Kids in the Kitchen - Monster Cookies

Kids in the Kitchen is a new series featuring my kids in the kitchen, sometimes with me and sometimes without me.  So sometimes it will be messy and sometimes it'll be really messy.  There'll be mistakes and tears and I might even raise my voice when the canister of sugar hits the floor, but we will forge on because kitchen skills are important.

I'm fortunate to have a mom who included me in the kitchen.  I fondly remember sitting on the counter stirring yet another batch of harvest loaf batter.  Most likely we were listening to a Christmas record since harvest loaf was the gift of choice for neighbors, relatives, and teachers.  I'm sure my help made extra messes, but it also made memories and prepared me for future cooking endeavors.

Although Kids in the Kitchen can be a hassle at times, I try to look beyond the slowed productivity and mess to the day when they can use their kitchen skills to benefit our family and later themselves and their future families.

Today I'm sharing with you a super yummy cookie recipe that can double as breakfast in a real pinch.  Yes, that was a good morning.

Monster Cookies

Peter helped me bake these cookies.  The pictures aren't great, the floor's covered in flour, he licked the spoon before we were done, he ate raw dough, the m&m's spilled.  We had fun, take a look.

Peter is so happy to be helping.

We added eggs, butter, sugars and vanilla and mixed it hard.

And then added peanut butter - see how healthy these are getting?

Then we added chocolate, oatmeal and a mix of white and whole wheat flour - again healthy

We placed them on parchment paper just to keep cleanup quick.  We also made them very large (1/4 cup)

Bake for about 10 minutes (sorry for the blurry pic)

Monster Cookies
3 eggs
1/4 c. soft butter
2 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. chocolate chips (we use mini)
1 c. m&m's (we use mini)
1 1/2 c. peanut butter
2 t. baking soda dissolved in 1 t. hot water
3 c. quick oats
1 1/2 c. flour (I use a mix of white and whole wheat)

Preheat oven to 375.
Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla hard.  It should be very smooth and light in color.  Stir in baking soda.  Blend in peanut butter.  Then add chips and m&m's.  Lastly, stir in oatmeal and flour.
Place on cookie sheet.  I use about 1/4 c. of dough to make large cookies.  Press down slightly.  Then bake for about 10 minutes.  If using a dark pan they will darken faster.  We like them chewy so I slightly underbake, let set on pan for 1 minute then remove to foil to cool.

Linking up with Raising Homemakers.

Works For Me Wednesday - Laundry Folding Tip

Sadly, the summer is winding down.  Summer dance has ended.  The family campout is over.  The pencils and notebooks have been bought.  It's inevitable; school will begin.  And for those of you moms who happen to homeschool your life will once again revolve around reading lessons and multiplication tables and biology labs and and and ........

Things seem so peachy the first week back to school.  New books, new supplies, new planners.  Then the 2nd week starts up and I know what happens in my house.  I look around and holy cow it's a mess.  And the laundry.  Oh the laundry.  Once I heard a story about a mom who bought new socks and underwear for her family because she was totally overwhelmed with the mountain of laundry in her basement.

One google search for laundry tips and your head will be spinning with all the ideas.  I watched an online video series on laundry/meal planning/dishes.  She recommended doing only one load a day from start to finish.  Wash in the morning, switch to dryer at lunch, fold in the afternoon and put away after supper.  This might work for smaller families, but for my large family one load a day just won't cut it.  Seems there's always an extra load of beach towels or bedding or throw rugs.

From collecting dirty laundry to washing to putting away, I'm going to share the ONE trick that has helped me keep on top of the laundry.  I'm not saying you need to adopt my way, but if laundry is causing you a bit of a quandary I encourage you to think through the steps, search out laundry hacks, make a plan and follow it for 2 weeks.  Then make changes as necessary.  We modern homemakers really have it easy in the laundry department.  Yes, we have more clothes and fabric items in our home than in the olden days, but we also have machines to do the work of laundering - no feeding clothes individually into the wringer washer.  When we put clothes into the washer we get to walk away and do other things like reading lessons or spelling tests.

The Laundry Trick - FOLD THE CLOTHES STRAIGHT FROM THE DRYER

When I hear the chime signaling the end of the drying cycle I DO NOT grab a laundry basket.  I open the dryer and fold the clothes placing them in piles on top of my front loaders.  I have 9 piles, one for each person in the family and each person has their spot.  I arrange them from oldest to youngest:  myself, husband, Emily, Nick in the back and the other 5 kids in the front.  That leaves me space on the far right for sorting socks, folding bibs, friends' forgotten items, etc.  I fold all day as needed and then put laundry away at the end of the day, typically while the kids clean up supper dishes or just after putting the little ones down to bed.

Towels and washcloths are all washed together with bleach, placed in a basket and folded at the dining table.  I usually grab the closest, able child for that job.

