February 21st, 2011 (7 Ingredient Challenge)

It was President’s day and my Mom, Dad, Julie, Ben, Bryan, Noni, Ryan, Kevin, and Grandpa Coco were due to arrive for my February 7 Ingredient Challenge.  The ingredients I had to use were:

1. pork

2. pomegranate

3. onions

4. mint

5. black beluga lentils (which I could not find and substituted regular ol’ common lentils, Shannon gave me her blessing)

6. sharp cheddar cheese

7. ginger

So I started with this 9 pound bone in pork shoulder roast that I marinated in the slow cooker with pomegranate juice and chicken stock.  I was worried about this one because I started it at 9 am and everything I read was I needed at least 10 hours on low and that was for smaller cuts without a bone.  So I put the slow cooker on high and hoped for the best.  I am breaking every rule with trying something completely new for a night of company.

Whew (with me wiping my forehead in dramatic relief gesture), it was looking like this around 3 pm falling off the bone.  Perfect for shredding.

Shredded it, drained off some juice, added bbq sauce, mustard, and more pomegranate juice and let reduce for the afternoon.  Done.

The condiment tray for the sandwiches.  I also caramelized some onions too for the sandwiches, but I forgot to take a picture of that.  Just picture a little glass bowl of caramelized onions….that’s what it looked like.

So….pork, pomegranate, cheese, onions down.

I’ve really been into roasted garlic lately.  I put 3-4 whole bulbs with the tips cut off in the oven in a foil pack for 30-45 minutes (depending on temp, I normally do it when I already have oven on for something else).  I then squeeze the bulbs into a food processor with herbs and lemon juice to make a vinaigrette and save the rest of the garlic heads I don’t use in the refrigerator for future uses.  I used that technique and put in a ton of mint.

 

I then mixed the vinaigrette with cooked lentils, cannellini beans, and garnished with bacon. 

So…..lentils and mint done.

For the ginger I was going to make a salad dressing and serve it with, you guessed it, a salad.  But Grandpa Coco doesn’t eat salad and I wanted to serve him some sort of vegetables.  So I baked carrots and green beans in the oven covered with a mixture of ginger, tons of garlic, butter, salt, pepper, and chicken stock.

So….ginger done.

Grandpa Coco is always sent home with a doggie bag, here is leftover pulled pork and veggies for his lunch tomorrow. 

The kids had fun playing and I didn’t subject them to adult menu, they feasted on applesauce, buns, cheese, grapes, and strawberries.  I think Bryan might have had some pulled pork, little trooper kid!

Ben’s self portrait of eating pulled pork sandwich.

Waiting for dessert, which was Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread Budding.  No 7 ingredients in there, I wanted to use all the ingredients for dinner and thought the kids would get a kick out of their favorite sandwich made into a dessert, and maybe some adults too.

Here are some of the remarks from the night:

Julie said:

As an eater of the 7 ingredient challenge, I was very satisfied with the combination of it all! The lentils were the yummiest to me (perfectly cooked and bacon never hurts!). Also the PB and J bread pudding was sensational. I am not a bread pudding fan usually but it was not too soggy (I hate soggy bread pudding) and cooked perfectly so that the top had a little crust to it!

Note to Julie: you hate soggy bread pudding???  I don’t believe you because I’ve seen you eat the soggiest bowls of cereal of my life growing up!  Isn’t soggy cereal the same as soggy bread pudding?

Ryan said:

All was super yummy. (although I didn't eat any onions). The pork was tender and tangy. The lentils were flawless. I love bread pudding but peanut butter concerns me. however, I had a second helping of this magic PB&J bread pudding.

Another fun night of a random meal for family and friends!  It’s very much like Forrest Gump’s take on chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get!  Until next time!

February 18th, 2011

The weather is beautiful!!!  Beautiful to the point where the girls were running around outside and getting hot with jackets and fleece pants.  So I let them go inside and change into whatever they wanted.  I was thinking more along the lines of a short sleeve shirt, but was greeted by this:

It’s like their sundresses from last summer were just burning a hole in their pocket and they couldn’t wait to bust them out again.  I went with it, the weather was definitely warm enough.  As long as it wasn’t me in the sundress, I was happy.  I raked, got out the leaf blower to clean up the garden rock border, and did general clean up in the yard while the girls played.  I tried desperately to make a game out of collecting gumballs, but they weren’t buying what I was selling. Darn!

I was going to bbq chicken, but the back yard was still a marshy mess.  So I roasted the chicken in the oven with cous cous and a salad.  The girls both love eat cous cous, so I use it almost as much as rice for a side dish. 

Lauren likes cous cous with nuts on top, Sydney likes parmesan cheese on top. 

