Amazing French Bread...

Nothing beats the smell of fresh bread baking in the oven... I found a great, easy french bread recipe on Tastykitchen.com.  It. tastes. awesome.
Clink on the link for ingredients.

After combining all of the ingredients, this is what I had.  not appetizing.

Then I covered it a bit with plastic wrap, leaving one side kind of open, and turned my oven to 175 to allow some warmth to help my dough rise on the stovetop.

I let it sit for 10 minutes and then came in to stir it.  I repeated that a total of 5 times.

Next, I divided the dough in half and rolled it out on my floured countertop.

I got it into a rectangle=ish shape, rolled it up like a jelly roll and placed it on a greased baking sheet, repeating with the second half of dough.

I was supposed to let it rise for 30 minutes, but Mags and I were playing in the yard, so it ended up being more like 45, just to show that this doesn't have to be super exact.

It rose quite a bit, so much that I actually had to move one of the loaves onto its own baking sheet.

I cut 3 diagonal slits into the bread and brushed it with egg wash, then I sprinkled on some salt, oregano, and basil (that part wasn't in the recipe, but I like a nice salted/flavored crust)

I popped the loaves in the oven for 25 minutes at 400F

and....... oh baby!

It smelled AMAZING!  I couldn't wait for it to cool off... I cut the end off almost immediately.  

Then I topped another piece with some deelish olive tapenade that I picked up at Price Chopper last weekend.      O. M. G.  

I swear Maggie and I ate half a loaf of bread by mid afternoon!  The best part is I wrapped the 2nd loaf up and stuck it in the freezer for next week.  I've got a quart of T's homemade sauce with meatballs and sausage in the freezer for the crazy first few days of back-to-school, this bread will be perfect on the side =)

Busy Toddler = Happy Mommy

This is one way I keep Mags busy in the kitchen when I've got my hands full cooking or baking... I saw this on Pinterest (of course) a long time ago and now I whip pipe cleaners and a colander out on random occasions when I need Maggie occupied (and out of trouble!)

You know she's focused when her tongue's out in concentration lol

While she's busy creating her masterpiece, I ask her what colors she's adding and have her count the pipe cleaners... she stays engaged with it for a while

Love simple things that make my girl (and me) happy!  =)

Another FUN salad =)

I'm making good on my word and making fun salads more often!  

Actually, this was the perfect accompaniment to a nice "meatless Monday" meal I conjured up for this week... broccoli and cheddar quiche!

It's one of my goals for this school year...

 1.  use my crockpot more often

2.  prepare more "freezable" make-ahead meals

3.  try to do a night or 2 a week of meatless meals

Anywho... the salad is a store-bought bagged mix of 1/2 baby spinach and 1/2 mixed greens, topped with 3 tomatoes from our garden, sliced pepperoni, a few slices of rolled up genoa salami, and some fresh mozzarella.

The quiche is 7 eggs, a crown of chopped, blanched broccoli, a nice handful (or 2) of shredded cheddar, salt, pepper, a dash of nutmeg, and a 1/2 cup of half and half whisked together... First, butter 2-3 Corningware 8-to-16 oz bakeware dishes (I used 2 16oz ones, and 1 8 oz one for Mags), and pour in the egg mix.  Bake at 350F for about 35-40 minutes.  Then serve with the salad and some nice crusty bread.

I love that there are 2 big ones for me and T and a little one for Magpies :)

The perfect trifecta of 

Deelish!  Easy! and  Cheap!

Pinterest-inspired project...

Yay for actually accomplishing something I pinned on Pinterest!  I've seen awesome milk crate seats all over the site made for people's classrooms, and thought they'd be perfect for my room.

I bought 5 black milk crates, 2 1/2 yards of fabric, and a twin size foam mattress pad, then borrowed a staple gun from my uncle down the street, and begged Tim to cut some plywood down to size that was sitting in the basement.

Took him all of about 5 minutes to measure and cut out 5 rectangles.  Thanks honey...

Then my pint-sized assistant decided to do some rhythmic gymnastics with the mattress foam lol...

Then I cut the fabric to allow for a 2-3 inch border around the wood pieces and placed 2 pieces of foam between the fabric and wood.  I whipped out the staple gun and got trigger happy...

And viola.... new reading group seats for my classroom   =)

The best part is that the padded wood is removable, so I can use the seats as easy accessible storage for all my guided reading stuff.  Yea, I give myself a pat on the back....  Can't wait to put these in my room and get some use out of them during centers!

Oh Margaret Ann...

Had to write this down in here so I won't forget...
Right before nap, I went to fluff Mags pillow and felt something hard in her pillowcase... hmm... turned out to be one of her favorite books tucked away inside her pillow lol.  I just giggled to myself, put it away, and got her down for her nap, thinking I had to tell Tim later on how funny she is.
Later on, Tim was getting Mags ready for bed and asked her what book she wanted to read.  She of course exclaimed "Finding Nemo, it's my favorite" and went off to grab it from her book-basket.  Tim said she stopped short and said "oh, it's in my pillow, it's my favorite book"... the little stinker had it stashed away in her pillow case again!  I'm assuming she must whip it out and read it quietly when we think she's already fallen asleep, the little sneak!   She's a little bookworm like her momma lol!

Being neighborly...

