Fan Potatoes

I am always looking for different ways to prepare potatoes.  Joe LOVES potatoes.  I think he loves them outright, but the fact that they can also be used as a way to eat butter and salt seals the deal for him.  Me, on the other hand, could not eat baked potatoes every other night like Joe does.  So, the last time I was planning on serving potatoes with whatever else we were having, I search around and saw quite a few variations of this recipe.  I don't really know what to call the, but since you "fan" out the potato a little bit, I decided on calling them fan potatoes.  Yeah, I know, not original.

Anyway....here is the recipe.  It was pretty easy and it was good.  I won't go through the trouble of making them all the time, but when I am looking for something a little different I will definitely make them again.

Ingredients

2 baking potatoes

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon paprika

salt and pepper as you like

Directions

1. After washing the potatoes (I shouldn't have to say that, should I?) slice the potato width-wise but don't cut all the way through. I cut slice that were probably 1/8 of an inch.  When you are done, you can kind of fan out the potato at the top.  (This is where me taking pictures for this blog would be helpful.)

2. Place each potato, fan side up in a baking dish.  Combine the melted butter, olive oil, and paprika and brush over each potato.  Be sure that the butter/olive oil/paprika mixture gets down in between the slices. 

3.  Sprinkle salt and pepper as it suits you and bake in an oven set at 350 until the potato is done. 

Enjoy!

BBQ Sauce

Oh my gosh...I am so far behind.  I made this BBQ sauce a month ago, it is already half gone and I am just now getting around to blogging the recipe.  (not that anyone is sitting around waiting for it...I just hate having things left undone)

I have been looking for a BBQ that I could make for some time that both Joe and I would like AND would satisify my need to eliminate high fructose corn syrup.  I don't really like smoky sauces and Joe doesn't like them too sweet...see the problem.

So I started scouring the internet looking at different recipes, tried a couple of things and have landed on this one.  It is a pretty basic sauce...it just tastes like BBQ sauce but Joe and I like it and it doesn't have high fructose corn syrup.  


Ingredients

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups ketchup
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 1/2 tablespoons dry mustard
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 3 dashes hot pepper sauce
• 
  
• Directions
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• Combine all ingredients in a blender until mixed well.  (yeah, it was hard I tell you)
• 
  
• When I measured out my ketchup (which was free of high fructose corn syrup) it was the last of the 32 oz bottle so I cleaned the ketchup bottle out and poured the BBQ sauce back in the bottle.  

I am a lucky lady...

I am currently 1 hour into my summer vacation from the 2010-2011 school year.  Taelin is at her last day of daycare until next fall and I am taking today for myself.  After dropping her off, I came home and made myself an omelet, scheduled lunch with a friend and planned out the rest of my day...which will include brightly colored toenails, a new pair of shoes for my sister's wedding, blogging, yoga...and a nap.  There will definitely be a nap.

The headache that started last Saturday night has finally gone away after the close of the year yesterday and a good night's sleep.  It was a sadder ending than past school years as people turned in their keys and security badges, knowing they would not be getting them back in the fall.  I wrote many heartfelt notes to those I had to say goodbye and was tearful as I walked away from every school.  It was not a fun week and I am glad it is over.

But with all the sadness, I realized something wonderful as the week wore on.  I am a very lucky lady.  I am leaving this year with a sense of accomplishment.  I am leaving this year with new relationships formed and friendships cemented.  People thanked me for helping them and told me they couldn't have done it without me.  (I certainly think they could have, but I probably did make it easier for them...).  Those people made a huge difference in the lives of many children.   I am lucky that I had a job that was flexible for me to be the kind of mom and wife I strive to be.  I am lucky that I get to do it again next year.  Like I said, I am a lucky lady.

So now, I turn my attention to the summer.  As I finish this blog post, I am wondering if scheduled afternoon nap might turn into a mid-morning nap instead.  I am looking forward to spending time with Taelin, paying more attention to my list and my blog, my sister's wedding and our trip to Montana...and sunshine, hopefully lots and lots and lots of sunshine.

Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds in the sky, are best relieved by the letting of a little water. ~Antoine Rivarol

To say my heart is heavy is an understatement.  Usually the end of a school year is a highly anticipated time.  It is a time to celebrate all that has been done in the past nine months and look forward to the few months we have to recharge.  We finally get to say goodbye to that kid that has been driving us crazy all year long only to find ourselves strangely teary when the time to say goodbye actually comes.  We take things off our walls and pack up our desk so that our classrooms can be cleaned and the floors waxed.  The list of things to do is long and unpleasant (for the most part) but once everything on that list is checked off, there isn't a new one to make.  Plans are made for those first few days off and we say goodbye to the adults with a promise of a summer lunch sometime soon.

This year though, it is much different.  The to-do lists are just as long and there are many goodbyes that are going to happen.  Many of us can't wait for the year to be over, just because it means the roller coaster we have been on is done...for now.  But instead of looking forward saying "have a good summer" and planning those summer lunches, I am dreading seeing the teachers I have worked with this year.  

I am worried about them all.  I am sad that so many of them are packing up their classroom, storing away books that haven't been used all that much yet, unsure of when they are going to get to unpack those boxes again.  I have said, "I'm sorry."  so many times and it just doesn't see to be enough.  I am not sure what else I can say to them.  

Since we first got a glimmer of what this budget crisis might mean, I have been able to push it out of my mind by saying, "Ok, well, I will see you next week."  Well, this week is it.  There is no "next week".  So, I imagine, there will be more tears this week as I say goodbye and good luck.  

