What's For Dinner, Mom?

Being the mother of five beautiful children, the multiple chiming of, "Mom, what's for dinner?" sometimes comes close to driving me right over the edge.  We all lead hectic lives and often finding the time to figure out what to make for dinner is hindered by what you have in the cupboard or time constraints.  Well here is a tool to help you on your way.  I've always had lofty aspirations to figure out on a weekly basis what I am cooking then shopping for all the ingredients to take all the day-to-day planning out of it.  Unfortunately these aspirations have always stayed just that, aspirations.  I'm not sure if it's the dedication of such a large block of time on Sunday to sit down and figure it all out or my own tendencies to over-think everything and get easily distracted by all the yummy possibilities out there.  If only there was something out there that did most of the work for me.  Insert sigh.  Wait a tic...there is!  Tom discovered this website and shared it with me today. I think I will be using this a lot in the future.  Meals for You gives you options to search for meal menus by Ingredient, International Collections, healthy options and many more.  Each meal menu breaks down nutritional information as well as how long it takes to prepare.  Then once you've decided on which menus you want to prepare you can add it to your shopping list which breaks items down by department; print it, and off you go to the store to prepare your meals for the week with limited effort on your part!  In addition you can search individual recipes and if you like any of the recipes you've tried, you can create your own cookbook to save them!  As if all that isn't enough, there is also a tab with tips and guides with some pretty useful information.  Check this site out, hopefully you will find it as helpful as we did and happy cooking!

mealsforyou.com

StairMaster Challenge

It lurks in the corner....waiting to take you down.  It scoffs in your face as you pass by on your way to the locker cubbies to stow your sweatshirt before you work out.  "Hah, I knew you wouldn't have the guts to face me today.  I own you and your puny legs.  You can't take me on for you will surely collapse to the ground panting for breath and I, Stairmaster will loom over you extolling my victory."

I hate you Stairmaster.  There is no sugar-coating it.  I hate you with every fiber of my being with a fierceness that I reserve only for inanimate objects.  I hate you for the sweat-inducing, breath-taking, exhaustion bringing challenge that you represent.

Therefore, today I will conquer you.  I will climb your endless steps to nothingness.  I will face the destination that doesn't exist and I will accept your gauntlet.  We will see who has the last laugh today!  Okay, maybe it will be you, but at least I have the consolation that you'll still be there tomorrow and we can play our game of cat and mouse again.....

Chicken Liver Pate = Yum?

Tonight I was in the mood for what I call "Mediterranean".  For all the food purists out there, please accept my apologies if what I ate tonight wasn't exactly Mediterranean, but I like to take the Italian example of eating simple foods as a meal.  We had our usual salami, prosciutto, asparagus, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, bread and pears but after hours spent pouring over the beautiful cookbook of Tuscany I decided to try my hand at liver pate. (By the way, the book is literally called TUSCANY, The Beautiful Cookbook)  I'm sure I've lost several of you already to the word liver with things like, "yuck" and "gross" floating through your minds, but don't be so hasty.  The art of cooking is all about exploration and expanding your horizons and us Americans sometimes are limited on willingness to be adventurous when it comes to food.  You may associate something you've eaten with the one time you tried it 15 years ago or how your mom used to cook it both of which left you with memories you'd rather forget.  However, please try to open your mind to the fact that there is more than one way to prepare food, case in point, that other dish your mother makes that no one else can quite replicate.  Have you ever had two people's spaghettis that tasted just alike?  I know I haven't.  Heck, I often have trouble duplicating the same thing twice.  It's all about the mystic essence that is the heart of cooking that brings it all together in a culmination of love, effort and beautiful ingredients.  This is what I truly love about food and cooking, not to mention the way it brings friends and family together to simply enjoy each others company and relish in the joie de vivre!  So I dare you to try this liver pate; who knows, you might just find you like it!

As taken from TUSCANY, The Beautiful Cookbook

CROSTINI DI FEGATINI, Chicken Liver Toasts from Firenze
These are the most traditional Tuscan crostini.  The pate is often served on toasted country bread slightly moistened with stock.  In the local trattorias, crostini are a must with the antipasti, which nearly always include a slice of sopressata (a cured meat made of pig's head) and a slice of finocciona (a salami laced with fennel seed).


