Author: Lois Houston

I'm a sweet tea drinkin' southern gal who loves to cook, bake, crochet, and read. Check out my blog for posts about parenting, faith, books, crafts, planning, baking, cooking, and life in general.

Saturday Sweetness: Faux Cheesecake

I stumbled across this recipe while browsing Pinterest the other day and decided I needed to try it.  Cheesecake is one of my absolute favorite desserts. I love the creaminess and the delicate sweetness with the little tang from the cream cheese.  And this little recipe has that same cheesecake flavor but is packed with protein and doesn’t have all the sugar and fat that the traditional cheesecake has.  Why not try it?

So, when I stopped at the grocery this morning to pick up Big Girl’s birthday cake I picked up the ingredients.  The website shows putting the little cheesecakes in individual storage containers but I decided I’d try these cute little individual pie pans.

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It was very quick to put together.

I took the Greek yogurt, plopped it in a bowl and gradually sprinkled the cheesecake pudding into the yogurt and stirred it with a whisk. Then I added a few drops (maybe 1/2 teaspoon each?) of the extracts just to give it a little more rounded flavor. Once the ingredients were mixed together, I just spread them into the little crusts and put it in the refrigerator to chill.  When I serve them, I’ll top them with a dollop of blueberry or strawberry pie filling.

I can hardly wait.

The original website says they’re about 112 calories and 12 grams of protein (only 1 gram of fat!)  You certainly can’t beat that for dessert!

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“Faux” Cheesecake

  • 1 16 ounce tub of Greek yogurt (plain)
  • 1 small box of Jell-O sugar free cheesecake flavor pudding mix
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1 package Keebler Ready Crust mini graham cracker crusts
  1. Mix the yogurt with the pudding mix, adding the mix gradually to avoid clumping.
  2. Add the extracts and mix thoroughly.
  3. Spoon into the pie pans and chill before serving.

 

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Hooray for Friday!

Happy Friday, y’all!

I don’t know about you, but I am so happy Friday is here. It hasn’t been a bad week, but I am ready to sleep later than 5AM and to get a little craftiness on.  Bring on the weekend!!

Big Girl has a retreat with her church group this weekend.  She’ll only be 2.5 miles from home, but she is really looking forward to it – and I am so happy she has this opportunity.  Little Bit has a playdate scheduled tomorrow afternoon and SuperMan has to work – so guess what that means for Mama Bear?!?  You guessed it! CRAFTINESS!  Woo hoo!

Crafty Girl

I’m trying to decide between sitting in my rocking chair and watching Downton Abbey while I finish crocheting this:

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Or, sitting in my office and watching some Forsyte Saga on Amazon Prime while I catch up on some more of my Project Life pages.

Decisions, Decisions…

Have you watched (or heard of) The Forsyte Saga? I stumbled across the show while perusing titles on my Amazon Prime membership. It’s a Victorian-era drama (soap opera) set in London. The story follows the Forsyte family – the two brothers who are the heads of the family and their sons and daughters and grandchildren.  One of the main characters, Soames Forsyte is a lawyer and he longs for love and prestige and finds that his quest to possess these both lead him to find loneliness and disappointment. Money can’t buy you love, honey.  That’s what I keep wanting to shout at him when I am watching the show.

Soames marries Irene who does not love him but marries for the security and position he offers.  Soames is confident Irene will grow to love him but she does not and the marriage is a troubled one – especially when niece June brings up-and-coming architect Philip Boisnney to meet the family.   A love, um, square? ensues and occupies quite a bit of the story line for a few episodes.

I’m not finished with the first season but I am totally entranced.  Maybe even more so than I am with Downton Abbey.  Just as with Downton, there are characters you love, those you feel sorry for and those you just want to slap in the face!

If you have Amazon Prime and like Downton, I’d suggest you take a look at the show.

Let’s just Nap, shall we?