Maggie is obsessed with our neighbor Jim, whose always smiling and ready to chat with our bubbly 2 year old.  Last night we had a friendly drink with him on his front porch, and Maggie must have worked her cuteness magic, because this morning Jim came by with 2 super cute outfits for our little girl.  So sweet of him.

I was already planning on baking some yummy muffins, so I decided to be neighborly right back and send some fresh baked goods Jim's way.  I scrolled through tastykitchen.com, which is one of my top go-to sites when looking for a new recipe, and stumbled upon some delish cinnamon banana muffins.  I had everything on hand, so I doubled the recipe and got busy in the kitchen during naptime...

The only changes I made to the original recipe were to cut the sugar (both white and brown), double everything, and extend the cooking time.

2 sticks butter, room temp

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

2/3 cup sour cream

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 mashed bananas

3 cups flour

pinch salt

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons cinnamon

brown sugar for sprinkling

First, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add eggs and beat.  Add sour cream and baking soda.  Mix in the mashed bananas.  Add flour and dash of salt.  Beat.  Add vanilla and cinnamon.

Fill muffin cups and bake at 350F for 20 minutes.

I have to admit, I'm not the most social person.  I'll wave hello and say hi to anyone I see, but I'm just plain awful at small talk.  Tim makes fun of me for my awkwardness... hey, I've got to have at least one flaw ;)    But I must admit, it was nice to chat with Jim and feel a sense of "neighborhood" if you know what I mean.  I'll have to try to do it more often...

Garden pics...

The cucumbers are growing on a trellis (it was originally meant for my sugar snap peas, which didn't make it, I think something got to them, because some of the plants were ripped out of the ground)

I've got 2 varieties of cucumbers,  the "regular" kind, and the pickling kind.

 ?

My basil is huge.  Pesto anyone?

2 varieties of loose leaf lettuce.  So yummy!  It's been great to have fresh organic lettuce available 24-7.  I'll definitely be planting lettuce every year from now on.

And of course, tomatoes!  These are plums.

And these are beefsteaks.

Jalapeno peppers (great with the plum tomatoes, onion, and cilantro for homemade salsa)

And then there are the green beans, which I posted pics of not too long ago.

I <3 my garden!

Never underestimate a 2 year old...

Somehow, Mags has turned into quite the girly girl.  Definitely didn't get it from me.
She has been into everything lately, and insists on trying to do everything herself.  She goes into my bathroom drawer now to take out my make up brushes, she pretends to put powder all over, and then exclaims "I bootiful Mommy".  Yes Mags, yes you are lol.  I really don't know where she gets it from.

Well, Mags is obsessed with pedicures.  She honestly requests that I change her toe color about once a week!  Unbelievable.

We've had 2 incidents in 48 hours pertaining to toes... took everything in me to stay calm and remember I have a VERY precocious 2 year old...

Yesterday, we took off our toe polish so could do a new pedi for vacation.  I screwed the nail polish remover up tight and put it beside the lamp on the end table, where I thought it was out of reach.  I left the room for what seriously felt like 65 seconds.  Then I heard a loud "Mahhhh-Meeeee!" and went running back in.

Maggie reached the bottle.  She unscrewed the cap!!!!  She poured the entire bottle all over her skirt and the couch!  She had a look of pure panic and "oh no, I really messed up, huh".    Grrr, OMG, you've got to be kidding me.

I stripped her, grabbed the couch cushion and began furiously scrubbing it in the shower with dish soap.  It then spent the next 2 days outside.  

Lessons learned:  

1.  Maggie can now unscrew things

2.  There's no such thing as "out of reach"

Thank goodness it only went on the couch, I know it could have been much much worse.

Fast forward to the next day... I'm finally ready to paint Mag's naked toes.  She requested her favorite color... PINK  =)

She parked herself in her normal pedicure position on the edge of my bed, and I sit on the floor with her toes in my face lol.  Suddenly, she decides to chuck another polish bottle onto the floor, which hit the open pink bottle in my hand.  YUP, pink nail polish on our bedroom carpet.  and YUP, we are out of nail polish remover because of the couch incident.

Curse words ensued.  There was a lot of running around arms flailing, husband looking at me like I was losing it.  Then panicked strategizing.  I settled on rubbing alcohol, lots of paper towels, and wet washcloths.  It did pretty much come out, which is shocking.  Probably came off because the hysteria all happened within 30 seconds and I got to the polish right away.  Unbelievable.

Never a dull moment around here.  Needless to say, we are going to be A LOT more careful with our remover and polishes.

Beat back the beats....

Was going through old pics to put together a Shutterfly album for 2011 (yea, a little behind here)... and discovered this GEM!  This was taken last August... can't believe how baby-ish Magpies looks!!!  This video totally made my day =)

A new spin on the same old same old...

I've decided to make salad for dinner once a week.  We've had an abundance of cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce from the garden, and I needed a different way to put them together.  I hate when my salad is "boring", same ingredients, same style so to speak.  Salad is one of those things that's awesome when someone else puts it together for you with their own spin, and then it seems so fresh and new and yummy.

I'm going to try to make more FUN salads, and here's the first one... a classic Cobb!  I made a bed of loose leaf lettuce from the garden and added some organic baby spinach for a twist.  Then I place stripes of garden cucumbers, grilled chicken, fresh tomatoes, BACON, hard boiled eggs, avocado, and reduced fat blue cheese (which was pretty good for being "light").  This salad was awesome.  Even T liked it, probably because of all the toppings which made it more filling, and well... more FUN  =)