13 oz chicken livers
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves
6 bay leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup light chicken stock
1 tablespoon capers in salt
4 canned flat anchovy fillets in olive oil, drained
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
12 slices coarse country bread or French baguette

*Remove and discard any fat and connective tissue from the chicken livers.  Slice the livers into fairly large pieces.
*In a skillet over high heat, warm the olive oil.  Add the garlic, bay leaves and chicken liver pieces.  Season very lightly with salt and pepper.  Stirring frequently, cook over high heat until the mixture starts sticking to the skillet, about 5 minutes.
*Add the wine, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the skillet and cook over high heat until the wine evaporates, about 2 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup of the stock, lower the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat.
*Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Put the liver mixture through the fine disc of a food mill, collecting the mixture in a small pan.  Alternately, pulse in food processor until smooth.
*Rinse the capers in cold water to remove the salt.  Place the capers and anchovies on a cutting board and chop together finely.  Add the caper-anchovy mixture to the liver mixture along with the butter.
*Place the pan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the ingredients are well blended and smooth, just a few minutes.  Do not allow the mixture to boil.  Transfer the mixture to a bowl and let cool, stirring occasionally.
*Meanwhile, preheat an oven to 350 degrees.  toast the bread slices in the oven until golden.  Remove the bread and while they are still hot, dip each slice quickly in the remaining 3/4 stock.  Spread the toasts with the liver mixture and serve.

SERVES 6

Shannon's Notes:

*I didn't have any white wine so I had to substitute red wine instead to deglaze the pan with.
*The capers I used were just the regular packed in juice you get at the store but I still rinsed them.
*I didn't have any anchovies on hand either but I did have a tube of anchovy paste that I use for caesar dressing.  I just squirted about a tablespoon on top of the capers before I chopped them up.

I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this.  The changes I had to make seemed to work out okay.  Even Zane and Ainsley ate it up.  So for those of you that have the guts, give it a try and let me know how you liked it.  I love to hear about your culinary adventures!  Cheers!

Trevin's Birthday Pics

Thought I'd share some of Trevin's Birthday pictures.  We aren't actually doing his party until next weekend (his choice).  He decided he wanted to go with some friends paint balling at Camp Dakota which is where we spent last father's day.  They have a pretty incredible outdoor field; he said it was the best field he's ever played.  Therefore for his actual birthday Monday night, I made good dinner and his favorite of all birthday cakes, Lemon Supreme.  All the kids weren't here so I had made his all time favorite dinner on Sunday.  I don't often make it because it has about a gazillion grams of fat in it and I try to eat at least somewhat healthy.  So here are the pics of him enjoying his cake.  I'll post paint ball pics after the big event next weekend.

The Bleachers Always Win

Isn't it funny that no matter how much we try to warn our children of all the ills that may befall them if they don't look both ways before crossing the street, stay away from the hot stove, or don't run up and down the bleachers, they often fail to take our well intentioned advice.  It usually takes an accident to teach our precious ones the dangers of life and if we're lucky, it is only a minor injury which occurs.  Saturday at Austin's basketball our dear little Ainsley was happily traipsing up and down the bleachers, even though we have cautioned her repeatedly to be careful, when she quietly tripped and fell on her way up.  She didn't cry, she didn't scream; she just casually approached us holding her mouth.  Of course the white shirt did little to hide the blood, but she hadn't noticed it yet.  Amazingly she hadn't noticed the blood yet so of course when Tom asked her what the heck happened it brutally brought her attention to the profusion of blood pouring from her mouth.  That brought the floodgates on and Tom raced her to the bathroom.  By the time they got there, Tom had an entire puddle of blood cupped in his hand.  He cleaned her up and calmed her down and by the end of the day she was relishing in the re-telling of the story.  Hopefully she has learned her lesson and will practice a little more poise when skipping up and down the bleachers!

He Shoots, He Scores!

