Cookies, Crafting, and Camping

I discovered yesterday that Eden will happily play close by while I work out- making it really easy for me to add this into my current routine, which is GOOD because I am sick of all of this scheduling! Eden staying at her mameir's this weekend is perfect timing. I am going to use the empty house tonight as a chance to try the farmer's market again- so if you're local come and see me- I give away free samples! On the menu for the weekend are hazelnut caramel cracker bars, vegan chewy chocolate chocolate chip cookies, decorated sugar cookies, and MAYBE cornmeal thyme or citrus cornmeal cookies. This weekend is the big Spring Fling so it should draw the largest crowd - lots of entertainment, kids activities, and first signs of produce. Not only do I hope to sell more, but it should just be lots of fun!

Today Eden and I will be traveling out to get a few supplies for the market and also a snap fastener. Her Easter dress is almost finished and I have been dreading the buttons- they are difficult to do well AND I don't like buttons on her clothing. It dawned on me last night that I could simply change the pattern and add snaps - which I definitely prefer for the ease of dressing a baby. Plus I get a new toy :).

Thomas and I have been discussing taking a small family vacation for a few weeks and yesterday decided that we should go camping. We'll be joined by two very good friends who live in Ft Worth- if anyone knows a food camping site between Nac and Ft Worth- let me know!

Isn't this just supposed be a metaphor?

Sorry for the blurry picture, if you can't tell the window is broken. Seriously--- I think my scales are telling me something. To be honest, I have no idea how it broke, but it's not too far fetched that it was me. I have officially peaked at my post-baby-easy-weight loss and still have about 1/3 of what I gained- thus begins step 2 in Katie gets her act together. Normally I would refrain from publicly discussing something that I, and most women, consider a very private challenge. However, I recently learned during the cookie experiment and step 1 in getting my act togherther:cleaning, that I'm more apt to follow through with something if I make a public proclamation. Don't worry, there will be no mimicking of crazy radio dj stunts, no swearing to post a picture of myself in a bathing suit in three months, etc. Weight loss for me is a pretty slow process because I refuse to diet- none of this no carb/counting calories, etc. I just try to eat "right". Our meals usually show good habbits- lots of veggies, few breads/pastas, light/low-fat ingredients/ lean meats, etc, but they are NOT diet foods. I guess I'm saying that I'm still going to talk about our menus, and they're not going to look like I'm on a diet, so please don't judge me! (not that any of you sweet people would).

The plan will be to cut back on/cut out sweets and workout. Two things that I do very little of. I have a serious sweet tooth and I get little/no exercise- It's actually quite amazing that I don't gain weight. The fact that I live this way and still manage to creep off a few pounds leads me to believe that losing some "extra me" won't be TOO difficult if I follow through with these two goals.

This will probably lead to less blogging. Eden takes about 2 - 3 short naps while her daddy is at work. I have been using those to clean/blog-surf/and prep dinner. Exercising is going to take priority over EVERYTHING, or, let's face it, it will never happen. So Eden's first nap is exercising. I am going to lay out clothes and equipment the night before so I have no excuses. Her next nap will be dedicated to cleaning- don't want to undo step 1!

Hopefully this will lead to having free evenings to hang out with Thomas and Eden and slip in the occasional craft project- which is what you would all rather be reading about! I realize my life via blog may sound a bit boring/boxed in- but hey- I have a newborn. Cleaning/exercising/cooking (well maybe not cooking) are not what I want my life to be about! But it is important for me to find ways to make them routine and easy so that my life can be mostly consumed with family time and time to create. I'm always amazed when people seem to naturally balance all of these things, and work too! I really have to work at it- but at least our days don't look like this anymore:

- Thanks for sticking with me during my journey!

FREE MOVIE MONDAY!

Don't forget about your FREE movie today. Enter promo code HG7W56 before you pay.

I'll be picking Joseph up from the vet shortly (he got bit by something on the back of his legs and somehow that turned into staff- I'm so glad he's outside only at this time- staff + baby = bad), throwing together some spicy sloppy joes, and then relaxing with Thomas and a movie soon to be determined. Hope you all have equally enjoyable evenings!

