Mothering Many

Breakfast is an area that I definitely need some help with. Usually, everyone just fends for themselves as they get up, except the babies. It’s not a situation I am pleased with, so I keep a look out for breakfast recipes, looking for something quick and easy. It must be quick and easy, because just between you, me and the fence post, mornings are not my best time.

I think I’d do better with stuff I could make the night before, and cook in the crock-pot, or even the bread machine. This Carrot Bread recipe looks good, and since my bread machine has a delay feature, I could try it. But this would be a better hit, I think: Slow Cooker Oatmeal. It might even be worth investing in a smaller crockpot to do this.

Monday: leftovers– the frig is crammed so full that we must eat some stuff before I can cook
Tuesday: salisbury steak–if anybody wants it, I can give my recipe)
Wednesday: chicken, probably fried
Thursday and Friday: I’ll have to figure it out, I’m still not quite sure what we have from our blessing

My pal Laura posted today about an accident her daughter had. If you have kids (I assume you do, since you are here) and they like to play on slides, her post is a must read. While you are there, check out the rest of her blog, too. She’s another Mother of Many. Laura tells it like it is and doesn’t pull any punches. She has 5 children, and that number includes 2 set of twins.

Cleaning out my drafts folder, still, and here is today’s nugget. It’s a site that will make you hungry, for sure! Joy of Baking has more delicious looking cakes than I have seen in a very long time, but it doesn’t stop there. the menu on the right covers breakfast, comfort foods and tons more. You’ll even find holiday recipes there. Go. Cook something. Then call me up and invite me over.

Monday: Country fried steak, mashed potatoes, veggie
Tuesday: frozen Mexican favorites
Wednesday: bbq sandwiches, chips
Thursday: reruns
Friday: pizza

I completely forgot Menu Plan Monday last week. How lame is that??? Yeah, we ate, so there’s that at least.

Monday: crockpot roast, mashed potatoes, veggie
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: beans, brown rice
Thursday: reruns
Friday: pizza or chinese

I spite of my last jesting post about cooking (but it is a neat site), I do know how to do so. Remember the shrimp scampi? When I was a less experienced cook, I lived by my measuring spoons and cups, and thought I could not cook without them. I even owned a set of kitchen scales at one time, given to me by my mother, but I only ever used them to weigh the baby. (As a side note– if you put a cake pan on a kitchen scale, and put a small, sleeping and mostly placid baby in that pan, the baby will wake up when he comes in contact with the pan, thrash as if poked with a cattle prod, and totally upset the pan. You will have to forget weighing the baby, and just try to catch him before he hits the floor. Just sayin’) Back to the food.

Measuring is a necessity when cooking, and while it’s possible, and not difficult, to learn what a teaspoon or tablespoon looks like in the hand, I have never been able to accurately guess weights. If I plan to make a recipe that lists the ingredients by weight, I have to by a package just that size, or weigh it at the store. Neither of these is the best solution, but unless I break down and buy another set of kitchen scales, those are my options.

I realize I still need to post my menu for the week, and I will. I haven’t decided on it yet, because I am still thinking about recipes. I don’t want to have to go shopping, so I need to plan around what I already have here at home. I’ve got plenty of pasta, and also chicken.

Do you ever get stumped on what to cook? Right now, I am so sleepy I can barely think, and food is just back in the corner of my mind, since I am not hungry. Okay, lets do it, so I can go nap!

Monday: frozen chicken parmesan, salad
Tuesday: beans with rice, sausage
Wednesday: shrimp scampi –I keep saying I am going to make this, and really I am. Maybe even this week!
Thursday: reruns
Friday: homemade hotwings with pizza from Wal-Mart

That’s the menu, subject to change if I look at it later and say “what was I thinking!!??!!” We all have days like that, and this just might be one of mine.