Veggie Bowls with Yum Yum Sauce

If you are ever in need of an emotional pick-me-up in the middle of the day, play hide-and-seek with a three-year-old. Emma has been on a huge hide-and-seek kick over the past couple of weeks and she is such a hoot to play with because she is so incredibly terrible at the game. For one, when hiding she makes so much dang noise as she tries to wedge herself into a corner, behind a door, or in a closet. Then, when the seeker (me) begins to get closer to her hiding spot, she begins to giggle and cackle loudly, sometimes even whispering to herself (loudly): "She's never going to find me!"

A lot of times when I'm playing the part of the seeker, I will be really theatrical while looking for the kids. I count super loud and make a ton of noise as I look for them throughout the house, such as opening the bathroom door dramatically and saying in a goofy voice: "Are they in here!? Not in the shower! Where could they be hiding?!" I always know I'm close to Emma's hiding spot, because normally she will answer my rhetorical questions ("I'm not in the bathroom, Mommy!"). It's pretty hilarious.

I need to get this girl some new pajamas. Ones that cover her belly.

On the flip side, Emma is the worst seeker. If she can't find me in the first three spots she looks, she begins to panic. As in, she thinks I left the house or something. Basically, if I don't hide in the middle of the living room, she never finds me unless I start guiding her to my location by banging on the wall or yelling. Once, I hid behind our laundry room door and did not give her any hints. I listened to the sound of her footsteps running up and down the length of the house, passing my hiding spot no less than ten times before I heard her tell Lucy: "Little Lucy, I have terrible news. I lost our Mom!" The funny thing was that Peyton had followed me to my hiding spot and was obviously sitting in the hallway staring at me through the crack in the door. I eventually began knocking on the door and she found me about 10 minutes later and from the celebratory dance she did when she did, you would have thought she had found me immediately without difficulty: "HAHA! I found you! I found your hiding spot! You tried to hide but I FOUND YOU!"

Like I said, if you're looking for a good time on a dreary, snowy afternoon, play a little hide-and-seek.

However, if you want to fill yourself with anxiety and tension, try feeding dinner to a three-year-old going through a major picky-eater phase. I dread dinnertime simply because I hate serving Lucy and Emma dinner. Neither one of those girls are great at that time of night. They're both tired and whiny and both are super pick about food right now. Something they loved the day before suddenly is disdainful to them today. Emma will almost always declare her hatred of whatever I'm making before she even lays eyes on it. Matthew, on the other hand, has had a wonderful appetite as of late and eats almost anything I set in front of him. A refreshing change from the previous four years. Of course once he left that phase, his sisters entered it.

Anyway, that's where these veggie bowls come in. They were despised by shunned by the girls, but loved and savored by Matthew, Paul, and me. So easy to prepare and so filling, hearty, and healthy, this meal was a welcome change from the convenience food and crockpot meals we have been eating during our remodel. First, warm jasmine rice is ladled into deep bowls and topped with warm, seasoned black beans. For convenience, I just used a can of Bush's seasoned black beans but you could most certainly make your own recipe for seasoned black beans or just use plain beans. Then comes the Yum Yum Sauce...

This fantastic sauce that can almost be described as a Mexican-style hummus that adds an ethereal, creamy element to the dish. It's the one component that sets this veggie bowl apart from every other burrito bowl out there. I actually made this recipe almost immediately after reading Mel's rave review of it on her website. Her comments intrigued me and I made it. Of course, I couldn't resist tweaking it a bit but even with my changes I think it's a pretty delicious sauce. I have been dipping carrots and broccoli into it for a snack. It's so good.

After the Yum Yum sauce, everything is topped with a generous portion of tomatoes, olives, peppers, cheese, avocados, cilantro, and sour cream or salsa of your choice. You will not walk away from the table hungry after eating a big bowl of this! Those picky eaters missed out on a truly wonderful meal.

Veggie Burrito Bowls with Yum Yum Sauce
adapted from rockstar blogger Mel at Mel's Kitchen Cafe

For the Veggie Bowls
Jasmine rice, cooked in chicken broth and still hot
Canned black beans, warmed (I like Bush's prepared and seasoned black beans)
Chopped black olives
Chopped red, green, yellow or orange peppers
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped or shredded Monterey Jack or Feta Cheese
Chopped avocados
Chopped, fresh cilantro
Sour cream
Salsa (Hatch Chile salsa, if you can find it, is the BEST)

For the Yum Yum Sauce:
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1 cup canned Great Northern or Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 3 large lemons)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Pinch of Cayenne (or more to taste)
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup nutritional yeast

For the Yum Yum sauce, add the oil, almonds, beans and water to a blender. Process until very smooth, about 1-2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the container if necessary.

Add the sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, cayenne, cilantro and nutritional yeast. Process again until creamy and smooth. Add additional water to thin out the sauce, if needed. Keep in the fridge until ready to eat. The flavor will improve and develop as the sauce as time to sit!

