Monday Mixture

Okay I feel the need to write since Mr. Mixture keeps referencing things I can put on the blog.  Yes ,I am calling him out on this.  I have not written recently and there is no specific reason for my lack of writing, except I have not been in the mood to write, and wait I have been trying to work on some other random projects around the house and for the family.  Wonder if Mr. Mixture or Little Miss Mixture would notice if I forgot to do those other things?

Apparently Mr. Mixture is not the only one as some other family members seem to miss my post showing up in their inbox.  How great it is to feel missed and loved.  So here it is an update of things that have been going on in the life of “Let’s Have Mixture.”

1. What We Are Eating – yes here it is an account of all the food we have been enjoying.  Even though I have not been snapping photos and writing post, I have been busy in the kitchen this month with some old favorites as well as some new meals.

Week of 10/5

Sunday – Enchiladas

Monday – Spinach Ricotta Pizza

Tuesday – Ham & Cheese Homemade Hot Pockets, Fruit Salad

Wednesday – Leftover BBQ and Pizza from our weekend festivities

Thursday – Leftover Enchiladas and Salad

Friday – Tony’s De Napoli (NYC)

Saturday – Mercer Kitchen (NYC)

Week of 10/12

Sunday – Catch (NYC)

Monday – Pumpkin Ravioli with Sauteed Spinach in Brown Butter Sauce

Tuesday – Spinach Salad with Chicken, Avocado, and Bacon

Wednesday – Scrambled Eggs and Fruit Salad

Thursday – Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Sandwich on Challah Rolls, Cauliflower with cocktail sauce

Friday – Sandwiches on the go before Homecoming Football Night

Saturday – BBQ Chicken Pizza

Week of 10/19

Sunday -Pizza @ a Camp Open House

Monday – Collard Wrap with Tuna Salad, Veggies and Naan bread with Garlic Hummus

Tuesday – Srirachi Chicken over Couscous

Wednesday – Waffles and Sautéed Maple Syrup Apples

Thursday – Little M and a sitter had Macaroni & Cheese and Veggies with Ranch Dip

Friday – Dinner out before the Lower School Football Game

Saturday -Collard and Black Bean Soup with Cornbread

Week of 10/26

Sunday – Tacos

Monday – Raisin Challah French Toast

Tuesday – Grilled Chicken and Peach Salad

Wednesday – Leftover Collard & Black Bean Soup, Cornbread and Salad

Thursday – Chicken and Shrimp Fried Rice

Friday – Halloween Pizza Party in the neighborhood

Saturday – Braised Short Ribs over Polenta, Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Apple & Blue Cheese Salad, Turtle Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream

2. New York City Eats – Recently we went on a trip to the Big Apple.  Being the foodie family that we are, we are always searching for good eats when we travel.  We started and ended our time in the city at a favorite – Shack Shack.  Who can resist a good hormone free burger, chicken sausage, and caramel shake when it is a block and a half from your hotel.

For lunch one day we happened upon a great food court where we enjoyed sandwiches from Num Pang, based on a recommendation.  The sandwiches were more than just a sandwich and definitely hit the spot.  Little Miss Mixture and Mr.Mixture like cupcakes, so it was hard from them to pass up Sprinkles.  The infamous cupcake shop out of Los Angeles lived up to the hype for this family.  We each got a mini cupcake and they were so moist and full of flavor they left us wanting more.

What I love about NYC is how easy it is to find good food and a variety of it.  Some of our meals were healthier than others, but all were very good.  We enjoyed different settings from a family style italian restaurant, to a kid friendly spot, to more eclectic choices that focused on sushi and seafood tapas.

 

3. GOTR – I have done it, I have signed up for my first ever race.  Little Miss Mixture is participating in the Girls on the Run program and it culminates with a 5K.  I began training about five weeks ago to be her running buddy.  Unfortunately I have learned the cooler weather is not a big motivator for me, which does not fair well since our race is in early December.  Wish me luck as this is definitely a bucket list item.