Last night was Austin's third game of the season.  All I have to say is wow.  Austin was amazing!  Because of their age bracket, the kids play 8, 5-minute periods.  This allows for equal playing time among the players.  Yesterday only 9 kids showed up so one child would periodically have to play back-to-back periods.  Austin was one of those kids because he was on fire!  He shot those long arms in the air to get the rebound.  He tussled with kids to get the ball when two or more of them would grab for it.  Most exciting of all, he shot three baskets. I was holding my breath for his first attempt.  He ran in for the lay up, then paused to take his shot and he made it!  The crowd went wild!  Okay mostly the fan club seated in our area (Tom, Drew, Trevin, Jason and Courtney) but the crowd did cheer.  It was his first basket of the season and he followed it up with two more.  He was awesome.  Even the coach asked what we fed him for dinner.  We were all so proud and he finished with being awarded player of the game.

Great Job Austin.  You were great!  That's my boy :0 )

Savory Waffles For Dinner Tonight

Thank you the The Gaufre Gourmet for the inspiration for tonights dinner!  Our friend Charlene started a Cart in downtown Portland that sells gourmet waffles and we took the idea for tonights savory cornbread-jalapeño waffle topped with my homemade chili, cheddar cheese, low-fat sour cream and fresh avocados.  I served it with an arugula salad with carrots, green onions and queso fresco cheese tossed in a cilantro-lime creamy dressing.  In a word, fantabulous!  I was pretty proud of how the whole thing turned out.  I encourage you all to try your hand at this one.  Here is the link for the waffle recipe I used.  You're on your own to come up with the chili since everyone has a favorite way to make their own.  Be creative and most importantly, Have Fun!

Cornmeal and Jalapeno Waffle Recipe

Arugula Salad

4 cups Baby Arugula

1 Carrot, peeled and finely julienned

2 Green Onions, chopped

4 Tbs Queso Fresco Cheese, crumbled

Toss all ingredients together in your favorite salad bowl and set aside.  

Dressing

2 Tbs Low-Fat Sour Cream

2 Tbs Mayonnaise

2 Tbs Buttermilk

1 Tbs Cilantro, finely chopped

1 Tsp Shallot, finely chopped

S & P to taste

Juice of 1 Lime

Whisk all dressing ingredients together and toss with salad.

Note:  In all honestly, I don't measure things when I am creating things in the kitchen so use your best judgement and always feel free to adjust to your own taste.  Let me know what you think!

I'd Rather Be Eating Chocolate

Today was weigh-in day.  In light of our favorite reality TV show, The Biggest Loser, Tom and I decided to switch our weigh-in day to today, Tuesday, in order to coincide with the airing of The Biggest Loser.  Here are some thoughts before I reveal my weight loss for the last 2 1/2 weeks....

1.  Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% your attitude.

2.  Being an extreme foodie for the last 15 years, makes diet, more than exercise, my biggest personal challenge.

3.  Working out doesn't really do you any good if you aren't busy moving the rest of the day.

4.  I can't give up all the foods I love.  What would be the point of life?

5.  I absolutely love lifting weights at the gym.  It gives me such a felling of empowerment.

6.  Have I mentioned my love of food?

7.  Most shocking to me; trying to be more athletic has actually turned out to be fun.

All of these points bring us to here, the results of my weigh-in.  Wait for it..... I have lost .9 of a pound since my last weigh-in 2 1/2 weeks ago.  A typo you may ask.  No, it's not a typo.  I didn't lose 9 pounds; I lost .9 pounds.  Less than thrilling.  Many would feel frustrated at these results.  Many would feel discouraged.  Most would even feel a little depressed but let me tell you how I feel.  I feel frustrated, discouraged and even a little depressed.  No, I'm not going to wow you with my amazing ability to look past the scale and strive for bigger and better things.  Perhaps that comes tomorrow.  In fact, I have a nagging thought in the back of my mind that it's time to forgo the idea that I'm doing all this excruciating working out and diet change regime to just lose weight and and conversely only focus on my fitness.  Tomorrow the new goal will not be to jump on the scale every two weeks only to feel myself falling flat on my face.  Instead I will rise above the frustration and discouragement.  I will work out because it makes me feel healthier even on my most achy days.  I will enjoy my smaller accomplishments and rejoice in my overall fitness levels.  But for today I will take my time to feel sad because I can and I should.  Because otherwise, the moral of the story is, if I keep working my ass off only to stay at the same weight, then I'd rather be eating chocolate.

