Home Cooking

I once knew a girl who begged her mom to please make macaroni and cheese for dinner. She wasn't asking for homemade mac and cheese, just the kind out of the box. Her mom refused. They were eating out, as they did most every night. Her mom and dad both worked full time so meals from scratch, or even from a box, were a rarity.
My kids would have loved it if I forced them to eat out for all of their meals. I didn't.
I was a stay-at-home mom, for the most part. I wrote a column for the newspaper and I taught classes at the local college, but I was home with my kids nearly all the time.
I baked bread from scratch and mixed up cookie dough. I would make mac and cheese from the box, but sometimes I'd make homemade with fancy cheeses. All of this home cooking made my kids crazy for store-bought cookies and restaurant food.
Since the two oldest have been away at college, they have an appreciation for home-cooked meals, but Tucker still prefers restaurant food.
I was home on Wednesday and Tucker was home and I asked what he would like for dinner.
"I'll fix anything you want," I told him.
"I want penne rosa," he said. "From Noodles & Company."
Noodles & Company is a chain restaurant here that makes some fairly healthy pasta dishes.

Not a great picture. Should have waited for the
 salad along the side to add some green. 

I turned to the computer and found a recipe for Penne Rosa with chicken.
Then I went to the store, bought the ingredients and whipped it up.
Delicious!
I didn't add the mushrooms because my kids don't like them.
I forgot to get the spinach, so ours didn't have spinach. If I do it again, I will definitely add some spinach, but I think it can be overdone.
Tucker and Grace ate early before heading off to evening activities.
Earl and I ate around 8 when he got home from work.
The remainder went into a container in the refrigerator.
When I got up this morning, it was empty and in the dishwasher. Spencer finished off the penne rosa when he got home from work around midnight.
A successful meal even though it was homemade.
Here's the recipe from Noodles and Company at Home Blog.
Tucker agreed that the recipe tasted similar to Noodles, so he grudgingly ate it. But I've promised him Jimmy Johns sandwiches for lunch today as I move from teaching at one college to my evening class at another college. You'd think I could recreate a sub sandwich at home.
Even now though, my kids prefer Oreos or Chips Ahoy to my homemade chocolate chip cookies. And when Spencer was  younger and I asked him what kind of brownies he wanted, he said, "The kind Cathy makes."
I asked Cathy. She said she uses "the red box." Again a mix was preferred to my homemade brownies.
Someday, they'll all yearn for my homemade cooking.

Best Ever Carrot Cake Recipe

As promised in my previous post, here's a copy of the best carrot cake recipe. In general, I don't like fruity desserts, but this carrot cake wows me. I got it from a former friend. The friendship didn't last, but I still respect the carrot cake.
I thought it was appropriate for Easter dinner, but it just made me miss Grace more because she usually makes it with me.
First mix together: 2 Cups flour (the recipe calls for whole wheat, but I use white flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt.

In a separate bowl, cream together:
3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup oil (I use canola oil)
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup plain yogurt

Combine the dried and the creamed ingredients.

Then add:
1cup golden raisins
1 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple (drained)
2 cups grated carrots
3 1/2 ounces of coconut
(See what I mean? Enough fruits and vegetables to reach 5 servings in one piece of cake.):
It looks kind of gross when I pour it into the 9-inch by 13-inch pan then bake it for 50 minutes at 350 degrees.
But afterwards all of the fruits and vegetables become one delicious baked good.
Add the cream cheese icing while the cake is still warm:
Cream together:
1 stick of room temperature butter
8 ounces cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. orange juice
1 tsp grated orange peel (I used a clementine and grated it when I realized I didn't have any bottled orange peel.)
Yum. I'm going to make a cup of decaf cappucino and enjoy this cake.

Gratitude

"I'm out of chocolate chips," I told my best friend on the phone at 8:05 a.m. as I pushed the shopping cart through Kroger.
"How does one know that at this hour of the morning?" she asked.
"Oh, I made cookies this morning to put in the kids' lunches," I said.
And I didn't think it was weird that I got up at 5 on my day off(Columbus Day), went for a run and baked chocolate chip, peanut butter cookies before 7 a.m.
And my kids didn't think it was anything special.
I don't expect them to be grateful. I'm not one of those parents who thinks those kids should see the sacrifices I'm making for them like some parents (fathers) are.
There was an elevated level of grumpiness among the kids. Some "Shut ups" and some "OMGs." I breathed a sigh of relief after I dumped them at school on my way to the grocery.
The youngest is without his cell phone. I confiscated it yesterday for his belligerence toward me. Belligerence being the opposite of gratefulness where teenagers are concerned.
On Sunday, he said a friend had asked him to go to a movie. We dropped them off for the 3:15 show. He called at 5:30 and asked me to come pick them up.
"I don't have a car," I told him.
Grace had a car at swim team and Earl drove the other car to work.
Even though the logic of me not having a car and not being able to pick him up seemed clear, he argued with me for five minutes about picking him up.
If I was a good parent, I probably would have built a car and gone to get him.
I refrained from pointing out that perhaps the friend who invited him should provide a ride one way.
So, I said he should walk home. It's about two miles and they get off the busy roads pretty quickly.
"Whatever" was his parting word.
When I called to check on his progress, he had turned his phone off.
I called the mother of one of the boys with him. She had talked to her son and they were walking. She was at the grocery and had declined to give them a ride as well.
When Tucker walked through the door, he was ready to continue the phone argument. I held out my hand and took the phone.
"You should have planned better," he yelled.
"A week," I said, holding up the phone.
And last night, when he offered to make me a cup of hot chocolate, I knew he wasn't grateful for the valuable life lesson, but was trying to get his phone back.
So, we mothers will continue to push heavy grocery carts without expecting thanks. We'll continue baking cookies and packing lunches.
Someday, even without the threat of cell phone confiscation, they may say, "Hey, Mom. Thanks." Here's the recipe in case you want to make them for your own teenagers.

Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Cookies
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cream together 1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Add 1 beaten egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
Mix well.
Add 1 3/4 cup of flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Mix well. Add a bag of chocolate chips.
Shape into balls, roll in sugar.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.