Dinner and a movie

since getting pregnant (again!) i haven't actually cooked a whole heck of a lot. i mean sure we have spaghetti, baked chicken with potatoes, or we grill something; but i mean actual cooking. pots and pans, flour, messes, simmering and mashing, etc. you know, the dinners you were raised with.

well, let me clarify, the dinners that *I* was raised with. if you know me, you know that my mom is a great cook. she can make homemade chicken and noodles, from scratch. she makes authentic bierocks with homemade bread, from scratch. i mean the woman doesn't even own a bread maker! she makes Cinnamon rolls for breakfast on sunday morning, sugar cookies ''just beacause'' and actual twice baked potatoes! my mom makes homemade pudding. seriously there is no jell-o in her kitchen. (well unless my brothers home--the kids a freak and likes instant)

so needless to say, while i *should* be able to cook, i can't. maybe i don't have the determination or mind-set. maybe it will become more important as i get older. i can make some mean twice baked potatoes. i like to think my baked ziti rivals 'Old Chicago', and don't even mess with my shredded beef tacos! and to be honest, i don't think i'm 1/2 bad at baking. oatmeal raisin cookies i can do, i've never had a cake fall, and my eggnog pumpkin pie is awesome!

but, i have a pitfall. the ONE thing that i want to be able to cook, that i try to cook, and no matter what i either: a) screw it up, b) i'm not even impressed by it or c) by the time i'm done cooking it, i no longer even want it. everyone else says ''oh it tastes good'' or ''it looks great'' but i think they are just boosting my ego. kinda like when someone has a kind of ugly baby--you don't DARE say anything, you just compliment what you can. work around the bad parts kinda thing.

well, this is meal from hell: chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and HOMEMADE white gravy

i always f#@! it up! either the breading is too thin and falls off, or i use to much grease, or i overcook it, or the meat isn't tenderized enough. everytime i've made it, we've all eaten it (i mean, it is ediblie) but i wouldn't say its enjoyable. so when the pregnancy craving for chicken fried steak was pounding in my stomach, i had a choice.

1- take 2 overly tired kids, clear across town to either chilis or tx roadhouse--neither of which has the breading i like
2-wait til i'm home for the weekend and make/ask my mom to cook what i want on her own birthday dinner
3-do it myself

i chose option number 3. *gulp* i went and bought the stuff i needed (which surprisingly was just the meat! mom i had FLOUR on hand, and even...Crisco! i know you're shocked!)

during the boys nap today, rather than sleeping, i was dredging cube steak in a seasoned flour mixture, then whole milk, then flour again. i wrapped them up in wax paper and put them back in the fridge til dinner time.

when B got home, i went to work. can i just say, i freaking rocked it! i mean seriously i think this chicken fried steak could have been mistaken for my mama's! the breading was perfect; just before frying i dredged it in flour again and i think that's what did it. it was crispy and flaky but not dry, it was cooked thorughout but not tough. it was a beautiful golden color. i even took a picture, because i know several of you are thinking ''no way, was it like Pam's." oh it was. it was.

see for yourself:

rachel ray, eat your heart out!

(you should be able to click on the picture, if you really want to drool)

and plated, with the homemade gravy!

move over paula deen, i am in the house and i can cook a southern meal!

okay, okay so if i am super truthful (which we all know i can be brutally honest) i wasn't overly thrilled with the gravy. it didn't get quite as thick as i would have liked, but it tasted awesome! i didn't have to have my mom help me or do it for me---this didn't even warrant a phone call!

mom, your little girl is growing up. *tear*
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okay okay, now that i got that out of my system, here are pictures of the kids :)

the latest and greatest thing to the toddlers in our house is: POPCORN. ever since we took them to the movies on B's birthday, bubba is obsessed with "up-cone" as he calls it. everyday for a snack thats what he wants, and i'd say that probably every 2 days he actually gets it. (i know, i'm a mean mom). so we started a new thing in our house, which we've done the last 2 weeks and that is movie night.

the first week was when B was out of town, and we watched "finding nemo." well, we tried to watch "the lion king" but bubba wanted ''fish'', so simba was vetoed for marlin and dory.

sunday night the movie of choice was ''cars''. now both bubba and pooks have a TON of cars themed toys, books, a pillow--but they've never seen the movie. we tried showing bubba once when he was younger and he was not interested. well let me say, they were both interested this time! they loved it. i have a feeling we're going to need to buy the dvd in the near future.

so without further ado, the boys eating their "up-cone". oh and for those of you that are going ''you let your 14 month old eat popcorn?!" before your head starts spinning, i only give him the fluffest pieces, i double check that the doesn't get any kernals and the boys are never left unattended while eating it.

bubba (don't mind the glazed over look in his eyes, he was not going to look at me unless i stood infront of the screen!)

pooks. (he is looking at the camera only because i stood in front of the screen)

so that was my very long winded post. good thing its my blog and i can talk for as long as i want ;)