Rainy day Cheerios

This blog entry may become distracted and discombobulated. I apologize first off for that, but it's a rainy holiday and I worked the last four days in a row and we'll also blame my iron counts.

Run on sentence. Oh well.

 I also apologize for the lack of photos. I have some on the laptop so as soon as i can get to an Internet connection I'll add them. Many entries lately will still lack photos as I've been so anxious to eat that I haven't stopped to photograph. Forgive me.

 First, breakfast. Husband slept until 9:30, so we opted for cereal for breakfast since lunch is a mere two hours away. I had generic cheerios with Very Vanilla Silk soy milk. The combo jazzed up the Cheerios just enough. Daughter had generic fruit loops and the vanilla soy milk (way too sweet for me) and husband had a mix of fruit loops and Cheerios and also mixed vanilla and regular soy milk.

 Next rant, Totally Target: www.totallytarget.com. This blogger is so serious about Target that she invested in a domain name. That's dedication. She uses the weekly ad, clearance items, price cuts and coupons to "get more red for your green." I don't use many coupons, in part because many are online now and it's unusual for me to have access to the Internet and a printer at the same time. She does a fabulous job scouring Target. She knows the store better than I do, and I work there.

But every time I see these obsessive couponing folks, especially the ones you hear about on reality TV shows, I question the value. Items like Velveeta Shells and Cheese, Glade plug-ins, and Trident gum. 90% of the products I see I do not and would not use. Now in the Target case, I did see Market Pantry sauce and dry pasta, which I would consider, and Seventh Generation products. I rarely buy cleaning chemicals, preferring vinegar, baking soda, 90% alcohol and hot water.

So, why would I feed my child overprocessed food like Velveeta shells just because it's cheap? I love her more than that. Besides, if I'm going to use insta-Mac and cheese the Aldi stuff is even cheaper than all those coupons. And I do use processed foods from time to time, I just add lots of vegetables. Many products I see don't make sense to me: cheese made of oil, dinners with ingredients I can't read, fresh fruit sliced so you don't have to cut it, Oscar Meyers lunchables (all those chemicals for mere meat, cheese and crackers), premade peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Maybe we're busy, maybe we're lazy but I believe food is pivotal to life, central to our family relationships and that the dinner table is sacred. But that's just me.

Hot Grape Nuts

A long time ago, maybe it was college, I discovered a recipe for hot Grape Nuts. Heating them and adding honey makes them soft and sweet, though not soft enough for me to eat in present circumstances. I made a bowl for daughter and she seemed to enjoy them. The trick is to determine how soupy you like them.

As a base:
-about 1/4 cups Grape Nuts or generic Nutty Nuggets cereal
- one teaspoon local honey
- soy milk

Heat in microwave until toasty warm.

Rice Krispies Treats

My daughter has discovered mass produced rice krispies treats for sale in the school cafeteria for 75 cents each. She likes them. At six, she doesn't quite get that they are not free and that they suck all the money out of her lunch account, especially when she buys them without my permission. One day she may go hungry because she wasted all her lunch money.

I told her we could make real rice krispie treats if she stopped buying them in the cafeteria and she said okay.

I don't like the plain ones, I prefer the peanut butter. So, I needed the recipe. And we disconnected the internet at home so I'm now in the library on the Rice Krispies web site.

Rice Krispies treats from the official Rice Krispies site

Summary of the original recipe:
3 tablespoons   butter or margarine
1 package   (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows
- OR -
4 cups  miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup  peanut butter
6 cups   Rice Krispies®

1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter until melted. 2. Add KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

For best results, use fresh marshmallows.
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow crème can be substituted for marshmallows.
Diet, reduced calorie or tub margarine is not recommended.
Store no more than two days at room temperature in airtight container. To freeze, place in layers separated by wax paper in airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.


Comments from others that I took to heart:
-There's always a weak peanut butter flavor. So I usually add just a tad bit more. 1/4 cup or so, or I add some peanut butter chips to liven up that taste!
- I made this recipe with Nutella instead of peanut butter

so we'll see what daughter and I do after school!

Crazy breakfast

I thought I posted these, but I can't find the entry. My husband made these "sandwiches" for my daughter for breakfast...

From left: Graham cracker, nutella, count chocula;
Graham cracker, peanut butter, count chocula;
Graham cracker, peanut butter, raisins...

Odds and ends

Last night for dinner, I served spinach nuggets and leftover spaghetti which my daughter got to enjoy with a caramel apple from her trip to the corn maze for girl scouts.

Breakfast for her today was Greek yogurt and Booberry.

For lunch, my husband made tuna sandwiches on homemade bread with carrots and "dippins" (ranch dressing). With some chocolate chip cookies I brought home from my business trip.

Hopefully, it will rain and my dad will have us over for dinner. If not, I took chili out of the freezer.

Interestingly, we haven't had any juice or milk since I returned home (and it's been almost a week, am I lazy or just busy?)

Veggie Patch Apple 'Sausages'

For breakfast, we had toast.
Then my daughter had a bowl of Greek yogurt with Count Chocula on it (we ran out of milk.)
For lunch, my husband and daughter had "bug sandwiches," peanut butter on Ritz crackers with raisins surrounding all the edges.
For dinner, we had Veggie Patch vegetarian apple sausage with mixed vegetables and cheese sauce rolled up (i.e. overstuffed) in a tortilla shell.

And we hit Thursday...

So, our daughter solved our dinner dilemma last night by requesting nachos. We made them with mango salsa, black olives, cheddar cheese, beans, and tomatoes from the garden.

This morning for breakfast we each had half a cinnamon raisin bagel with cashew butter.

My daughter considered yesterday's yogurt with mix-ins a "deluxe" breakfast, so I upped the ante for lunch today: Vanilla yogurt with cinnamon grahams, peanut butter crunch, AND dark chocolate covered almonds, grapes, and now she's eating an apple. The kid never stops...

I have fresh French-style honey-wheat bread on its second rise. After my daughter gets out of school, I plan to run to Wegmans for some fancy cheese and some fruit for a pre-birthday dinner for my husband.

Yogurt mix-ins

My daughter is having yogurt with mix-ins this morning. We selected generic peanut butter crunch and fresh blueberries...

I have no idea what to serve for dinner. Leftover pot pie is lunch.

Trail mix, augmented

As I have reported in the past, I make a pretty awesome homemade granola, but with the intense heat and how busy we've been I haven't had a chance to make any.

My mother (Mimi) had brought some huge containers of Swiss Trail Mix that had so much butterscotch chips and chocolate candies that it didn't really qualify as a snack in my mind. It did have some peanuts and some dried pineapple and raisins but nutritional it was more or less dessert.

Normally I mix this 50/50 with my own granola. Today I took a container of it that was 2/3 empty and added a container of White Mountain trail mix from Aldi. This is very similar stuff, just more peanuts and more cranberries, and white chocolate instead of butterscotch and chocolate candies.

Then I added what cashews we had left.

Then I added a sample box of Honey Bunches of Oats I was given.

Now the container is full again, with "stuff" closer to the way I like it.