Easter Dinner

What did your family eat for Easter Dinner (or lunch, or brunch, or however you do it?)

We went to my parents' house, and my sister and niece came over also.

We had a spiral cut ham from Heavenly Ham & a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.

I made my world famous Potato Salad, and a veggie & dip tray. My daughter Shelbie made her specialty, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars.

We also had macaroni & cheese and green beans.

My mom made a dessert that involves angel food cake, cool whip, and pineapple chunks. It's really light and good. She also bought some cupcakes.

Oh, and of course, we had devilled eggs!

It was all delicious. Tonight for dinner, I'm heating up the leftover ham. I've got fresh green beans & new potatoes from the farmer's market simmering on the stove right now, and we're having rolls too.

I'm getting hungry!!

Tell me about your Easter Meal!

A Little Random

I posted a while back, maybe here, maybe on my main blog, I don't know, about making my own laundry soap. (awesome run-on sentence, no?)
When I started, I made the liquid version. I threw the whole first batch away because it didn't reach the right consistency (too watery). The second batch turned out the same way, so I did some research and found out that sometimes it doesn't thicken up, and that's ok. So I continued using it and it did seem to work fine. But, I kept wanting to try making powdered laundry soap. I found this blog post with the instructions and beautiful pictures, so I decided I was going to try it.
I will never make the liquid kind again! To make the powdered version, you basically just do a few of the same steps as making the liquid, and then you're done! Much easier, and it works better. Win!
Another win? You can employ child labor. (Shh...they think it's FUN!)

Elayna grating soap

Elayna & her friend Emma

This weekend I made Cabbage & Sausage and Shelbie informed that it's her favorite meal. =)
It sure is yummy!



I made peanut butter cookies from scratch last night and they turned out "meh". Does anyone have a really yummy recipe? Mine was just the basic recipe, and they were a little dry and not peanut-buttery enough. Any suggestions?

Go forth and be random!
Visit The UnMom for more of this random stuff.
Oh and visit my main blog, Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional, too.
Please. And thank you.

Star Fruit

In my quest to get my kids to try new & different things, I picked up a star fruit at the grocery store.
Here are the results of this taste test:

Elayna (9 yr old): said it tasted like grass. I asked her how she knew this; has she ate grass? And she said that she has, many times. Alrighty then.
Andrew (10 yr old): loved it. He's never met a fruit he didn't love.
Shelbie (14 yr old): refused to taste it. Spoilsport!

At least I got some cute pictures out of it!

{I so love picnik.com! }

Eating Adventures - Japanese!

I mentioned in my last post that I want to introduce more foods from different cultures to the kiddos.
This weekend, John & I took the kids to a Japanese Steak House for the first time. It was a blast!

It was a very pretty restaurant, and the waiter and chef were great.

The first course of soup was delivered....

....and did not last long. It was delicious!
{I loved the pretty dishes.}

After they finished the appetizer of bacon wrapped scallops,
Andrew and Shelbie were wondering what is coming next.

Our waiter, Ian, arrived, and after impressing the kids by juggling his utensils....

....he really amazed them by starting a fire!

He rolled the eggs around on the grill, cooked them in our rice,

...and seasoned and cooked our shrimp, chicken and steak.

He further impressed the kids by lighting a stack of sliced onion circles on fire....



...and cooking them with other fresh veggies.

We were full well before he was done cooking & serving everything! But we ate as much as we could & took the rest home.

And the kids had a wonderful, memorable experience!

Have you ever been, or taken your kids to, a Japanese Steak House?
How did you/they like it?

Baby, it's COLD outside!

I am in Florida and our low tonight is predicted to be 18. EIGHTEEN?!?! What on earth?
I put beef stew in the crockpot and let it cook all day. It was so good, and totally hit the spot! We had cornbread with it, which Elayna made. She is my kitchen helper. My teenage daughter, Shelbie, suggested I make chili on another of these cold nights. I hate cold weather, but I do LOVE cold-weather food!

I saw these Kitchen Safety Tips over at Annie's Home and wanted to share them with you all.

While cooking,

1. stay in the kitchen, don’t leave cooking food unattended. (stand by your pan!)

2. wear short or tight fitting sleeves. Long loose sleeves are more likely to catch on fire or get caught on pot handles.

