2016 Update

Hello Everyone!  It's 2016 and it only took me just over a month to write my first post!  Not bad considering my track record lately.

Let's start with a follow-up....

...in the last post I mentioned wanting to get involved with charity work.  Turns out getting into volunteer work here in The Netherlands isn't easy.  It's almost like taking on a side job, contracts, large commitments, insurance... c'mon!  What ever happened to having a couple hours of spare time a month and being able to just go and help people or animals?  Sure I know it's for every one's safety, but they are also deterring usable people.  My husband seemed to find a good solution, and managed to execute his idea.  So the one person not talking about it was the one that actually did something!  (He also got lucky they came to the door looking for help.)  My husband and daughter signed up to walk around the neighborhood and collect money for the "hersenstitching".  (A charity that helps with brain related diseases.)  Unfortunately my daughter & I were sick that week and he had a couple large deadlines, so they weren't able to hit up as many houses as planned but they still played their part.

...another similar post was about helping out.  I can at least say I have been doing a small portion to help.  I have been going through boxes and boxes of baby clothes and making different piles -  sell - donate to a 2nd hand shop - and donate to a charity.  The charity donations have been easy, literally put the stuff in a bag and deposit the bag in the collection bin in our neighborhood.  It might be easy but it's good to know we are helping a baby/toddler somewhere in the world.  Dealing with the rest of the stuff is going to be a bigger project, and an upcoming post.

...normal life abroad... yeah, last time I checked we were still normal, oh wait, tax season is rolling around again.  No, in that we're not normal... because being Americans abroad we get to pay taxes twice just because the US says so!  Not fair, and definitely separates us from so many other cultures.  (Complaining about an unfair tax system and FACTA, will have to wait for the appropriate future post.)

...where have we been... we moved from the city to a small village back in the summer.  In many ways it really suites us and has changed our lives for the better.  In other ways, the distance from everything has proven to be a challenge on many occasions, but I guess with the good comes the bad.  We love the house and surrounding landscape, but wow, I had no idea keeping up with a house and yard was this much work.  Remember, we moved from a small two bedroom apartment to a house more than twice the size.  At times keeping up with it all is quite overwhelming, but I wouldn't trade it for the apartment again!  I guess less complaining and more working will do the trick.

...how are the recipe clippings and cooking going, well, worse than ever!  I've stopped collecting recipes because I have come to realize I just can't cook well.  My cooking skills have actually regressed since moving, maybe it's lack of time or not understanding the oven here, either way wow!  Every meal gets served with an apology and it's growing quite tiresome.  A wife should be able to cook, especially a stay-at-home mom.  I never thought my cooking skills would contribute so much to how I feel about myself, but it's just getting embarrassing.

Well, after re-reading this I am wondering why the follow-up on everything has been more negative than positive???  Sometimes we just try and do everything, and we all know that's impossible.  Probably time to stop spreading myself so thin!  Have a great day!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Recipe Clippings

In my family I am known for hoarding, and one of the many things I hoard are recipes.  The funny thing about this is, I am not known for cooking well, ha-ha!

Anyway, about once a month one of the local grocery stores prints a magazine full of recipe ideas based on products they sell, called Allerhande.  I keep them, well, almost all of them... and for years.  All with the good intentions of cooking some of the lovely ideas.

Well, during a big clean up my husband came across my stacks of Albert Heijn magazines and was not pleased.  He wanted me to toss the stack out but I convinced him to compromise... I was 1st going to cut out the recipes I want then recycle the rest of the magazine.  

This project sounded simple, I would be done in no time, reducing the stack to 1/8 of what it was.  Turns out it takes a lot longer per magazine than I imagined, I am still occasionally pulling one out and sifting through it.  

I was proud of my progress until my husband mentioned that if I was going to keep the clippings I was also going to have to actually cook some of the recipes.  Hmm.  This meant actually remembering to buy the items at the store... or actually risk wasting the food if I failed... or facing the reality half of the recipes are things I like but that doesn't mean my daughter or husband eat them.

Since this all started a couple months ago, I am happy to say I have tried at least 3 recipes.  And funnily enough they are all from the same clipping (oh jeez)!

The rosemary-pepper beef on skewers was a bit of a concern for my hubby.  It had a lot of hot red peppers and ran the risk of being too spicy to eat.  He thought I made a mistake somewhere, but in the end it was just flavorful and not overbearing.  Well, as long as you didn't lick your fingers.

