One Pot of Stuff I'm not allowed to Touch

Here's a good tip I learned from my mom, but not the way she things. Just because some things seem interchangeable in a recipe, doesn't mean they are.

Take last night, for instance. Mom busts out the big pot which either means soup or "One Pot". That's how she describes it. Because, naturally, she's not exactly sure what she's really making until it comes out.

Perhaps that's not fair. She seemed to know what she was doing, but I'm not sure.

 Look, it's not like I minded. But click this link to the recipe and you can see what I have to deal with in this house. It's like, how can we ever know what to expect. It's gonna be anarchy!

First, mom didn't realize that we ate all the spaghetti noodles earlier in the week, so she put in the smaller pasta. I'm cool with that part. These are little tubes with holes and you can put one in your mouth and blow through it and that's awesome. But she was really taking some chances. These aren't even remotely the same shape as spaghetti.

Then, she realized that Daddy ate the sausage meant for this recipe and had to cup up a left over pork chop chicken. This was not a good idea. The tomatoes I did like and they were part of the original recipe. She also made this with chicken broth instead of just water, which was cool because that meant I got to plop the bouillon cube into the hot water and watch it fall apart.

So I actually really liked this one and ate a lot of it, but Mom seemed like she wasn't all that interested. That's okay! More for me!

Oh yeah, the girl ate some too.

Pete approved.

Chicken Cobbler

So maybe I oversold the whole chicken thing?

We had chicken cobbler in honor of Father's Day. I'm not exactly sure what Father's Day is about but I was instructed to repeat this to Daddy on multiple occasions, so I'm guessing it has something to do with him.

I didn't get to help too much with this one, but mostly because I wasn't that interested. I figured since it was Father's Day, Daddy should take the nap. NOT ME! So I didn't. And I think by the end of the day, Mommy and Daddy just weren't understanding me and my needs. I have needs, you know. And one of them is not to be Mommy's helper if "I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT!"

I did try to touch the biscuits as much as possible before they got stuck on top of the chicken mix. But Mom caught me and again, not understanding my methods, she banished me to the playroom. Why would I want to go in there?

This is what it looked like after it finally came out of the oven a second time. DON'T TOUCH the oven.

In the meantime, we got down to serious business and made brownies for Father's Day dessert.

I got to lick the bowl. The girl totally missed out, but she was sleeping again so it was just me and a bowl full of chocolatey goodness. But let's get real, if you think I would have shared that, you just haven't been reading this blog enough.

When it came time for actually eating the dinner, which Mom thought would be a hit since the girl and I both like biscuits and chicken, we hit a snag. The girl had to be woken up from her nap for dinner. She was NOT amused. And I, well again, sometimes they just don't get me.

This is me, trying to explain my truth. Not that anyone in the house was listening. So Father's Day dinner involved some tears and then bedtime, which I think might have been early because the sun was still pretty bright outside. I never did get to eat finished brownies, but I'm sure Mommy and Daddy waited for me and wouldn't have eaten them without me. Right?

Click here for the recipe.

Approval pending.

Chicken!! (Chicken Enchiladas)

Me again. And guess what? We had chicken, again!

I think Mom is starting to understand my not so subtle hints. So I got to help with this too, which is great because any time we get to put shredded cheese in something, it always gives me the opportunity to sneak a few bites when no one is looking.

Mom says the thing on the left is a "grown up beverage". I tried to stick my finger in it, but she was always watching. Anyway, after we filled the tortillas with chicken and cheese, we rolled them up and stuck them in this pan. I thought we were done and called it a day, but apparently there was this whole step that involved making a sauce and flour and green chiles, oh and for some reason Mom used Daddy's yogurt in the sauce. I asked Mom a bunch of times if she was sure that's what she wanted to do, but she kept saying yes. Geez woman, just trying to help here. 

Don't be fooled, that is the second adult beverage there on the left... not the same one. But anyway after the sauce and more cheese (ha sneaked some of that too) went on, it went into the oven, which I am NOT allowed to touch. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Sometimes when mom makes Mexican food it's too spicy for me, but this was just right. Plus, mom made them extra cheesy which is great because who doesn't like cheese?

