My mashed potato disaster

Written by Elizabeth on November 7, 2008 – 12:40 am -

In 2006, Chris and I hosted members of both of our families for Thanksgiving dinner. Chris used our Betty Crocker cookbook to come up with a delicious herb rub for the turkey, which turned out beautifully, as you can see from the photo, and tasted delicious. We had crescent rolls, and stuffing, and Chris’ Grandma’s sweet potato casserole, and everything turned out really well, except for one thing-the mashed potatoes.

See, despite having been 39 years old at the time, I had never actually made homemade mashed potatoes. I know! I always bought the instant kind, but for Thanksgiving dinner, especially my first Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to make homemade potatoes. I peeled, cut, and boiled the potatoes, drained them, and put them in a bowl. I broke them up with a fork, then dumped in butter and milk and turned on my electric hand mixer. And you know what I got?

GLUE. See, when cooked, potatoes are very starchy. And when that starch mixes with COLD MILK AND BUTTER (yes, I know now, you are supposed to bring them to room temp first), that potato starch turns to glue. Fortunately, I had a box of instant potatoes in the pantry which I made instead, and no one minded one bit. It could have been a disaster!

If you have any questions about how to cook a turkey this year, you can call 1-800-BUTTERBALL to virtually talk turkey with their holiday meal preparation experts, or visit Butterball.com for Web chats with a few bloggers we all know and love - Chris Jordan (Notes from the Trenches), Susan Wagner (Friday Playdate), and Roxanna Missong (Miguelina) on November 11, 18 and 25 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. CST. They’ll answer all your turkey related questions.

But take it from me, if you attempt homemade mashed potatoes, please let the butter and a measuring cup of milk come to room temperature before adding them to your potatoes. Unless you want to serve a bowl of glue.

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Butterball.

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Do I take shortcuts? Um YEAH, I have three kids!

Written by Elizabeth on October 11, 2008 – 11:24 am -

For this weekend’s Blog Blast, Parent Bloggers Network teamed up with Ore Ida to promote their new Steam ‘N Mash potatoes. If you haven’t tried them yet, I bought some the second I saw them in the freezer case at the grocery store. It’s a bag of already peeled and cubed potatoes that steam in the bag in your microwave, then you pour them into a bowl, add butter and milk and mash. Voila, fresh mashed potatoes without having to peel! I bought the Garlic Seasoned Potatoes, they also come in plain Russet, Three Cheese, and peeled and cubed Sweet Potatoes which I want to try next!

So, already peeled and cubed potatoes is one shortcut I can take to get dinner on the table quickly. PBN and Ore Ida want to know what other shortcuts I take, either in the kitchen or in everyday life. My most-used shortcut is one that probably a lot of other parents use, and that’s keeping a diaper bag completely stocked at all times. I have a large Land’s End diaper bag that always has a travel pack of wipes, two or three Pull Ups, a clean bib, a t-shirt and shorts or a long sleeve shirt and knit pants in Kaitlyn’s current size (depending on the season), a box of Crayola crayons, a coloring book, and a few inexpensive toys (Happy Meal toys are good for this). That way, if something comes up and we suddenly have to jump up and run out of the house for some reason, I can just grab that bag without having to stop and run around like a crazy person throwing things together.

I figured out the diaper bag shortcut after having to buy entire packs of diapers or completely new outfits because I took one of my babies out on an errand and had them blow through the one diaper I had left in the bag. And after stuffing potato peelings down the garbage disposal and having them clog up the sink drain, requiring my husband to make several late-night runs to Home Depot for plumbing supplies, I learned that letting Ore Ida do the peeling for me is not such a bad shortcut to take :) Get more information about Ore Ida Steam ‘N Mash potatoes at http://www.ilovemashedpotatoes.com/, and check out the Parent Bloggers Network blog for more reviews.

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A special post for World Egg Day

Written by Elizabeth on October 7, 2008 – 10:08 am -

Friday Oct. 10 is World Egg Day, and to celebrate, Parent Bloggers Network asked me and eleven other bloggers to create meals featuring eggs with an international flair, that were kid-friendly and budget conscious as well. They gave us each $50.00 to buy ingredients, so I took full advantage. After about an hour of Googling international egg recipes, I found one called “Italian Scramble” on mrbreakfast.com. With eggs, potatoes, sausage, cheese, onions, tomatoes, and red and green peppers, I knew this would make a hearty dinner with something everyone in my family would like.

