Meg vs. Father's Day: Necktie Cookies

This is ridiculously late, but for Father's Day we wanted to make a gift for the men that teach in our primary classes at church. We couldn't think of anything good that we could make on our very small budget, so we just decided to go with sugar cookies. I made ties, and our primary president made cute little circles that said "Thank you," and then we packaged them up in plastic bags with paper toppers.

Here was my part:

Piped in white

All decorated and drying

As always, I used my favorite sugar cookie and royal icing recipes from the amazing Sue at Munchkin Munchies. They seem to have been a hit with the men, and my boys were more than pleased with the broken and leftovers.

Meg vs. Food: Cat in the Hat Cupcakes

My baby turned one a couple weeks ago, and I was feeling guilty for not planning much of anything as the house is still not put together and we were leaving to visit my grandma in Tokyo the next day. I knew I at least had to make his birthday cake even if I didn't throw a themed party complete with costume like I did for my oldest...

Little Fellow recently picked the Cat in the Hat as his favorite stuffed pal, so I went with that to create some Cat-themed cupcakes.

I snagged the cups on Pick Your Plum a while back (sort of on accident, but that is another story). Following some advice I found on Pinterest, I altered the add-ins for a box of cake mix to make cupcakes that were extra moist and tasty. You add in one extra egg (or two if you want it extra moist), replace the oil with butter and double the amount, and use milk instead of water. Of course I filled the cups too full so they spilled over, but I thought that ended looking even more Seuss-ish than I had planned so it was all dandy.

For the frosting I used this recipe for whipped cream cream cheese frosting. It is so perfect! The taste of cream cheese frosting with the lightness of whipped cream frosting; definitely my new favorite.

I was also making up some carrot muffins, so I used some of the batter to make an individual cake for baby boy to dig into.

Happy first birthday to my littlest guy!

Meg vs. The Kitchen: My first sushi!

It is a bit shameful that I haven't posted for so long. I have been busy, and I should have some project updates for anyone who cares to see them.

It is also a bit shameful that I am half Japanese and it took me 29 1/2 years to try out sushi-making. For some reason, making a roll seemed really daunting in my mind, but it was fun and not really hard at all! 

Truth be told, I was totally spoiled, because my mom has been trying to help me meet all of my 30x30 goals, and so she got everything ready for me when I visited home last weekend. She is a pro.

What you need:

• Rice 
• Sushi seasoning mix (or seasoned rice vinegar, or rice vinegar + salt + sugar)
• Nori (seaweed) sheets
• Filling of choice (we used avocado, cucumber, and tamagoyaki, which is a type of layered omelette)
• A sushi mat (I wrapped ours in plastic cling wrap to make clean-up easier)

First you add the sushi seasoning to your rice. Next, lay your nori on the sushi mat, cover about 2/3 of it with rice (leaving the last 1/3 plain), put your filling items in the middle of the rice, and then use the mat to roll and compress until you end up with something like this:

Then use a sharp knife (we didn't have a sharp one, so it took forever to cut them without squishing them) to cut into slices, and you're done!

I may or may not have polished them all off that night. If you'd like more and better instructions/recipes, I recently stumbled upon this blog and she has lots of good stuff. Here is a link to her sushi recipes =).

Meg vs. Dessert: Banana Eclair Graham Icebox Cake Conglomeration

I pinned this:

I made this:

I used banana pudding because John loves banana and we had a ridiculous quantity of banana pudding mixes in the cupboard. I think I put more layers of graham crackers than I was supposed to (ended up using a full box plus some!), and my topping came out a little runny (tough to keep track of it when you are distracted by a crabby baby), but it was still a big hit around here, and we polished of the whole giant pan. Next time I will half the recipe if I am making it just for our little family. Otherwise, I wouldn't change anything!

