Day Three: Chicken Noodle Soup

We were coasting today, thanks to all that yummy roasted chicken already in the fridge.  Without having to worry about a trip to the grocery store, Jack and I could relax and play all day.  Poor Mike had to go back to work.  Jack wanted to sit in his booster seat first thing this morning and do some work.

During Jack's nap I spent about 30 minutes watching last night's Nightly News (that's the only way we can watch the news around here) and chopping up the ingredients for the soup.  By the time Brian was signing off, I was finished.

Mike loves chicken noodle soup.  It's his all-time favorite.  He likes it so much he orders it at places where everyone knows you are not supposed to order soup (i.e. Steak 'n' Shake).  I prefer to not touch silverware at Steak 'n' Shake. 

Since Mike avoids vegetables at all costs, I try my best to sneak more into the soup.  I usually double the celery and carrot in the recipe. 

When it was time for dinner, making the soup was super easy.  I just simmered the broth, added the chopped veggies, then the noodles, and finally the chicken.  Mike hovered during this last step, urging me to add "just a little more chicken." 

Isn't that a pretty pot?   To round out the meal I just had to pop some crescent rolls in the oven, slice an apple, and Bob's your uncle (as my Dad would say).

Do you think Jack ate the soup?  No!  Of course not!  He did come really close at one point.  Mike and I both got so excited we stopped breating for a little bit.  He took a noodle, looked at it carefully, and put it in his mouth.  He spit it out, looked at it again, and put it back in his mouth.  We were sure this meant he was accepting our food offering.  But, no.  Once more the noodle reappeared, not to be touched again.  He did enjoy the apples and the crescent rolls, however.

Good news: there are enough leftovers to feed a small army.  I've heard lots of stories about how you can't freeze the noodles in chicken noodle soup.  I am not going through and picking those out, so this soup must head to the fridge.

Do you think my trick hiding the vegetables in Mike's soup worked?  No!  Of course not!  Look what was left in the bowl when he was finished... these boys, I swear!

Cleaning up from dinner was ultra quick and easy, since most of the work was done beforehand.  Mike didn't even try to fight me when I insisted it had to be done immediately and not after he ran an errand.  I've heard that line before... not working, mister.

We had plenty of time left in our night to run to Sam's and Harter House.  As soon as we asked Jack if he wanted to go to Sam's, he replied "Walk?!"  Walk really isn't the appropriate word, since he tears through the aisles at top speed, sending shopping carts careening out of his way.  It makes him happy and tired, so we're cool with it.

I get the next couple of nights off, as Mike takes over in the kitchen.  He has been studiously reading all his favorite cookbooks.  He has marked what appear to be about 50 recipes he wants to try.  And the dreamer dreams...

Day Two: Chicken-in-a-Bag

It's only the second day of our 30 day challenge, and we're feeling pretty good.  Motivation is high.  We had a successful night last night, and we feel certain that our black eyed peas will bring us luck in the new year. 

Mike even followed through with his resolution to get Jack a booster seat, complete with a seat belt.  Mike is certain that Jack will love the booster seat.  I'm doubtful.

Tonight, I decided to go with a tried and true recipe of my mom's, Chicken-in-a-Bag.  I love making this because it makes you feel very professional to cook an entire bird, plus you really can't do anything to mess it up.

I love that this recipe is written out on one of my recipe cards.  Those are way better than cook books!  The only thing that makes them even better is if they are written in someone else's handwriting!  The ingredients were so simple, I already had everything I needed except for the chicken.  I picked that up yesterday at the store. 

We almost made it one day without going to the store but Mike stopped by Homegrown Foods for some potatoes. 

This recipe is really simple.  You just shake a bunch of stuff all over the chicken.  Then put it in a brown paper bag; then stick it in the oven.

It will sit in your oven for an hour and a half, during which your kitchen will begin to smell amazing. 

Please note the placement of the cookie sheet.  As instructed on the nice little recipe card, it is to be placed underneath to catch any drippings.  There will be drippings.  Lots of drippings.  If you forget the cookie sheet, or put it directly underneath the chicken instead of down a row, you will set off the smoke alarm.  The smoke alarm will go off, despite how many times you push the button or wave a towel in front of it, for roughly 30 minutes.  The dog will bark.  The cat will tear through the house with his hair standing up.  The dinner guests will look uncomfortable. 

We did this when we were newlyweds and having our first guests over for dinner.  Luckily, Kelly and Louise had the good grace to pretend like they set their smoke alarm off all the time. 

