Dinner For Two+One

The life and food of one growing family

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Family. Boy who lovvvveessssss his meals! And the happy parents who adore him <3

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Fast Forward

I just so happened to stumble across this blog today and it inspired me to get back into it. Update it with what our current life looks like and where it is going. Well to start our family has increased by one member. We moved to a new city just a few hours away from our old home. We have new jobs, new dreams and a new cat. Our son, who I will call Boy, is our pride and joy. He makes us smile and glow with pride even when we are at our wits end with toddler tantrums and energy. He seriously has more energy than the energizer bunny. My husband, Ethan is working as a sales person for Yellow Pages and is making quite the reputation of being a good sales person! I am a pride wife so I have to brag a bit ;) And I am employed at a local digital ad firm - I work with Facebook all day long is the easiest way to put it. We have such big dreams and aspirations for our future! We know we have been made to bring glory to God by pursuing greatest and we strive to step closer to God and greatness each day! My goal for this blog over the next few months is to spread some of the joy we experience everyday! Cooking and cleaning are a difficult thing to prioritize while I am working full time, have a toddler and husband to care for and other things on the go. But we do manage to get them in some how. That's all for now. See you again soon. -Meg

[fullcravings]

Baked Chocolate Chip Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Rice Pudding

Well last Saturday I cooked up a pot of rice pudding! I am a huge fan of rice pudding and it's pretty easy to make if you are willing to stir constantly for an hour... I used a recipe that I found in Buddy Valastro's cookbook. I had to make a few adjustments because of limited resources... 1/2c arborio rice 4 c whole milk 1/4c sugar 1/2 vanilla bean Strip orange zest Pinch salt 2 large egg yolks. My modifications - I didn't have arborio rice... I just used uncle bens rice... I used 1% milk which made it less creamy, but it was still good (and had less fat). I used artificial vanilla extract instead of a vanilla bean (due to my low cooking budget). Instructions: - combine milk, rice, vanilla, sugar, orange zest and salt in a heavy medium size sauce pan. Bring to boil, while stirring constantly. - Simmer for 30-40 minutes, while stirring constantly. Until it thickens a bit. - in a heat proof bowl, mix about a half cup of rice mixture in with the egg yolks to temper the eggs. Add that into your pot. - Continue to stir for another 30 minutes until it is quite thick. - Separate it out into 4 servings. - refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. ** if you use a vanilla bean and orange zest, make sure you take it out before you serve it. But you can also garnish with orange zest strips!

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

It's Bowling Time

So I realize that it has been a little while since I have updated the tumblr world and beyond about what I have been cooking.  Let me clarify that it is not because I haven't cooked anything... but that I lead a busy life.  

A little while ago, I asked Ethan what he wanted to eat for supper, he said Tacos.  And I took this opportunity to use a wedding gift for the first time.  Taco Bowl Shapers.  I don't really remember registering for this gift, but I am sure we did... But it was very fun!!!  

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.  Cooked the hamburger meat with Taco seasoning.  Cut up some veggies.  Now for the fun stuff...  I put a soft tortilla shell in each shaper and put them in the oven for about 7 minutes (next time I will leave them longer to make them more crunchy).  We dished up our taco ingredients into the bowls and had a lot of fun eating them :) 

It is probably by far one of the funnest** meals I have ever cooked! 

For those of you wondering about the title of this post... if you listen to the radio at all, you probably have heard the recent Taco Time commercial calling Taco Bowls, "Bowling".  

Pictures to follow... 

Meg 

** Funnest is a word in my vocabulary

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Pictures from my crepe breakfast!!:)

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A day off work...

Well I didn't work at either job today!! Woo Hoo!! That hardly ever happens in the middle of week!! And boy did I get in some good cooking.

One of my favourite childhood memories is going to Grandmas house for a whole week every summer!  And at least one of the dinners we would have would be crepes!!  This was by far the most anticipated meal of the week.  At home, if we had pancakes, we always had flapjacks.  So crepes was always a special treat!  And the way Grandma made them were just so yummy!! (Plus she let us eat as many as we wanted with just icing sugar as a topping, what more could a kid ask for!?)  

