rachel's continued ramblings

seriously? it’s monday AGAIN? I have to think up a week’s worth of meals AGAIN? ugh. well, we’ll start w/ today cuz that’s easy: monday: leftovers/scrounge (L & M are currently eating oatmeal) tuesday: leftover spaghetti; green beans; sourdough wednesday: baked chicken; rice; peas & carrots thursday: pork chops; rice; salad friday: pizza; green beans saturday: chicken & rice casserole (thanks, holly.) sunday: pancakes; sausages; oj

alrighty, here we go again with another installment of my progress on project life , and my family’s progress through 2011… they go hand in hand,you know. the start of the week is pretty typical: the end of the week is pretty typical too: on friday, I met a dear, DEAR friend of mine, margaret, and her husband for lunch. by dear, DEAR, I mean we shared a preschool classroom for 4 years, she was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and she was my upline consultant during the two years I tried to pretend I was good at selling stuff, but really just bought myself a bunch of creative memories supplies . at any rate, we haven’t seen each other in a few years (as in, she’s never met micah) and it was SO great to get together. of course, the reason we were getting together is because I somehow managed to run out of page protectors that fit the old size 12x12 creative memories pages. of course they don’t sell them anymore, so I had to crawl pathetically to her, hoping she could come through. she d...

sunday: an unusually nice day! took the kids to the park, including layla’s friend. dave went for a bike ride on the trail, and met us at the park. monday: bedtime stories. love micah’s finger position. tuesday: so, we have learned that toby is fond of yogurt… wednesday: layla was so proud of herself for getting her bed made without any help. so she made a sign and had me take her picture. thursday: more snow! this time, shane decided to take toby out to see what he thought of it… friday: lovely view out my back window. gorgeous blue sky, snow dusting the trees. awesome. saturday: this is actually another of the lost collages. we had a hilarious trip south to visit our friends. I don’t think we’ve laughed this hard in years. omg. the cork blowing game, the how to properly use toilet paper discussion, the demonstration on the dog… all hilarious.

what day would be complete without a couple loads of laundry folded on my bed… hey, at least it’s folded! (the putting away part – that’s another story.) and notice that it’s not a load of whites… I HATE folding whites. HATE IT. in fact, one of my favorite ways that my wonderful, handsome, irreplaceable husband demonstrates his love for me is when he sees the basket of whites (that’s been sitting there for 3 days) and folds it for me! (nevermind the fact that he’s out of socks…) sophie desperately needed a bath. I hate bathing her. she desperately needed to be brushed. I hate brushing her. but I had procrastinated long enough and she wasn’t getting clean OR brushed by herself, so I admitted defeat and decided to do something about it. on saturday morning, while shane and I were out for our weekly coffee date, we stopped by petsmart to inquire how much a proper grooming would cost. I got impatient waiting in line, and I decided to go see what kind of really good de-shedding shampoo pr...

nothing overly exciting this week – although we have appearances by shane! shocking. on thursday, my mom and I went to the showing of RISE at bella botega in redmond. I had brought my camera along, and thought I might get someone to take a picture of us at the theatre by a poster or something. but there were no posters and we were almost late, so that didn’t really happen. but on the way in, the ticket girl handed us each a little post card sized card with the infamous picture of the u.s. figure skating team, posing by the plane. it annoys me that I have to put it in sideways because of the way it’s oriented, but it was the perfect thing to go in the book for that day. and that is week 7!

monday : leftover tacos tuesday : tater tot casserole wednesday : shane has an early soccer game, so likely OUT. thursday : spaghetti; salad; sourdough friday : pizza ; green beans saturday : gone to rochester sunday : breakfast burritos I would post my spaghetti sauce recipe, but I don’t know if I’m allowed to. it’s dave’s family recipe and I feel like I’m barely allowed to MAKE it, let alone, share it! LOL!

