Dinner x 2

So I’m a bit behind on my dinner posts.. I’m having a bit of trouble shaking the whole lazy thing..  

Last night, we had this:

The Pioneer Woman – Enchiladas

As usual, I would like to provide some commentary..

When you ask your husband to get red enchilada sauce, make sure he promises that he will get it. 

We used green enchilada sauce because someone got green sauce even though it said red, and was too lazy to go back and get the right kind. It was good with the green sauce, but I’m sure it would’ve been even better with the red.

When it says to add oil and flour and whisk together, put the oil in and then slowly whisk the flour in..if you don’t do that, you will have clumps of oil and flour, and they will not turn back to a rue like mixture.

Be careful when you fry the tortillas..I continuously ripped them when pulling them from the pan. And then the anger pursued..

When it’s time to dip the tortillas in the sauce, let your husband do it bare handed; it’s too hard to dip with the tongs and you will get red headed (if you don’t know what that is, you didn’t grow up with a red headed grandpa, and you missed out) and he will insist on just doing it that way. Fine by me..

Also, when it comes time to wrap the enchiladas, let your husband do that too; you will get red headed again. Your husband will laugh; you will not.

Overall, the struggles are totally worth it, because the enchiladas were amazing! And I was nice enough to give my husband the left overs for lunch the next day.

 

Now, for this evenings dinner. One of my favorite snack dips combined with pasta. Can’t go wrong there.

The Pioneer Woman – Spinach Artichoke Pasta (yes, it’s a real thing!) 

 I think that’s all you need to know, really. It was super simple to make and super yummy to eat!

Enjoy!

Salsa!

The other evening my husband decided that we should have a pre-dinner snack of Restaurant Style Salsa, courtesy of The Pioneer Woman, and Oh My Goodness did it ever almost turn into dinner itself!! Soo yummy! 

We made it just as it says, no chunks (yuck!) and even added the jalapeno, which I was quite sketchy about, but it all combined soooo well! My husband did at first not add the salt, and wow, does it make a wonderful difference!

So go make it! And have it for dinner if you would like! It contains tons of vegetables! 😉

Potty Training..A Work in Progress (Warning, words like poop and teetee are used!)

What’s your take on potty training? Mine, I don’t have one..

I’ve never potty trained a child before, and unfortunately, or fortunately, I don’t remember my own experience.

Right at a year old, my daughter started showing interest in our potty (excuse the mommy words, it’s addictive). Since I had no prior inclinations of how potty training should go, I got her a very special Minnie Mouse potty and decided to see where that adventure would take us.

Cammi liked the idea of saying she had to potty, or had pottied, or maybe she just wanted to say the word teetee..I dont know..but one thing was for sure, she was deathly afraid of sitting on her very special potty. I tried at first to make her sit on it, but then I realized that there was no need to force her and scar her for life, so I quit trying. (Not in a giving up way, but in a stepping back and letting toddlering take its course kind of way.) Cammi would still continue to tell me she had to go potty, and most of the time I would humor her and take her into the bathroom. Very little did it actually end in her sitting on the potty. Most of the time she wanted to explore the bathroom, which just irked me to no end. Why, child, do you insist on playing in the bathroom?!

So, now we’re in present day, at 21 months old (yikes, almost two years old!) and in the past month, she has shown more interest in actually wanting to go poopoo or teetee (see, addictive..you’re going to start saying it now too) in her potty. First, she started out wanting to go poop. I guess there’s more an urge to do that sitting down than teeteeing in your diaper that’s conveniently always on you. Again, I do not know.. I think out of the three times that she has pooped in the potty, one of those three actually made it in the bowl. Once she somehow managed to poop on the seat, and another time she was already doing it in her diaper which I was not aware of until I pulled her diaper off.. gross.

