one day of rest, then back to work!

 

just wanted to show off my spoiled kitties!

well, as expected, i had over done it on tuesday so wednesday was my day of rest and recovery. i spent almost all day on the couch, taking a 2 hour nap in the middle of the day...it was actually very hard for me to not do anything! even on my "lazy days" i do some kind of crafty thing or some light cleaning, this time i did absolutely nothing and it was a bit nerve racking. truth be told i finally did put some dishes into the dishwasher and folded one load of laundry before i went to bed...i had rested all day and just had to do something.

and so, yesterday i was fully rested and ready to get back to the project full speed ahead...after storytime and little gym, that was. first up was a chocolate truffle torte, for mom's night out, from my better homes & garden cookbook. i changed the crust from crushed graham crackers to crushed chocolate cookies to make it even more chocolatey (and to do something with the cookies i had). i started melting the chocolate with the whipping cream like the recipe called for and was getting everything else together and ready, only to realize that i needed more eggs. so off to target jordan and i went, after the chocolate was melted, of course, since i couldn't just stop that right in the middle. side note: i'm really glad that target carries basic staples like eggs so that i didn't have to go to the grocery store & it's so much closer. 

back from the store i finished getting everything together: pressing the cookie crumbs into the springform pan, mixing all the ingredients together, then pouring them into the pan, and popping it into the oven for what turned out to be 35 minutes, rather than 45. once out and cooled, i put it into the fridge for more chilling and hoped that it really was completely cooked...i'd find out about 4 hours later at moms night out!

 

the top cracked a bit around one edge, but other than that it seemed fine. i made up the fresh whipped cream about 10 minutes before walking out the door for moms night. side note #2: i'm finding that i really like real, fresh whip cream and with my kitchenaid mixer (which i luuuuv) it's super easy to make. this was the first torte i had ever made, so i was really uncertain about how it would turn out...in the end, it turned out very well! it was super rich and chocolatey, the whipped cream really helped cut some of the richness and everyone who tried it seemed to like it...so i was very happy! it's a keeper recipe and maybe next time i will actually follow the recipe and use crushed graham crackers and roasted nuts for the crust.

since i felt that i hadn't done enough in the kitchen, i chose to make chicken parmesan for dinner for the family using a recipe from the pioneer woman's website. i have just recently learned a bit about the pioneer woman and really, for some reason i keep wanting to refer to her as the prairie woman and i'm not totally sure why though. so, anyway, i picked up all the extras from the grocery store (yes, that would be trip #2 to a store) that i didn't already have at home before getting stephen from school. once we got home i chopped the onions and garlic, then grated the parmesan cheese so that i would be all ready after my quick nap since i still wasn't feeling 100%. side note #3: i love my mini-chopper...it was just great for chopping the garlic and onions.

up from my nap, i got into the kitchen and started everything for the dinner. i pounded out the chicken with my newest kitchen tool: the meat tenderizer (i honestly don't know how i went so long without one, it's so fun to use...pounding the crap out of something works out a good deal of frustrations!). i followed the recipe, using both the print out and the pictures from her site, as i went along. side note #4: i have no problem handling chicken, but i must admit that i washed my hands like 7 different times before the meat even hit the pan! 

 

i should have taken a picture with all the chicken in the pan and covered in cheesy goodness, but forgot so that's why there's only one lone cheese covered chicken in theat picture! it all turned out very nicely and smelled great, of course that's just my opinion though. i, of course, served it with noodles...there's just no other way to serve something made with so much red, tomato-y sauce! the kids liked the chicken, stephen didn't like the sauce,  jordan doesn't eat red sauce, and luke didn't say anything...pretty typical for my family, there's just no pleasing everyone! i liked it and will definitely make it again...i'll make a few changes to the sauce though since it seemed to be lacking something. the sauteed chicken was super easy to make, tasted yummy, and i think i'll be making chicken that way more often...working the pan drippings into a gravy next time though.

 

all in all it was a very productive day in the kitchen, no crafting done though so i feel like i'm falling behind on that side. i'll make up for it today and this weekend...i'm already planning on sewing 2 skirts and 2 pairs of pj pants for jordan. i'll finally make the doughnut muffin recipe i've been wanting to try and the laundry really must get done before we're wondering around in dirty clothes or worse, no clothes at all! 

more to come this weekend so come on back soon!

 

Nun's Puffs and the migraine that wouldn't die!

i wanted to have some history or trivia about the name of the puffs that i made, but instead i spent last night enjoying a glass of wine while watching some tv and then this morning, i spent several hours in bed trying to sleep off my migraine. the sleeping 4 additional hours after taking stephen to school really did seem to do the trick and i'm feeling much better. i've had a migraine for the last 2-3 days and while it was manageable for the first couple days, this morning the throbbing in my head nearly knocked me over. so i brokedown and took the powerful prescription pill i have (i save them for real emergencies, like today) and climbed back into bed. thankfully jordan was behaving and luke was fine with her playing while he worked. so, now after my rest i'm back to blogging and normal life...more laundry and baking to get to today!

last night i baked something called nun's pufffs from the better homes & gardens cookbook. the recipe was very simple with only about 5 ingredients, it was the first time i ever had to cook the dough before baking it. i followed the recipe as it was written, melting the butter, adding the milk & flour until the dough formed a ball, then adding each egg one at a time stirring vigoursly with each addition.  side note: stirring dough with a wooden spoon for 4-5 minutes is really a good workout for the stirring arm! so once the eggs were all mixed in i used my handy-dandy scooping tool (it's actually called a disher, but i like handy-dandy scoop) to measure out the dough into the heavily greased muffin tin, sprinkled on some sugar, popped them in the oven for the desired time and started working on dinner. 

the puffs came out of the oven after about 25 minutes, just in time to enjoy with our dinner of fish sticks, rice, & corn (i know, we're so "fancy" with our fish sticks). this time we all tried the puffs, the kids even had their's with honey which is what the book suggests having them with. they were a bit doughy and really, not very good...neither of the kids finished there's and luke & i just had one each. i did save the remaining ones to try today with the hope that they'll be better a day later...i haven't tried them yet, but will at some point.

 

they did puff up quite nicely and i was very surprised about that, the taste just seemed lacking. i was glad that i tried something new though so in the end it worked out just fine. tonight i think i'll try some cheese muffins to go with dinner and maybe some brownies from a box (i can't always make everything from scratch!)