What's for dinner?

On a typical Sunday, Adam doesn't get done with his church meetings until around 4:00 (church services end at 2:00).   Because of this, I usually have lots of time to prepare dinner without being rushed.    That doesn't mean I always feel like preparing an elaborate meal, but at least I have the time to do it if I want!

A few Sundays ago I was feeling extra adventurous and decided to make Spaghetti.  That probably sounds pretty normal except that I made everything homemade!    Homemade spaghetti sauce that simmered for a few hours, homemade meatballs, homemade noodles (yes you read right, homemade noodles!) and homemade french bread!

If you've never made homemade french bread you must!  It is sooo good and taste just like the store, but fresher of course!   This is the recipe I use:
http://morganmoore.typepad.com/one_more_moore/2010/02/comfort-food.html

We've played with the pasta attachment on our Kitchen aid a few times and mostly it was a mess and lots of work.   Well this time I decided to closely read reviews of people who said they liked it and finally figured out my problem!  My dough was waaaaay to sticky!  I am so used to making breads that I figured that is what it should be like.  Nope, its very crumbly and barely stays together in a ball.   When its drier it goes through the machine beautifully and the noddles dont' stick together when they come out the other end. I actually followed the recipe from the Kitchenaid more closely and it worked!  So excited to have finally found the trick!

It was a fun meal and I was so proud that I could make all that from scratch.

What we did this weekend...

In addition to the typical weekend household chores, this is what we accomplished:

Canned 12 quarts of Salsa

Random Organizing.  I went to The Container Store... It was my first time, and well I got a little crazy!  The whole time I debated, ask permission first, or forgiveness later, in the end I went with forgiveness later!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this rack!  Since we don't have a real pantry, we turned our coat closet (cause really who needs a coat closet in AZ) into one and this cleaned up stuff so much.

Also grabbed a bunch of magnetic containers to hold some of my most used spices (I discovered many that I had 3 containers of because I was almost out, bought a new one and then forgot I bought a new one and bought another!  Well no more!  All right there for me to view on the Fridge!)

Baked 2 1/2 dozen cupckaes... from scratch.. not one, but TWO kinds with not two but THREE types of frosting!

First ones were more practicing for the state fair cupcake contest - Orange Creamcicle Cupcakes! Orange cupcakes with orange and cream cheese swirled frosting.  The second was a first, completely Vegan Cupcakes!  My bro in law has a food sensitivity to dairy so I made these for him to eat.  Chocolate Cupcake with Strawberry frosting.  They were actually good and the frosting was amazing!

Went to our Sacrament meeting this handsom young man was sustained as a counselor in our Bishopric; then got to hear him be ordained to be a High Priest and set apart in the Bishopric.  

Then RACED to Mesa for another Sacrament meeting where this little lady was blessed.

And our big weekend project, Kitchen Cabinet Painting!

Heres the boring before pictures

And here is the After!  

 LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!   We painted the walls red about a  year ago, but didn't do the cabinets because I couldn't bring myself to since they were new when we moved in.  Well, I finally decided they had to go!   So happy with the way it turned out! 

 

What a great weekend!

Homemade Pitas!

While my good friend Mary was in town recently, we had to of course try a new recipe. So we went with homemade, whole wheat pitas!

They were actually pretty easy and we had them all figured out after a couple of batches. Here they are on the pan wiaiting to go in the over.

Darn it! I forgot to take a picture of them while they were in the oven and puffed up! But here is the evidence that they actual do make a pocket!

They were really yummy with hummus. The next day we had the leftovers for breakfast, filling them with eggs, bacon, peppers, onions and cheese! Yummy!

When friends come to town..

You grind bean in rocks....

and play with butterflies...

and make pies....

and sew up cute things...
see told you cute!
And then you eat at In and Out cause your friend has never been there...

Yep that pretty much sums it up! OK, well except the part where we also HAD to have Mafa Chicken (aka cold chicken... um most of you probably have no clue so moving on).... and we HAD to eat at Rosas (sensing a food theme here?) ... Oh and HAD to go to a girly move - Julie and Julia (again with the food theme, what the heck? Is that all we do!... Come to think of it, even the picture Adam made us take at the Botanical gardens was of us grinding beans.... good grief!) At least we managed to get a run in Saturday morning. Thanks for a fun "food filled" weekend Mary!

Kitchen appliance, re-defined.......

Well sort of.... Have you ever owned something and LOVED it only to find out after a long time and many uses that it was EVEN BETTER than you had originally thought? So goes the story of the Bosch Food Processor Plus....


When Adam and I got married, we started combining our kitchen items, and well, obviously I had much much more, but what he had was a Bosch Food Processor. Now I also had a food processor, but it wasn't a Bosch, so I got rid of it and promptly began to use the Bosch. Well this Bosch is sweet, it has a Blender (which is the only thing Adam had ever used it for prior), it also has a juicer attachment and of course the traditional food processing accessories. See all the fun stuff?

