A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

Sometimes I amaze myself! Before Thanksgiving, the Mr. and I headed to the store to grab some necessary groceries. Sweet potatoes must have been a good price, because the Mr. stocked. us. up! He must have thought we were going to feed a small army! When we got home, I realized I already had sweet potatoes. Now -- I like sweet potatoes, but we certainly had a lot of them! I started wondering what to do with the abundance we were experiencing. Trying to think of "meatless" meals, I thought about tacos. I couldn't really sell the family on the option when I offered it. So while they were away, I started cooking. This way, they couldn't complain! It was brilliant on my part, I might add! After peeling and chopping the sweet potatoes, I set out to season and roast them to perfection. After that, the magic happened. At dinner, I told the Mr. and my girl cherub that at a trendy restaurant, these would be called, "Fall Bounty Tacos....

I've had a moment of reflection only to discover that I love cranberries. Not to pop one of the tart fruits in my mouth to savor, as that would pucker even the strongest of women. But the red-jeweled fruit is amazing, I think, and often under valued. While shopping this week, I saw the first opportunity to purchase cranberries. There were two options; the small 12 ounce bag, or the large two pound bag. It's when I took note of the thought in my head when I saw the options that I realized, "I really do love cranberries!" While shopping, I began to think of the ways I'd use the cranberries, and also wondered if I needed to grab another bag, "just in case one bag wasn't enough." Today, I made roasted cranberries. I think this will be delicious as a smear on a chicken sandwich or wrap a topping in a quinoa bowl with a bit of crumbled goat cheese, roasted butternut squash, and a few chopped pecans a sauce for a turke...

When we were living in Arizona, we were a young married couple just beginning our family. Actually, it was while we were living in Arizona that our oldest boy cherub was born. OK -- so he's our only boy cherub. Also while we were there, we were involved in a great church. Along with being involved in a great young marrieds Sunday School class. Our class was getting together for something, as we often did, and I was looking for a new recipe. Flipping through a magazine, I saw this ad for sweetened condensed milk. On the side of the ad was this little recipe. It sounded great and sounded easy. I remember the Mr. loving the cookie and so did our friends. After the party, I ripped out the recipe and tucked it away. And haven't seen it since! But I've always remembered the easy cookie with the unique ingredients! Fast forward 20 years, or more, and I have the recipe! So today, before I leave for a Fall Festival at school, I thought I'd whip th...

Honestly, the Mr. and two cherubs never tire of pasta. They love it. I, on the other hand, am not so crazy about pasta. It's not a "love-hate" relationship, I would describe more of a "take or leave" relationship. If we are at an Italian restaurant, I search for something that sounds good, and it's never a surprise if I don't order a pasta dish. But let me camp there for a minute . . . pasta is so cheap to serve, but restaurants charge a fortune for it! It drives me c.R.a.Z.y!  Seriously! That really may be the root of why I don't go nuts over spaghetti! That, and it's served as "the cheap food" when you're trying to feed a crowd. Pasta -- my family loves it! Monday night, I'm staring at everything in the fridge and thinking, "what to have for dinner?" Then I remembered the homemade pesto sauce I have stored in the freezer. And the pasta noodles I just purchased. I knew my girl che...

I hate to admit it, but I will. I'm not really sure when I realized that "fig" was an actually fruit, and should be said, "a fig . . ." Rather, I grew up thinking "fig" was part of a cookie name, as in "fig newton." Now, before you rush to judgment, I'm not hating on fig newton cookies. I grew up where these cookies were kept in the cabinets. Honestly, I don't remember packages of Chips Ahoy, Peppridge Farm, or even Oreos. I remember fig newton cookies. So I like them. Which made me think, I must like figs. Because after all, it's in the cookie; right? Since those early days, I have come to learn that figs are a fruit. A fruit I have never bought. Until today. While grocery shopping, I saw some black mission figs and bought several. Having no idea what to do with them, I came home and learned. Thank goodness for google and youtube! I learned how to know when a fig is ripe, when a fig is in...

Most of the people in my tribe like oatmeal. There's only one who doesn't really prefer it. Maybe that's because I didn't train her up right? My youngest cherub doesn't really care for oatmeal, while my oldest cherub would eat it on most any morning. The Mr. grew up at his grandparents eating "hot cereal." That, for some reason, has always kind of grossed me out. I don't know why. But every time he says, "want me to make some 'hot cereal'?"  I just think to myself, "can't you just say 'oatmeal'?" Anyway . . . remember the recent trip to visit our boy cherub at college? Where we went to the breakfast place but only had two choices? One of those was baked oatmeal.  . . . or, in honor of the Mr, 'baked hot cereal'!  (insert laughing emoji!) Of course, the Mr. ordered baked oatmeal for breakfast. Being a good wife, I offered myself a bite of his breakfast. That's what ...

Since our oldest cherub has gone to college, we find ourselves traveling to his college home on many weekends in the Fall. That's because we have season tickets to the home football games. This gives us a change to see our cherub, meet his friends, secretly check in on him; all in the name of being football fans. It's awesome! When we go, of course we take him out to eat. But I also haul a small fridge worth of supplies to him. When we go out to a new place in town, I peruse the menu looking for new items to recreate. This weekend, our cherub took us to a hip place. He said there were "lots of gluten free options." Clearly, he is mis-persuaded by what "lots" means. He likes the new place, and I can certainly see why. It was fun, busy, hip, and trendy. But "lots" of gluten free options wasn't really their forte. But of the three choices, two of them were really good. Which spurred me on to look up ...