The grilled chicken with avocado & corn salsa was also good.  The Tabasco mixed in added an interesting flavor.  I probably overdid the salsa, it was extremely filling, but it was all tasty and I was happy with the results.  Even if I didn't actually grill the chicken on the bbq.

And the empanadas, well, they looked great, the texture was perfect, but for some reason there was a total lack of flavor.  Apparently I made a mistake somewhere.  I thoroughly enjoyed making them & eating them, and next time I'll pay better attention to the recipe... there was marinating time in there somewhere that I left out due to time.

See, when making the recipes I have to translate them from Dutch to English, and sometimes I can miss something until too late or all together, oops!  I will not let it stop me though.  I have plenty more recipes to try out, and that's without touching the 8 cookbooks I already have.  One day I'll get to them too, hopefully before my husband asks me to throw them out also!!!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste! Salut!

:) Danica

Pre-Cooking

Today I decided to pre-cook dinner.  I must admit it was strange standing there alone cooking a casserole just after lunch.  I'm used to scrambling to whip up a meal somewhere between my daughters bath time & bedtime.

I've considered pre-cookinng for a while now.  See, two days a week my kid has sports after school which gets us home just shy of dinner.  I often end up making the easier things in the fridge, which usually has little taste or variation of color.  Doesn't sound too appetizing, huh?
 

I tried pre-cooking one other time this school year and something happened with the milk in the lasagna mix and I didn't dare feed it to the family.  Then I had the pleasure of walking around all day smelling like lasagna and yet had nothing to show for it.  Much more, it was a complete waste of food.
 

This morning on the way to drop my daughter at school I decided I was going treat the family to something different.  Even though I know they'll both complain and I'll end up eating the same meal for the next two meals.  See, I cook to survive not because I enjoy it.  I'm not a talented or creative cook so I tend to stick to what I know or buy a box mix with the instructions and spices included.

Standing at the grocery store this morning I scanned the box mixes and a couple stood out, but I was in the mood for a casserole and had the time to cook so I settled for something new in the assortment.  Chicken Mozzarella  & Tomato Macaroni Casserole... sounds good, looks good,  and possibly my families worst nightmare, ha-ha!  But we agreed when she turned 5 she needed to expand her diet (and this includes us also).
 

The casserole is finished and waiting for us to return home.  All I have to do is heat it up in the oven during bath time and voila we have a yummy dinner!  Getting hungry thinking about it... which wasn't the case while cooking.  I found little pleasure randomly cooking in the middle of the day but I know the results are worth it!

-Turned out that my husband refused to eat it, my daughter panicked when I said it would be her dinner tomorrow, & me, well, I had two huge servings and thoroughly enjoyed it!-

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Wordless Wednesday #83

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pop by my blog hop page! 

Our curious camera compilation can also be found here...

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica

Fresh Veggies #2

I'm not so thrilled with the weather changing, but I am definitely happy that the autumn vegetables are back!  The first thing that crossed my mind when the chill hit the air was the road side veggie stand in Riethoven (Walik)!  Last year we stumbled upon a beautiful assortment of pumpkins and squashes, and I was eager to head back.  We took the risk of going a few weeks earlier than last year, but luckily the stand was up and running.  She didn't have as big of a selection yet, so I think we'll be taking the 1hr round trip again later in the month.  Besides the stunning, colorful display being perfect for a hobby photographer, the vegetables are actually delicious.  I don't cook the pumpkins though, as of yet we gave them to family and also displayed one in the living room (maybe we'll get around to carving it).  But I do cook the large squashes.  This year I picked up a butternut squash and a spaghetti squash to bake, and they were both soooo delicious!
 

I can't help but show you pictures from our stop at the self-service veggie stand (but I'm saving my favorite shot for a Wordless Wednesday)!
 

