Random Cookings

I 'cook' frequently, but when Carrie cooks it's something to be celebrated. She doesn't go small.

I've been begging for bread and she made a 'pizza loaf.'

She covered it and put it on the porch to rise, because you may as well use the 90+ degree weather for your advantage.

The heat made the wrap rise!

If you were wondering, it was delicious.

I love bread. Challah is historically my favorite.

Shane is a much more adventurous eater than I ever was. 

However, I wonder if he's going to do something different from what we do if he's a parent.

What do I mean? 

Nana hated when Jama forced her to eat food she didn't like. Therefore, she didn't force me to eat foods I didn't want to.

It worked out okay for me. I got to discover many foods I liked later in life. 

Shane doesn't have that choice. If Carrie cooks it, he's going to try it. We don't make him clean his plate, but he's going to eat enough. We don't want to waste too much food and I don't want Carrie's feelings hurt if he blows off her efforts. 

Shane has learned not to outright say, "I hate it" unless he truly detests it. I can tell there's times he's not thrilled, but he'll slowly pick his way to eating just enough. Usually, he says, "He's full." I will let him up from the table, but the trade off is usually "If you're full, you can't ask for more food later."

I like to think we're very balanced with what we require and what we let him get away with, but he'll have his own opinion on the matter.

That said, Shane's effusive when he does like a meal! He loves curry, cheeseburgers, and all sorts of things.

The first time Carrie grilled burgers, Shane shouted, "These are just like the cafeteria burgers! My favorite!"

I laughed nonstop. He meant it as a compliment.

Carrie was stunned. "My burgers are just as good as school burgers?"

Now, Shane's had to learn to be honest with his enthusiasm. If he sings over a meal to make Carrie feel good about it, she's going to cook it again! There have been a few times he's tried to recant and I've said, "Next time be honest. Eat."

I probably shouldn't be writing this right before lunch. It's making me hungry.

BONUS: The day I wrote this, Carrie made spaghetti squash with tomato sauce and meatballs. I asked Shane to rate it out of 10. "8 or 9!" was his reply.

COVID 19 - The Coronavirus: I've been 'cooking'

I knew I was going to be eating home cooked meals throughout the 'coronoa-break,' but I didn't think I'd be cooking so many of them!

Somewhere in my naivete, I imagined Carrie making gourmet meals five nights a week. I was only the pinch hitter in my dreams!

Instead, I present to you my latest creation: Tortilla pizzas.

Tortilla + spaghetti sauce + mozz = dinner

Thankfully, Shane doesn't expect gourmet!

Is it just me, or do most of my 'recipes' involve melting cheese? Quesadillas, nachos, grilled cheese, 'homemade pizzas'.....and those are the non-frozen options! Taquitos, pierogis, and bagel bites all have cheese, too!

That doesn't mean I can't boil water!

I tried something new the other night. I 'lightly pan fried.'

I didn't know if the potstickers were done or not, so I called for Carrie to come in from the barn. She was busy, but then I started to smell burning. It was as good a cue as any!

But I still took them outside to see if Carrie thought they looked right!

She stole one and declared them edible.

I went fancy for this meal, too. I cooked a side of rice (pour rice + water into rice cooker then hit button that says, "Rice!").

I was excited the next day when Carrie said she would cook!

I didn't realize she wanted to cook on the grill. The un-assembled grill that I needed to set up. So much for the night off!

I did it 98% right on the first try. You're looking at the one thing I messed up. I put the wire farm on the bottom in backwards.

We noticed it when we went to hook up the propane. It was an easy fix and we had cheeseburgers for dinner.

Unlike your stereotypical American male, I have very little experience with grilling. That may change in the days to come as my cooking repertoire expands.

But are they delicious?

Carrie signed up for Imperfect foods. It's a service that delivers cheap food that would have been thrown away for cosmetic reasons.

And it's inspired her to cook more! I'm all about this!

We've had chicken fried rice, stuffed spaghetti squash with a Mexican inspired filling, and Japanese curry.

Yes, Shane has eaten all of it!

He's way braver with foods than I ever was.

Carrie made him a quesadilla out of the filling instead of serving it in a squash, but he liked mine!

I'm hoping for many more meals. With wrestling over, the sun staying up longer, and me starting to catch up on everything, I feel like there's more energy in the house. Maybe it's partly because we're all eating better now?

The only downside to more cooking: More clean-up. I need to finish catching up with the school work and blog, so I can get on that.

Grilled Cheese, Please

As a modern man, I sometimes cook dinner when I get home from work. I decided to cook true grilled cheese sandwiches tonight.

Shane was a big fan! He likes to order grilled cheeses at restaurants.

