Double down...

I've got my Coke Zero Cherry Coke in hand.  Did you run out and buy some after I told ya'll about it last night?  Why not?  Look.  How can I profess to be a person of influence if I'm not influencing you?  Whatever. 

So here is what else I was up to yesterday.  Okay, remember when Jessica Seinfeld got all famous herself for writing a cookbook?  No?  It was a few years ago so I get it.   Fortunately it has been long enough for her cookbook to have made it to one of my favorite bargain shops - Big Lots.  $3 for Deceptively Delicious.  Let me explain something.  I have 4 kids who eat.  Like every day.  And they rarely have the same tastes.  Skunk will eat oatmeal in the morning.  Princess actually loves Kix and plain Rice Crispies.  Scooby wants about 14 bowls of the sweetest cereal in the house.  Peanut can do a little bit of anything.  But now let's talk fruits and veggies.  There is not one single veggie that Scooby will eat.  He will eat apples, grapes and 2 days ago I starved him of his typical carb diet enough that he agreed to and ate a banana.  Princess loves broccoli and will eat peas and green beans from time to time.  She's allergic to bananas and will eat apple when pushed  That's about it on fruit.  Peanut LOVES fruit.  She likes carrots.  And that's about it.  And then there's Skunk.    He'll ask for peanut butter and apples.  And then scoop out all the peanut butter out with the same one piece of apple.    I think you get the point.  We have some food issues around here.  So I am interested in going stealth with the health.  Jessica - that's what I call her - Jessica purees different fruits and vegetables and sticks them in her food.  And the kids are none the wiser.  I have done this  a few times now and it works.  It works in unexpectedly beautiful ways.  My kids are now consistently eating beets, zucchini, squash, peas, sweet potatoes and did I mention beets.  I had myself never eaten a beet until this experiment.  They are the epitome of the adjective "earthy".  But I truly believe that my cheap jarred pasta sauce has never tasted so vibrant and my soups seem heartier somehow.  And Skunk has been scarfing down the results as though his body responded to much neglected vitamins and minerals.  Like the dirt that never fully scrubs off a beet  - I'm calling that minerals.  Anywho.  Yesterday I was making my purees.  And I baked a couple of bread mixes.  And I decided to make cookies.  But Jessica style.  Now.  She starts from scratch.  I started with my $1 Krusteaz chocolate chip cookie mix.  If you need a mix for chocolate chip cookies - use Krusteaz.  They are the best non-scratch cookies I have ever had.  9.5 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.  But Jessica does veggie them out with a special ingredient - chick peas.  So I did too.  And they were a hit.  Not any bigger a hit than when it's just normal chocolate chip cookies.  Which, in my book, is a win.  And let me tell ya - these were not disguised chick peas.  I tried to mash up a few of them but they were kind of plumped out like a chick pea (or garbanzo bean - if you will...) is.  If you caught one alone - it tasted like a chick pea.  But how dangerous is that when your victim, I mean audience, has never eaten a chick pea?  I think that next time I will just puree those too.  Or next time I might just grab some hummus and use that.  Hummus cookies. mmmm.  So, I will say that the chick-pea chocolate chip cookies score 8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels. 

And here is what is going down today.  I have 2 offerings for you.  Half of them are about food.  I don't have many other options given what is going on in my life.  Don't judge!

It was a long day.  I was the room helper for the preschoolers' co-op.  That makes three and a half hours with 4 and 5 year olds - only two of which I am required by law to get along with and sustain -  stretch out like a decade.  And the two that ARE mine were flipping out because even though they share me with each other daily - as well as sharing me with 2 additional siblings - they could not abide watching the other one hanging out on my lap.  Anywho.  I finally got home with less than an hour to spare before I had to leave again to grab the other 2 kids.  Tonight I wanted to finish up on some baking that I didn't get to the day before.  I was going to have a little fun with some leftovers.  Remember the applesauce?  Of course you do!  Well, you can substitute applesauce for some oil in baking.  Imagine substituting some fine cinnamony applesauce that you can't really eat because it is too cinnamony in a sweet potato bread.  That's right.  Here's what I did:

Sweet Potato Bread
3/4 c. white sugar
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. too cinnamony applesauce
1/4 c. veggie oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 c sifted all-purpose flour (uhm.  I just notice I was supposed to sift this...)
1 t baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/3 c. water
1 c.  cooked and mashed sweet potatoes (I had made some a few nights ago and had put brown sugar and cinnamon in them so these were going to be the bestest ingredients to use - ever...)
1/2 c. chopped pecans (optional)

1.  Combine sugar and oil, beat well.  Add eggs and beat.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water.  Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts.  I had to use the mixer for the sweet potato mixin'.
2.  Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.  Bake 350 for about an hour.

I haven't tasted it yet but on looks alone it gets a 8 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.  It's gorgeous, y'all.  I'll have some in the morning toasted with some butter smeared on and some coffee on the side.  And I'll let you know how it goes.

My other offering is the mindless t.v. that we tuned into tonight.  Netflix rocks so much.  It is replete with options.  My life has been enriched by the likes of Hoarders, Pawn Stars and now...

American Pickers
These dudes go around the country collecting antiques for their business.  They sell this stuff to collectors and interior designers and prolly movies and such.  It is a combination of Antiques Roadshow and Hoarders.  Hubs pointed out that each show probably gets to do a roll through.   Like the Pickers find them and then call the producers of Hoarders saying, "Have we got a live one!".   It's interesting to see what interests them.  And it's a bit familiar seeing what other people are unwilling to let go of.  It doesn't make me uncomfortable the way that Hoarders does.  Or the way that those twin brother furniture appraisers from Antiques Roadshow tend to...  Based on episode one, I give this show 7 out of 10 Jenny's jewels.  I'll watch it again.  It's got pretty good potential. 

By the way, is it getting tedious to say x out of 10 Jenny's jewels?  Do you figure that it's a 10 jewel scale by now and I should just say 7 Jenny's jewels?  Or just 7 jewels or what?  Inquiring mind wants to know!

That's it for today.  I'm giving you fair warning that I have a pretty big deadline on Wednesday that I need to get a hold of.  This is an obligation that I had prior to starting the blog so while I feel beholdin' to you, I do need to step outside the slacker box and make this happen.  I'll at least pop in to say hey but there likely won't be a post on new for tomorrow.  I'll still make a point to do something new,  I just will have to wait until Wednesday to fill you in. 

I'm beat.  The end.