A productive kitchen weekend

Over the years my husband and I somehow got into the habit of using weekends to be out and about, running around, whether we needed to get things or not.  "Feel like going to IKEA just to look around?"  "Hey, there's a sportsman's show in Toronto right now.  Let's check it out!"   "Wanna go wander a mall?"  And so forth.  When the kids came along we just took them with us.  So it continued that a good chunk of our weekends were often spent out of the house.

Lately we've tried to be more deliberate about staying home.  The kids don't like spending the day going from one place to the next, and honestly there is plenty here to keep us all occupied.  And somehow it's been truly amazing to see what we can get done around here when we're actually... well, here.

Yesterday we did minimal running around.  We bought a few groceries and blitzed a mattress outlet to get Little Miss what she needs for her "big girl bed."  Yes, she's 3 and still in a crib.  We'd intended for her to be in a bed by now,  but the one we had needed painting and sealing, and then there was February...  Ugh.  Anyway, 5 minutes may not sound like much, but this place has 2 twin size mattresses available, and one box spring.  Fine by us, they're all quality and way cheaper than other place we've dealt with.  Let's just say that we now know why to buy a mattress anywhere else.  ;-)

Anyway, that's today's project.  Stripping out her room, dismantling the crib, moving the dresser and toy bins and getting her bed set up.  I needed a simple meal that didn't require my attention, so I picked up a rump roast yesterday.  After browning the well salted meat, I made a marinade of soy, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, smoked paprika, ketchup and a barbecue spice blend that I made some time ago and like to have on hand.  I added some dried onion flakes and the contents of the deglazed pan as well.  It sat overnight and is in the crockpot now.  Man does it smell GOOD!

Backing up to last night, I spent the evening making baked wontons.  And learning that I suck at not overfilling them.  LOL  I made two fillings.  One was inspired by these Buffalo Chicken Rolls at Can You Stay for Dinner.  I don't like blue cheese though, so I created a mixture of cream cheese (half a block), shredded cheddar, cooked chicken and hot sauce (Frank's and Sriracha).  For the other I blended shredded mozzarella, the other half block of cream cheese, two diced jalapenos and about a quarter of a jar of pickled ones.  Stuffed, rolled, brushed with oil and into the oven they went.  I increased the heat to 450F and turned them part way through cooking.  All of the cream cheese ones burst on me, as did a few chicken ones.  But they were all tasty and I have a bag of them in the fridge for lunches this week for hubby and I.  And maybe Little Miss, who snagged two small pieces of jalapeno yesterday just to taste them.

As I was talking to the kids this morning about supper, we all decided that dessert was in order.   They usually have fruit for dessert, but since we're home I figured I should make something.  And that something was a unanimous vote for brownies!  Borrowing from this recipe, I added a square of unsweetened chocolate to the butter as it melted.  The pan is now cooling on the counter.

And now I'm going to start on some coleslaw.  I'll salt the veggies first (yes, it's a bag of slaw... I needed it for the Buffalo chicken rolls and didn't want to buy an entire head of cabbage), and let them drain before I dress them with a vinegar based dressing.  We're not really big on creamy coleslaw here.  I'm also thinking of making some cornbread.  We'll see.  The crib is being dismantled right now...  It's nice to stay home.