Happy Pic's.

Reyna & I made a cake yesterday. The only thing I did was put it in the over. She does the rest. It's crazy. I love how she even knows what speed to put the mixer on.

For dinner last night, I made greek veggie wraps, corn on the cob and a salad. Our lettuce is ready in our garden!!! I mixed sliced almonds, fresh parm. cheese & strawberries with poppyseed. The wraps were on the lighter side, so I made them more of a meal with sides. I was complaining on Facebook that the girls didn't touch their dinner, but right after I said that, Reyna ate her sandwich and Ruby's!!!! Ruby??? She was a no-go. Oh, well. She is always hit or miss with diner. You just never know. I cannot blame it on what I made either. All of the food I made they LOVE.

                                                                                                                                                                                   

 My new coffee mug.....do you love it? :)    I do ;) I purchased it at Sur La Table. Gotta love Anne Taintor and her quirky little saying's. Oh, and I have a whole 'nother post on my new found love for Sur La Table. Stay tuned.

Here was our finished cake project. It was supposed to be Jade's cake on Sunday. I had a stomach bug (pretty sure it was food poisoning), so the cake was made yesterday. Reyna couldn't wait to drop the golf ball inside. The girls helped frost, so the grass isn't completely perfect, but when he saw it, he thought so. :))))

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

What you need:

3 cups bread flour
2 tsp. salt
1 package instant active dried yeast
1 1/3 cups warm water
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. dried rosemary

Make it:

Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast, water and 2 Tbsp. of oil in mixer with dough hook until dough is pliable. Place dough in oiled bowl, cover, let rise until doubled, 45 minutes. Coat baking sheet with oil and gently press the dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Brush remaining oil over the top of the dough. Make dimples on the dough. Sprinkle rosemary and cheese. Let rise until doubled, 20 minutes. Bake for 25 minutes @ 375 degrees.

Dip It:

I used this recipe, but modified it because we didn't need to cups of olive oil for our family of four. :)

Menu Plan Monday

Monday:Ham + bean soup with cornbread. This was an easy dinner night. PLUS, soup with the girls is always a hit. Ruby consumed two bowls and a cornbread muffin.

Tuesday:Beef stew.

Wednesday:Tacos + homemade chips and salsa + guacamole

Thursday:Spaghetti + meatballs, garlic toast and salad. I will definitely be freezing half of this meal this time around. It makes a ton of food.

Friday:Leftovers

*****
Last week, I tried a couple new things. First of all, the fontina mac and cheese was a huge hit. Everyone liked it so I would definitely make it again. The only downfall to this yummy caserole dish of goodness was the cheese was a little on the expensive side. I found the fontina cheese @ Meijer and it was 7 bucks. Plus it called for fresh parm mixed in with the panko bread crumbs. I also made the cilantro/lime rice and it was definitely a nice change from just plan ol' white rice. :)

Love this thing

I am a sucker for a good kitchen gadget. There is a store in Pentwater, Michigan called, "The Bitchen Kitchen" It is hands down the coolest store ever! I love, love their unique variety and what the store has to offer. Anyway, this one was bought there, but you can also order off Amazon.  It is really simple to use and chopping fresh garlic takes no time at all now. I used to own this one. I will admit, I am an Oxo junkie. I have this really strange fetish that all of my kitchen gadgets and utensils should match, but that one was a hunk o' junk. So, if you are in the market for a new garlic gadget, I would recommend the garlic twist.