So now, this week, we have moved on to going teetee in the potty. Our second experience happened this morning. Cammi told me she had to poopoo so we went to the potty. We sat there and sat there and teetee’d and sat there some more. No poop, that’s ok, you teetee’d! Yay big girl! Ok, time for breakfast, let’s sit down. ..What’s that smell?  Cammi..did you poopoo? Blank stare..yep, poop.. 

I’m just glad I don’t have a boy..As a stay at home mommy potty training a boy, I’m sure one of us would end up strangely scarred for life.

Oh well, toddlering is definitely a work in progress! I wouldn’t have it any other way though. Except maybe we could go back to when she napped twice a day. That would be nice..I could do that part again.

 

 

On the Menu Tonight..

Tonight we made The Pioneer Woman – Penne a la Betsy (Shrimp Penne). From a food review point of view, it was very nice and light tasting. From my point of view, unfortunately, I could have done without the shrimp. I know, that’s an outrageous request..but hear me out. I used to looove seafood. I still love seafood. I think? I love catfish, red snapper, even fried shrimp, but for the past 6 months, I have refused to eat fresh shrimp; the taste just disgusts me. I hate that it disgusts me, but it just does! Anywho, the dish was good, but on top of the taste of the shrimp, it was overcooked. Oops. 

Now, let me preface this tale with the fact that my husband just HAD to help me. He cannot stay away from meddling. (His word, not mine, but it could easily be mine, plus some) I was doing just fine with my awkward cooking skills, and he just had to butt in! That’s probably what happened to the shrimp..yeah.

So anyway, I’m minding my own business, cooking, waiting, annihilating… well not really, but it rhymed nicely.

First, dear old hubby got me all confused with what pans to use so that all ingredients would fit correctly, so he came over to “help” switch the shrimp to a bigger pot for later mixing with sauce and noodles. So then, I’m chopping up the onion, garlic, and parsley (or so I thought) and he asks, “Babe (aw, that’s sweet but you don’t call me that unless it’s serious..) are you SURE that’s parsley?!” “Yes, dear, I’m always 100% sure of what leafy greens I’m using. (Hehe) No dear, I’m not really that sure. I smelled it, it didn’t smell like the cilantro we also have that looks the same, so I went with this one.” After some deliberating and smelling of leafy greens in the fridge, he concludes that I am in fact chopping up cilantro. A la sigh..  

Carrying on now, we manage to get through boiling pasta to al dente, unknowingly overcooking shrimp, and sauteing vegetables; now it’s time for tomato sauce and heavy cream. You all know how heavy cream is, right? Heavy, creamy,heavy and creamy. But really, you know how it forms that thickness at the top? Well, there was a lot of it when I opened it, and welll, uh, I thought it would be fun to squeeze the bottle and watch the thick stuff come up. So, I did, and I squeezed a bit too much and pew! up spewed cream, straight up in the air! Ah, that was fun. And messy. I shouldn’t have done that. But, it was really fun. Teehee. And that’s how the making of dinner ended. A celebration of sorts, the spewing cream and all.

Ok, Ok,..enough of all that. The recipe is above. Follow it, don’t overcook your shrimp (although I’m sure it won’t be on purpose..and if it is, you have some serious problems, or weird taste), eat, and enjoy! Feedback is always welcome!

Nighty night! I hear dessert calling my name!

The Pioneer Woman – Easy Calzones (with commentary by Me)

Last night I made this:

 

It was delicious.

That is all…  Oh, you want the recipe? Oh yeah, sorry, I started drooling and almost had a leftover one for breakfast.

Yes, that is how amazing they were! My husband and I did not speak the whole time during dinner because we were devouring our calzones!

Here is the recipe: The Pioneer Woman – Easy Calzones

Here’s my commentary: Make it, make it now! You, your husband, your kids, your annoying neighbor down the street who always seems to know when dinner is cooking, will love this! 

This recipe makes 8 calzones, and trust me, you will want to make all 8! 

Now you can take the easy way like Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) does in this recipe link, or…you can use her yummy pizza dough recipe, which is what I used last night. Click on this link for the recipe: The Pioneer Woman – Pizza Ree-a (clever, huh?)