4. Girls Rock – Little Miss Mixture got to celebrate her birthday with several different groups of people in her life.  She took cupcakes to school, we had a family gathering, and she had a sleepover.  The one cake she wanted was a cookie cake for the family celebration.  She was very specific on what she wanted, so we placed an order.  On the day of her birthday, we were less than thrilled with the purchased cake.

Luckily I had all the necessary things at home from making cupcakes to turn this not so great creation into one that did in fact rock.  Honestly though regardless of how it looked.  It is hard to go wrong with a chocolate chip cookie cake.

5. Package sizes – I try not use use a lot of processed products, but there are a couple of recipes I find it necessary.  We have a favorite cake that calls for Devils food cake mix and caramels.  Last year I noticed the size of the cake mix box had decreased based on the recipe.  This year I decided to give my hand a try and make the cake from scratch, but I still needed the caramels.  I have always used Kraft and I like the bits that can be found seasonally, but I was unable to locate them.  I grabbed a bag of the individual wrapped squares as the recipe simple stated one 14oz package, but as I started at a bowl that looked low in volume, I realized the current bag size is 11oz.  I cannot recall what the cost of the bag used to be, but I am sure it is more now and you get less.  Be careful during this baking season as you will need to purchase more packages to make sure your recipes came out correctly.

On other note two stores in the same shopping center are selling this package at different prices.  One local based large chain grocery store seems to think it is worth $.75 more than another major retailer.  #thingsthatannoyme  The change has even confused one of the retailers in their marketing.  Look closely here they are selling a 13oz package, but the actual picture shows differently.

6. Halloween candy while this sits in the pantry and probably gets untouched.

I am scanning recipes on how to use the candy in a way it may get consumed or just not tossed in 6-8 months.  Here Are some great ideas I pinned this weekend.  I also love the idea of using the candy in non edible ways – science experiment, decorate gingerbread houses.

I hope you enjoyed catching up on what Let’s Have Mixture did throughout the month of October.  I will try and post more this month as we continue to enjoy fall and its flavors.

 

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Monday’s Mixture

Well another week has flown by and can you believe it we are almost in October.  It seems my mind has been on other things recently and I have not been able to sit down and write.  However that does not mean I have not been cooking up a lot of things.  In fact just the opposite one day last week that is all I did aside from driving carpool… I cooked.  We had a couple really nice meals and I was so caught up in entertaining and getting things together that it completely slipped my mind to take pictures.  Clearly being a food blogger has not been my top priority.

We are in the midst of the busiest fall week for our family three birthdays and an anniversary and this year to the holidays are falling right in the middle as well.  Needless to say our days and nights have been busy.  I will try and link to some of the recipes we enjoyed and others I will have to recreate and post with pictures at a later time.

1.  What We are Eating ( September 21 – 26th)

Sunday – Super Nachos

Monday – Leftovers, we needed to clean out the fridge and make room for the anticipated holiday food

Tuesday – Chicken, Spinach, and Mushroom Quesadillas

Wednesday – Chicken Matza Ball Soup with Challah, Kale & Apple Salad, Noodle Kugel, and The Baked Brownie with Vanilla Ice Cream

Thursday – Brisket (epicruious.com), Sweet Potato Casserole, Salad, Challah, & Apple Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream

Friday – Repeat of Wednesday/ Thursday just the three of us (Brisket, Kale & Apple Salad, Sweet Potato Casserole)

Saturday – Another busy weekend that included dinner out

2.  Pumpkin Spice – I am very much a fan of pumpkin flavor as I have always enjoyed a good pumpkin pie.  In recent years pumpkin flavor has become so popular it is everywhere.  I will admit I do enjoy pumpkin products – pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin dip, and pumpkin soup.  But how far is it going to go with this pumpkin obsession?  Have you seen some of the products on the market recently?  Pumpkin Spice Oreos, and M &M’s.  This is where I draw the line some things are just better in their original form.