Spicy Sloppy Joes
Ingredients
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped yellow summer squash
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper
1 16oz jar salsa
1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
6 to 8 Kaiser rolls, split and toasted

Directions
In a medium skillet cook the ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is brown. Drain off fat. Stir in zucchini, yellow summer squash, mushrooms, and sweet pepper.
Cover and cook over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender. stir in salsa, basil, parsley, and rosemary. Simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Serve meat on TOASTED rolls. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

**I will be halving this recipe (just use really small squash) AND I use wheat sandwich buns instead of Kaiser rolls.

Gourmet Salled

Whoa... where to begin.. a lot has happened since I last checked in. We'll just start with Wednesday.

Our anniversary plans got changed up a bit. The chef became ill and our cooking class was canceled. Thomas and I threw together the meal we were supposed to, but didn't, eat on Tuesday,Lamb with spinach and bearnaise sauce, dropped Eden off at the sitter, hit the grocery store for some appetizers and chocolate cheesecake, and headed back home for a cozy candlelit dinner on our back porch. We talked until well after sunset and then finished Shadowlands before picking up Eden. It was very chill and very nice.

Thursday I was back on track with my cleaning/cooking schedule. Having decided to try the farmer's market this week, I made a plan for Cookie Madness and got all of my supplies. For dinner we had Rice and Beef stuffed peppers. This is a good recipe for anyone who wants to prepare dinner earlier in the day and then just pop it in the oven an hour before dinner.


Rice and Beef Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
6 large red, green, or yellow bell peppers
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup cooked rice
1/3 cup parmesan or romano cheese
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 jar (26 oz) Classico di Firenze Florentine Spinach & Cheese Pasta Sauce
Salt and black pepper
1 egg, beaten

Directions
1. Cut tops off peppers and set aside. Remove the seeds and membrane from each pepper.
2. In a saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, and parsley. Cook until tender, about 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine cooked onion-mushroom mixture with beef, rice, cheese, bread crumbs and 1/4 cup pasta sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Mix in egg.
4. Spread remaining pasta sauce in baking dish. Fill peppers with beef mixture and replace tops. Place peppers in prepared baking dish. Bake, covered, in preheated oven until peppers are tender and meat has cooked through, about 1 hour. Serve peppers topped with sauce.
I halved this recipe- it still made enough to stuff 4 bell peppers (i had an extra pepper). I'll use the leftover veggies and meat in dinner tonight- because i didn't use it Friday....

Friday was all about preparing for Market- and boy was it a lot of work. I ended up baking 30 dozen cookies- 5 jam shortbread, 10 soft chocolate chip, 6 hazelnut caramel cracker bars, 7 vegan chewy chocolate chocolate chip, and 2 decorated sugar cookies. I was up until 1 am and awake at 6 am. When I arrived at the market I wanted to get back into the truck and head home and not try at all. I've made it a point in life to only try things at which I know I will succeed and I was pretty confident this was going to be a big fiasco/failure/all-around-dumb idea.
To be honest, the only reason I did it was because I said I would and I've recently told myself I had to start following through with any plans I make- but why did I have to start with this crazy hair brained idea??? Luckily, it was not a total bomb (although it might have been good for me to utterly fail at something)- I sold a little over half of my stuff and still managed to break even with costs (except for the unused packaging, tablecloth, and chalkboard which I will use for other things). People were very complimentary about my packing and display (in relation to the typical booth there I went above and beyond- but hey- this was ALL about giving it 110% and doing it the way I always imagined), and really liked the cookies. I also got to know some of the vendors that I buy from. I MIGHT do it next weekend- truncating what I bake to match what sold. Apparently I haven't learned my lesson about trying crazy things yet :).

FREE Movie Today!!

Free movie Wednesday! Go to this blog to get a promo code to rent a free movie at Redday.
Monday night we rented City of Ember which Thomas has wanted to see FOREVER and I finally relinquished. We were both underwhelmed- at least it was free! I made the great discovery that you can go to Redbox.com, enter your zip, and see what movies are in stock for rent. This makes picking out a movie with a baby soooo much easier.

Yay for the sun!

The forecast for this week is much better which gives me hopes of staying motivated and on track with my new schedule. Cloudy, rainy days really affect me- something I have to get over when Thomas goes to school at... well... all of the cities he is looking at are kind of cold and dreary a lot- except maybe California :).

