Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Even though I didn’t finish The Call of the Wild at the Dirty Dash (who was I kidding?), I did manage to finish it last night before bed, in large part because I made such an easy crockpot dinner that there weren’t even enough dishes to run the dishwasher.  I even threw it in before we left, which was around 8:30 in the morning, and although I turned it off around 3:30 or 4 and turned it back on 20 minutes before dinner to make sure it was still hot, the timing wasn’t bad.  And would you like to know what I put in the crockpot?

It’s my sister’s creation, really.  One small bottle of alfredo sauce (I used Classico Four Cheese), one small bottle of pesto (or, you know, one of the several containers of pesto that I separated my Costco bottle into and froze, thawed in the fridge the night before), and five small-ish chicken breasts.  (I put them in frozen, but only because I used the individually frozen kind from Costco that come well-trimmed.)  Into the crockpot it all went!  If we’d been leaving later, I would have started it later, but such is life.  (I’m sure you could also put it on high for 2-3 hours, if your chicken is thawed.)  The point is, it was an insanely easy meal; all I had left to do when we got home was to cook some pasta and cut up and cook some broccoli.  Voila!  A dinner that got a thumbs up from everyone.

As for The Call of the Wild, I found it very interesting.  I read White Fang several times in elementary school, but I’d never read the other, and I had no idea how perfectly matched they are.  White Fang is about a wild thing being ultimately tamed–sort of–by love; The Call of the Wild is about a civilized dog growing wilder and wilder, until–with the loss of love–he reverts completely to his wolfish ancestors.  One ends where the other starts, right down to–if I remember correctly–the house of a judge.  I see now why they are so often published together (in fact, I made sure the version I linked to this post had them both).  London’s writing style is on the flowery side, but it’s less objectionable than it might be because his subject matter is so emphatically NOT flowery.  (I’m reminded of a documentary on the making of “Dr. Zhivago” that I saw, where the director talked about purposely shooting the love scenes in harsh cold light and the war scenes in beautiful golden light.) Flowery might not even be the right word for it.  Grandiose, maybe?  At any rate.  I still enjoy White Fang more, because I find it a more emotionally satisfying book to read, but I rather think you need to read both books at least once.  The contrast between the stories is too good to miss.

Today my hubby did his first dirty dash with people from work, and while I actually would have loved to do it with him, I didn’t feel like I could foist the boy off on someone for six hours (there was some considerable travel time involved, not to mention the BARELY MOVING shower line).  It was his first, though, and so the kiddos and I came to support and cheer him on, which left us with a couple of hours to kill while he was on the course.  We went through rather a large quantity of grapes–they tasted SO good in the heat–and while we were eating, I had a truly serendipitous idea.

Even though I knew there wasn’t much of a chance I’d be able to read, what with restless kids in a crowd and all, I did bring two books with me, because hey–it’s who I am.  I only have 25 pages left in The Call of the Wild, so I grabbed the shortest (read:  lightest and smallest) book to accompany it (it’s dreadful to finish a book and not have another on hand!) and shoved them both in my purse.  And while we were sitting and eating grapes, it occurred to me.  That short, light, and small book was Fortunately, the Milk, by Neil Gaiman, and didn’t it look like something the kids would enjoy me reading aloud to them?  Yes, Neil Gaiman can be incredibly creepy, but everything about this one screamed a reasonable suitability for younger kids, and after all, I could always stop if something popped up that might give my girlies nightmares.  And so, settled with two strollers on an out-of-the-way path, and eating grapes like, um, crazy grape-eaters, we delved into it.

It was fabulous!  I loved the tone, loved the plot, and loved the illustrations.  The girlies seemed to be enjoying it as well, enough so that I finished reading it to them tonight before bedtime.  My oldest (7 1/2) said she LOVED it, and my middle, despite her tendency towards defiance and general contrariness when she’s tired, said she liked it as well.  The creepiest part wasn’t too creepy for them (partly because it didn’t last long, and the pronunciation issues of the creatures involved were kind of hilarious to an adult trying to read it out loud), and all of it was fabulously funny.  Picture Fred Savage (with a younger sister thrown in) and Peter Falk (as a dad and not a grandpa), only instead of The Princess Bride, he’s telling a story about all kinds of fantastical and science fictional creatures, in a sort of The Day Jimmy’s Boa Constrictor Ate the Wash kind of style.  Read it yourself–get it for your elementary age kiddos–enjoy it!  This one is definitely worth the money.

