Yummy hot chocolate!

This past weekend we went grocery shopping at an international food mart. Our list was very small, but there is just so much to see that we always spend a while there browsing! We typically pick up a few things to try and we got a winner with this:
It is chocolate syrup with cinnamon. You just add a bit to warm milk. YUM! Soooo good!

MMMM, falafel....

We really love this homemade falafel thing. I made it for dinner on Monday (and last Monday, too...LOL!!) and I doubled the recipe and froze part of it to see how it turns out reheated. It only took a little more time and effort, so I hope it pays off.

We found some frozen falafel that we really loved and the grocery store stopped selling it. Then I tried a couple of boxed varieties that you just add water to. They weren't that great, so I decided to go for homemade. I turned to Allrecipes, and it didn't disappoint! I'm pretty bad about following a recipe, but not really following a recipe. It drives my husband batty because he fears I won't be able to duplicate it the next time around. I guess he thought it turned out, because he loved the falafel just as much the second time around!

Follow the link to the recipe I used. I don't make the yogurt, since the Costco variety tastes yummy!

Here are my eggs (remember, I doubled the recipe) with the cumin, (I omit the coriander) salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder.


Here is the smashed chickpeas and olive oil with the onion, parsley, and garlic mixture. The recipe says to use a blender on the onion, parsley, and garlic, but my blender didn't do the trick. I tried my mini chopster (I don't have a full size food processor) instead and it worked great!


A close up of the onion, parsley, and garlic. I really let it go until it is super fine. No big chunks of onion in my falafel!


Chickpeas and onion mixture combined before adding bread crumbs. The chickpeas should probably be smashed up more, but I was in a hurry. It still tastes great, though!


A shot of the consistency after adding the bread crumbs. I didn't add enough the first time around and they fell apart while cooking.


Say hello to my little friends!! The recipe says to make 8 balls and then flatten them into patties. I personally like mine smaller since I make them into sandwiches. They also cook faster and are less likely to fall apart! I used a cookie scoop and I got 39 falafel balls.


Time to eat! We serve our falafel on Chapati bread. I buy the flour and just have to add water, knead, let sit 10 minutes, then roll it out and heat it in a hot cast iron skillet. We add hummus, tzatziki (from Costco), a squeeze of lemon juice, lettuce, tomato, and salt and pepper to taste! Yummy!!

It truly amazes me that Logan ate the whole thing up before I had even started eating mine!

Below is the slightly modified recipe.


Ingredients:

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1 small onion, chopped (I didn't measure, but I would guess I used about 1/4 cup...this is measured BEFORE putting it in the chopper.)
  
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs (Be sure to add these slowly. You don't want too much. I probably used about 3/4 cup)
  
• oil for frying

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender (a food processor would be great...I don't have one, so used my mini chopster), process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
2. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties (I like mine smaller, so I would do more like 16 balls).
3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.

Enjoy!!


Head on over to 5 Minutes for Moms to see more tackles!

Menu Plan Monday...

Last week we tried five new recipes and we liked them all. The falafel will certainly be something we have often....we LOVED it! Matter of fact, I'm planning it into this week! The recipe says to use a blender on the onion and parsley, but my blender isn't that great and wasn't chopping it up. I switched it into my mini chopper and it worked great. I had planned on baking them, but ran short on time and fried them to save time. The recipe says to make 8 balls, but I had trouble with them falling apart when they were that large. I made some smaller ones and it worked out great.

The sesame noodles were very tasty! Even my 7 year old ate them up!

The fideo was very yummy, but I had to make a few adjustments. I didn't read at the top that you can "use less water for a drier pasta" until it was too late. It was more like a soup, so I drained most of the liquid off and added in a can of tomato paste. It stated above the recipe that you could add tomato sauce, but it was already so liquidy, so I thought the paste would be perfect and I was right!

We also tried the pumpkin pie oatmeal. I don't have individual-sized ramekins, so I just used an oval Cornigware dish and it worked out. My 3.5 year old loves oatmeal and my 7 year old tolerates it, so I thought it was something we could all eat. My boys did eat it, but neither of them really loved it. My husband and I thought it was rather tasty, though!

I also made the strawberry bread. YUM! I just finished it up late Sunday night, so the boys haven't tried it. I think they will love it!

We have had the butternut squash/sausage pasta lots of times, but last week we tried it with sweet potato instead. It was very good!


On to this week.....

*=new recipe

Monday--falafel sandwiches on chapati bread (I have chapati flour. All I have to do is add flour, knead, wait 10 minutes then roll them out and heat them on a hot cast iron skillet. YUM!)

Tuesday-- Bacon Cheeseburger Wellingtons and baked sweet potato fries

Wednesday--chipotle lime turkey breast burritos

Thursday-- pulled pork sandwiches* and baked beans

Friday-- oven baked chicken breast, baked sweet potatoes, and green beans

Saturday-- pan seared red snapper*, rice pilaf with pine nuts*, and carrots

Sunday--honey balsamic chicken, homemade spaetzle, steamed broccoli

Breakfast choices:
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit
--oatmeal
--strawberry bread with or without peanut butter
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter

Lunch choices (never anything exciting):
--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit
--cheese quesadilla, chips, salsa
--macaroni and cheese and fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--strawberry bread with or without peanut butter
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--rice crispy treats (didn't make these last week)
--ice cream

Head on over to Laura's for more menus!

