Winner Winner! Chicken Dinner ^_^

Summer is beating on the door and with all the warm weather comes the desire to NOT be in the kitchen slaving over a stove.  Hubby and I decided that since our little brood of three girls can eat as much as three teenage football players we should try to grill a WHOLE chicken. Grilled Beer Can Chicken or  Beer Butt chicken has been something that I wanted to try out and the weather was perfect to uncover the grill and give it a go.  The biggest problem we had was deciding what type and how much beer to get ~ we were not able to buy just ONE so now we have a fridge full of beer ho hum ^_^. 


As usual I did not follow the recipe and kinda did our own thing....

Rinse and dry a whole chicken.  Sprinkle a little kosher salt all over, have Hubby drizzle olive oil as you turn chicken then rub in dry rub or herbs/spices to your liking. 

Drink about a third of beer out of the can.  At this point we went ahead and placed the chicken onto the can and carried it out to the grill.

 Place can with the chicken onto the grill and with indirect heat cook for about 30 minutes then turn 180 and cook another 45 minutes.  Now all good cooks would tell you to check with meat thermometer but we did not have one so we just made sure that the juices ran clear ~ in all honesty we after the second timer went off we just turned off the heat put the lid down and let the chicken wait out about another 10 minutes while I got the veggies all ready.

 This is our juicy golden brown chicken resting on the counter so I would not burn my fingers too badly while carving for our starving Munchkins.

This is definitely a keeper per our girls.  With the flexibility of this recipe to meet  several different combinations of seasoning and beer to try with it, I am sure it would be perfect for any family outing.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

^_^

Yummy Nosh : Chocolate Eclair Cake

I was notified by Pumpkin that it was Buddy Bear's birthday which of course means a birthday party with CAKE ^_^.  With no oven an Ice Box cake was going to have to be it and with summer coming might not be a bad idea to try out a recipe to avoid the extra heat in the coming months.

Lets meet our main characters....

2 small {3.4 oz} French vanilla instant pudding

1 box of Graham crackers

3 Cups 2 % milk { whole milk is preferable and save the skim for your cereal}

8 oz Cool Whip Original

1 16 oz container chocolate frosting

Method... {sorry no photos with Spring Break and the Girls running around in the kitchen and my elbows in pudding did not want to risk dropping the camera}

1.  Grease a large pan with butter

2. Place a layer of crackers at the bottom

3. Mix the milk with the pudding for 2 minutes then fold in the Cool Whip

4.  Add half ish of the pudding mixture on the crackers

5.  Add another layer of crackers

6.  Pour in the rest of the pudding mixture on top of the second layer of crackers

7.  Top of with crackers

8.  Heat the frosting for 30 seconds in microwave then spread on the last layer of crackers going to the edges of the pan

9.  Cover and place into the fridge for at a minimum 4 hours {better the next day}

The Munchkins with the Birthday Bear  ^_^

Verdict...

Even Buddy Bear loved it! 

We hope you guys love this evil, I mean delicious creation.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

^_^

DIY facial

 Take some aspirin {if allergic to aspirin or pregnant/breastfeeding please consult MD PRIOR to using this mask} and lemon juice.

Place about 6-10 aspirin in a dish and squeeze a little juice or plain water onto the tablets.  You will want to get this to a paste like consistency and I found that I had to play around with the amount of tablets and juice.  Just remember to use a little bit of juice.  I did try smashing the tablets in a baggy first ~ the girls had fun but I found that letting them dissolve in the juice is so much easier and cleaner ^_^  What to do with the rest of the lemon?  Slice and put it into your water to help with reach your 8 a day. 

WARNING!

If you have small children or weak constitution beware of next image!

Place onto your face keeping clear of your eyes and mouth {does not taste great believe me} and let dry.

When you are flaky rinse with warm water in a circular motion to help with removing dry skin and all the yucky stuff.  I love this mask and have been using it about two to three times a week since I have really oily and problematic skin.  I found that my skin is smoother and less shiny afterwards even up to the next day and the breakouts have been less embarrassing for someone of my age.

Another benefit... the girls DISLIKE this mask when I have it on and walking around the house.  They tend to ignore me so on those days when you would like to have a bit of quiet put this mask on and see if your kiddos avoid you like the Plague and will give you about 10 minutes of peace ^_^

Do you have a favorite DIY mask or cleanser?

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi
^_^

Cooking Adventure : Yeasted Waffles

Hubby surprised me with a waffle maker  ~ is it sad when I get excited about getting a waffle iron out of the blue?!?!  

 This gift also fueled my obsession with food porn so off to Foodgawker to find a recipe for us to try.  One day I too , will have drool worthy photographs of my food until then I have the snapshots of food made while three hungry little girls stare at you with eyes screaming " Enough photos already Mommy!  I am hungry can I please have my plate?!?!!?

I finally decided to try the Yeasted waffle recipe and well I had a few hiccups with this.  Lesson learned when it calls for a big bowl it means a BIG bowl or else....

