Busy Week & Simple Spaghetti

The past week has been a busy one and I have enjoyed every minute.  I signed on as an independent Pampered Chef Consultant, hosted my grand opening show, we received our first birthday cake order, celebrated the upcoming birth of our friends baby girl and I actually have a clean kitchen today.  Miracles will never cease.  I am looking forward to my first small business endeavor.  I will incorporate Pampered Chef products and recipes into my postings.  I will be featuring recipes from the 29 minute dinner cookbook next week.  I am so excited a friend thought of me (or Mystic Creations) for a birthday cake.  We will always remember our first order and happy clients.  We are looking forward to it. 

I made a few batches of petite cheesecakes this past weekend.  The peanut butter cup cheesecakes were a success.  I also made the traditional cherry cheesecakes. 

Saturday night I made my first Pampered Chef recipe.  It was a garden veggie pizza.  I have always used a dry pack of crust mix.  This called for the refrigerated tube of pizza dough.  I was pleasantly surprised.  For the cost and convenience I will be using pre-made pizza dough again. 

Now, onto making simple spaghetti special.  We saw some friends this weekend and cooking came up in conversation.  I feel just as burdened with cooking at times as other people do.  I have dry spells where I have little motivation and no creativity.  Tonight I made Spaghetti...and I made it special.  I think the easiest thing we can do as food preparers for our family is to make dinner fun, taste great and be interesting.  I used odds and ends of fresh vegetables in the sauce.  You will find my simple instructions on the Kitchen Delicious page.  Feeding kids is always harder than whipping something up for the adults in the household.  I have been coming up with ways to incorporate vegetables in Lilly's meals.  We must choose our battles.  Tonight she had spaghetti noodles with shredded mozzerella cheese and chicken nuggets.  Score 1 for protein and a strikeout on the veggies. It's ok, mini meatloaves with hidden carrots in on the menu for the week.  :)

I played around with some glass beads over the last week too.  I posted some pictures on my Creative Notions page.  There are also new pictures on the Baked Creations page. 

Leave me your comments, questions or suggestions.  I like to know what matters to everyone and what we are all trying to accomplish in the kitchen and in our lives. 

Past Creations

I discovered my love of baking over the past few years as I've made my daughter's birthday cakes. Her first birthday I am glad we survived our over full house of loving family and friends. I would have attained saint hood already if I had a homemade cake creation on Lilly's 1st birthday. For her second birthday we had Minnie Mouse, then a Barbie Doll cake and last year was a practice in marshmallow fondant with My Little Pony.  I have pictures of the other past birthday cakes on the Baked Creations page. 

My Little Pony 2011

Flowers in the Winter

Clay brought Lilly and I each a bouquet of flowers home Friday.  Lilly's were hot pink and unicorn purple.  Yes, there is a unicorn purple.  I have green starbursts and blossoms of yellow and purple.  Having flowers in the house is theraputic.  Not just for a dirt junkie such as myself.  Who wouldn't be a little happier with a smile sitting on the counter. 

So I owed him.  I haven't created something sweet in a week.  I had a failed attempt at a lower calorie mini cheesecake last weekend.  I tweeked my recipe tonight and have petite chocolate chip cheesecakes that are 109 calories a piece.  I think individual desserts are perfect.  Just enough for a taste and a batch makes 12-18 cakes.   This is one recipe I will keep to myself.  I have shared the standard mini cheesecake recipe on the Baked Creations page.  These are always a hit with cherry pie topping. 

My Sunday also produced petite carrot cakes.  I experimented with a variety of frosting decorations.  I like to figure out what looks and tastes best.  I will share more about those another time.  I also used crockpots today to prepare 2 meats.  I did a smoked flavored brisket with onions and porksteaks with tomato sauce, tomato soup leftovers and onions.  Now there are meat choices for dinner in the fridge and I don't have to think too much about dinners. 

I almost forgot my most exciting news of the day.  Lilly ate my little carrot cakes and liked them.  I was shocked the idea of carrot cake appealed to her and so pleased she will eat them.  I left the nuts out of this batch.  I knew there would be no hope if there were nuts.  My amazement continued tonight as she actually tried her cauliflower (with homemade cheese sauce) and sweet potato.  Balancing our diet has been one of my pojects lately.  She is beginnging to grasp proteins, grains and the importance of vegetables. I actaully have to limit the fruit consumption in this house while vegetables had been eluding us.  Nice to see we are making progress.  Happy Sunday everyone!

