back to school dinner

on monday, we had a back to school dinner for hendrix.  i put out the white tablecloth, used name cards, and printed out BE BRAVE signs.  i put together a little gift bag filled with flashcards, white boards {to practice writing}, eraseable makers, and a superhero cape.  we talked about school and what it meant to be brave. 

i had read about this back to school dinner tradition in a few places and really liked the concept.   i think it is so sweet and gives adults the chance to get excited about back to school, too.  did you get pumped for the first day or were you like mike and dreaded it?  i absolutely loved the first day of school, buying school supplies, and talking about summer at recess. 

for dinner i made slow cooker korean ribs with rice and red cabbage.  just make the rice according to package directions and saute your thinly sliced red cabbage in olive oil and sesame oil.  season the cabbage with salt and chinese five spice.  it's also great with bok choy or carrots.  to make the ribs...

slow cooker korean ribs

3 lbs country style pork ribs or beef short ribs

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. soy sauce

1/2 c. water

5 - 10 whole jalepenos

combine ingredients in slow cooker (meat can be frozen which is a bonus) and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  serve over rice with veggies on the side.

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i'll be back soon with a menu plan for next week.  in the meantime, don't forget to check out our what's for dinner page for dinner ideas.



homemade animal crackers



mike came home with the cookie cutters that his grandmother bought at the town grocery store in the 1930s when she lived in this house we now call our home. mike's mother had made cookies with her mother, in this house, with those exact cookie cutters.  then he made cookies with his mother and grandmother in their house in another town.  now the cookie cutters made their way back to this house.  i was so awe struck with the bag of cookie cutters that mike's mom had saved all of these years.  there are ones for every holiday.  i knew which one hendrix would like the best.  an ax shaped cookie cutter.  so hendrix and i made animal crackers with the lion, owl, bird, horse, dog, and alligator shaped ones.  and the ax shaped cookie cutter. 
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homemade animal crackers
yield 2-3 dozen depending on size of cracker

1 stick of butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1 heaping teaspoon of baking spice
1/8 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1/2 cup of rolled oats (can grind them up if you like)
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1 cup of all purpose flour

cream sugar and butter.  add egg and vanilla, mix well. in a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.  add to sugar mixture and mix well.  form dough into a ball, wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to overnight. 
preheat oven 350 degrees.  take a hunk of dough off your dough ball and warm up with your hands.  roll out onto a floured surface.  cut out shapes and bake on parchment lined baking sheet for 5-8 minutes.  store in an airtight container at room temp for up to one week.

brave new beginnings

today hendrix started preschool.  i'll be honest (and dramatic) it felt like the beginning of the end to me.  soon he will be four, writing his name, reading books, then before i know it...he'll be bringing unsavory girls home.  i feel like i fell into a vortex.  one day he was born. the next he was 3 1/2 writing "H"s.

last night, we had our back to school dinner.   i'll tell you more about it this week and share my recipe for slowcooker korean ribs with rice and purple cabbage.  our theme this year is: BEING BRAVE.

mostly, i think i am just emotional because that is what mothers do.  we love our children so much that sometimes our hearts and tear ducts can't handle it.  we are so proud of them and want so much for them.  my brother once said the greatest and worst thing about having children is watching them grow up. 



my friend, anjanette, told me to try to remember how lucky i was that my kid was healthy and that i could bring him to any school we wanted.  she's right.  my son was born healthy and today went to preschool healthy and happy.  i am the luckiest mom in the whole world to have hendrix as my son.

monday mail + being brave

hendrix got a postcard in the mail today from his favorite book store owner.  he was so blown away by the fact that he was old enough to receive mail and that it went into a mailbox all the way downtown and ended up in our po box all the way out here.  3 year olds and their awe and their story telling are pretty great. 

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hendrix starts preschool next week.  i get pretty emotional when i talk about it.  there's parent teacher conferences, field trips, writing your own name, learning phonics...this is the real deal, folks.  i know he is a little nervous so i am going to try to reign in my emotions.  also, i am planning a back to school dinner.  i have seen some other mommas do them around the internet and like the idea.  this year our theme will focus on being brave.  i'm going to pick up a few new books and a writing tablet for him to open at the dinner table the night before school.  then we can talk about how all sorts of people need to be brave in all sorts of situations.  i am working on making him this cape, too. 

so, if you don't hear from me much this week, it's because i am taking advantage of our last week of summer and getting ready for a new chapter.



GSW {menu plan} :: thirteen

elegant dinner at our house



1. grilled chicken with avocado & grilled corn salad

2. pork ragu over noodles serve with green salad topped with apples, almonds, and bleu cheese tossed in a simple vinaigrette {weekend dinner alert!}

3. salmon with chickpea, feta, and parsley salad {salad keeps well in fridge for lunches or snack time}

4. grilled pork tenderloin with peaches

5.  black bean stuffed peppers

going to a party? bring dessert and a hostess gift...
fruit crisp + place mats

put aside cleaning your house and freeze some tomatoes...
how to freeze tomatoes
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we'll be finishing our {play}barn this weekend and hoping for rain.  thankfully, our friend, tony, is coming to help and his daughter will be here to play with hendrix.
if you are looking for something to do this weekend in the omaha metro, try...millard days, shopping the furniture sale at oh darling!, dundee day on saturday, take a road trip to the nebraska state fair, or go to the world O! water festival at chalco hills on saturday.

wild plum + peach crisp

when in doubt.  make a crisp.  in doubt about anything.  a crisp is always the answer.  also, always double to crisp topping.  a crisp is just as easy as the one cup cobbler.  don't have enough to make jam?  not in the mood for chutney?  make a crisp.  put yogurt on it...it's practically breakfast. i believe in the power of the crisp so much that this recipe is written on the inside of my cupboard, like my all purpose crust.

before the good stuff happens



i use the crisp recipe from the wednesday chef, but double the topping or triple it, depending on how much fruit i am using. for this one, i used an 8x8 dish and doubled the topping.  it was perfect.  the peaches cut the tartness of the wild plums.  the best part?  the thing takes 30 minute to bake and less than 5 minutes to prep.

fruit crisp
2/3 (mounded) cups of rolled oats or muesli mix
2/3  cups of packed brown sugar
6 T. butter, softened
2 T. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 cup of nuts (almonds, pecans, or walnuts)
fruit of your choice, (peeled, cored, chopped) enough to fill pan

grease dish, preheat oven to 400.  fill pan with fruit.  combine dry ingredients and then with your fingers, work the butter into the mixture until it clumps up.  sprinkle topping mixture over fruit.  bake for 30 minutes. 

let's get real

welp. my schedule idea has not worked out so well this week.  mostly, because my allergies have me walking around feeling like i got punched in the nose (which i was sure was a cold because it felt so bad).  also, i choose to redo my back porch, visit my niece and nephew, and pick some fruit instead.  so, now i have buckets of apples, peaches, and wild plums to do something with and this disaster. warning.  these pics might make you think i am a filthy slob or love me more for my honesty.  you see, i was talking to a fellow mother earlier this week and she was under the impression that i was always on the ball with my motherly & wifely duties.  if i led you to believe that...i trust these pictures will make you feel better.  life happens.

what happens when i can't bear to clean up after bathtime



what happens when i don't do the dishes for one day




the living room running from it's own bomb.  the bomb of hendrix.




what happens when i just let hendrix go to bed because i am so tired i want to die.



much better time then cleaning.





so, there you go.  go forth and feel better about your own homes, ladies.  i have to go call bio recovery services for the bomb that went off in my house.