One of our wedding gifts, was a crepe maker... It was off our registry.  It was one of those things we hadn't planned on registering for, but we were having so much fun, and were all caught up in dreaming of the endless pile of gifts that was to come, we registered for it.  We also registered for things like a soda machine and tortilla shell bowl shapers.  All very useful for some people...  

So today, I had a girlfriend/ former room mate over for brunch. I pulled out the crepe maker and decided to give it a go.  It actually went very well.  I followed the instructions in the manual (hoping to get the best crepe result).  And being inspired by a recent visit to Cora's Breakfast Resaurant, I bought some fruit and custard for toppings.  I also cooked up some bacon...because you can't have brunch with out having bacon. 

Recipe: (Make 22 6 inch crepes = makes 8-10 large crepes) 

4 eggs 1 1/2 cup milk  1 1/2 cup flour 1/4 tsp salt 

Mix eggs and milk in a bowl, add the flour and salt.  Mix/blend until smooth.   Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter (more for larger crepes, less for smaller crepes) onto the pan.  Spread around with the handy wooden spreader (or twist the pan if you are using a frying pan).  Let cook for 30-50 seconds.  Slide a spatula 1/3 of the way under, if you are satisfied with the colour, flip and let cook for about the same amount of time on that side.  

Pretty darn easy if you ask me!  And pretty delicious!! :)    

Stay tuned for some pictures and another post about the dinner I am preparing... Crock pot Chicken with bacon and potatoes!! :) 

- Meg

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Watermelon cake for my hunny!! Happy birthday!!

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Watermelon cake for my hubby!! Happy Birthday!! <3

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Watermelon Cake

Well I did it!! I baked... Or constructed rather... A watermelon cake! After seeing several Pinterest posts on this subject, and having an event that needed a cake, I tried it out. The event was my wonderful husband's surprise birthday party. Here's how the afternoon went. I bought the largest watermelon I could find. (Which wasn't very big, but this is Alberta, so I didn't complain.). I bought a can of whipped cream, sliced almonds and various fruits. After cutting all the rinds on the watermelon and explaining to my 2 and half and 5 year old helpers that the watermelon would indeed be the real cake, I realized that the can of whipped cream would not be sufficient. It basically just melted off the watermelon. After some clever Internet research the mother of my two little helpers discovered I needed either very heavy cream or full fat coconut milk. So back out to the store (after enjoying some whipped cream sprayed directly into our mouths)! I bought a little carton on whipping cream (because it was easier to find than full fat coconut milk). And went back home to whip the cream. (We added some vanilla and icing sugar to sweeten it up a bit). And the rest was easy. Cover the watermelon block in whipped cream. The outside edges in sliced almonds, and decorate the top in fruit. I used peaches, blueberries and raspberries to make the top look pretty! I put it in the freezer for about 2 hours before it had to be transported in a very hot car. And it held up just fine in the 15 minute drive across the city! All in all, it went very well and was very fun! The surprise went really well and Ethan had no idea what was going on until the drive to the restaurant where the plan was foiled by a few unavoidable circumstances. But he was very happy about the whole thing:) he liked his watermelon cake and all the party guests were impressed by the idea as well! - Meg

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Chicken Caesar Wraps and Donuts

Well like all great housewives, I always keep my house clean and tidy and in order. okay... now for reality.... I don't really do any of the that.  I will admit, being a housewife is a still a skill I am trying to hone.   And it is a work in progress.  Anyway... on to the food.  After a long afternoon/evening of cleaning and tidying, Ethan came home from work and suggested we had chicken strips for supper.  I added onto his suggestion by adding wraps and a Caesar salad to the mix.  We had very tasty chicken caesar wraps.  For dessert...  Well, to be honest, we had dessert twice yesterday.  After Ethan got home, we had to make a quick run to the bank.  And there just happens to be a newly opened MENCHIES a few parking lot's away from the bank.  So we had dessert before we ate dinner.  The after dinner I tried my hand at baking doughnuts.  