sunday: before heading back to the airport in oakland, we went to church and then had lunch with gramma jackie at olive garden. monday: shane, practicing his trumpet. gotta be comfortable. tuesday: shane demonstrating “the cocoon” method of watching tv. wednesday: just a few loads of laundry… thursday: no picture, but my mom and I went to see the showing of ‘rise’ in the theatre, so I have the little postcard thing they gave out in the slot. friday: poor sophie hates getting a bath. saturday: dave bought me a shiny new wheelbarrow! micah wanted to help him assemble it. that’s it. nothing extra this time.

this recipe comes from the weber’s REAL GRILLING cookbook and is my family’s recent favorite way to have pork chops. shane thinks these are the best food he’s ever eaten, and will generally eat 2!  i think layla asked for seconds as well, and micah pretended they weren’t on his plate… which is typical.  we’ve made them on the grill, or broiling in the oven, and both are equally good. 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh thyme (I have used dried as well, and it works fine) 1 tbsp minced garlic (think I used a clove, maybe two) 2 tsp kosher salt (this was a little much. I think the second time I made them I reduced it to 1.5 tsp.) 1 tsp freshly ground pepper pork chops (4 or 5) whisk ingredients together in a bowl. place pork chops in a large ziplock and pour in marinade. seal and turn several times. refrigerate for 2 hours, turning once or twice.  allow chops to stand at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before gril...

i got this recipe from my dad. i have no idea where he got it, but these are the waffles i’ve been eating as long as i can remember. they are so delicious, easy, and HEALTHY! OHMYGOODNESS, i cannot help but go on and on about them because they are so incredibly fabulous! if you want to see my picky eaters eat, come on waffle night! i think last time I made these, layla (all 33 pounds of her) put away 4 quarters of a waffle. that’s one WHOLE 10 square inch waffle. (and yes, i did just pull out my waffle iron and measured it!) anyway, here it is, without further ado… 1 cup flour (I usually do 1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat) 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 1 cup rolled oats 2 tbsp baking powder* 1/2 tsp salt 2 eggs 1/2 cup oil 3 cups buttermilk put all dry ingredients into a bowl, break in the eggs, add oil, then stir in the buttermilk. *t he amount of baking powder is not an error, but is the secret of the crisp, tender result! let the batter stand for a short time (15-30 minutes) to allow t...

this is a recipe I’ve adapted from my better homes and gardens cookbook, and makes a healthier alternative to bisquick pancakes (my personal fave). add fresh or frozen blueberries and i’m in heaven! 1 3/4 cups flour (you can make them as w/w as you want here. I usually do the 1 cup w/w and the 3/4 cup AP.) 2 tbsp white or brown sugar 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 egg, slightly beaten 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (as i recall, this isn’t enough liquid… probably closer to 2 cups – depending on how dense you like your batter.) 3 tbsp cooking oil in a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. in another bowl, use a fork to combine egg, buttermilk and oil. add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. mix. cook on a hot griddle until golden brown.

another taken from the betty crocker cookbook, but i mess with this one so refer to the disclaimer … 1 tbsp olive oil 1 clove of garlic, pressed (or some good shakes of garlic powder) 1 lb. stew beef 3 cups of hot water (I probably use closer to 3.5 or 4) 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 3 medium carrots, cut in thick coins 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces 1-2 medium potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces 1 small onion, chopped 1/4 tsp salt 1 bay leaf *optional: 1/2 bell pepper of your choice; 1 turnip; 1/2 tsp browning sauce (whatever that is) 1/2 cup cold water 2 tbsp all-purpose flour heat oil in large pot. cook beef and garlic in oil about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown. add hot water, 1/2 tsp salt and the pepper. heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. cover and simmer 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is almost tender. stir in remaining ingredients except cold water and flour. cover and simmer ...

