Ask-a-Chef!

This week over on our Facebook page I have my husband answering all your cooking/baking questions! He attended culinary school and worked in the restaurant industry for almost 10 years in fine dining, mostly in the pastry department.

Have a question about cooking or baking? Ask away! Click on the left margin here on the blog to "Like" our page on Facebook or follow this link to our page!

Hope to see you over there!

How-Tuesday: Cleaning Routines

Hello, everyone! I'm excited about participating in this blog and was really excited when Katie asked me to help her. I get asked all the time about my cleaning routine, from people I know in real life to people I know through Internet forums. My routine is one that I developed over several years. I took my initial inspiration from Flylady, and then I adapted her basic concept into a routine that would better fit my own life. There are a few issues I take with Flylady's system, so I knew I needed to alter it a bit. Now I have a system that works fabulously for me, and I'm able to very easily keep my home clean with very minimal effort when I stick to my list.

The concept is simple: deep clean one room or area of your home each day. How you divide it up should be determined by how large your house is. When I first started my list, we were renting a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. We only had 5 rooms to clean, so I had my list set up to where I only deep cleaned one room each day. Now we own a much larger home, so I clean one area each day, which breaks down to 2-3 rooms on average. For example, on Mondays I deep clean the kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and pantry. Our floorplan is really open, so all of these spaces naturally flow together. Thursdays I clean both bathrooms (kids' and master). I do the master bathroom on a separate day from the master bedroom simply because that way I only have to get out the cleaning supplies once and get it all done in one shot. Divide it up however is easiest for you, but try and create a list that allows you to streamline your chores. Group like things together, like doing all bathrooms on the same day, mopping all floors on the same day, etc.

One more tip before I post my actual list. I found this idea on a blog several months ago and thought it was beyond brilliant. This woman took her cleaning list and put it in a picture frame that she set up on her counter. I modified it just a bit and hung it on a wall near my kitchen instead (I hate clutter on the counters). I pass by this list a trillion times per day, so it's always in my face, reminding me to clean. And the real bonus is that it easily lets me see what I've done off my list and what I have yet to do. I just use a whiteboard marker to put a check mark in the box next to each chore as I accomplish it, then I erase it when the week is over and start again the next week. It's fabulous. At the bottom of my list, I left a few blank spaces for me to fill in whatever random stuff I need to do (go to the post office, do some household project, whatever).

So, here's my list:

It looks really overwhelming, I know. And it is at first. If your house is pretty disorganized to begin with, it'll be pretty brutal getting it under control. But stick it out because if you keep at it, by probably the second week you will be spending much less time cleaning and have a cleaner home to show for it.

Now, this is just my deep cleaning list. Along with the deep cleaning for that day, I also always do general upkeep on the house, such as dishes, laundry, picking up toys, etc. But from start to finish, ALL the daily chores and deep cleaning will take me about 2 hours max when I stick to this list. It's really great!

Ginger Peanut Chicken Wraps

This is a recipe my husband made up last summer when we were craving something summery and different. It's very light and delicious!

GINGER PEANUT CHICKEN WRAPS

Sauce:

1/2 c. soy sauce

4 T. brown sugar
1" peeled ginger, smashed
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 c. peanut butter
1T. sesame oil
Dash of cayenne pepper
2 T. rice vinegar

Wraps:

flour tortillas

cooked chicken, diced

cabbage, shredded

carrots, julienne

celery, thinly sliced

There are lots of other veggies that would be good in this (red bell peppers, bean sprouts, snow peas, etc.), but these are the basics that we use...

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients. The best way to mix it is either with an immersion blender or a food processor, but you can also use a whisk, though it's more labor-intensive. When you're finished, it should look something like this:

Toss the chicken, carrots, and celery in a large bowl and add the sauce to taste. You'll want enough to cover everything and bring it together, but not so much that everything is drenched.

Then lightly warm the tortillas, spread the filling down the middle, make into wraps, and enjoy! Also, if you're in my family, put a bunch more sauce on your plate so that you can sop some up with each and every bite - it's just that good.

Kids' Chores and Chorecharts

Photo credit to AbbiesHouse on Etsy.com, link here

What types of chores can kids do? Well, pretty much anything! I don't have my kids on a regular chore routine, although I'd like to. But this year over Spring Break I sweetly offered them the opportunity to do several chores each day for money, and then we went to Target at the end of Spring Break and they bought a toy with the money they earned.

Kids can start doing chores when they're really young. Even our 1-year-old gets into the action! She loves to feed the dog, help unload the dishwasher, put the clean silverware away, and pick up toys.

