I haven't posted in a long time. I missed a few days, then got out of the habit, then sort of forgot I had started it. That's the main reason I hadn't advertised it much yet. Hopefully I will get going better once the summer break gets going.
So my latest Pinterest try was a 3 Ingredient Cake Orange Dreamsicle Cake from Better Recipes blog. It's labeled as low-fat, but I tried it because it was super easy! I really wish I would've taken pictures; I need to remember that.
We were going to a small group meeting with our church, and I had offered to bring to dessert. I found the recipe and thought it looked easy, and Spring-y. But since it only makes an 8x8 pan, I needed to make 2. I decided on two cakes - one Dreamsicle and one strawberry.
You only need three ingredients:
1 white cake mix - the variety that has pudding in the mix
1 6oz container of plain non-fat Greek-style yogurt
1 cup orange juice
Grated orange peel, if desired
Mix the ingredients together in a bowl, then pour into a greased 8x8" cake pan. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the top when cool, if desired.
Two things I found about the recipe:
1. The picture the original poster posted has "pudding in the mix". Some of the comments indicated their cakes turned out dry, so I think that is an important distinction.
2. The recipe calls for a 6oz container of Greek-style yogurt. Most of the containers I found (Yoplait, Chobani, Oikos) were 5.4oz. They used Fage; I used my local store (Kroger) brand. Again, I think that using a smaller container of yogurt would affect how moist the cake would be.
When I made the cakes, I used white cake mix, blood orange yogurt and orange juice for one, and for the other I used strawberry cake mix, strawberry yogurt and a strawberry juice drink for the juice. While the adults liked these cakes, the kids and teenagers and really enjoyed them. And of course they aren't healthy, but they don't use oil or eggs, so they should be a little better for you than a standard cake.
I'm thinking of trying a chocolate cake mix with cherry yogurt and cherry juice and putting whipped cream on top for a Black Forest-type dessert. I would love comments if anyone else tries other flavors! And when I make one again, I'll add a pictures!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Meal Planning on Google Docs
It has been several days since I posted to my new blog, which I realize is not a good thing. This past week was our first week back to school after Christmas break, we had 12 new students start and we were one person short in the office all week. Long way to say I was really tired at the end of the day! Hopefully this week will be a bit easier, now that I've had a week to get back in the swing of things.
Sunday is my meal planning day. It's also my laundry day, my lunch preparation for the week day, and a bunch of other chores I should've done on Saturday day.
I have seen so many cute meal planning boards on Pinterest! I have pinned several and even downloaded and tried out a few. Most involve some sort of grid with some sort of attachable meal ideas that you stick on for each day of the week.
The idea behind each is the same: come up with 14 -28 dinner ideas that you rotate throughout the month, and use a handy device to help you note which meal you will eat each day.
I like several of the ideas I saw because of different reasons - one was really attractive, one was more clever than the others - but in the end, they didn't work for me. I'm not good at getting things hung up on the wall, the best wall in our kitchen for such things is next to the door to the garage which seems to get slammed too hard and cause things to fall, and I'm just too computer-oriented.
I used to work in software development, and I have some ideas on creating an application for meal planning. However, I have always been an analyst and never really a programmer, so my ideas are stuck in my head with nowhere to go. So instead of a complex program or a cute wooden planner on the wall, I use a document in Google Docs. Yep - that simple. I save a couple of weeks' worth, then I can go back and copy and paste into the current week if I need to.
At the top of the page, I list each family member and generically what I put in their lunch:
Hubby - sandwich, yogurt, veggie, fruit, chips; Son - sandwich, veggie or chips, fruit, protein drink for snack, water; Daughter - sandwich or salad, veggie, fruit, protein bar, snack, water
This is my reminder for my grocery list. Then I just list each day of the week and what I'll cook for dinner. Next to the day of the week, I also note any event we have that may affect the meal - if I'll be home late due to an appointment or if one of the kids will be with a friend for dinner. Then I make my grocery list on Google Keep.
Now I have my meal plan and my grocery list on my computer and my cell phone. If I decide to run by the grocery store after school, I don't have to worry if my list is with me, or what is it that I'm making tonight?
So that's my tip for today. The beginning of this week we're eating cheap because payday is on Wednesday (see my earlier post for my chili recipe!)
