Pinterest Dinner Week, Day 3

I've learned some things about my 'What's for dinner?' pinterest board-I don't have as much pinned as I thought! A lot of things I have pinned call for extras that we don't usually buy like cream cheese or cream-of-something soups. Since I came up for this idea after we had done our shopping for the week, I'm making do with what we have, and avoiding the urge to pin new things!

Last night's dinner was delicious! Rather than pinning the specific recipe, I pinned this website, 100 days of real food as one to come back and check out. The family pledged to eat only whole foods for 100 days. Basically anything fresh from nature, nothing from a box. They made their own crackers, tortillas, etc. It sounds like a great challenge where everyone benefits! It is all documented, and they have made other pledges since then, such as 100 days of real food on a food stamp budget, and they are very thorough, check it out!

I read through the website for awhile and decided on  Farmers' Market Stir Fry. We don't have a farmers' market right now, but every Thursday, we get a box of produce from Door to Door Organics, so I figured that would be close enough! We ran into the store the night before to buy more milk for the kids (they go through it so fast!) and our grocery store has carts with plastic race cars attached to the front, which Jebriel LOVES, so we usually wander up and down the aisles while he makes vrooming and beeping noises. We walked past the meat and they had a shelf of meat marked for quick sale. There was a 2-pack of steaks marked down from $9 to $4, so we grabbed it, one steak for Eric (who likes an occasional late night steak, and one to be used for a family dinner. Of course this is an adapted version, since I'm just not a stick-to-the-recipe person.

I made the teriyaki sauce this morning:
1/4 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup water
some grated fresh ginger, or powdered
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 tbsp honey

and marinated the steak in it all day, then thinly sliced it, keeping the marinade, right before it was time to cook it.

Then before dinner I got some rice going, and started chopping veggies. The recipe calls for 3 cups of veggies, any kind you have. We used:
grated radish and baby turnip
carrots
red and yellow bell pepper
snap peas
celery

Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a big pan, toss the veggies and meat in, then pour the sauce over it, and stir it around until it's done.

While it cooks (this is something that in my cooking haste I misread, it was meant as a side dish, but it turned out really yummy!) I made a fruit relish with:
1/3 cup diced mango
1/3 cup diced pineapple
1 green onion, thinly sliced (I use kitchen scissors)

To serve, I put rice on the plate, topped it with the beef and veggie stir fry, spooned some extra sauce over it, and then a spoonful of the fruit relish on top. Everyone devoured it! Definitely a keeper recipe, and can easily be modified with different meats (or no meat) and different veggies. The teriyaki sauce paired with the fruit salsa really made the dish, sweet and salty and garlicky, yum!

Pinterest Dinner Week, Day 2

Last night's Pinterest-inspired new recipe was Crock pot Greek Chicken and Quinoa, adapted From This blog, which has a list of convenient, healthy crock pot recipes. My original plan was to try the recipes as they were originally written, but I don't think I've ever done that, I'm always tweaking things or substituting things.

Greek Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1 Red Onion, diced (I used a yellow onion)
3 Cups Vegetable Broth
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1 cup Quinoa
Juice of 1 Lemon (1/4 cup)
1 Tbs. Oregano
1 Tbs. Basil

1/4 cup kalamata olives

Place all ingredients except chicken in crock pot and stir well. Add in chicken . Cook on low for 6+ hours, until chicken is cooked.

Pull chicken out and put on a plate, then serve it on top of the quinoa mixture. You can top it with more kalamata olives, thinly sliced cucumbers, and/or feta cheese!


I thought it was pretty good, I think it definitely needs the thinly sliced cucumbers and feta cheese for a little more texture and flavor, and the extra kalamata olives tasted better with it than the ones cooked in the dish. Eric and I liked it, if you like Greek food you'll like it too. The kids didn't love it, however, so it won't become a regular.

Puppies!

Don't worry dad, it's not what you think! ;)

The kids have been pretending to be puppies lately, so this morning we let them eat 'puppy food' which they thought was hilarious! Jeb and Vivi took it very seriously, while Journey looked at them like they were crazy. It took a couple of minutes for her to figure it out, but eventually they all cleaned their little puppy plates!

After their puppy breakfast we threw some balls for them to chase until it was time for actual breakfast. It's very cute, although the constant 'Arf! Arf!" from 3 little puppies following me around the house can get a little wearing on the sanity sometimes ;) But it's something they can all do together, plus they don't shed!

Pinterest Dinner Week, Day 1

Have you heard of Pinterest? It's a virtual pinboard where you can search by picture, 'pin' that picture to your page, and then when you click on the picture, it takes to to the website where you can learn how to make the recipe, craft, or photography scene. It is totally addicting, but it has made a lot of not-so-crafty people a little craftier. I call it the best of the web. You can google 'best recipe' or 'cute craft' and you'll probably find a good idea, but on Pinterest you can find all the best recipes and cutest crafts, and people are actually making them successfully!

Sometimes I feel like I pin more things than I actually make, so I'll set out to try something new. This week I decided to have Pinterest dinner week, where every dinner I make is something I've 'pinned'. I didn't think of it until I already had Monday's dinner in the crock pot, so we started yesterday.

