If you think this looks good, you should taste it. I made 2 of them. One for some girlfriends who were coming over and one for the fam. But wouldn’t you know it… The day the girls were coming we were hit with a horrible storm (my house was actually hit by lightning) and only 2 of the 6 came. Do you know what that means? More pie for us!

I made these last week and we finished off the second pie last night. The recipe’s here. It’s the pretzel crust that makes it. Oh, and the peanut butter mixed with cream cheese in the pie itself. Oh, and the layer of Snickers. And I added a drizzle of caramel ice cream topping along with the melted chocolate on top. Are you drooling yet? Mmm…

How’s a girl supposed to make healthy choices when ice cream is cheaper than milk???

I’m in bed with mastitis. Oh, the fun… the fever… the body aches… And this coincided exactly with Bean finding my Cooking for Kids cookbook, complete with all sorts of party cakes and fun cookies, with pictures of each one.

Fridays are dessert night in our house, and Bean has been approaching everyone in the house and asking them to pick out their favorite cake. Apparently she thinks Mama’s going to jump out of her feverish bed rest to whip up a pirate treasure chest cake, a clown cake, or a dreidle cake for dessert night tonight. (I was thinking something more along the lines of break and bake cookies.) When I told Bean that I’m too sick to make a cake like that tonight her response was “That’s okay. Tata can do it.” (She calls dad Tata - it’s Romanian. Lest there be any confusion, yes my children all speak Romanian and English. Yes, they are geniuses. And no, I’m not biased at all.)  So, she now has it in her mind that Tata is going to make some sort of fancy-schmancy homemade cake in the form of a dinosaur or an angel. I guess all girls think there’s nothing their daddies can’t do.

A friend once asked me for my recipe for beef stroganoff. I think that was about a year ago… Well, better late than never, right?

Beef Stroganoff, a la Mudlark

Ingredients

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

8 oz. sliced baby portabella mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped coarsely

1 lb stew beef or steak cut into cubes

1 can Campbell’s Beefy Mushroom soup

1/4 c. Sherry or white wine

1 large dollop of sour cream

Cooked rice, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Add mushrooms and saute while you cut the onion (a couple minutes?), then add the onion. Saute until mushrooms give off their fluid and onion starts to become translucent. Add beef and cook over high heat 1-2 minutes, or until beef is mostly browned, stirring frequently. Lower heat and add soup and sherry. Cover and simmer 10-15 minutes. Stir in sour cream just before serving for maximum flavor. Serve over your choice of yummy, high carb starches - rice, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles. If you want to get all fancy and stuff add a fresh sprig of dill or parsley.

Now, if you think this is ‘authentic’ Russian stroganoff because once upon a time I lived in “Russia” and am therefore an expert in Russian cuisine, read this post. And note that neither Russians nor Moldovans would consider this authentic cuisine from their part of the world. True Russian stroganoff doesn’t have mushrooms, but it does have about a pound of butter and a few other things you won’t find in my version.

Conversation at dinner last night:

I. don’t. want. that. (Little Man)

But, don’t you want to grow big and strong? (Bean)

NO. (Little Man)

But it has protein, and that gives you strong muscles! You should eat it. (Bean)

He still didn’t eat, but I was so proud of my little girl! Now, if only I knew where she learned all that… Of course, she didn’t eat hers either, but it’s the thought that counts. Maybe. (Are there any other children out there who refuse to eat spaghetti, of all things?)

I just finished a slice of warm homemade bread topped with fresh homemade strawberry-blueberry jam. That was after hanging the curtain panel I finished sewing today for the kids’ room. Which I worked on after taking the kids on a playdate, which was then followed by the ‘rock concert’ they produced outside on the neighbor’s front lawn (which is at the perfect ’stage’ height next to ours) - they sang and danced to hits like “How much is that puppy in the window?”, “Rockin’ Robin”, and “Hit the Road Jack”. At the top of their preschool lungs. I think I should have charged our neighbors admission. Or at least a cover charge.

My goals for tomorrow? Reorganize the nursery closet, drop off donations my kids picked out for Goodwill,  churn my own butter, train for that marathon I always wanted to run, and papier mache a lifesize replica of Michaelangelo’s David.

This whole bio-diesel and alternative fuel trend has done a number on our grocery budget. The problem is, corn or corn-derived products are in just about everything. And if they’re not in it, they’re used to make it. But corn is now in high demand to produce alternative fuels, and that’s driven the price of corn up and up and up.

If you removed everything that depends on corn from your grocer’s shelves the grocery store would look more like a hardware store. With corn prices skyrocketing, the cost of everything else we eat is going up. And for my family, that has corresponded with a growth in the number of people eating our food. In the last 6 months we went from 4 people to 7 people in the house and our food budget is getting out of control.

Up until now we tried to control it by not eating out anymore and cutting back on convenience foods. We’ve been making our own bread, and lately making our own jam. But it’s still out of control. So over the last month or so my mother-in-law has been planting vegetables. Some are of her choosing (beets, garlic, parsley, potatoes - things that aren’t too expensive or that we don’t use much), but others are things I picked out - tomatoes, bell peppers, and… BLUEBERRIES! I’m looking forward to eating locally - as local as it gets - straight from our backyard. In fact, I made a salad last week out of lettuce, and beet leaves, and parsley from our garden. It was a bit of a hassle to clean all those leafy greens, but I have to remind myself that I don’t have to buy $1.99 bags of salad anymore.

So, with the cost of food skyrocketing, what are you doing to make it easier? I’m thinking about making my own cheese, but I don’t know if that’ll save enough money to make the time spent worthwhile. Any other ideas out there for frugal feeding?

I’ve never liked cauliflower. Wait, let me qualify that. If someone asked me to eat cauliflower I’d probably run fast in the other direction. And I would never, ever, in a million years force it on my precious children. I don’t believe in torturing the young.

But I got adventurous when I saw a recipe for roasted cauliflower in a magazine that claimed to ‘alter’ the cauliflower and make it all caramelized and sweet. True, I was skeptical, but I figured one head of cauliflower for 6 people would give everyone a taste, and if it was awful (like I assumed it probably would be), no one would feel the need to eat copious amounts (myself included).

Let me tell you. I have a new favorite veggie. I cut the raw cauliflower into florets, tossed it with a couple teaspoons olive oil, and lightly salted it. Put it in a shallow baking dish in a 450 degree oven for 35 minutes, stirring it once or twice as it cooked. My pickiest eater asked for a third helping! And everyone gobbled it up. It’s my new fave. Hint: cook it till it’s nice and evenly browned - the more browned, the more caramelized, and therefore the more melt-in-your-mouth sweet.

Well, that’s what works for me. I’ll be gobbling up cauliflower all spring - as long as it’s in season. Head over to Shannon’s place for more cool ideas.

I haven’t gone into labor yet, but last night I went here and had this:

Because he woke up to fresh bread this morning. And after a successful day of work I made his favorite soup for dinner - corn chowder. Then while he was gone for an evening appointment I cleaned the kitchen, put the kids to bed, and made key lime pie. From scratch. Yes, with real key limes.

I think somebody’s starting to find balance in this weird world of being a working mom.