Design Binge 2016

I'm ready.

Vacation packing, ALL THE YARN!

The eternal question... how much to pack?
Is one hook enough? What if it gets lost? Is two hooks enough? Which scissors do I think I can get away with on the plane?

1. A knit project
2. A mindless crochet project
3. Yarn for designing .... there's the problem. A notebook, a pen, a hairpin loom, a broomstick needle... worsted? DK? several solid colors for color work? Bring yarn that is in balls and not hanks or spend precious packing time winding hanks into balls...

$1.99 What a bargain!

Marvelous Crochet Motifs is on sale for $1.99!

What a bargain! :)

Crochet! Autumn 2016

Hey there are some great things in the new issue of Crochet!

It's digital as of now and will be on newsstands very soon!

Dinner Rut Revisted

Remember last week when I was talking about getting out of my weeknight dinner rut? Check out the post with the recipe links here.

Tonight we tried the Italian Crusted Cod

With a side of broccoli (covered in melty cheese) and a side of fruit. The fish was pretty good. Healthier than deep fried, which is usually how we eat cod. The cod is from the freezer section at the grocery, this was a nice 1" thick piece. The other piece in the bag was long and thin. The thicker piece definitely cooked longer, I kinda burnt the thin one. Also, I cooked it on the stove top instead of in the oven so I could keep an eye on it.  It splattered something fierce so I was glad I don't have to clean my oven, instead just wipe down the stove top. Tom didn't really notice a difference from our deep fried version and this was healthier. Not bad. Chief didn't like it (as usual) and Chickee wasn't home (as usual) :)

Crochet in the Wild

 Over the weekend, my aunt and uncle celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary with a party at Xavier University. Above and below is a peek at a lovely pale blue motif sweater. The motifs are arranged on the diagonal. Very pretty!

 The anniversary party was a nice chance for me to visit with my brother, Ken, along with my dad and the rest of the family.

Here I am with Tom. The dinner party room overlooked the basketball court at the Cintas Center. Uncle Jerry was a professor at Xavier for many years.

Friday Dinner

Last night we were invited to a neighbor's house for dinner....

I brought a salad with green leaf lettuce from our garden and hard boiled eggs from our chickens and tomatoes from... the grocery. 

Next week, I think I will do a week long tour of my yarn closet.  I'll take out random skeins of yarn from the closet and share with you what I have been hoarding  collecting.

Thursday Dinner

Ok, so I caved. Chickee is away and Chief has been patiently home all week. His school bus driver opened a pizza store and he was anxious to give it a try. So, here is Thursday dinner.

Wednesday dinner

Some how I ended up with the evening to myself, so Chicken Scampi it is! This was the least healthy meal of the options I chose for the week. Dripping in a butter, olive oil, lemon sauce this is just like shrimp scampi but with chicken. I would have been happy with shrimp but I knew my family wouldn't eat it so I chose the chicken version. This recipe was very easy but I thought I had basil in the pantry but did not. So this is chicken scampi without the basil.  Again, one pan, very quick, a great weeknight meal.  I didn't want to bother with spaghetti for just me, so I threw in some leftover cheese tortellini the last few minutes to heat it through.

I miss crochet! I've been too busy to do much stitching. I have a hat on my hook and I still have the Sprinkles Knit Socks KAL on my needles. What are you making? Let me live vicariously through you!

Move a little 4th of July weekend!

You can run or walk from wherever you are!
Here's the link to the virtual race. Scroll down for all the details and facts.

Tuesday Dinner

Remember what I said about my family only eating broccoli if it has cheese on it?

So, in case you are just tuning in, here is the link to the links with the recipes and the details for the week.

So yesterday Chief asks, "What's for dinner" and I say, "Beef and Broccoli" and he says, "That's it? What's the catch?"   Uh, oh, he's catching on to my crazy plan!

He starts asking if we can order pizza. ONE NIGHT... I made it through ONE NEW recipe before he started asking for pizza. Sigh.

Ok, So this recipe was actually super easy and quick and really a busy family's ideal weeknight recipe. It all cooked in one skillet. I just grabbed a bag of frozen white rice that you steam in the microwave in the bag, and ta da! done. Really! You're family will probably love it.

Tom took one look at it and had to ask what was in the sauce. I assured him that there was nothing scary in there (read = onions, sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, cloves of garlic, etc), there was a tiny bit of minced garlic but no whole visible pieces so I was able to scrape by. Before he even tasted it... he put mozzarella cheese on it... because.... broccoli.   Shaking my head. Seriously? Can't you at least taste it first?