Put them in the closet...

Several days ago, Lucas was pulling on his ear. He told me to "take them off". I explained that his ears won't come off, but I don't think he believed me. A few days later, he was pulling on them again and told me to "take them off". Again I explained that we can't take our ears off. He insisted, "Take my ears off. Take my nose and mouth off, too, and put them in the closet".

Haha! He is obsessed with putting things away (except for the things he uses....we must clean up after ourselves, but he doesn't enforce the same rules on himself) and wanted to put them away in the closet!

I should add, he likes to pull on his ears. It is something he has done for a while and I was concerned about it at first. I thought he may have an ear infection, but his ears always check out fine.

Menu Plan Monday...

Last week we tried a couple of new, tasty recipes. The fish was great! Logan even asked for seconds! I've roasted potatoes lots of times, but this time I took Ree's suggestion and added balsamic vinegar. It was very good and went perfectly with the fish.



The macaroni and tomatoes was really good, too! I think next time I would cut back on the butter a bit, though.

On to this week.....

*=new recipe


Monday--falafel* sandwiches on chapati bread (I will bake mine, instead of fry and omit the coriander)

Tuesday-- chicken and rice casserole, green beans, carrots

Wednesday-- chicken fajitas, chips, and salsa

Thursday-- beef broccoli stir fry and sesame noodles*

Friday-- tequila lime shrimp, fideo*, corn

Saturday-- sweet potato and sausage pasta (I am subbing sweet potatoes for the squash because I have some already cubed in the freezer that I need to use), salad

Sunday--bean soup with kielbasa and cornbread

Breakfast choices:
--pumpkin pie oatmeal*
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit

Lunch choices (never anything exciting):
--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit
--cheese quesadilla, chips, salsa
--macaroni and cheese and fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--strawberry bread* with peanut butter (Harris Teeter had 3 pounds of strawberries for $3.29!!)
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--rice crispy treats
--leftover cake and ice cream

7 already??

Yesterday, my sweet Logan turned seven years old. The time has passed by so quickly. I can hardly believe that 7 years ago this precious boy made me a momma. Mommy and Daddy love you very much Logan!!

Here is a slide show of the past year. If you want to see last year's click here.

Christmas Carol Train Tour in DC (WW)...

I don't know if the tour wasn't busy because it was in DC during the week (and we went during working hours), but there was absolutely no wait for us! I saw that in some cities, the wait was rather long. My husband took the day off and we made a day of it.

Menu Plan Monday...

I intended to get my menu plan up earlier, but I was so busy running errands and switching out wardrobes for the boys, I didn't get it planned. So, I'll figure it out as I type this up!!


We didn't get to 2 days last week, so Monday and Tuesday are covered!

*=new recipe

Monday--falafel sandwiches on chapati bread with hummus, tzatziki, lettuce, and tomatoes

Tuesday--pan fried fish*, glazed carrots, roasted potato wedges

Wednesday--honey mustard chicken, macaroni and tomatoes*, green beans

Thursday--sweet and spicy keilbasa, leftover macaroni and tomatoes, corn

Friday--?? Logan turns 7. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET BOY!! We haven't decided what we are doing yet, but thinking we may go on a little overnight getaway. Even so, I need to ask Logan what he wants to have for his birthday meal.

Saturday and Sunday--??

While looking at recipes to plan for this week I found something that I want to try next week, so I thought I would post it here (I don't want to forget).

Baked sweet potatoes

Here Mommy....(WW)

Mostly Wordless Wednesday.....Lucas casually handed me his napkin for me to throw in the trash. "Here Mommy".
Hmmm. I think 3.5 is WAY too young to be hiding food in your napkin!!

Do you see anything wrong here?

It turns out that the issues I was having with my laptop (which I didn't blog about, but did post on FB about) were all because of my battery. This isn't the first time this has happened. Several months ago, I noticed that I couldn't click on my mouse button. I thought something was stuck under it and I took the battery out to look things over. Well, turns out I could click just fine with the battery out. I wasn't sure why at first, but soon my battery started to swell and I knew that was the issue. I took it in to Apple and they gave me a new battery. Thing is, my husband took over that new battery. So, his battery that was now my battery has started causing me issues.

It started out that my laptop would get down to about 25% power and would just shut down with no warning. This happened in the past and I had to have my logic board replaced. I thought the same thing was happening and backed up all my things just in case. I now know this was a battery issue because when I took the newer battery away from my husband it stopped shutting down and gave me the typical warning around 10%. Well, then I couldn't click on my mouse and I took my battery out to inspect it. Sure enough, it was beginning to swell. Well, it was so bad that I left it out because I couldn't even use my laptop with it in. So, when I pulled it out of the drawer to look at something today, above is what I found!

Now, I am not the first to have this issue. The last time I called in to Apple about it, they gave me a hard time, saying that the battery had a high cycle count and needed to be replaced. I get that the battery is a consumable product and wears out, needing to be replaced. But, honestly, is it normal for them to swell up and bust open?? I think not!