Meg vs. Dinner: More Pinned it, Did it Recipes

I cooked a lot earlier in the week, then ran out of steam; Thursday the kids and I split a piece of Costco pizza and a bag of Caesar salad. But we'll focus on the days I actually cooked:

I have made these green muffins a few times, and the kiddos are happy to gobble them up:

I don't use the nuts she recommends since I am not about to go buy them just to make muffins, so I have substituted the ground nuts for ground flaxseed, and left off the topping altogether. The muffins are just a little bit sweet and banana-ish, and you can't taste the spinach at all. They remind me of a really good bran muffin (not the dense, dry, not-so-good kind). These are a new staple around here.

Next up was spaghetti squash. I have been wanting to try it out for a while, and our favorite local produce market had them for $1 each, so I couldn't resist. I followed the instructions for this garlic and butter squash recipe, which was basically to poke some holes in it and cook for an hour at 375. It turned out a little bit crunchy, so my little guys wouldn't eat it (didn't believe me that they were noodles). I read one comment that suggested cooking it at 400 degrees for 60-90 minutes to avoid the crunchiness, so I will have to try that next time and see if I can sneak it into my toddlers' diet. Otherwise, I thought it was pretty tasty and not as difficult as I expected.

Lastly I made up these sweet potato parker rolls:

Hers are so pretty!

Of course I was lazy (I can't keep track of timing rises when I have three kiddies pulling at my pant leg!), so I dumped all of my ingredients in my breadmaker and set it on the dough cycle.

Half-way through, I realized one of the paddles had popped up and so it had only half mixed and kneaded, meaning I had to start the cycle over again. Even so, the dough seemed to rise just fine and the texture was good. So these are some fairly forgiving rolls (very important around here!). Here they are before baking:

And after:

I have to say that I was expecting them to be a bit sweeter than they are. I think they could have used a little sugar, but it could just have been the particular sweet potato that I had or the fact that I botched the whole mixing and rising process! They were tasty enough for me to polish off most of the pan within a couple of days. But they won't be my go-to rolls in the future (unless I happen to have a sweet potato that I can't use otherwise).

Meg vs. Dessert: Pinned it, Did it Sugar Cookie Bars

John loves sugar cookies. He especially loves Lofthouse cookies. They are a bit too sugary for my taste, but I get in the mood for one every now and again. When I am feeling energetic I love to make up a batch of Sue's sugar cookies, but it is definitely a lot of effort to roll, cut, bake, and decorate them. When I saw these sugar cookie bars from High Heels & Grills that purportedly taste like Lofthouse, I knew it was meant to be for us.

I told John I was making him a treat, but didn't tell him what it was. He was very excited when I produced these bad boys.

Sugary, Christmasy goodness. They do taste like Lofthouse cookies, but the cookie itself is definitely more dense. Perhaps I should have whipped the batter more, but I think that is just what happens when you make one big cookie bar. Laziness = denser cookie. I personally think that this frosting is better than the Lofthouse frosting (a yummy buttercream; I imagine Lofthouse is shortening-based so that it remains shelf-stable, but I could be wrong), but still sugary enough that I can't eat too much at once (if it were chocolate on the other hand, look out!). Two thumbs up for this pin for sure.

There was a similar recipe that I pinned which used cream cheese instead of sour cream like this one does, and I am curious to try that one out, so we may have a cookie bar showdown some day soon.

Meg vs. Dinner: Pinned it, Did it Pumpkin Pancakes

I realized that I have to do a whole lot of Pinterest projects if I want to meet my 30 x 30 goal of trying at least half of my pins. So I am going to start posting and reviewing them for you!

Let's start tonight with some pumpkin pancakes. I love pumpkin, and so these pancakes from How to: Simplify looked irresistable:

I used half whole wheat flour, and  our special Christmas pan.

Not as nice-looking, but tasty nonetheless. They are like pumpkin pie in pancake form, and amazing with butter and maple syrup. The batter is a little dense, so I had a hard time finding just the right temperature to get them to cook through without being overdone on the outside. But they got rave reviews from my toddlers and my 12-year-old niece, so we will be having them again!

