Some Life Stuff & The Best Pickles

So what have you been up to? We’re just living life over here. The days run into weeks and the weeks into months. Funny how that happens. I heard a quote on parenting once and I just love it so. I’m pretty sure I’ve shared it before. And I don’t know where the quote came from so I could give credit where it’s due, but I just don’t remember.

“The days are long but the months are short”

It seems that time passes in the blink of an eye sometimes so I’ve just been enjoying my kids and hibernating because the weather is unbearable.

BUT Guess what? We’re finally moving back to Florida! I have tickets booked and suitcases packed! Well, nothing packed actually, but we have our flights scheduled! I absolutely cannot wait to never experience a Michigan winter ever again. And to be close to family again, of course. 42 days to go but who’s counting? ME! So more on that stuff later and I’ll even bore you with a recap of what we’ve been eating, too. But first.

The pickles I’ll be eating until I turn green blue in the face. I’m not sure why what’s an expression and I’m pretty sure it doesn’t go in this instance but I’m sticking to it. Anyway. They’re garlicky, they’re salty, they’re refreshing. Um, did I mention they’re perfect? Yes.

I’m not a cucumber fan. I just find them kind of boring. I’ll eat them but I don’t go out of my way to buy them or cook with them. They just seem… meh. So over the summer one of Pierre’s co-workers sent him home with a ton of cucumbers from his garden. I wasn’t going to turn them away so I decided to make pickles! So happy I did that. Now I go out of my way to buy cucumbers and make pickles 3-4 times a month. My 2 (almost 3 WAAAHHHH) year old will eat the whole jar in one sitting if I let her. No utensils necessary. So here are the step by step photos of how we make them! So easy that Eva could probably make them with minimal help.

Add 20-30 black peppercorns at the bottom of a quart-sized mason jar. Don’t count mine.

Cut up a cucumber in the size and shape you like your pickles. This is just one medium pickle but the jar can hold up to two. I’ve crammed a ton of cucumbers in the jar and it works just fine. I toss the ends. Next, let your toddler SLOWLY add the cucumbers one by one to the jar while you take deep breaths and try not to cut in because you have no patience.  Chop up a garlic clove in the meantime. Anyway you want. Add 1 tbsp kosher salt. Add 1/3 cup of white vinegar. Fill the rest of the jar up with plain water, give it a quick shake and place it upside down for 24 hours. I put mine in a bowl just in case the jar leaks but mason jars have a nice tight seal so it hasn’t happened yet.

 

After 24 hours turn the jar right side up and place in the fridge for another 12 hours before you dig in. True be told you can probably eat these after the first 24 hours.

THAT’S IT. Please tell me you’ll make these.

The Best Pickles

1-2 medium cucumbers, sliced to your desire
20-30 whole black peppercorns
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tbsp kosher salt
1/3 cup white vinegar

Add all the ingredients to a quart-sized mason jar, shake and leave upside down for 24 hours. After 24 hours return the jar to right side up and store in the fridge.

Friday Things

Happy Friday! We’ve had a busy week around here. Last week our Thanksgiving was lovely, I put butter in everything and it was delicious. Then we went shopping on Saturday – no crazy Black Friday shopping for me but we still did some damage the following day. Unfortunately for our wonderful weekend my husband had to leave for a work trip on Sunday (which is the worst) and he’s been gone all week. I can’t wait to see him tonight!

Fast (?) forwards to this week! Monday I stayed home waiting for my new iPhone to be delivered because we had a package delivered to the wrong address last week and I didn’t want it to happen again. Tuesday the twins had their 9 month check up (WHAT?) and Wednesday Olivia had a therapy appointment for her Torticollis. Thankfully her therapists saw significant improvement at the last two session and officially discharged her! We are so happy! She’s also done with the helmet therapy, a perfect end to the year!

Thursday I finally made it back to the gym and it felt so good to sweat! Sounds weird, I know, but for those of you who enjoy working out get me. After the gym we had a friend stop by for a visit. It was so nice having her here with her two daughters, one Eva’s age  (born the day before Eva!) and one a few months younger than the twins.

Here’s a ton of photos from this week and some from last! First up we have The Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls. They were amazing!! I’ve always wanted to make my own and I was seriously proud of myself. To be honest I have been intimidated by this recipe for years but I gave myself a whole day to to make the dough, let it rest and roll it out and it was great. Patience, didn’t know I had it in me!