Fresh Veggies

While driving from one town to the next you can often find great fresh vegetables, flowers, or honey stands on the side of the road.  I've often thought about popping by one, but generally if we're passing one we're lost or in a hurry and after that I quickly forget the location.  Another blogger here in Eindhoven recommended Oirschot or Riethoven for fresh vegetables or eggs.  Now that I actually had a direction to drive (and my husbands car for the day), me, my tot, & my dog set out to the village about 30 minutes from where we live.  I knew exactly what I wanted to buy, winter veggies, but for the life of me I couldn't find a stand in Riethoven... I did come across flowers though.  Besides just wanting fresh veggies other than from the super market, I also wanted to get my tot & dog out of the house, we had been cooped up due to a light case of chicken pox.  So, I wasn't going to give up.  Instead of taking the highway home, I decided to drive through every small town on the way back until I found them.  Luckily it didn't take long!  In the village Walik on Hobbel (the street) I found a great selection of winter veggies ranging from pumpkins to winter squash, jackpot!  My daughter was also fascinated with the selection and the fact there was no cash register.  They used the honor system, collect your own veggies and put the money in the milk canister hanging next to the bags.  I bought her a small pumpkin to decorate... just because we don't make a big deal about Halloween at home doesn't mean she's clueless, she sees it on tv.  And for dinner, I bought two different types of winter squash.  To be honest, I didn't get around to cooking the squash for a couple days, it takes a lot of oven time and my schedule has been pressed lately.  But the cold weather kept them fresh, so I just left them on our back terrace until I was ready to cook.  I have never cooked or eaten winter squash before, so it was an all around new experience.  I asked my mother in The States for cooking suggestions and then the next time my mother-in-law visited (also a big vegetable fan) I served up a beautifully baked squash.  It was good, and I barely did a thing, and surprisingly enough, it tasted a lot like sweet potatoes (something I ate a lot of in Florida).  I still have one more squash to prepare and no one to help me eat it.  I guess I can always blend it into my tots veggies, she might not notice.  This is what Autumn is all about, enjoy the photos!

Potato Tacos

Yes, you read this correctly, I'm blogging about mashed potato tacos.  You're probably thinking WTF??!!  Because that's exactly what I thought when the recipe popped up in my email box.  I subscribe to AllRecipes.com and receive new recipes daily, and generally they have decent suggestions.  But this, mashed potatoes stuffed into a taco shell, c'mon!  Was no one paying attention when they sent out the Daily Dish that morning?  I love mashed potatoes and I love tacos, but together, I'm still trying to grasp this.  You know what is even crazier, they recommend it as a good snack for kids!!!  And we wonder why there are so many over weight people in the world.  I couldn't just let the email go by without checking further into it, when I opened the site I saw the recipe received 4 out of 5 stars!  One persons comment even said it was a good idea as a vegetarian meal, now I know a few vegetarians and I doubt they would eat this.  I guess the name of the site proves correct, AllRecipes.com, not GoodRecipes or HealthyRecipes, but AllRecipes.  If any of you are brave (hungry) enough to try this, please let me know if I am missing something!

Brownies-schmownies

I'll clear something up to start, schmownies is not a word, just liked the ring of it, brownies-schmownies.  So, this morning I went to a Mums & Toddlers coffee morning / play date with my daughter.  At one point I questioned if we'd ever get there, despite having a navigation system in the car I seem to always get lost.  And as so often, I'm at the brink of giving up, turning around, and going home, when I manage to find my way.  Apparently major roads and neighborhoods change often enough for the navigation to give up on me, and personally I have little sense of direction.  But needless to say I made it to the coffee morning, even though I was 30 minutes late.  The last time I attended one I arrived empty handed, I didn't want that to be the case this time, so I baked brownies.  To many of you that seems simple, but for me, it was a first.  And the bar is so high when it comes to M&T's, some of these women bake well enough they could open their own shop.  I was embarrassed to admit I struggled to make it, much less that it was a box mix.  Before you start assuming things, I do cook, I wouldn't say I'm a natural, but I'm generally capable of following a recipe.  I can even make a banana cake from scratch, but I do that about once a year.  I wouldn't say I'm handy with a mixer, especially since I'm a bit clumsy.  Things seemed to go well at first; dumping things in a bowl isn't too hard.  But then came the mixer, I was told it works best on full blast, so I stuck the beaters in the bowl and unleashed full power.  Immediately chocolate powder filled the air and splats of chocolate flung onto the counter and tiles of my kitchen.  But I didn't give up, the box said to mix for a full 3 minutes.  At one point I realized there were a lot of ingredients on the side of the bowl and I was going to need to use a spatula to push it down (because when I put the beaters on the side of the bowl things just got messier).  I was holding the spatula with my left hand, and that wasn't working out so well, apparently I'm not ambidextrous.  After managing to switch hands, while still blending, things seemed to start going smoother.  The only cake pan (silicone) I have in the house is heart shaped from the one time I made my husband a cake for Valentine's Day, the women were just going to have to deal with it... I didn't think using the silicone loaf pan that I use for meatloaf was the right alternative.  Surprisingly I managed to dump the brownie mix into the pan without a disaster, then it was time for the chocolate sprinkles.  I wouldn't say I distributed them evenly but it worked.  I baked it for the allotted time, but wasn't convinced it was finished.  I showed it to my husband (the better cook) and he said to give it 5 more minutes in the oven.  I gave it about 10 because I forgot about it; dashing to the kitchen I managed to get it out in time.  There was a back-up box just in case but I didn't feel like going through the ordeal again.  When I took it out it had risen but unevenly, how did that happen?  Oh well, at least I didn't burn it.  I wouldn't say my presentation was great either, an uneven heart shaped brownie plopped onto a leftover bunny paper plate from Easter, with chocolate icing only covering parts of it.  My parents are probably cringing, they go above and beyond when it comes to food presentation for get-togethers.  Some of the women did try it though, they were nice and said it tasted fine.  And they also said the dark soft stripe in the middle of the brownie was normal.  My daughter on the other hand spat it out.  I think next round I'll just pop over to the baker like my husband suggested, but at least I tried.

