Garden Update

I planted lettuce seeds in the garden a few weeks ago, and we have some baby lettuce! It's pretty teeny-tiny sprigs, but it's there. Linds keeps asking where the "mommy lettuce" is - hehe :) I'm thinking of planting the peppers, zucchini, and green beans this weekend, although I need to check the weather for the next week to make sure we're past the last frost.

Since I've started my garden, I've started accompanying the boy on his runs to Home Depot (it's like his haven!). I came across these opportunities and thought I'd share them with you:





I signed up for the workshop at the Downingtown location (on June 3rd), so if you're local and feel like coming, let me know! I'm also planning to sign up for the Garden Club - I need any and all tips I can get!

May 5 - Tacos

Happy Cinco de Mayo! In honor of the holiday, I whipped up some tacos (although I was out of lettuce, which for some reason I always feel is a very important part of a taco). Everyone loves tacos here - Linds ate FOUR in their entirety! - and there are rarely leftovers. I added Frank's hot sauce to mine, which gave them a delicious kick. Afterwards, I ditched the hubby and kids and went to my friend Christy's house for some margaritas, sangria and nachos. Fun, fun!

FREE nursing cover!

Most (if not all) of you know I'm a breastfeeder - I nursed Lindsay for 18 months and Luke has been nursed since day one (almost one year!). Right before Luke was born, I ordered a nursing cover from Udder Covers. It was a god send for all of those public nursing excursions. Right now they're having a HUGE sale where they're giving them away for FREE (just pay for shipping).

Navigate to Udder Covers.
Click on Shop Now.
Choose the cover you want and enter Mother in the promo code box when it appears.

I don't know how long this will last, so take advantage quickly!!

May 4 - Tangy Spare Ribs

When I ordered my freezer special package from the butcher, they gave us two separate packages of spare ribs. I defrosted one overnight and meant to toss it in the crockpot, but realized around 3:00 that I didn't. Whoops! I decided to try out a different recipe then for tangy spare ribs that I've been eying for quite some time.

Well, suffice it to say, I wasn't entirely thrilled with it. They weren't bad, just not as good as the others. When I first made my original rib recipe, I was so nervous that they'd turn out blah and was pleasantly surprised. Thank god I didn't do this one first! Seriously, they aren't bad - they were just not as moist and the sauce had a bit too much kick for me (not a spicy kick...a, well, tangy kick).

Linds loved them...I swear she ate more than I did?! We also had some sweet potato cornbread that I had made a few weeks ago, which Luke devoured. It's fun to see him start eating finger foods (although he didn't care for these ribs like he did the others). If you'd like to give it a shot, here's the recipe; I'm also reposting the sweet potato corn bread because it's THAT good!

Tangy Spare Ribs
Ingredients
4 pounds pork spareribs
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon chili powder

Directions

1. Cut ribs into serving-size pieces; place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile in a medium saucepan, saute onion in butter for 4-5 minutes or until tender. Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cook and stir until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. 
3. Drain fat from roasting pan. Pour sauce over ribs. 
4. Bake 1-1/2 hours longer or until meat is tender.
   

Sweet Potato Corn Bread
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vinegar + 1 cup milk + 15 T milk
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and grated

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray a 9x9 baking dish.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. 
3. In a small bowl, combine egg, buttermilk, sweet potato and softened butter.
4. Fold liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir until just well blended.
5. Pour into baking dish and bake 20 minutes, or until the center springs back when lightly pressed with a fingertip.

May 3 - Crab Cakes

It's official - vacation is less than 2 weeks away! We leave on Sunday, May 16, after lunch and head down to Atlantic City for a week with my family (my parents, my brother and his girlfriend, and even my sister will be there - our first family vacation that I have been on, honestly, since 1999 I think). Since we'll be gone, I want to use up as much of the food in the house so that nothing goes to waste. I made a list of at least 15 different meals we have available (my god this stockpiling thing is fantastic!), so I'll be going through those over the next two weeks.

Last night while I was digging around the freezer I found crab cakes from when I made them before (back in early March, I think?), so I decided to whip those up with some yellow saffron rice (which I got for free, thanks to coupons and a sale at Giant) and corn. I had 4 cakes, which I figured Linds would turn her nose up at, so I gave the boy two and I took one, knowing full well that when Linds said "ewwww!" to hers, I'd eat the rest. Wouldn't you know she devoured it?! And I'm not talking simply eating...she scarfed it down and begged for more. While this was going on, Luke was screeching in his highchair, which is code for, "FEED ME!" I gave him a bite of my crab cake (thanks to the allergy testing we know he has no shellfish allergy) and he continued screeching. Great - this kid likes 'em, too! I have a feeling my kiddos are going to have very expensive palates! Here's a rerun of the crab cake recipe:

Crab Cakes
Ingredients
16 oz. crab meat
1/2 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
1 egg
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. dry mustard
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. mustard
1 Tbsp. melted butter
1/2 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 c. breadcrumbs

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except crab meat.
2. Shape into cakes.
3. Pan-fry 15 minutes, turning half-way through, until both sides are golden-brown and cooked through.

Playing catch-up...busy weekend!

WOW! Let me just say it was a SUPER busy weekend! We were gone all day Friday (MOMS Club activity and happy hour play-date at Julia's house), all day Saturday (sunning while the kiddos played at Christy's and then a visit from Lynzy and Conor who we haven't seen since New Year's!), and then the boy helped install cabinets at casa de Kurzeja on Sunday, so Sarah and Critter spent the day with us. By the time Monday rolled around, I was wiped out!

As for dinners...let's see. On Friday we did some quick pasta with jarred sauce (I used Bertolli's Four Cheese Rosa sauce - alfredo sauce mixed with tomatoes...pretty good!).

On Saturday we ordered out since we had company. Scott had stained part of the deck and we didn't know if it would be dry or not, so I didn't defrost anything. We got some Venice pizza and wraps...always a good meal and they deliver, which is nice (and a rarity for us out here!).

On Sunday, we dined at the Kurzeja's and let me tell you, they never disappoint in the food department! Sarah grilled skewers of chicken satay and fillets of salmon, put together a salad with some incredible homemade dressing, and I braised a bag of baby carrots. Topped off with wine and Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches, it was an incredible dinner! I still need to get her satay recipe, but here's the braised carrrot recipe:

Braised Carrots
Ingredients
1 lb. bag of baby carrots
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water (or chicken broth)
Parsley

Directions

1. Place carrots, butter, brown sugar, salt and water (or chicken broth) in pan over medium-high heat. 
2. Bring to boil. 
3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots are tender and liquid evaporates. 
4. Sear slightly for color and top with parsley.

I don't have any pictures, but suffice it to say - FANTASTIC!!