Folding right from the dryer has allowed me to stay on top of laundry (for the most part) even with a large family, even while homeschooling.  When I used to put the clean clothes in laundry baskets it was so easy to transfer more laundry to the dryer.  Pretty soon I had 4 baskets of clean clothes to fold and it felt overwhelming.  One load folds up in about 10-12 minutes.  4 loads? Takes Forever!

Folding Clothes Straight From the Dryer Works For Me

Works For Me Wednesday is a linky party hosted by Giving Up On Perfect.

Canning Jalapenos

We love spicy food so it only seems natural to preserve any extra jalapenos the garden produces.

I simply wash and slice the peppers into rings.  Most of the pepper's heat comes from the seeds so I leave the seeds right where they are.

I then pack them tightly into half pint jars.  Remember to wear rubber gloves otherwise later in the evening when you're feeling a bit sleepy you'll rub your eyes and then they'll start burning so you'll rub them a little more and they'll burn some more and then you'll wonder what's going on and after a quick replay of the day you'll realize you sliced 40 jalapenos without gloves and now your eyes and probably even finger tips are burning and nothing will bring relief except time.  It's happened to me.  Learn from my mistakes; wear gloves!

Next I boil up a solution of 6 cups vinegar, 2 cups water and a couple of smashed garlic cloves.  Once it boils, simmer for 5 minutes.  Discard garlic and pour brine over jalapenos, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Adjust two-piece caps and process in boiling water canner for about 10 minutes.  Remaining vinegar mixture can be saved in a tightly covered jar for 10 days.

A favorite Packer Sunday tradition is to make a huge plate of nachos with all the fixins, and these jalapenos top it off nicely.  

Other ways to eat these up

Top a hamburger with a few peppers and a slice of cheese

Dice up jalapenos and an onion, saute; then add BBQ sauce and whiskey - top a hamburger with this mixture

Add to scrambled eggs with a little cheese and onion

Use as a topping for tacos

We have been enjoying a rainy week so far.  I know for Warren and all those who work outside it's screwed things up a bit, but we are still grateful for the much needed rain.

I'm linking up with The Art of Home-Making Mondays.

Sometimes I Get Lucky

Hundreds of times a day I'm telling kids what to do and what not to do.  I wish I could say they obey every time, but that would be a lie.  But sometimes I do get lucky.  I needed to can my jalapenos and didn't want little fingers touching all the spicy juice.  Jalapeno juice in the eye is miserable.  I know!

Anyways, I told Peter and Maria to go lay on the couch for a rest.  After 10 minutes of quiet I looked over to find this

They curled up and fell asleep.

I figured I should press my luck and told Joseph to read me a book while I sliced jalapenos.  He proceeded to grab his favorite book Green Eggs and Ham and he read to me.  Of course, I had to take a little video and I'm going to share that today.

And since they don't always obey like this, a book I might need to revisit is Dr. Ray Guarendi's Discipline That Lasts A Lifetime.  This is an older book, but the techniques are not out of date.  When our oldest children were small I found this book quite helpful.  And if I remember correctly, it's Dr. Ray who said well disciplined children are a joy to be around.

Isn't it nice when they obey without any fuss?  How about you, any discipline tips you'd like to share?

Gardening Growing Pains

Having a garden is a ton of work.  There's the planning, tilling, planting, waiting for germination, weeding, weeding and more weeding.  And don't forget the watering if you have sandy soil like we do.  When I'm down in the garden swatting mosquitoes, sweating and totally wrecking my nails I keep in mind the end product - fresh home grown produce.  

Most times things go right, but when they go wrong it crushes me.  I become so emotionally attached to my plants that when the leaves curl or brown or wilt or become laden with chew holes I feel personally attacked.  I did all I could and yet, and yet this is what I get.  I know I sound unstable, but I bet those of you who have ever grown a garden know just what I mean.

So when my green bean leaves started looking like this:

And the beans all grew in tight corkscrews:

And they were covered in brown spots:

I nearly cried.  Actually I did have a few tears well up, but I held them back for fear of looking unstable.  Three rows of beans planted, weeded and watered all for naught.  I was ready to give up, ready to pull out the plants so I didn't have to look at them everyday.  But then I regained my senses and prayed Jesus, I trust in you over and over again.  And I guess He thought this insane gardener really needed beans because after ignoring them for days I took a peek under the leaves and found thousands of straight, unmarred beans ready for the picking.  So I picked and picked and picked some more until 4 bags were full.  They weighed in at 40 pounds.  

And then I (with the help of Warren, Emily and Sam) canned 32 quarts.

MORAL OF THIS STORY

When you feel like giving up, pray, wait and then check back in.  No matter how silly you think your prayer request might be He's listening and will provide exactly what you need.  Amen.