Thanksgiving chicken (no turkey for us) SMOTHERED in butter, it was so good.

Brussels sprouts sautéed in, you guessed it, butter, and bacon. I don’t regret a thing.

And you can’t forget dessert! Pumpkin pie and a Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Oreo Pie. Just, wow. 

We took a stab at out own Christmas cards!

First gingerbread house! For Eva and me! 

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating today! I hope those who can enjoy the holiday with their families are doing so! I’m so very thankful for my life and those who are in it specially my family who is a constant support and show me more love than I deserve.

Now go and eat until it hurts!

Whiskey & Pineapple Cranberry Sauce

Let’s make boozy cranberry sauce! 

I’ve mentioned that turkey isn’t really my thing. When it comes to Thanksgiving I eat it but always drown it in cranberry sauce. I didn’t grown up with it as a regular side to my family’s Thanksgiving meal and when I discovered it was in love. The first time I tried it was when I met my mother-in-law just after mine and Mr. HC’s engagement. She made this recipe that called for the stuff from the can and let me tell you, I LOVED IT. I’ve asked her to make it every year we’ve been together for Thanksgiving. I know, crazy considering it’s the canned stuff.

Last year we ventured away from it and I made cranberry sauce from scratch and you can imagine what happened when I tried the real stuff. I was over the moon obvi. The tartness and texture is perfect and it really goes with everything. Can we make cranberries an all year thing? Why do I have to wait for Thanksgiving to cook with them? I’m not sure what possessed me to add whiskey to my cranberries this year but I’m glad I did. It adds a really nice depth of flavor that’s unexpected but in a good way. And the pineapple! So good. If you close your eyes you can pretend you’re in the tropics. That’s what I’ll be doing.

Whiskey & Pineapple Cranberry Sauce
Yields 3-4 cups

12 oz fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups whiskey, I used Jack Daniel’s
1/2 cup brown sugar*
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chopped pineapple**

Add all the ingredients to a pot over medium heat. Mix everything together and cover. When it starts to boil remove the lid (being very careful not to inhale!) and reduce the heat to a low simmer.

Stir occasionally as the cranberries and pineapple begin to break down. 

The sauce will look like this about 45 minutes in.
Throw it in a large mason jar and serve warm. 

Just like the pilgrims did it.

*This recipe makes a tart, savory cranberry sauce. If you prefer a sauce add 3/4  – 1 cup of sugar. You could also leave the sugar at 1/2 cup and add 1/4 cup of maple syrup.

**I don’t live anywhere near the tropics so I used pineapple slices from a can. About 6 rings cut into medium chunks. You could skip the cutting part and just buy pineapple chunks, drained.

Spinach & Feta Smashed Potatoes

Say hello to your new favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

Or your main dish. Hey, I won’t judge you for eating just this on Thanksgiving. I love potatoes. I could eat them in any shape or form. If there’s a potato involved – I’m eating it. French fries are probably my favorite because hello! They’re fried. Now that we’re almost to Thanksgiving I’ve asked Mr. HC about a thousand times what he wanted for dinner that night. We’re spending the holiday just the 5 of us and since there are only 2 adults consuming the majority of the meal I thought I’d just let him pick our menu. And while his answer is almost always “whatever you want”, the absolute worst answer you could give someone who loves to cook for others, I know he loves mashed potatoes on special occasions. I definitely won’t turn them away but I know I’m in the minority when I say I like them chunky. Yes, I said it. I like chunky mashed potatoes.

These are a nice balance smooth and chunky. A great compromise for us. Red potatoes naturally have a lot of water in them so they tend to be pretty smooth to begin with. Add butter and some fat-free half and half, spinach (for health reasons of course – see, I’m looking out for you!) and some salty delicious feta cheese and you’ve got yourself a winning dish.

Spinach & Feta Smashed Potatoes
Serves 2-4

6-8 small red potatoes (I like them with the skin on but you can peel them if you prefer it that way)
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fat-free half & half
2 cups chopped baby spinach
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
salt & pepper to taste (remember the feta cheese is salty so you may want to go easy on the salt or skip it all together)

Add the potatoes to a medium pot with a tight-fitting lid and cover the potatoes with cold water and cover with the lid. Bring the water to a boil. When the potatoes are done you will be able to stick the tip of a knife in them and it will slide easily off.

