So as you may or may not know, we love us some hockey in this house. More specifically, we love our Los Angeles Kings. But ever since Dustin Penner joined the Kings late last season, he has been something of a running joke in this house {and I think other households too} for his failure to, well, score. Dustin Penner rally towel anyone? Inside joke…a very inappropriate one at that. Anyhoo, the current running joke/press linking Penner with pancakes and the ensuing nicknames, Pennercakes, aka Penner Pancakes, aka Uncle Penner’s pancakes, etc have actually endeared the guy to us. So … Continue reading

When I was a little girl, I was obsessed with the Little House on the Prairie books. I read every single one at least 2 times. I loved the simple life depicted in the books: horses, covered wagons, cotton poplin dresses, braided hair, one-room school houses, water from a well. It was pure fantasy to a girl growing up in the ‘burbs. One of the things I remember was the rustic diet of the pioneers. They lived off what they grew, bartered for, or what was sold in the General Store. Provisions were often in short supply and tended toward the simple: … Continue reading

I’m not sure if I have mentioned that I hate my husband’s new schedule, but I do. I really [bleeping] hate it. Life is just really difficult when hubby is on a completely different schedule than all of us. Mealtimes, I may have mentioned, are especially difficult since he leaves at 3:30 pm. Usually he will eat the previous night’s leftovers for lunch and I will pack whatever I made for dinner for work. For some reason, I am having a problem adjusting my brain to getting dinner started in the morning. Since the baby has joined us, the majority … Continue reading

I’m pretty proud of some of the ways I have challenged myself in the kitchen since I started this blog. It has definitely improved my confidence in the kitchen. Yes, some things went wrong, but everything was edible in the end. And I count edible in the win column. So when my dear step-grandmother passed away, I boldly offered to bake a cake for the reception after the funeral. Now it is one thing for me to make something new for my immediate family, it is an entire other thing for me to put myself out there at a funeral. … Continue reading

So you learned from my pozole post that I have absolutely no shame about making enchiladas with cream of chicken soup. They’re so good, in fact, that I have totally abandoned making the real deal stuff anymore. They just aren’t as good. Seriously. So now that you are intrigued on how soup stole enchilada sauce’s thunder I will show you how to make it ’cause I’m nice. They are souper hard to make too so pay attention! {not really} Note: adapted from a Campbell soup recipe Natalie’s White Girl Soup-er Enchiladas  Serves: 4-5 INGREDIENTS: 2 large boneless chicken breasts 1 can … Continue reading

In my previous post I mentioned that my husband was downstairs baking while I was slowly dying from soy sauce poisoning. Okay so I didn’t actually die but I was hurting pretty badly and he was MIA. To add insult to injury he actually made something really yummy and super fattening that is competing with my Yogurt Banana Oat Muffins for precious stomach space. Dang. So I didn’t get any pictures because I was doubled over a toilet but I did find this downstairs the next morning. I also found this: This yummy breakfast cake {then again, every cake is breakfast … Continue reading

Chinese New Year starts on Monday and as with any holiday, I immediately think of food. {To be honest, with three meals a day and at least two snacks, I think about food often.} Dinner time rolls around last night and I really didn’t like hubby’s idea for dinner: more of the Costco pizza we ate for lunch. I like pizza but not twice a day. Besides, I had a pound of defrosted ground beef I didn’t use the night before. Well, there are only a few things you can make with ground beef so obviously I think of meatballs because … Continue reading

So in the last couple of weeks I have shared some of the things that I am not very good at. Here’s one more: I am not not very good at being Mexican. I don’t speak Spanish and I make enchiladas with cream of chicken soup (hey, my kid is pretty picky, ok?). Now this totally lack of connectivity with my heritage isn’t exactly my fault, you see I was raised primarily by my German-Norwegian mother who thinks refried beans (and enchilada sauce) come from a can. When I would go and visit the Mexican side of the family, I … Continue reading

It’s muffin time again! What? Oh yeah the juicing post….well I never said I don’t like muffins just that they aren’t exactly health food…appropriately, I eat them for breakfast almost everyday. When you have an infant and a school-aged child, mornings are busy and I don’t have time for elaborate breakfasts. So once a week I make enough muffins for my and Tyler’s breakfast. This week, however, I had a baby shower to attend so no Farmers’ market and I refuse to make muffins with that nasty dry pulp from juicing. I do have four really ripe bananas so banana … Continue reading

Seriously. Because I must have eaten at least 6 today and the day is still young. What are parker house rolls exactly? If you are addicted to all things Top Chef like I am, you may remember them from Top Chef: Just Desserts (Chef Matthew’s well-received addition to his “Manicotti” dessert). They aren’t necessarily a dessert though. They are, however, tiny, buttery, dough-balls of love (handles). So when hubby wanted to show me up by doing a better job baking bread try out the new mixer and make some bread and he asked what he should make obviously I said … Continue reading