My other two kids are 4 and 5, and they can sort, fold, and put away laundry, wash the dishes, help with dinner, set the table, help load/unload the dishwasher, wipe down the walls, wipe the baseboards, make their beds, clean the sinks, mirrors, counters, and shower in the bathroom, sweep and swiffer the floors, and vacuum. They are also expected to clear off their dishes after each meal, generally keep their toys cleaned up, and periodically go through their clothes and toys to toss/give away.

I should note that I use pretty kid-friendly cleaning products. If you need some ideas, Anissa posted a great post about Homemade Cleaning Supplies awhile ago. For instance, in the bathroom, they just clean with a mixture of water and vinegar.

This summer I'd love to get them going on some sort of regular routine. Right now I just sort of have them help when I want help, but I think having them on a routine would help me to stay on my routine. What sorts of chores do your kids do regularly? Has anyone made anything fabulous to keep track of their kids' chores? I saw the ones listed above on Etsy and I really love it, but I'd love to find something I can do myself. I'd love to see any links if you've got any!

Update on No-Buy

Well, our first two weeks of No-Buy went GREAT! Only $38 for the first two weeks of the month for Groceries (two trips to Fred Meyer for milk, bread, and produce)!

Here are some of my highlights:

*We usually do a guessing game with candy for our Church's annual conference to make sure the kids listen to the speakers. We brainstormed and decided we could use chocolate chips, marshmallows, and fruit snacks, and the kids were perfectly happy!

*I had planned to go to the store and buy some snacks for my students for state standardized testing time (I had a small group of 3). One of them requested peanuts in the shells, and it turns out I had a bag in our pantry!

*We had amazing posole, a Mexican soup with pork and hominy. Who knew we had a can of hominy in our pantry? Who even knew what hominy was? Not me, on either count!

*Way higher consumption of leftovers since we were trying to preserve the food we had on hand.

*My husband said we generated much less trash as well. Not sure where the correlation is here, since we don't use very many packaged foods. So maybe it was just chance, not sure yet.

Overall, a very successful experiment. We're on to two weeks of grocery shopping as normal, then once May 1st rolls around we'll start No-Buy again.

Successful meals for picky eaters

I thought we could brainstorm some dinner ideas that have been successful with picky kids.

I don't mean picky like, "Oh yeah, my kid just won't eat curry OR green beans! It drives my crazy!" I mean picky like, seriously picky. Like, won't eat meat, vegetables, most fruits, and even some carbs. Picky like, they've eaten chicken twice in their life and it was probably an accident.

I've got one of these little picky kiddos, and I have a few dinners that he actually liked. Some of these I was AMAZED and never would have thought he'd eat them.

• Homemade Chicken nuggets
• Tortellini
• Corned beef (?!?)
• French Dip Sandwiches from Our Best Bites
• Pork roast (with the pork served plain, of course!)

I'd love to hear from other moms about recipes or ideas that your picky kids have actually eaten. Maybe, just maybe, it'll be a lucky meal for one of us as well!

How-Tuesday: How to Make Your Leftovers into Specialty Pizzas!

My husband and I both hate leftovers, so my husband's solution is to "refashion" them into something else. Our favorite way to do this is with making homemade pizza. This idea started after a week-long vacation, where we scheduled pizza on the last day and made several different pizzas using the leftovers from the rest of the week. You'd be surprised at how many of your leftovers can be made into a delicious pizza! Think outside the box!

Just last week I made Sweet and Spicy Chicken with a side of corn and pinto beans. Later that week we did a pizza crust with enchilada sauce, the chicken, the corn and beans, and some cilantro and cheese on top and it was fabulous! If you've eaten at specialty pizza places, you know that there are lots of amazing sauces you can use for pizza, you don't have to just do tomato! You can even leave off the sauce altogether and just brush with a light oil before topping.

So what types of leftovers can you make into a pizza? Pretty much any type of Mexican food is going to lend itself to a delicious pizza - carne asada, carnitas, even tacos! Also, consider using the jarred pesto they sell at Costco, and topping with leftover grilled chicken and vegetables. After spaghetti and meatballs, you could use the sauce and meatballs for a pizza and top with some extra cheese (I'd leave out the pasta, though). I've never done this, but I bet you could do leftover teriyaki chicken with some pineapple as well. BBQ Chicken, of course, would be easy and amazing. We just had a pizza that was just strips of steak, some feta, and caramelized onions - a great way to use up leftover steak.

Here's the menu of one of my favorite pizza places if you want to browse for some ideas, and of course there's always California Pizza Kitchen. They've got a Chicken Cordon Bleu pizza, a Chicken Parmesan pizza, a Southwestern Taco pizza - my mind is spinning with new ideas!

Hopefully I can talk my husband into typing up his recipe for homemade crust and posting it here for all of us - it's fabulous!