Meg vs. Strawberries: What to do with a whole flat!

I couldn't resist a $12 flat of strawberries at our local fresh market, even though we still had strawberries in our freezer from the last time I couldn't resist. They are so delicious! As soon as we got home with them, my boys polished off the first basket in a matter of minutes. After that I had to ration their consumption since they are still in diapers, if you know what I mean. (If you don't know what I mean, be glad.)

When it was clear that we weren't going to eat them all plain, I got to brainstorming on how to use them all and waste none. First I tossed a batch of jam in my breadmaker (when I first saw that it had a jam function, I laughed, but as it turns out, it is awesome). Here is the best picture I could get of the jam being made with no work on my part:

I love that it has only four ingredients: crushed strawberries, lemon juice, a small amount of sugar, and pectin. It is heavenly on toast and pretty good in a pb&j, too. So much more strawberry flavor than the store-bought variety, since there is no corn syrup drowning out that strawberry tartness. Since I'm not yet domesticated enough to can jam, I gave half to my sister and kept half in our fridge for use in the next couple of weeks.

Little brother approved.

Next, I tried to replicate this fabulous find from Pinterest:

Oven-dried strawberries anyone? They seemed like an awesome snack, so I ventured a try.

Before drying:

And after:

I left them in about 45 extra minutes and they were still a soggy mess. Not anything I would want to snack on. Fail! I think any future attempts will require a legitimate dehydrator, and I will forget about this keep-my-oven-going-for-four-hours-during-the-summer business. (P.S. Mom, can I borrow your dehydrator?)

In the interest of avoiding wastefulness, I tossed these in a baggie in the fridge and may try to chop them up and toss them in muffins or something. If they don't gross me out too much when I pull them out again.

My last project was by far the easiest and quickest: popsicles! The boys love them, and the store-bought ones have a surprising amount of junk in them. Here's my recipe: 1 to 1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries, 1 ripe banana, 1 ripe pear (cored). Blend, freeze, and enjoy!

The sweetness of the pear and banana balance out the tart strawberries. Pure, guilt-free, fruity goodness.

 

Only one warning: you or your loved ones may require a bath following consumption.

The remaining strawberries were either eaten or frozen for smoothies, and I am happy to say that not a single one went to waste! I wonder how much the strawberries will be this week...?   =)

Meg vs. Lunch: Veggie quesadillas

My boys are a little picky when it comes to vegetables. Mr. 3-year old less so, but still mostly only eats them under force of threat or bribe. Mr. 18-month-old straight up refuses. Thus, I spend some effort trying to disguise said vegetables as, well, not vegetables. My (and their) favorite thing to do is to toss veggies into a quesadilla, since they are generally happy to eat most things that are doused in cheese and smooshed between two tortillas. Here are my weapons of choice:

Photo here.

Really tasty, no crazy ingredients, and not too pricey (though my mom knows I love it so she usually grabs me a jar periodically).

Photo here.

I love love love black beans! And this is my favorite canned version (I know, I need to make my own since it's cheaper and healthier, but this does the trick for now). Don't get the Target brand kind! Super gross.

Photo here.

I like it fresh, ripped into little pieces, and tossed on. But sometimes little brother recognizes it and picks it out/refuses to eat any more.

And

Photo here.

These are extra stealthy when grated and mixed in with the cheese.

Ta-da! I want to go eat another one right now!

Meg vs. Celebrating: Happy Birthday Hubs!

Tuesday: Prepare and celebrate John's birthday!

I made the piñata with the kiddos, which was nice because (1) it gave us a project to do together, and (2) it was free; cardboard from the garage, construction paper I got on clearance a long time ago, some packing tape (I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to use any of these ingredients, but it worked) and an old wire coat hanger. We filled it with leftover Easter candy.

The only down point (other than when baby brother threw up his Oreos) was that half-way through the day the ceiling hook broke and our chandelier came crashing down. Luckily there was minimal damage, but that will be added to the to-do list a-pronto.