I used to make Shane 'faux' grilled cheeses when he was younger. I'd toast some bread, throw a slice of cheese in the middle, and maybe microwave it. That was fine then, but it was time to up my game.

Plus, I made some for Carrie and I. It's an easy comfort food.

Weekend Visitor

Henry came over for a dinner play-day on Friday!

Molly dropped him off and he hung around for the next couple of hours. It's nice knowing someone who's only 10 minutes away.

The boys were both beyond excited.

Henry helped Shane feed Loki. Henry's really interested in animals and chores are more fun with a buddy.

Henry also came very hungry. Carrie made BBQ and mashed potatoes and he was thrilled. He went back for thirds and I asked if he had a hollow leg.

Carrie was thrilled, because Henry loved the mash. Shane complained the other day that the potatoes were seasoned (Not spicy. Seasoned.). Henry looked at Shane like he was crazy and Shane ended up getting seconds on the potatoes himself!

We all did barn chores after dinner. Henry thought it sounded like fun and Shane was Tom Sawyer'd right into it.

The boys did enjoy themselves. Henry threw up some hay into the feeder that rained back down on Shane.

 A hay fight nearly ensued.

The boys filled the feeder and then climbed up to distribute the hay evenly (and to climb for the sake of climbing).

We had them run off into the field to find Sam's missing halter.

And run they did.

They found the halter, too! How about that? They were actually useful and made it more fun for everyone.

Maddy was happy with the hay they put out when I turned her back out.

The boys finished the night playing Kirby on the SNES.

Molly picked up Henry a little after 8 PM and he wasn't ready for bed.

That wasn't the last we saw of Henry over the weekend, though. Saturday morning was soccer.

Shane started off climbing on the sideline, but he went in for defense the first half.

He played well enough with some great stops (though he runs more off the field and switches to a jog on it!). The second half he was the goalie and was scored on twice (One was a weird corner kick that no one touched and it bounced in by the far post).

They lost 3-0, but it was a decent game.

After soccer, we met Molly, Erick, Henry and their dogs for ice cream! If I had known it was so dog friendly I might have brought Loki.

It was "Cone with a Cop," so kids ate free.

Shane and Henry walked the dogs up and down the town street and then tried to make a fishing rod out of a stick and a grate/mesh scrap they found.

Then they climbed the hill behind the brewery.

Someone at the brewery warned them there could be copperheads back there when the weather was warm. Henry seemed to think that anyone and everyone at the brewery was probably drunk, so the warning wasn't valid!

We said our goodbyes Saturday afternoon, but the boys were back at it Sunday after church. Molly was going to a baby shower, so Erick dropped Henry off for another play date (Have I mentioned it's nice knowing someone close by? It is).

The boys crushed a bunch of cans in the garage for me to earn Super Nintendo time. Carrie put me to work peeling apples for a dessert she was working on.

Loki wanted to help.

There was a minor snafu when the lower oven was turned on for the first time. There had been pans and information/warranty sheets wrapped in plastic.

It made for a mess.

We offgassing pile of junk out the sliding glass door to cool down and not stink up the house (further).

The dessert turned out great if you're wondering. Carrie made a soft pecan brittle and then stuffed the apples with them. She wrapped the apples in pastry shell and it was like having a personal apple pie (If only we had remembered to buy ice cream!).

They boys played Kirby until I kicked them off. I took the dog outside to pee...

...and suddenly I had two boys join me!

We wandered off into the empty boarder's fields.

Henry really enjoyed Loki chasing him. Shane really wanted Loki to play fetch and was frustrated that Loki only wanted to play chase (Can't deny the herd dog instincts).

I picked up trash and chaperoned. Garbage will blow off the road into the fields and it's annoying.

Everyone got some energy out. They weren't only electronic zombies, so I felt good about that!

Erick picked up Henry after a couple of hours. Shane's already looking forward to next weekend!

Minecraft Trouble

Carrie got a message from Shane's teacher. He hasn't been honest about how much he's been on Minecraft at school and it's become a problem/distraction. 

The teacher asked us for suggestions and Carrie said to take away Minecraft for a week. I would have suggest "all laptop games," so Shane's lucky Mom answered that one!

I picked Shane up from school and we had a small talk, but I didn't pursue it much then. We had soccer.

It was a good day to have a physical and social outlet. I would rather have Shane feel more connected to a team and get some exercise than play Minecraft.

Today was special in that Shane had to run off into the woods to relieve himself.

Shane wanted another gas station burger (we grabbed emergency rations last week before Back-To-School-Night), but Carrie had something better waiting for us when we got home: Shepard's pie.

It almost felt like celebrating Shane getting in trouble.....almost. Shane did get a talking to and they removed Minecraft from his computer.