Drain the potatoes and place back in the same pot and put them on the same range, making sure the heat is off. The additional heat trapped in the potatoes and pot will evaporate any of the water left on the potatoes. After you notice all the water has evaporated, give each potato one or two smashes with a fork. The idea here is to break the potato open but not mashing it completely. You’ll have big and small pieces.

Add all the remaining ingredients and gently stir, being careful not break them. Serve hot.

What We Ate – Cousin Edition

Here’s another post where I tell you about the embarrassing amount of food I consumed in one weekend.

We started with Arepas because who wouldn’t? I made a quick guasacaca from scratch and it was amazing, we added it to almost every meal throughout the weekend. I only used avocados, garlic, onion, salt and red wine vinegar and it was perfect.

That same morning we got the boneless pork ribs in the crockpot for the tacos we were planing for dinner. It was just pork ribs, a bottle of beer, cumin, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder and salt. Cooked slow for 10 hours and then shredded. Topped with my very favorite cilantro slaw (cabbage, cilantro, lime juice and salt), shredded cheese and more of that guasacaca. I drape the tortillas through a few of the slats on the oven rack and they toast in the perfect shape for tacos.

We also prepared a big batch of sangria – it was so good. I’d never made my own so I owe that to my cousin, it was easy! Just a bunch of fruit and sweet red wine in a pitcher left to marinade in the fridge for a few hours. The next day we decided to make a mini Thanksgiving! After having Arepas for breakfast again (this time with eggs and bacon as the filling), we headed to the mall for a little while. We accidentally bought this bucket of mini donuts. UGH. In Alex’s defense, she only had one little donut. I can’t say the same for myself.

Later that day we got started on Thanksgiving and made my favorite stuffing muffins or Alex, mashed potatoes for Mr. HC, a whole roasted chicken (turkey is my least favorite Thanksgiving dish), and green beans. You can tell from the photos that it was super informal.

Sunday we went to church and after leaving Mr. HC home with the twins we headed to lunch just Eva, Alex and I. We went Hayden’s Grill & Pub in Canton and ordered fried pickles, coconut shrimp and jalapeno cheese dip  for appetizers, A bruschetta burger for Alex and an osso bucco pork Cuban sandwich for me. The food was delicious. Those fried pickles have my heart.

We can’t forget the Dream Bars we made the second she got off the plane. We polished those off by the end of the weekend. No shame. 
So there you have it. I eat too much.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Stuffing Sliders with Spicy BBQ Sauce

I know, this sounds insane. But don’t worry – that’s because it is.

My cousin came to visit over the weekend and we thought it would be fun to have a mini Thanksgiving since we won’t have any family around for the actual day. Stay tuned for a What We Ate coming later this week. Anyway, my cousin loves stuffing but I ended up buying way too much stuffing mix so I’m adding it to everything.

The sliders themselves are delicious and filling but the sauce! Spicy and sweet and delicious. Its totally out of the ordinary to mix stuffing with barbecue sauce, I know, but this is a winning combination. You could be traditional and top these with cranberry sauce or even gravy! but promise me you’ll at least make these once with the barbecue sauce. The sauce doesn’t end at these burgers though, you could put it on anything that requires BBQ sauce.

Oh! And I made homemade slider buns for the occasion! I’ve never made bread before and it was kind of fun to know I made almost everything on that burger. I definitely recommend making your own burger buns some time if you haven’t yet.

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Sliders

Makes 6 sliders 

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 medium sweet potato, peeled & cubed, about 1 cup
1 garlic clove, grated
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1 egg
3/4 cup Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Stuffing Mix (not the cubes, the kind that looks like breadcrumbs)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup Spicy BBQ sauce, recipe below
salt & pepper, to taste
Toppers – Optional
lettuce
tomato
onion
avocado
bacon(!!)

Preheat the oven to 400F. Toss the sweet potato with salt, pepper and 1 tsp of olive oil and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until tender.

Add the slightly cooled sweet potatoes to a food processor and puree. Add the black beans and pulse, leaving some texture. Add the mixture to a bowl and add the garlic and spices, egg and stuffing mix. Mix everything together until it’s fully incorporated. Form the patties into six sliders depending on the size of the buns you’re using.

