handsome!!!

Around here on your birthday you get the day off-no chores-no responsibilities,

you get to pick your dinner of choice and the cake you want.

Recipe time-

This fed 6-

Be warned I cheat when possible and I don't measure much!

Chicken Fried Steak

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

Brown Gravy

Buttered Green Beans

Marble Cake w/3 layers of hidden chocolate frosting

Chicken Fried Steak-

You'll Need;

Beef Cubed Steak

Flour

Eggs & Milk

Saltine Crackers

salt & pepper

garlic & onion powder

Vegetable oil

Large frying pan

Meat pounder thingy

3 bowls

Tongs

Slotted spoon

Cookie sheet

-set oven to lowest temp-warm-around 170F

-pour flour in 1 bowl (about a cup)

-crack 2 eggs in 1 bowl mix well with 1/2 cup milk add garlic & onion powder to taste

-squash and crumble 1 pk of saltines in 1 bowl (you might need another pk)

-heat frying pan on med-5 with enough oil to coat the whole pan about 1/4-1/2in (you will need more oil as you cook)

-take one steak and pound until double the size salt & pepper to taste then cut in half

-flour it, egg it, saltine cracker it place in heated pan

-repeat-hopefully you can get those two in together

-while those two cook you can start the next two

-once golden brown flip-once both side are done place in oven on cookie sheet

-using slotted spoon get the burnt saltines out of oil and add oil if needed before placing in the next two

-repeat as needed

-once all are done they can sit in the oven until need

~I have no idea if that's the right or wrong way to cook chicken fried steak but that's how I've created doing it and no one here complains~

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes-

You'll Need;

Russet Potatoes

Butter

Milk

Sour Cream

Shredded Cheese

salt/pepper/parsley/garlic powder

Big Pot

Big Bowl

Strainer

Potato masher

-Peel and Chop 8 potatoes into about 1in pieces

-Place in cold water and bring to a boil until fork tender (I don't time things-they were soft once all the meat was done)

-Strain

-put in bowl with a big spoon of butter

-Mash a bit then salt/pepper/parsley/garlic powder to taste

-Mash a bit more and add in Sour Cream (about 4oz-I poured in half of a container)

-Mash a bit more and add in a Shredded Cheese (about 1 cup)

-Mash Mash Mash add milk to get texture right (I did about 1/4 - 1/3 cup I think)

Brown Gravy-

You'll need;

~ HeHe HaHa ~

2pks of your favorite Brown Gravy Mix

2 cups water

Whisk

Small Pot

-Mix the mix & water in pot & heat on med-5, whisk till bubbly and thick, remove

Or follow directions on your package

Buttered Green Beans-

You'll Need;

Frozen Green Beans

Butter

salt/pepper

Bowl

-Fill bowl full of Green Beans-top with water-zap it for like 5 minutes

-When done-pour out some of the water and then mix in butter/salt/pepper to taste

Marble Cake w/3 hidden layers-

You'll Need;

1 box Marble Cake Mix (and what ever it calls for)

1 tub Chocolate Frosting

1 tub Vanilla Frosting

2 8in circle pans

Big Knife & lots of plates

I am by no means a baker- I can cook but I cannot bake- again you've been warned!

Bake cakes as directed

Once cooled-

Slice both cakes into 4 cakes

Lay one cake down top w/ chocolate frosting, top w/ another cake & repeat untill you have 4 cakes w/ 3 hidden layers of frosting

Frost and decorate as you wish-

I suck- so heres my candy topped,bad frosting job cake.

I warned you I cheat!

Enjoy if you try any of these!

date night

We were invited to ComedyUnderground in Tacoma last Friday night

by a few guys here that we also knew in Stewart.

How fun to have a date night.

It wasn't fun that we were the two not drunk.

I so don't miss those days-I guess I'm getting old.

There were a few comics in the lineup.

The head liner was Rick Pulido.

He was way to funny.

We got there early so we walked around a bit.

How pretty Old Tacoma is.

We agreed we'd need to go back to fully walk it

and get lunch someday.

There's lots of little shops

and restaurants in between all those business buildings.

last weekend w/ Nonna

WOW!

We had super duper busy and long day Friday.

(I know its Wednesday and I'm now writing)

Mom (Nonna) left Saturday

so we were trying to get a great last day together.

We hit the Olympic Game Farm in Sequim,WA

How neat to have such close contact with the animals on the drive through trail.

L & J had a hoot with the goats in the petting zoo.

We were allowed to feed bread to the animals so we brought our own with us.

Go figure-they wouldn't eat our fresh wheat baguette type bread.

They would only eat the Wonderbread the place sold.

Theres no way I'm posting all the pics but here are a few.

Then we hit Graysmarsh Farm.

It's a wonderful U-Pick Organic Berry and Lavender Farm.

We got a big bucket of Loganberries that we all picked together.

Of course I picked up 2 bottles of Lavender Oil and a baggie of Lavender.

Oh what to do with the oil....

With the dried Lavender I mixed it with Epson Salt and made sachets for our drawers and closets.

Recipes to come for Loganberries-trust me I had to figure out a way to use them all up.

Poor L had a reaction to them.

Well maybe 2-3 would be ok but not handfuls all day everyday 2-3 days in a row.

Lastly we went to Silverdale,WA

to their Whaling Days .

We didn't stay for fireworks cause it would have been way to late but we did get the kids on some rides.

It's a cute little town right on the water.

cool link

Just wanted to share.

Seriously I would have never known about this site

if I didn't read the back of the juice bag during our hike.

How cool is it for the kids to learn to be green,

make money at it too,

or just recycle things you normally wouldn't think of,

and they pay for it all.

http://www.honesttea.com/community/sustainability/terracycle/

after going here hit the link on the bottom of their page.

So cool!

this weekend

Friday mom, myself and the two big boys went hiking.

Seriously....We did 3.8 miles in the

NW WA Temperate Rainforest Quinault.

I'm still sore and it's Sunday.

It was surely nice to enjoy a day with C & A alone with no babies.

Next Friday we're hitting a Game Farm a few hours away.

We'll take the whole family for that trip.

Then mom leaves to go back to TN.

I've really enjoyed having her nearby again.

Well here's some pics of course.

Here's a gift set I did for a birthday party that we went to on Saturday,

It's a sz2T dress w/ shorts and scarf,

I love it so much I'm working on a 6m dress in the same print.

I hit the Market today!

Oh and I found a great little taqueria on the way back.

Lunch was so yummy.

Carnitas tacos w/a side of rice and beans,

I'm talking traditional tacos w/fresh onion, cilantro & lime,

yum, yum, yum, my favorite