To be frugal, we try to have at least 1 vegetarian dinner every week. If I can do 2, even better! We supplement the protein with beans, eggs, or Barilla Plus pasta, which is made with bean flours to give each serving 10 grams of protein, and it doesn't taste any different than other pastas.

Yesterday I made crock pot macaroni and cheese adapted from momswithcrockpots.com. You'll have to click the link to see a picture, ours got eaten too fast!

The following recipe varies slightly from the recipe on the website.

Ingredients

• 16 ounces small pasta-elbows, shells, etc
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 cups (16 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese or a Cheddar blend
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. Cook the macaroni following package directions. Drain well.
2. Generously butter the sides and bottom of the crock pot (I actually forgot to do this step and it turned out fine)
3. Combine the macaroni with the remaining ingredients in the slow cooker and blend well. Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, stirring a few times.
4. If desired, spoon the cooked macaroni and cheese mixture into a baking dish, sprinkle with a little more cheese, and put under the broiler for a minute or 2, to get the cheese brown and bubbly. I didn't do this step, we ate it right out of the crock pot and it was delicious!

This is definitely a keeper recipe, super easy and yummy! Makes me want to check out the other crock pot recipes on momswithcrockpots.com, but I'll have to do that after pinterest dinner week!

I had plans of steaming fresh veggies and making a salad to serve on the side, but the weather was so nice yesterday that we ended up playing outside for over an hour, until Eric came home from work, so I microwaved a bag of frozen veggies instead. Priorities, you know ;)

Right now there's a Greek chicken and quinoa recipe in the crock pot that is smelling pretty good, hopefully I'll have another keeper recipe to share tomorrow!

Homemaking

One of my goals in life is to excel be decent in all areas of homemaking. Cooking, cleaning, baking, sewing, etc. We have started slowly, with making our own bread in the bread maker, canning tomatoes with my mom, cloth diapering, and we have started making more changes here and there to live more simply, frugally, and thoughtfully. It seems we are well on our way to a practically Amish lifestyle, and I'm always looking for new ways to bless our family and raise our children to live simply as well.

My goal originates from Proverbs 31:10-31 about the wife of noble character.

The Wife of Noble Character

 ^10 [b]A wife of noble character who can find? 
   She is worth far more than rubies. 
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her 
   and lacks nothing of value. 
¹² She brings him good, not harm, 
   all the days of her life. 
¹³ She selects wool and flax 
   and works with eager hands. 
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships, 
   bringing her food from afar. 
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night; 
   she provides food for her family 
   and portions for her female servants. 
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it; 
   out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. 
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously; 
   her arms are strong for her tasks. 
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable, 
   and her lamp does not go out at night. 
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff 
   and grasps the spindle with her fingers. 
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor 
   and extends her hands to the needy. 
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household; 
   for all of them are clothed in scarlet. 
²² She makes coverings for her bed; 
   she is clothed in fine linen and purple. 
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate, 
   where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. 
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them, 
   and supplies the merchants with sashes. 
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity; 
   she can laugh at the days to come. 
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom, 
   and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household 
   and does not eat the bread of idleness. 
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed; 
   her husband also, and he praises her: 
²⁹ “Many women do noble things, 
   but you surpass them all.” 
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; 
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done, 
   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.


It is definitely something to strive for and won't be easy, (although I'm sure it would be easier if I had those female servants it mentions!) but that's my inspiration :)

Stay tuned for more posts on homemaking, with recipes and some tips and tricks I've learned, and will learn, along the way!

Around the house this weekend

Rocking the glasses! The first couple of days it was hard to keep them on her, but now she's used to them and wears them all day. It's actually starting to look weird when she doesn't have the glasses on!

Cheesy big brother wanted in on the pictures!

Breakfast for dinner, the kids helped make pancakes and got a little excited about stirring! Good thing they also love cleaning up! Jebriel has the big broom, Vivi is holding the dust pan and the brush that goes with it, and Journey is trying to push the flour into the dust pan with a spatula :)

Vivi practicing jumping at dance class. They call it 'jumping over the river' and they have to stand with their arms straight out, or with hands on their hips, and jump over the towel without getting their feet 'wet'. And, as usual, she is staring at herself in the big mirror!

The neighbor horses have been wearing coats, and the kids think it's really funny, so tonight they decided they were horses and needed coats too! They crawled around the house neighing :)

Jebby's week, in pictures

At Jeb's former orphanage, all the kids were obsessed with cameras and getting their pictures taken. Every kid there could say 'photo'. If Jebby sees my camera, he wants to take me around the house and take pictures of him with different toys, and after we take a bunch of pictures, he wants to sit and look through all of them, giggling of course. They of course turn out really cute, so I thought I'd share a few:

Truck pajamas


Pretending to be going to sleep


He organized this one, it turned out cute!


Brushing his teeth


Playing with cars-95% of the time, even though I put his pajama tops and bottoms together in his drawer, he'll take a top from one and a bottom from another.


So handsome!