tonight i have been re-inspired to cook.  and i'm soooo glad that i am, because (besides needing the food in a few days) it smells incredible in the house.  last night we cooked a pork tenderloin in breadcrumbs and rosemary that we didn't get around to eating, so we're eating it tonight.  baking in the oven right now is a whole chicken.  how good is baked chicken!  i'm tempted to eat it instead of the pork, but i know we won't get around to eating the pork if i don't do it now.  so, we're having that, potatoes au gratin, spinach salad, and probably an early round of cranberry sauce! :) mmm.  i believe i'll be freezing the chicken, well, all but the wings.  i think i'm gonna cut them off and make some stock out of it for quick and easy soup and/or gravy.  

Planning

Lee & Brad are in town, and I am enjoying spending the weekend with them. They are at a friend's wedding, and I wish they weren't, b/c I'm dog-sitting for them instead. But, Ellie's a sweet girl, and I don't mind. Oneday, maybe they'll babysit! :o) And this gives me an opportunity to watch some much-missed cable television (i.e. Law & Order).
Today Knox, Lee, Mom, and I went for a little walk around town in which Knox promptly spotted a "little horse," a "ly-won," and white flowers (the little horse being an anti-bellum horse & carriage pitch that is so common here in small southern towns, the ly-won being how Knox says 'lion,' though he mistook a yorkie for it, and white flowers being, well, white flowers). Wesley has been working on music all weekend, though mostly not his own, so far. He recorded a co-worker's music most of the day today, thus sending Knox & I to Dad's for a good part of the day. Then, after a quick dinner, he headed off to band practice. I am excited that he is getting back into playing with a band. I really enjoy his acoustic work, but there is an aspect to playing with a band that I think Wesley misses when he doesn't play with a group for a while. I don't know if its just that its something he really enjoys, or that its b/c he has basically always played music in bands since he was quite young (or both), but either way, it's good for him to get back into it.
This week, I have planned a menu and already bought the groceries, so I am excited to get started on the meals! :o) Here it goes!
Sunday a.m.: my best attempt to re-create the breakfast-biscuit-egg-muffin things that I had at a little coffee shop in Kingston Springs, which are incredible.
Sunday p.m.: Mammy's Cupboard's recipe of Vegetable Beef Soup w/my Granny's Jalepeno Cornbread Muffins
Monday: Slow-cooked Chicken with bacon & greenbeans, and "potato salad" (though if you know me at ALL, you know this must not have the "m"word in it. It doesn't. I'm going to do my best attempt to duplicate the potato salad from the restaurant Zoe's Kitchen).
Tuesday: Mammy's recipe (again) for Chicken Salad Sandwiches (but, again, without the M-word, and instead, fat free plain yogurt) with a side of vegetable soup and mixed fresh fruit
Wednesday: church night
Thursday: chili dogs with Kosher dogs & wheat buns & fat free turkey chili, and steamed broccoli
Friday: miniature whole-wheat pizzas
Saturday: breakfast with Dad, and a wedding to attend that night, so I'm sure we'll eat there

I just got through labeling all my posts that i thought could use labels (all but i think two), and it took a while! I didn't realize it would take such a long time. But, it included reviewing each post to see what labels needed to be applied. So, maybe it won't be such an ordeal if I do it as I post. The work day is almost over, and I am thrilled. Tonight I plan on cooking the grilled chicken that we were going to eat last night. (We went for sushi with my Mother-in-law, instead.) Well, I have been contemplating cooking jambalaya instead. I think it just makes a big batch, and there's not much sense in making a big batch for just two people; we were originally going to wait until we could have company over. But, the chicken, sausage, and shrimp sound really good right now. Sooooo, I may have just talked myself out of grilled chicken. :o) Although.....now I remember that we are planning on going to church tonight, and that is at 5, I believe, so, I guess we'll have to see what'll be ready in time to eat before that. :o)
The rain finally let up. Its been clear for the past two days, and I'm thankful, but I have to say that I enjoy the rain. It's bittersweet for us, b/c Wesley usually gets to stay home (with me!) on days that it rains, but also, they are not paid days. Still, I enjoy taking advantage of the quality-time opportunities while they present themselves.

this week wesley and i watched a couple of movies. we saw the other boleyn girl and bee movie. i really enjoyed both, although, i must admit we had to turn off bee movie last night before it finished because we were both so tired. i imagine we'll try to finish it tonight. so, honestly, i guess i can only comment on the former. while i enjoyed the movie, the plot was rather disturbing. i think what made the plot most disturbing was that it was mostly based on facts. i understand that it is a very romanticized version of whatever did happen, but the basic plot, the events, what a difference in mindset. oh, and we also watched definately, maybe, which i had great hopes for, but was disappointed with the ending. (if you don't want to continue in this discussion, please skip the next paragraph.)

