Game Time!

I told you last week that my resolution for 2013 was to play more board games with my kids.  Let's just say I am doing very well on that resolution.  Very well....if you get my drift.  

My boy minis went back to school today, and I have to admit, I'm going to miss these goofy guys.

Now that they're back in school, we're all back to our hectic schedules, which means it's going to be tough to find time to play all these board games I am committed to.  To free up a little bit of time, I decided I would go for dinners that require less prep time.  And to me, less prep time means one thing.  

The beloved crock pot.

I got this recipe from my mom.  Apparently she has no measuring devices, so bear with me on this.....

Italian Beef

• roast (my mom suggest round rump roast, I used chuck roast.....I would HIGHLY suggest trying the round rump roast first)
• onion salt
• garlic salt
• oregano
• basil
• season salt
• pepper
• dry onion soup mix
• peppercini peppers (I added the juice as well)
• red pepper flakes

1.  Put the roast in the crock pot.

2.  Sprinkle each of the seasonings over the roast.

3.  Add water, until the roast is just covered.

4.  Cook on low until roast is thoroughly cooked.

5.  Remove and shred roast.  Return to crockpot.

Fill your crockpot.

Remove meat and shred.

 Return shredded meat to the crockpot.

Serve on toasted hoagie buns with toasted cheese (Mr. McGhee had pepper-jack, I had muenster).

We had our italian beef sandwiches with kale chips and zucchini/squash chips.  I have posted the recipe for zucchini chips before.  This time I added sliced squash and cooked it the exact same way as the zucchini.

Slice the squash/zucchini very thin.

Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with sea salt and bake until crispy.

Delish.  A very tasty dinner that left me with plenty of time to play our new favorite game with the minis.

Homestyle Dinner

It's Monday and you know what that means....puppy school!  My favorite day of the week.  I haven't had a chance to update you on last week's puppy school, which I am happy to say was a massive improvement over the previous week's disaster.  Lola only had one minor discretion when she took a big poop in the middle of the ring while all the other dogs were heeling  made a tiny mistake.  Beyond that, she did fantastic.  She heeled.  She sat.  She downed.  And the nasty people that called her an out of control chocolate came up to me after class and raved about how much progress she made in one week.  

And I, being the mature, gracious, Chrisitan-woman that I am, forgave them.  I also gave them a sympathetic look when their dog took a wee that required an entire roll of paper towels to clean up while the rest of the dogs were obediently sitting.  Because, again, I am a mature, gracious, Christian-woman.

So tonight's dinner will be eaten in shifts as the members of the McGhee family come and go to our various activities.  On nights like tonight, I like to reach for my crockpot.

Crockpot BBQ chicken

• 4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts (i threw them in frozen... even easier!)
• 1 bottle BBQ sauce (you can make your own, or buy store-bought)
• 1/4 c vinegar
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1/2 - 1 tsp. garlic powder

1.  Mix BBQ sauce with all other ingredients. 
2.  Place chicken in crockpot. pour sauce over it and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. 

I mixed all my ingredients in the crockpot before adding the chicken.

You can eat this as whole breasts or you can shred it and serve it on buns.  And some of you crazy Southerners will probably choose to smother it with coleslaw.

I serve my crockpot BBQ chicken with loaded mashed potato casserole.  This can be made ahead of time and baked when ready to eat.  This chicken heats up wonderfully for leftovers.

Loaded Mashed Potato Casserole

• 5 pounds potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 cups (12 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese blend, divided
• 1/2 pound sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 3 green onions, sliced

1.  Place potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain and place in a large bowl. Add the sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 cups cheese, bacon and onions.

2.  Transfer to a greased 3-qt. baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.  (I ommitted the remaining cheese on top.)

I did not beat my potatoes with a mixer.  I used a potato masher instead, since we prefer a more chunky-texture potato.

Add in your bacon, sour cream, cheese, and seasonings.  I ommitted the green onion since my minis don't like it and I live my life to please them.

This is super easy, delish, home-style meal.  Perfect for minis that are coming home starving from swim practice, perfect for the Mr. who is hungry after a long day of work, and perfect for the Heids McGhee, who is secretly praying her puppy doesn't embarrass her tonight!

Crockpot Fajita

I was having one of those days and then I remembered when all else fails, make Mexican!  I love Mexican food.  It's easy.  It's easy.  It's tasty.  Everyone eats it without complaining.  And nobody judges you when you pour yourself a nice tall glass of iced tequila to drink with your dinner.  