I Ran A Mile....Again

So here's how I figure it....if I'm going to work my patutti off exercising then I should probably keep some kind of record of it.  Mostly for a sense of accomplishment I think.  At the beginning of last week, my goal was to work on my running seeing as I have absolutely loathed the concept since time immemorial.  Of course the reinforcement of doctors saying I shouldn't run due to my leg length differential only served the purpose of supporting my decision to maintain a moderate pace as I moved through life.  However, since I've been on this whole fitness kick, it has been my wish to see if I could train myself to run.  Tom is forever telling me that once I run a mile, two will feel easy.  My question was always, "But what if you can't even run one.  I mean, it's so far." Only truly out-of-shape persons like myself will understand a question like this.  The fitness freaks who can jump on a treadmill, throw some headphones in their ears and run seemingly endless distances will have no concept of that which I speak.  All power to those types in the world as you all give us something to aspire to.  I'm the sorry ass who jumps on the treadmill with lofty intentions only to find herself desperately gasping for breath and barely managing to hold on to the rails (oh, did I mention you're not supposed to hang on to the rails... you get 20% less effectiveness that way.) after a quarter of a mile.  Sad really.

Tom and I started working out at the gym approximately 8 months ago.  The whole thing has been hit and miss commitment-wise.  We would do really good for three weeks and be super consistent, then life would happen and we'd stop going for a period of time.  There following we would go at it again and follow some super diet plan then it would all fall apart again after three weeks or so.  I even managed to run a mile with only one brief  stop in there somewhere, but didn't workout for two weeks afterward.  It was a pretty crazy cycle.  Then Christmas happened and the new year came.  I did not make any conscious New Year's Resolution.  It honestly just worked out that way.  The last week of December came and I started working out 3-6 times every week and I have maintained that pace ever since.  I think I have safely passed the three-week bane (fingers-crossed).  Finally today, after many aches and pains and every joint slowly adapting to the pain of pounding feet, I ran a mile.  Straight.  Without stopping.  I didn't pass out and I didn't have to desperately grab onto the rails for dear life.  In fact, I went on to complete a 5k and I probably ran 2 miles of it intermittently.  So for all you super runner freaks who run 6 minute miles, congrats to you and seriously, you're an inspiration.  But from the girl who couldn't finish a lap not too long ago, I ran a mile in 10 minutes and I'm damn proud!

Wave Your Magic Wand, Here Comes the Coffee Fairy

Well Happy Groundhog's Day everyone.  I must admit that most of the day passed before I even realized it was such a momentous holiday.  I never did hear, but I'm assuming by the beautiful weather today that the furry little varmint saw his shadow and scurried back down into his hole for another six weeks of winter.  Shocking. Welcome to the great Northwest.  I can't complain.... it's really been a pretty nice winter.  Hopefully the rest of it is just as mild.  Makes me feel for those people in Chicago, New York, Houston and such suffering through blizzard like conditions.  I'll take our snow-less winter any day!

In other news, today was my first day of delivering coffee for the Coffee Fairy.  The Coffee Fairy is a new business here in Canby that will deliver coffee to you from your favorite cafe with a nominal delivery fee.  No more mid-afternoon cravings for Starbucks!  You just have to give us a call and we'll bring it to you.  It was pretty fun.  I made five deliveries and made $30 all in about an hour and a half.  It works.

Austin has his second basketball game tomorrow.  He is really enjoying it.  Bless his little heart.  Truly he is probably my least competitive child, but he is improving greatly.  Of course he is the tallest on the team so I think the coach got pretty excited when he saw him walk onto the court.  Little did he realize my dear son's lack of experience, but again, he gets better every practice and I know he'll be awesome by the end of the season.

Drew has one of his last swim meets against Clackamas tomorrow and then has districts next weekend.  He is hoping to letter this year.  You have to swim 10 individual varsity events to qualify and he thinks he's close.  We're hoping!

Tomorrow Zane has a field trip to Franz Bakery with Tom squeezing in as a chaperon.  They weren't going to let Tom go because of limited bus space, but the teachers made an extra effort due to the situation with Zane's mom.  It means a lot to Zane that Tom is able to go.

Well that is the latest and greatest.  I hope you all had a fantabulous Groundhog's Dog with lots of celebrating and wishes granted!  Hugs and loves to all!