Outdoors Life

It's that time of year again! Although really here in Texas it's always that time of year :-) And while I'm very grateful, I hope summer isn't too hot this year!
      Anyways, last week started up the family outdoor outings for the year. Wednesday we went to the Alamo and saw the Travis Letter and Texas Declaration of Independence. There were reenactments with live cannonfire and actors dressed in period costumes. Really the kids just loved the wildlife.... One chased pigeons, another talked to the squirrels, and the oldest had fun chatting with the koi in the aquaduct.
All in all a good day :-)

Beef Stew

Beef stew is one of my favorite rainy day dinners. I love making this in my Lodge enamel Dutch oven (awesome wedding present :-) ), it's really one of those dishes that is so easy!

2 lbs (or more) stew beef (I just cube a roast)
1 Tbsp butter
1 whole sweet onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
6-8 cups beef broth (2 boxes will work)
2 cups water (or you can use more broth)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp ketchup
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of black pepper
1 1/2 sugar
4-7 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 cup mashed potatoes per serving (so 12 c mashed potatoes. We use instant baby reds or home style)

Brown beef in butter over medium high heat. Do this in two batches or it'll take forever! Set aside when done. Add onions, sauté until translucent. Add garlic, broth, Worcestershire, ketchup, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar. Put the beef back in and cover. Let the whole thing simmer for an hour and a half to two hours, stirring as necessary. If you need to add liquid, add water or more broth. Don't worry about adding too much, you can always cook it a bit more. Add carrots and let cook for 20 minutes. In the meantime, make the potatoes. When ready to serve, put a cup of mashed potatoes in middle of each bowl, scooping stew over the top. Enjoy :-)

Fun, Easy Temporary TATTOOS :-)

Kids love to draw and color, on EVERYTHING including themselves! Well, why not let them at least color on themselves? We do fun fake tattoos all the time here: sharpies for outlines, washable crayola markers or colored sharpies for color. Both are non toxic and come off skin easily. Crayola markers use soap & water, whilst sharpies may take a bath or too. But it's a great cheap way to have fun on a rainy afternoon!

Ritzy Fried Chicken :-)

Fried chicken is one of my culinary nemesis. Either I can't get the breading right, or the chicken doesn't cook all the way through, or worse yet too oily. Now fixing the last two problems is easy: cook the chicken longer and have the oil at a higher temperature. Awesome fact: if the cooking oil is at the right temperature, the food absorbs less of it than if the temperature was too low :-) Anyways, after years of searching, I finally came across a recipe from Nigella Lawson called Ritz Chicken. The fact that I almost never have buttermilk or room in my fridge for overnight marinating lead to my adaptation.

Ritzy Chicken

1 roll of Ritz crackers (any kind is fine)
3/4 cup yogurt (vanilla, French vanilla, or plain)
1/4 cup milk
1 lb chicken breast boneless and skinless
Enough oil to fry chicken in

Crush the crackers to fine crumbs (I use a ziplock bag and have a kid squish them). Pour into a shallow bowl. Mix the yogurt and milk in another shallow bowl. Heat up 1-2 inches of oil in a fry pan or follow the directions to heat oil in a deep fryer. Cut the chicken into strips about 1/2 in wide. Cut strips in half to get nuggets. Put chicken in yogurt mixture a few pieces at a time and allow to sit for a couple of minutes. Then roll chicken pieces into crumbs to cover and put in hot oil. Fry until completely golden brown, turning if necessary. Remove to plate lined with paper towels and leave until cool. Enjoy :-)

Note: this chicken does not look or taste like KFC, but it does taste so much better!!

A Goat, a Wolf & a Cabbage

When I was in middle school one of my teachers loved, and I do mean LURVED, to tell riddles. Their favorite riddle was one about a farmer trying to cross a river. Perhaps you've heard it? Pretty much a farmer has to cross a river on a small ferry. He is bringing a goat, a wolf, and a cabbage to market. But the ferry will only hold him +1, and wolves eat goats whilst goats eat cabbages. So what the farmer does is he takes the goat over and leaves it on bank b. Then he goes back and gets the cabbage. He leaves that on bank b, taking the goat back with him to bank a. At bank a he switches the goat for the wolf. Now he has the wolf and cabbage on bank b and the goat on a. He makes one last trip across with the goat to bank b and finally FINALLY! the farmer is on his way. Whew! Sounds exhausting? Sometimes that's exactly how I feel being a mom. How 'bout you?