Puffy Tuesday

 

Yesterday, we celebrated Fat Tuesday with some Mardi Gras recipes and activities.  It's the only day of the year that we toss the word "fat" around so carelessly.  We usually go with "puffy", as in, I can't button my jeans today because I'm too puffy from the three Paczski and two slices of King Cake I ate yesterday.

We made these fun "Muffuletta Roll-Ups".  I also made some with just ham and cream cheese that were a bit more kid-friendly.  They were a big hit!

The girls and I colored Mardi Gras masks and pictures of bead necklaces.  Aidan couldn't be convinced to join in.  We found all kinds of great printables on Pinterest.  You can find my Mardi Gras page here.

For dinner, we had Red Beans & Rice and our Muffuletta Roll-Ups, along with some "Alligator Juice" that was just light-colored juice mixed with green food coloring.

For dessert, we had our annual King Cake from Sunflour Bakehaus.  They make awesome cakes and we get one every year!  The baby popped up in Annalise's slice so she's looking forward to a year of good luck!

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Rollin' in Dough

I know you probably all thought that we must be starving over here since the "What We're Eating" posts disappeared for a while.  What can I say?  We got a dog, I became a Mary Kay lady and we've had colds, croups and ear infections aplenty.

But... I'm going to try to get back on track updating everyone with all of our comings, goings and eatings.

This week, I thought I would share my favorite Pizza Dough Recipe.  It comes from one of my fav cookbooks, Jamie at Home.  I have been making it since Aidan was a baby (along with several other recipes) and it is my absolute favorite.  It's easy.  It doesn't require anything too weird and it always turns out great.  It also makes a big batch so I can freeze few dough balls for another pizza night?

Just so you know:  I ALWAYS use the mix of high-gluten bread flour and semolina they mention.  But, feel free to throw caution to the wind and go with bread flour all the way!

What We're Eating...Well...Ate.

Just a quick post today to share this YUMMY and EASY recipe we tried while Matt was in Japan.  You can find the link here!  I had been trying to clean out some odds and ends in the fridge left over from our last Door to Door box.  I googled pasta, mushrooms and broccoli and this popped up.  I had everything on hand so we went for it!  So glad!  It was a hit, easy to make and delicious!  It reheated well the next day for lunches, too!

Pretty Pictures of Some Subpar Mac and Cheese

Macaroni and Cheese is something of a mystery in this house.  It used to be the ONLY convenience food that all three of my kids would eat.  Then, one day, when Aidan was four, I made a terrible mistake.  I bought a box of dinosaur mac and cheese that was deemed "scary" and that was the end of that.  He has literally never eaten it again. He is older, wiser, braver and even a fan of dinosaurs; but, he will have nothing to do with mac and cheese of any kind.

The girls are another matter.  They love macaroni and cheese.  They like it in restaurants, made from scratch recipes at home and in a box.  The only problem is that they only like it in SOME restaurants, made from scratch at home SOME of the time and in SOME boxes.  This sounds like it would be easy enough to solve:  just make or buy the kind they like, right?  The only problem is that the macaroni they like (and don't like) doesn't seem to have ANY definable qualities or common traits.  It seems to be one giant game of hit or miss and I literally have no idea how to play this game.  I can buy a three pack of boxed mac & cheese and Addie will like two of the boxes, while Annalise only likes the third one.  In a restaurant, I will only let one of them get it now so that there will be another meal to share if things should go awry.  Annalise loves the mac and cheese at Zingerman's Roadhouse; but, it is just way too "real" for Ads.  And at home, who knows?  I think I might have stirred it with the wrong spoon and ruined the last batch??

So... I'm always on the hunt for the PERFECT Macaroni & Cheese that will satisfy everyone.  Coupled with my hunt for the ideal stuffing, it is kind of my eternal quest.  It has to meet these requirements:  the girls will eat it, there will be enough noodles left for Aidan to have them plain, it has enough of a gourmet feel to make me happy; and Matt, well, he doesn't care, he's just happy we saved him some.

I had high hopes for this one I found in Honest Pretzels.  It's a kids' cookbook I found at the library.  I had hoped it would be kid-friendly; but still tasty.  It turned out to be neither. Mostly, it was just mustardy.  Very, very mustardy.  It was rather photogenic, though.  It also makes a nice big batch and because no one likes it, the leftovers last quite a while!  

What We're Eating: The Inaugural Edition

Mondays at Youngstown Bread are going to be all about the FOOD!  On Mondays, I'm hoping to share some fun recipes that we try, meals that we're planning to make, yummy ingredients we discover and even some kitchen failures along the way!  

First up:  our DIY Nutella Heart Tarts!

We found the inspiration for these here; but, ours are a bit simpler.  We just rolled out two refrigerated pie crusts a bit thinner.  The kids used a large heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out their tarts.

For the tart tops, we used a tiny heart-shaped cookie cutter to give them a little flair.

Next, we laid out our bottom hearts and spread each one with a teaspoon of warmed Nutella.

We added their decorative tops and crimped the edges with a fork.

Next, we brushed the tops with a little mixture of egg yolk and water.

We sprinkled some raw sugar on top and popped them into a 350* oven for about 14 minutes.

They were a really fun breakfast treat and the most realistic Pop-Tart knockoff that I've tried.  All three kids had seconds and we finished them up for dessert that night after dinner.  We would definitely make them again!  I think they would be cute for just about any holiday with the right cookie cutters!