Karen
Sunday is my meal planning day. It's also my laundry day, my lunch preparation for the week day, and a bunch of other chores I should've done on Saturday day.
I have seen so many cute meal planning boards on Pinterest! I have pinned several and even downloaded and tried out a few. Most involve some sort of grid with some sort of attachable meal ideas that you stick on for each day of the week.
The idea behind each is the same: come up with 14 -28 dinner ideas that you rotate throughout the month, and use a handy device to help you note which meal you will eat each day.
I like several of the ideas I saw because of different reasons - one was really attractive, one was more clever than the others - but in the end, they didn't work for me. I'm not good at getting things hung up on the wall, the best wall in our kitchen for such things is next to the door to the garage which seems to get slammed too hard and cause things to fall, and I'm just too computer-oriented.
I used to work in software development, and I have some ideas on creating an application for meal planning. However, I have always been an analyst and never really a programmer, so my ideas are stuck in my head with nowhere to go. So instead of a complex program or a cute wooden planner on the wall, I use a document in Google Docs. Yep - that simple. I save a couple of weeks' worth, then I can go back and copy and paste into the current week if I need to.
At the top of the page, I list each family member and generically what I put in their lunch:
Hubby - sandwich, yogurt, veggie, fruit, chips; Son - sandwich, veggie or chips, fruit, protein drink for snack, water; Daughter - sandwich or salad, veggie, fruit, protein bar, snack, water
This is my reminder for my grocery list. Then I just list each day of the week and what I'll cook for dinner. Next to the day of the week, I also note any event we have that may affect the meal - if I'll be home late due to an appointment or if one of the kids will be with a friend for dinner. Then I make my grocery list on Google Keep.
Now I have my meal plan and my grocery list on my computer and my cell phone. If I decide to run by the grocery store after school, I don't have to worry if my list is with me, or what is it that I'm making tonight?
So that's my tip for today. The beginning of this week we're eating cheap because payday is on Wednesday (see my earlier post for my chili recipe!)
Karen
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Chicken Noodle Soup on Pinterest
My most re-pinned pin is a recipe for Homemade Chicken Soup in the Crock pot. Here is the recipe. According to my notifications, 480 people have re-pinned it. I can't imagine that any of my other pins have been re-pinned that much!
However, I have never actually made that soup, so I thought it would be a good idea to try out. The good news is that it's really tasty. The bad news is that I don't really find it to be a crock pot recipe. To me, a crock pot recipe should take several hours of cooking. This recipe cooks for only 45 minutes, then you add the noodles and cook it another 15. I just cooked it on the stove and it looked like this:
I had some onion that I sliced up and cooked with the chicken, and I also used boneless, skinless chicken. People who know me well know that I don't like to be reminded that I'm eating something that used to be alive. I'm a hypocritical meat-eater. I should be a vegetarian, but boneless meat tastes yummy!
I also used baby carrots and cut them in half, because I had them to put in lunches for the week.
We had the soup with some Rosemary and Olive Oil bread from Kroger's bakery. You have to bake it for 15 minutes, and it was really, really good.
So the verdict on my most re-pinned - make it if you want a delicious soup, but don't make it if you really want a slow cooker (all day) soup.
Karen
However, I have never actually made that soup, so I thought it would be a good idea to try out. The good news is that it's really tasty. The bad news is that I don't really find it to be a crock pot recipe. To me, a crock pot recipe should take several hours of cooking. This recipe cooks for only 45 minutes, then you add the noodles and cook it another 15. I just cooked it on the stove and it looked like this:
I had some onion that I sliced up and cooked with the chicken, and I also used boneless, skinless chicken. People who know me well know that I don't like to be reminded that I'm eating something that used to be alive. I'm a hypocritical meat-eater. I should be a vegetarian, but boneless meat tastes yummy!
I also used baby carrots and cut them in half, because I had them to put in lunches for the week.
We had the soup with some Rosemary and Olive Oil bread from Kroger's bakery. You have to bake it for 15 minutes, and it was really, really good.
So the verdict on my most re-pinned - make it if you want a delicious soup, but don't make it if you really want a slow cooker (all day) soup.
Karen
Saturday, January 4, 2014
A Stocking for Gracie, Our Dog
I posted a picture a on my Facebook page of the Christmas stocking I made for our little dog, Gracie, and I was thinking that I would elaborate on it here.