Today I got the drippings tray correct, though.  So, while the chicken was cooking we had time for some art.

I also had time to use that leftover cabbage to whip up some Crunchy Slaw.  This favorite comes from the Mueller Family Cookbook, and is pretty much a summer staple at any family gathering.

Jack helped by unwinding the paper towels and playing hop scotch with the pizza stone.

I also chopped up those lovely, homegrown potatoes for some garlic roasting.  I tossed them with a bunch of good stuff and then stuck them in the all-important drippings-cathching cookie sheet. 

When the chicken was done, Mike got to display his manly prowess by carving the bird. 

Our dinner looked great, and two of us loved it. 

Jack refused to eat the chicken, slaw, and potatoes.  He did like the crescent rolls, though.  Surprising, I know.  Actually this was a bit of a success since he has previously scoffed all crescent rolls.  We'll take the victories however small!

Jack had a great time eating everyone's crescent rolls and smashing them with his fork.  He had no worries at all until his bulging belly revealed a troubling fact about his new chair... what was this?!

A seat belt?!?!?  Seriously, Dad?!?!  And what is that?!  Oh yeah, my belly button!  I forgot about that little guy!  (And he was successfully distracted).

So we made it through our second day swimmingly, and head towards day three with a fridge full of leftover chicken.  Any guesses as to tomorrow's course?

Day One: New Year's Day

It's New Years Day- time for the superstitious to get cooking!
The traditional New Year's fare is black eyed peas.  Each year my mother would cook a tiny pot of black eyed peas, which were awful, and make my brother, sister, and me swallow one spoonful for good luck in the new year.  Each year we spent New Year's Day suspiciously eying the little pot bubbling on the stove, hating the smell that issued forth in little bursts of steam, knowing that our punishment was soon to come.  Worse yet was knowing that if we didn't eat the black eyed peas we would be doomed to a year of terrible luck.  It was nearly as terrifying as the prospect of swallowing your gum. 

As an adult, I've learned two things about this tradition:
1. There's a lot of people who have never heard of eating black eyed peas for luck.  Do not try to find them at the Rat (our beloved refectory at Rhodes College).
2. Black eyes peas really aren't that bad... they're pretty good, in fact.

This year I decided to devote the whole meal to black eyed peas, rather than sticking them in a tiny pot and relegating them to a side dish.  I saw about 2 minutes of The Chew on t.v. the other day, and they made Hoppin John.  I immediately wanted to make it because it has a great name.  A google search on Hopping John brought thousands of recipes to my fingertips.  I picked the one that required dry beans, since I hadn't planned enough to soak them overnight.  Plus, it had the word simple in the description, so I was sold.  Check out the recipe.

The first great thing about this recipe is that I get to use my favorite pot, a Le Creuset dutch oven Annie and John Bentley gave us as a wedding present.  This thing is so pretty I often leave it out just to pretty up the kitchen.

A look at the ingredients and things start to get interesting.  I can choose to use either ham hock or bacon.  My first instinct is ham hock, because it sounds authentic and Mike already ate bacon for breakfast.  Then I asked the butcher what ham hock was.  Apparent it is a pig's FOOT!  Uck!  No thanks.  I'll go for the bacon. 
I was really happy with this decision until I ran into Fran and Bob Johnson in the check out line.  What did Frannie have in her cart?  Black eyed peas and a ham hock!  She said it was harmless and didn't have any toes on it, and I should try it next time.  I took a peek... it was very scary looking, brown, and jointed.  I'm glad I didn't have to touch it with my bare hands and put it in my pretty green pot! 

Since Frannie is superstitious and was making her good luck meal, she decided to share something I didn't know.  There's more than just black eyed peas to the New Year's Day superstition.  You must eat cabbage if you want money.  Well, hello?!  Who doesn't want money?  I had already checked out, but I made a quick call to Mike who stopped by Dillons and picked up some cabbage after a thorough briefing on what it was, what it looked like, and where he could find it. 

Once home with all my ingredients, the recipe turned out pretty easy.  Just fry up the bacon right in your pot.

Looking good already!  While the bacon is frying, chop up everything else.

First a little sautee of the good stuff, then it eventually ends up all together simmering for an hour or so.  The smell was amazing!

Meanwhile, this was happening in the living room.

Bonus: I got to use my second favorite pot, a former Christmas present from my brother PK, for the cabbage.  I just chopped it up small,  tossed it in with some water, and steamed the heck out of it on high for about 25 minutes. 

Yes, the rice is boiling over in the background.  It was hard to concentrate with Jack's cell phone ringing off the hook!

