by Kristin on February 3, 2010
Last night, Jeff came home with a bag of memories from his parents house. We went through his baby book, some old art projects from when he was little and a ton of letters he wrote home when he was in the Army. As we went sifted through the letters, written from 1989 to 1993, I noticed something odd. On each envelope, he had written his name and return address and his social security number. He told me he had to put that on there. I didn’t really believe him (this is the same man who signs all my birthday card “Love Jeffery W. Ingram”) until I read one of the letters he wrote home. In the letter he gave his parents his return address and stated that the address must appear exactly as he wrote it, including his social security number.
How things have changed in 20 years. Twenty years ago, the Army required your social security number on your mail. About 10 years ago, they started replacing our social security numbers with an ID number on our college IDs. Now only the last four digits are show on most correspondence. I really wish W-2’s and other tax documents would catch up with the times.
Do you ever have moments where you think “Wow, I can’t believe we did that!”?
by Kristin on February 1, 2010
People ask me all the time how I manage to each at home almost every night, especially with tax season and teaching. People tell me they don’t have time to make extravagant dinners during the week. You know what? I don’t either. I think there are a lot of people out there who believe that food must be time consuming and require a knife in order to be considered dinner.
I very much disagree. Dinner must be a comforting way to end the way, as far as I am concerned. Sometimes that comfort comes from getting something on the table fast so that you can enjoy time with your family. A lot of times during the winter, my husband and I will have soup and sandwiches for dinner. It’s hearty, quick and with lots of variety (well at least for me).
I’ll make tortellini soup (see Recipe page), or if I don’t have tortellini, I’ll add small pasta instead. Usually sandwiches for dinner are grilled. Grilled cheese, sometimes with a bit of ham, is a huge favorite in my house.
I worked at a large chain restaurant when I was in high school so I am a big fan of “the melt”. A melt is very easy to make and is great for using up leftovers. Take two pieces of bread and butter them like you are going to make grilled cheese. Place both pieces of bread, butter side down on a hot grill pan. Put a slice of cheese on top of each piece. Now to consider the filling. You can put pretty much anything you between these two pieces of bread. By toasting it, you’ll have a good foundation for your sandwich:
Add a burger and grilled onions for a patty melt (I love swiss for this)
Add sliced meatballs or sausage and use mozzarella cheese
Add ham, turkey, corned beef or pastrami and some 1000 island dressing for a Ruben. You can add sour kraut too.
Add leftover chicken, tomato and basil
Add bacon, lettuce and tomato
Add leftover beef roast, onions, peppers and mushrooms
The possibilities are endless. Just heat up your filling separately then add it to the bread once it is toasted. This is a great way to use up leftovers and still get a hearty dinner on the table FAST! If you need to add some veggies, serve with carrot and celery sticks or a small salad.
by Kristin on January 29, 2010
In an effort to avoid food waste this week, I decided to get creative in the kitchen.
Wednesday night, we had roast chicken for dinner. It was a lovely chicken and at only 69 cents a pound, a very good deal. Last night, I decided we needed to clean out the fridge a bit. I called my husband and asked him to get some enchilada sauce on the way home.
After a long afternoon teaching the children, I was energized to get into the kitchen to see what would go into the enchiladas. I had some onions so I cut up half a large onion and threw it in the wok with some oil. Next, I picked the chicken clean and tossed that in. Back to the fridge. I found a quarter wheel of white cheddar that a friend gave me which was on it’s last legs and a block of orange cheddar. I shredded up the white cheddar and added it to the pan. Then I added some of the enchilada sauce. The cheese and sauce melted together wonderfully, but I wasn’t happy with the heartiness of the filling. I ran down to the pantry in the basement and found a can of red beans. Rinsed and in they went as well. The filling was fantastic.
I got out a 9 by 13 pan and covered the bottom with enchilada sauce. I was a bit frustrated with my flour tortillas because they were all stuck together. Thankfully, Jeff took on that job. I filled the tortillas and squished them together in the pan, seam side down. There was a bit of filling left so I just poured it over the top and then covered with more enchilada sauce. I like to pour the sauce down the center so that the edges get crispy. I shredded the orange cheddar and sprinkled it on top. 30 minutes at 400 degrees and poof! Awesomely wonderful enchiladas. I was really pleased with how they turned out.
So go check out what’s in your fridge and pantry and get creative. You’ll be amazed what might be in store for dinner.