To assemble the veggie bowls, layer rice in the bottom of a deep bowl. Add black beans and a healthy dollop of Yum Yum sauce. Add a generous amount of all the other vegetables and toppings, finishing with a healthy sprinkling of cheese. Enjoy!

Blog Announcement

Some of you may or may not be aware that I have been working for a while on implementing some updates to this website. Unfortunately, I work very slowly because I am not the best with working with HTML but progress has been made and things are finally looking a bit more modern around here. First, I updated the template a couple months ago to brighten things up a bit. Then, I slowly started working on going back through my old posts and formulating a consistent tagging system because I was kind of all over the place when it came to keeping everything neat and tidy. Finally, and this is what I'm REALLY excited about, I updated the recipe index to a visual format where every single recipe that has ever been created on the blog can be not only quickly accessed but visible! I was so nervous about getting this to work and have to say that I'm very pleased with the results! So, please, check it out!

Just find the recipe index at the top of the page...

Select the category you want to view and click on the picture...

....and it will display all the recipes ever made under that label. It will even automatically add recipes as I make them, an awesome feature for a lazy blogger like me. Recipes are currently displayed in order of appearance on the blog. I haven't figured out how to alphabetize them. Any suggestions on how I would do that would be greatly appreciated.

Hopefully this will make it much more user-friendly to find past recipes! What do you think?

Pear, Cranberry, and Gingersnap Crumble

The kitchen project drags on. Paul rewired a portion of the kitchen, put our stove back in place, and put the finishing touches on the ceiling repair only to examine it more closely as we were eating dinner and decide to rip the whole thing out again and start over. We are both perfectionists and noticed that one of the seams was still a bit visible because the texture on the ceiling was not sanded away completely before we taped the sheetrock. Knowing what had to be done to fix it, we decided to make the painful decision to start all over again - and I'm so glad we did because we are about halfway through fixing it the second time and it looks completely flush with the existing ceiling.

The problem with having the ceiling ripped out is that there are no lights in the kitchen. I can now cook things on my stovetop once again, which is a major plus, but if I do not begin cooking before 4:30 pm, it is so dark in the kitchen from the lack of sunlight that I can barely see what I'm doing. Paul came up with a dorky solution to the problem: a headlamp for me to wear. I might look stupid, but at least I can see what I'm doing.

I really have nothing to complain about. This remodel will really improve the look of our home and the functionality of our kitchen when it finally is complete. Plus, the kids have been pretty patient with us during this whole process as has the new puppy. The weather has been fantastic - very warm and springlike. A completely anomaly for January! I've been taking advantage of the good weather and working hard on leash training Peyton. He's doing pretty well so far. The biggest challenge has been trying to leash train him with my three babies in tow. All three kids are really enthusiastic initially when I suggest going out for a walk with the dog. They all happily gather their shoes and umbrellas (with or without rain just because they're cool to carry around) and wait for me as I get Peyton ready. We head off down the block, Matthew taking the lead with Emma not too far behind, twirling her umbrella. Lucy takes up the rear with me but she keeps a pretty good stride. We pass a middle aged couple on our way down the block who give us a smile, wave, and tell me: "What an adorable family you have!"

Thank you, I reply.

Fast forward to about ten minute later and Emma is wailing because "her feet hurt" and she's "too tired to walk" and mad at me because I won't carry her umbrella for her. Matthew is angry at Emma for wailing and walking so slow, so he takes matters into his own hands and hits her which only makes her cry more (naturally). Lucy is crying because she's tired, so I pick her up and carry her while simultaneously commanding the leashed dog. So, I'm disciplining Matthew who starts yelling about how mad he is at Emma, Lucy is crying from exhaustion, the puppy is wound around my legs, and Emma is wailing for really no reason whatsoever. Out of the corner of my eye, I spy that same couple we had met at the beginning of our lap passing us once more on their way back home and this time they keep their head down and stroll quickly past us. Not such an adorable family now, are we? Now the weather is back to being cold so I won't have to repeat that fun outing again for another few weeks.

Before we tore everything out for the remodel, I baked one final dessert in my oven, knowing full well it was going to be a couple weeks before I would use it again. The recipe I chose was a pear and cranberry crumble that intrigued me because of it's use of crisp gingerbread cookies in the topping. Genius! Pear and gingerbread are such a wonderful combination and two of Paul's favorite things in the world, so I had to try this. I'm so glad I did because not only was it easy and a great way to use up those nasty, ultra-crisp gingerbread cookies that I'm not too fond of, but the flavor combination was very festive for the Christmas season! Perhaps this should become our new Christmas Eve dessert?

