What's For Lunch Wednesday - Apple Honey Cheese Quesadilla

Part of my New Year's Resolutions is to mix up what I eat for lunch a little.  This week's offering came from Weelicious Lunches though you can also find it on the Weelicous blog.  I got the book from the library and then ended up buying it because it had  a lot of really great lunch ideas.  Though this is a book designed for kids lunches I bought it for myself.  The Tornado isn't big on change.  He refused to eat his sandwich the other day because the bread wasn't the same shape even though it was the same kind of bread just a different brand.

I like the apple cheese combination and I love making my tortillas from this recipe. I figured this would be a win-win.  I'd make a batch of tortillas so I could make this and Emma and the Tornado could finish off the rest of the batch.

My results: Didn't love it.  I never got a satisfactory cheesey bite and I found the honey and apples overshadowed the cheddar.  I had a really hard time flipping it in quesadilla form.  The flavor was pretty good but it wasn't particularly filling.   Maybe there wasn't enough protein?  I really had to fight the urge to go on a snacking rampage that afternoon which normally isn't a big deal.  I made this in grilled cheese form the next day and liked it a little bit better but it's definitely not going on my make again list.  I'll stick with my peanut and jelly sandwich with some cheez-its this week I think.

Tuesday Try-It - (Fresh)Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Brown Butter Cookies

I came across this recipe for cranberry chocolate chip cookies on Keep It Sweet Desserts and was intrigued.  Then when I saw it involved brown butter coupled with the fact I had half a bag of fresh cranberries left over from Christmas it moved up to my must try list.  So on Sunday I set out to make these.  I was a little disappointed that the dough had to chill overnight so I wouldn't be eating the chocolately brown buttery tartness right then but I soldiered on.  Yesterday I pulled the carefully wrapped up ball of dough and got to work.  The results - eh.  If I made these again I think I would use chocolate chips or even mini chocolate chips as the stiff dough pared with the big juicy cranberries and the chocolate chunks was a little difficult to work with.  As for the flavor - not my favorite cookie.  I liked the fresh cranberries but the cookie itself was a little dry.  I will definitely be looking for something else to bake fresh cranberries into - I've got about a cup left!

Source - Keep It Sweet Desserts - which has all kinds of great recipes even though this one didn't quite do it for me.
Verdict - Liked the idea better than the execution.

Next Week - So far 2014 has been very productive.  I've gotten things reorganized, cleaned out, moved around and put up.  Unfortunately the downside to this is that I can't seem to shut my mind off and have been staying up until 1 or 2 every night.  I'm a big fan of just pouring coffee onto the problem but it's getting a little much.  When I came across this pin for an 8 Minute Yoga Workout for better sleep on my Stuff for Me board I decided I have to give it a try.

Golden Tote Review

Golden Tote - otherwise known as my new favorite obsession - isn't having a regular sale this month.  Instead they're doing a grab bag which sold out before I even knew it was available.  The next showroom will be available on February 3rd.  Trust me I'm counting down the days.  To console myself a little for missing the grab bag (which looked like a FABULOUS deal) I'm revisiting what I got from my first ever tote in December.  I put together 3 outfits with the 3 items I got.  I did cut my head out of the picture for 2 reasons.  The first is my cheap door mirror either makes my face look really really long or really squashed up.  The top 6 inches is like a carnival fun house mirror.  The second is that I'm having some kind of allergic reaction to something.  I can't even imagine what - it's January and literally 16 degrees outside but my body isn't listening to that logic and my eyes have swollen up like I lost a brawl.

1. Is my very favorite new sweater -

It has owls for elbow patches!  This is the whole reason I got the tote in the first place.  It's super soft.  This is a size Large because that's what was available but I'm glad I got it in this size because I kind of like it as a tunic-y type top.  Those are black jegging/leggings and kind of a wine colored flat.  This is from Morning Apple.