I’m off this morning to run errands, buy groceries, etc.  but truthfully all I really want to do is take a nap!  I think it is because of the rain we are getting. It’s gloomy and rainy and makes you want to hibernate.  (and maybe because I stayed up late hanging out with the Forsytes?)

I am thinking a pilgrimage to Starbucks might be in order – I may need to fortify myself with a shot of caffeine to make it through the day.

If I get some crafty done this weekend, I’ll share my progress with you…

 

Project Life Tuesday

I know, I know – It has been FOREVER since I posted any scrapbooking pictures.

Well, there’s been a good reason for that…

I haven’t been scrapbooking!!

But I fixed all that last weekend – I went out with some girlfriends and spent the evening at Archiver’s doing a little scrapbooking.  We had such a nice time together – just hanging out and relaxing and getting some crafty going.

I didn’t get a TON done, but I did manage to get a few pages completed.  I have decided that since I lost my momentum with my 2012 Project Life album last fall, I’m going to finish the year’s pages digitally.  I am determined to finish them and I figure this will be faster for me than printing and finding time to lay out the pages. I think it’s mostly mental because the digital pages aren’t necessarily faster, but it’s making me happy and that’s what counts, right?

Here are the pages I did on Saturday –

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One of the other things I really like about doing it digitally is that I can do whatever week’s pictures I’m in the mood to work on and not worry about chronology. I can put them in the right order in my scrapbook after printing, but doing it this way I can work in whatever order suits my fancy.

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I also stumbled across this really cool set of templates that I am absolutely in love with –

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There are six different “papers” with the “pockets” for the Project Life layouts. I just plop it on the page and “fill in the blanks” with my pictures and journaling.  You can flip them (rotate) and get even more configurations to use. I love the way they make it look like there are actual pockets on the digital pages. They’re from the Scrap Girls Boutique.

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I’m hoping to get a few more pages done this week – little by little I’ll catch up on 2012.

And I’m also going to go ahead and start 2013’s album, which I have decided to do completely digital this year.

How’s your Project Life project going?

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Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday, ya’ll.

It’s been a whirlwind weekend.  One that I need a day off to recover from. Unfortunately, that’s not happening, so I’m going to fortify myself with some strong tea and a bite of the coffee cake I baked this weekend.  It’s really, really good. SuperMan says it’s a lot like the cream cheese danish you find at the grocery store, only better.  I have to say, if you combine cream  cheese, sour cream and cake, I don’t think you can go wrong.

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I was sick last week – the girls finally contaminated me with the virus they have been sharing the past few weeks. I ended up on the sofa for two days, pretty much feeling too rotten to do more than sip ginger ale, eat saltines and take Tylenol and cold tablets. I wonder if it was a mild case of the flu – but I never had any serious fever, so I don’t know.  By Saturday, though, I was feeling much better and I’m hoping we’ve seen the last of that bug for a while.  I’ll be dosing everyone with Vitamin C and probiotics this week just to be safe.

It’s cold this morning.  26 outside when I woke up.  We had a beautiful sunrise.  All reds and blues and violets.  I told Little Bit as we admired it on the way to school that it was God just showing off for us this morning and telling us hello.  Which we both needed – neither of us wanted to get up and out of our warm beds today.

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I spent a little while yesterday rummaging through my recipe lists to come up with a few ideas for dinnertime for the next week or two. Rather than doing a weekly menu plan, I thought I’d just list a few things and then I can pick and choose between what sounds good for the day and what I have on hand.

  • Meatball Subs (using up leftover spaghetti sauce)
  • BBQ Chicken Pizzas
  • Red Beans w/ Rice & Polksa
  • Tacos

I also wanted to share this new recipe find with you – Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Spaghetti.  I made it for dinner on Friday night and we loved it.  DEVOURED it.  As a matter of fact, I ate it again on Saturday for dinner when I was scrapbooking with friends.  And I’ve been thinking about making it again ever since. SO GOOD.  It’s very similar to the Rotel Chicken Pasta dish I make (without the Rotel) and we’ve all agreed it will be going into regular rotation for our family.