Nursery University (2008)

I haven't watched very many documentaries in my life.  I am not sure why that is exactly because the few I have seen, I have enjoyed.  I think part of it might be that when I want to watch a movie and relax, I don't necessarily want to learn something.  (That sounds really bad typed out.)  Maybe a better way of saying it is that I want to be entertained.  So, in an effort to broaden my horizons, I challenged myself to watch 10 documentaries.  (I know, not very many, but it is a start.)

So today, while I had a sick toddler sleeping on me making it impossible to do really anything else, I watched Nursery University.  From the description, I kind of expected an episode of Toddlers & Tiaras with the exception that instead of parents (and toddlers...kind of) competing for a crown, they are competing for a spot in a prestigious preschool in New York City.

There were definitely a few "um...you realize your kid is only 3 right?" moments as I watched some of the parents talk about what was at stake.  I can only imagine the pressure that some of those 3 year old kids are going to be under in 15 more years.  There were actually people that talked about how what preschool their child gets into could determine the college they could (or more distressing, couldn't) get into.

Some of the craziness aside, there was something that struck me as true for all of those parents.  Every single of them were doing it because they wanted the best for their child.  When I was in the classroom, before I had Taelin, I wanted to believe that I believed that most parents were really doing the best they could.  (Notice all the loopholes I left myself?)  People would tell me I would understand more when I had a child of my own, which made me kind of angry and later hurt when we were struggling to get pregnant.

What I realize now is that I was right.  I just really believe it now.  There isn't anything I wouldn't do for Taelin and I don't really care how crazy what I am doing might seem to others.  I also think that most other parents think the same thing, I am just lucky enough to have my life together enough that other people could see that too. The timing of this particular documentary comes at an interesting point as I am watching, as a teacher and a parent, of the dismantling of our public schools.  I want to be a champion of public education. But as I look at what class sizes are going to be when Taelin gets to kindergarten, along with the insane focusing of data and testing I am not entirely convinced that Taelin will attend public school.  I could see myself in some of those parents in the documentary.  And I am completely okay with that.

As I read the reviews on Netflix, I found that my personal view of this documentary was not shared.  I actually thought to myself, "They must not have kids."  Shame on me...(but it is probably true)

Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum

AMAZING!  This is the book that I have been waiting for!  Finally a book that I just couldn't put down but at the same time didn't want to finish.

There is no way I will do justice to try and summarize this book, but I will give a little nibble for those of you that might want it.  It is a historical fiction novel that jumps between Nazi Germany and present day Minnesota.  It follows two women, a mother and her child, through these two different time frames. Anna, the mother, is raised in Germany during WWII and finds herself in a captivating story that pushes the reader to think, "What would I do?"  Trudy, Anna's daughter, we get to see has a young girl and an adult, trying to understand where she has come from. "Who am I really?"  Another question I often find myself asking.

There were so many moments in the book that I found myself holding my breath; waiting to see what was going to happen.  There were so many times that I just had to stop for a minute to really let the events from the books sink in.  While this novel was a piece of fiction, I am sure many of the things that were written about happened in one form or another.  It was just unbelievable.

Baked Chicken Strips and Homemade Onion Soup Mix

We eat a lot of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in our house.  Even before I started Weight Watchers, Joe and I were picky about chicken and pretty much boneless and skinless white meat was what we ate.  Now that I am on Weight Watchers, that is the lean protein of choice.  The problem comes with finding different ways to serve it.  I probably at this point have 15 recipes that I rely on but could always use more.

So, instead of making the stuffed peppers that was on the menu plan for tonight (which I determined that Joe wouldn't eat no matter the recipe I used) I decided to look for a new chicken recipe.  I have done breaded chicken in the past many different ways, but ran into one on  www.allrecipes.com.  I made a few changes to it (for instance I didn't pour melted butter over the chicken before putting it into the oven) and turned out a fairly good recipe.  If I make it again, I will have to make a one major change to what I did (that I put in italics below) but we all (Taelin included) came away from the table satisfied with what we had.

This recipe also gave me a chance to whip up something else that was on my list of things to try and make but hadn't had a reason to.  I often used the Lipton Onion Soup mix in different dishes that I make, but since paying more attention to what I am putting into our bodies, it was something I stopped using.  Then, I decided to see if I could find a recipe for a homemade version made from the spices I already had in my kitchen. I found a couple different recipes and created one with what spices I had hand.  So this post actually has two new recipes!   Here you go..

 

Baked Chicken

Ingredients

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts cut into strips

1 1/2 cups crushed cornflakes cereal

2 tablespoons homemade onion soup mix

Directions

1. Mix the sour cream, Dijon mustard, garlic, and pepper together in a large bowl. Add the chicken and turn to assure the chicken is coated. Refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Combine the cornflakes and onion soup mix in a bowl. Gently press the chicken breasts into the cornflakes mixture to coat and shake off any excess.  (I think next time I will make sure that there isn't a ton of the wet mixture still on the chicken.  Obviously there needs to be some, but on some of the pieces there was too much and it made the coating kind of soggy)
3. Put the coated chicken in a baking dish that has been greased (I used my Misto that has olive oil).
4. Bake in the preheated oven (400 degrees) until the chicken is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. 

Homemade Onion Soup Mix

Ingredients

2/3 cup dried, minced onion
3 teaspoons parsley flakes
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions

Put all the spices into a container that can be tightly sealed and shake the heck out of it.  I used two tablespoons for the recipe that was supposed to use a half of a store bought packet and we both thought it 

tasted pretty good.  I figure the next time I use it, I will be sure to shake it up again.  The thing I loved most is how NOT salty it was....I will never buy a Lipton soup packet again. 

So there you go...baked chicken with a little different preparation and a substitution for a pre-made mix I will never have to buy again. Win-Win in the Crowe house tonight!