Homemade Pizza Night

We have a habit or tradition of ordering pizza on Friday nights as I’m sure many other families do.  In a continued effort to not eat out, I made our pizzas tonight at home.   We have done this many times before.   Baked on a pizza stone the crust always has a nice crunch to it.  As usual this dinner was made from my pantry inventory.  I try to have pizza crust mixes in the basement.  Cheese is a staple in our house as is tomato sauce.  I used black olives, fresh mushrooms, red onion, green pepper and some of my cooked chicken breast from earlier in the week. 

I diced my vegetables smaller than normal today and thought they worked well.  Clay requested a more substantial crust today than I normally would use.  So I used two dough mixes for our crust.  If you have made pizza on your own before you know it tastes great and the kids like to help with the toppings.  If for some reason you have shied away from homemade pizza, I encourage you to take the plunge.  I use store brand dough mix that only has to sit for 5-10 minutes and it always turns out well.  Reuse the meats and vegetables in your fridge from the week.  Create a meal together as a family and save your money this week

If you would like to see the simple instructions or pictures visit the Kitchen Delicious Page. 

Making food that goes the extra mile

Using pantry basics is important to me.  Having sufficient appetizers available during football games is important to my husband.  Here is a quick, easy and low fat appetizer that utilizes some items I usually have on hand.  You can enjoy it with tortilla chips or a variety of vegetables; carrots, celery, jicama.  This warm dip has a little kick and I didn’t even use the entire 1/3 C hot sauce.  The recipe can be found on the Kitchen Delicious page. 

I discovered the best part of this dip the next night when I used it as the filling in a warm tortilla for dinner.  I made my husband a burrito with taco meat, cheese and black beans and warmed it on my electric skillet.  To keep the calorie count down on mine I didn't add taco meat or cheese.  The chicken dip has such a great flavor and plenty of cheese already; I only added some black beans for my simple and thrifty dinner.  

Now for me the burrito makes a nice dinner.  The fact that is requires little preparation and is lower in calories is a plus for me.  My husband isn’t as concerned with calories or preparation time...especially when he isn’t ‘preparing’.   I appreciate a balanced life and will be sure to post some guilty treat recipes soon. 

One challenge I am given myself this year is to waste as little food as possible.  I often re purpose food and create new ways to use the same foods.  I will have to stay creative to keep the family happy.  This should get interesting. 

Cottage Foods

I read an amazing document today.  Michigan’s Cottage Food Law.  I can sell my ‘cottage food’ or food that is labeled, packaged and prepared in my kitchen.  This law has a very extraordinary purpose.  I only wish all legislation had such a positive impact on my life.  I am able to ‘test the waters’ according to Michigan Food Law.  It offers an opportunity to ‘see if operating a food business is the right fit.’   What a great idea.  I love it! 

So I can officially test the waters and prepare my products to share with others.  I can personally sell my baked goods to another person.  I am not able to sell my goods to a grocery store or market for resale, but I can sell my baked goods.  Not only do I get to live my dream part-time right now, I am able to do this with my best friend, Trish.  We look forward to sharing our delicious treats with everyone. 

I am definitely headed in the right direction this year and it’s only January 11, 2012.  I will take it.  I look forward to hard work, personal satisfaction and continuing along my path this year. 

Be sure to check on our progress.  We will post a list of Mystic Creations Baked Goods soon.  We bake allergy friendly goodies too.  :)  I look forward to seeing friends and family soon as we share our samples.

Dreaming of Spring

Ever since we decided against moving this year I have been dreaming of spring.  I can't wait to get outside and see the new sprouts of perennials.  My annuals vary from year to year in terms of cost.  I spent less last year as a challenge to myself.  I bought 3 colors and 3 different textures and 2 green accents I could split and place in multiple flower pots.  It worked well.  I even grew some tomato plants on the patio in larger empty planters I had left over.  There is one rescue plant I and very anxious to watch grow this year.  I have always loved butterfly bushes and bought one at the end of the season for $3.  It has had two years to grow and get healthy.  I can't wait to see it this year.  Check out my Ferns, Fairies and Fennel page for other garden plans I have for 2012.