2. My Kate Middleton dress

This is a basic wrap dress.  The little chevron-y things are actually a grey/blue with a black outline. I'm going to have to pick a different time of day if I take more outfit pictures because the light is terrible in this one!  Those are black tights and black boots with the dress.  I'm concerned that the full skirt might make my hips look about a mile wide but I love the swing of it so I'm willing to risk it.  I love the silhohette of this dress, the print and the swing of it.  It's also super soft and is really comfortable.  This is from Hourglass Lilly and is a size Small

3.  Blue Print top

I wouldn't have naturally gravitated toward this print but When I tried it on I really love this top.  It's just the right length and fits without being too snug.  I like the little puff on the sleeves and there's a little button detail on the back.  My only problem is this the most staticy shirt ever.  I'm going to have to figure out how to get rid of it before I wear it out or I could start a fire just by walking on carpet. This is a size Small from Peach Love California

December Wrap Up

Ramblings - 

How did my baby turn 4?  This was probably the best year in terms of his excitement.  He could barely contain himself waiting for Christmas, his birthday and then New Year's Eve.  I think he's a little overwhelmed with all the toys and craziness but I'm hoping a week or so of regular bedtimes and being back on schedule and he'll settle down a bit.

Everyone starts back to school or work Monday.  My plan was to drop the Tornado off at school and then treat myself to a McDonald's biscuit but they've already announced that school will be delayed by 2 hours so the indulgence will have to wait a few days.

Chef of the Month -

This month I used cookbooks from Southern Plate and The Pioneer Woman.  These books were much more approachable than the books I've used in other months.  The ingredient list was always under 10 and generally the instructions were only around 5.  My favorites were probably the "Bama" Steak & Cheese Sandwiches and the Big and Juicy Burgers from Come Home to Supper and the chicken fajitas from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays.  Also I adore the Pioneer Woman's Sour Cream Pancakes and her Creamy Mashed Potatoes are the standard I hold all mashed potatoes too.  There were so recipes that I wanted to get too but couldn't.  This month may have to have a repeat in a few months.

Next month will be the chefs from The Chew - Mario Batali, Michael Symons, Carla Hall, Daphne Oz and the 2 books from the show.

Pinterest -

A ridiculous amount of my life involves Pinterest.  In fact part of my New Years resolutions involved organizing my boards so I can use them more effectively.  This past month I spent some time playing around with my fitness boards.  There's so many great workouts on Youtube but I don't always have time to hunt them down.  So my plan is to pin one I like after completing it and add how long it takes in the description.  

I did a lot of craft pins this month but the one that I was most looking forward to recreating was this outfit from Lilly Style.  I have the sweater and loved how it looked with the gold jewelry and the boots.  My boots only come up to my knee and my necklace was a bronze pendant instead of the heavy chain she's wearing.  Since I pulled the sweater out of the back of my closest I've come up with several other ways to wear it!

These Brown Butter Cranberry Crumble Bars from Crumbs and Chaos look absolutely divine.  I'm also really looking forward to making this White Cheddar Beer Bread from How Sweet It Is.  I think it will go just perfect with a pasta soup I'm planning on making for dinner this week.

Subscriptions -

This month wasn't my favorite Birchbox but I'm still having lovely dreams about that mint cookie Ghiradelli bar.  I have re- discovered the amika Obliphica Perk Up Dry Shampoo that I got in my September box.  I wasn't overly thrilled when I got it since I'd never had much luck with dry shampoo.  I have to say I'm 100% on the dry shampoo bandwagon after picking this up in a moment of greasy hair driven desperation a few weeks ago.  This stuff is magic.

Ipsy did a fantastic job this month.  My favorite thing is the Mirabella eye blender brush which I've used pretty much every day since I got it.  It some how does a perfect job distributing just the right amount of shadow exactly where I want it.  Plus it retails for close to 3 times the amount I paid for the entire bag.

Then there's my new favorite indulgence - Golden Tote.  I can never rationalize buying one of the more expensive subscriptions and while love other people's Stitchfix reviews I'm not sure I could talk myself into that either.  Golden Tote is the best of both.  I got the $49 bag which meant I picked out my very favorite owl sweater and then got 2 other pieces.  I love all 3 and the dress makes me feel like Kate Middleton.  I'm going to make some outfits with the pieces I got and bombard you with pictures Monday.  Right now I'm just anxiously checking the Golden Tote sight waiting for them to put up their new January stuff.  