This isn't my exact model, but its pretty close. I also have a Kitchenaid which I LOVE as well. As I recently purchased our wheat grinder, I've made bread a few times, but most of the recipes make 2 or more loaves, and my Kitchenaid tends to overheat when kneading multiple loaves. Well, I was talking to my soon to be Sister in Law Julie this weekend and she told me all I needed to do was probably add the bowl to the processor in order to use it as a mixer.


Well, naturally I was stoked and the next day started searching the Internet for any info on my machine I could find and what I could add to it (Adam doesn't have the manual, or I just can't find it). I couldn't find much (this model isn't made anymore), but finally came across the user manual and guess what?! This machine already came with a dough hook! I just didn't know it when I first looked at it (doesn't resemble the Kitchenaid hook).So I am completely ecstatic, but at the same time mystified that I have been using this machine for over a year without knowing its full potential. I tested it out tonight and it kneaded a 3 loaf recipe just great! No over heating or anything! WOOHOO!!!!! Don't worry, the Kitchenaid still holds a prized spot on my kitchen counter and will continue to be highly used... just not for multiple loaves of bread!

Wheat!

We recently bought one of these:

Love it! We love adding whole wheat to our foods (I even snuck it in brownies and you couldn't tell!). My favorite thing so far were some delicious chocolate chip zucchini muffins that I substituted wheat flour for white, they were so good I had to text Adam that he should come home from work and eat some; yeah he did, SIX of them!

Here's the recipe

(Original Link here to Allrecipes where I got it)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used all whole wheat)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (I also shredded one apple and added it, it made them super moist!)
• 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts ( I didn't have any nuts so I left them out)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine the egg, oil, milk, lemon juice and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done.

I don't have any pictures; but trust me they were TASTY!

I do have some pictures of my first attempt at bread though!

STOP!! BACK AWAY FROM THE SMALL KITCHEN APPLIANCE!

Do you ever have those times where about 30 seconds after an event has occurred you wish you would have taken a picture? This morning the Vitamix and I had a moment. And it was a very brief moment. Since Adam has been gone this week, I have had to make my own breakfast smoothies; and I thought I was getting the hang of it.... I think I was very wrong.

Let me describe what happened. I cleaned my carrots, cut the peel off my oranges and kiwis, cleaned the grapes and hucked it all in the machine along with a handful of spinach and some frozen berries. I started the machine on low and slowly raised the speed until it was nice and smooth... and here's were things went very wrong. I turned the machine off. Bad idea. I proceeded to grab the milk and a handful of ice cubes which I put in through the whole in the top of the machine. I switched the Vitamix back on - I put it on low again, but then I tried to speed it back up and that's when it happened BRIGHT RED SMOOTHIE went EVERYWHERE! And how did I react? I laughed so hard. You know when you have those moments to choose whether to get upset or just laugh? Well I didn't even think about being mad, I just laughed and laughed and laughed. There was smoothie everywhere - on the wall, the counter, the window blinds, the floor, the Kitchenaid, in the Kitchenaid bowl.. By this point I realize I am going to be very late for work. I have no choice, I have to clean the mess because if I don't do it now it will be much harder after work. But I laughed the whole time. And then laughed the whole way to work. And then laughed as I recounted the whole event to my coworkers. And then laughed 4 hours later when I realized it was all over my shirt - why I didn't look before, I don't even know.

After I cleaned, I wished I would have taken a picture, but as funny as it was I didn't want to recreate the event a second time. I'm pretty glad that Adam wasn't here to witness it happen, he'd probably ban me from all future use. I think I'll wait till he reads this to fess up....who knows I may even get away with it......

Adam's New Toy

Most of you know I love to cook. So you would think that a brand new, bright and shiny, kitchen appliance would be my pride and joy. Well, you'd be wrong. Oh don't get me wrong, I love the thing, but we've had it a whole week and I have yet to touch it. Adam is obsessed with it. He uses it twice a day. So whats this wonderful thing? None other than the Vitamix 5200!!!

After drooling over the machine for two straight weeks at Costco, Adam finally caved and bought it. This beast will grind up just about anything and makes the best darn smoothies around (well I must say that Adam plays a pretty good role in that one :) Apparently it will also grind wheat, knead dough, make soup (including heating it), make ice cream and countless other things.

Am I jealous that I never get to use it. Not in the least. Every morning my wonderful husband sends me out the door with a Delicious, nutritious smoothie (yes nutritious, he throws celery, carrots, spinach in there along with the fruits and the best part? Absolutely no added sugar!) So I think for now I'll just stay away from the Vitamix 5200 and let Adam have his fun and I'll go on enjoying an awesome breakfast. Thanks sweetie!