And then, after dinner, all the minis are left wondering what the heck it is about Mexican food that makes mama so happy?

I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and I quickly realized it will be added to my school-year dinner rotation.  It was very easy and everyone loved it.

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas 

• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 3 sweet peppers, sliced
• 1 ½ pounds boneless chicken breast or thighs (I did a mix of both)
• ½ cup chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
• Squirt of lime juice
• Tortillas
• Fajita fixings (avocado, sour cream, salsa, etc)

1.  Combine sliced onion and peppers in the bottom of a greased crockpot. 

2.  Lay chicken on top of veggies. Pour chicken broth over top. 

3.  Sprinkle everything with cumin, salt, and chili powder. 

4.  Give a nice quirt of lime juice over the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours (or on High for 4-6 hours). 

5.  When meat is done, shred with two forks and stir back into juices. Serve meat mixture with slotted spoon on tortillas with your choice of fixings.

Peppers and onions on the first layer.

Chicken and spices on the next layer.

Cooked, shredded, and ready to be served.

Delish! 

A latte LoVe!

We are having company again this weekend!  Our best friends are coming to visit and stay for the weekend and I am about to burst with excitement.  This company is friends you don't have to clean your house for....YEAH!  Since they're going to be stuck in my messy house with my messy kids all weekend, I figured the least I could do is cook for them.  I really want to have a special treat for my bestie.  Here's what you need to know about her....

1.  When I call her all stressed about something she says things like, "I think you should pray about it and the answer will come to you.  Or, you could go shopping.  You can always pray on your way to the mall, right?"
2.  When I say things like, "I have a great idea" she agrees to it before I even tell her what the idea is.  Even when my idea involves tequila and the monkey bars.
3.  We can simulataneously text and facebook one another and carry on 2 different conversations.
4.  She says things like "oh dear", yet doesn't flinch when I say things like "oh f*@#".
5.  She believes in me more than I could ever believe in myself and comes up with projects for me to pursue....like starting a blog.

I know, you kinda wish she was your bestie, don't you?  And you totally see why I want to have something special for her this weekend.  The one thing my bestie loves is chai tea lattes, so I am trying this recipe.

Chai Tea Latte

• 20 bags of chai tea (or 1/2 cup loose-leaf tea) (I used Tazo Organic Chai)
• 3/4 cup sugar (you can use more or less, depending on how sweet you prefer)
• 3 cups of water

1.  Put all ingredients into a pan.
2.  Heat to just boiling.
3.  Reduce to simmer and stir for about minute to make sure all sugar is dissolved.
4.  Cover and remove from heat.
5.  Let steep for 15-20 minutes.
6.  Strain the tea leaves.

EDIT:  I have made this several times in the last week.  I have decreased the sugar each time.  I used about 1/2 the amount that the original recipe calls for and still find the chai tea latte tasty and sweet, but not so sweet it overpowers the chai flavor.

This is to show you, use loose tea leaves.

I filtered with cheesecloth.

This is your chai tea concentrate, the equivilent to this that you would buy in the store.  Do not drink the concentrate, you need to dilute it with warmed milk.  Dilute it to your preference.  This drink is seriously tasty and cozy.

You can reuse the chai tea leaves.  I made another batch using 1/2 cup sugar and 1 1/5 cups of water.

The writer of this recipe says you can use stevia or agave in place of sugar.  Whatever you do, do not use artificial sweeteners.  We do not use artificial sweeteners AT ALL.  I truly believe that they are dangerous, so please do your research!!! 

Easy peasy, right?  The concentrate lasts for up to a month in the fridge.  Looking forward to sipping my chai tea latte with my bestie this weekend!  If you have a chai tea latte lover in your life, how cute would it be to make them a batch of chai tea concentrate and put it in a mason jar with a little note of gratitude for their friendship!  Show the people in your life that you love them. 

Today is Wednesday and the minis have swim team practice.  This makes the timing of dinner sort of difficult, so I tried out a new crockpot recipe.  I debated sharing this recipe because I wasn't too crazy about it.  Mr. McGhee thought it was okay and the minis ate it!  I have leftovers that I did save and plan on using in soup.

