Organizing & DIY Link Party – Week 2

Review of Giant Eagle Market District in Pittsburgh

I drove about 3 hours to Pittsburgh PA last December 2010 to go to the Giant Eagle Market District Store.  I wasn’t even sure that it was the actual grocery store that I was going to, until I was there. (shows what a dingy I am).  I just knew it was called the Market District and I also knew that I was going to do some cooking!  There were five bloggers,  Kim from www.Crafty Mama of 4.com and Beth from www.The Plus Size Mommy.com were both there, and they were from the Pittsburgh area.  The couple from Columbus Foodies, along with myself.

I loved the candy section, can you tell?

and one more!

Ok… now for some healthy stuff!

The store was pretty amazing.  Of course you had your normal food items, but then there were so many speciality foods – get this… they grow their own lettuce there!!  They also sell other lettuce, but isn’t this cool?

How often have you seen sugar cane at your grocery store?  Beth was laughing because her husband is from Jamaica and she said she wanted to get him one for Christmas.

Just how items were displayed was unique. I loved this sausage … it reminded me of garland.  Maybe I’m just a little too much into the Christmas decorations right now?

This was a bin of coffee beans…oh did it smell good there.  There are things like oil and vinegar bars there. You purchase your bottle and you can come back and refill it from all the different kinds of oil and vinegar. Who knew?  Not I…. I don’t use enough oil and vinegar to even think about it.  Obviously…. gourmet cook I’m not.

There is an entire area for cheese!  I looked at what looked like some really crazy fancy dessert and asked about it.. it was a dessert cheese! Never would have thought!  I am realizing I am just a regular ol’ gal! LOL

Just had to take this picture!!  I just thought it would be a cool picture.  Big barrel of pickles….. now I do know what those are!

We toured around this massive grocery store, stopping at the beginning of our tour for a smoothie. I got a peach one and had supplements added of antioxidants and protein.  It tasted pretty good… maybe a little too yogurtery for me (in other words…. it had that healthy taste to it – although it was still very good)

There is a restaurant in the store. You can sit down and eat a meal – tour the open food bars, get a piece of pizza or make a crepe – and then sit down with a glass of wine and eat.  In Pittsburgh being able to buy alcohol in grocery stores is something unusual. But they got a permit with some very stringent regulations. The alcohol has to be rung up on separate cash registers and there has to be a separate entrance – those are just two of them, I’m sure there are others.

After our tour we went up to the cooking school as you saw on the video. That is something that I would take advantage of if I lived close. What a fun evening for a group of ladies or several couples to have a date night. They also have kid classes – we saw the beginnings of the gingerbread houses that were going to be decorated the next day by the young class.

Our cooking class was fun! There were two teams of 4 people each. We each had our own stove tops and food trays. I did some cooking, but I was having too much fun taking pictures to cook much.

My favorite was the Porcini scented mushroom risotto. I’ve never made it. After you sweat (yes sweat.. a new cooking term for me too) the shallots – you add the Arborio rice. It has to toast and the shell start to crack….you then add in the broth slowly… I mean really slowly. You add 1/2 cup and then stir, until it soaks in… another 1/2 cup…and so on and so forth – until you add 4 cups. It took us about 20 minutes to make it. Then you add in heavy whipping cream and Parmesan cheese.
Then cooking sous vide was of course all new too. Sealing your food in a bag… then cooking in a hot moving water bath… just seems almost simple to me. I mean, it makes me think of cooking frozen food – like vegetables. But the water bath units are very expensive, and they move the water around. The advantages – you can cook the food all the way through evenly adn uniform every time. So for the filet mignon, if 4 people want medium rare steaks – you just set the temperature to the specific temp to get that done and they will all cook the same, all the way through.

Donna was such a great hostess to us! As we toured Giant Eagle we had several people behind the counters telling us we couldn’t take pictures. All I had to say was, “I’m with Donna” and point to her. They would all say, oh.. ok. LOL

I always love to do things with Kim and Beth. We have such a good time together.

Disclosure: I was sponsored to go to the Pittsburgh store for the night I had to stay over by Giant Eagle.  I also received a gift bag.  I did not receive any cash compensation for the actual traveling to and from Pittsburgh. The pictures, video and thoughts are all my own.