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium hight heat. Heat the sliders through, crisping each side. Top the sliders with your desired toppings and a dollop of the spicy bbq sauce.

Spicy BBQ Sauce
Yields approx. 1 cup

1 cup your favorite BBQ sauce
2 tbsp grape jelly
1 1/2 sriracha chili sauce

Add all the ingredients to a small sauce pan over low heat. Whisk until combined and heated through. Keeps in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

What We Ate – Dad Edition

I mentioned last week that I’d share some of the things we ate while my dad was in town so that’s that I’m gonna do!

If you would have asked me 10 years ago who I’m more like, my mom or my dad, I would have told you, “My mom”, without skipping a beat. I’ve always thought that I was more like her because that’s what most people that know us both tell me, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you were to ask me the same question today I’d answer differently. My dad and I are very similar and I’m a little sad to admit that it’s taken me this long to realize it. My dad and I have similar temperament and our sense of humor is the same, too. We view problems the same way and I think we both like to avoid conflict, as much as we’d like to deny that fact. We both have strong faith in people as well as God and we’re excellent homebodies. Also, we’re both severely addicted to coffee which I’m pretty sure is genetic in our case. Having him here in my home and actually speaking in person versus on the phone or over FaceTime (he lives in Venezuela so we only see each other every few years) was a huge blessing for our family.

One of the things that makes my heart super happy is that over the years my dad has developed a passion for cooking! I remember when I was young and we were still living under the same roof, my dad liked to cook dinner once in a while. My mom handled most of the cooking around the house so I guess it was just on special occasions that he actually got to cook. I consider myself a very fortunate person, I grew up in a household that had two parents who cooked healthy, delicious meals for us kids every day. Never from a box, always fresh and we very rarely went to restaurants or did take-out. Cooking and talking about food is just another awesome thing my dad and I have in common. So here’s what we ate, in no particular order.

A few days before he got here he turned 60! WHAT? So I greeted him at my home with a fresh batch of fried chicken. I don’t think I’ve ever really made fried chicken before. Maybe I’ve tried to ‘fry’ chicken but not the real deal stuff. Well, this is it. It was delicious! I fried it in our cast iron pan and all! I felt very legit. Forgive the photo, it just doesn’t do it justice. I served the chicken with sad-looking biscuits, mashed potatoes and green beans on the side, how Southern of me.

 I’ve talked to you about arepas before, right? If you haven’t had one in your life then you’re seriously missing out. In Venezuela, arepas are a staple in your house just as sandwich bread would be. You can do anything with them, do you hear me? ANYTHING! And my dad taught me a new way – he added toasted sesame seeds and ground flaxseed to the mix! I was so excited to try them and they tasted so good! We stuffed them with cheese (duh), avocado and slow roasted pork from the previous nights’ tacos.

Of course we had to bust out a Pancake Saturday staple – pancakes and bacon! One of the days he was here it wasn’t so cold that we could bust out the grill! I was so excited to use it one last time before winter. I grilled ribeye steaks because in my opinion, if it isn’t a ribeye then you’re wasting your time. I roasted cauliflower and made baked sweet potatoes. My dad wanted to learn how to make egg-less Caesar dressing from scratch so we followed this recipe that I had made once before and it doesn’t disappoint. 
My dad also wanted to learn about spaghetti squash and kale and how to make chili so we did all of those things, too. Once he left Eva and I were so sad we had to make pumpkin muffins to make ourselves feel better. We had such a wonderful time with my dad here, I actually made him extend his trip by 2 days before he went off to Atlanta to visit my brother, I didn’t want to let him go!

So that’s what we ate. And if you’re wondering, yes I gained 20 pounds while he was here. So much food.

Kale Pesto

I are you sick of kale yet? I sure hope not.

I get it. Kale is everywhere, in everything, you don’t even want to look at it anymore. But hear me out. You know how I have a bunch of kids and a husband that travels a lot for work? I love recipes that I can use in everything, for any meal at any time of the day, and this is just that. Let’s take a minute and read over some of the things you could use this kale pesto in. And I’m positive I’m missing some.

• Over eggs in the morning or on a breakfast sandwich
• Mixed into breakfast hash
• Salad dressing
• Grilled cheese (!!!)
• Dipper for roasted veggies/fries
• Sub for regular tomato pizza sauce
• Spoon over chicken or fish
• As a marinade for chicken, seafood or even tofu
• Tossed with any pasta
• Pesto lasagna – um, hello?