Here is the pattern from Red Heart yarn and here is a picture of my completed stocking:
I am proud of it; I think it turned out really cute. It's crocheted, because I can't knit. The pattern of course tells you that you need a skein of green, a skein of white and a skein of red. You can tell by looking that you don't need a whole skein of white or red. As a matter of fact, I had a small ball of red, and I still have a small ball left so it doesn't take much red at all. Probably the same amount of white. I don't think it took even a 1/2 skein of green.
The only thing that disappointed me is that it's smaller than I was hoping it was. Had I read the directions all the way, of course, I would've noticed it's only 13" long, but apparently I didn't see that.
As I was driving home from getting lunch today, I had an idea. The stocking only took me about 2 1/2 hours to make, and I think it would be cute to make in real pet colors too. And since it's small, it would be easy to fill with new pet needs like a leash, collar, little snacks, etc., and would make a great gift for a new pet parent!
I'm not a big cat person, but I'm also thinking that if you replaced the bone with maybe a fish, this could also be used for cats.
Please share in the comments if you have any other ideas!
Karen
Here is the pattern from Red Heart yarn and here is a picture of my completed stocking:
I am proud of it; I think it turned out really cute. It's crocheted, because I can't knit. The pattern of course tells you that you need a skein of green, a skein of white and a skein of red. You can tell by looking that you don't need a whole skein of white or red. As a matter of fact, I had a small ball of red, and I still have a small ball left so it doesn't take much red at all. Probably the same amount of white. I don't think it took even a 1/2 skein of green.
The only thing that disappointed me is that it's smaller than I was hoping it was. Had I read the directions all the way, of course, I would've noticed it's only 13" long, but apparently I didn't see that.
As I was driving home from getting lunch today, I had an idea. The stocking only took me about 2 1/2 hours to make, and I think it would be cute to make in real pet colors too. And since it's small, it would be easy to fill with new pet needs like a leash, collar, little snacks, etc., and would make a great gift for a new pet parent!
I'm not a big cat person, but I'm also thinking that if you replaced the bone with maybe a fish, this could also be used for cats.
Please share in the comments if you have any other ideas!
Karen
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Pinterest - The Good and the Bad
I really love Pinterest. I'm sure I waste too much time on it but there are so many cool ideas out there! I have 78 boards and over 7,400 pins.
Although I have tried many of them, I certainly have not tried them all. But what I was realizing today is while I'm pretty good at trying out the recipes and crochet patterns and various crafts, I'm not so good at following up on the articles I have pinned about ADHD and Organization and Parenting and Health, and I think you get the picture.
I noticed that many of the cleaning schedules people post assign a particular chore to a day of the week - clean the bathrooms on Mondays, do the laundry on Tuesdays, etc. So I'm thinking I'll apply this same logic to reading my pinned articles - I'll assign a topic a day:
And back to my handy-dandy cell phone. Since I have Pinterest on my phone, I can read my articles while the kids wait their 30 minutes for their allergy shot reactions, or while I wait for my car repair, or while I eat lunch (if I ever eat away from my desk) or maybe even while I get my nails done. (Although I have to say, I have never quite understood how women use their phones while the manicurists are working on their nails.) Maybe I'll even confiscate my husband's tablet so I can have a bigger screen . . . .
By the way, if you haven't joined the Pinterest yet, I just have this one bit of advice for you:
Karen
Although I have tried many of them, I certainly have not tried them all. But what I was realizing today is while I'm pretty good at trying out the recipes and crochet patterns and various crafts, I'm not so good at following up on the articles I have pinned about ADHD and Organization and Parenting and Health, and I think you get the picture.
I noticed that many of the cleaning schedules people post assign a particular chore to a day of the week - clean the bathrooms on Mondays, do the laundry on Tuesdays, etc. So I'm thinking I'll apply this same logic to reading my pinned articles - I'll assign a topic a day:
Organization and Cleaning on Sundays
ADHD on Monday
Health on Tuesdays
Blogging Tips on Wednesdays
Money Tips on Thursdays
Parenting and For My Family on Fridays
For My Honey on Saturdays
By the way, if you haven't joined the Pinterest yet, I just have this one bit of advice for you:
Karen
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