Plans and Food

I have a plethora of things I'd, 1) would like to get done, and 2) need to get done this weekend.  The least among them is to spend some time crafting.  I sat last night and cross-stitched after dinner.  I'm just some back stitches away from completing another ornament face.

I need to get the Everest mountain of clothing that the kids have culled from their rooms inventoried and ready for pick-up next week.

I need to craft.

I need the kids to complete their rooms so the last of the items in the upper hall can be put away and their rooms returned to normal. 

I need to scrapbook.

I need to take care of some Apron Strings stuff.

I want to do some Super Stash Busters purging.

I want to head to the Peach Festival this weekend.

I'd love to watch my daughter and friends run the Hit and Run 5K.

I need to get the school supplies for the 5 y.o. labeled and packed in his back-pack so they are no longer cluttering my living room couch.  His siblings need to gather their items off the couch as well.

I want a nice refreshing cocktail.

I tested a few more recipes from Pinterest this week.  Most were quick and didn't add a lot of heat to my already overheated kitchen.  If you're looking for something cool, or something easy so you can get back to your own crafting this weekend, check these out.

 

Favorite Fresh Raspberry Pie - I can tackle most recipes with a fairly consistent level of success.  I've learned what I'm good at, can read a recipe and tell if the flavors will be tasty and "work", where I'd rather make my own vs. store bought and how many steps I'm willing to put into a given recipe.  But when it comes to pie crust, homemade pie crust, I have yet to master it and it continues to intimidate me.  So when I come upon a recipe, be it Pot Pie or dessert pie, my go-to has been store bought crusts.  I decided face my fear head on and made this Raspberry Pie from scratch - pie crust too (a double crust at that!)  It was really good, if I do say so myself.  The filling was tart and thick enough to hold up when cut.  The crust was light and, thanks to the sugar on top, crunchy and sweet.  Perfect for the tart berries.

 

Italian Shredded Beef - This was delicious.  I'm not a huge fan of seasoning mixes (usually too much salt) but as a now and then thing, I'll use them.  I thought I had Italian Dressing Mix at home, turns out not so much.  So I used an Italian Dressing recipe found in The Homemade Pantry cookbook and just pulled out the dry ingredients.  It was French Dip, but not.  I made homemade buns (found in the same Pantry cookbook) and they were thick enough to hold the drippings without making the bread a totally soggy mess.  If you pick up buns at the store go for a more dense roll.  Next time, I'll butter and toast the rolls and add Muenster or Swiss cheese.  

 

Turkey Quinoa Taco Lettuce Wraps - I could have sworn I hadn't made these, but found the Pin on the "I Cooked That" board.  So either I pinned it twice or I sorted the recipe into my menu of untried recipes.  It seems the first time I used Feta and corn tortillas.  This time I used Colby Jack, homemade taco seasoning (I have two I've tried.  Unlike packaged mixes, add the seasoning while the meat browns without adding any water) and lettuce - of which my family was either confused or not a fan of or both.  I got a lot of, "Are we out of tortillas?" and blank looks around the kitchen for said tortillas and some grumbling when they overfilled their lettuce leaves and they split.  I used Green Lettuce and Romaine Lettuce (I looked for Bib or Butter but they were too pricey.)  As long as you don't over fill and simply fold along the spine of the leaf, it's good.  Rolling like a burrito or taco will just make a mess.  They were good despite the grumblings of some male members of the household about a lack of tortillas.

 



 Lemon Chicken Pasta - This was okay.  The recipe is just for the pasta, though the title leads you to think otherwise.  The pasta was light and refreshing, but I forgot to save the pasta water and so the sauce quickly set up and got dry.  Since the recipe calls just for "grilled chicken breasts" I seasoned mine with Mrs. Dash.  I have other lemon pasta recipes I like better, so I didn't save this one.  If you decide to make it - SAVE YOUR PASTA WATER!

Summer Chicken Salad - The moment I read this recipe it intrigued me.  Blueberries and onions and dill?  I had to make it.  It's a Pioneer Woman recipe and it was virtually no-heat (I grilled the chicken and the corn outside.)  It was really good though.  The combination of ingredients was different, in a good way, from typical chicken salads.  The dressing was light, though I'll dress it a little heavier next time because I like a creamier chicken salad.  I didn't by the recommended lettuce to serve it on, too pricey.

Tonight I've got a Key Lime Magic Cake (already baked and cooling), Monkey Bread and Summer Carbonara.  If I can knock off some of my to-do's I'll be better set to pass the hot weekend in my cooler studio.

Happy Friday,