So Mondays are for menu planning, grocery shopping, and deep cleaning the kitchen. I actually managed to get all of that done!

Menu for the week:
M-Chicken Corn Tacos
T- Grilled Lamb Chops with spinach and lemon-mint sauce (this did not happen- keep reading)
W- *Date Night* (Three years!!)
T- Spicy Sloppy Joes
F- Rice and Beef Stuffed Peppers
S- *Other Plans*
S- Mac-N-Goat Cheese

I already had lots of chicken and some lamb, the sloppy joes and stuffed peppers share a lot of ingredients, and the mac-n-cheese is pretty basic. I'll share the recipes as I get to each meal- but the first two are linked above.

So, Monday went well, but now it's Wednesday and I already need to play catchup. It's ok- and you know why? Because Tuesday was on of the best days I have had in months! And that's saying a lot - my days are pretty good.

First, Eden slept until 7:45- that's about an extra hour and a half. Thomas turned off his alarm by accident and she did not wake us up before his work time. So as a family we peacefully slept in, it was spectacular. Since Thomas was already late and because I had fun plans for the day- he called in and took a spontaneous day off for family time. We had green milk and shamrock shaped french toast and played with Eden - bliss.
My dad showed up about 10 am and we headed to the Lufkin Zoo and then to UFO pizza for some lunch (yummy! the pizza, not the animals). Eden was good almost the entire trip and woke up just as we got home to play with her grandpa.
My dad left mid afternoon and we decided we had time to cook dinner for Thomas' dad's family They are moving into their new house this week and are super busy. Thomas relinquished his Tuesday night to himslef and helped me with Eden. Together we cooked a Morrocan feast consisting of Carrot salad, Couscous salad, and roasted Chicken thighs with Sweet and Golden potatos. It's what I learned at my cooking class a few weeks ago. Oh and maccoroni because I was afraid Thomas' sisters wouldn't eat the food, but just to prove how great yesterday was- they ate it! And liked it! We had a very pleasant evening in camp chairs on their new back deck/porch/outside palace (whatever you want to call it). We brought mint chocolate chip icecream for a St Patrick's day dessert and Thomas was able to snag a little bit of his evening back by getting in the hot tub with his fam while I watched Eden.
So, certainly that's it right? NO! Thomas and I capped the evening off by dragging my little dvd player to bed and watching Shadowlands- stopping at the part where everything is all figured out and happy- AND THEN we peacefully drifted off to sleep at the end of a perfect day.
YEAH- my life IS great :).

This morning I rescued my kitchen from the horrid mess I made yesterday. Now I have to clean the back bathroom which should have been done yesterday and clean our bedroom to keep up with my schedule.

Did I mention our 3rd anniversary is today and we get to celebrate with a babysitter and a mediterranean tapas cooking class?! (if you didn't catch it in my typing- I'm grinning like a giddy school girl :). Well- time to go get my own little giddy girl up from her nap!

Getting my act together...

So did anybody rent their FREE Redbox movie this past Monday!? I did! Eden and I had our first official movie night. Thomas and I have recently tried putting more of a schedule over our lives-we're still in planning mode and we'll always be flexible- but Monday's are now officially Family Movie Night. I'm so excited! Movies in our family are going to be a big treat as Eden grows up because we do not have cable television and actually have started watching movies less and less. I know she can't be excited about it yet but I can just picture her little curly head bopping around in excitement before future events :). We rented our movie, picked up a pizza, had a picnic at the SFA duck pond, saw Thomas off to his movie (we do actually plan to do this as a family in the future, but he wanted to see The Watchman and I wanted to watch Fireproof- can there be more polar opposites?), and Eden and I had a big, girly time.

Thomas and I have also agreed it would be healthy to have nights designated for our individual hobbies. He's grabbed Tuesday and I've grabbed Thursday. It worked out super well this week because a friend delivered her third child and FIRST BOY! Thursday morning (they wait to find out the sex of the baby- it was quite exciting). I finally got around to using this cute book, had a left-over- never-used onesie, and threw together the following gift in 2 hours:


I am so excited about how easy these little kimono pants were that I've already cut Eden's size out of the pattern and hope to make her a few pairs. But first, her easter dress must be finished! I have actually started sewing and to great relief am finding it easier than expected.

