Homemade Play Dough

The Good Husband has an unusual work schedule. He works 12 hour shifts, so on the days he works, I need to find a way to keep The Good Daughter entertained while I make dinner. If I were truly a good wife, I would have something made ahead of time, but we all know I'm not that good.

I don't like just plopping TGD down in front of the TV, no matter how much she loves SuperWhy! I was raised in front of the TV and is probably one of the reasons I am lazy. I have tried letting her color at the table but she just ends up eating the crayons.

Then I found a recipe for homemade play dough and thought that would buy me some time to cook. We made some the other night and she was quite skeptical. I loved play dough as a kid and was really rather anal about it, shockingly. I could not stand to mix the colors and I totally judged my little friends that would mix all the colors together and then put the shit colored play dough back in the can of red play dough. Freaks.

At first TGD was into it. She realized she could smoosh it and it was kind cool.

She could squeeze it.

She could throw it.

She could pull it.

She could stretch it.

And then she fucking ate it and gave the rest to the dog.

The good thing however is this is all natural. It was only flour, water, salt, oil and food coloring. I ended up making yellow and blue, since those are the only colors TGD can say. The only huge negative was the recipe made so much. It was too much. You could cut the recipe in half and still have a ton of play dough.

Also, the dough was super stiff and I could smell the motor burning in my hand mixer.

Ingredients:
1 cup water
3 cup flour
1 1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup oil
Food coloring

Directions:
~Combine ingredients in bowl and mix. Add more flour if mixture is too sticky. Store in a plastic zip-lock bag.

Oh, and TGD totally mixed the colors together. Freak

recipe from: Cooks.com

Skinny Pizza

I love pizza like a fat girl loves pizza. It might have something to do with why I am fat. But to remedy the fat part, I made this "skinny" pizza the other night for dinner.

I won't lie and say The Good Husband was all over it, b/c he wasn't. He wanted normal fatty pizza. But he ate it anyway and while not as good as fatty pizza, it was still food for ass friendly food.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound turkey sausage
Mozzarella cheese
Pizza sauce
Whole Wheat English Muffins

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 350.

~Brown turkey sausage in skillet over medium high heat. Set aside.

~Split English Muffins and place on a baking sheet. Toast in oven for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven. Top with your favorite pizza sauce, cheese and cooled sausage. Place back in the oven and bake until cheese is melted and warmed through.

recipe by: The Good Wife

Spring Cleaning Checklist

I know I was supposed to post these a few weeks ago, but time got away from me. So here are the links to my 5 week detailed Spring Cleaning Schedule:

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Living Room

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Dining Room

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Bedroom

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Bathroom

Spring Cleaning Checklist - Kitchen

I like to start in the kitchen first and work backwards, but that's up to you.

Marinated Veggie Salad

Before we got pounded with rain for the last few days, there was a span of 3 days that was almost summerish. It was warm and the sun was setting later and it was great weather to open all the windows. It was also great weather to grill.

The Good Husband fired up the grill for the season and we had chicken and this marinated veggie salad. While TGH was fooling with the grill, I was able to chop the veggies and it marinated while the chicken cooked. The Good Daughter went to town on this, so it is kid friendly, keeping in mind, my kid is a freak.

Ingredients:
1 orange pepper, diced
1 large tomato, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 zucchini, diced
1 summer squash, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
~Combine first seven ingredients.

~Combine the remaining ingredients in a screwtop jar and shake the shit out of to combine. Pour over veggies and toss to coat.

~Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

recipe by: Better Homes and Gardens Diabetic Living Cookbook

Happy Earth Day!

Today was Earth Day, so for my part, I didn't turn on the heat in the house, even though I was freezing. I didn't run the dishwasher or washer and dryer.

I also headed to Macy's and got a free cleanser from Origins and also scored free cup of coffee from Starbucks b/c I brought my reusable mug.

But the real reason for this post is to show off The Good Daughter at 11 months old in her Earth Day Jammie Jams.

i <3 my earth (and this milk)

Hope you had a good Earth Day too!

p.s. - TGB is almost two now, so I miss how little she was last year.

Crab Cakes with Spicy Avocado Sauce

I made crab cakes for a light dinner the other night. It was supposed to be a healthier version of fish sticks. I slaved away in the kitchen making them while The Good Daughter hung out watching SuperWhy!

It was too late to take a decent photo, and coming from me that is a lot. While I liked them, TGD was skeptical.

Me? You want *me* to eat that

I don't fucking think so Mom

While it this was a good dry run, I think I will play around with the flavors next time. TGD did love the avocado dressing I served with it.