(I reposted this blog post from my Chat with Sandy blog. It was originally posted 12/16/11

 

Share your DIY, crafts, decorating or organizing projects!!

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Looking for other link parties? I have a whole list of them. Thumbnail via day above and keep scrolling down to find a more extensive text lists by day on my link party list. If you aren’t sure how to link up… see my link party tutorial here. It is simple. If You Are On A Reader and Want to View All the Great Link Up’s on this post please Click Here.
This party will be open until January 15, 2012

Nutrisystem – Week 4 #NSNation

Vacations and traveling = Ugh

So obviously I’m still in the mist of my almost two weeks of traveling. Do you think I’m doing well? Nope…. I’m not. It is going to be one of those … get home and be SO mad at myself – kind of things.

Dave and I traveled to Divide, CO and stayed at this awesome cabin with an altitude of 9,000 ft.  That started some of the issues with my eating. I had issues with altitude illness.  Headaches, and some nausea.  You would think the nausea was the kind that you don’t want to eat. Nope, mine was that I needed to eat something to feel better.  But I wanted more crackers, breads and things. Salad just sounded terrible to me.

The other factor for me was that I didn’t take my diuretic (water pill) when I was there.  I have been taking that for a couple months because I retain fluid (especially when I travel).  But because of the altitude I was advised to not take it if I could help it.

I didn’t go hog wild and eat everything, we had grapes to eat, fat free yogurt and cottage cheese in the cabin, but Dave and I split a dessert one night and I ate crackers several times.

I got on the scale on Wednesday morning and was back to 198 pounds.  ugh!!   If I was then staying home I wouldn’t have been as upset… but I left that same Wednesday morning for Arkansas.

I did pack some of my Nutrisystem food, but I haven’t been eating it.  (insert sad face here)   I look at the lunch time bars and I’d like to eat them as a snack in addition to my lunch, while others are snacking on cookies etc.  But I haven’t done that.

I still have turned down lots of good stuff, but certainly not everything. I’m eating a lot I shouldn’t be too.

For breakfast this morning there was a buffet breakfast at the hotel. I had them make me an omelet with veggies only, no cheese.  I ate that and a fat free yogurt for breakfast.  I know… egg white omelet would have been much better.

The rest of the day wasn’t so good.

This is classic travel/vacation #FoodFail for me.

Hoping next week will be more positive. I will get home on Sunday and will hopefully get my butt in gear on the treadmill again!

 

*I have been selected to participate in the Nutrisystem Nation blogger program. For four months, Nutrisystem will provide me with their meals at no charge for my review. I am not being compensated for my participation.

 

Activities for Kids – Cake Pops

Cake Pops!

Have you heard of them? OMG… they are So good!  What a great activity for the kids!  Ours didn’t turn out as fancy as you see them in the Cake Pop book, but the triplets had a great time making them.

I saw these Cake Pops and went out and bought the Cake Pops book by  Bakerella.

I bought all the required items.  If you happen to have these supplies, then it is a low cost activity. For me… there was a lot I needed, so not so low cost.

Cake Mix & supplies needed to make. Oil, eggs, water
Candy Melts (she calls for 48 oz which is four Wilton bags, but I only had 2 bags and didn’t use them all)
Lollipop sticks
Styrofoam – the size I got cost me $8,99 at Joann’s. I’m sure you can buy it for less, but I didn’t have time to shop around.
sprinkles – we had a lot of that.

We decided to go with the very basic cake pop.  Having triplets, I had to divide up the jobs so everyone got a chance.

One thing about baking or cooking. There are so many lessons and skills that can be taught.  We talked about fractions, how to measure, how to flour.

It was a great teaching moment.

Thank goodness there were three eggs in the recipe… that’s all I can say!

Learning how to use a hand mixer…. and can you believe that none of them lifted it up to early? I fully expected a nice cake spraying!

Then of course once you make cake…. you get to help clean up.

Of course since there are two beaters, you have to have the third have the spoon.

Bake the cake as usual.  Once it is cool, cut into four large sections.

They had to read the recipe.  I was there to guide and teach, but they did the work. I didn’t do it for them.

They got to crumble up the cake into tiny pieces…. think they had fun with that?

I had some homemade awesome frosting left from some cupcakes I had made last week. It was vanilla frosting, but it was just colored pink. The recipe called for 3/4 of a can of canned frosting. A can is 16 oz, so I had them measured 12 oz of frosting.