These wonderful warm days are just what the doctor ordered! There is so much stuff to do in the yard to get ready for spring, mostly leaf removal based.  I know cold days are still ahead and spring is a month away, but I’ll take what I can get!

February 15th, 2011

Sydney had her Valentine’s Party at her preschool today.  I was rushing to get there in time and I’m glad I did.  I am always on the party planning committee, but I’m normally the parent that signs up for drink, snack, or plates/napkins if I can.  I’m not too crafty and in Sydney’s class there’s a group of moms that really get into it, so I steer clear and buy my juice boxes as my contribution.  I’ve been on party planning committees with Lauren’s class and I do a game or craft if there are no volunteers and it’s just not my cup of tea.  This group works out great for me, I do my snack or juice, I have no guilt, all moms are happy, and it’s always a great party.

Snack!  The kids loved them, very little crumbs left on the table.

Empty plate!  See the juice box in the background?  ALL ME!  Kiwi Strawberry, I know, I do too much, I can’t help myself. ;)

Working on craft number 1.  A valentine door decoration.

Craft number 2, decorated clothes pin.  I really hope this group of moms will continue at Sydney’s school and be in her class next year.  This juice box gig is quite a luxury!

February 14th, 2011

For Valentine’s Day Trent and I decided to have a family night at home and let the girls pick whatever dinner they wanted could agree on.  Trent and I went out on Friday night for a Valentine’s date night in Clayton and the girls spent the night at my parents.  So tonight was a great night to celebrate with the girls.

Guacamole for an appetizer.  Tacos for dinner.

Going, going….

Gone!

Trent’s mom has a special Cheesecake recipe that Trent is pretty much obsessed with.  He LOVES it. The girls and I are not huge cheesecake fans, so it was the perfect Valentine’s gesture for him.  I knew we wouldn’t be sneaking pieces of it while he was at work and he could have it all to himself.

And that’s exactly what happened (well, not all in one night, it lasted about a week or so)!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

February 13th, 2011

We met up with Bethanie, Alex, Markham, Dennis, Kaleb, and Kinsley for an afternoon of bowling at Concord Lanes.  The girls had a fantastic time.  Lauren loved every second of it and Sydney was so cute with this little body carrying around this bowling ball.  And don’t get me started on those little bowling shoes, adorable!  Lauren got 2 strikes and a spare.  In fact, she was beating me most way through the first game.  But really that’s not much a compliment to Lauren, Trent discovered I’ve been bowling completely wrong my whole life and using the wrong fingers in the bowling ball.  I’m really not surprised, when it comes to sports I have a tendency to do things my own way….the wrong way.  But despite my marginal bowling skills I had a great time too.

We were excited to watch the Grammys that night.  I made a Bolognese sauce that afternoon, we watched the red carpet, and had dinner. 

After coaxing Sydney for almost an hour to eat her dinner, we gave up and put the girls to bed.  We then feasted our eyes on Lady Gaga and her weird womb egg.  They said she was in there for 3 days prior to the show, which seems sketchy unless she installed an egg womb porta potty in there too.  

February 12th, 2011

My mom’s birthday brunch meal told in pictures.

Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!

February 10th, 2011

Sydney’s big girl bedding arrived from Target!

Getting ready for naptime!  So the girls have matching bedding, which I love (and I don’t have to hear “Moooooooom, HER bedding is PRETTIER than mine”).  Sydney’s favorite color is purple, so the bedding worked out great.  Lauren’s favorite color is pink, so this is her bedding.

I just have a couple more things to do in Sydney’s room and it’ll be done.  I have to sell a couple of things at the spring consignment sale and then make a couple more purchases and recover a little rocking chair, which I have NO idea how to do.  I was dreading doing the whole big girl room process, but once I started, it became fun and not as daunting. 

For dinner I made Open faced sandwiches with ricotta, spinach, and a fried egg.  It’s becoming one of my favorite quick dinners.  It’s all in one, so no thinking about a side dish or making a salad.  Also it’s meatless and Trent likes it, so many selling points to this recipe.  A new added necessity for a recipe is it can’t involve a microwave in any preparation because we still haven’t replaced our one that caught on fire.  Dumb fire.

February 5th, 2011

One day in art class Lauren’s teacher gave the kids the assignment of making a square into a circle, then incorporating the circle into a picture with a background.  Her picture was selected to be displayed in the Lindbergh Elementary Student Art Exhibition.  Lauren decided to sell her picture for $15, then they add $5 as a donation to the school and framing fee.  This is Lauren’s picture displayed.

It sold almost immediately…

…to Lauren’s definitely not biased or subjective grandparents.  They just know good art when they see it.  It will go perfectly with their extensive and impressive circle bear art collection.

We all went to dinner at Roberto’s, our favorite restaurant in our neighborhood.  The girls love it and know it’s a special occasion whenever we go there for dinner.