Bruschetta and Garlic OIl

We love garlic around here. I am pretty sure that I have said that before. In fact I know I have. I am pretty sure that I called it an "irrational fear of vampires."

Along those lines comes my families love of all things garlic. But our most favorite thing is garlic oil. We put it on...everything. Except ice cream, brownies, and such. That would just be gnarly. 

Any way I know you can buy garlic oil, but it's expensive when you can just make it at home so easily and for a fraction of the price. And the best part is how you house smells. So yummy! 

The first step is to take about 1.5 cups of olive oil and place it in a small saucepan. Then peel 10 garlic cloves and place them in the oil whole. Then turn the heat to medium-low and walk away. (But not too far. You do have the stove on after all) 

After a bit the garlic will begin to smell heavenly and begin to brown ever so slightly (about 10 mins) Grab a fork and flip those little beauties over and get them sizzling on the other side.
About another 7 minutes they will be nice and golden all over. Like this:

Now once they look like this take the pan off the heat and fish the garlic cloves out of the oil. Let the oil cool because it will be very hot! Then transfer it into a jar or even better a condiment squeeze bottle. All the better to put it on everything with ease!!!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups olive oil
• 10 garlic cloves, peeled left whole

1. Put the oil and garlic cloves in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until the garlic begins to brown just a bit. Flip the cloves over and let the other side brown about another 7 minutes. 
2. Remove the pan from heat and remove the garlic cloves. Once the oil is cool pour the oil into a jar or condiment squeeze bottle. 

A New Way to Meal Plan

My family meal plans. It is seriously the most time (and money) saving thing we do around here. On the weeks that we don;t meal plan we all just mill about the kitchen and have long drawn out conversations about what to have for dinner. We rummage through the fridge with a general sense of apathy and concurrent feelings of being overwhelmed. And really all I can think is "How do people do this without planning?"

So, we plan!

I used to plan each day on this cute little calendar that had 2 weeks on it. I would think about what was happening each day and try to pick something that would work with the days schedule. It was all very well intentioned. 

But here's how it really played out. On Tuesday we would not want what was planned. We would want what was planned for Wednesday. Then on Wednesday we would want what was planned for Sunday. And then I would feel like a failure because I hadn't adhered to this fictional schedule that I had created with good intentions. And really, who want so to feel guilty when you are just trying to plan something? 

So I changed it up. I still plan for 2 weeks of meals and I account for things I know are coming in those weeks: date nights, dinner with my sister, birthdays, etc. 

I try to balance the selections with things that I can make and with things that my husband can make. We also try to work in things that the girls request with out having 4 nights of nuggets and mac n' cheese.

It works super well and I can even use my meal box that I posted about HERE.

What I did was take an old picture frame and I simply put some old fabric where the picture would go. Then I used some left over letter stickers and wrote "What's for dinner?" at the top.  I hung it on the side of my fridge and I use dry erase markers to write the selections on it. After we make it, I just wipe the item right off! Super easy and incredibly efficient. :)

To Dip or To Drink? That is the Real Question

My kids love to dip things in ranch dressing. I am well aware that this makes them neither special, nor unique, in the realm of toddler/preschool land. Of course to me they are both divinely special and gloriously unique. But not because of their desire to coat their small bodies in ranch and wield carrots as swords... not that they would ever do that. :Þ 

Alrighty then...due to my children's predilection for dipping, I cringe every time I have to buy a bottle of ranch. Why you ask? Many reasons. Allow me to list them for you:

1. It can be loaded with gross things (MSG anyone? How about disodium phosphate? No? How about the crazy train my brain takes when I see "artificial flavoring". I go straight to the fact that Dr. Pepper used to contain ethylene glycol. Yes that is right. Dr. Pepper used to have ANTIFREEZE in it. I honestly cannot even think about what that "Artificial Flavoring" might be.)
2. It can be expensive even with the gross stuff in it. But to get the stuff that doesn't make me want to wrap my girls' digestive systems in protective wrap, yeah that just blows my budget. 
3. It's fattening. And the low-fat stuff has even more gross stuff that I cannot pronounce (Did you miss #1?). Not to mention that the low-fat stuff tastes...well...horrid. 
4. Use the powder you say? Even the powder has crazy gross stuff in it. 
5. I really think you should be convinced by now, but somehow having a list of 5 reasons seems more complete to me. (OCD Woman, Away!!)