But really, this dessert was so good that it deserves to be made year round. You can find crispy gingersnaps in the grocery store year-round, or you can whip up a batch of your own! I'll tell you, this was a great way to blow through some slightly stale Christmas cookies. The gingerbread cookie crumble blends perfectly with the flavors of pear, dried cranberries, and fresh orange juice in the filling. Served warm with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream, this was a dessert the whole family was sighing over. The kids ate it the first night, but then Paul and I hoarded the leftovers to enjoy by ourselves for a few nights afterwards. Paul ate 70% of it. Knew he would.

Pear, Cranberry, and Gingersnap Crumble 
from Trisha Yearwood

For the Gingerbread Cookie Crumble:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup finely crushed gingersnap cookies
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the Pear Filling:
4 pounds pears, peeled, cored and sliced 1/4 inch thick (8 to 10 medium)
1 1/2 cups chopped dried cranberries
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons orange zest plus 2 tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the crumble: Mix the flour, gingersnap crumbs, brown sugar, granulated sugar and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture has a crumbly texture.

For the filling: In a separate large bowl, combine the pear slices, cranberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, orange zest and juice and vanilla.

Brush a 2-quart baking dish with softened butter. Pour the fruit mixture into the bottom of the prepared dish, and sprinkle the gingersnap crumble evenly over the top. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, 40 to 45 minutes.

Easy Homemade Ice Cream Cake

Well, we survived the annual "birthday week" without much of a functioning kitchen. Matthew and Paul have back to back birthdays in January and I always insist on them celebrating apart even though it would be so much easier just to combine them. I was a little worried about what food I was going to make the boys for their birthday dinner, but Paul left me with no choice other than going out to eat. I was a little relieved. However, I still wanted to make them some type of cake or dessert, even if it was only semi-homemade.

What Paul REALLY wanted for his birthday dessert was delicious but slightly involved Apple Pie Layer Cake. I really wanted to make it for him, but after experiencing how difficult it has been to make basic things like sandwiches and pasta without countertops, a kitchen sink, a functioning dishwasher, and a pantry that is still scattered throughout various corners of the house, I decided to make an ice cream cake. Paul loves ice cream - he can almost never turn down a scoop. He also absolutely loves the Dairy Queen ice cream cakes and I knew I could make a better one at home with better ice cream and flavors more suited to his tastes. However, it would definitely still have that wonderful middle layer of fudge and chocolate cookies.

And just look how excited Paul was to have this cake...

As easy as this cake is to assemble, it actually was still a bit frustrating with the limited space. You have no idea how many volunteers I had when I started unloading the ice cream, fudge sauce, and oreo cookies from the freezer and fridge. Of course, I quickly learned my little helpers were more interested in quality control in the form of sampling all the ingredients rather than actually assembling the cake. The most difficult part of this recipe, aside from slapping away dirty little fingers constantly trying to dip into the ice cream, was chopping up the Oreo cookies. And, if you have a food processor, that will take less than 20 seconds.

It probably would be easier to make the ice cream layers if you let the ice cream thaw a bit at room temperature. You could even dump it into a larger bowl and just stir it a bit until it softens. I did neither of those things and just used my ice cream scoop to fill my springform pan and then flattened everything down with a mallet. Worked great and I'll probably do it that way in the future.

In less than 15 minutes, I had a fully assembled ice cream cake that just required a long chill in the freezer before decorating. The afternoon of Paul's birthday, I made fresh whipped cream, removed the ice cream cake from the pan and transferred it to a serving platter, and then "frosted" the tops and sides with the whipped cream. Emma insisted on a finishing of confetti sprinkles for a festive touch.

The cake then went back into the freezer until we were ready to eat it later that night.

Between the five of us (Lucy was all about this cake) we finished maybe 1/4 of the cake - it's super rich. But having leftover ice cream cake is not a bad thing at all! Well wrapped, it will actually keep better than regular cake because you can store it in the freezer for longer than it takes a layer cake to stale! A lot of times during "birthday week" the whole family gets so sick of cake because we eat it for about 10 days straight before we finally finish it all. Not a problem with this recipe.

This cake was very much loved by my birthday husband and a complete lifesaver for me during this crazy remodel. If you are in need of an easy cake idea for whatever reason, ice cream cake just might be your answer. And I guarantee that it will taste better than Dairy Queen's.

Easy Homemade Ice Cream Cake

2 (1.5 quart) containers of ice cream (use two different flavors of your choice - we used Chocolate Coffee and Caramel)
1 package of Oreo cookies (or store brand)
1 cup of hot fudge sauce (or more)
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Line a springform pan with two large pieces of plastic wrap. Make sure to leave enough extra to cascade down the outside of the pan. This will help with the removal of the cake later.

Take one quart of your ice cream and scoop it evenly into the bottom of the pan. Then, using a large spoon, spatula, or mallet, smash it into an even layer. Put the pan in the freezer as you prepare the middle layer.

