yellow squash patties

Since I have a lot of posts about cooking, I figured I should share that I'm not what one would think of as a good cook, really. I'm not doing this to show people how to cook or anything like that. Good heavens, no. don't come to me asking for cooking help! It's really just lately that I've been trying lots of new things. Some of this is due to the fact that I'll have a few things that I cook regularly and at one point my husband will say he likes them or at least he'll eat them with no apparent objections and then he'll say he doesn't really like it, that he's tired of it (once every two weeks is frequent for him and left overs are definitely not his thing) or that he likes it a different way (that I don't like). It seems that recently there were lots of things that my dearly beloved wasn't so tickled with. So, rather than try to tweak the recipes and too often, not being successful at pleasing his tastebuds, I tend to dump the recipe nearly altogether and look for something new.

Also, of course, there is our weekly supply of produce pushing me to try new things in order to use up what we get. So, if any of you guys every have a recipe for anything that I mention, please share it with me!

In our produce we've been getting lots of yellow squash. One thing we really love is a squash casserole recipe that I got from my aunt. However, we've gotten enough squash to have at least one a week if not more often. I needed a new recipe! Plain ol' steamed squash isn't a real big hit so the other day we tried some squash patties.

We used about 6 medium squash, shredded

1 small onion shredded (which was a pain, using the shredder, maybe should have used the processor)

1 tsp salt

1 c all-purpose flour

1 egg beaten

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 table spoon olive oil

We were supposed to let the shredded squash sit in a strainer for 30 minutes, letting the liquid drip off but I didn't and it went alright anyway. Here's my little chef, shredding the squash for me. He did every bit of it except for half of the first one! What a diligent little man!

We mixed the squash, onion, salt, flour, egg and cheese in a bowl and then dropped it by the serving spoon into oil in the skillet which was on medium heat. We cooked it for about 3 minutes on each side or until browned. I think I might add a little garlic next time but it was yummy and even reheated the next day the left overs were good!

Bell Peppers and Rice

Once again, our produce co-op has prompted a new dish. This past week we got several red and yellow bell peppers. In past weeks we've gotten lots of green bell peppers and while I've used some, I ended up slicing many of them and putting them in the freezer. I decided to use some of those peppers today!

Here are some of the main ingredients we had for lunch. Frozen green bell peppers, fresh red and yellow, red onion and cilantro. I used one of each (no, it's not all pictured here). For the cilantro, I used about twice what you see here.



After starting a pot of brown ride and after chopping the vegetables all up, I dumped them in the pan with some olive oil and cooked till the veggies were soft. Doesn't it look great?! I think I'm going to try putting the same ingredients in a food processor, fresh with a fresh tomato and see how that is for dipping corn chips!



Once it was done, I took two tomatoes, one red and one yellow, chopped then up and threw them in and cooked for a few mintues longer until the tomatoes were warmed up. Here is the end result along with the brown rice. It was delicious! My little bitty girly even ate a little bowl full!

The Cutest Cook

This is my little cook. He always helps me and apparently he's burnt himself (nothing of any significance, mind you) enough times that he's decided that he can only help using oven mits. Of course, he has been known to touch things to see if they're hot. All part of the learning curve I suppose. Needless to say, the mits are quite limiting.
He decided (after wearing my apron around for about an hour) that he would like his own apron. So, tomorrow when we go grocery shopping I guess we'll get some apron fabric for the little man.

Lots of Onions

A few weeks ago in our basket of produce, we got a bag of small onions and we usually get a couple of large onions every week to boot. I like onions but I've just not been able to use them all. Yesterday I decided to use some up in a recipe that would be most fitting for my Dad (tomatoes and onions, baby!). First I chopped some onions up and threw them in a small pan with a bit of butter. Mmmm! My house smelled great!

Now I tried to tomatoes two different ways. The first was to put them in a pan with a touch of olive oil and cook till they're a bit soft. Or rather, softer than usual for a tomato! I also used them freshly sliced...either way was good.

I toasted some bread. you could use a nice looking bun of some sort but all I had was sliced bread. I spread a bit of mayo, loaded one side with the onions.

I put a slice or two or tomato on each sandwich, covered it with mozzerella cheese and sprinkled it with some basil. On the basil note, I've read that dried basil keeps it's flavor better if stored in larger pieces. I will say that my basil that I've just recently dried and stored as whole leaves (more or less) in a spice jar seems to have more flavor than the basil I've bought already broken into tiny pieces. I will also say that the extra flavor of the basil really made this for me. I popped it in the oven to melt the cheese a bit. I also tried the microwave and didn't observe a huge difference.

And here's the end result. I recommend just a touch of salt.

It was quite filling, 3 of my 4 boys liked it (one didn't like it because of the veggies included, of course) and my husband liked it in spite of the large quantities of onion.

A Favorite for Cloth Diapers

From time to time, I use cloth diapers on my smallest baby. In the early years I'd do it because money was too tight to get a pack of diapers for the week or it was close to being to tight for that. Sometimes I'd just do it because it felt good to my numbers self to be able to count up how much I wasn't spending on something my kids were just doing to do a number on. Chuckle, giggle, snort... I amuse myself. Anyway. I also read dismal stats on how the planet was going to be covered with disposable diapers (think Wall-E with skyscrapers made of 300 year old diapers) by the time my grandchildren are around and so it feels nice to keep just a few of those ol' sposies out of my grandchildren's future. The list goes on. There are enough things that appeal to my personal interests and not the least of these is that truth be told, I like wrapping my baby in cute things and the latest finds are cute!