Here's the girl sticking her finger into the sauce and licking it. See, I told Mom she didn't really know how to use a fork. Oh and that cookie on her tray, I put that there. I found it on the floor and figured she might like it. I'm a good brother like that.

Here's me, eating the chicken. Mom had to cut the enchilada apart so I could see the chicken before I agreed to eat it. I mean, I know I put them together, but how do I know someone didn't switch that stuff around while I wasn't looking?

Click here if you want to make it yourself.

Anyway, this one is Pete approved.

Chicken - the other chicken (Tuscan Pork Chops)

We all know there is only two kinds of meat - hamburger, and chicken. So imagine my surprise when my mom said we were having Pork Chops for dinner. But I quickly realized this is actually some kind of chicken. Phew, what a relief. I like chicken.

The preparation portion was incredibly too fast and involved almost no helping from me. I like helping make dinner, Mom says it gives me "agency" or something? She read this book and for some reason thinks I'm a indentured servant or something when it comes to dinner help.

But for tonight, let's be honest, I was actually too busy taking the girl's favorite toy and running around the house with it while the girl chased me screaming. Trust me, she's going to look back on that and think it was hilarious.

Anyway, I did get to choose whether we were going to have pasta or rice on the side. I chose rice. It's fun because I get to drop the bouillon cube into the rice cooker and then poke it around when Mom isn't looking. She always figures it out though, probably because I like to say "poke, poke, poke" while I do it.

So I was pretty stoked when everything was ready and we sat down to dinner. It felt like it took FOREVER though (20 minutes). I started right in on my rice. And so did the girl. But you're probably not here to read about me eating white rice with chicken flavoring?

See what the girl is doing here? She's using her fork. Mom acted like it was a big deal. Hey lady, I'm using my fork too. Sheesh. It's like she thinks the girl is a genius or something.

Anyway, after mouthfuls of rice, Mom asked if I could eat a piece of pork CHICKEN and then asked me to give it a thumbs up or down.

 

 

 Hey... thumbs up. But, wait, turns out that doesn't mean what I think it means. I asked to spit this out later but was denied. So I chewed and chewed and eventually ate it. It didn't kill me but it was close. I didn't eat anymore but Mom ate all of hers so I guess she liked it fine.

I'm conflicted on this. I liked it and didn't like it. When this kind of thing happens, Mom usually will make this again and see what happens the second time around. So for now, we'll say approval pending.

Oh and here's the link in case you are interested in making Tuscan Pork Chops CHICKEN, yourself.
http://sweetcsdesigns.com/one-pan-tuscan-pork-chops/

We need to talk about pancakes

The best part about making pancakes in our house is that I get to help. I take all the ingredients out of the pantry and line them up on the counter for Daddy. Then Daddy lets me pour some ingredients into the bowl so he can mix them up.

A couple of weeks ago my entire routine was messed up because Mommy made the pancakes and she followed a different recipe. This was all very confusing but once I tasted the pancakes, I was inclined to forgive her. It all started after a night of delicious calzones. There was some left over ricotta cheese and mom was a little obsessed about what we should do with it? Throw it away? Feed it to the girl? Apparently it became pancakes.

Now, Daddy has resumed pancake making duties but we are still eating the new pancakes. It's hard to remember that I can only eat two or three of these pancakes compared to five of the old kind.

Sometimes I still ask for five and it makes me pretty upset when someone says I should "start with two and see what happens." You know what's going to happen? I'm gonna scream. Just saying.

Anyway, here's the recipe: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-fluffy-ricotta-pancakes-48085 

Go ahead and try them. They won't kill you. And, they're Pete approved. 

The other lost post - Lasagna Soup

I realized looking at this page that I've posted some of the recipes where Mom surprised us all and we liked it. Where's the duds? That woman has made me eat a LOT of duds over the past three years, so where are they?