And now I’m off to fix another cup of tea and try to get my body going for the day – I’ve been up for three hours but it’s still balking at being awake!

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Wintertime Comfort Food

It’s rainy and cold here today – we’ve gone from 60-70 degrees on Tuesday to much cooler temperatures today.  I thought I’d share some of my favorite recipes for comfort foods for cold, blustery days like today.  Some of these are crock-pot recipes and some are stovetop, although quite a few of the stovetop ones I’ve done in the crock pot as well.  These are old standby recipes that I turn to again and again for something warm, hearty and filling for my family.  An added bonus is that with most of them I can sneak some veggies in without too much protesting from the troops.

Beef Stew: This recipe originated from one of those little recipe books you pick up at the checkout in the grocery store. I’ve tweaked it and made it my own and we love it.  It’s also great for feeding a crowd. I usually make this in the crock pot but there is no reason why you couldn’t simmer it on the stove if you don’t have a crock pot.

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Pasta Fagioli: This is one of my all-time favorites.  It just screams “Italian comfort food” to me.  It’s super-easy and can be done in the crock pot or on the stovetop.

French Onion Soup: I don’t know about you, but a rainy, cold day is just perfect for a big bowl of French Onion soup.  My girls have not yet learned to appreciate this soup, so we don’t get to eat it around here as frequently as I’d like to.  But it is always something I order when I’m traveling for work. It makes me feel warm and cozy when I eat it and it’s great for sipping while watching TV in a hotel room. I saw this recipe on a recent episode of Cooks Country (one of my all-time favorite cooking shows – they are the real deal when it comes to cooking shows) and I am thinking I might try it soon. Love the fact that it is slow-cooker friendly.

Chili should be on the list, too, and a good white chicken chili is another recipe I love to make in the cool weather.

My hearty beef chili is another family favorite and I usually serve it with elbow noodles on the side so that the Little Bit can have “chili mac” that she loves. (Here’s my veggie chili recipe just to round out the offerings)

And, of course, you always need a good vegetable soup recipe.  This one I call “clean out the crisper” soup because I never know what I’m going to throw in there – it just depends on what I have that needs to get cooked in my veggie drawer.  It’s great for using up leftovers and always tastes so good.

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If you are Southern, then you know a comfort food list is not complete without a recipe for Chicken & Dumplings.  As a matter of fact, I’ve got a hankering for these. Might just make some this week.

Finally, my favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe.  I love the chili-chicken-ness of it and the fact that you can eat it with tortilla chips or all by itself.  If you’re not a fan of Velveeta, here’s another tortilla soup recipe (my original one) without the extra cheese.

I hope these recipes help when you’re on the hunt for something warm and tasty for your family. What sorts of comfort foods do you gravitate towards in the wintertime?

 

On the Needles

So, I’ve been stitching away over here – I am finding it is a terrific stress reliever and fast becoming my favorite past time.  I’ve got a couple projects going simultaneously – thought I’d share a little peek with you.

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I bought this yarn intending to make a baby blanket out of it. I kinda fudged on the sizing and now I think it’s a little bit too big for a baby blanket. Rather than ripping it out, I’m thinking about either making a shawl or a lap throw out of it.  It’s a really pretty lavender with green threads throughout – and it its oh-so-soft and cuddly warm.  It’s from the brand Loops & Threads –  Country Loom line and the color is called Lavender Blues. (from Michaels)

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The second project on the hooks right now is another baby blanket – since the first didn’t work out, I found this yarn and started another blanket.  With this one I was a little more deliberate in my sizing, so I think it’s going to turn out well. It’s a Hobby Lobby brand of yarn – “I Love this Yarn” – and the color is called Sherbet Stripe.

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It is coming together nicely. Easy to crochet with – even with a “helper” in my lap.  I like the vivid colors – yet they are not too in-your-face for a baby blanket. Cheery and happy, I think.  I’ll share the finished project once I am done.