I assumed I was supposed to use the entire $50.00 on meal ingredients, so in addition to what I needed for the Scramble, I also bought Dole Hearty Italian Salad Mix (it comes with Chianti Vinaigrette, Parmesan and salami, plus an Italian herb seasoning packet) and a loaf of Italian bread.

While I heated olive oil in a large frying pan and peeled and cubed a potato, Ryan removed the sausage from the casings. The potato went in first, and I stirred it just a few times so the pieces wouldn’t fall apart. When the potato cubes were firming up, I broke the sausage into little pieces and added that to the pan. Ryan grated some parmesan cheese while I peeled and quartered the onion, and then I showed Ryan how to use the Cuisinart mini food processor to chop it into little pieces.

Meanwhile I cut half of each pepper into strips then chopped the strips into a fine dice. They look so pretty, and the red and green with the white of the potato make the colors of Italy, so there’s the international part of the recipe :)

I let the sausage, potato, onion, and peppers cook until the sausage was no longer pink and the onions and peppers were softening, while at the same time, the potato was getting a nice crusty brown on the outside. It smelled SO good.

The eggs needed to be well-beaten, so I got out the blender and had Ryan help Kaitlyn crack a dozen eggs into it, then added 3 tbsp. of milk and blended it for a few seconds until all the eggs were completely blended together.

The eggs and milk mixture went into the pan along with the drained tomatoes and the mozzarella cheese. I let that sit for a few minutes, then used a spatula to lift the eggs from the bottom of the pan and let the uncooked part run down, once the eggs started setting, I broke them up into pieces and started stirring everything together. Now, to be honest, it looked a lot less appetizing once everything was stirred together. Next time I make this, which I undoubtedly will, I’ll scramble the eggs separately, then serve them next to the sausage/potato mixture instead of combing it all together.

That isn’t to say that it wasn’t good, because it really, really was. I popped the Italian bread into the toaster for a minute to get golden brown, buttered the pieces, then served the kids scoops of the Italian Scramble which we sprinkled with the fresh parmesan, with the toast on the side. This was Kaitlyn eating it-”Mmmm. mmMMMM. MMMMM.” I tried to get it on video but of course my video camera was at the end of the tape and I couldn’t find a new one. Oh, and I also didn’t take a photo of the FINISHED DISH, duh. We were too busy shoveling it into our mouths! You can see it on our plates here:

To get more recipes that use eggs, visit the American Egg Board’s Incredible Edible Egg website. To get the Italian Scramble Recipe including my revisions for doubling the recipe and step by step instructions, visit my blog MomCooks. And this Friday, celebrate World Egg Day by making something with eggs!


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MomCentral Review: Ragu Fresh and Simple Pouches

Written by Elizabeth on May 20, 2008 – 11:14 am -

What combines servings of vegetables, microwave convenience, a just-right portion size, and a terrific taste that kids love? It’s Ragú’s® new Fresh and Simple All Natural sauce pouches! I received two pouches from MomCentral to sample, and for me, it’s a perfect way to serve pasta for lunch! The pouches come in three flavors-Traditional Tomato Basil, Garden Vegetable, and Tomato, Onion & Garlic. Like traditional Ragú® sauces, the Fresh and Simple sauces have no sugar, no artificial additives and no preservatives.

Photobucket All you do is clip the corner of the pouch, pop it in the microwave for NINETY SECONDS, and pour the sauce over cooked pasta and voila, spaghetti for lunch! Since it’s just Kaitlyn and I having lunch at home during the week, it’s great to have a smaller amount, too. I’ve thrown away WAY too many opened jars of spaghetti sauce that got a little fuzzy around the edges.

Ragú® is committed to providing busy moms and dads with the tips, tools, and ideas they need to fuel their kids’ appetites and imaginations, so they created a website called Feed Our Kids Well. There you will find links to the Ragú® panel of experts including dieticians, nutritionists, fitness experts, and MomCentral’s own Stacy DeBroff (!), a link to the order form for a FREE 34 page Feed Our Kids Well recipe book, and a link to Ragu.com which has HUNDREDS of recipes and great meal ideas. I’ve used it myself!

Finally, the website has a video created to illustrate just why it is so important to Ragú® to provide wholesome, delicious products like the Fresh and Simple sauce pouches. They know how important our children are to us, how much love and joy they bring to our lives. They know we want to nourish both our children’s imaginations and their appetites. They know that our children are a Daily Gift.

Ragú® is a company that I am proud to support and recommend here on MomReviews. Thank you to MomCentral for providing the Fresh and Simple pouches, and thank you for making them, Ragú®.


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