A Full Day's Work

Two batches of mint chocolate chip merengues made (because I put too much peppermint extract in the first one and had to make a second to balance it out), cooled and stored away...

A shopping trip to pick up part of my mother-in-law's Christmas present, some wedding things at Target and wrapping paper for some of the larger gifts completed...

A batch of sugar cookies made, cooled and stored away...

A trip to the zoo to see the Christmas lights...

Dinner out with the husband and child...

Made a breakfast casserole for a friend who is packing up to move...

The kitchen cleaned and ready for another day of cooking...

Balanced the checkbook...

And now I am waiting for Mr. Bean to get up and start prepping his famous homemade lasagna so I can clean up after him. At least a huge chunk of my to-do list got checked off today!

Holiday Meal Planning

I am doing most of the holiday cooking this year. Here is what is on the menu:

Main Dishes
White Chicken Chili with crusty bread
Stay-in-Bed Stew
Baked Macaroni and Cheese + broccoli as a side

Appetizers
BBQ Meatballs (oven)
Cool Veggie Pizza (crescent rolls w/ cream cheese and veggies)
Deviled Eggs
Fruit stuff
Artichoke Dip w/ triscuits
Cheese/Crackers or Nacho stuff
Pickles
Jesus’ Birthday Cake

Breakfast Foods
Breakfast Casserole (bread, cheese, bacon, eggs)
Cheesy Potatoes

Cookies and Snacks
Russian Tea Cakes
Sugar Cookies
Chex Mix
Mint Chocolate Chip Merenges*
Molasses Gingerbread cookies*
Mint Chocolate Oreos
Spritz Cookies (made by my brother-in-law)*

I will be adding more main dishes to the list, but my cookies/snacks are almost finished! Only the ones with asterisks still need to be made. If you have any suggestions for improving my
menu, let me know!

Cooking up a Storm

String Bean and I spent a good part of our afternoon cooking today. We made cherry jello, chocolate pudding (with chocolate chips), chocolate chip cookies, and ravioli for dinner.

String Bean loved using the measuring cups and spoons. I'd fill it up while she held it and then she'd dump it in the bowl. Another highlight was watching the cookies in the oven as they cooked.

All evening she's been asking for cookies. I tried to give her the ravioli and the pudding and its a no-go so far. When the jello finishes setting, we'll have to try that. I'm not holding my breath.

Toddler's Menu

String Bean's Menu for dinner last night:

• handful of frozen raspberries and blackberries
• 3 blueberries and one that was rejected because it was contaminated according to String Bean
  
• 2/3 of a banana
• 1/3 of a popcorn flavored rice cake
• 1/8 of a graham cracker smeared with (too much) peanut butter
• 1 plus a nibble of a second club cracker with a thin layer of peanut butter
• 1/4 cup of Crispix cereal
• 3 fried nacho-type chips
• 1/16 inch piece of raw onion that was immediately spat out
• 1 kernel of corn from corn salsa that did not please the highly refined palate of a 19 month old
• 1/2 a large snickerdoodle cookie

See, pediatrician? She may be skinny, but we do offer her a wide variety of foods. If she does not eat them, that's her problem.

On Excuses to Blow the Diet…

I’m breastfeeding. That’s right. I am.

Ever since String Bean was born, I’ve had problems with breastfeeding. I was told when she was born that our problems were all her fault, not mine. We “fixed” her and all was good. Then I had surgery. I was told that all our problems were mine, not hers. I’d lost my milk supply and was having a hard time rebuilding it.

Someone told me oatmeal was a natural galactagogue. (Yes, you do need to look it up.) A wise mom (my co-blogger, Amy) encouraged that I take it in the form of cookies. Yum. What a great idea! After all, I need to increase my milk supply. Why not do it by getting as much oatmeal in my diet as possible? Am I really going to eat multiple bowls of the stuff? No!

In that spirit, here is a recipe for Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake cookies. Why go to all the trouble of baking when you’re blowing the diet as it is? Of course, you’re blowing it for a good cause! I suggest you eat at least 4 (or more) a day. This is, of course, not intended to be any expert medical advice.

Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies
2 cups sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 cup milk 1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients except vanilla, peanut butter, and oats and cook over medium heat. Bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and peanut butter. When the peanut butter is mixed in add the oats.

Spoon out quickly onto wax paper. Cookies will harden as they set. If it seems too thin, add about more oatmeal before you spoon them out.After they set up, eat them.

If you have leftovers (I never do), put them in a closed container to keep them from getting too dry.