Toooofooooo Round two

TECHNICALLY it is round one since the last I bought went bad in the freezer. Well, it may have been fine but never making tofu made me hesitant to risk it. I'd rather waste $2 than get sick.

I decided to make Caitlin's Perfect Baked Tofu since it looked simple to make but not blah in terms of spices. Wait, I said simple. That never ends well.

I ended up not being able to use the honey in the cabinet. What do you do when you have bad honey but all the spices already measured and ready in the bowl? IMPROVISE! Either way you are going to get something to talk about. I ended up using the sweet and sour packets from our local Chinese food place. I guesstimated four to be about the same as the honey though it ended up more like a dry rub in some places. OOPS!

There will be no photos since it ended up far from photogenic - think charred marshmallows with right corners. Taste wise = YUM! It ended up more with more of a spicy element than a sweet one but it worked. I had some sweet corn on the side to balance it out.

Bean Me Up Scotty!

This weekend is a big deal if you are from the Midwest (especially Illinois and Wisconsin) and have not been living under a rock the past few weeks. (Honestly with it being -1.3 and beyond this morning and throughout the day that would more so be an ice block.) Sunday is the Bears/Packers game and so Sunday will be football football FOOTBALL.

When I think of football food chili is one thing that always comes to mind. I was discussing this with Hubs earlier. Chili that is, not football since I'm just getting it now in terms of more of the rules and whatnot. (For the longest time football was big guys in tight pants crashing their heads into each other. Just pause and think about that. It is true in at least some element, right?) I like chili with several types of beans, usually two to three cans and at least a pound and a half of ground meat. Sometimes I add corn, diced tomatoes, or bell peppers (non green ones) to the mix. Hubs is more so one kind of beans and more meat.

I keep forgetting this when I make chili. I get all in the zone and next thing I know there is a big crockpot simmering. Then I forget to freeze part and I am eating chili for a week. Ooops!

I might still make chili this weekend but using the smaller crockpot if I do. There are always other kinds of football food to make - nachos, baked potato skins, and whatnot - if we all decide to do a potluck. I just need to wait and see what the vote is from everyone menu planning wise.

No dough

Well no dough for now since I didn't set up enough time for it to rise. (More dough of the other kind is always a good thing.)

I have a bad habit for bread. I decide I want to make bread but then forget that it needs to rise. True I can still make it now but fresh bread earlier in the day is always a great thing. Plus it makes the house smell so good.

I have make breakfast breads and egg twist (or egg braid if you prefer) before and both turned out well. There is a recipe in The Blue Ribbon Country Cook Book that I want to try for white bread. I have had homemade white bread before (my gram makes really good bread) and am hoping it turns out well when I actually make it.

Worst case, I'll have homemade croutons.

Do you have any bread success or horror stories?

Meow, NOM, Meow

Hubs bought a tree skirt this year. We didn't have one in the past and had used a red plastic tablecloth from the dollar store last year. It worked but the cats were quite interested in it.

Sadly, they are much more interested in the tree skirt. Bond is especially fascinated in it.



Seriously Mom! I was having fun. Why are you bothering me with that flashy box thing???

In between resituating the tree skirt and misc other stuff around the house, I noticed the bananas in our hanger were getting spotted. I am not a fan of sweet sweet bananas. RIGHT when they start turning yellow works the best for me. Dalmatian bananas mean it's time to bake.

I wanted an easy banana bread recipe that I hadn't tried before and one that included ingredients that I had in the house. I did a search for banana bread + easy + blog and ended up with a few options. The one I settled on was this one from Simply recipes that had been mentioned as a crowd winner. Perfect.

It was.



It browned on the edges but since it didn't include brown sugar it really didn't burn. It was moist, banana-y, and springy. I've made banana bread before that is more bread-like. This one was more cake-like texture wise. I will definitely be making it again. Next time I am contemplating cinnamon or a walnut crumble on top.






I'm comfy. Mommmmm just go back to eating that good smelling stuff you made on the oven this weekend yet won't let me have.



I've just given up for now and let him play in it. When he's done rolling around in it, it goes back on the bottom of the tree. He's not chewing on it. Nor is Frankie. So for now that is fine.

If they start, I'm getting the duct tape and taping the skirt to the tree.