I didn’t actually do it on purpose, since no one in our immediate family has gluten issues (KNOCK ON WOOD).  But my oldest wants to start baking with me again, now that she’s out of school and home during her brother’s naptime every day, and when I was browsing my ‘Brownies and Bars’ board on Pinterest, I saw these Black Bean Brownies and thought–hey!  My hubby’s a chocoholic, and he’s doing a dirty dash tomorrow.  Why not go for a higher protein treat?  I didn’t even realize they were gluten free until I was about to put them in the oven and had a sudden moment of panic, because I couldn’t remember adding any flour.  (My inner response was something like, “Yeah, well, you double-checked the ingredient list, so you’re probably good.”)  The texture was a little funny, but that’s partly because these were definitively cake brownies, and I usually go for fudge.  All in all, you couldn’t taste the beans, and while they’re a little different, my hubby liked them just fine. Victory!

The other recipe was a dinner choice that got picked because it was easy and involved rice, since I had leftover teriyaki chicken in the fridge but nothing to go with it.  This Korean Beef and Rice used ground beef and was criminally easy; the only changes I made were to reduce the quantity of red pepper flakes to a level my family can handle and to forgo the green onions on top (partly because my kids wouldn’t love them and partly out of laziness).  And it was TASTY.  I loved the sweet with the subtle heat, and the beef gives that flavor profile a different spin than chicken does.  I did wish it was a little more saucy–as in, saucy at all–but I served peas on the side and mixed mine in, which upped the moisture to an acceptable level.  I doubt it’s any kind of authentic, but I’m not in close touch with anyone who’s lived in Korea anymore, so I don’t really know.  (I did used to be, mind you, but that was in high school and college, and that’s starting to feel like a REALLY long time ago.) Authentic or not, however, I loved it, and easy recipes that I love are always keepers.  Give this one a try!

Sometime last week I cooked up some thin spaghetti to go with some leftover Cowboy Spaghetti sauce, and while the sauce got used up, I then had a bunch of leftover cooked spaghetti with no sauce to go with it.  (And it’s not that I don’t totally appreciate the appeal of just covering it with Parmesan and going to town, but there was a rather large serving.)  Today I exercised during the morning, instead of the boy’s nap, and so I found myself with enough time during the afternoon to try a recipe that claimed to be for Lo Mein, although it doesn’t seem right to call it that with only green onions and garlic for the veggies.  (Technically, it claimed to be Lo Mien, but that’s a whole different issue.)  It was super easy, even if only a few of the ingredients had actual measurements, and when my friend Britt and I sat down to try it, we found it to be–okay.  And then, since we both figured it would be better with some sweetness, I tossed in a soup spoon full of brown sugar.  After that it was more than okay; I wouldn’t ever make it without the sugar again, especially since it seemed slightly salty even with low sodium soy sauce.  (To be fair, I did leave out the sesame seeds, since she doesn’t care for them, but I think I liked it better without.)

Anyway.  If you have leftover spaghetti noodles, give this one a try–as is, if you want the seeds and the pure saltiness, or as we made it, if you’re as fond of sweet/savory as I am.  Now the noodles are gone, the container is out of my fridge, and absolutely nothing was wasted!  I call that a win!

Remember Sunday’s pork chops?  And how I thawed a pork loin–purchased on sale–to get those pork chops?  Well, one pork loin makes more than one meal’s worth of chops, which means that tonight I cooked up the rest of them in this Pork Chops and Hash Brown Casserole.  I was originally leaning towards another recipe…a crockpot one with bacon…but then I remembered my brother and his vacation habits.

Let me explain.  Our mother’s side of the family shares a family cabin, which you can reserve through my youngest uncle and stay in whenever it’s available.  My brother loves to bring his family (he and my sister-in-law have 5 kiddos) to stay there, since they are outdoorsy and enjoy it to the full–AND it’s free.  On their way back to Idaho, they often stop in with us overnight, unloading whatever food they have left in their cooler.  Not all of that food makes it back to Idaho, meaning that a few times a year, I end up with really random food in my fridge and freezer (some of which I would NOT have purchased myself.)  One of those items happened to be a 32 ounce bag of frozen hash browns, and when I remembered its existence, I opted for this recipe with the glee one can only know if one’s fridge and freezer is chronically, crazily crowded.  I knew it’d be a gamble with my potato-shy kiddos, but it’s the kind of thing my hubby’s likely to like, so I went to town.

The good news?  I’d make it again, and my hubby would happily eat it again.  (Indeed, he WILL eat it again.  Possibly several times.  It made a LOT of pork.)  My oldest ate slowly but said she enjoyed it, and my middle–I was shocked!–gave the meat a thumbs up and the rest a thumbs middle.  She dawdled over it, but she didn’t make despairing faces or moan and groan, so we’re calling that a win.  The bad news?  The boy picked out the meat and flat out REFUSED to even taste the potatoes.  (He was actually pretty offended at the whole thing.  Once everyone’s green beans were gone, however–he’s freakishly fond of green beans–he finally decided he’d deign to eat the meat, since no other food was visible anywhere.)  I even offered him a treat–nothing doing.  I finally resorted to my fallback plan for his stage of life, which involves giving them a piece of plain bread as a tacit acknowledgement that I don’t want them to be so hungry that they have trouble at bedtime.  (He ate it all.  He was throwing the potatoes when I got him down from the high chair.)