Deviled Eggs

Well the holidays are here so that means time for family dinners and get-togethers with friends. Most years I avoid having to bring a dish to the meals, opting out for snacks or drinks, but this year I was asked to make deviled eggs for my sister-in-laws Christmas Eve dinner. I dreaded every moment leading up to it. It's been years since I made deviled eggs and I can't say even then they tasted nice. But between a hectic holiday schedule, including a driving lesson on the morning of the 24th, I managed to make them. I decided to split the work up into two days, just so I wouldn't run out of time. Plus I like taking my time cooking, I don't want to make any mistakes. I boiled 2 dozen eggs according to a recipe I found online for deviled eggs, it was a different way of hard boiling eggs than I was used to. I put the eggs in a pot, brought the water to a boil, then only let them since in the hard boil for 3 minutes (usually I boil them for 10 minutes).  Then according to the recipe I was to remove them from the burner and let them sit in the hot water for 30 minutes, sounded strange but I had nothing else to work from. Then after letting them sit I was to to cool them in ice water for 20 minutes, all of this was to help with peeling and to lessen the chance of the green ring that often appears on boiled eggs. I felt this was a lot of work just to boil eggs but I wasn't going to take any chances. Apparently the hard work with deviled eggs is peeling them! But surprisingly enough I managed to peel 18 eggs without damaging them. I had 2 extra eggs just is case of a disaster but it worked out. According to the recipe I was supposed to leave the eggs on their side over night prior to boiling them to ensure the yolks were in the middle, but I didn't feel like turning it all into such a large project, I just wanted to make something edible. After peeling and slicing the eggs it was time to empty them to make the filling. This is also quite time consuming, I don't have a technique for emptying the eggs so between prying them loose with a spoon and squeezing the eggs I eventually popped all of the yolks into a bowl. The next step was easy, just a matter of tossing all of the ingredients into the bowl and mixing. At one point I was afraid to taste my own concoctions, but I knew I should before I refilled the eggs. Surprisingly it tasted a lot like ones I remember getting at family events growing up. I ended up combining two recipes one for preparing the eggs and a different recipe for the filling. I found a recipe that a restaurant in Indiana used from the 1920's-70's, and if I ever have the need to make deviled eggs again I'll refer to the recipe from the Durbin Inn. Now it was time to refill the eggs, I had no idea how much to portion per egg so I started out with small spoonfuls and kept making rounds until the bowl was empty. For the most part this went well. All the while I took pictures, just in case the eggs didn't make it to the party I had proof that at one point they looked nice. It was time to add the paprika to the top at first this went smoothly but as I sped up I started getting sloppy, but by this point I was just tired of dealing with the eggs. I had to no choice but to transfer the slippery eggs in plastic containers to the dinner. Just trying to get them in and out of the fridge I smashed a few eggs together, I didn't think they stood a chance of making it. Then of course we were running late for the dinner and with every turn I felt the eggs sliding around, I expected a disaster when we arrived. but to my surprise they survived! I wouldn't say they were a hit compared to the rest of the food, but most of them were eaten (by the kids, ha-ha!) I did save a small batch for the Christmas dinner the next day and with pleasure I watched them get snatched up and eaten. I know my family is thinking, I can't believe you're still going on about the eggs, but hey, what can I say, I complain a lot and I retell stories endlessly!