When making the pizza dough, here are some tips from The Lazy Housewife (that’s me!):

1. Don’t try to answer a text when you are wrist deep in sticky pizza dough. It turns into you trying to open the text with your mouth while your daughter stares at you wondering what’s wrong with mommy. 

2. Take all jewelry off. I actually remembered this before I started; but if you wait until tip 2, then you will be very regretful.

3. When it says to use either half a packet of yeast or 1 tsp. and you want to make sure you are exactly on point because you don’t trust yourself, use 1 tsp., not 1 TBSP to measure out the yeast. (Don’t worry, I figured out my mistake when all of the packet of yeast went into the TBSP and I knew that wasn’t right. Read twice, measure once!)

4. This is a legitimate tip. When it says to use a mixer on low and slowly drizzle in the olive oil, I would strongly suggest doing that. I have a crappy hand mixer, so I tend to not want to use it. Use it! Whatever it is that you have, use it! I stirred mine in with a spoon and ended up with little balls of oil and flour which I then had to pop individually…Yeah..

5. When you cover the bowl with the dough in it to let it rise, you can use the plastic wrap as suggested, or a moistened towel. Also, the best place to put the bowl while the dough is rising is in your microwave. It wont accidentally get bumped by your cat jumping on the counter, or your kid jumping on the counter, if your kid is that way.

Lastly, the pizza dough recipe attached only  makes one pizza or 4 calzones. Here are the changes for making 2 pizza doughs or 8 calzones:

1 tsp or 1/2 packet active dry yeast (yes, it’s the same as making one pizza dough)

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Ok, now you’re ready to make the good stuff, the filling!

Tips when making the filling and calzones:

1. The filling is so simple my daughter could have made it!

2. I might should have waited a bit longer to let the meat and tomato mixture cool before adding the cheese; it seemed to be a bit too melty.

3. When rolling out the 8 dough balls, do make sure to use flour on the rolling surface and your rolling pin. I know this is a no brainer to most, but you WILL lose your mind if you don’t use flour! Sticky, sticky, sticky (Think of the evil magician in Frosty the Snowman when you’re saying that. Hehe)

4. Don’t get discouraged if your calzones do not come out as shiny and deliciously browned and crusty as the ones in The Pioneer Woman’s picture; they will still taste amazing! 

Ok, now go make these (yes, I know it’s breakfast time, it will still be good..) and let me know how it goes!

 

 

It’s All About Good Intentions, Right?

So, I know I promised you wonderful viewers a delicious The Pioneer Woman recipe last night, but I broke that promise. Please forgive me? I’m only one lowly procrastinator! 

I had plenty of chances once I finally finished all my baking for the evening and put my daughter to bed (which was late as usual..you would think she’s spoiled and get what she wants, but mainly, I’m just too lazy to fight her sometimes), but once that was all done, I just wanted to sit on the couch and mindlessly stare at the tv while I ate some delicious Cinnamon Amish Bread with ice cream. I wish I could share the recipe with you, but it’s an Amish secret. Find an Amish friend!

Anywho.. yesterday I also made a promise to my husband that I would get up with him in the morning and make him a good hearty breakfast. He’s known for saying he’ll get up and make something and then he buys expired breakfast from the vending machine at his work. So I had gone to the store and got all the ingredients for Breakfast Quesadillas from, who other than, The Pioneer Woman. Well, my daughter woke up briefly (enough to ruin my sleep cycle) at 5:30 this morning. My husband gets up at 6:00, so instead of just getting up (my Lord, who gets up at 5:30, that’s just not right?!) then, I went back to sleep, and with only his alarm set, I did not hear it go off and woke up 10 minutes before he had to leave. I was sad for him that he had to take..well, I don’t know what he took for breakfast, but nothing could be better than those breakfast quesadillas, and he was just happy that I made the gesture. (How sweet) 

So, there you have it, two good intentions gone bad, and I managed to get up 2 hours early! Well, I do have to work today, but not until 10..I’ve got the good life. 