I could keep listing things. And the health benefits! I know you’ve heard all about them but just in case you haven’t here’s the rundown: tons of iron, vitamin A, calcium and fiber. Eat your kale.

I know some of you will say that it’s bitter or that you don’t like the way it tastes. But there’s cheese in this so that kind of makes everything better, right? Also, the lemon juice and zest helps cut the bitter undertones kale has sometimes and brightens up the whole thing. Works perfectly.

Kale Pesto
Yields approx. 1 cup

4 cups chopped kale, about 1 medium bunch, ribs removed
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1 large garlic clove, roughly chopped
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese (I used the kind out of the green shaker – don’t judge me)
2 tsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Add all the ingredients, except for the oil, to a food processor. Turn it on a slowly stream in the oil. DONE. This will keep in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.

Finding The Light

Disclaimer: I’m sorry if you’re squeamish, I briefly talk about Eva’s injury.

It has been an emotionally draining week at our house. We’ve had many ouchies and kissing of boo-boos. We also had an injury that sent Eva to Urgent Care. Thankfully she’s okay, just bruised up but I know it could have been worse. She wanted to sit at the adult table to eat her lunch like a big girl. Of course she’d sat at the table many times before so I agreed. If you have a toddler you know they absolutely cannot sit still, it’s in their nature. I turned my back to change one of the twins’ diapers and heard the loud bang that all moms associate with their child falling and hitting their heads. When I turned around I saw Eva on the floor face down, she’d fallen out of the chair. I immediately ran over to her and scooped her up and ran back over to the changing table so the baby wouldn’t fall, too. When I finally peeled her off of my shoulder I noticed a lot of blood in her mouth and a very swollen jaw.

After I got her to settle down (and put the baby in a safe place) I got a good look at her mouth and noticed she bit the inside of her cheek, but man, if I hadn’t already heard that mouth injuries produce a lot of blood I would have been freaking out. Her face was what really concerned me. After talking to Mr. HC about the injury and sending him a photo, we decided to take her to get an x-ray to be sure her jaw wasn’t broken. Eva was a trooper and she allowed the doctor to look her over, but that’s no surprise. I’m pretty sure I have the only child on the planet who loves going to the doctor. No broken bones just a swollen, banged up girl. She’s in great spirits and loves telling everyone about the bruise on her face. I wish I could say that fall was the hardest thing I’ve encountered this week.

We have a few family friends that were dealt really scary hands this week. One was in a car accident that should have killed her but only because God was watching over her she survived. Her recovery will take months and I can’t pretend that I know what that’s like. My other friend is having surgery today to remove what would have been her third baby from her womb. I can’t imagine hearing the heartbeat one week and not the next. Also, something I know nothing about.

The thing is, I could sit here in my house and think to myself that it’s not really my problem to worry for others because I have three kids to think about. Or I could say, “Wow, so glad my family is okay”. But what would that say about me? Where is the compassion and love God commands us to show for our neighbors? It’s easy to forget what others’ pain is when we don’t have to confront it every day.

At the end of the day when all the kids are in bed, the last bottle washed and toy picked up, I think the same thing to myself,  “Wow, what a day it’s been”. And do you know that every day I wake up thinking maybe I won’t have that thought today? Maybe the kids and I will have a ‘good’ day. What does that even mean? A day where I don’t have to raise my voice? A day where I don’t have to rescue Pierre from Olivia’s clutches because she’s using him as a step stool AGAIN?

I admit that I get caught up in day-to-day frustrations and I don’t look at the whole picture. Instead of thinking about how exhausting it can be to care for 3 small children I could be thanking God for giving me the opportunity to stay home with them. If your kids aren’t in daycare, everything they learn from the time they are born until they go to school comes directly from your mouth (and your spouse’s mouth). Kind of a scary thought, but it done’t have to be. You can choose to find the light in every situation. You can choose to control your temper, you choose the words that come out of your mouth and you choose your actions. Just as you choose to show compassion and love for your neighbor.

You can choose to find the light every day. The light that will give you peace and hope. The light that will comfort you when you’re down or give you strength when you just can’t take another step. For me the light is Jesus.