Crockpot Lemon Garlic Chicken

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/ teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1.5 cup chicken stock
• 2 cups mushrooms
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

1. In a bowl, mix the oregano, salt, and pepper. Rub the mixture into chicken. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken in butter for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Place chicken in a slow cooker.
2. In the same skillet, mix the chicken stock, lemon juice, and garlic. Bring the mixture to boil. Pour over the chicken and mushrooms in the slow cooker.
3. Cover, and cook on High for 3 hours, or Low for 6 hours. Add the parsley to the slow cooker 15 to 30 minutes before the end of the cook time.

I served the chicken and mushrooms with quinoa, apple slices, and garlic bread.  I leftovers, which I am going to keep to use in soup.  If you try it, let me know what you think....or if you do anything differently, I want to know!!!

Success.....redefined!

Bam.  No, wait....let me rephrase that, BAM.  I am on the verge of freeing myself from any need for store-bought food.  Now, don't get too concerned....the McGhees aren't going to escape all civilization and go live in a self-sustaining cabin in the mountains, having no regard for society and the laws of the government.  We would never do that, we live in Illinois, where our citizens have the upmost respect for our law.  Just ask these guys....

The first recipe I want to share for you will rock your world if you have goldfish/cheezit/wheat-thin loving husbands minis.  I got the recipe for homemade cheesecrackers from Heavenly Homemakers. 

Crispy Cheese Crackers

• ¼ cup butter, softened
• ¼ t. sea salt
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• ¼ t. baking powder
• 1 T. cold water

Use beaters or food processor to mix butter and salt until creamy. Add cheese. Mix well. Gradually add flour, baking powder and water, mixing until dough begins to form a ball. Form dough into a ball with hands.

Roll the dough into 1/8 inch thickness onto a cookie sheet. (I find that placing the dough between two pieces of parchment paper helps me to roll them out more easily.) Cut the rolled out dough into 1 ½ inch squares. Bake 15 minutes at 350° or until lightly browned. Turn off the oven and leave the crackers inside to crisp up. Store tightly covered.

**sidenote** My dough was very crumbly so when I was forming it into a ball, I added more water 1/2 TBSP at a time.  I would say maybe 2-3 more tablespoons.

This next recipe is going to save my oldest mini from finding part-time work to support our families yogurt-eating habits.  I got the recipe from Astrid, who is waaaaay ahead of me in most things in life, but loves me anyway.

EDITING TO SAY:  I have since found a cheez-it recipe that we like much better, here's the recipe.

Crockpot Yogurt

• 8 cups skim milk
• 1/2 cup dry milk powder
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt

1.  Put milk and milk powder in crockpt and turn on low for 2.5 hours.
2.  Unplug crockpot.  Leave the lid on and let it sit for 3 hours.  (Seriously, you do nothing in this step, except unplug your crockpot.  Nobody needs to know this though so if someone asks you to do something, you can say, "I am busy making yogurt" and then sneak away to read a book.  Need book recommendations?  I've got those too!)
3.  When 3 hours has passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warm milk and wisk in 1/2 cup plain yogurt.  I used 6 oz of Fage yogurt. 
4.  Add the milk/yogurt mixture back into the warmed milk.  Put lid on and wrap the crockpot in warm towels to keep it warm overnight.  IMPORTANT:  I use 3 large bath towels.  Wrap your crockpot tight so it stays warm all night.  If it isn't warm, the bacteria won't grow, and you won't have yogurt....you will have a crockpot of thick milk!
5.  The next morning, you will have yogurt!  You can strain it with a yogurt strainer if you prefer thicker, greek style yogurt.
6.  Mix in whatever you'd like to flavor your yogurt....we prefer fruit or honey. 

Complete and total success!!!  Here's where things get interesting...the first time I made both the crackers and the yogurt, they turned out okay.  I made mistakes on both recipes...on the crackers, I rolled them too thin, so when they baked they got a little burnt.  For the yogurt, I didn't have any dry milk powder, so my yogurt turned out really runny, and despite putting it in my fridge for a few hours, it still didn't thinken up.

So, how can I consider these successes?  Because I know what I want to change and do differently next time....and I am really excited about next time.  Honestly, how often do you fail, easily figure out what your mistake was, and then feel excited to go back and correct your failure?  Probably not too often in life, but in the kitchen.....all the time!!!!

I have a great friend who recently gave me some reading materials and today's reading was something I want to share. 

In the short-term, you may be able to hide who you are or pretend to be something you're not.  Inevitably, your authentic self will be revealed.  So stop hiding.  Show everybody the real you.  You'll be surprised how anxious people ar to see who you really are.