Looking Ahead - 

I love a new year.  Something about getting to start fresh makes me all energetic and productive.  I have given completely and totally in to my list making tendencies and now have notebooks for everything.  Menu notebook, spending notebook, recipe notebook, house ideas notebook, holiday notebook and finally the reappearance of the To Do List notebook.  I'd done a daily To Do List for years but sometime during the summer it just kind of quit working for me so I abandoned it.  I've decided to jump start it again but do a weekly instead of a daily.  Big exciting times around here!  Also, January's goal seems to be clean out.  I seriously doubt I'm alone in this.  There's just something so liberating about having organized shelves.  And it's even better if you get to cross organizing shelves off your To Do List!

Foodie Friday

So this week saw the end of Southern Plate/Pioneer Woman month.  It also didn't see much cooking.  I'm making a big promise to myself that now that the holiday season is completely over and life is returning  to normal I will get back to cooking 4 - 6 nights a week.

This week I made -

Chef of the Month

Big Juicy Burgers  from Christy Jordan's Come Home to Supper -
There really wasn't much to these burgers but oh my they were good.  I topped them with some sharp cheddar and bacon and it was seriously good.

For the Tornado's birthday dinner I made the Four Cheese Macaroni and was really impressed with it.  My brother-in-law who is not a mac & cheese fan got seconds and then asked for the recipe.

Also, from the Tornado's birthday dinner was Christy Jordan's #5 BBQ Sauce from her Southern Plate book.  This sauce was good and involves dumping ingredients into a pot and letting it simmer.  I really liked that it didn't scream doctored up ketchup like so many barbecue sauces do.  The flavor was a little more complex and tasted delicious on chicken.  My only problem was that it was a little thinner than I like but maybe a little more time simmering would thicken it up.

Tuesday we spent New Year's Eve at Chuck-e-Cheese because we know how to party.  This is a tradition we had when the older kids were little and it was always a lot of fun.  The Tornado saw a commercial for it on Disney Jr. and has been bugging us ever since.  So New Year's Eve we loaded up and went with 1 newly 4 year old and 4 teenagers (Emma brought her boyfriend).  As usual the mouse delivered and we all had a lot of fun.  The Tornado is already pushing to go again.

For New Year's day I tried out the Pioneer Woman's Hoppin' John from her The Pioneer Woman Cooks: A Year of Holidays.  I modified it by leaving out all the peppers and using bacon instead of a ham hock.  Have you ever tried to find a ham hock on December 31st?  It's not happening, at least not here in the South.  I normally don't like black eyed peas of any sort but I thought these were pretty good.  J prefers canned.  There's not much I can do for him.  I also make ham and fired potatoes.  No greens though because we don't like them.  Since I think they're traditionally supposed to bring money in the new year this may explain some things about our finances.

Thursday we had lunch at Smashburger at 2:30.  My cheeseburger and sweet potato fries were fantastic and pretty much eliminated the need for dinner.  Luckily, no one else wanted any either.

Pinterest Recipes

Honey Rolls from the Pastry Affair - these rolls made an appearance on New Year's Day.  I've made them several times before and they're really good.  They are Ringo's absolute favorite and he'd had a rough New Year's Eve.  My only problem with these rolls is that I tend to make them too big so when they're browned on top there is still a little ribbon of uncooked dough in the middle.  If I made them like she does they'd be perfect.

Week 25 Cupcakes - Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

This was Eleanor's last week before she goes to back to school.  She's a big fan of red velvet which I also happen to be a fan of.  Since everyone else has at best neutral feelings and at worst hostile feelings about them I do try to take advantage of her being here.  Otherwise, I make them and eating the entire batch by myself.

1. Source: Southern Plate which was fitting because I just finished up a month of cooking from her recipes.

2. Ease of Recipe (1 being cake mix/canned icing - 5 tons of steps and very time consuming): 2.  This isn't from a mix but the cake didn't even require a mixer.  There's no filling and the frosting is pretty basic cream cheese.

