Day 2 and 3 of Getting Ready

Sorry I disappeared for a few days.  I have been very busy!!

I am still cooking, cleaning and even doing some quilting.

Here is what my freezer looks like:

I added one more casserole to the freezer on Monday and Tuesday I cleaned lots of fresh veges.  As you can also see I made some soup.  The little containers are Taco Soup, Lentil and the Minestrone from Sunday.  We have been eating some of the food as I cook it.

Today I have another casserole to make today.  As you can see I only have room for one more.

I spend some downtime quilting while Kiddo played a learning game on the computer.

Pre Hospital Cooking Day 1

I am doing a bunch of freezer cooking for when I get home from the hospital and won't feel like cooking.

Today was day 1 in the kitchen.  I made lasagna, pasta and minestrone soup.

I ended up with extra noodles so I made a small lasagna for tonight.  

Here is the start of the minestrone soup.   The beans will need a few hours to cook.  

Tomorrow I am making green rice, taco soup and chopstock.  The other foods I have on the list are more soups and a couple more casseroles.  

I am planning on putting small portions in the fridge for this week's meals.  Yum!

Next week while I am "in lock up" my mom will be here to cook for my guy.  Thank goodness for moms!!

New Kitchen Canisters and Baking

Hubby came home from doing some shopping and he surprised me with new kitchen canisters.  We have been looking for just the right size ones for the food that I cook with every day.  This is what he found:

I LOVE this big canister.  I can fill it with flour and bake and bake and bake....

And bake I did!!  I made peanut butter oatmeal cookies today.  

Back to the canisters...  There are the medium sized ones.  Great for rice and pinto beans.  Rice and beans are a staple in our diet. 

This is small one.  It is perfect for sugar.  

What happened to my Wexford canisters??  I still have them.  

The one is back hold peanuts and the one in front holds "I am bored" ideas slips.

The two that I emptied are being converted into cookie jars....

This one holds low sugar lemon bars.  

The taller one (not shown) will hold the peanut butter cookies once they cool completely.

BTW, help yourself to a cookie. :)

Artisan Breads Cookbook

I got introduced to this book via the library.  I checked it out and fell in love with the recipes.

I told my hubby that I had to have this book for my own.... "Happy Mother's Day to Me".

My own copy of the  book arrived today in the mail.  I was only able to try a couple of recipes when I borrowed the book from the library.  Now that I have it as my own I am going to try tons more of the recipes.  It has a recipe for pizza dough that looks wonderful.   I want to try the bagel recipe and the sourdough recipe very soon.  

Here is a picture of the whole wheat bread from the book that I made:

Yum!!!  

Recap of Valentine's Day

I haven't made holiday goodies for our neighbors in a very, very long time.  I found a bag of cookie mix in my cupboard and decided to make heart shaped cookies.  I also whipped up some homemade frosting and Kiddo helped me decorate the cookies.

On the eve of Valentine's Day hubby brought home a large bouquet of flowers for me.  He knows I am a  sucker for flowers....not just roses.  I don't like chocolates since I have diabetes and he knows that very well.

Sorry the pictures is so dark. I cut the flowers and arranged them late.

I made myself a Valentine gift....a new potholder

the back...

Even Daisy Dog dressed up for Valentine's Day. 

 (Her crown is a lego piece that my son found and put it on her head.

Peanut Butter Blossoms

1 cup shortening (butter or margarine)

1 cup creamy peanut butter 

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

4 T milk

3 1/2 cup white all purpose flour

2 t. baking soda

1 t. table salt

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs, beaten

Mix all the above ingredients together and then make them into balls.  Slightly flatten the balls.

Bake 350 degrees until golden brown. 

After baking press one chocolate kiss into the middle of the cookie.  The chocolate kisses with caramel inside are the best.  

Enjoy!!

**I made these last year during the holidays (for holiday boxes).

This post is participating in Cookiepalooza Party @ Centsational Girl

Camera Phone Picture: Gluten Steaks

It is Thanksgiving morning and we all woke up to the yummy smells of gluten steaks simmering on the stove.  Hubby mixed them up last night.

Countdown to Thanksgiving: Baking and Cleaning

I spent the day baking bread.  First, I made yummy herb bread, followed by brown and serve whole wheat dinner rolls, then 2 loaves of french bread and then regular whole wheat bread.

Yes, that is a lot of bread.  Thankfully I have a handy dandy counter top mixer.  It stayed busy for several hours of mixing and kneading.  I would not make bread without it!

These are the brown and serve dinner rolls for Thanksgiving Dinner.... all we have to do is warm them in the oven before eating

This is the herb bread. It is so yummy with soup.  My guys can make this loaf disappear in one meal. I have a feeling I should have made a couple more of these.  

We will be eating all of our holiday meals at the dining room table.  I cleared off the everyday clutter and   added this rustic runner on the table.  I was getting very tired of the fall tablecloth.

Now I need to find the energy to make some supper. There is leftover spaghetti... think I will brown some ground beef to add to my spaghetti.  Will go easy on the sauce... been having trouble with heartburn lately.