i just want you to see these cute little plates

 

The cake was no ones favorite - most of it got thrown away, but the bunny ear plates were cute.

sausage balls and eggs benedict casserole

 I thought I'd share these 2 recent recipes I made for breakfasty meals.  We all enjoy breakfast for dinner, which happens more often than breakfast for breakfast on the weekends because one kid sleeps the morning away while the other is an early riser, and their dad would sleep the morning away if we let him.

First is these sausage balls, and DANG.  These are good.  GOOD.  Which is good, because only The Mister and I liked them so there were lots leftover, but they reheated well.  If you like sausage, and you like balls, you should try them.

That is not my dinner plate by the way, even though it looks like it.  It was the plate for the table that I put down on top of my plate for a photo.  

Recipe -Sausage balls 

Next up was an overnight eggs benedict casserole.

 

 

You do your eggs, ham and english muffins in your pan overnight, and hollandaise sauce  on the side for serving.  Now this is the sort of dish that I would like to made just enough for the meal, because I am not a fan of these kinds of leftovers.  For me, they just don't reheat well, and I don't enjoy it.  Unfortunately but not a surprise, neither kid liked this either, and so there were a ton of leftovers.  I ate one helping and the poor Mister had to take care of the rest.  But it was delicious, I promise.

Recipe - overnight eggs benedict casserole

book club 7 - Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

 2023-7

 

book club 6 - Worry by Jessica Westhead

 2023-6

 

bites/favorites

 Spring is finally here and I'm so excited.  The sun is out and it's warm and the other night after dinner we sat in the backyard and I finished my book  (and cried silently) and listened to the birds sing and the kids fight (one sound was better than the other) and I am looking forward to spending lots of time back there this season.

I made this No bake peanut butter cornflake tiffin for a Sunday dessert.  I was running out of chocolate for the topping and the bar part wasn't quite set when I tried to smear the chocolate over the top so it looked awful, but tasted lovely.

We are also back into energy bites and this was a recent winner - Oatmeal Cookie energy balls.

Pretty clouds

I bought these containers to keep fruits and veggies handy for snacks and dinner.  They really do help.  I'd love to buy more, but we have so many bottles of condiments and sauces in the fridge there's hardly room for leftovers, much less plastic bins.

I wanted to share the recipe for these Vrasciole - Italian Fried Meatballs - but the recipe was taken down.  Too bad.  They were really really good.

 It might be a basic bitch, but MacArthur Island Park is one of my favorite walks.

We've made these burger tacos from Tick Tok multiple times over the last couple of months, including a breakfast version with sausage and eggs.  So freaking delicious!

Season your meat, press a small-ish amount onto a tortilla, fry until done and add your toppings.

Brilliant.

I bought The Mister this garden for his birthday, and it's pretty fun!  So far we've only had one plant not sprout and have had lettuce and herbs to add to our meals.  

Treat yourself!

book club 5 - Pretty Little Wife by Darby Kane

 2023-5

 

grocery shop - noodle haul from Eastuff Grocery

 

book club 4 - The Rumor by Lesley Kara

 2023-4

 

book club 3 - The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

2023-3

 

cookbook cleanup 41 - Aloha Kitchen by Alana Kysar

 Honest, I promise I am buying WAY less cookbooks than I used to, both new and used.  But when I saw a blurb on this one, I just could not resist.  I love Hawaii and I love their food.  

I am so crazy about this cookbook, I can't even tell you.  Buy it.

We tried a lot of recipes, and everyone of them was AMAZING.

I bought a musubi mold for the Spam Musubi, and also Onigiri molds and we made both as well as rolls.

They were SO SO  good and the spam on it's own was delicious as well.

We made the pickled onions and the Namasu.  Amazing.

The mac salad is now our go to mac salad recipe.  We also tried the Local Style BBQ chicken, the Shoyu chicken, and the Mochiko chicken. 

We loved it all and I have a long list of things to go. This book is beautiful to read, look at and cook from.

Back on the bookshelf - 20 Donated -21

sol chicken

 My children are wearing me out.  They are becoming more and more picky as time goes by and I just can't.  We have moved beyond the usual suspects - mushrooms, tomatos, anything spicy/seasoned/with FLAVOR into new unexpected territory - pasta, sausages and even burgers have been rejected - "I just don't like it".

Who doesn't like a turkey burger????  Come on.  I didn't even do anything weird to it.

I didn't really have high hopes for this chicken dish either but I was plesantly surprised - everyone liked it!  It's simple but very easy and delicious.  I added a couple of cups of chicken broth to the pan so we would have some juices to pour over the top of the chicken and rice, just the way I like it.