They took turns mixing it in.

Of course they all dove in to make up the cake balls.

Their ball rolling wasn’t perfect, but this activity was for fun, not perfection.  The box made 48 cake balls. I made them figure out the math of how many rows and how many in each row on the two cookie sheets.

We took the two trays of cake balls out to the freezer. We brought them in after 15 minutes like the directions said, but we left the whole tray out.  The directions said to only work with a few at a time and keep the others in the refrigerator.  We learned.

We gave them more time in the freezer, then brought in one tray and kept in the freezer inside. Then we only got two out at a time.

We melted the candy melts. You only heat in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. I also ended up adding some Crisco (as per direction) to thin down the candy melts.

You take your candy stick and dip it first into the candy melt. Then you put it into your cake ball. Not all the way through.

Then dip it in and lift right out of the candy melt.  This one didn’t get down far enough. I was using the spoon to help put some extra on the ends. I also would try tipping the bowl to make it deeper.

I used one of my deepest bowls, and I think had we had a couple bags of candy melt in the bowl, instead of just one it would have been easier.

But our main problem was that they would fall off the stick.  Even after just coming out of the freezer.  I think the issue there was that I must have used a little too much frosting. I think they were just a bit too gooey. Then you tap it gently to get some of the extra off.

They got to then dip them in the sprinkles. But we found it worked better and was less messy to sprinkle the sprinkles on top and not dip the cake ball into the sprinkle bowl.

I had also bought a bag of chocolate melt. It seemed to thin out a little better. I also added a little bit of Crisco to that too.

The whole process took us about 3 1/2 hours from start to finish.

The kids found out that the “duds” tasted just as good as the “good ones”.

 

They couldn’t have been prouder.  They raced in to show their Dad when he got home and their brother. Of course I heard, when can we make them again?

 

What are some of the recipes your kids like to make?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organizing for Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving can be a time of stress but shouldn’t be. It should be a time of family fun and everyone coming together to eat a wonderful meal. Of course it is all to help us remember and realize how thankful we need to be for everything we have.

There are many this Thanksgiving who have lost their jobs, lost family members or are fighting life threatening illnesses. Along with our thanks we need to pray for them.

Enjoy your family, make amends if things are problematic and have a fun day together. To help make your day come off without a hitch planning ahead is essential.

Here is my list of To Do’s that may help you in keeping your cooking/planning stress down so that you can enjoy what is most important on Thanksgiving: Family and Friends
1) Make a list of who is coming to your meal.
2) Plan the menu. Make note of what days you are going to prepare each item.
3) Make a grocery list from the menu.
4) Check what you have to see what you need to buy.
5) Plan your grocery shopping day, making sure you have time for thawing of your turkey or premaking dishes. (Good  idea to make room in your refrigerator by cleaning out the old left overs, so you have room for all the food).
6) Do your shopping.
7) Try to clean your house in preparation the day before you have to do your cooking so you don’t over load yourself. Have your kids and husband help if possible.
8) Start your cooking, making sure you have storage space for the food. (Plastic bags can store many things including sauces. Just seal tight and lay flat..you can add many layers of food in a small space.)
9) Plan your Thanksgiving day cooking so that everything finishes about the same time.
10) Clean as you go and you won’t have as many dishes to wash after dinner.

Personally I am one that does the basic clean up to make room to get pies out and served, but I have no problem letting dishes set until after all my family/company has left. I would much rather spend time visiting with them while they are here than being up to my elbows in suds in the kitchen.

Eat lots of turkey, take that walk after the meal and enjoy family!

(this is a revised version of post from last year.)

Onion’s anyone?

I love onions used in recipes but I hate to cut them ..{tears}.  When I do cut up an onion or part of an onion I like to cut up several at once.  Then I divide them into 1/2 cup servings and place them in individual sealed baggies.  I take several of those baggies and place them in one large one (date it) and place it in my freezer.  I don’t have any problems with the smell coming through with the double bagging (and I also keep a baking soda box in my freezer for odors.

Next time I have a casserole or want to use some onion in a recipe…I just pop out a bag and its ready. No tears involved this time.

Dinner Easy

Tips To Prepare Meals Quicker & Easier

 

I have to admit that I am no diva in the kitchen.  In fact, I really don’t care for cooking.  I have to do it…so I do. If someone told me that I could have a free full time cook …I would jump on that one!