***spoiler alert!!!*** i don't know, maybe its because i am sensitive to divorce lately, but i am not satisfied with the simple pat-on-the-back answer of hey,-let's-just-move-on-to-the-next-thing-and-see-if-it-works mentality about divorce. I don't think it is a justifiable answer to the reality of the situation. it seems more like a fairy tale ending on a story about reality (though a comedic interpretation). so, anyway, you can watch it and judge it for yourself. i'd love to know what you think about it.

ok, back to other topics. I made whole wheat pizza last night that was really good. I have noticed that the more i make it, the quicker i get at it. which, i guess, is like anything with anyone, now that i think about it. i should have taken pictures of it, but i did not. i did, however, take pictures of wednesday night's dinner (southwestern grilled chicken and avacado sandwiches with fresh salsa), but i will have to post those pictures later this afternoon, being that i forgot to take my camera with me currently.

The Weekend

This festive weekend we have mostly visited with family. Thursday night Wesley's grandmother came in town (one of the first times she's seen Knox in person) so we came to visit Friday for most of the day. My mom being also in town, we visited with her over Mexican food for lunch before making the trip out to the country to see Mamaw & Papaw. Knox had a big time looking at the chickens and riding in the boat. He gets so excited about chickens and boats, but mostly boats.

While we were there, I sorted through some of my mother-in-law's cookbooks from her extensive collection, and found some really great sounding recipes that I have high hopes for this week. I'll try to remember to post how they went. Two in particular being Overnight Sticky Buns and a variation of Roast Chicken. Tonight we had breakfast as usual with my Dad, which was nice. Then we spent the day together as a family, and while Knox napped, Wesley & I watched The Spiderwick Chronicles. I enjoyed it, knowing ahead of time of the fantastical nature of the storyline. I don't think we could have watched it with Knox, though, which Wesley & I were both suprized for a PG movie. It was a bit too action-y and slightly grotesque at parts for him yet. Tonight my in-laws watched Knox so that Wesley & I could go into town to watch a movie that the downtown development group was playing for free. It was so nice to sit there in the street with a bunch of other locals just there to watch a movie. We watched Independence Day, which oddly enough, I had never seen. Wesley thought that was particularly funny, but it let me enjoy the movie that much more. After 1.5 chili dogs and 1/2 a funnel cake and a good movie, we were ready to call it a night.

This week's Menu

Yesterday and today I didn't have to go into work until one, so I was able to get dressed leisurely and cook breakfast, which was a joy.

Monday: Dinner: Pasta Quattro Formaggio with Roasted Chicken
Tuesday: Lunch: Mammie's Chicken Salad Sandwich (without M-Word) on Home Baked
White Bread
Dinner: Bacon Turkey Burgers on Onion Kaiser Rolls with Baked Macaroni &
Cheese and Green Bean Bundles
or
Breakfast Casserole
Wednesday: Dinner: Church or @ the Townsends'
Thursday: Dinner: whichever I didn't cook on Tuesday
Friday: Date Night/homemade Pizza
Saturday: Fundraiser for Mr. Mike Byrne @ Mainstreet Market Place Cafe'

Oh man.

Tonight my Mother-in-law grilled steak and sausage, and cooked lobster, baked beans, and sweet potatoes. YUM. Tomorrow night we are eating chicken verde enchiladas. We strayed a tiny bit from the food schedule.

Tonight at my in-law's house we started talking at dinner about fuel costs among other things. I believe I may ask some of my dear friends and neighbors (who just Happen to be one in the same...minus an absent Merisha only for a short while) if they want to carpool to the grocery store. I may even try to round up a group to go once a month(ish) to Sam's. I figure we can split the fuel costs and save some moolah. I am excited that a produce store is about to move just yards from my house very soon. I shall be able to walk there this spring (Lord willing). I do want to grow my own garden, though, too. I am going to try to help plant my in-law's garden to get some experience so that I will have an Incling of an idea as to what I would be doing. I almost just spelled doing "dooing." Wow. Long day.