Finely crush about 3/4 of the package of cookies by hand or in a food processor. You can use the whole package if you want a thicker layer. Heat the hot fudge sauce for a couple seconds in the microwave or just until it is pourable. You don't want it too hot, but just warm enough so that it will easily slide out of the container. In a medium bowl, mix the crumbs and a little of the fudge sauce at a time to form a sticky, crumbly mixture. It should hold together and crumble when you press it between your fingers. Stop adding hot fudge when you feel the consistency is right.

Remove the cake from the freezer and drizzle a thin layer of fudge over the top, if desired. Crumble the cookie mixture over the top. Press lightly to adhere. Return the cake to the freezer for five minutes.

After five minutes, take the cake back out of the freezer and scoop the remaining quart of ice cream over the top. Press into an even layer and smooth the top. Cover the top with an additional layer of plastic wrap and return to the freezer until frozen solid.

To make the whipped cream, beat the heavy cream and sugar in a mixer with a whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Remove the cake from the freezer, remove the sides of the springform pan and invert the entire cake onto a cake platter. Peel away the rest of the plastic. Frost the top and sides of the cake with the whipped cream. Use an offset spatula to add some peaks and swirls to the top. Decorate with additional fudge sauce, cookies, or sprinkles. Return to the freezer until ready to serve.

Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing with a heated knife. Enjoy!

Family Portraits: A Miserable Ordeal

Every time we add a new kid to the family, Paul and I like to go into a studio and have a professional take a family portrait of us and a few of just the children. Unfortunately, things have been so busy since Lucy arrived that we had failed to make it in even though I bought two separate Groupon deals for local portrait studios and let them expire simply because I could not seem to nail down a time to drag everyone in there and get 'er done. After taking down all our framed photos in preparation for painting, I noticed that Lucy was not in any of them. If you were to walk into our house, you would still think we only had two kids and that they were about three years younger than they are now. I resolved that we would get those pictures taken.

I waited and finally found a good deal at a local studio and made a reservation a few days before Christmas. Then, Lucy took a nasty fall and came up with a bloody scratch under her left eye. That appointment got cancelled.

I then scheduled another appointment immediately after New Year's and Lucy once again foiled my plans by running into a door and adding a bulging bruise to the side of her cute little face. That appointment also got cancelled.

Finally, seeing that both Paul and Matthew had Martin Luther King Jr. Day off, I scheduled the appointment once more for that morning. The night before, Matthew and Emma got into a skirmish and Emma (who has been in a scratching phase) gave Matthew a terrible scratch that extended from the middle of his forehead all the way down to the middle of his cheek. I threw up my hands in despair! I was never going to get these pictures done without one of the kids looking like they had just come from a rugby match. Paul told me not to cancel it and we spent a bit of time rubbing lotion and other facial products into Matthew's face in the hopes that the swelling would go down. Thankfully, it was a surface scratch and barely broke the skin. The next morning, Matthew woke up looking pretty decent and I figured that I would just photoshop the rest of the scratch away. I gave my boys a haircut, bathed the girls, dolled everyone up as best I could (with the exception of Paul...he dressed himself!), and then headed to the appointment.

We arrived right on time, which is truly incredible for us, and the gal at the front desk informed us that there was another family in the studio at the moment but they would be with us shortly. Unfortunately, by "shortly" she meant another 30 minutes which proved to be a bit disastrous for our crew. The kids started to get antsy and, in an effort to relieve some of their pent-up energy, began taking laps around the room. Lucy, in particular, ran in small little circles so fast that I was sure she was going to be sick. Before we had left, Paul had insisted that both girls wear their hair down and I blow-dryed, styled, and had it looking pretty and shiny right before we left. Now, with all their rambunctious activity, Lucy's mane was hanging in her face making her look a bit savage and unkempt while Emma's fine blonde hair was sticking up ever which way thanks to the static. When our turn to be photographed finally arrived, Paul and I tried our darnedest to pat and smooth all the loose hair into place. Then came the fun part.

With the exception of Matthew, who was being surprisingly cooperative, our family proved to be impossible to photograph. Emma kept giving this weird tiny smile with glazed eyes that made her look like she was drooling and only half awake in every take. And that was only when she actually sat still and looked into the camera because she was more interested in bopping about and writhing when we tried to pose her. Lucy refused to smile or even look in the right direction, or kept creeping her tiny finger into her left nostril. Paul and I looked just looked tired, tense, and a tiny bit angry. "Maybe we should take a break from the group shot and try a couple individual pictures of the kids," the photographer said after about 100 takes failed to produce a decent shot.

So, we posed all three of the kids together and tried to capture their love and adulation for one another. At first, we tried having all three kids sit together, with Lucy in the middle, and Matthew and Emma's arms around her. Well, that caused a mutiny because heaven forbid they be allowed to touch one another. Next, we tried having all three kids lay on their stomachs, their chins resting in their hands, and smiling sweetly into the camera. Lucy refused to stay in this position and kept making a beeline for the door and her freedom. Emma kept dropping her face down to the ground the second before the photographer took the picture. Matthew wouldn't stop covering his entire mouth with his hand. And on top of everything, the girls' hair was so full of static that it kept drifting into their mouths and standing straight up so we had to stop and comb it/wet it down every couple minutes which of course induced more tears and tantrums. Overall, that pose was an absolute mess.