Meg vs. The Closet: Painting

Tuesday:  Paint the hall closet.

I won't cross this one out because it's not all the way done, but I did do one coat! The boys' naps didn't overlap and the evening passed too quickly, so I'll have to double up tomorrow to get the second coat up (the walls were really yellow and gross previously--I don't think they had ever been painted! If it's anything like the front closet, it will take primer + 2 coats to get it white). There isn't really much to see, but I'll post a picture when the closet is completely finished, shelves and all.

We also managed to go for a walk, roll around on the floor, and sing and dance along with Bingo Radio on Pandora (pretty much a daily event). I kept up on the dishes until dinner, but the sink is full again. I'll have to drag myself out there to do them again before I call it a night. For a snack we had these zucchini chips,

and for dinner we had turkey meatloaf (with grated carrot mixed in, shhhh!) and mashed potatoes (with cauliflower mixed in). Of course the little Mr. Picky didn't eat either, and opted for rolls only. But hubby and big brother dug in, and the goal was to continue cooking, since I'm trying not to sacrifice my family in the name of home improvement. T'would be ironic, wouldn't it?

John vs. Dinner: Hawaiian BBQ

Ever since some friends made it recently, we have been dying for some Hawaiian-style barbecue chicken. Mmm. John was in charge of the chicken, and I am a sucker for roasted pineapple so I was in charge of that. Served with sticky rice. Yum-o!

All of the marinade recipes I looked up had fairly similar elements, but this one had the most authentic-sounding name. =) I found it here. Enjoy!

Kaanapali Alii Original Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Marinade  (Serves 4-6)

• 4-6 Chicken breasts or chicken thighs
• 1 1/2 Cup pineapple juice
• 1 Small can crushed pineapple (including juice)
• 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Cloves garlic
• 1 Fresh whole ginger root (peeled)
• 1 Sweet Maui onion
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 2 Teaspoons pepper

Directions:

Chop garlic, ginger, and onion.  In a medium bowl combine all ingredients except chicken.  Stir well.  Separate one cup of the marinade into small pot.  Marinate chicken in remaining sauce for a half hour to one hour in the refrigerator.  Heat sauce in pot for 20 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally.  Place chicken on grill and cook approximately 10 minutes on each side.  Serve chicken and pour small amount of sauce from pot onto chicken.

We didn't separate the extra sauce; we liked it as-is.

Meg vs. Dessert: Super easy banana cake.

Today was our littlest guy's first birthday! For his cake I whipped up a new fan favorite around here: super easy banana cake! Here's the very extensive recipe:

Cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
3 mashed bananas
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix. Bake according to box instructions, keeping a good eye on it.

Frosting:

1 small package instant banana pudding mix
1 cup milk
1 tub Cool Whip

Whisk pudding and milk together. Add in Cool Whip.

So easy, so delicious. The birthday boy was pleased.

Meg vs. Breakfast: Oatmeal Waffles

Time to jump start a big day of cleaning! I have GOT to get this place is some kind of order, but EVERYTHING needs a scrub-down at least. So far I have done the kitchen cabinets and some of the baseboards. And we've been here 3 weeks now; not cutting it!

So we needed a power breakfast today. I love these waffles because they are hearty but not too heavy. My helpers seemed to approve.

Here's the recipe:

Oatmeal Waffles

1 1/2 cups flour (I use half all-purpose, half whole wheat)
1 cup quick oats (or regular oats pulsed in the blender for a few seconds)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
6 Tbsp. melted butter
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Sift flour, and blend with oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, blend the eggs, milk, butter, and brown sugar. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.  Cook according to the instructions for your waffle maker (in my case, until the green light goes off!)

So far it seems to be working. I actually did the dishes as the boys were finishing up their breakfast instead of putting it off, and the boys and I are about to go tackle the sunroom, which now has a coating of both dirt and toys. Lovely =)