This is my first anniversary of participating in Foodie Pen Pals. Shania, who lived in New Jersey, sent me my first box. I remember worrying about her last October because she was in the path of Superstorm Sandy. Luckily she was fine. She sent me magnets which is funny because Katie, my partner this month, also sent me magnets.
This time I sent it to and received a fit from Katie, who lives close to Chicago. For information about what I sent her, please visit her blog.
Here is what she sent me:
Happy Halloween! This week is another crazy week! I’m going to be cooking dinner this week, though.
Monday – ham, French fries, corn
Tuesday – barbecue chicken sandwiches, chips, veggies
Wednesday – chiropractor and parent-teacher conference for the Imaginative One, so I need a quick meal – Pizza.
Thursday – goulash over noodles
Friday – breakfast for dinner
Saturday – soup and biscuits
The boys are in Cub Scouts. We had their annual Halloween party last Thursday. Someone made this boo mix for some of the snacks being served. Oh, my goodness, I could not stop eating it. I even took one of the last two cups of it and ate some on the way home and the remainder the next day. I did not let any be wasted.
Today I found the recipe, so I made some snack mix for the boys and my lunches. Both boys tried some after I made it. They loved it, so each has 5 snack-size bags of the mix for their lunches. Then our friend stopped by the house and tried it. He also gave it a thumbs-up!
![IMG_0966[1]](https://cookingwithtraci.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_09661.jpg)
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A few days ago, Tiffany from Eat at Home posted a recipe for cranberry orange oatmeal cooked in the slow cooker. I’ve attempted to make oatmeal in the slow cooker, and it did not turn out pretty. Most of it was wasted.
This recipe turned out great because I found a different way to cook the oatmeal in the slow cooker that did not burn or dry out the oatmeal. The result was creamy oatmeal, so I did not have to add any liquid to it when I heated it up the next day!!!!!! 🙂
adapted from Eat at Home and the Motherload
![IMG_0923[1]](https://cookingwithtraci.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_09231.jpg)
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BTW: I used a 6-quart slow cooker.
This week’s a strange week. I’ve only got to cook dinner 3 times this week – Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. So my method for planning those 3 days is this: Go to my freezer. Open it up. What do I have that I need to eat up or cook up. So it’s no real plan for this week.
Monday – Hoison chicken with rice and veggie
Tuesday – Open up the freezer and find something to cook or eat up
Wednesday – ZooClues at the Columbus Zoo – Buffet style dinner – Hubby and I; boys are spending the night at the grandparents, so they have a rare treat – Kids’ Cuisines for dinner
Thursday – Open up the freezer and find something to cook or eat up
Friday – Chick Fil A (profits are going towards a mission of our youth group)
Saturday – Hubby is eating at a bonfire, and the boys and I are going to be at the Zoo for Boo at the Zoo
My husband loves getting food from Chinese restaurants in our local mall’s food court. So I decided to recreate one of the dishes he might purchase there. This dish was healthier than what you get at the food court.
He thought it was a sweet and sour dish when it was cooking in the oven. So he was super excited about dinner last night.
The only issue with the dinner was super lemony, but it’s an easy fix. If you love a lemon flavor, add lemon zest and juice.
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Breakfast
Lunch:
For a snack on my way home, I’ll either have
Or
That is I’ll eat it if I’m hungry.
I also have either a small handful of almonds or chocolate covered raisins between groups of students.
I love chocolate chip cookies. Actually, I like most cookies. You might say cookies are my weakness! I mean dessert weakness. This dip reminds me of a chocolate chip cookie. Best of all, you don’t have to bake cookies to get deliciousness. 🙂
Now the question is, what should I dip into this yumminess! I’ve been dipping chocolate cat cookies from Trader Joe’s. Tomorrow I’m going to try dipping my sliced apples in the dip. That sounds absolutely divine.
Side note: Have you ever had someone obsessed with your food choices. I eat in my classroom and have limited time to eat. Today I was running late getting to eat because I had to print some papers and then talk to two other teachers. I was finishing my lunch when my four students came for social studies. They were intrigued by what I was eating. They would have been shocked to find out what was in the dip. (My students have seen my lunches many times. Fortunately, most of the time, it’s something fairly healthy. This way, I can be a good role model for them. One is concerned that I don’t eat a lot of meat. I eat meat, but it depends on my mood whether I eat a lot of meat or not.)
adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie
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Happy Eating,
Traci
Mmm! Comfort food makes you feel good inside. Pot roast is one of those foods. As I was coming up with this week’s menu, I decided pot roast should be one of our dinners. The interesting thing was we had a pot roast for our dinner at my in-law’s last night. The difference was how we prepared the roast. The side dishes were different also.
I’ve made this recipe for over 10 years. It is super easy and delicious. After we have a roast for dinner, another night during the week, I make a hash (minus eggs) with the leftover roast. Yum!
Even though I like making baked potatoes cooked in the slow cooker, I’m not a fan of potatoes cooked with roast. We had buttered noodles with our roast.
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Here are my plans for dinner:
Monday – pot roast, butter noodles, and veggies
Tuesday – lemon chicken (if the recipe works, I’ll post it here) with rice
Wednesday – homemade taco hamburger helper (if the recipe is good, I’ll post it here)
Thursday – pot roast hash
Friday – pretzel chicken tenders, mac, and cheese, veggies
Saturday – Harvest bean soup
Believe in the Magic Traci Diary 