Coconut Cracking

How to open a coconut

Required:
A kid (or a kid at heart)
A coconut
A hammer
A screwdriver
A mason jor of other glass
A kitchen knife or clean paint scraper
An oven

Directions
1. Find a kid
2. Give the kid one coconut, a hammer, and a screwdriver
3. Punch holes in the eyes of the coconut (find the soft ones) with the hammer and screwdriver
4. Drain coconut water into a mason jar
5. Heat coconut in oven for 15 minutes at 350 degress
6. Remove coconut from oven and drop on concrete a few times
7. Rinse the meat under cool water for about half a minute (this cools the meat but not the shell)
8. Slide a kitchen knife or a clean paint scraper between the meat and the shell, the meat will 'almost' pop off

Enjoy the coconut water over ice and nibble on the meat. If you are feeling brave dehydrate the meat and make coconut butter.

Caveats
Trust me on using the oven, it is so much easier. The coconut expands when heated and the cool water contracts the coconut meat making it easier to remove from the shell

Square Meals – America's Favorite Comfort Food Cookbook

A book review on Square Meals – America’s Favorite Comfort Food Cookbook
You never know what kind of book is going to fall into your hands at a yard sale. Last Saturday while taking our daughter P to a church event I stopped at a yard sale, though technically it should of been called a driveway sale, though I doubt I could have fit the driveway or even the yard into my van. But I digress, I picked up and paid the nice lady 2 quarters for a cook book called Square Meals. I love to peruse a good cookbook. Of course my oldest K later rolled her eyes and asked why since she seems to think my cooking repertoire is repetitive. It might be but she will never know since she rarely eats at home and seemingly never with the family.
This cookbook has no color pics for those of you who grew up with the instant gratification of cell phones, dsl, and ipods. But the book does have this great nostalgia feel for an era of hot cocoa and homemade meatloaf. The pages are rife with retro pics and nostalgic prints. Recipes are not for the faint of healthy hearts, it is comfort not calories that counts in this book. To give you a feel for the types of recipes I will mention a few of the chapters. Where else could a person find recipes for Nursery Foods, Victory Dinners, Ladies Lunches, to name a few. Ending with the final chapter being the Cuisine of Suburbia. This book reads less like a cookbook than a tourbook of the kitchens of yesteryear.
The recipes are basic and down to earth and who knows maybe I will even give the recipe Queen for a Day Noodleburger Casserole or the Purple Poodle Drink a try, but more than anything I enjoyed the trip through culinary time. This book has earned a place on my library shelf.

My Fav Kitchen Tools - Sharks

Ok, one shark in particular. The Shark steam mop. Last week when the kitchen needed some mopping as often occurs with six kids running around the house, it was a bit messy. But this thing is easy to whip out to do quick clean up or a whole house clean. It is easy enough for an 8yo kid to use, and do a decent enough job I don't have to redo the job. The Shark uses nothing but water to clean so it is economical after the purchase, no special cleaning liquid or disposable pads to purchase. So thumbs up to the Shark steam mop.

Menu Planning

I can't tell you how many days dinner time rolls around and I throw something together and it ends up being the same ol thing or boring pizza. Pizza is great but not when it is twice a week. When even the kids groan at pizza night we have had the cheese pie way to much. This goes also for spaghetti and plain old chicken with rice. I tend to get in a rut when it comes to meals. So this week was my trial of scheduling meals. Now I can't plan out a whole week of specific meals. But I can plan out types of meals with maybe a few specific ones. So this last week the meal line up was as follows:

Monday - Beef made burgers with black beans and sweet mesquite seasoning (This was a hit)
Tuesday -  Tacos with corn tortillas gently crisped with a wee bit of olive oil (got a thumbs up)
Wednesday - pasta  (pool party and had hot dogs)
Thursday - Chicken made with onions, salsa verde, pineapples and some mesquite seasoning (even the neighbor kid liked it)
Friday - Pasta  (had leftovers from Thursday)
Saturday - Fire Pit Surprise Foil wrapped meal of burger, onion, potato slices and a big dollop of baked beans (yep the kids were clueless until they unwrapped the foil packet, thumbs up)
Sunday - Pot Roast in a pressure cooker

The planning worked well and I will be doing it again. Funny how we never had pasta.