 Positive of this little batter explosion.... the go ahead to get some more bowls for my baking / cooking obsession ^_^

I went to bed after I cleaned up the mess with my fingers crossed the the batter will work its magic overnight and I will be able to surprise the Munchkins with light airy waffles.

Look at this lovely waffle!  I know it is not a perfect complete golden brown waffle ~but they come out so pretty and lacy that the girls love to see what shapes they can find

 ^_^

It will also serve as a great foundation for ham and eggs and Hubby will not feel guilty for eating another waffle since they are not heavy.

Have a great day and we hope that you will make these delicious waffles a try this weekend.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Year of the Dragon Celebration

  Yesterday was Chinese New Year ~ year of the Dragon and for our family we always have gyoza and some noodle dish. Now why eat gyoza at New Year?!?!   Eating gyoza will signify wealth and a prosperous new year.  Maybe I should make these more often ^_^

So here is a quick recipe that I used yesterday.

1-2 cups diced cabbage

1 scallion

1/2 teaspoon diced ginger and garlic

* please note that the amount of veggies and what you put in is up to you and the amount of meat you are using*

1 1/2 lbs ground pork

mixed with veggies from above

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp mirin

splash sesame oil

mixed with hands

Now the fun part.... wrapping these little guys up ^_^

Grab some water and a tablespoon.

 

 Hold a wrapper in your hand and place 1/2 tablespoon in the center of the dough ~ do not overfill!

Dip a finger in the water and run it over the top half of the circle and fold up to create a half moon ~ press around to see and work out any air bubbles.

Now make three pleats in the dough and press firmly and place onto parchment paper .

In a skillet heat some oil on med to med high heat.  Place about 8-10 into the pan and brown the bottoms.  When they are nice and brown the way you like turn up the heat to high, pour in about 1 -2 oz of water and close with tight fitting lid  and cook until the water evaporates.

  Here is a link for the recipe that I used as a guide Pan fried dumplings , just in case my little run down is confusing.  The girls gave them a thumbs up and Hubby agreed ^_^ These have less cabbage and garlic than I am used to but some concessions are made when you are the Momma and I used that right yesterday for the Munchkins.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Sweets for the Sweets

No oven Holiday has been fun so far.  Here is just one of the little treats that the Munchkins and I made .  Samoa Bark from Cookies and Cups looked soooo yummy that I knew we had to try them.  

{Please visit her blog and find other yummy treats to eat}

We had to make one modification ~ NO Coconuts so I think this went from Samoa Bark to something similar to Twix bark ^_^

So here we are real quick on what we did to make this sinfully delicious sticky treat..

First grab little helpers to unwrap a whole bag of sweet carmels.  Watch that they do not sneak one or two ^_^

Find your favorite chocolate and melt about 12 oz ~ we used dark chocolate for our base of the bark

Pour out the chocolate into a aluminum lined cookie sheet then quickly place shortbread cookies into chocolate.  1 box of Lorna Doone should do it.  Place into the freezer to set chocolate.

Melt all those lovely caramels with about 2 tbs of water... be sure to not over heat or it will become to hard and brittle in finished treat.

With your little helpers direction smother the cookies with ooie gooie carmel.

Now you can drizzle additional chocolate on top or place cute little mini chocolate morsels {be sure that have clean little hands to help press them into the carmel}.

Place into the freezer to set carmel then take out and cut or break peices to your liking.  We stored ours in a Christmas tin in the fridge ~ dare you not to sneak a bite each time you see your festive tin!

Verdict?
We LOVED it!!!
We did find that using a  whole bag without the coconut was a bit too much. {we will eyeball it next time to see avoid too much sticky goodness on our cookies.}

This will most definetly be made again next year ^_^  

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

No oven Thanksgiving

Yup!  

The oven is kaput!  

Well to be honest with you Lovelies it has been this way for about 5 years now and I have been making due with a counter oven.  The counter oven and my regular sized oven are now dearly departed and I am planning a NO OVEN Thanksgiving ~ crazy I know!

So how is the turkey going to be cooked to golden perfection?!?!  Roaster thingy that just cooks the turkey which has been working perfectly the past 5ish Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin has suggested having asparagus or Brussels sprouts instead of our traditional green bean casserole.

Squirt loves pumpkin pie so Jello No Bake pie is on the menu ~ the girls and I will make individual little ones.  

For those of us in the house that do not like pumpkin pie {me and ironically Pumpkin}  we are going to try a Lava Chocolate Cake made in the crock pot. 

Of course we will have stuffing and our favorite smashed potatoes {not mashed - smashed little potatoes pan fried to golden goodness}

We will also be writing down all the things we are thankful for and making our little turkey place mats.

Well, this is the plan as of right now for us to feast on all day Thursday.  

What is on your menu for your day of thanks giving? 

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

My First Zucchini :)

Meet my zucchini plant...

She grew to be ginormous, look at the size of those leaves!

Meet our First zucchini that finally made an appearance in October... if we did not find it the other day I wonder how big it could have gotten?

Meet the Yummy Chocolate Zucchini bread made from our first zucchini.  The sucker was so big we had chocolate bread and a stir fry dinner out of that ONE squash ;)

 

 Meet the happy little Munchkins with fresh from the oven bread.