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Now I’m off to get a few more rows done before bedtime – if the “assistant” will permit.

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What I’m Reading Right Now: Executive Privilege

What I'm reading right now

I just finished this book not too long ago and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I found it via a new service I’ve subscribed to (Book Bub) which sends me links to discounted ebooks based on the genres I’ve selected and the format I chose (I chose Nook, Kindle and Apple Books because I can read any of these on my iPad.)  So far, it’s been dangerously good. Some of the titles have been iffy once I’ve clicked through to research them a bit more, but for the most part I am finding some new authors to check out and certainly filling up my to-read list on Good Reads.

Executive Privilege is a story that explores the mystery surrounding a set of serial murders in the D.C. area and their possible tie-in to the President of the United States.   As the story opens, a private investigator, Dana Cutler, is asked to follow a young woman for a mysterious, and anonymous client.  At the same time, FBI agent Keith Evans is called in to investigate the latest murder in a string of murders committed by the “DC Ripper.”  Out in Oregon, a young attorney is tasked with handling an appeal for a death row inmate who is convicted of being a serial killer.

As you read, these three people are entwined in an increasingly dangerous and twisted story as they independently work through their tasks and ultimately find themselves all facing the same conclusion – that there is a third serial killer on the loose and it just might be in the Executive Office.

Dana is an emotionally-scarred ex-cop who makes her living as a private investigator.  She’s asked to watch a young woman who is working in the campaign office of the presidential candidate.  As she is on surveillance, the young woman meets up with Secret Service agents in a shopping mall parking lot and goes to a secret rendezvous with the President.  Dana follows and watches from the woods, taking pictures, as the young woman’s tryst turns sour and she storms out of the hideaway with angry words and tears for the President.  As Dana tries to leave to follow her back, she is attacked by Secret Service agents guarding the President and barely escapes.  As she is fleeing, she realizes that the pictures she just took could get her into serious trouble.  She leaves her final update for her mysterious client and tells them she is quitting the job.  She’s on the run and hoping to keep herself alive.

Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, young Brad Miller, a new attorney, is asked by his boss to represent a convicted serial killer on his final appeal.  It appears to be an open and shut case and Brad is surprised when the killer, Clarence Little, wants to meet with him and insists that he has been wrongly accused of one of the murders and wants Miller to clear his name.  As Little gives him details to prove his innocence, Brad is sucked into the mystery and can’t stop looking for the answers – even as his boss warns him off and threatens him if he doesn’t.

FBI agent Keith Evans solves the D.C. Ripper case only to find that there is another murder that is being linked to the Ripper.  Except in this case, things don’t add up and he starts to wonder if there is a copy-cat killer on the loose.  The murder victim is a young woman who was working on the campaign of the presidential candidate.

As each main character continues to work their way through the maze of clues and lies they find their paths crossing and the reader is left to wonder – is the President the killer? Is it his right-hand man who is scarily loyal to him and has a military background and will stop at nothing to protect the president?  As they continue to figure things out, forces are working against them on both coasts, trying to keep what has been buried, buried.

This is a great story and kept me engrossed right up until the end. Although, I have to admit, I had figured out “who done it” pretty much halfway through the book, I still enjoyed reading to find out how Margolin was going to reveal the murderer’s identity and wrap up the story.  I would definitely recommend it – especially for a plane flight or vacation read.  It’s not one you want to put down once you get going.

Final Verdict: Read it

And in other news… this is what happens when you leave your editor window open and go cook dinner:

Hi this is MB mommy had a edit open so I added my own note heheSmile

 

The crud has arrived

Illness has hit my house – beginning with me last weekend and now my baby girl  has it. 😦

She’s been sniffling, sneezing and coughing all day. Poor thing.

I’m hoping she feels better tomorrow but right now I’m going to go snuggle with her rather than write a blog post.

I hope you understand.

Talk to you soon.