Ok, now stay here! I really am going to post those dinner recipes this time!
Happy Wednesday!

Clutter Be Gone! And Other Ramblings that Sort of Pertain to That..

Good afternoon lovely readers!

You might think that I’m just now getting my day started since you’re just now hearing from me, and you might be partially correct. I got up at a decent time this morning and was able to take a shower before my daughter woke up. If you don’t have kids, you have no idea how much of a difference this can make in your day! I was then able to make coffee, but then not drink it because I was completely vegged out in front of the tv with phone in hand. (Yes, I can multitask!) After my daughter woke up, I made us a real breakfast (pancakes with strawberries and bananas). It usually takes us about 30 minutes to an hour to eat depending on the time it takes to make breakfast. 2 year old’s can be quite slow when it comes to eating, for some reason. 

Now, this is where I could have started being productive (this was two hours ago). Instead, I retreated back to the couch to watch cartoons and drink more coffee. To be fair though, I was at least thinking about what my blog post would be about! Anyway, 30 minutes ago, I finally decided to get dressed, because my odd philosophy is that I can’t get anything real accomplished until I’m dressed and my hair is done. In my mind it’s totally legitimate; now if only I could make it happen within the same hour that I take a shower.

So, yesterday, I promised you that I would come back and tell you how our decluttering day went. It went so well that I was doing it up until an hour before I went to bed! The first thing we started out with, sadly, was taking down all the Christmas decorations. For a small house, we have A LOT of Christmas decorations..it’s my favorite time of the year, and I think it should last at least three months; November-January! I’m working on getting it approved.. I managed to purge some thoughtful but less than desirable Christmas decorations passed down from a certain husband’s “interesting” grandmother. Then, I moved on to the bathroom. Now, there were two things that went on yesterday in that bathroom. One was decluttering, one was cleaning. I threw away all of my old perfumes, lotions, etc. etc. that hadn’t been used since probably before I got married. My husband, offered in a sort of way, to clean the bathroom; I did not counter that offer because I knew what he was getting into and I did not want to be any part of that! The rest of the day I worked on and off on our closet. I told you yesterday that we have large walk in closets and ours could no longer be considered a walk in closet. It still can’t, actually, BUT i went through every corner and almost every shelf of that whole dang closet and packed up so many things to get rid of. ..Why do we have these things?! I’m pretty sure that they breed nightly. So now, our closet is cleanerrr..not completely clean, that will never happen! But, I have four boxes, a large bag, plus numerous large items (that are unfortunately still scattered through out the house) that I am ready to get rid of! They will NOT be coming back out of those boxes and bags! Be gone clutter, be gone! 

So, how did you all do? Did you clean a closet? Clean a counter? Clean your face, at least?! If you didn’t I wont shun you, but just remember, there’s always today! I know for sure that I still have places to clean, plus my daily housewife duties! Will I start them as soon as I get done here? Probably not, because that’s just not me! Sorry! But, when my daughter finally decides to go down for a nap, I will get right on that! ..After I watch my DVR’d The Pioneer Woman (new episodes come back in another week!), and check Facebook, and play one of my stupidly addicting phone games..then I’ll load the dishwasher..maybe.. 

Stay tuned tonight too! I’m going to post our dinner from last night, CrockPot (or not) Pinto Beans w/Ham (It’s so super easy peasy that even I can say that!) and tonight’s dinner, Ground Beef & Sausage Calzones!! 

Have a great and hopefully productive day!

Jenny

Starting Anew Year Aspiration

Well, it’s Monday morning..the day I promised myself that I would make some changes to my daily housewife routine. I’ve started the morning by getting up 45 minutes after I promised myself that I would and 45 minutes earlier than I usually do; that sounds like a pretty good start to me. My daughter woke up at the same time I did, so that was a bust to get anything done before she woke up. My husband is home today too, so most of what I promised myself to do probably wont get done anyway. But I digress..