I did, however, grab a bag of pumpkin seeds for mixture this weekend and popped one in my mouth this morning.  I did not realize when I purchased them they were pumpkin spice flavored pumpkin seeds.  They are fine and I am sure Little Miss Mixture will enjoy them, but they do not taste like pumpkin seeds rather they taste like cinnamon sugar crunch.

3.  Shoes – Did you know that shoes can grow a mold?  What else is this.  With the changing of the season and the cooler weather moving in, I started to move clothes around in my closet.  I do this each season.  I put the sandals and whites up high and bring down the sweaters and boots.  Apparently after the downpour I was caught in during pick up a few weeks ago my sandals, though they felt dry, were in fact still damp.  This is what I found when I went to move shoes around.  Luckily it had only been a few days and they cleaned up well.

How odd.  Now I am rethinking whether I like keeping them in the clear shoe boxes or not.

 

Luckily it had only been a few days and they cleaned up well.

How odd.  Now I am rethinking whether I like keeping them in the clear shoe boxes or not.

4. Beer – If you recall about two months ago, Mr. Mixture and I visited some local breweries and did some sampling.  We visited Triple C first and by the end of our afternoon I had forgotten which beers I enjoyed at their brewery.  This weekend we attended a function where Triple C was on tap.  I am not sure which beer out of the four was the most popular of the night, but both Mr. Mixture and myself enjoyed the Smoked Amber.

5. Birthday Party – Little Miss Mixture has a birthday this week and like may little girls she has specific ideas on what her birthday should entail.  Here are some of the ideas she has us working on her to make her birthday special.  What did we do before the internet and Pinterest for ideas, tutorials, and pictures?

 

Be sure to check back next week to see how we made the birthday special.  What our go to fall mixture snack is and some recipes of what we have been eating.

Happy Monday! Happy National Coffee Day!

 

*Pictures via Pinterest, Real Life, Real Estate, Real Dana, fortandfield.blogspot.com, food.com

Baked Apple Yogurt Parfait, What we are Eating

It is Monday again and once again I am pondering what to write, what to eat, and what needs to be done this week.  As I said in late August this is my busy season.  What does that mean exactly?  I am not sure, but I keep thinking it as it just seems that between all the back to school stuff, holidays, and family celebrations, I lose focus because I have so many things going on.  Whereas each year late winter, spring I find myself pining for things to do, such as this project: starting a blog.  Well my post may be more sporadic for the next few months, but I do not want to bore my readers so when I do post, I want it to be a recipe or something that I feel is worthwhile sharing.

Over the past few years, we have become parfait people.  I say we, but really it is Little Miss Mixture who can eat this daily.  There are recipes for beautiful yogurt parfaits all over the internet, but really a parfait does not need to be beautiful and you can make a single serving very easily.  A parfait by definition is a a dessert containing layers of ice cream, fruit, etc. served in a tall glass, so by definition maybe what we eat is not exactly a parfait, but yet a yogurt sundae.  A sundae is defined as a dish of ice cream with added ingredients.  Regardless of what you choose to call it a breakfast like this is simple, healthy, and balanced.  An excellent way to start your day.

4th of July Breakfast Parfaits

With the burst of cool air and storms that were expected this weekend if finally started to feel like fall.  Fall to me is about apples.  In years past I have baked apples and I remembered Ihad a recipe for a simple microwaved apple dish.  Using the basis of this but making some changes so as to use honey rather than sugar, I came up with this healthy breakfast.

Baked Apple Yogurt Parfait   ( Serves 4)

3 Apples, Chopped

1/4 cup Dried Cranberries

1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts

2 Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon

1/4 Cup Honey

1/4 cup Water

Combine all ingredients in a glass or ceramic baking dish.  Microwave for about 6-8 minutes or until apples are soft and water has evaporated.

Serve with yogurt of choice ( Vanilla, Plain, or Greek yogurt works best)

What We Are Eating ( September 7 – September 13)

Sunday – Grilled Chicken and Biscuits, Grilled Okra, and Corn

Monday – Calypso

Tuesday – Pasta and Sausage Bake

Wednesday – Mexican Casserole

Thursday – BBQ Chicken Pizza

Friday – Sandwiches on the Go

Saturday – Night Out / My night off, but not really as I prepared a plate of desserts for a get together we attended.