Food Planning

Today is the Mississippi Primaries. If you happen to be a registered voter in MS, please go vote today! (and vote for Ron Paul!) :)Yesterday I was extremely pleased with how much I was able to accomplish around the house! It was very suprizing to me how far a little planning went. I was able to:sweep and mop all the floors, vaccum the carpet, straiten Knox's room, make our bed, put away all the clothes, continue the laundry (though I'm not completely finished...more on that later...funny story), finish the dishes, cook dinner, and wash the car! All from about 3pm to 630pm! So, about the laundry. I decided to save a little money and be more friendly to the economy to dry my laundry on a clothes line yesterday. Why not? The day was beautiful. By the time I got everything up, it was overcast. I waited about an hour or so, went back, and checked the clothes, still damp. A while later I felt a sprinkle, so I went and got the clothes that had dried and brought them inside. The other clothes were already wet, so I left them out anyway. Hopefully by the time I come in from work today I will have dry laundry! Its another pretty day today, so maybe I'll try again. I did, however, enjoy the rain. I love to cosey up in bed with a good book under my antique quilts while the rain hits our antique tin roof.
This weekend Knox stayed with KK while we went to a friend's wedding out of town. He had a wonderful time judging by the temper-tantrum he through when he saw us to bring him home.
Wesley is actively working on bookings again; I am so glad!
Here is what I'm cooking this week. (I actually planned ahead!)
Last night: Spinach and Ricotta-Stuffed Chicken Medallions over Pasta with a Creamy Lemony-White Wine & Balsamic Vinager Reduction over Penne Pasta and Spinach Salad with Dried Cranberries and Feta. Chocolate Ice Cream for Dessert. (You can get the chicken recipe from www.foodnetwork.com, though I did my own variation of the sauce.)
Tonight: Pulled Pork Sanwiches Slow Cooked on homemade Baguette
Wednesday: probably at the Townsends
Thursday: either French Dip Sammies (with same pork from Tuesday night) or BBQ Sammies (with same pork from Tuesday night)
Friday: Probably homemade pizza. I have found this amazing wheat pizza dough recipe (from The Best of Cooking Light) and it has been such a hit! I swap the amounts of white and wheat flour to give it more wheat, but you could keep it with more white.
Saturday: Gumbo. I'll add chicken, sausage (venison), and seafood (probably shrimp unless we decide to go get some crawfish...though crawfish would be gooooood) over brown rice.
Sunday: Probably with the Townsends again. pleased with how much I was able to accomplish around the house!

Chicken Enchiladas...as best I can remember it

This is my variation of the recipe. Actually taken from The Best of Cooking Light cookbook that my mother in law gave us, and it is a wonderful cookbook. It's not really called "chicken enchiladas," but I don't remember the official name, and this is close enough. If you want the official recipe, buy the book. Actually, buy the book, anyway.

1 lb. cooked, shredded chicken
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, plus more for top
1/2 cup Jack cheese, plus more for top
1 small onion
1 regular sized can Rotel tomatoes, drained, then processed or chopped finely
1 small can tomatillo salsa
1 egg
1 cup, plus more if needed, milk
corn tortillas

Basically, you mix cooked chicken (about a lb.) with a chopped onion and 1/2 cup each of Cheddar and jack cheeses (or whatever kind you have) in a bowl. Next, in a separate bowl, combine one can (regular sized) Rotel tomatoes, drained and chopped finely (as with a food processor), with one small can, not drained, of tomatillo salsa, usually found on the Hispanic aisle. Add one egg, and 1 cup milk (add more if needed to thin it out).
Next, simmer shallow water in a pan and with tongs, dip the corn tortillas in for just a second to make them flexable. Fill the flexable tortilla with the chicken mixture and roll tightly in a baking dish, seam side down. Finish until all mixture is made (about 12 or so small tortillas). Pour tomatillo mixture over. Add shredded cheese over the top if you so choose. Bake on 375 F until bubbley cheese on top, or until heated through, about 20 minutes. Yum.

Would also be good with the addition of black beans, corn, spinach, etc. in the filling.

Well, the concert was wonderful. Those Andys and a Ben. They can play. We had a good visit with my sister. I always feel that I don't get to see her enough. She came in town last night, and we went walking this morning before work. It was muggy outside, so I was drenched in sweat when we got back. Yuck. I wasn't planning on this, so I took a tad longer to get ready than I expected.
Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary. It was nice. Wesley planned a date and suprized me with it. I thought we were going to the grocery store, but we went to dinner instead. We both got pork tenderloin.Yum! I should make that more often, because, man it was good!! While Knox was being babysat by his grandparents, he apparently had troubles using the...well, diaper. Poor baby. We're starting a prune regiment today.
Wesley should be over any minute now for lunch, and when he does, I shall go prepare lunch for us both. Today we are having grilled chicken salad with jello for dessert. Mmm.