In the mood

I woke up this morning and thought “I’m gonna look at that Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Roll recipe and make cinnamon rolls for the kids cause they are out of school today for a teacher workday….(plus we have two friends staying with us for the day because school is out and they needed some momma back up..)

I’ve heard that these things are incredible (Marybeth)…and I’m in that cooking mood.  I bought yeast the other day because I made homemade whole wheat pizza dough (Yes I did) and I knew that I would need it for this recipe.

So I trotted downstairs at 7:15am to look it up….

You also need a QUART of whole milk….A QUART!  Not happening…

Plus vegetable oil (I ran out last night making muffins)PLUS I needed baking soda, baking powder and PLENTY of melted Butter.  

Nope, nope and nope….I had the milk, but a QUART!!  Really?

Oh and Maple flavoring (Oh yeah, like I’ve got that ……hey wait, does maple SYRUP count??)

And I looked at the pictures that she so graciously puts up for each of her recipes…..and apparently you also need a stainless steel countertop, literally the size of Texas to make these bad boys.

This is a picture from her recipe-documentary on how to make these damn things…. 

Pioneer Woman gets on my damn nerves.

So after checking back into reality….I popped open two rolls of CANNED cinnamon rolls. 

And my kids were freaking singing like Bill Cosby….thanks mom…you’re the best mom…..wow mom….(this is because I typically DO NOT MAKE these things, my daughter does….so she was able to just enjoy)

I made them the fancy way….I unrolled them THEN I twisted them….

Un-Pioneer I know, right!

Back off, I feel enough pressure from the PIONEER wench and her dang perky self on that TV show now.  (Not really, but she does get on my nerves, her voice is waaaayyyy to calming for me…I need a little Guy or Emeril to make me watch..ya know, BANG!)

The good news is that I’m back in my meal planning mode.  Life in this house runs a tad smoother when I have a PLAN for dinner.  My friend Suzy and I were chatting about it this morning….with all the running around both of us do with sports and after school activities it’s real easy to get in the grab and go mode…But that is so expensive and it’s not the healthiest of decisions.  AND, I am also doing Weight Watchers (and working out most everyday), well, I’m cooking things that I can eat, that are on the healthier side, and my family gets the benefit. 

Last nights Turkey Chile Verde was a hit.  I also made Pumpkin muffins to go along with the chile.  The flavors really worked well together.  (It’s a mix from Trader Joes, and oh my gosh, super super good!)

This morning I started dinner for tonight, since it’s a WW Crockpot recipe.  I cannot tell you how freaking good my house smells right now!  It’s a Pork Loin roast with Sauerkraut and Apples.  I’m gonna make the none WW folk some mashed taters to go with the pork roast…

I took pictures because it looked so dang good!  Oh and this was super easy…..

Pork loin roast with fat trimmed off – sprinkled with salt and pepper and dried thyme in 2 tsp olive oil.

Crock pot with rinsed and drained sauerkraut, diced apple and thinly sliced red onion – with a couple dashes of caraway seed….

Pork loin goes on top of veggies in the crock pot then recipe calls for 1/2 cup of dry white wine, poured over roast and veggies…I went with 1 cup of white wine in the pan that I browned the roast in, to get the crispy stuff and the thyme – then poured over top of roast and veggies…

Here it is after cooking for a little while – it’s it lovely?

This is a 5 point meal – without the mashed taters of course.  I cannot wait to try it – because the kitchen smells so good!!!!!

Pioneer Woman can kiss my grits. 

With love,

The Southern-momma-who-doesn’t-have-a-TV-show-and-production-clean-up-crew-soccer-mom-carpool-driving-working on my weight wife.