from the kitchen...

i have a lot more going on in my kitchen this week than is my usual. don't get me wrong, i cook mostly 5 nights a week plus sunday lunch. and that is enough to make me a little nutty. not the cooking part...the cleaning up part, if i'm honest. and my husband is a huge help. but dishes are like clothes and as soon as they are all washed, there are more waiting on you. (and while i'm at it, i think that is part of the rut i have been in. the continuous monotony of cooking, cleaning, wiping, washing, etc.)

anyway, like i was saying...more cooking this week. i'm not good at taking pictures while i'm doing something, so you'll have to be patient and visit the links. there are a few favorites i've done plenty of times before and then there are a few i haven't tried before.

yesterday, i made Harriette's chicken spaghetti for lunch. i made a double batch because i have a friend i'm taking supper to on friday. this double batch filled up a disposable 13x9x2 pan for the freezer, and 2 pie plates (one for us yesterday and one for the freezer that will probably go to another friend when she has her baby next week.) kids, that's economical. all of that with 3 chicken breasts, 2 boxes thin spaghetti noodles, 1 lb velveeta, 2 cans rotel, 1 can cream of chick, 1 can cream of mush, 2 pkgs dry ranch dressing mix. you can't beat that.

then i moved on to trying out the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll recipe. my intent being to make them and freeze them to take some to the afore mentioned friends and to have some for the holidays. let's just say that i have never made any kind of dough from scratch. i have been scared silly of yeast. always afraid that i'd have my liquid too hot and ruin the yeast. i stepped out of my comfort box and embraced the yeast. let me say that if you don't have a lot of counter space, you may want to start with 1/4-1/3 of the dough instead of 1/2. trust me. oh, and refrigerate that dough first. you'll never get it to roll tight enough to keep your rolls in shape otherwise (coughnot like i would know anything about thatcough.) so with the 2nd half of the dough, i had success and still it made about 50 rolls. no LIE!!

this saturday is the fall festival at luke's school. and let me just say, i'm the mom that will always sign up to send food to something. with 2 kids still at home and no babysitters, i may not be able to volunteer for much, but i can cook and take stuff to the school. no problem. they have a cake walk and i'm making red velvet cake balls that i found over at Kelly's Korner Recipes. i really want to see how they turn out. don't know about yall, but with the holidays coming (and me trying my darndest to lose and not gain weight) i'm more likely to commit to a cake ball and not the whole thing.

we'll also be having meatloaf, mexican lasagna (i think i'll have to owe you that recipe), granola and a few other various things that we (micah and i) love around here. i wish yall could come over!!

oh, and we are making progress on the picky eating front. sort of. the rule is that you have to try one bite of whatever i fix for supper. the daddy has not always upheld this rule. but here's how i abide by it...i fix supper. i fix a plate for me and ally claire. i sit down and eat. if they want something else, it was up to micah to do it b/c i stand firm. i now have the daddy on board. seth has always been pretty good to try most things. not luke. i have had an hour stand off with him over biting a chicken nugget (he doesn't eat meat as a general rule.) he has now tried 3 different things and i couldn't be more proud. so proud i may not should mention the insta-gag reflex. but he does it. and that is progress. soon we'll move to 2 bites and so on. i mean, he's only 6.