Chief hated it. I asked him does that mean you liked last night's Hawaiian chicken better? "Neither" he says.  Tom said that he liked the chicken better but he would eat the beef and broccoli again.  

Chief: 0-2

Tom: 2-0

Me: I don't know that my vote counts, I'll eat pretty much anything I'm willing to cook ;) I've naturally weeded out lima beans. Stay tuned, life might get in the way of Wednesday's dinner.

On a related note.. Chickee is sending me crazy photos of her trying exotic new dishes like Sushi, squash, carrots, miso soup, fish tacos, etc.  I guess the key to getting your kids to try new things is to send them away with friends?

Monday Dinner

Last night was the Hawaiian Chicken and pineapple kabobs... get the recipe and the links to this week's recipes on THIS post.

Sorry, I keep forgetting to take a photo until after I have started. (ew!)  Anyway, Chief's first comment was, "I've never had warm pineapple before... not very refreshing..."  Tom said it was ok. I don't love pineapple but I ate some and enjoyed the chicken. Chief didn't go back for seconds. Most families would probably love this! Tonight Broccoli and Beef. Stay tuned.

Sunday dinner

Sorry, I dug into dinner before I remembered to take a photo for you... LOL. Sunday dinner didn't count on my recipe week anyway.

Here's a random snapshot of me with Chief, I don't think you've seen  him in a while. This was from last night. He just finished 7th grade. #soproud

And here's Chickee, she just finished her Freshman year. Her pink hair is her summer fun because they don't allow fashion hair at her school, so the day she got out off to the salon we went!  I think it's gorgeous. She's currently on vacation with her BFF.

Getting out of the week night dinner rut!

Is your family full of picky eaters like mine? I would eat so much healthier if my family liked a wider variety. Anyway, school is out for us. Sports are over for now. Chickee is away this week which means that I only have 2 people to please instead of three.  It seems like a good time to try FIVE NEW recipes!

I went to the grocery today and bought all my ingredients. I walked away from my cart at one point and when I returned I didn't even recognize it as mine because of all the exotic produce. Ya know, fresh broccoli and green beans instead of frozen for example.

Would you like to join me? I know it's late notice. The recipes are from allrecipes.com some are from the healthy section but I think one or two of them are not.

So tonight doesn't really count:
Sunday: Steaks on the grill, sautéed fresh green beans, pineapple and I'll probably bake or boil some potatoes. My mother-in-law is coming over for dinner and it should be pretty laid back.

Monday:  I do have a run thing at 6:30 Monday night so it needs to be a quick meal or something Tom can make and have ready so we are having Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs. (Here's the link to Allrecipes.com  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20415/hawaiian-chicken-kabobs/print/?recipeType=Recipe&servings=8
I'm not a fan of pineapple but the family likes it so I'm trying to compromise. I'll either make a salad or make leftover green beans if there are any from Sunday. I'll have to marinate the chicken tonight or tomorrow so it's easy for Tom to throw on the grill.

Tuesday: My family is terrified of Asian restaurants and foods that are slightly exotic. I'm going to try and bring them a step closer with a very identifiable Broccoli Beef I recipe. They like beef, they like broccoli if it has cheese on it, so that might be a problem. We're going to give it a try.  Here's the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/20593/broccoli-beef-i/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results, I'll serve it with rice.

Wednesday: I'm sure Chief is not going to like the tomatoes in this one, but hey, you never know. Wednesday's dinner is Brooklyn Girl's Penne Arrabiata, it's Penne pasta with chicken and tomatoes. Not too scary, right?  Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/77758/brooklyn-girls-penne-arrabiata/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results I'll serve it with garlic bread and a salad.

Thursday: By Thursday I'm sure they will be begging to put in yet another frozen pizza or just scramble some eggs, but I'll try to soldier on with my plan to introduce them to something new-ish.  I'm sure they won't know how to handle a pasta that doesn't have jarred red sauce on it but we are going to try Chicken Scampi II.  Because I knew Shrimp scampi would be completely out of the question... here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/8761/chicken-scampi-ii/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results

Friday: Hold on to your seats dear family, we're having cod that isn't deep fried. Really. Yep. You never know, it could become your new favorite thing. (I say that a great deal... even though my family assures me that NEVER have they ever gotten a new favorite thing after I have said it). Cod with Italian Crumb topping How hard can it be? Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/21256/cod-with-italian-crumb-topping/?internalSource=search%20result&referringContentType=search%20results

I'll try to remember to post photos and reviews.

Also, I am crocheting still, don't worry ;)  And I'm about 1/3 of the way done with sock #1 of Suzy's KAL.