We finally got a decent shot of the kids sitting together on a cushion only because I was hiding right behind Lucy and holding her in place so she would stay put. Paul, in the meantime, kept making funny faces and telling jokes while the photographer just kept taking pictures. Out of about 60 clicks, we got one that worked. 

Next, we tried taking a few pictures of just Lucy. I like to have an individual pose of the "newest" child. I was really unhappy with these overall. It wasn't the photographer's fault, but rather largely because Lucy would not stay still. She also kept pulling at her hair and making weird faces (none of them cute or photogenic). All of us tried our best to coax a smile out of her from the sidelines - Matthew, Paul, Emma, me. We worked on her for a while and this was the best shot we got.

Meanwhile, Emma was raiding the props in the back of the room and Matthew had the sudden urge to use the bathroom. We took a small break before attempting to get a group shot once more. Paul just wanted to forget the whole thing and run but we had already paid for this session and I was determined to walk out with a decent family picture. Thankfully, there was nobody scheduled immediately behind us because our 15-minute session had already taken 90 minutes. I was so grateful to the studio for being so patient with us and allowing us to keep trying to coax a decent shot out of our kids. They wanted us to walk out with a decent picture as much as we did. 

When Paul and Matthew returned, we gathered once more and tried for a family photo. It didn't work any better. Emma had completely given up and could not be encouraged to smile. Lucy began to wail. Matthew was still cheery, but his patience was wearing thin. Finally, I asked if there was another photographer in the studio who might be able to aid in making sure the kids were looking in the right spot. A second photographer was ushered in and this lady was awesome. She was loud, she was funny, she knew how to pose people, and she knew how to work with kids. She walked into the room and completely took over. She changed up how we were sitting and began acting silly and telling jokes. Matthew and Emma thought she was hilarious while Lucy was absolutely terrified of her. So terrified, in fact, that she stopped crying and messing around and just sat still. Perfect. Emma and Matthew laughed and laughed as the camera clicked three times. Three shots later, we had the best picture out of the entire two hour session. Real smiles on Matthew and Emma - even showing off Emma's dimples. I was happy. And we were finally done!

We arrived back home completely exhausted but happy that we will not have to sit for another family portrait for at least another two years. It was a frustrating and miserable experience that neither of us are eager to repeat anytime soon. Anyone else find family portraits completely overwhelming?

Bringing Up Peyton

Peyton has been adjusting marvelously to our family, a wonder indeed considering we brought him home in the midst of a massive remodeling project. Our kitchen is located in the center of our home and we decided that now would be the best time to put into motion the replacement of the cabinets, countertops, backsplash, lights, and window. We have been planning and researching for this project for a couple years and finally took advantage of an awesome sale and pulled the trigger.

It all started with a door. Paul was helping me set the table one day and went to our utensil drawer to retrieve some forks and the drawer completely fell apart. He confidently told me it could be fixed. He went to the hardware store and bought all the necessary components and then proceeded to repair the delinquent drawer. He thought he had it all brand spankin' new but the repair did not hold and the drawer broke again within 24 hours. From there, each and every cabinet began to fall apart. The cabinets were coming out of the walls, all the doors were splitting and cracking, and the cabinet below our sink was so rotted from a leaky pipe that a large hole was forming. Plus, our countertops were cracked and scratched and the backsplash was starting to crumble due to the mortar being improperly mixed and applied when installed a few years ago. We began researching and planning a remodel but shied away due to cost, timeline considerations, and fear of committing to the project. One night this summer, Paul was helping me in the kitchen again and went to get a serving spoon from his nemesis the drawer and it fell apart once more. "THAT'S IT!" he declared, "WE ARE GETTING THIS FIXED!"

And from there, we seriously buckled down and planned our remodel. Of course, I don't think either of us really expected to have a puppy running around the exact same time. Not to mention a puppy that has to go outside to pee every hour on the hour. But we do and so we have learned to deal.

Peyton has proved surprisingly easy to housebreak - relatively speaking. I read some pretty petrifying horror stories online about the difficulty pet owners have experienced in training their pups to let them know it's time to go outside. Sure, we have had a few accidents but Peyton is already going to the door when he needs to be let down or, if he is in his crate, barking desperately. The first couple days were a little rough just because we had to take him out every 45-60 minutes voluntarily so he would get used to the idea of going outside, rewarding him after each successful visit. Being vigilant like this ensured that we had no accidents in the house. Unfortunately, this meant that we had to get up at night (every 3 hours) to get him outside but my wonderful husband has been voluntarily picking up that job. Nearly two weeks later, things are much more relaxed with Peyton in the house because he does communicate his needs to me and has honestly mastered the whole pottying thing. He's a smart boy. Of course, it helps that he is extremely motivated by food. That puppy will do anything for the tiniest morsel. He's also figured out that the best place to sit during mealtime is directly under Lucy's high chair. That's where all the goodies come raining down.

