Monthly Archives: January 2011

Kid Review: Moon Dough

Posted by suzyhomebaker in Kid Review

In a word, Moon Dough is weird. I can’t quite describe the texture of it. It’s foamy, soft, breaks apart easily and therefore is scattered randomly around my house. Although I have restricted its use to the basement only, it almost always finds its way up my carpeted stairs and onto my jute living room rug. It does like to stay in the rug and you really gotta work at vacuuming it up. I should also mention it has a distinct plastic smell. At least that’s the best I can describe it. Riley loves it though. She has the barn and farm animals set and I will admit it is a bit fun to make the animals. The instructions are a bit crazy though. I remember reading that you should wash your hands after using it and not let it get wet with soap or water. Kinda strange. I will say it doesn’t dry out like play dough but that doesn’t mean I’m not sweeping it up constantly and tossing it in the garbage. Hair, dirt, and everything else gets imbedded in it, just like play dough. Fun for the kiddies but not so fun to clean up. We give Moon Dough……..

three out of five thumbs up!





Cacio e Pepe…..mmmm cheesy goodness.

Posted by suzyhomebaker in kid friendly, pasta

This is my go to meal when there’s nothing in the house to prepare. I always have pasta and some sort of Italian cheese so it’s pretty easy to improvise. To really make it a meal (and add some protein and veggies) I’ve incorporated roasted asparagus, grilled chicken, peas, pretty much whatever I can find in the fridge. It always turns out good and the kid likes it too. I also substitute whole wheat pasta for a little extra fiber. Hey moms and dads, this is super easy to prepare, even when you have a 3-year-old tuggin at your apron.

Recipe courtesy of Cook’s Illustrated

6 ounces Pecorino Romano – 4 ounces finely grated (about 2 cups) and 2 ounces coarsely grated (about 1 cup)
1 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons finely ground black pepper

1. Place finely grated Pecorino in a medium bowl.

2. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Cook until al dente. Drain pasta into colander set in bowl, reserving cooking water. Pour 1 ½ cups of cooking water into measuring cup.

3. Slowly whisk 1 cup reserved pasta water into finely grated Pecorino until smooth. Whisk in cream, oil and black pepper. Gradually pour cheese mixture over pasta, tossing to coat. Let pasta rest one to two minutes, tossing frequently, adjusting consistency with remaining ½ cup of pasta water. Serve with grated Pecorino.

Boston Banana-Spice Cakes

Posted by suzyhomebaker in breakfast, cake, Fran's Old School Recipes, kid friendly, muffin

These are basically banana muffins but with lots of spicy goodness. I will admit, mine came out a little dry, maybe overcooked a bit, but the taste and texture are nice. Riley seemed to like them too. To please her we added small semi-sweet chocolate chips to half the batter and baked off ones with chocolate. She really liked those. I plan to freeze them for Riley to have for breakfast or a nice little snack. They’re not exactly healthy (made with shortening) but they do have lots of banana in them. *Please note, in the recipe, 2-3 cups is actually 2/3 cup, same with 1-3. At least I hope that’s what it means. Thanks Fran.

Molten Lava Cake, oh ya that’s good lava!

Posted by suzyhomebaker in cake, chocolate

I wanted to make this one on New Year’s but…..I fell asleep instead. I was up before the ball dropped though. I made it tonight and it was really, really..rich. It needed some vanilla ice cream on the side to cut the richness but I was all out. Bummer. I also split the recipe in half cause there was only the three of us chowing down and I really didn’t want three extras sitting around….especially cause the official “cut out the crap food” date is this Thursday. I’m trying to get in all my favs before celery and wasa crackers become my staples. Ugh. Enjoy.

Ingredients (Recipe courtesy of Food Network & Paula Deen)

  • 6 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet chocolate
  • 2 (1-ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
  • 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 stick) butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons orange liqueur

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Grease 6 (6-ounce) custard cups. Melt the chocolates and butter in the microwave, or in a double boiler. Add the flour and sugar to chocolate mixture. Stir in the eggs and yolks until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and orange liqueur. Divide the batter evenly among the custard cups. Place in the oven and bake for 14 minutes. The edges should be firm but the center will be runny. Run a knife around the edges to loosen and invert onto dessert plates.

New Year’s Resolution #1: go back to writing your blog.

Posted by suzyhomebaker in Uncategorized

Yes, its been a while. But after having baby #2 (it’s a girl, we’ll call her KK), and finishing up 2010, its time to go back to writing the blog. So here are the rest of my resolutions in no particular order that I hope to achieve in 2011.

#2: lose weight of course, the rest of the baby weight, about 10 pounds, and complete the transformation program at the gym. See you in April with my results.

#3: declutter and simplify our lives. The house is a cluttered mess. Toys, decor, books, clutter. It’s driving me nuts and I’m taking care of it this year. We’ll be selling, donating, and trashing any and all items they haven’t been used in 1-2 years. I just can’t stand constantly putting stuff away and trying to find somewhere to put the stuff. Here’s my inspiration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLoge6QzcGY

Wish me luck and keep logging on to check out the blog. I’ll be posting at least a few times a week with some new featured posts like mom stuff and product reviews. So don’t come here looking for strictly recipes. I’ve got two kids now so cooking and baking is not so easy. But I’ll try my best, resolution #4. Happy New Year!

resolution inspiration