I discovered a new vice. Three words: Peanut. butter. cereal. mmmmm…

I know I don’t need another vice. The coffee and the chocolate and well, everything good and fatty is much more than enough but have you tried peanut butter cereal? My holy hell it is good.

The first purchase started as most of these things do. I bought it for the kids. We have a strict, no more than 11 grams of sugar, rule for cereal. Yes, 11 grams is random. I think it came about because I needed to limit the amount of sugar in their cereal and they were already eating Honey Nut Cheerios. (I may be wrong here – it’s been years.) The good part is when they ask for some horrific, sugary cereal with weird colors and licensed characters on it I can tell them to check the sugar. They do and usually it is over the 11 gram mark. Wegman’s Peanut Butter Corn Crunch was not. I believe it came in at 10. So we bought it.

I’ve been having to buy 2 boxes a week and we still run out. This past weekend I did not shop at Wegmans so I had to buy the cereal it was modeled after: Captain Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch (9 grams sugar).

They ate it but it was not the same. There was controversy over which was more peanut buttery and which was sweeter. So I  did what I had to do – I made a trip out to Wegmans and the kids and I had a blind taste test.

The contenders:

The unanimous results:

The Sweetest

The Most Peanut Buttery

The only controversy left was whether each participant preferred more sweetness or pb-ness.

The votes have not been counted on this. The children can’t decide. I however have:

Right sentiment – Wrong box

Things my 13 year old said to me this morning while I took him step-by-step through the process of preparing dinner:

13: Do I have to touch the raw chicken with my hands?

Me: No, it will leap into the pot all by itself. You’re just there to watch.

13: Do I put the chicken IN the crockpot?

Me: No, place it AROUND the pot. It cooks better that way.

This may have made my day.

The last couple months my dinner plans have not been coming together as I hoped.

This past winter I instituted a new policy stating that each individual in the house had to pick one meal for the following week. I would shop for all the ingredients and make the dishes when time, schedules and my mood dictated. If for some reason your meal was bumped, I made it the following week. If you wanted to choose the same meal every week. Fine. The only rule was you could not pick something someone else had already chosen. (i.e. pizza 4 nights)

The plan worked very well for many months. And then Spring sports hit and it was a frozen food free-for-all.

Now it’s time to settle back down and eat real food once again. Except now no one knows what they want. I hate, hate, HATE picking meals every week. Every day of every week. Every month of every year. Only to be told they hate what I’ve made. Is it not enough I must COOK all the meals? Shop for all the meals? I have to plan the meals too? I suppose it wouldn’t be so bad if the younger people in house the didn’t complain so much – but they do.

Anyway, last week I read Anne Glamore’s recipes. Her fabulous, fabulous recipes. Recipes that contained foods my children might actually eat without gagging. Boy tested and approved meals. YAY Anne!

So far I have made 3 of the 4 recipes. Tonight will be #4. And although I forgot to take photos of the finished dishes, I shall still report the results.

Meal #1:
Bowties with Peas and Prosciutto – Except I made it with Penne because that’s what I had on hand.
After all of the children spend most of meal DYING because, “What IS that? Are those peas? I HATE peas!” They ate it. There may have been a bit of Ranch dressing involved at the end for the piles of peas left at the bottom of the bowls – but all-in-all SUCCESS! The children also suggested I make it with broccoli next time. The husband prefers peas but suggested bowties would have been better. Whatever. They ate it.

Meal #2:
Bulgogi with Jasmine Rice and Applesauce
HUGE SUCCESS! Not a speck of rice left. They ate all 2 lbs of beef, 6 cups of rice and were saddened when it was gone. My youngest wants to learn how to make it himself. Now if someone could just tell me how to pronounce it.

Meal #3
Chicken Piccata Pasta Toss
Another success. Not quite as huge as the Bulgogi but they all ate it. It was a bit bland for me. I may have to add something next time but the kids did like it.

Tonight: Pork Lo Mein

So Anne, A HUGE thank you! Some new dinners to toss into the rotation.

I mentioned I’ve been drinking? Up until now it’s been mostly Mike’s Hard Limes. Tomorrow I’m trying something different.

While tracking Santa try this drink:

What I call a Peppermint Patty Martini

1 oz. Svedka Vodka (new, I’m trying it for the first time)
1/2 oz. Rumplemintz
1/2 oz. Creme de Cacao (some random brand Boston something-or-other – all they had at the store)

Every damn recipe I googled gave me different amounts and ingredients. I’m working with what I have on hand (and what I picked up tonight at the packy). Will have to taste test. I’ll give you an update tomorrow and let you know my preferred amounts.

Edited to add:
The Boston Somthing-or-other brand was a no go. Returned for Dekuyper’s clear Creme de Cacao.

New recipe that has been tried is:
1 oz. vodka
1 oz. Rumplemintz (who the hell can do 1/2 ounce – why even bother)
2 oz. Dekuyper’s Creme de Cacao

Mmmmm… tasty.