Experimentation

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I've been trying out new recipes the last few days. Well, one was a repeat- banana bread- but I really needed to use those bananas, and it's such a rarity for bananas to get to the banana bread stage that I wasn't going to waste them on something I new to be less than fabulous. Although I did reduce the sugar by half, omit the oil, and add 1/2 c of applesauce to the mix, because I thought about it, had applesauce on hand, and wanted to make it healthier. I hate adding a cup of sugar to anything, it's just so excessively gross when you've accustomed your body to not having that much sugar. Thank you, Colin!

So in addition to the banana bread, what worked: dairy-free oatmeal pancakes, which were, in fact, so good that I think I will make them more often than normal pancakes from scratch. A little more work, but definitely worth it! Challah in the bread machine. I really had doubts about this one. But it worked. And it is good.

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Dandelion fritters, which Heather gave me the recipe for a few weeks ago. Our yard was ripe for harvestin' before the lawn guys came to cut it. So Brennan and I harvested half a bucket of dandelion flowers (that part was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed spending the time with only him), then while they were supposed to be taking their naps, I made them into fritters. They take a little getting used to, but they really weren't that bad. They were much better drizzled with honey. Crockpot Chicken Adobo. I found a new food blog, A Year Of Slow Cooking. Last time Matthew was gone for an excessively long time I found Smitten Kitchen. Look them up. Drool over the pictures. Cook a lot. Anyway, back to the chicken adobo. It was pretty good. The vinegar flavor was a bit strong on the veggies, but the rice evened it out a little, and the leftovers cold for lunch today were phenomenal. The vinegar had mellowed out (or maybe it was because I'd drained most of the liquid), the chicken was still moist and yummy, the bits of pickled carrot and onion that were left were perfectly delightful. I couldn't decide last night if I wanted to make this again, but I think I will, and will refrigerate it and serve it cold next time. It would make a really good summer dinner, cold. Maybe toss it all together with some pasta for a pasta salad sort of dish. Mmmmm!

What didn't work: yogurt. Maybe I did something wrong, maybe I didn't use the right type of milk or starter yogurt (though from what I've read previously, I probably did something wrong. It probably needed to be kept warmer than it was). I tried it twice, and the best I got was the whey separated from the curds, and the curds tasting like sour milk. Wait a minute, curds? In yogurt? Yeah... I think something went wrong. I found a different method for making it in the crockpot (at the aforementioned site, again), and I know of a different method still that would probably also work better. I'll try one or both eventually. But for now I'm going to buy another couple tubs of the ready-made kind. And more flour. Because the co-op won't be ordering again for another couple weeks, and I need flour before then.

So, I'm happy with what I've accomplished in the kitchen. I still need to make some more granola bars, and I'm itching to just go off the deep end and bake fifty things at once, but for the sake of our health, I'll probably abstain. And maybe bring some of this bread to church tomorrow. Or maybe not. I don't like sharing yummy stuff. Though I probably should, if I want to make more. Maybe I'll make a care package for Matthew.

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In other news, we got a dog a few days ago. He's a 3-year-old collie named Boomer. Colin loves him. You'd think no boy has ever had a dog before, that's how happy and proud he is. It's fun watching him. Having the dog hasn't been quite so bad as I thought. I really feel a lot safer at night, and I can just send him outside if he's getting to be too much. It's also given Colin something to focus his attention on, instead of his little brothers. I think this has turned out to be a better choice than I first thought it would be. Brennan is really freaked out, but he's getting better. The first night he wouldn't even let me put him down, and I've never heard him cry that way before. He was really afraid. He's gotten a little bit braver now. He's actually okay walking past Boomer if he's laying on the floor, and tonight even let him sniff him for a minute without starting to cry. Another week or so, and he should be okay with him. Just in time for us to go to DC for the weekend. He'll probably end up regressing.

I got the living room rearranged, and unpacked the rest of the boxes out there (I think). Still need to get stuff up on the walls, and finish unpacking the rest of the house. And I really need to start on my bedroom. It's a disaster, which is sort of amazing considering almost everything is still packed.

But anyway, that's all for tonight. Today seemed to be about three days long. I looked at the clock this morning and was shocked and dismayed that it was only 10, when I would have sworn it was at least lunchtime. The day didn't get much better from there. I'm exhausted, and we're going to church in the morning. Goodnight!