Adventures in Baking Artisan Bread (part 1)

Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish

For Christmas, SuperMan got me a cookbook I had been dying to get.
(he is awesome that way)

It’s Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish – I’d heard him speak on Martha Stewart radio one day while I was waiting in the carpool line. I was impressed with his story – leaving the tech industry to pursue his passion – and with the fact that he says even the home cook can make excellent home-cooked, artisan breads. I went home and added his book to my wish list.

Thankfully, SuperMan read the wish list 🙂

The Adventure Begins

His book is both a cookbook and a teaching instrument. The first few chapters are dedicated to his story, the principles of artisan breads, familiarizing the reader with different types of breads (levain, poolish, etc.) and then the recipes. I took the book with me to Mom’s house with plans to read it cover to cover before beginning any baking.

My brother, on the other hand, took one look at the book and decided we were baking a loaf THAT NIGHT. He’s adventurous in the kitchen like I am and so we decided to go for it. Or rather, I decided to let HIM go for it and watch the results.

He decided on a basic overnight bread recipe and we ended up staying up until well after midnight (which was fine for his pacific time zone body, but not so nice to mine) waiting for the final steps to complete before we put the dough to “bed” for the final long, slow rise in the refrigerator overnight.

We had quite the adventure making the bread at Mom’s without all of the suggested tools but we made do. One thing you absolutely need to make bread via the “Forkish method” is a cast-iron dutch oven. The proofing baskets, dough tubs, scales, etc. that he suggests I’ve managed to do without (or work around) and we did just fine that first time without them, too.

But, the dutch oven is required because it’s what you use to capture the steam from the bread baking and create a fantastic, crispy crust and light, springy bread. The bread we ate the next afternoon was some of the tastiest home-baked bread I’d ever eaten. We devoured it, all two loaves of it, in a matter of a few minutes. The kids loved it. The adults loved it. And we began to contemplate our next foray into artisan bread baking.

Continuing to experiment: success and disappointment

After our initial attempts, I stepped back and read the book. Not cover to cover, but the first four or five chapters where he goes over technique and tools and the basic recipes. I have to say, this is the best book I’ve ever read for explaining the process of making bread. He explains the whys, wheres, and hows… in great, but very interesting, detail. He provides beautiful pictures – with step-by-steps just where you need it and pictures of “this is what this is supposed to look like.” Which is great when you’ve never, ever made bread this way before.

I kept referring back to those pictures over the next two weeks as I made a few more batches of bread. The first I made at home I used my own, home-ground wheat. It was good, but heavy. The next batches I made using store-bought flours. It was much lighter and tastier. The kids and SuperMan loved it. (Ken doesn’t say anything about using home-ground wheat flour. I just decided to experiment with it to see how it would come out)

I want to emphasize that the most important ingredient for making good bread is plenty of time…
Chapter 2: Eight Details for Great Bread and Pizza

Me? I wasn’t quite as in love with it as they were. It didn’t have anything to do with the flavor, though. The flavor was spectacular. Like something you’d get from a fancy bakery. It was the time involved. It took me about 2-3 days to bake a loaf or two of bread. That’s a LONG time. Granted, Forkish does not make any promises of quick bread production. As a matter of fact, he cautions that good bread takes time. A lot of time. And he wasn’t kidding.

Working from home, I originally thought it wouldn’t matter that the process took time, and for the most part, it didn’t. Up until I wanted to plan for fresh-baked bread for a dinner party I was hosting. My head hurt reading his suggested time-tables and trying to back into when I would need to start the process (the day before) in order to have hot bread at 5PM on Sunday night. I gave up. I went to Publix and bought some of their whole grain bread. Everyone was happy. No one knew any different.

Artisan Bread (take 1)

But I was dissappointed. I love, LOVE to bake for people. What’s the point of not being able to share this goodness with folks? I mean, I’m sure I can. I just need to figure out the timelines (or be happy serving not-fresh-out-of-the-oven bread) I am not, by any means, giving up on the book or the recipes. The bread is simply too good to do that. I just need to figure out a timeline that works for me and my schedule.