The rest of the scheduling is just for my sake. I finally divided up house cleaning chores and spread them out Monday-Saturday. Sundays are reserved for not doing anything or doing monthly tasks like cleaning the car or straightening the yard. I don't know how anyone else does it- but I need a schedule- otherwise I end up doing surface cleaning of every room, every day, all day long. I'm a little OCD about tidiness and dishes but not about deep cleaning- hopefully I'll have more time and a cleaner house if this works. I'd be interested to hear anyone else's systems!

Picture Update!

The first photos are from my phone- you'll notice the change in quality when they switch to camera:

Every once in a while Eden gets really really clingy:



She is "always" extremely happy and hyper first thing in the morning:



And not so happy other times (although she has the cutest pouty face ever!):




She cleans up pretty nice, especially when she will wear bows:



She and her daddy have matching blue eyes (be still my heart!):



She smiles and wiggles and is hard to photograph:



And has the cutest shoes!

If you're crazy and you know it clap y our hands...

*CLAP**CLAP*
So Thomas and I have thrown around ideas for participating in the farmer's market since it reopened two years ago. See why I'm crazy? I am the girl who can kill every plant I touch, have failed to start a yard garden even though I've thought about it for a half dozen years, and haven't baked fresh bread since I was 5.
But we realized I'm good at one thing- and that's cookies. So it'll be a glorified bake sale and I'm afraid the "real" farmer's market people will want to chase me out of there with pitchforks- sort of like hippie carnies chasing out a no-talent wannabe clown. I am going to try to offer cookies that appeal to the crowd in hopes of turning a profit and avoiding previously mentioned pitch-forking.Currently under review are:
(The Staples)
My favorite chocolate chip cookies
Jam cookies
Decorated Sugar Cookies
(The eccentric)
Cashew Caramel Cracker Bars
(The pulling-it-off cause it's a farmer's market)
Cornmeal Thyme - or - Butter Rosemary (can't decide yet)
VEGAN Chewy Chocolate Cookies with Chocolate Chips

I have already located good, cheap packaging and created a label for them. I need to get down grocery lists, estimate costs, and determine how much to package and price.
We'll give it one, maybe two trial runs and then do all the legal stuff if I think I'll continue.

Any suggestions on cookie choice or cost effectiveness (or large font exclamations to stop before I go any further) leave me a comment!

She's just that awesome..

It was 1 pm, Eden had only taken one 45 minute nap about 10am, so I started thinking, she is probably going to take a nap soon. She let out one little yawn a minute later, I swaddled her, laid her in her crib,and left her smiling and wiggling. I came back 2 minutes later to find her fast asleep. Yes... she's just that awesome. We have actually worked pretty hard at teaching her to put herself to sleep- but she's a baby so you can't really expect too much- but she is great at it!

Other things she is great at (aside from being freaking adorable)
*Head control
*Tracking and eye contact
*Communication (she can literally carry a conversation- wait her turn to speak, expect a response- of course, towards the end of a discussion she gets really excited and speaks at the same time you do- I think she gets that from her mama :) )
*SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT
*Being a lefty
*Letting her mama eat lunch- we're still working on daily showers- for both of us

In non-Eden news- I started painting again! It's a simple decorative kiddish piece, but hey, at least I'm putting brush to canvas, or board in this case. It'll be a fun, playful piece in which I plan to use acrylics, pastel crayons, paper, and who knows what else. I've also picked out fabric and a pattern for Eden's Easter dress- we'll see if it gets done!

Insert interesting title here

Cooking class was so much fun! If it wasn't for my lack of interest in anything competitive- culinary school would be a blast. When I get around to making some of the dishes we were shown I'll be sure to post about them in more detail. My favorite dish was the oranges in simple sauce with mint slivers. I was both surprised at the simple things I learned by watching a professional chef and the things I already knew that seemed to be new information to a lot of attendees. The best basic tips I walked away with were how to properly dice an onion, chop up and store herbs, and zesting citruses.