I live for fast and easy ways to make meals.  Since I do not like to cook, I want to get in and out of there fast…not spend all day preparing a meal that is gobbled up in 10 minutes and then I have as much time cleaning the kitchen afterwards. (I know….very poor attitude).  I admire those woman that do cook like that and believe me I wish I was one of them…..but alas, I would much rather spend my time organizing my office than making a meal. (yes…kind of sick isn’t it? )

So to that I say…here are a few tips that I have learned over the years that can make throwing a meal on the table an easier chore.

1) Pre-chop onion and peppers. Do several while you have them out and while you are crying over your onions anyway. Then divide them into 1/2 cup portion sizes and put into small freezer bags. I store those little freezer bags inside one larger one for the onions especially (to help reduce any smell). Then when you go to make a casserole or such you can just grab a baggie out of your freezer and you do not have to take the time (and smell and tears) to chop your onions.

2) When making a meal….double it if it is something that can be frozen.  Make a huge batch of chili at the beginning of the fall.  Then freeze it in individual servings if you want or dinner size portions.

3) Freeze food in freezer bags to save room. Years ago I did the Make 30 meals for the month in one day deal.  The way they suggested storing your food was in freezer bags. You can cool it down a little bit and then put it in a freezer bag (chili, tomato sauces etc…work) and lay them flat to freeze. You can get oodles in your freezer.

4) Think about your dinner that morning. Grab any frozen meat from the freezer and have it thawing during the day so that when dinner comes you don’t have to use the microwave to thaw your meat. (that still takes time)

5) Use your crock pots. I love mine.  Throw everything in first thing in the morning.  Dinner is ready in the evening and your whole house smells good all day long.

 

The Good Home Cookbook Review and Giveaway *THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED*

Who can’t use a new cookbook? There is so much packed into this cookbook!!

The difference about this cookbook is that it is all recipes that are “good home-cooked” meals. It claims to be “The only cookbook entirely tested in home kitchens across America!
Cool! Over 1,000 classic, simple, clear cut recipes that taste and smell like they came from Grandma’s kitchen.
It even gives the appearance of one of Grandma’s cookbooks with the hand drawn pictures. (It actually does remind me of one my mom used to have)
I personally would like to have had some photographs of some of the dishes along with the hand drawn pictures. I like seeing what the dish looks like.

To Buy: Go to Abrams Books and purchase it for $29.95.

To Win:

1) Go to Abrams Books and and check out their site. Tell me how many pages are in this book.
Then come back here and comment on it. Please be sure to leave me your e-mail address in your FIRST comment. (Each week I have people who don’t win just because they have not entered their e-mail address)

For Extra Chances To Win!!

1) Twitter about this contest! Come back here and tell me you did.

2) Blog about this contest! Come back here and add the link to your blog.

3) Follow me on twitter. Come back here and add your twitter name.

4) Follow my blogs (add yourself to right sidebar to follow). For each one of my blogs you follow (organizing and review site) you can earn an extra chance. Tell me about each one you followed when you come back here to comment.

5) Add any of my 3 buttons (Organize with Sandy, Review, Pouchee) to your sidebar and earn an entry for each one you add. Come back here with the link to your site where you added them.

6) Subscribe to my Review blog. (left sidebar)

7) Subscribe to my Organizing Blog. (Right sidebar)

This contest is open to US mailing address only.
Only one person from mailing address eligible to win.
(will send out an e-mail to the winner and you will have 48 hours to respond back to me or I will pick another winner.)

This contest will run until August 19, 2009 8:00 pm EST  *THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED*

Share my Recipe Sunday – Meals for your family when you are Away

I wanted to get some ideas from you on what you do for meals for your family when you are away from home on a trip.
I am leaving for Blogher on Thursday of this week. I need to not only plan for myself and my trip, but for my family when I am away.
I have to admit I am not going to make meals for my family. I know many of you do…but my hubby has no problem cooking for himself or the kids when I am not there. He even does it at times if I am here, but busy doing something else.
I will however get to the grocery and make sure things are stocked before I leave. I will also make sure the laundry is all caught up and have the 2 teenagers get packed for camp. (They will be leaving before I get home on Sunday)