The biggest challenge with house training Peyton has honestly come from the construction end. As I mentioned earlier, the kitchen is in the very center of our home and there are nails, construction equipment, pieces of trim, braces, screws, screw drivers, power tools, drywall, and lots and lots of boxes everywhere. There are about a million things a stupid little puppy can chew on, swallow, and kill himself with. I caught him trying to eat insulation one day and thankfully caught him before he could break off a piece. In addition, he adores our contractor and takes a beeline for him whenever he gets the chance. This meant that one of the days he got stepped on accidentally because he came up behind the guy and surprised him while he was in the middle of drilling. A nice pat on the head and Peyton was happy as could be, his tiny tail wagging wildly.

The one plus side of training our puppy during this time is that he is a great distraction for the kids. My kids would usually be the ones bothering the contractor, asking him questions, or quizzing him on his favorite dinosaurs (ok, so Matthew was doing that earlier). With the puppy around, they spend a lot of time in the basement chasing him around, playing fetch, and getting him all wild with tug-of-war. They love him so much.

I have to watch Emma with the treats though. She broke into the puppy treat bag and fed him a bunch of them for doing absolutely nothing. Now he hounds her diligently hoping that she will overfeed him again. Like I said, this dog is very food-motivated.

I'm looking forward to having most of the project done by February. In the meantime, I am cooking by microwave, crockpot, or rice cooker only. My workspace functions as my dining room table and partial pantry. The rest of our pantry is in the laundry room which also functions as the dishwashing center since we do not currently have a working sink in our kitchen. It's been tight and feels a bit like camping. My crockpot has been my greatest friend during this time. Since meals have been quick out of necessity, I have been able to spend more time with the pup and focus on training him and getting him used to our schedule. It has honestly been mutually beneficial!

Emma and a very unhappy Lucy eating lunch while I prep dinner for tonight. See our microwave,
coffeemaker, and crockpot are in the mess somewhere there. I'm trying be organized but it has been so difficult!

Laundry room/pantry/dishwashing center. I  had just finished washing
 a load of dishes when I snapped this picture.

We will have Peyton 100% housebroken by the time this kitchen project is complete for sure. Honestly, the potty issues haven't been the most challenging part of taking care of him so far. Getting him not to eat the mulch or pieces of bark outside has been far more frustrating. In fact, the other day I was taking him out for a walk and he started digging in one of the neighbor's garden beds and retrieved a three inch piece of bark. We continued walking when suddenly he stopped still and began making a noise that can be described as something between a wheeze and a choke. I knelt down and pried his mouth open to find that the piece of bark was stuck on his front canine and because of this predicament he was unable to dislodge the rest of it from his throat. I pried it off his tooth and threw it off into the distance and of course he took off to chase it because that moment of asphyxiation was so enjoyable he wanted to experience it again. Keeping him alive has been majorly challenging.

Oh, and a little side note on Paul's nemesis, the utensil drawer. It took its final revenge on Paul during tear out. We couldn't get it to come out of the cabinet since it was so warped in the back.  "Stupid darn DOOR!!!!" Paul was so mad. It took quite a bit of effort but we finally dislodged it, after which Paul declared: "HA! Victory is mine!" I believe he has a mini bonfire planned one of these nights.

Thick, Chewy Gingerbread Cookies

I am well aware that nobody is in the mood for a cookie recipe now that Christmas is officially over and diet season has begun. I'm also pretty burnt out from all the Christmas baking BUT I wanted to be sure to record and post this perfect recipe for thick and chewy gingerbread men. Gingerbread is definitely the favorite Christmas cookie in this household. My kids love everything ginger and molasses flavor, something I find so bizarre because when I was younger I absolutely detested molasses. I have since developed a fondness for it, but only in the last ten years. Every Christmas, we have tested a different recipe for gingerbread and, while pleased with the results overall, I had yet to find a truly outstanding one for gingerbread cutouts. My search is now over. This recipe produces a dough that has a perfect balance of molasses and spice, is easy to roll out, and bakes into a cookie that is sturdy but not a bit crispy. Some gingerbread is so crunchy that I feel as if I'm going to chip a tooth while taking a bite. Not the case with these cookies.

I had a blast piping icing to make some cute gingerbread men and women. I also saw an idea in a magazine for turning the gingerbread men shapes upside down and decorating them to look like Rudolph. The kids loved this idea as evidenced by the fact that the reindeer cookies were the first to disappear (within the first 48 hours after baking!). Using a batch of royal icing, pipe whatever designs you like to make the feet of the gingerbread men look like antlers. Then, attach candy eyes and a gumdrop (for the large reindeer) or a red m&m (for the small reindeer) for the nose. Voila! Easiest cookie decorating ever.