Today is decluttering day. We have a 900 sq ft house with about 1200 sq ft worth of things stuffed into it. Ok, maybe not 1200 sq ft, but still way too much. If your tiny house has two large walk in closets, a hall closet, and an attic and you still don’t have enough room to walk around, then there’s a significant clutter problem. And, well, I might have read somewhere that a little clutter makes you a more creative person, and I might have taken that a little too far… But either way, we finally realized our problem and now we are trying to fix it in one day.

Now, I’m a purger, and so is my husband. We did not take after our parents. Mainly, I didn’t take after my mom..Love ya mama! But, my husband and I can’t be exactly alike, because how would a marriage fully work on a basis that both parties agree fully on a strong subject such as a clean house?

Here’s how my decluttering day would go: “I’m going to go through every cabinet, room, and closet and find everything we don’t use! Then I’m going to box it all up and try to sell it!” (I prefer to get some kind of reward for my awesome decluttering and cleaning skills. That, and there are plenty of people in the flea market area of where I live that are always on the hunt for good deals to fill their booths for the weekend flea markets, so why not help them out too, right?!) So once I’ve got this great idea in my mind, I proceed to start rummaging through every nook and cranny until I’m satisfied that I have removed every piece of evidence that a normal family lives here. Then, I semi start boxing things up. By that, I mean that I try to organize everything by categories; clothes, kitchen, miscellaneous, etc. Here’s what really happens: I find one box that will fit one category (right  now, that category is clothes) and the rest, well, lets just say the closet ends up messier than it started out. (When my husband reads this, he will probably laugh and agree 100% that that is exactly what happens.) 

Ok, now here is how my husband’s decluttering day would go: “It’s 6:00 am, (Egads!)  I’m bright eyed and bushy tailed, and I’m ready to get all this crap out of the house! I’m in the kitchen, so I’ll start here.” 45 minutes  later, the kitchen is rid of half of its items, including dishes, food, and the cabinet sitting in the corner..because we didn’t really need that anymore either.. Now where are all these items that he’s removed from the kitchen? ..All together in one trash bag headed for the outside trash?! Nooooooo!!!!! (But I have to admit, he does get things taken care of a lot faster and more efficiently.)

So today, we are putting our special forces together to work as one! (Flash of light and our combined logo appears!) We will divide and conquer..although probably not the divide part, because I need to know what he’s trying to throw out! I may be a good purger, but I’m not letting things leave the house that easily.. 

If you’re at home, reading this, I encourage you to take a new approach today. Even if you declutter just your kitchen counter, (I know from experience that that is a feat in itself!) you’re decluttering one small piece of your mind also, and that can make a world of difference in your outlook for the day! There, that’s my encouragement and support for all of you for today!

Now, if my husband and I can get a move on with this, I might be able to make another post this evening boasting about how awesome we are and how clean our house looks! And, I also want to share with you our dinner menu for the week; it’s a winner!

Happy decluttering day to you! And if that’s not in your schedule today, that’s ok, we’ll work on it again another day. 

What’s in a New Year Resolution? (Say this in your best Shakespearean voice)

I refuse to make an actual “New Year” resolution. Why? Maybe because of my so called good intentions that tend to end up in the back of a closet or written in a long ago set aside notebook. Maybe it’s so I don’t disappoint myself; because I tend to do that a lot! They go hand in hand really. I’m not trying to be a Debbie Downer, I just honestly hate the question asked every New Year’s Day, (in an annoying, whiny voice) “So what’s your New Year Resolution??”

This New Year’s Eve when my husband asked this burning question, I already knew what my aspirations were for the new year. And just because I may have a lazy moment here or there doesn’t mean I can’t think of things that i would like to do for a whole year, ok?!? And if you’re wondering where this blog originated from, it was from the good intentions that follow.