Monday’s Mixture: What we are Eating, School Lunches

While the internet and television are buzzing with fall recipes the temperatures continue to be some of the hottest we had all summer.  As much as I want to start baking with my recently picked apples and enjoy the taste and smell of fall, all I can think about it is smoothies, milkshakes and meals that will not require me to heat my kitchen up.  It is suppose to cool off starting today and I am looking forward to it not only because I love crisp mornings and the warmer days of fall, but I have gotten stuck in too many summer type thunderstorms this past week trying to pick Little Miss Mixture up at school.

1.  What We Are Eating (August 31 – Sept. 6)

It was a very busy week in our house, which lucky for me translates into easy dinners.  Apparently I had overcooked a little the week before which was also to my benefit as we enjoyed several nights of leftover or a revamp of a meal.

Sunday – Family Dinner Out

Monday – Baked Salmon, Spinach & Apple Salad, Macaroni & Cheese (my take on this recipe from 100daysofrealfood.com)

Tuesday – Taco Salad or Cilantro Serrano Pasta

Wednesday – Leftover Indian Food for Little Miss Mixture and I had a Spinach Salad with Baked Salmon

Thursday – Breakfast Eggs & Fruit Salad

Friday – Quick Rotini with Sausage (recipe posted soon)

Saturday – Attended a Surprise Party for a friends 40th

2.  Kitchen Organization – Now that Little Miss Mixture is back in school, I have to get to work on some random house projects I have on a list.  One of the easier, less time consuming task was to redo a couple kitchen drawers and cabinets.  When we moved in I gave Little Miss Mixture two drawers in the kitchen where we kept her utensils, plates, cups, and bowls.  Well now that she has grown I decided we could decrease her space to one drawer.  I am not a fan of kids stuff, so she has duralex dishes for breakfast and lunch meals.  I still want her to use these as they are a good size , but I do not need her jumping upon the granite.  They say they are nonbreakable, but I do not care to take a chance.  Decreasing her space allowed me to move some kitchen gadgets around and make room for some tasting bowls I recently bought for soup.  Those of you with kids –

Did you use the plastic utensils and cups?

 At what age did you advance your children to real utensils?

 

    3. Apples – I may not have started baking or making homemade applesauce as yet, but I have enjoyed a fresh apple either plain or with peanut butter for lunch all week.  It is also puts a smile on my face when Little Miss Mixture asks for an apple for her snack.  Here are some ideas I have for using all our apples:  Cinnamon Apple Rings, Brie & Apple Grilled Cheese, Kale Salad with Apples, and caramelized apple pizza.

4.  Lost Tooth – It has been almost two years since Little Miss Mixture lost a tooth.  In fact I forgotten how aggravating it can be when the tooth is not quite ready to come out, but it is scary to brush and hard to eat certain foods.  Little Miss Mixture seems to have a knack for loose teeth in the fall as one year she had no front teeth to bite the apples we picked, then she had a loose bottom tooth which made it impossible to bite into an apple the next year, and now after a two year stent it is apple season and she could not eat an apple for the first two days.  Luckily she came home from school on Tuesday one less tooth in her mouth, and ready to bit into an apple.

5. Baby Animals – Animals do some of the cutest and yes annoying things sometimes.  Thus coming from the person who recently realized my dog has learned to jump on my bed and take things off the night table.  No matter how annoying some of the things they do are just so darn cute and funny.  I find it hard not to smile with some of the things animals do and now a days you can find some great videos that are just adorable.  This video of panda’s playing on a slide just made me happy this week.

6.  School Lunches – It is almost impossible to look through Pinterest or Facebook and not find someone who has tagged a list of healthy school lunches.  I am all about eating healthy and I tend to think Little Miss Mixture has a good repertoire of food she eats, but most of the lunches on the lists I have seen would end up coming home.  In fact I cannot even imagine eating them myself.