If you do not care about my cat skip this section :) - In non-cooking news, our cat is officially an outdoor cat. He has gotten progressively whinier since Eden was born and the climax was last week when he meowed all day long, waking Eden during her naps, and then to get our attention at 2 am knocked a wooden bell my parents had given me off of the dresser- breaking it. This wooden bell has a chime box that plays Edelweiss and my dad used it to put me to sleep. I loved it growing up. Luckily for the cat, he just broke off the handle and in such a way that it is fixable and will never be noticed- but still. He can come and go into the laundry room through the dog door but we keep it closed off to the rest of the house. It's been 3 days and he's only begged to come in once- and half-heartedly at that. If you live in Nacogdoches, please do not hit him if he's in the street :). I don't want to talk about it too much because you will all discover I really am a crazy cat lady- a realization I stumbled on the other day. Thomas told someone that Joseph's last name was "Underfoot" and I caught myself just before I could exclaim "don't you know his last name is Middlebrook?! you accepted him as family when you married me! Underfoot can be his middle name." So now he's outside, distancing himself, and I can be rescued from crazycatladyitis.

OK- in news you all actually care about- Eden is the cutest kid ever! Seriously, I haven't laughed this often, this hard, in YEARS. I wanted to have a kid this "young" for several reasons, but one was because I liked the idea of being a youthful parent. The truth is this kid would have made me feel young no matter my age. She reminds me to be playful, laugh at crazy situations (like the unfortunate pooing of March the 2nd which I will refrain from sharing in such a public place), and not take everything so seriously- especially other people's opinions. These are goals I have been trying to accomplish for a long time. Who knew it was as "simple" as having a kid ;).

SAVER TIP FOR THE DAY:
I was just thinking that Thomas and I do not utilize the library enough- especially for movies. We rented tons of movies before Eden was born. Even though we don't do it very often now, we're pretty bad about racking up late fees- which are higher at the video stores than at the library. The biggest drawbacks of the library are the lack of new releases and the limited amount of copies for the newer ones. Then today I read Abigail's blog and found a great tip- Free Movie Monday's through RedBox. You can find instructions for getting and using the promotional code here, and check in on each Monday for the new code here. THANKS ABIGAIL!

Check out the side bar!

So, I added a feature to my blog which is going to make MY life a lot easier as I add favorite recipes and I hope it will inspire a few happy evenings with good food and friends to all of you readers. After I set it up I realized it might quickly outgrow the alphabetized organization and need categories- but meh- this is all I've got to offer for now.

It seemed as if the bad financial times had been skipping over my friends and family for a while, but it is finally starting to seep into the lives of people I know- lost jobs, tighter budgets, etc.etc. I liked the list of suggestions from This Vintage Chica blog. It has all set me into planning mode for cutting our expenses- finding coupons, shopping the sales, planning meals better, etc. Anyone with tips and ideas let me know! Right now I'm just focused on using every bit of food I buy- finding recipes that share ingredients and "eating to the back of the pantry" as my parents would say (this last part is funny- like yay right funny, not haha funny- considering how packed our pantry is, but you get the idea).

So I bought chicken on sale BuyOneGetOne, cooked it, chopped it up, and am spreading it across a few recipes. Monday night was Curves White Chili. I bought onions by the bag when they were on sell BOGO, had leftover jalapeno and cheese, and have this great chicken stock powder I got in a barter using tablecloths I no longer used. BTW- bartering is my favorite form of thrifting ever. Hit me up- seriously.

White Chili
Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbls olive oil
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
7 ounce can chopped green chiles, drained
1 teaspoon powdered cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup cooked white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
8 ounces cooked chicken breast, cubed
chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil in soup pot until tender. Add Jalapeno, chiles, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, and salt, and saute another minute. Stir in chicken broth, beans, and chicken. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Stir in cilantro and cheese. Makes about 3 servings.



The rest of the chicken will be used for Chicken and Dumplings tonight. The only ingredients I had to buy were the Carrots and Potato- the rest is in my pantry. BTW- I half this recipe and cut out the celery (Thomas doesn't like it).

My current goals are to buy more ingredients in their most basic form- shredding cheese myself, using my bread machine, buying heads of lettuce and bunched spinach.


So after sounding as if I'm a super saver (haha-I'm totally not) let me burst my own bubble and tell you how excited I am to go to a cooking class this afternoon! Definitely not on the cheap side of entertainment, but I have been wanting to go to a cooking class forever and can't wait! It's on Morocan cuisine and I'll let you know how it goes.