In early November, I came across a wonderful charitable organization, Operation Christmas Child. Shoe boxes are filled with fun and necessary items for children ages 2-14 who live in poverty ridden countries. These children don’t have toys to play with. Sometimes they don’t even have the necessities that we take for granted such as underwear, tooth brushes, or even soap. When I read about this charity, I immediately felt called to help these children. I understand that there are children in our own country, in our own towns, that can use our help. Don’t get me wrong, I want to help every child, really, but, when God calls you to help someone, you don’t question who or what! I was lucky enough to be able to fill six shoe boxes to send to the children overseas. (I have since found out that they are going to Peru!) I was also blessed to have been able to share the experience with my church’s youth group, who coincidentally, were looking for a mission to do in this same month that I found Operation Christmas Child. After I sent off the boxes (literally at the last moment, of course..why would I do it any other way?) I was already planning on starting early in the new year to be able to provide for more children come November of this year, when the boxes will start being prepared to be sent off.

So with all that being said, I want to use my craftiness for good, to make as many items as my time will allow, for these shoe boxes. What can’t be made I would like to be able to set aside money throughout the year to purchase toiletry type items, and a few other little things like candy, school supplies, and small toys.

Other aspirations that I would love to achieve this year are to craft more for myself , my daughter, and for extra income (occasionally I like to try my hand at making and selling items at local craft fairs or shops..but that’s for a whole other post) and to try out new recipes from the new cookbook that I got my husband for Christmas. Apparently though, it seems after reading through it, I got it for myself. If you have never heard of The Pioneer Woman – Ree Drummond, then you are missing out!

So with that, I leave you to think about your New Year aspirations and I ask you to wish me luck on my own aspirational journey! Don’t think of it as something that you have to do because it’s the new year, just think of it as something you would like to try out. If it doesn’t work out, don’t get discouraged, you’ll pick it back up eventually, or you will move on. No worries! Have fun and remember it isn’t all about eating healthy and working out! That’s for the professional New Year resolutioners!

 

Good Intentions of a Lazy Housewife

Honestly, I have good intentions!

Good intentions of getting up at a reasonable time each morning. (9:00 am is such a wonderful time to wake up at though!) Good intentions of doing my wifely duties (as my husband calls them)…what’s so hard about doing dishes and laundry and the occasional vacuuming? Good intentions of getting a shower before noon..Anyway, good intentions are about as real as it gets in this household. And did I mention that I’m also a stay at home mom to an almost two year old? Oh, I didn’t? Well, that explains it all then! At least, it makes sense to me..

I also have good intentions of being a great cook; having dinner ready when my loving husband gets home from a hard day at work. Instead, I sit around until I decide I’m hungry, or until my husband decides that he’s tired of waiting on me, whence then he gets off the couch with a heavy sigh and proceeds into the kitchen to start our gourmet dinner.

Often enough, I have good intentions of being a crafter too. Don’t get me wrong, I actually can craft (hey, I have to be good at something right?!) but I usually end up buying these crafty items and then don’t get up enough energy (because I’m lazy, remember?) to actually get my sewing machine or hot glue gun out (why a hot glue gun is too hard get out, I cannot answer you) to get that first step going of the actual project. Now if you remember the part where I said I have an almost two year old, who spends every waking hour with me, or vice versa, and you have had an almost two year old at some point in your life, then you can or should wholeheartedly understand my..ahem..excuses of not getting things started. 

I’m great at making excuses by the way…My husband makes sure to point that out every once in a while (he says I’m being nice when I say that). But where would I be without someone to bring me back to reality that I am the best lazy housewife on earth?!

I hope to use this blog as a way to hold me accountable to all these “good intentions and ideas” to make me a stronger, better, lazy housewife!

And so with that, my friends, I leave you with my first blog post and the reason why you are reading the first of many posts (hopefully..because if you have been reading this, you know what my diagnosis is..if not, you’re way behind and should probably stop skipping through all the boring stuff) of the musings and excuses behind my “good intentions.” ..Well, that is, as my husband just inserted as he finished reading this, if I write even one more post…Thanks dear, I love you too!