She does not feel pretty.

You know Rylie Girl is not feeling well when her socks are on sideways and she doesn’t even care.  I considered taking into the ER for that reason alone.  For the 2nd time in 2 months, she has the super-bug that’s going around.  Poor thing.  She spent the first 5 years of her life sickness-free but is paying for it on the flip side.

What do you remember about being sick as a kid?  I remember that Mom would always french braid my hair out of the way.  I remember having the yellow bowl on the coffee table for, well… you know.  It also meant I got to move to the living room couch with the big blue blanket and my pillow.  I would watch The Price is Right and drink pools of ginger ale.

 What about you?

It’s hard to navigate a sick kiddo when you still have a hands-on infant and a tornado of a 2 year-old in the house.  Here’s a crock pot recipe I made last week that I’ll be making again this week.  It was a huge success and I need the brain-free time!

Crock Pot Angel Chicken

[source here]

• 6 boneless chicken breasts
• ½ cup butter
• 1 (1 ounce) package dried Italian salad dressing mix
• 1 (10 ½ ounce) can Campbell’s Golden Mushroom soup
• ½ cup white wine (may substitute water or broth)
• 4 ounces cream cheese with chives and onions
• angel hair pasta or rice (cook according to box directions)

Directions:

1. Place the chicken in crock pot.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan.
3. Stir in Italian salad dressing mix, can of soup, cream cheese & wine(or water or broth). Pour over chicken.
4. Cook on low in the crock pot for 4-5 hours.
5. Pour over cooked angel hair pasta or other noodles or rice.

 

I used garlic cream cheese and served it all over rice.  I am guessing you could halve the butter and still have fabulous results.  Gus Man ate his weight in the rice and sauce with Rylie coming in only slightly behind him.

Have a fabulous Monday, Folks!  We’ll see you Thursday if everyone is back on their feet again.

killer salsa

My favorite salsa recipe:

• 8-10 cups of tomatoes, chopped and drained of juice (I use 10 cups)
• 2 bell peppers, chopped
• 2-4 jalapenos, chopped (I use 2)
• cilantro, chopped 
• 3 onions (small to medium), chopped 
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper (this kicks a bit, which is why I only use 2 jalapenos)
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup or less of white sugar
• 6 oz. tomato paste

Throw everything in a large pot, simmer for at least one hour (or several intervals over a couple of days if you’re me and have crazy children WHO TOUCH EVERYTHING), and then ladle into hot jars and water bath for 20 minutes. I get 5 pints out of this batch… pretty small compared to some of the recipes out there.  But, it’s great for one day of salsa-making.  You can also put this straight in the fridge (without canning) for up to a month. I don’t recommend freezing salsa… it thaws a bit mealy and just isn’t quite the same level of awesomeness.  Use it immediately, or can it for the rest of the year.

Let me be frank here: I am no canning expert, and neither was your grandmother.  Hot water baths for canning salsa are ONLY OK if the recipe comes from a trusted canning and kitchen website.  Tomatoes themselves are acidic, as is the vinegar, but every other ingredient you add or subtract changes that pH level.  Even one little bell pepper.  I know.  It’s a little crazy… but you just want to be extra careful.  It’s going to be sitting on your shelf for up to a year and we want it to be yummy and safe.  When in doubt, use a pressure canner. 

That being said, this is a friend’s recipe I’ve used ever since I’ve been canning on my own… 5 years maybe?  I hot water bath this recipe- as listed- and have had no trouble with spoilage or anything else.  But, again, I am a mere farm maiden mortal. 

Happy salsa-making!

a couple of great websites for you:

http://www.pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm

http://www.freshpreserving.com/home.aspx

http://www.canningpantry.com/using-pressure-canners.html

http://www.simplycanning.com/pressure-canning.html

The night my car imploded, we were returning home from a rare night out over at a friend’s house.  We (4 adults and 6 children) had dinner, we played Wrestle (because who doesn’t), we talked cell phone coverage (because who doesn’t), and we decorated cookies.

Should you ever find yourself outnumbered by children, I highly recommend pulling out a container of plain sugar cookies and 3 bowls of icing, sprinkles, and marshmallows and yelling “Get after it!”  Pure genius. Best evening-with-company activity ever.  Children: happy while destroying while decorating while eating.  Parents: talking while supervising while eating.  Brilliant.

Even better genius if you use Shanda’s recipe.  I actually stopped mid-cookie, mouth-full to ask, “Um… what kind of sugar cookie is this?”  They are unbelievable. Seriously.

Shanda’s Frosting Cookies

Cream 1 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg.

Add 2 Tablespoons of milk, 1 Tablespoon of orange rind, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 3 cups of flour.

Chill.  Roll out.  Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes.

It’s the orange rind.  It will change your world, my hand to heaven.

We’ve started a new tradition here in the Mulder household.  Once a week, I make dinner, feed the kids, we play with the kids, we put the kids in bed, and then Curt and I eat AFTER.  Like, at 8:30pm.  Alone.  It’s our at-home date night.  We were finding, like everyone else with jobs and kids and commutes and chores, that we were really tired at the end of the day and sometimes could barely work in 5 minutes of actual non-kid or household-related conversation.  We do have babysitters out here, and we use them… but it’s not something we do every week. This gives us a *free* night at home.  No one stealing my pop, no food flying off the high chair, no convincing anyone to eat 2 more bites.  Just adults.  It’s pretty rad.

Do you have a standing weekly or monthly date night pact?