Oh yeah, Mom doesn't like to take photo evidence of them. Well you know what I found:

See what she did there? She tried to give me two spoons to entice me to eat this and I wouldn't. It's called lasagna soup. And while I like lasagna, this was an abomination. First, the noodles were too big for me to get on my fork. See my fork mom? It's itty bitty. I can't spear a big noodle with it.

Also, the cream thing threw me off. And I know I was yelling for food for half an hour as you tried to add the cream and distract me from my tantrum, all it did was cool this sucker down. And then when you made me wait until it got to the proper soup temperature, I got hangrier. Then we sit down and it's too hot to eat. Cue tantrum.

Wow, this is painful reliving these memories. Anyway, the lesson is, I don't like soup. Too hot, too hard to eat. Mom's tried soups since then but usually soups with round disks of sausage cut into them and then she drains out my liquid so I'm basically having meat and bean salad. That's been okay, but really she should know by now. I don't like soup!

I'm not out to embarrass anyone by posting a link so just as a cautionary tale, when you see that enticing Pin and think "Oh my kids like lasagna, what a neat twist." Just stop. They will not like lasagna soup. Just make lasagna.

The Lost Post - Broccoli and Cheese and Rice, Oh my!

There comes a time in every mom's life when they say they are going to keep their blog updated and post lots of cool things. Then, well, life gets in the way. And since my mom brought this girl home to live with us (she swears she's staying), well she's not been completely on top of her game.

That's okay Mom, I forgive you. Now let's discuss Popsicle payment.

Low and behold, it turns out Mom forgot to post these gems of me being awesome and eating a cheesy broccoli rice thing that apparently made gallons because one day six months after this picture was taken she dug deep into our freezer and out popped another helping of this stuff. Mom was basically a zombie at that time and the girl kept waking up at night wanting someone to hang out with her. Girl... I been there.

Anyway, the morale of the story is I ate this twice and it was good both times.

Here's a before shot. This is before Mom put the dish into the hot box I'm not allowed to touch, but sometimes do when she's not looking.

Here's the after. I think this could have been better with some crunch cereal on top. Mom agrees although she says we should use cornflakes but we all know the only acceptable cereal to put on top is Lucky Charms. Or Fruit Loops if you're in a pinch.

Oh and here's me eating it. You know, for evidence sake. Here's the link so you can make it yourself.
http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/05/4-weeks-to-fill-your-freezer-chicken-broccoli-rice-casserole-day-14.html#_a5y_p=962490

It's Pete approved.

Whoops, where have I been? Mexico?

Did you realize the last time we talked I was only one and a half? Man a lot has happened in my life since then. I got a bike and went swimming and even saw the ocean and we moved to Tennessee.  That's about it. Oh, and yeah, this girl came to live with us. Mom says she's permanent.

I'm getting a bit pickier now and like to not eat things just so I can say I don't want them. Then I tell Mom and Dad I'm hungry when they're putting me to bed. It doesn't really work. They usually say, "well then you should have eaten dinner." Sheesh these people. If someone can get a note to my grandma I'd be grateful.

Now that we're in Tennessee and have a house with a big backyard, Mom and Dad like to dine "all frissy cool" or whatever. I get distracted by this idea because the only thing we usually eat on the back deck are Popsicles. So throughout dinner I had to check if it was Popsicle time yet. Apparently not, but I checked every 30 seconds or so just to be sure. 

What we did eat last night was something I've liked for a long time. I usually eat all of it, but again, last night my mind was elsewhere, BRING OUT THE POPSICLES WOMAN!

So this has a layer of cornbread, which I like, a layer of hamburger, which I like, and cheese on top, which I like. Mom did this all while I was sleeping so I'm a little hurt that I didn't get to break the eggs or stir the cornbread but I guess I'll forgive her... someday. Mom only uses green chiles and red enchilada sauce in this one so it's not too spicy, but Dad likes to add Chalula to his to make it spicier. 

Here's the link so you can try it yourself: http://www.bunsinmyoven.com/2012/03/23/chicken-tamale-casserole/ Plus those photos look nicer than the one my mom took:

This one is Pete approved.

Oh yeah, and the girl ate some too.