Ingredients:
For the sauce
1/2 ripe medium avocado, pitted and peeled
1 tablespoon low-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 fresh jalapeño, stemmed and quartered lengthwise
1/4 cup milk

For crab cakes
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked over and coarsely shredded
3 tablespoons low-fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup panko
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
~Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

To make the sauce:
~Pulse avocado with mayonnaise, lime juice, salt, sugar, and one fourth of chile in a food processor until chile is finely chopped. Add milk and purée until smooth. Add more chile if desired, processing until smooth. Transfer sauce to a bowl and chill, covered.

To make the crab cakes:
~Stir together crabmeat, mayonnaise, chives, lemon juice, mustard, pepper, and 1 tablespoon panko in a large bowl until blended well, then chill, covered.

~Melt butter in a medium nonstick skillet over moderate heat, then cook garlic, stirring, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add herbes de Provence, salt, and remaining 7 tablespoons panko and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer crumbs to a plate to cool. Discard garlic.

~Divide crabmeat mixture into 4 mounds on a sheet of wax paper. Form 1 mound into a patty, then carefully turn patty in crumb mixture to coat top and bottom. Transfer to a baking sheet and repeat with remaining 3 mounds, then sprinkle remaining crumbs on top of crab cakes. Bake until heated through, about 15 minutes. Serve crab cakes with sauce.

Recipe by: Epicurious

Explaining the looming government shutdown

In case you haven't heard the government might shut down tonight at midnight if Congress fails to pass a budget. This clusterfuck has been going on for a while and if you are just now hearing about it, I will present to you the best summary I can.

Obama was all "Here is the budget"

Congress was all

""

and dicked around in getting the numbers together

One party tired to compromise but the other party was all

""

Then another compromise was floated and the other party was all

""

Meanwhile Obama is all
""

Congress is coming back with

""

The government might shut down and the military might not get paid and everyone is now all

""

I hope that clears up everything for you.

I'll let you know when NPR has hired me for stunning and brilliant political analysis.

Gearing up for Spring Cleaning!

Starting this week and continuing on through May, I will repost my spring cleaning checklists for the following rooms:

Kitchen
Bathroom
Bedroom
Living Room
Dining Room

and share some new tips I have picked up since last year.

Aren't you all just so excited to clean as I am? (yes that is sarcasm, b/c even I don't like to clean all the time, if you can believe)

Angry loster and a shitty photo

I went to our local fish market the other day since they are one of the only places in town where I can get fresh sushi rolls to take home. I could get some at the Super Walmart too but Walmart and sushi should not go together.

As I was getting the sushi, I noticed a sale on lobster. I am generally a fan of lobster and while cooking a whole live lobster is a goal of mine, I decided to stick with just a tail this time. The last time I made lobster, I poached it in butter and while it was awesome, I wanted something different.

So I hopped on epicurious and found a recipe for Angry Lobster. With a name like that, it can't be bad. So I got to work preparing the lobster, when this happened:


I should have gone to the prompt care to get stitches, much like my mandolin experience, but I was home alone with The Good Daughter, so I just had to tape it up and move on. This is round 1 with the tape. I bled through this set up two more times before I got things under control. No blood got on the food though.

Moving on to the lobster. This was a firey fried version of lobster and what is not to love about that? I didn't want to add too much heat to this and overpower the lobster, so I was pretty conservative with the spices. It turned out really well, despite the shitty photo. I blame that on the pain.

I also didn't follow the sauce directions at all really. I just cooked some garlic and chili flakes in butter and served it on top of the lobster.

Sine I was only working with one tail, I cut this recipe way down. The following are the ingredients to make 3 whole lobsters.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons coarse salt plus more to taste
3 2-pound live lobsters
1 cup peanut oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon hot red pepper flakes
1 cup lobster or chicken stock
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 loosely packed cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup julienned Oven-Dried Tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
~Combine the flour, chili powder, cayenne, and salt in a plastic bag. Set aside.

~Remove the meat from the lobsters and place it into the seasoned flour. Shake to coat well. Remove the lobster from the flour and shake off any excess.

~Preheat the oven to 475 degrees.

~Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over high heat until smoking. Add the lobster pieces, cut side down, a few at a time, if necessary, and sear them for about 4 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Transfer the lobster to a baking sheet, and when all of the lobster is seared, place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes.

~While the lobster is baking, prepare the sauce. Return the sauté pan to medium heat and add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Sauté for about 3 minutes, or until the garlic is golden brown but not burning. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter and remove the pan from the heat. Whisk in the lemon juice, basil leaves, and the tomato julienne. I pretty much eliminated this step. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

~To serve, spoon sauce over lobster and serve immediately.

Recipe inspired by: this