For the past year, I've used the cover and snap in liner of gDiapers. http://www.gdiapers.com/ So cute!! These aren't REALLY cloth diapers. They're partly a cloth diaper and partly a biodegradable/flushable diaper if you use them as intended. I bought the sample which includes 10 flushable/degradable liners along with the two covers and 4 snap in liners (because sometimes the liner gets dirty but not the cover so you can snap in a new one). After using a few with the disposable, I decided that I really preferred to use a cloth diaper insert. I love the way the diaper fits. I like that they aren't as bulky as other cloth diapers I've tried. They're also better about leaks than several I've tried.

For those who are interested, here's the line up. Diaper cover, snap in vinyl liner, flat fold diaper cloth folded to fit with an extra soaker pad on top made of flannel and fleece (fleece is supposed to keep the baby's skin drier).

And here's the fit. It took 5 minutes to get this shot (not the best, but sufficient after chasing her around with my camera - boy didn't I look silly). Just TRY taking a picture of a 15 month old's moving back side! If you're wondering what the white squares are, that's part of the hook and loop closure (aka Velcro). They close in back...that supposedly keeps the baby from removing the diaper on it's own.

They have a variety of other colors and even some striped ones that are super cute. One day when I'm rich, I'll buy some more.

The Blessing of Family and a Father's Prayers

A week or so ago we went on a mini vacation with some of our family. My brother-in-law was running a marathon at Disney World over the weekend and we all were able to go down there for a few days. My kids have never been, so we were really looking forward to it. I was a little nervous before we went, not sure about all day at a theme park with one baby who still takes 2 naps a day and one who needs one 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon. The trip turned out GREAT even with missed naps! And really, the best part wasn’t so much the theme parks, although those were really fun. The best part was spending time and making memories with extended family. The only drawback was that Matt’s sister and her family weren’t there with us.

Here is my family at Epcot:

And here are 5 of our kids (one is on my back as I'm taking the picture) and 2 belonging to Matt's brother.

On this trip I was reminded again of how blessed I am with the family I married into. I will say that it's not 100% wonderful all the time and there have been a few rough patches here and there to work through...one patch in particular was really hard, actually. BUT, all in all, I can say that from my personal view point, God has blessed me incredibly.

I grew up in a conservative Christian home (family devotions, certain standards for dress, music and more), had a big family and I was homeschooled some and went to a Christian school some. Growing up in my family, I don't recall a time of not knowing about Jesus' love and sacrifice for us. Those are all things that I wanted to carry with me into my own family. My husband grew up in a bit of a different background. Pretty much different in every area. Growing up, he wouldn't call his family a Christian family and he didn't know about Christ and what He did until his 20's. His family was smaller with him and two siblings, his parents divorced when he was in his early teens and he went to public schools.

Who would think that his family would be such a awesome blessing to me?! One that shows God holds all the strings in His hands and arranges even the smallest details. His mother and step-father have been absolutely supportive and encouraging about homeschooling, of our growing family and especially of teaching our children about God and His ways. My husband's sister ALSO had 6 kids (and counting?) and she's done a bit of homeschooling with them as well. My husband's brother and his wife will be homeschooling (their kids are preschool age right now), they would certianly like to have a larger family and they plan to be missionaries so there's definitely a Christ focus there. I am so blessed to be surrounded by people who understand where I'm coming from and have similar goals and values. It has made living our convictions so mcuh easier than it might be if his family thought we were just wierd, you know?

You know what I think? I think that the prayers that my Dad prayed for my future husband every night when I was growing up were answered in ways Dad couldn't imagine. ;o)

Brussels Sprouts and a new Chicken Dish

I've mentioned before that we're part of a co-op that gets vegetables from the farmers market on a weekly basis. Recently we got some Brussels sprouts which I personally don't recall having before. Perhaps I have, but they have not been regulars in my house so I had to find a recipe for them and YUM!! I ate all but one myself! Pig, I know.

Garlic Brussels Sprouts

1 1/2 pounds fresh Brussels sprouts
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 teaspoons butter divided
2 teaspoons olive or canola oil
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Cut an X in the core end of each brussels sprout; set aside. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in 1 teaspoon butter and oil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Add sprouts; toss to coat. Add the broth, salt and pepper; cover and cook for 12-14 minutes or until sprouts are tender. Drain; add the remaining butter and toss until melted.

I didn't add the salt and pepper until after they were cooked and I just used my own chicken broth that I freeze when I boil chicken. It was delicious! And Nathan liked it, too! So I'm looking forward to the next time Brussels sprouts come my way!

The chicken is called Herb and Chicken Pasta but I have other similar dishes so I think this one needs a more original name. I've gotten a lot of basil in our produce lately and really hadn't used much of it so I ended up drying it. I've filled two little herb containers with it so I figured I'd find a recipe that called for some basil and some onion (because we got lots of onions a couple weeks ago as well).

1 (16 ounce) package angel hair pasta
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (optional)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chicken broth

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and reserve.
Meanwhile, season chicken with salt and pepper, basil, rosemary, Cajun seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add chicken and cook until browned. Remove chicken from skillet and stir in garlic and onions; cook and stir until clear.
Return chicken to skillet over onion mixture and add broth. Simmer until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside; spread mixture over pasta and serve.

Everyone liked it and Matt even specifically complimented it so it went over well. Although, I have to say that I'm beginning to get suspicious of Matt's sincerity. He's complimented far too many new meals lately and he doesn't usually. Is this a new years resolution or something?! It's fine by me, as long as he really means it cause there's nothing as annoying as making a meal someone said they liked only to find they don't really like it that much, you know?!