Pie Are Squared

No they aren't; they are round but, that was the theme of today.  Today my baby, my youngest, my Bug turned 8 years old. I know! That's what I thought when I woke up this morning to! Kind of a 'Where in the dickens have the last 8 years gone and who was driving that speeding bus?' Maybe Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock got a hold of my life and turning it into a spinoff of Speed.

So anyway, back to the Pie Are Squared thing... We had a couple of the birthday boy's favorite things: his favorite kind of "pizza pie" and for dessert, his favorite kind of pie.  He has all ready had cupcakes (this past Sunday) with all his buddies and he had a sleepover with one of his best buddies last night.

This boy, this young man, who turned 8 has a heart of gold, whose smile can capture you in a moment where you are frozen in time, whose eyes are so blue, so kind, so innocent, so full of love you can fall into them and never want to leave, a boy who has music locked into the marrow of his bones. He is always dancing, always singing, always drumming...

There was a food theme to his birthday this year.  Jellybean didn't have the money to buy him what she wanted so she scrounged what money she had and bought him a chocolate doughnut. The bride from this past weekend's wedding brought him over her favorite dish as a child, sunomono salad (this but without the crab or shrimp).

Other than that he has birthday money and gift cards to spend, new rollerblades and his buddy who just moved has informed me that he is sending him a tackle box with a couple of hooks. He will be so excited by the gesture and the knowledge that his buddy, now two provinces away, did not forget about him.

Jamie Oliver's Classic Tomato Spaghetti

Serves 4-6

2 cloves of garlic

1 fresh red chile

a small bunch of fresh basil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound dried spaghetti

olive oil

1 x 14-oz can of diced tomatoes

4 oz Parm cheese

Peel and finely slice the garlic. Finely slice the chile (half and seed first if you don't want the auce too hot). Pick the basil leaves off the stalks and put to one side; finely chop the stalks.

Bring large pan of salted water to a boil, add the spaghetti and cook according to instructions. Meanwhile, put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add some olive oil. Add the garlic, chile, and basil satalks and give them a stir. When the garlic begins to brown slightly, add most of the basil leaves and the canned tomatoes. Turn the heat up high and stir for a minute. Season with salt and pepper. Drain the spaghetti and transfer to the pan of sauce and stir well. Add more salt and pepper to taste (if needed).

These can be added to your tomato sauce when it is finished. Stir in and warm through.

*Add a handful of baby spinach leaves to the sauce at the same time you add the pasta - when the leaves have wilted remove from the heat and serve with crumbled feta on top.

Calling all cooks!

Yep, that's right; I'm talking to you. Heck, I'm talking to all the not-so-hot cooks too, you know, the ones just like me. Average joes, so to speak.

I'd love to hear from you.  Please share your favorite recipes that will help us all out in our sometimes chaotic schedules. Freezer meals, crockpot meals, what have you...share them.  I know I would love to hear and I am certain my other readers welcome a change to the same old same old same recipes they use every day as well...

I'll go first.

Meatball Stroganoff

(now this doesn't save any time unless you pre-make the meatballs which I do the day of grocery shopping)
Make your favorite meatball recipe and fully cook.  To make the sauce add a 500 Ml container of sour cream and two cans of condensed mushroom soup.  I also like to add a bit of worchestershire sauce.  Cook until heated through (with the meatballs).  Serve over your choice of pasta noodle and with a big old salad and garlic bread.

It's a delicious meal on a dreary winter day!

Your turn.  Please share...

Oh sweetness!

Or cheesiness...or whatever...

But Brandi is my tastebuds' new best friend and my hips' newest nemesis...

Click here to find out why

How much can I get for this much?

I used to work at a gas station and we had a young girl that would come in with a ziploc baggie full of coins and ask us "How much can I get with this much?". Drove me bonkers. Drove us all bonkers, actually. You had to count the money and figure out how much candy she could get with that much money and the taxes, and work around her with customers who were wanting to pay for their gas, etc. She came in every day - some days several times a shift.

I don't know why I shared that other than it popped into my head right after I finished making 12 wraps for school lunches. One for tomorrow and eleven for the freezer. I got to thinking "wow. I think I just made the main part of 12 lunches for the cost of a McDonalds meal" and that got me to thinking, "how much can I get for this much".

I know.

Don't even try to figure out how my brain works at times - you will feel lost and slightly confused. Unless you do have the same process of thought as I do and then, perhaps, we can help each other out. Never know! {Grin}

I'll bet you are wondering what I made, aren't you? Well, wondering or not I am about to tell you - even show you! Lucky you. {grin}

I found this recipe for Salsa Chicken over at From My Kitchen (thanks Brandi!) quite awhile ago. Today I threw 3 chicken breasts in the crockpot with some salsa (I buy ours in bulk so I guesstimate at how much it was - perhaps a cup) and shredded them up. On 12 tortillas, I spread out some sour cream that I had just bought for $0.50 (I know!), put a couple forkfuls of the shredded chicken and topped it with shredded cheddar. I wrapped them up individaully in plastic wrap and then put them in a freezer bag.

Take a peek at these... (Yumm-o)

11 of the 12 I made (#12 is for tomorrow's lunch)

I would guess that the 12 of these wraps cost me approximately $7 to make. You're looking at about $0.58 per wrap.

When I look at that, I just don't know if I could ever pay $6.50 for a Big Mac Meal or $5.29 for a 6-inch sub with baked chips and a drink at Subway again. (Ok, maybe hardly ever; I really like Subway!)

Amish and Yummish

A friend gave me a starter batch of Amish Friendship Bread. The first go around we made it a Cinnamon Loaf; this time, when Bug was helping me measure, we decided to make it a Chocolate Loaf.

It is a HUGE hit with my kids, who have taken it to school and shared with their friends, who are now placing their orders with me for the next batch.

I wish I had the recipe to share with you, but given it was a starter and I am now going off that starter to continue with my baking, I have no idea how to make it - other than the additional ingredients you add to it. And, yes, I did go a little crazy and diverted from the recipe. I so totally did add chocolate chips and walnuts to these loaves. Maybe next time I will add, gasp, marshmallows too!

We made 6 loaves that day. Gave one away to a friend, kept one out for school lunches and froze the other 4.

I was going to...

tell you all about the fun night we had and how I so wished I had brought my camera with me and how much I enoyed watching Jellybean and Bug help our dear friend Shar make lefse but, I need to work in the morning and Bug is calling me to tuck him in (after all his hard work cooking lefse) so I think I should probably go to bed...after I tuck him in of course.

Still wishing I had brought my camera!

You demanded asked for it

Well, if you want to get me on a technicality, Cheryl was the only one to ask but I was still asked and I still aim to please when I can.

Without further delay allow me to present to you the recipe for the Honey Garlic Sauce I will be making (to freeze) for my meatballs on Saturday.

Cheryl, and anyone else who wants it, here it is.

Um, your welcome.  What can I say?  I do what I can for the people I love....{GRIN}