i don’t use my crock pot nearly as often as i should… probably because I don’t have a lot of slow cooker recipes that i really like. but this one is a winner (winner chicken dinner – literally)! i don’t know the original source of this recipe, since my aunt sent it to my mom and my mom sent it to me… 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (squeeze more in if you can) 1 envelope italian salad dressing mix 1/3 cup water 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened (this is important, or it will be chunky!) 1 can cream of something soup 1 can mushroom stems and pieces, drained (yuck! I never do this, but it’s in the recipe, so I thought I’d include it for the fungus lovers out there.) hot cooked rice or noodles place chicken in slow cooker. combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken. cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours. in a small mixing bowl, whisk together cream cheese and soup until blended. stir in mushrooms. pour cream cheese mixture over chicken. cook 1 to 3 hours...

i’m not sure where my dad got this recipe… i think it was in a magazine or newspaper back in the early 70’s. no matter. i’ve always loved it, AND, big news, you don’t even have to refer to my recipe disclaimer on this one, because it’s so wonderful the way it is, that i actually FOLLOW the recipe! 6 chicken breasts 1 egg 1/4 cup water 1 cup fine dry bread crumbs 1/4 cup olive oil 3 8 oz. cans tomato sauce (Actually, I do deviate a bit here, because I buy my tomato sauce in 15 oz. cans, so I use 2 of those. It makes a little more sauce, but that’s okay because we like to serve this dish over pasta and more sauce is better than less) 1/2 tsp. dried basil 1/2 tsp. dried oregano 1/4 tsp. dried thyme 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 6 slices mozzarella cheese beat egg with water in a shallow dish. dip chicken in egg mixture and then coat with bread crumbs. in a large skillet, heat oil; add chicken and brown on both sides. mix tomato sauce, ...

so, we’ve always been devoted papa murphy’s pizza eaters. a number of things drove me to the point i’m at now, of making our own, from scratch pizza. yes, it’s a little more work, but it’s healthier, cheaper, more convenient (no, really, friday afternoons are C.R.A.Z.Y. during the school year and picking up a pizza wasn’t the easiest thing to do with kids in tow), and we like it better. the base for this recipe came from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (a book that is interesting and useful, but I can’t really recommend it since I didn’t finish it after having my intelligence insulted a few too many times for not believing in macro-evolution, but that’s another story).  but, of course, i messed with it, pared it down a little, added some stuff, etc. to get it to the right amount of dough and the way we like it.  here is MY recipe: 2 tsp. yeast 1 cup warm water 2 tbsp. olive oil 2/3 tsp. salt 2 cups AP flour 1 cup w/w flour several good shakes ...

this was one of my FAVORITE dinners as a kid, although my mom now claims that she made it differently than the recipe she gave to me… I’ll try my best to make this recipe ‘usable’, but you’ll probably have to refer to my recipe disclaimer and accept my apologies, once again, for ambiguous measurements! in case that won’t actually cut it for you, allow me to try and translate. cook 2 cups of macaroni according to package directions. drain. put in 2.5 quart casserole dish or 9x13 pyrex dish. (I only use whole wheat pasta and actual elbow macaroni can be hard to find – although a friend recently alerted me that whole foods sells it. i use shells, rotini, bow ties, whatever the kids choose.) in a separate bowl, combine 1 can of cream of something soup (I usually use celery), 1 can of milk (meaning you measure your milk in the soup can you just emptied), and several good shakes of the following spices: parsley, celery seed, onion powder, garlic powder, and basil. mix WELL with...

okay, this is my most non-traditional week yet. I had some stuff that I really wanted to go in and I was trying to figure out how to make it all work. but first, the beginning of the week is pretty normal: my tuesday shot is of layla’s messy desk, as is. I have one from november or december of last year as well. it’s just kinda fun to see what she was busy with at the time. on friday of last week, dave and I went to california for a wedding and a visit. we left the kids with my parents, and I left a detailed ‘itinerary’ for them. yes, it’s even color-coded! LOL. I can be excessively organized when I want to be. after we got back, I was going to recycle this, but then I thought it would be kinda funny to put it in the album. so into a page protector it went: yes, it was two sided. my next dilemma had to do with friday. I had a LOT of pictures from that day. pictures from the plane, pictures from breakfast with grandpa dick, pictures with nana, and of course, pictures from the ...