My goal is to eat healthy and instill good eating habits.  Little Miss Mixture like me has a sweet tooth, but sweets are limited in school lunches.  Yes, I send Chocolate Milk because I encourage the calcium and protein with her meal and Little Miss Mixture is not a big milk fan all the time.  I choose to pick my battles and I would rather make sure a balanced diet is consumed with protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, than to pack something and it not be enjoyed.

Here are a couple of recent school lunches I have packed.

Munster Cheese Slices, Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Wafer Crackers, Apple, Cashews, and Organic Chocolate Milk

Peanut Butter, Honey, and Raisin Sandwich (use bread of choice), Trader Joe’s Organic Corn Dippers, Raspberries, and Organic Chocolate Milk

Nitrate Free Ham Roll Ups with Cheddar Cheese, Cantaloupe and Grapes, Mixture (Pecans, Plantain chips, and Dried Blueberries) and Chocolate Milk

Happy Meatless Monday!  Have a good week!

Monday’s Mixture

We are one week into our new school and it seems as if rather than having more time on my hands, I am in a complete whirlwind.  I am sure it will settle down, but it may take a few weeks as there is so much going on with parent meetings at school, new after school activity schedules to get accustom to, etc.  Big sigh of relief.  The first week went well and I am sure by February I will find extra time on my hands since I am sure to get accustom to the new routine and then realize I am on a time crunch for getting organized for family birthdays and holidays.  Thankfully I had a big container of mixture to help get us through the busy week.

 

1.  What We Are Eating ( August 17 – August 23)

Sunday – Tuna Salad Cold Plate, Vegetables a & dip, Fruit

Monday – Lemon Chicken, Sautéed Squash & Fennel, Cottage Cheese & Tomato Salad

Tuesday – Spinach and Mushroom Quesadillas

Wednesday – Bacon Cheddar Burger Patties, Grilled Okra, Watermelon, & Pickles

Thursday – Ladies Night for me, Mr. Mixture & LIttle Miss Mixture had Tuna Melts on Naan Bread, Vegetables & Dip

Friday – Tomato Mozzarella Salad, Shrimp Scampi over Whole Wheat Angel Hair

Saturday – Cheese & Red Pepper Nachos

2.  Pickles – A couple of weeks ago I saw this post on Smitten Kitchen.  I grew up eating cucumbers marinated in a vinegar type solution, but I never thought of them as pickled.  Little Miss Mixture loves pickles but I am not a fan of most of the store bought ones anymore.  I gave this recipe a try, cutting it in half and using less salt.  The revised post on smitten kitchen now indicates less salt.  These are so easy and so good.

3. Back to School Party – Since Little Miss Mixture entered Kindergarten I have had a back to school party for her class.  It is a simple get together just before school starts.  This year I swapped out the juice boxes and muffins for smoothies to accompany the doughnuts and fruit.  The plastic BPA free bottles I found at shopsweetlulu.com  worked perfectly .   I had three smoothies Peachy Watermelon, Tinkerbell (my version with coconut milk and fresh pineapple), and a Berry Blast.

4. Hummus – I have a couple tried and true hummus recipes that I have for years.  However a lot of times I just create them as I go based on herbs I have in the refrigerator or my garden barrels.  Little Miss Mixture asked for hummus and carrots for snack at school this week.  Yes I am smiling as I love some of the healthy items she has asked for and you better believe I will get some made before tomorrow.  This is a great chart for ideas and ratios to make different hummus flavors.

5. Projects – I am enjoying this whole blog thing, but like other things it is a hobby and a project to me.  As the new school year is beginning and the rush of the holiday season starts, I just realized I am really behind on my other projects.  How can it be almost a year since our big birthday trip for Little Miss Mixture?  Worse yet how is it I have not made the picture book yet.  Anyway as I will continue to blog and make my readers aware of What we are eating and recipes worth trying, but I am going to have to get back on track with other projects before another busy season passes me by.  I would love to hear from my readers as to what really interest you.  Breakfast food, Snacks, School Lunch ideas, Weeknight Dinners, Desserts.