Cookie Therapy

Baking cookies, not eating them this time.

When planning Dominick’s party I found this really cool cookie recipe online for “play dough cookies.” Basically multicolored cookies swirled up on a lollypop stick. I figured the kids would love to eat these crazy colored cookies.

I decided to make them the weekend before because I knew they’d be really labor incentive. Here’s a step by step.

First you make a whole bunch of cookie dough from scratch. Easy enough. Then you have to quarter the dough and die them four different colors….

Okay, how do you actually die cookie dough? Genius me put the dough in a gallon zip lock bag and added some gel color and squished away. It worked really well. Wish I would have thought of this before I did the first color and ended up with bright yellow palms trying to need it together.

Let the dough sit in the fridge for a few hours. Once hardened, start making little ¾ inch balls out of each color. Now, get ready to sit down and put on some music because this takes FOREVER!

To make the actual cookie, take one ball of each color and roll them together to form on large swirled ball.

Then roll the large ball out into a 1 foot long snake.

Then coil the snake around itself to form the swirled cookie. This is where true clay forming technique comes in. You could so tell my first few cookies… they looked awful. Finger dents her and there, uneven thickness. By the time I rolled out my 40th cookie, I was an old pro. This was one of my first cookies, very lumpy.

Gently insert cookie pop stick and bake. At the end of the night I looked at all my cookie pops and felt they were TOTALLY worth the effort. They looked great.

All the kids loved them at the party. They couldn’t wait to pick out their cookie and take them home. I have to say they didn’t taste all that great, but they sure looked good.

Definitely therapeutic.

Happy Birthday Darling Husband

October 11 marked my darling husband Frank's 32nd birthday.

We had a wonderful dinner at home. I actually cooked! On the menu - rack of lamb and roasted potatoes. I know, rack of lamb, doesn't that sound intimidating? Well, it was easier than I thought. Here's the recipe. It seriously took me 40 minutes, tops.

I was so impressed with myself, I had to take a picture.

Frank really liked it. After his first bite, he turns to me and says, "Hon, I think this is the best thing you ever made me!"

Definitely boosts this cooking novice's confidence.

We're doing presents tomorrow night incombination with Frank's father and his sister's boy friend's birthdays. October is a busy month for birthdays. For immediate family: mom, dad, step-mom, father-in-law, husband, sister-in-law's boyfriend, and long time highschool friend who I consider family. Let's not forget Ozzie's birthday is the 28th. Little guy will be eight!

Waste Not, Want Not - let the cooking begin!

This weekend I have a goal… It’s simple really. To cook three meals using what we have in the house. I’ve dedicated myself to NOT wasting food or money on needless meals out or spoiled food. We've gotten into a really bad rut with throwing away perfectly good food, if I had taken the time to cook it!

On the menu for the weekend cooking extravaganza…

Pork noodle bake – using up left over pork chops I cooked last night
Stuffed zucchini – using the gynormous zucchini Frank brought home and sausage his parents gave us
Sausage, Spinach bake – again with the sausage
Grandma's bread and butter pickles - cucumbers from our garden

During the week I’ll take a stab at an all time favorite low cost meal, the tuna noodle casserole. You know the one with potato chips on top! Hey, bake me up some of that hot cheesy, salty, crunchy, starchy goodness anytime!

I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot of “bakes” cause casseroles seem to be cheaper than most meals. But hey, it’s a start and I’m sure I’ll get super creative by the end of the summer!

PS - still waiting

Second Inning

Still Waiting…

Ok, so we’re in our second inning hoping we hit a home run! I’m still waiting for my period, it was due today, I think. Silly me, I’ve been tracking my cycle for months now and the one time when I actually need to know if I’m late, I don’t jot down when it started. I think I was upset that we didn’t get pregnant last month that I just didn’t want to deal with it.

Well, I’m not sure if I’m late, but I’m getting close to being late. I feel pretty normal. Accept the irrational outburst I had at Frank last night. It was totally uncalled for and kind of felt a little guilty as the words came out of my mouth. I’ve been crampy and a little nauseous, but really, I’m sure it’s all in my head. That was a lesson we learned last month. BUT, I didn’t get my week long of head aches before my period like I usually do. So that’s different.

I’ve been cooking up a storm and my neighbor, and good friend, Lee Ann thinks I’m nesting. I just think I’m sick of eating out or frozen dinners and our budget is stretched to the limit. I actually looked up “recipes on a budget” to find the most economical meal to make at home. I made chili and chicken enchiladas. This weekend I’ll make tuna noodle casserole. You know, the kind with the potato chips on top! Can’t wait!

Frank’s parents were nice enough to bring us groceries from Costco. They shared Italian sausage, pork chops, chicken and veggies. It’s like they some how knew our budget has been tight. We’re so lucky to have them! They came over with groceries, I fed them chicken enchiladas and we watched Frank on an advanced copy of his new TV show!

Oh my, I have neglected to share that my darling husband will be featured in a new reality TV show on A&E called Jacked! How cool is that! He’s been riding along with the Auto Theft Task Force (ATTF) in Newark and he was there when they taped the show this spring. The show starts in late August, so keep an eye out on A&E for my favorite sergeant.

Okay, so still waiting. Something we all know I am not very good at. I will try, very hard, not to take multiple preggo tests. Maybe that’s something his parents can pick up at Costco, a 12-pack of over the counter tests!