3. don’t become distracted.

4. enforce a “kid-free zone” of 3 feet around your stove. Turn pot handles inward facing the wall to prevent burns caused by overturning or spills.

5. keep the area around the stove clear of towels, papers, pot holders or anything that could burn.

6. cook at indicated temperatures settings rather than higher settings.

7. regularly clean your cooking equipment so that there are no cooking materials, food items or grease accumulation.

8. have a pot lid handy to smother a pan fire. Do not attempt to pick up the pot or pan. Shut off the heat and cover the fire with a lid. Do not use water. It will cause splashing and spread the fire.

While many of these tips are not new to there is a list of these tips and other information located at this link http://www.centerpigeonfire.org/firesafetytips-kitchencooking.html

Southern Loving - Love, on a plate.

Clearly, I've lost my mind. I've decided to start another blog! This one is going to be all about cooking. Or as I call it, Southern Loving. I thought the best way to start this out was with a re-run of a post from my main blog, Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional. It's called Southern Loving, hence the title of this blog.

Southern Loving
There's something about us Southern Women. Many of us love to cook. It's not just the preparing of food and satisfying hunger. Feeding people is a way of taking care of them. Food equals love. If we love you, we feed you, and we feed you well.

If you don't fall into this stereotype, don't get offended.
But many of us Southern women do. It's in our blood. There is not much in this world that compares to the comfort food prepared by a Southern woman. Chicken & dumplings, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, beef stew, chicken & yellow rice....potato salad, banana pudding...I could go on all day.
I am dead serious when I say that my cooking is one reason my husband fell in love with me. He wasn't used to it; his family is from England and their way of cooking is quite different. He got used to my cooking very quickly. His favorite is holidays, when several Southern women get together and cook. And dinner on the grounds at church is his idea of Heaven.
We feed our men, we feed our kids, we feed our sick, we feed our grieving. We eat to mourn and to celebrate.
Sometimes we keep recipes to ourselves as a sort of signature dish. I'm always the one who brings potato salad to our family gatherings.
Other times we happily share our recipes. If you ever want some fantastic Southern recipes, go visit my friend Rachel at A Southern Fairytale. My family even loves her because I try so many of her recipes and they are amazing!
Now the time has come that one of my daughters is interested in cooking. The little one is all about helping, but Shelbie can actually cook. A few weekends ago, she was at her dad's house flipping through a cookbook. She found a recipe for Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Bars, and her signature dish was created. They are delicious! She's made it a few times at her dad's house and now twice at home. I brought one dish to work, and now everyone on the unit, from clerks to neurosurgeons, think she's the bomb! And when I told her that, she was so pleased. She's learning already that feeding people good food is rewarding. It just feels good.
Another dish I love to bring to work is the Black Eyed Pea Dip. It may sound a little odd, but it is make-you-wanna-slap-your-mama good! I got that recipe from Melissa at Stretch Marks. Even my friend from Chicago, who thought it sounded horrible, ended up LOVING it, and now that she's moved back to Chicago, she's making it for her family there!
When you come to my house, you might trip over a dog or a cat. You might have to move some clean laundry over to have a seat on the couch. But you will be fed, and you will be fed well.
It's love, on a plate.

And since, when I love you, I feed you....here are some Southern recipes for you. Enjoy!

Hot & Cheesy Black Eyed Pea Dip
1 (16-ounce) can black-eyed peas, drained, rinsed
1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained, chopped
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 envelope buttermilk ranch salad dressing mix
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Spoon into a baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Serve with crackers or tortilla chips. (I prefer crackers)



Shelbie's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup peanut butter (Shelbie says you should use a little over a cup)
6 tbsp stick butter, melted
2 cups graham crackers
1 twelve oz package of MILK chocolate chips

Stir all ingredients together except chocolate chips. Press into a 9x13 pan. Microwave chocolate chips for 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour chocolate over peanut butter mixture. Refrigerate for 30-45 minutes; serve.

~*~*~*~*~
Now I'm not promising to update this blog extremely frequently. But I will be moving my Meatless/Meatfree Monday posts here, and adding recipes or other cooking posts when it strikes my fancy. I'm also teaching my kids to cook, so there will be posts on that too - fun! I hope you enjoy! Oh and please follow me!