3. Changes Made: Only the substitutions I made due to what I had on hand.  Instead of buttermilk I used a half yogurt/half milk mixture.  I also used special dark cocoa powder instead of regular.

4. Problems:  None.

5.  Overall Impression: This was a nice basic red velvet cupcake with a simple but perfect cream cheese frosting.  This isn't the softest moistest cupcake I've ever had but it holds together well and the flavor is just how a red velvet cake should be.  They're fairly light so you can talk yourself into eating 2 pretty easily.

6. Quantity:  21

7. Make Again?:  Yes definitely!

Goals for 2014

2013 went really really fast and I'm hoping 2014 is on a slightly slower speed.   In 2014 the Tornado turns 5 and Emma begins her senior year.  These are 2 events that I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for.

Last year I thought about resolutions and even wrote some down but not in a really concrete list.  I improved things that weren't on the list and ignored some stuff that was which upsets my list making little brain.  So here are 12 things I want to focus on for 2014:


1.  An "outing" a month.  Outing has a pretty broad definition.  This month I want to go down to Birmingham to do some shopping and try a few restaurants we've never been too.  But a drive to somewhere we've never been too, a picnic in the park, lunch somewhere we've never been all count as well.  The main thing is we do SOMETHING we've never done once a month.

2.  Continue to work on my vanity.  This is another broad topic but they all work together.  I wanted to lose 20 pounds this past year and I lost 10 but my happiness with my appearance has gone way up.  I want to continue being interested in clothes and putting together outfits.  I want to continue to be interested in makeup.  I want to continue to exercise as regularly as possible.  Most of all I want to lose that last 10 pounds.

3.  Focus on my food.  I love junk food, sweets and really good cheeseburgers.  This isn't great for making #2 on this list happen but it is something I get a lot of enjoyment from.  So I'm hoping to find a little bit of balance in the food area.  I want to take the time to make at least 1 thing for my lunch a week.  I also want to increase my sweets intake to 1 treat a day instead of a grabfast of cupcakes after the Tornado goes to bed.

4.  Plan a celebration once a month.  Every year I think I want to do something special for (insert name of minor holiday here) but I never end up getting it together.  All of a sudden it's March 16th and a special Irish influenced St. Patrick's day dinner just isn't going to happen.  This year it's going to happen - at least once a month.  Time is going so fast, Eleanor already has a new place she calls home most of the year and before long Emma and then Ringo will follow.

5.  Stay more organized.  The big pantry is an exercise in horrors.  The pots and pans cabinet requires shoving and slamming the door really fast.  The food stored in the garage is mostly on J's workbench instead of the shelves earmarked for food storage.  Get better about transferring the ideas I like and want to try from feedly and polyvore onto Pinterest.  There are systems that need to get created and stuck too.

6.  Spend at least 30 minutes once a day playing with the Tornado.  30 minutes doesn't seem like much but it does get hard to find a balance between getting things done and playing with him.  Spending 30 minutes completely focused on playing trains or whatever with him makes me feel better about both sides.

7.  Keep a cleaner house.  I've found good luck keeping a room a day type schedule and with the Tornado going to school 3 times a week starting in January I can add cleaning projects (like dealing with the horrors of the oven) to the list.  I also want to implement an end of the day tidy schedule.

8. Finish up my 52 weeks of cupcakes and then start another challenge (maybe cookies?).  Also, keep going with my Chef of the Month challenge and maybe go to cuisine of the month when I finish with that.

9.  Less pinning more doing.  Do a pin a week and preferably get at least one DIY type pin accomplished a month.

10.  Learn to use the pasta maker that's taking up valuable floor space in the big pantry.

11.  Increase my garden in terms of plant variety and usefulness.  Don't let it slide like last year.

12.   Keep a list of things that I want to buy so that I'm more mindful of my spending and the things that must be bought actually get remembered and bought when we can plan for it  instead of last minute