Courtney has been requesting General Tso's Chicken. I think the version she was actually requesting was the one in the Walmart Deli, but I was hoping for something homemade, that was a bit lighter. I searched around and found Martha Stewart's Lighter General Tso's Chicken and we decided to try that.
When thinking about a side dish, I was going to make a plain batch of brown or white rice. Nothing fancy. But when checking out the December issue of Cooking Light magazine, I happened to come
Las Vegas Restaurant: Cannery Row Buffet
This past week we had an opportunity that seems to be more rare these days - everyone was home. This means it was both hubby and I, both of the younger kids (Mattie-9 and Courtney-13), and both of the older kids (Wellie-20 and Lil D-18) - all together, no one at work, no one out doing other stuff.
With all of us home, David and I decided to treat them to dinner out. Knowing that we needed to be as frugal as possible, we limited ourselves to a few options. In the end, we decided on trying out
Bountiful Baskets – Week Before Thanksgiving
The Saturday before Thanksgiving, we picked up our Bountiful Basket food co-op baskets. This time around, we paid to contribute to the standard basket ($15), plus the Hostess Pack ($14). As usual, I was pleased with what I received and it does seem that we have continued to receive much more produce in value than what I would get if I bought everything at the grocery store.
There was a few duplicate items (things in the usual basket and then also in the hostess pack), but that didn't bother
Honey Glazed Carrots
When growing up, we had meatloaf fairly frequently and it was ALWAYS accompanied with peeled potatoes (cut into chunks) and carrots. Everything was baked together with the meatloaf, in one pan.
I always loved that dinner.
Now, cooking for my own family, carrots are a favorite vegetable side dish. Every person in our home enjoys them, and there is hardly ever leftovers. One of my favorite things about carrots? They are CHEAP. And, they are good for you. What could be better?
Autumn Apple Dinner Party
On Friday, I was absolutely thrilled to find out I was one of 200 contestants who made it to Round 3 of Project Food Blog.
WOW.
My husband says he knew that I would make it (he's awesome like that). I wasn't so sure. I know that I probably shouldn't say that. I should be super positive and be my own biggest cheerleader, but honestly, I was expecting to get a "thanks, but no thanks" letter.
I made it though. Oh. my. gosh. WOOHOO!!
First Time Canning – Apple Butter
Oh, how I love the Daring Cook Challenges!
The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.
I've always wanted to try canning, but never have. I was sure it was overly complicated, and
Chipotle Peach Chicken
I know it's getting late in peach season (or perhaps even over for those in the US East coast), but I couldn't let the Summer officially end without sharing one of my favorite peach recipes: Chipotle Peach Chicken.
True be told, I'm not a big fan of peaches. I can eat them, but you will very rarely see me eating a fresh peach. I know lots of you *LOVE*LOVE* them, but, me? eh...not so much. But when I came across a version of this recipe in a Summer 2009 issue of a Weight Watcher recipe book
Food Memories Define Me as a Food Blogger
Growing up, both of my parents prepared meals. My dad made simple meals - things like fish sticks, hot dogs, and tacos. My mom was the one who made meals that required more cooking. She made lasagna, pizza, and enchiladas.
As children, we enjoyed both and we didn't care. We were happy to eat and happy to be together.
(my first time making homemade enchilada sauce from scratch - no cans)Even though our parents had very different styles of cooking, we had our favorites from both. And our
Kibbeh
If you've followed my blog for any period of time you know that we've been trying all sorts of new things. We were tired of living in a rut, eating the same things all the time. I wanted to learn new cooking techniques and I wanted to stop being scared of trying new foods.
Recently, David and I were given a "buy one, get one free" coupon for the buffet at The Palms in Las Vegas. We've always wanted to go to The Palms so we decided to make a cheap date night with the coupon.
Bountiful Baskets: My New Food Co-Op
I mentioned in my last weekly menu post that I was going to try out something that I've always wanted to do - a food co-op. At my local homeschool group park day, I learned of a local one called Bountiful Baskets. I went home, looked up all the info, and joined the first chance that I had.
Bountiful Baskets is a volunteer co-op that operates in a few states, mostly in the west: Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Texas, Arizona, Nevada & Washington. The cost is very reasonable - only