In other bad news, it’s not exactly the healthiest dish you could serve; on the other hand, I subbed half the sour cream for plain yogurt and used 1% milk, and cream of celery soup isn’t as bad as it might be.  I certainly wouldn’t serve it frequently, but I have lots of recipes I only make occasionally for that very reason.  Oh, and to get back to the good news?  I heeded the USDA’s assurance that pork is now safe at 145, and oh, the tender juiciness!

Bottom line?  It’s a tasty casserole, and if your kids eat potatoes, you’re home free!

I tried this recipe for Black Beans and Sausage tonight, and you will NEVER GUESS which of the kiddos ate it best.

Yup.  The middle.  I almost died.

The sad thing is, both my hubby and I quite enjoyed it.  The smoky flavor of the sausage, the fresh accent of the parsley, the slight creaminess of the yogurt (I was leery of the plain yogurt, so I experimented with both that and sour cream, but I actually liked the yogurt better!)…it was all very nice.  I would totally make it again.  My oldest’s problem seemed to be the shallots, but that wasn’t too surprising; I sliced, instead of dicing, and the rings were very noticeable to someone who struggles with onions.  The boy, predictably, picked out the sausage.  (I think he tried a bite or two of beans, but got a straight shallot and gave up from there.)  The middle, on the other hand, really liked the sausage, and when I reminded her that if she had beans with every bite, it would all taste like the sausage–more or less–she complied surprisingly well.

I will probably make it again–I enjoyed it that much–although I’m tempted to experiment with a third can of beans and appropriately increase the seasonings.  (It felt like plenty of meat because I always cut smoked sausages into small pieces for the kiddos…and because I like to have some in every bite, instead of a few big pieces floating around.)  I might be happy just one and a halving everything but the sausage, come to think of it.

Anyway.  If you need a fast and easy dinner, serve this with some bread and a fruit or veggie on the side (tonight’s pick was watermelon).  It’s tasty!

And to be honest with you, this would probably tie for favorite if the ingredients were as year-round as the other.  Rhubarb is in season, however, and my neighbors have fresh rosemary in their flower bed, and what’s more, my parents were visiting here on their anniversary and my mother requested this Rhubarb Pork Chop Bake.  So tasty!  I always use boneless chops–really, who wants to pay for bone-in when you can buy a pork loin on sale in the fall, freeze it, and cut it into chops yourself?–and wheat bread, since that’s what I buy, and it still tastes lovely.  Even my picky middle enjoyed it (and she wasn’t disposed to, because she tried a piece of rhubarb raw!).  Interestingly enough, the boy was not a fan, but his tummy’s been a little funny, and he’s never had the sweet tooth the rest of us do.  The pork is lovely and moist and tender, and the stuffing is the perfect mix of sweet, tart, and savory.  (By the way, if you’re just grabbing bread from the bag of sandwich bread you’ve got out, cut it up early in the day and let it sit to get a bit more stale.)  Use a digital meat thermometer–$15 for peace of mind!–and take it out by 160.  It’s an unusual combination, but try it.  I promise–you’ll be glad you did!

Last night I finished The Desperate Adventures of Zeno & Alya, which did indeed catch my eye at the library.  I checked it out because the plot looked good–and because Richard Peck was quoted on the cover as calling the author ‘an engaging and fresh new voice.’  (I LOVE Richard Peck.) And I have to say, I did enjoy it overall.  I wasn’t so sure about it for the first ten pages–the point of view took a bit of getting used to–but it continued to grow on me, and I ended up being ok with the feel of it.  My only complaint about it would be an expectation problem; Zeno and Alya meet very briefly towards the beginning of the book, separate, and don’t see each other again until more than 3/4 of the way through it.  To me, the title sort of implied adventures together, and so I was waiting for what felt like the whole book for that to happen.  That said, Zeno’s journey from complete self-absorption (apparently, parrots are like that) to viewing others as friends worth sacrificing for was compelling, and Alya’s battle against the emotional aftermath of chemotherapy for leukemia was poignant.  Their second meeting was far more meaningful for having been delayed, and the ending was hopeful, in a way that reminds us that sometimes, hope can be everything.

One of the lessons in church today dealt partly with hope, and so I’m offering two thoughts on hope this Sunday afternoon.

1)Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. (Ether 12:4, in The Book of Mormon)

2)”Hope” is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.

(Emily Dickinson, #254)