The good news is most of the time that is required is not active time, but fermenting, rising, and proofing time. You just have to be around when it’s time to move to the next stage.

The bread I made was a pre-fermented dough (poolish) which fermented for 12-14 hours before being mixed into the final dough. From there, the dough had a rise of about 2-3 hours and then a final proof about an hour. So, if you start the poolish at dinner the night before, you can expect to have bread around lunchtime the next day. What I haven’t tried (or figured out) yet is whether or not I can extend that ferment or rise time (or a rest between) so that I can have the dough ready at dinnertime instead. I plan to do just that, but need to wait until I’m not baking for company to experiment.

The poolish bread was excellent. Really, really, really good. And it kept a lot longer on the counter than a traditionally baked loaf of bread. I think it has to do with the fermentation process giving you some extra preservative factor, but the true science of it escapes me. I got close to a week on the counter before the bread started to mold. I think it would’ve gone even longer if it hadn’t been 100% humidity (with 4 days straight of monsoon-type rain) and stored in ziplock bags. That’s a sure recipe for mold if you ask me.

And my plans for the future

Artisan Bread (take 2)

Next, I want to try the Levain breads. Levain is the French word for “sourdough.” I’m thrilled to have an “official” guide to creating these as I’ve been wanting to make sourdough breads for about a year now and have been intimidated by the whole process. With this book, I feel much more equipped and those little ferments don’t frighten me quite as much. No more nightmares of sourdough starters taking over the refrigerator while I sleep. 🙂

Overall, I have to say, I am really glad I got the book. I am looking forward to baking my way through the recipes this year, which include pizza and foccacia recipes as well.

I’ve been continuing to experiment in baking artisan breads and in my next installment I’ll share the other cookbook that’s got me baking and serving artisan breads every.single.night. And loving it.

Stay tuned.

 

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Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday)

So, I took the day off of work on Friday and Monday was a holiday. And, apparently, I took a blogging holiday, too. I hadn’t really planned it, but I did plan to disconnect digitally and that sort of included blogging as well. It was a much-needed break and I really enjoyed having the time with the girls. I also got some major cleaning projects taken care 0f – my closet, my office and a good, thorough dusting/cleaning of most of the house.  After the hectic work schedule of the past few months the house had really been neglected so it felt really good to make some progress there.  My office is gleaming this  morning and it’s reconfigured in a way that I hope will help with my back pain. Too many hours hunched over a computer and I’m paying the price.

On to other things…

It’s cold here! Like REALLY cold. Of course, I’m a wimpy southern girl. If it’s below 40 degrees I think I’m going to freeze to death.  My friends in the northeast and northern midwest get a kick out of my whining about temperatures.

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What’s your high temperature today?  It’s supposed to be 42 here.  It was 29 when I took the girls to school – and it’s STILL 29 outside! Brrrr. And poor SuperMan is working out in this cold.  Of course, I think he layers up like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man when it is this cold. He comes home from work with his 47 layers of clothes and starts fussing about how hot the house is. We just tell him to take some clothes off 🙂

Since it is so chilly, I’m planning some good comfort food dinners this week.  Last night I made a pot of spaghetti sauce. We had pasta with some homemade bread.  (which I’ll be telling you more about later this week) The girls and SuperMan all had leftovers in their thermoses for lunch today. I’ve been on a tuna kick for lunch lately. It fills me up and the kitties are quite content to eat my leftovers.

So for the remainder of the week I will be cooking some other things that will go well in the thermoses so that everyone has a hot, hearty lunch the next day. Sandwiches are no fun when it’s cold.  I’m going to try this new recipe I found on Pinterest – Pesto Ranch Crock Pot Chicken. It has rave reviews on the website and looks SO EASY. Probably serve with some pasta and some more of the homemade bread.

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Are you planning anything special for your family this week? Any new recipes you’re trying?

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