The interesting thing about this New Years resolution is that my life has been completely simplified.  I take care of my family, I run, I cook, I blog, and I read.  And I have realized, I am not content with that, I am filled with joy over that.  So, it's really made me think....what started out being all about food, has ended up being a path to far more.  It's shocking, right?  Because we think it's just food.  I challenge you to rethink your attitudes towards the food you buy, cook, and eat.  Because, for me, I am convinced that what we eat is so powerful because what feeds the belly also feeds the spirit.

Lunches and a crockpot dinner

I pack lunch for the Mr. and the minis everyday.  After breakfast, I feel that lunch is the most important meal of the day for the minis.  I don't know about your minis, but by dinnertime, mine are often too tired to really eat a good meal.  They'd rather read and do their homework.  Ah, not really...just thought I'd put that out there in case any of their teachers are reading.

Here's today's lunch.  Now, before you look at the picture, I am equally appalled as you are over the amount of plastic bags I used for today's lunches.  Wow, fail.  I need to get one of these but at $44 a piece, yikes! 

Today's lunch is plain greek yogurt with frozen raspberries (which will defrost by noon) to mix in.  I have gotten emails regarding greek yogurt....I know it's a tough one to get kids to switch too.  I suggest putting small amounts of plain greek yogurt in their flavored yogurt and gradually reducing the amount of flavored.  My kids love plain greek yogurt, which I guess makes me lucky.  It must be that "there are starving children in Africa that would do anything for this $1.19 cup of yogurt, so you better eat it and then lick the bottom of the cup when it's done.  And, no I don't care if you get in trouble at school for licking the bottom of your yogurt cup" lecture that I gave them.  Seriously though, on my to do list this week is to make homemade greek yogurt because that stuff is expensive!  I'm about to make my oldest mini get a paper route just to cover our yogurt budget each week.

Also in their lunch is a tortilla with homemade hummus and diced bell peppers and cucumbers, all rolled up.  I also included a grapes and yellow grape tomatoes.  If your kids don't eat tomatoes, I highly suggest you try giving them yellow grape tomatoes.  They are amazingly delish and my minis love them.  Just a warning, don't eat the entire 2 lb package at one time.  It can give you kanker sores and GI issues that may lead to embarassing moments on the treadmill at the gym later in the day. 

I also put in their lunches some grapes, a pumpkin muffin, and for dessert, dried mangoes.  And, much to the dismay of my minis, I do not put oreos in their lunch...even though they insist every single kid at school besides them, get oreos for lunch.

And tonight's dinner has been cooking since 6 am this morning.  I got this recipe from my sister back when I was a new bride and realized I had a man that thought dinner was a frozen pizza and Doritos.  This recipe is what she calls Italian Beef.  Basically, you put a roast in the crockpot with a can of peppercini peppers (check the ingredients, remember your peppers shouldn't have more than 5 ingredients).  I decided to get fancy this morning, and heated some oil in a stainless steel skillet, sprinkled salt and pepper on my roast and then seared it before putting it in the crockput.  I also threw in a few cloves of minced garlic.  When the roast is finished cooking, shred.  You can serve it over mashed potatoes or on homemade wheat bread/hoagie.  My plan is to serve it over mashed cauliflower with raw carrots and bell peppers on the side.

Mashed Cauliflower from about.com

• raw cauliflower- a medium head makes about a pound of florettes
• any combination of butter, milk, cream, or whatever you use when you make mashed potatoes - about 1/4 cup
• salt and pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• parmesan cheese

1.  Break the cauliflower up into florets, or just chop. I like to cook it in the microwave in a container that I prepare and serve it in, but you can steam it. Cook it until it's tender -- a fork should easily pierce it.

2.  The easiest thing to do is to add the rest of the ingredients to the container the cauliflower is cooked in, and then use a stick (hand) blender to put it all together. Or you can put it all in a regular blender or food processor.

I've had a few people ask how the minis are doing with the changes and do they really eat what I cook.  The answer is they're doing good, and nope, they don't always eat what I cook.  I tell my kids I respect them and their opinions regarding their food preferences, however, I do not cater to picky eaters.  They get a plate full of the same things I have on my plate.  They need to try everything.  If they find something so horrible that they can't possibly eat it, they are welcome to find something else to eat...however, they must choose food from the bottom 2 drawers of the fridge.  So, on nights where they can't bear to eat my dinner, they usually will have an apple, banana, peppers, cucumbers, and some cheese and peanut butter.