Anyway I have been on  a mission for a while now to find a recipe that tastes really good, is easy to make, is free from chemicals that are not food, doesn't have 35000 calories per teaspoon, won't spoil in a day, and that my children (and husband) will actually like. Tall order, I know. 

BUT!!!! I found it. It is So. AMAZINGLY. GOOD. I could drink it. I won't, but I could. And just for you, Dear Reader, here it is. 

(OK. OK. It isn't totally low-fat. But I think it strikes a wonderful balance between full-fat tasty and low-fat healthy.)

Makes 1.5 QUARTS. That is a lot of dressing. 

Ingredients:

For the Mix:

1/4 Cup Black Pepper 

1 1/2 Cups Parsley Flakes 

1/2 Cup Garlic Salt 

2 Tbs Kosher Salt 

1/2 Cups Granulated Garlic 

3/4 Cups Granulated Onion 

2 1/2 Tbs Dried Dill weed

For the Dressing:

Juice from half a lemon

2 Cups Buttermilk

1 Cup Mayonnaise

2 Cups Non-fat Greek Yogurt

1/2 cups Sour Cream

What To Do:

1. Combine all mix ingredients and store in an airtight container. Pictured is a large peanut butter container. It filled it about 2/3 full. 
2. To make the mix into dressing, whisk together 3 T of mix with the remaining wet ingredients. 
3. Let sit for at least 2 hours. This gives the flavors a chance to develop. Before the 2 hour mark. It really just tastes like yogurt-mayo with green bits. Not tasty. But after the 2 hour mark:bust out the chicken wings and the carrot sticks. You are in for a treat. 

When Someone is New...

I love giving gifts. I love the thrill of finding just the right item that the person loves. Watching them open it and exclaim in surprise. I just love it all. Except when the person is new to me. Then... what should I get them? I probably over think it way too much. And I will admit that there are times when I don't really know what to get someone that I've known forever. They said they needed a new cheese grater... but a cheese grater?? For Christmas?? Yawn.

Truthfully I often rely on the handy Amazon Wishlist. I have one for each of the girls in my account. I keep it updated for out of town friends/relatives that want to send them gifts. But what if a person doesn't have an Amazon list? Or what if they give you a list that is...let's go with lack luster. See cheese grater above. (To be 100% honest my family informed me this year that my list was lame. But for the record I thought reusable produce bags and an extra bowl for my Kitchenaid was lovely.)

Anyway in response to a few lackluster lists I got this year, I developed this handy questionnaire.  I think it will solve many a gifting dilemma.

Don't you think it would be super cute to give the kids a page each year and then keep them in their scrapbooks so we can see how it changes every year?

I think I will start sending out this form each October to my family. I've included the downloadable version below if you want to use it. :)

To Say I Love You

We are all about doing cute things to keep our girls believing in the magic of youth and feeling special. So this is our latest idea. I saw THIS post on Pinterest about Valentine's envelopes and thought, "Why do that just in February?"

 So we installed mailboxes for the girls right outside their bedroom doors.

I found the mailboxes in the dollar section of Target last year around Valentine's day. (On a side note: does anyone love Target's dollar section as much as I do? I always find something fabulous there.) So I bought letter stickers and put the girls' names on the boxes and then mounted them with "L" brackets. We didn't want the pointy ends of screws to be anywhere near the girls so we screwed the brackets into the wall and then hot glued the boxes onto the brackets. Worked wonderfully.

So Sweet and Charming and I now write notes, or do something special for them at least 5 times a week. We shoot for every day, but sometimes life just gets in the way and it just doesn't happen. :/

Any way, the girls just love them. They wake up in the morning and run to their boxes first thing. D even leaves little gifts for K during the day. :)

It also is really helpful on days where the girls....let's go with try our patience. This allows us to sit and really think about them and what they would like. It is really a great way focus on the amazing people they are and forget the silly things that really shouldn't matter.

:)

Christmas Treats (Part 2)

If you missed Part 1 of this post, you really need to check it out. That toffee is way too good. 