These cookies will definitely be added to our permanent Christmas baking schedule!

Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
from Baking Illustrated

3 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into 12 pieces and softened slightly
¾ cup molasses
2 tablespoons milk

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, process flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda until combined, about 10 seconds. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and process until mixture is sandy and resembles very fine meal, about 15 seconds. With machine running, gradually add molasses and milk; process until dough is evenly moistened and forms soft mass, about 10 seconds. (Alternatively, in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, stir together flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt and baking soda at low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer and add butter pieces; mix at medium-low speed until mixture is sandy and resembles fine meal, about 1½ minutes. Reduce speed to low and, with mixer running, gradually add molasses and milk; mix until dough is evenly moistened, about 20 seconds. Increase speed to medium and mix until thoroughly combined, about 10 seconds.)

Scrape dough onto work surface; divide in half. Working with one portion of dough at a time, roll ¼-inch thick between two large sheets of parchment paper. Leaving dough sandwiched between parchment layers, stack on cookie sheet and freeze until firm, 15 to 20 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate dough 2 hours or overnight.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one dough sheet from freezer; place on work surface. Peel off top parchment sheet and lay it back in place. Flip dough over; peel off and discard second parchment layer. Cut dough into gingerbread people or round cookies, transferring shapes to parchment-line cookie sheets with a wide metal spatula, spacing them ¾-inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough until cookie sheets are full. Bake cookies until set in centers and dough barely retains imprint when touched very gently with fingertip, 8 to 11 minutes, rotating cookie sheet from front to back halfway through baking time. Do not overbake. Cool cookies on sheets 2 minutes, then remove with wide metal spatula to wire rack; cool to room temperature.

Gather scraps; repeat rolling, cutting and baking in steps 2 and 4. Repeat with remaining dough until all dough is used.

Once cookies are cool, decorate with royal icing, if desired. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Cioppino, Presents, and a Puppy for Christmas

Even though the Advent season was as long as it could possibly be since Christmas Day fell on a Sunday this year, it seemed to fly by. As usual, our high aspirations for how we were planning to prepare our hearts and the hearts of our children for the true reason for the season fell a bit short. We did, however, successfully adhere to prayer and reflection together as a family in front of the manger scene and Advent wreath each night for prayers, followed immediately by singing a few verses of "O Come, O Come Emmanuel", "Silent Night", "Beautiful City", and "Away in the Manger." The kids mostly enjoyed it: Matthew was enthusiastic each and every night, Emma got sent to bed early for disrupting prayers on more than one occasion, and Lucy took the opportunity to channel her inner monkey by climbing every chair and table in the dining room while the rest of us prayed.

Soon enough, it was Christmas Eve. The day started off bright and early by a call from our grocer to inform us that they would not be able to completely fulfill our seafood order for our Christmas Eve Cioppino since their shipment of Littleneck Clams had failed to arrive. For those who do not know, we eat a seafood dinner featuring a seafood stew called Cioppino - a generous mixture of sea bass, shrimp, scallops, and clams and/or mussels in a tomato broth. We all look forward to it every year. We were a little bummed to have to confess the clam shortage to Matthew since he was the one who was looking forward to them the most. He was a little disappointed, but quickly brightened up when we headed to the store to pick up our order and a bright idea popped into his little noggin: "Can we use King Crab legs instead?' He had spied the long, pointy legs and claws in the window of the seafood department. Knowing crab was going to be a bit of a hassle to crack and eat during dinnertime, Paul and I purchased only enough to ensure that each person would get one full leg - plus a large claw for Matthew.

The rest of the afternoon was spent tidying up the house, baking ciabatta for the stew, and prepping the cinnamon rolls for breakfast the next morning. The kids enjoyed snacking on cheese and crackers while watching The Santa Clause and Paul baked a batch of his famed Candy Cane Crisps. Matthew and Paul then cleaned and prepped the fish for the Cioppino while I made the broth. We also made a quick batch of mac and cheese for the refined palates of Emma and Lucy. We weren't going to waste the seafood on them if they were just going to regurgitate it.

Then, we sat down to pray and feast!

Afterwards, we tried to get the kids bathed and settled down for the long night ahead. We always attend the midnight Christmas Mass which is not for the faint of heart with or without kids. One by one, we dressed the kids in their Christmas best and did our best to make them look presentable for church. They all looked slightly anemic and exhausted this year but none of them slept a wink before we left for Mass - not even Lucy, which was a big surprise.