 Now rush over to BS' in the Kithchen to get this very easy and nummy recipe and make a batch for your lovelies ;)

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Quick Snack ~ Marshmallow Sundae

A surprise snack is something that the Munchkins look forward to each day after school.   Now this snack is not something that you guys have probably not tried, seen, or thought about making.  I say make it again!  The Munchkins were so happy with this snack and their enormous smiles and yummy noises were just what I needed that day as well :)

You will need your favorite chocolate chips, I used dark chocolate.

 Large marshmallows and some fun sprinkles.

 Melt chocolate, dip fluffy marshmallows, and then sprinkle.
  {don't they look like little ice cream sundaes?!?!}

Place into fridge then walk to get kiddos.

When you get home present those little lovelies and watch the smiles brighten the room :)

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Tummy Tuesday ~ Beer Bread

This is a wonderfully delicious and hearty quick bread to make this fall.

I have made this several times since we found out about this lovely bread and I have left out some things from the original recipe... it was a herb type of bread but that is just too fancy for us ;)  It is a very simple recipe that the girls can do on their own... so much fun to hear the giggles when the beer is poured into the bowl :)  

This is our little Squirt so proud that she can get the sticky batter into the pan ;)

Cheddar Beer Bread

adapted from Taste Space

3 cups flour

1 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbs baking powder

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese { we use the girls discretion on the amount of cheese :)}

12 ounce beer { use cheap beer save to good stuff for Sunday football}

Heat oven to 375

Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cheddar cheese in a large mixing bowl

Slowly stir in beer and mix till just combined { this is the girls favorite part}

Spread into a greased 8x8 pan {or 8 inch loaf pan}

Bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean ~ about 45 minutes

Enjoy with a big bowl of soup!

I know it is kinda late in the day for a post but better late than never.  We hope that you try out this bread and please check out the original link for a Dill and Cheddar Beer Bread recipe.

Ja matta ne,

Little Mochi

Tortilla or Pita?!?!?

I have lived in Texas for 12 + years now and we thought it was high time to make tortillas.  The girls and I had so much fun making these guys that we will be sure to be making more and not buying the ones from the store.

So here we go....


original source My Own Private Kitchen

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp powder {baking powder}
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil {canola oil}
warm water

1. combine flour, salt, powder in a bowl.  Add oil and evenly mix with dry ingredients.  Add warm water 1 tbsp at a time, thoroughly combining ingredients with water each time until dough holds together.  Once dough is combinded, knead dough until elastic, 2 to 3 minutes.  cover dough and set aside for at least 30 minutes.

 2. Roll dough out into a cylinder, about 1 inch thick.  Cut into 1 inch wide segments.

busy little hands keep out of mischief 

 Roll segments into round balls and cover with a towel.  Heat a large grill or skillet over med-high heat.

3. Place ball in between parchment paper and roll balls as thin as possible to form tortillas.  10 to 12 inch in diameter {we were not very successfull in this step but we had fun  ;)}

 see our TINY little tortilla 

Place tortilla on skillet cook till golden brown 30 seconds to 1 minute per side.  Once done remove and place into a towel to keep warm.

Okay now look at our little tortilla / pita creation!  These were a hit with the Girls and Hubby liked them as well ;) Yippee!  Another semi success in the kitchen.

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Red Velvet Brownie Adventure

Red Velvet + Brownies = Heaven ;)

 This is was a very easy and fun recipe to put together with the Munchkins and when it was all done there was finally peace and quiet in the house.  The girls were too busy enjoying their brownies to even have idle chit chat at the table, this is a sure sign that the recipe is a keeper.

 Peanut finally learned how to break an egg WITHOUT getting it all over her self and shells in the batter ;)

 Pumpkins FAVORITE part.... adding the RED to the batter ;)

Math was tackled this summer with measuring and reading the recipe for Mommy :)

 Oopps!  Forgot to get a pretty photo BEFORE they cut into the brownies.

To make a batch of these Nummy brownies go to Runs With Spatulas. 
Just do not tell Pumpkin that I shared the link... I have been instructed that this recipe stay a " super secret family recipe".  :)

Happy baking!

Ja matta ne,
Little Mochi

Skillet Granola

"Mommy!  Can I have granola with yogurt PLEASE"  this question is heard often and so I am making this about twice a week between the five of us.

Skillet Granola
{I can not take credit for this recipe ~ it was adapted from a recipe I have lost.}

1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups old fashion oats
 Melt butter in large skillet on low.  Once butter is melted add the remaining ingredients except for oats and heat stirring constantly till all is mixed.  Add granola stir often and keep on heat until it reaches the golden consistency you prefer.

 

Dump the mixture onto a large piece of parchment paper to dry.  Stir and break apart large chunks if you do not like chunky granola. This is the dangerous part of the process.... little Girls and Hubby walking by snatching little bits here and there.

Once dry store in air tight container and enjoy ;)

Ja matta ne, 

Little Mochi