I saw a recipe online for using Pilsbury Buttermilk Biscuits to make doughnuts   I had to modify it greatly to accommodate the ingredients I had at my disposal.  Firstly, I was only able to find regular biscuit dough at the store.  Secondly, I used olive oil, when the recipe called for peanut oil.  I am not sure if it made a difference, but I wasn't about to pay almost $10.00 for a bottle of peanut oil that I probably wasn't going to use again.  I also did not make the icing the recipe called for.  I just used sugar (which I will explain further in minute).  

So I got out my dutch oven pan. And poured some oil into it.  Just about an inch from the bottom of the pan (next time I would have used a little less oil.)  

Next, I opened the can of biscuit dough.  Laid the individual biscuits out like you would on a baking sheet and cut a small hole in the centre of each biscuit.  Next I placed them in the now very hot oil on the stove.  

To my surprise it did not take very long for each side to cook.  Only a few minutes. I left the second side in the oil just a little bit too long and they were a little dark.  Next time... I will set a timer! 

After I took them out of the oil and placed them on a plate with a paper towel on it.  I poured a 1/4 cup of sugar into a small bowl and put each doughnut into the bowl and coated it in sugar.  

To both Ethan's and my own surprise, they actually tasted quite good.  Except for being a little burned. 

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures through the process... check back in a few hours and I will have a picture of the final product :)  

I was a fun experiment.  Who knew you could make doughnuts from biscuits :P 

-Meg

[lsabellas-deactivated20151030]

BRAD PITT ABOUT HIS WIFE :

My wife got sick. She was constantly nervous because of problems at work, personal life, her failures and children. She lost 30 pounds and weighted about 90 pounds. She got very skinny and was constantly crying. She was not a happy woman. She had suffered from continuing headaches, heart pain and jammed nerves in her back and ribs. She did not sleep well, falling asleep only in the mornings and got tired very quickly during the day. Our relationship was on the verge of a break up. Her beauty was leaving her somewhere, she had bags under her eyes, she was poking her head, and stopped taking care of herself. She refused to shoot the films and rejected any role. I lost hope and thought that we’ll get divorced soon… But then I decided to act. After all I’ve got the most beautiful woman on earth. She is the idol of more than half of men and women on earth, and I was the one allowed to fall asleep next to her and to hug her. I began to shower her with flowers, kisses and compliments. I surprised and pleased her every minute. I gave her a lot of gifts and lived just for her. I spoke in public only about her. I incorporated all themes in her direction. I praised her in front of her own and our mutual friends. You won’t believe it, but she blossomed. She became better. She gained weight, was no longer nervous and loved me even more than ever. I had no clue that she CAN love that much.

And then I realized one thing: the woman is the reflection of her man.

If you love her to the point of madness, she will become it.

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Changes.

Well as you can see... I have completely changed my tumblr blog.  But I think that the change was needed with the many changes that have happened in my life this year.   

Change #1:  I GOT MARRIED! Perhaps the biggest change of MY LIFE!  So along with all the changes of being married. My cooking has changed.  I like to think that the changes are for the better... but with a busy schedule of 3 jobs between 2 people, the many social events, and the ambitious future building we are doing... cooking and food sometimes goes down to  the bottom of the totem pole of importance.  

But here I am, writing this entry, with a kitchen full of almost all new utensils and pots and pans and bowls and dishes, just waiting to be used to their full potential.  The chef/baker/writer part of me has convinced the rest of me that continuing my blog is a good idea.  

I hope that these posts will make you smile and think about when you were newly-wed and still figuring it all out (if you are married), or perhaps look forward to one day when you will also be figuring it all out with your new spouse (to all my single friends)... 

My first project will hopefully commence tonight... after the kitchen is cleaned, dinner is made, the dishes are done, and if I have the energy I will take a shot at making donuts!! 

-Meg

[thereedsdinnerfortwo]

Chicken, onion, asparagus, yellow bell pepper, bok choy, spinach stir fry!! #yum #healthyeating

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She doesn't like it when we love each other lol #grumpypants #littlesister #carrides #backseat @kirstinmariesiemens

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Hanging out at the besties new home! @tibkid @renataderkson #fun #friends #goodtimes