But this peppermint bark? It is pretty amazing itself. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dark chocolate chips
• 2 cups white chocolate chips
• 8 peppermint candy canes
• Peppermint essential oil or extract (the EO is way better, but the extract is OK. It can make the chocolate grainy, though)

What To Do:

1. Unwrap the candy canes and place them in a large Ziploc bag and seal tightly. Use a rolling pin to roll/smash the candy canes until they are very small pieces.
2. Prepare a cookie sheet by covering it with smooth aluminum foil and either spraying it with cooking spray or brushing it with canola oil.
3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on HIGH in 30 second intervals. Stir between heatings to make sure the chocolate doesn't burn.  Pour the chocolate onto the prepared cookie sheet and use an offset spatula or knife to spread it to the edges and an even thickness. Once it is smeared around, tap it on the counter to get is even and to get the air bubbles out. Place the tray in the refrigerator, or outside to firm. 
4. While the dark chocolate firms, melt the white chocolate as you did the dark. Once it is done add 5 drops of the peppermint EO or 1 1/2 tsp of the peppermint extract. 
5. Remove the tray from the refrigerator and spread the white chocolate in an even layer over the dark chocolate.
6. While the white chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the candy cane pieces over the entire surface evenly. Press down very slightly to ensure they stick. Place the tray back in the refrigerator to firm up for 30 minutes.
7. Once the peppermint bark bark is completely set, break into small, uneven pieces by hand or cut into squares. Make sure that the chocolate is set before you begin cutting. If it is not firm the chocolates with separate. No bueno.

Christmas Treats (Part 1)

I am like probably every other person on Christmas Planet as I make food gifts for my neighbor's and friends during the holidays. 

I usually make a few staple things. Molasses cookies, assorted nuts, and sugar cookies. For my sugar cookies I make the ones from Bee In Our Bonnet. I would talk about them here, but really there's no point.  Ashleigh from Bee In Our Bonnet does such a great job with her pictures and details, that I just couldn't do it justice. Also Her cookie and frosting recipe is divine and probably one of the only recipes I don't mess with. 

Anyway.... This year for treats I decided to do something different. My sister and I teamed up and she made the pecans (because I am allergic) and I did the others. I still did the sugar cookies. Mostly because Christmas isn't Christmas without sugar cookies. I also did biscotti, peppermint bark, and chocolate almond toffee. This post is about the toffee. The peppermint bark will be in Part 2. 

Ingredients

•  2 cup2 (4 sticks) butter, cut up
•  3 cups granulated sugar
•  2 tablespoon light corn syrup
•  1 cup chopped almonds plus 1/4 finely chopped almonds
•  24 ounces (4 cups) dark chocolate chips

What To Do:

1. Line a half-sheet jelly-roll pan or 2 15 x 10 x 1) with foil and either spray it with cooking oil or brush it with canola oil. In a medium saucepan, heat butter, sugar, corn syrup and 1/4 cup water. Heat over medium heat to melt butter. Increase heat to medium-high and insert candy thermometer.

2. Cook mixture about 12 minutes until golden brown and temperature reaches 300 degrees F. Do not stir. Remove from heat and remove thermometer. 

(I used a pot that was *almost* too small. Be careful not to make this mistake!)

3. Quickly pour toffee onto prepared pan(s) and spread to edges with an off set spatula. The toffee sets pretty quickly so you will need to work fast. Let stand in pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. The wire rack part is pretty important as the bottom of the pan needs to cool as well as the top. 

4. Melt half of the chocolate in microwave on HIGH in 30 second intervals. Stir to smooth after each heating. Spread over top of cooled toffee with the offset spatula.  Refrigerate (or put it outside in winter) for 20 minutes until firm.

5. Once firm, flip entire bar over onto waxed paper and remove the foil. Microwave remaining chocolate just as before. Spread over the toffee and sprinkle with almonds. Press the almonds gently on the the chocolate. Refrigerate 20 minutes more. 

6. The chocolate needs to be very firm before breaking. If it is not firm, the chocolate will separate from the toffee. Break into 2-1/2-inch pieces. Store airtight at room temperature. It stays good for about a month. But it never lasts that long. :)