 Recipe - Sol Food Chicken

Sunday dinner - dan dan noodles

 

 

We made these absolutely amazing dan dan noodles for Sunday dinner, and for once, it was a dinner that everyone loved and not one person complained.  A truly special time.

I didn't make the chile oil as only The Mister and I like spicy foods and we have plenty of chile sauces in the fridge.  The Boy was interested in cooking that day so he helped out and we were all happy and full and I was happy that there were leftovers for lunch too.

cookbook cleanup 40 - All Together by Chrissy Teigen

 This is Chrissy Teigen's 3rd cookbook.  I own all 3.  I have cooked a lot of her stuff over the years, from her books and from online.

I don't know if it's me or the book, but I really struggled to find recipes I really wanted to try from this one.

I also made all these ages ago - this book has been sitting out for a long time, waiting for more inspiration.

The sour cream blueberry pie was good.

 Pull apart Parmesan dusted buns.  Good, and I got to push The Mister out of the way and bake some bread.  I never get to do that any more.

 We also made the Spicy Sausage Pasta Fagoli, which was good, and the pancakes and the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, although I subbed out regular chocolate and other nuts.  And it was all good.  It was fine.

There are a couple more recipes that I for sure want to try - definitely the quiche lorraine baguette - but I just..... can't get back to this one yet.  I'll keep it, and we'll wait and see.

Back on the bookshelf - 19 Donated -21

book club 2 - The Birth House by Ami McKay

 2023-2

 

grocery shop april 8

 

This was an odds and ends shop to get ready for Sunday dinner.  I can't handle how expensive everything is now- I am filled with rage every time I have to go shopping.  Or am I filled with rage because I never remember my grocery bags?  Could be both.

In my cart - premade pancakes, kraft dinner x 3, apple juice, creamer, eggs, whipping cream, juice, carrots, pecans, cream cheese, pretzels.

$64

cookbook cleanup 39 - Time to Eat by Nadia Hussain

 I got Time to Eat for Christmas 2020 after we had binge watched her show and loved everything about it.

 

In addition to the Olive Crown bread and savory french toast mentioned here, this is what else we've made - 

Hasselback Squash and Avocado Pesto

 

Sausage and mushroom Toad in the Hole

 

As well as pancakes, Tandoori Chicken, and Chicken Shawarma.  All so good, and so many more good things to try.

Back on the bookshelf - 18 Donated -21

book club 1 - The UnHoneymooners by Christina Lauren

 2023-1

 

it's now april so let's finish talking about december

 I have no exciting stories of what I've been up to, even if there was anyone out there interested enough to ask.  I've been working too much and not sleeping enough and not taking care of myself but doing nothing about that but beating myself up - which doesn't work, by the way.

Finally, the weather has started to warm up and we've gotten out for some walks and fresh air.  

We've been watching some good shows and I've been trying to read more.  The house needs a good cleaning and an aggressive clean out - perhaps coming soon, perhaps not.  I know it would make me feel better in the end, but it's hard to get started. 

But let's finish up 2022.

This cauliflower cheese was made around the holidays and it was THE BEST cauliflower cheese I've ever made, but don't worry, I didn't keep the recipe, or remember where I found it.

This is not the prettiest picture on this site - and by far not the ugliest either - but we made these on Christmas Eve - wonton cups with cranberry sauce and brie cheese.  Yummy.

I made these cinnamon rolls and nobody cared.

Yorkies on Christmas Day

The Boy gave me his woodworking projects for Christmas

 And then these were my second favorite present

Nigella's Gingerbread

 We had a deliciously nontraditional Christmas dinner this year  - we bbq'ed steaks and made fries and gravy and yorkies on the side (and veggies too, I promise).  

I was so looking forward to the steak and yorkies that I nearly forgot to plan a dessert.  I pulled out my lovely Nigella Christmas book and immediately decided on gingerbread for the big dessert.

 

Other than buying the wrong sort of molasses, it was an easy cake to make.  

The house smelled heavenly, and if you just slightly under-bake it as Nigella suggests, its lovely and soft and keeps for days.

Recipe: Sticky Gingerbread

grocery shop january 17

 

Chips x 2, milk, chili crisp, pasta, waffles, taco kit, pineapple, hash brown patties, guacamole, spring rolls, salami x 2, romaine, ground pork, chicken breast, bread, green onions, tomatoes, garlic, cookies, carrots, margarine, avocados

$93.10