We got to Mass about 20 minutes early, found seats towards the front, and sat down to enjoy the beautiful decorations and melodic voices of the choir. That was when Lucy decided to start voicing her displeasure. I walked her to the back for a bit and let her play with the drinking fountain but when Mass began to start, I lugged her back to the pew. We all stood to begin singing "Silent Night" and Lucy let out one last moan before I felt her weight heavy against my shoulder. She was out before we sung "all is bright." From there, the kids began to fall like flies. Matthew made it to the second reading before tipping over onto his side and napping atop our pile of coats. Emma held out the longest, holding her daddy's hand until the middle of the homily when she too succumbed to exhaustion. Paul and I enjoyed a very peaceful and beautiful Christmas Mass while our three cherubs snored behind us in the pew. It was perfect.

We got home, slipped them into their pajamas, and tucked them in bed. When everyone was quiet, we began the arduous task of finding the gifts we had wrapped and hidden throughout the house over the past few months and place them carefully under the tree. Bedtime for us was not until around 3:00 AM. It was a bit brutal.

Matthew woke us bright and early at 8:00 AM, which is actually sleeping in for him by a couple hours. We were grateful. We allowed him to go downstairs and peek in his stocking but told him he had to wait for Emma and Lucy before we could start opening gifts. We put on "It's a Wonderful Life" and ate Christmas cookies while waiting for the gals to arise from their beauty rest. Lucy joined us soon afterwards, and Emma followed not long after that. It was really funny when we heard Emma come down the stairs because she was already whining and fully prepared to make our lives miserable. However, when she saw the bulging stockings and the piles of gifts under the tree, her grumpy face transformed into the biggest dimpled grin.

The unwrapping began! Matthew received several games, Lincoln Logs, a Ninja Turtle Sweatshirt, Star Wars action figures, a soccer ball, a baseball bat and glove, and some art supplies. Emma received a Calico Critters house complete with a few furniture pieces and characters, a Paw Patrol play set, a nightlight for her bedroom, and a couple puzzles. Lucy opened a baby doll, a doll bed, and a couple cute board books. Paul was pleased to open a Seiko watch he had been eyeing, a couple movies, a new pair of slippers, and a new winter hat (a gift from Lucy and Emma - mainly Emma because she insisted that Paul was in need of it).

The kids look so serious in all the pictures we took of them opening presents. They really were very excited and happy...I promise!

It took Lucy about 30 minutes to unwrap this gift. She would tear the paper a little bit and then get bored, walk away, and eat some more goodies from her stocking. She required lots of encouragement and a little help from her more-than-willing brother and sister. When she finally saw what was in the box, she began to unwrap with a bit more enthusiasm!

I received the biggest surprise of my life from Paul this Christmas. I opened a new pair of winter boots, some cold weather clothes, and then a leash. Then, I opened a box containing a flip-over dog. Paul began to joke about how I have always wanted a dog as he attached the leash to the fake pup. The kids then took turns walking around the house with the leashed stuffed animal. You would think this would have been a major hint to me about what was coming next, but I honestly thought it was one big gag gift because Paul pulls stuff like that all the time. Then, I opened a set of food bowls and Paul showed me a picture of the beautiful baby Golden Retriever he had adopted for me along with the news that we would be picking him up from the breeder by the end of the week. I was flabbergasted. Absolutely shocked. He completely knocked my socks off.

You see, Paul and I had discussed the possibility of adopting another animal since I missed having a pet after our beloved cat died two years ago. We were leaning towards switching gears and raising a dog since we felt that would be a more appropriate family pet. We agreed that a Golden Retriever would be our dog of choice and Paul was especially excited about the idea of having something around the house to "walk me" since I was always begging him to go on family walks with me. I like my exercise. We even went so far as to look up breeders in the area and talk to several friends of ours who had beautiful, well-behaved Goldens. However, we were both skeptical about expense, maintenance, and stress in training the animal that we pretty much dropped it. At least I thought we had dropped it. Apparently Paul had continued to research and plan and reserved a puppy for me as soon as he heard that the best breeder had a new little of pups ready in time for Christmas. Again, he got me good this year.

When asked what I was going to name our new little puppy, there was no doubt in my mind what I would choose: Peyton! I will always admire and respect Peyton Manning as one of the most upstanding celebrity role models for young men. When I told Paul we were going to name the pup after Peyton, he rolled his eyes and said, "I should have known."

And yes, we will be saying "Omaha!" when we throw him a ball instead of "Fetch!"

The kids were a little confused when we told them we were getting a real, live puppy. They still thought the "dog" was the fake animal Paul had me unwrap. I think they finally got the picture when we made the drive into the country to bring Peyton home later in the week. And it was love at first sight for all three of them. This dog has gotten so much love and affection in the time he has spent with us. Emma especially dotes on him like crazy. She almost never leaves him alone. She likes to lay in his dog bed, reading books while he sleeps next to her. He loves all the attention and seems to thrive off human contact, even preferring to sleep on our feet on the cold floor over his comfy dog bed just because he needs to be near us. He's the sweetest little guy.

What was the biggest surprise you ever received on Christmas?