Finally, dinner was ready.  It looked great, smelled great, and tasted great!  Surprisingly, the cabbage was wonderful.  Good thing, because I have another half sitting in the fridge. 

Mike and I thought it could use a little more flavor.  As usual, Mike requested that I add more bacon next time.  Jack refused to try the Hoppin John and the cabbage.  In fact, the only thing he liked was the milk.

We spent the entire meal coaxing him into his chair, barricading his way out of his chair, nagging him about sitting in his chair... I'm annoying myself just remembering it!  Finally I let him sit on my lap, but that didn't work too well, either.  Mike has resolved to buy a booster seat with a seat belt tomorrow.  I do not predict a long and healthy 2012 for that seat belt.

As per our longstanding arrangement, the cook gets to rest while the other person cleans up the kitchen.  Poor Mike had quite a mess on his hands.

Support Group

Jack was sad to see Rachel go after
her last visit.

Yes! Support!

Our good friend Rachel has already promised to enable us in this crazy venture. Luckily, she has just finished a cooking course at the Kansas City Culinary Institute, and promises to share her wealth of knowledge and lots of recipes.



This is very exciting for us, because Rachel is super cool. She tells the best stories, knows lots of random statistics, and is an ace in the kitchen. Rachel is the kind of person who asks for a mandoline for Christmas, not the musical instrument kind but the kitchen utensil. She has had a subscription to Martha Stewart Living since high school, and she actually tries the recipes in each issue.

Another bonus, Rachel is excited to introduce Jack to all the hippie foods she routinely consumes. I'm excited that she'll be introducing us to those foods as well, and hope that she may charm Mike into eating a vegetable.

Is there anyone else out there who would like to help? We are gonna need it! We want to hear from you, so please leave us some comments!

Putting Pen to Paper

Hello world! Welcome to our blog. I'm Mary, and along with my husband, Mike, and son, Jack, we are taking on a crazy challenge to start the New Year. We are going on strike! No restaurants! No take-out! No ready-made meals from the grocery stores, either. For all of January 2012 we will be making breakfast, lunch, and dinner AT HOME!

The spark for this strike came back in early December, when Mike came home from work early. After picking up Jack and offering some hugs and tickles, he turned to me. "I have an idea," he said. "AND, before you say ANYTHING, just promise me you won't say no until I've finished." This perhaps reveals a lot about our relationship and our identities. Mike is the dreamer; I am the realist. Usually this works out to mean that Mike has wonderful, albeit outlandish, ideas; and I say give him an honest, practical no. Let me share a few examples:

Mike: Let's get a builder over here to dig a basement under our house. It would be easy! We'll stick a staircase in Jack's closet!
Mary: No.

Mike: Let's build a covered walkway to the neighbor's house!
Mary: No.

Mike: Let's buy this 22 pound turkey to smoke this weekend. It will be fun and delicious!
Mary: There are a total of 2 people in this house who eat turkey. We're supposed to eat 11 pounds each? No.

Mike: Let's go on a 25 hour car trip with a baby!
Mary: No.

Mike: Let's move to Alaska!
Mary: No.

Back to the story. I vaguely promise not to say no until I've heard Mike's whole spiel. He pulls from his pocket a folded piece of paper. It's something he found online and printed out. I'm already thinking it's something related to barbecue sauce and a Big Green Egg, and I can feel my body tensing. "It's the 30 Day Challenge," he says, "No restaurants. We have to go one month without eating out at all. This would be so fun!"

Now comes the dramatic pause as he waits for the inevitable no. But he doesn't get it this time, because I'm seeing dollar signs. Just think of all the money we could save if we didn't buy expensive dinners at restaurants! And all those fast food lunches that add up way too fast? I'm liking where this is going (that's the pragmatist in me... tell me something's cheap and I'm in). So I chirp in with a happy "Sure, let's do it!"

Mike was a little taken aback, and still hasn't quite recovered. Just to test me, he has offered lots of other ideas since then, which have met their usual response (we did not suspend a Santa on a wire between our house and the neighbors', and he did not get a Ford Raptor for Christmas).

So we are a go for the restaurant strike! We have our different reasons, of course. I love that we will save money and don't have to worry about our squirmy toddler at restaurants, and Mike loves that he will get to flex his creative muscles in the kitchen.

Follow our blog to see the fun that ensues. We'll be sure to tell you all about our favorite new recipes, old family favorites, constant attempts to encourage our picky toddler to try new foods, and all the restaurant withdrawals we are sure to have.