Our (Neurodiverse) Family

From Cuisinart website For my birthday, my in-laws gave me a bread maker. I was very surprised, and overjoyed at this gift. I've been having some fun with it, and I have even more plans for it. Not only does it make bread but it also... Kneads dough Makes quick breads (like banana bread!) I can even use it to make jam (say what?!) I have been having so much fun with this gift. In fact, it might be the best birthday gift I've ever gotten (thanks again Brian and Kathy). What have I made so far? French bread (just the loaf variety--haven't done the real French bread yet) Cinnamon swirl bread Banana bread Wheat bread (my standard recipe) Pizza dough Chocolate chip cream cheese coffee cake (using the quick bread function) Bread sticks I have many, many more plans for this bread maker. It's a time saver--if bread sticks sound good for dinner tonight, I can just put the ingredients in the machine, put it on the "dough" setting, and let the ...

Heh heh, it's been a few months. Anyone still there? Here's a food storage recipe that I use a lot. Enjoy! This topping is simply delicious on top of pancakes, waffles, french toast, in crepes. Of course, who likes peeling, coring, and chopping up apples early in the morning when everyone is rushing to get ready? This is where food storage comes in: dried apples! You can use dried apple slices or dices--both work wonderfully. Here's the recipe: 2 apples (or the equivalent in dried apple form) Water (two tablespoons if you are using fresh apples; if using dried apples, use however much the package calls for reconstituting) 1/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon (or to taste) These instructions are for dried apples. Measure out apples and water according to package instructions and heat in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat to boiling, then add sugar and cinnamon and let it cook until thick. Serve hot with your favorite breakfast item :)

From scratch. No frozen pie crusts or canned filling involved.  And it wasn't nearly as horrible as I thought it would be. Before I started this task, I thought I was nuts, especially for being nearly six months pregnant.  The food processor is my best friend now, because making pie crusts with it is so blissfully easy. Why did I try to do it by hand in the past? I was too scared. Wax paper makes rolling the dough out so much easier, and you don't have to worry about using too much flour to make it not so sticky.  I find it terribly ironic that women complain about not having time to cook from scratch, even though we have all these marvelous mechanical contraptions that streamline the process. I think our pioneer grandmothers are rolling in their graves because they would have killed for these contraptions. After all, they milked cows, grew their own food, sewed by hand, did laundry by hand, raised children, AND somehow managed to cook three meals a day.  ...

Well this week should be interesting with menu planning because of Thanksgiving. I haven't actually planned out the entire week's menu...yeah yeah, I know. Breakfasts will be cold cereal, waffles, toast, etc. Lunches: sandwiches and leftovers. Dinners...well there's going to be some experimentation there. I'm out of chicken breasts, but have a lot of chicken thighs in my freezer. I don't normally use chicken thighs, and since we're trying to keep our grocery budget low, I'm going to use them. Tonight, I'm planning on making General Tso's Chicken (a favorite Chinese dish--I hope we like it!). I'm looking up recipes on Tasty Kitchen  for some ideas for the rest of the week. It's Thanksgiving already, eh? It snuck up on me this year. Stephan had class today and will be having class tomorrow, but after that, he has the week off. Our plans for Thanksgiving itself: we're going up to my grandfather's in northern Utah to spend it with my mo...

Yakisoba is a Japanese noodle stir fry. In fact, yakisoba literally translates to "fried noodles". This is probably one of the most versatile, easy dishes you can have in your arsenal. You can customize it to your liking, using pretty much any spice, meat, vegetable, or sauce you like. And did I mention that it's really cheap too? Cheap, nutritious, and tasty...all good words for one dish! This is also a great dish for getting rid of leftovers. You're probably wondering, "Sounds great, but I need a few guidelines to start out." So did I! I'll show you what I did, and you can do what you want afterwards. Here we go! The cast of characters Chop up some celery (if you're using it) Dice up some chicken.... Boil some ramen noodles (I realize this isn't the most authentic, but hey, ramen noodles are cheap, and work great for this) Yep, three at once. Drain the noodles, and set aside. Heat the pan to about medium-high heat,...

My husband and I share a dresser (naturally), and there are only five drawers. The top drawer is small and is used for socks. The other four are divided between Stephan's clothes and mine, so two drawers per person. This isn't much of a problem for Stephan because he doesn't have that many clothes, whereas I have more clothing items than he does (the joys of being female). More often than I want to admit, my drawers became the latest site for an archaeological dig, as a result of this arrangement. Drawer dividers seemed like a wonderful option (even if a bit OCD), but they do not fit our tight budget. Then one day, I saw some cardboard boxes that I hadn't gotten rid of for some reason. Light bulb moment! So I grabbed some scissors and went to town. I didn't measure the drawers or the cardboard before I started cutting, so there was a lot of trial and error involved. If you are planning to do this yourself, please measure before cutting ;) Here's a dra...

22 weeks pregnant I finally post a pregnant picture of myself, although now I'm 23 weeks pregnant (give or take). Yes, I know I'm small. Baby girl is growing towards my digestive tract, which makes heartburn a regular, yet random occurrence. Random because I can eat one particular food item one day and not get heartburn, and yet eat the same item again the next day, and get heartburn. Tums is my friend ;) Other than that, I'm feeling good. Second trimester is nice stuff, I have to say. And yes, little girl is moving around, though my husband hasn't been able to feel her kicks yet (all in good time). This is very belated, but thank you everyone for your congratulations and well wishes about our little girl. We are excited, and overwhelmed. I've started to crochet a lavender baby blanket, and my mother-in-law took me baby clothes shopping a while back. So, we have a few baby girl things hanging around, though not much. I've also been reading a lot of books ...