Best of Just Piddlin': Top 10 of 2013

Thanx for Just Piddlin’ along with me in 2013!

I've had a wonderful year blogging and chatting with you.  Checking over my blog posts, these were the 10 most read posts of the year (no particular order).

Working moms and stay-at-home moms, alike, were represented in these motherhood and parenting posts:

• "Lean In" Isn't Such a Bad Message
• Now That You're a Stay-at-Home Mom
• Shall We Give The Kids a Sticker for Breathing

These dishes perfect for busy moms who want home-cooked food for their busy families were popular:

• Next Best Thing to Fried Shrimp - from Witchery in the Kitchen
• Asian Chicken in the Crockpot - selected as a Circle of Moms Recipe of the Day
• And for birthdays, holidays, or any reason to have cake - Cake Decorating - tips from Fancy Cakes by Leslie

Perhaps I’m not the only one struggling with the “where’s your family from” projects, as many of you read up on Another Family Heritage Project.

Fellow yarn-holics picked up their needles for this one: My First Knit Hat

Folks were busy cleaning out their closets & looking for tips on what to do with those old clothes: Re-Use & Recycle Old Clothes

And friends were looking for answers of why they were de-friended (or justifying why they de-friended folks): 5 Reasons You & I Are No Longer Friends

Was your favorite in the top 10?

In 2014, we'll continue striving to grow Just Piddlin' and make it better - for you, the reader, and me.  To learn more about this whole blog-o-sphere, I attended 2 blogging conferences - Disney Social Media Moms and Blogalicious - conferences will be in the plans again in the coming year.  We received a pile of products and books for review which was a lot of fun and look forward to continuing to bring you great products and recommendations.

Book reviews will continue, but I’ll be changing the reading plan a bit.  I’ll let you know in the beginning of the month the Book I'm Carrying Around and invite you to read along and discuss the book with me.  (I’m busy trying to pick out what to start the year with.)

I’ll still be In the Kitchen, cooking and trying out recipes, especially anything chocolate.  Feel free to recommend any great foods or coffee/chocolate shops you think I should try if ever in your city.

And of course, I will continue to be a busy mom of 4, who is always carrying around a skein of yarn, a book, and my perceptions of the world.  I hope you’ll keep piddlin’ along with me.

Please feel free to let me know in the Comments below what you would like to see in 2014.  We'll see what we can do.

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Family Dinner Table - Asian Chicken

Advice for healthy, happy families and successful kids always recommends the family sitting around the dinner table together. I generally skip over those stats because I think, "we already do that." But then, last week, as I clocked in about 5 after-school hours in the car (in one day), I realized, maybe we don't. Not on a regular basis anyway. There are many days where our family is eating in shifts.  We don't all eat together, all the time; sometimes there are random pairings that share a meal, depending on whose schedules converge.

I don't know about the experts, but I figure a home-cooked meal is the next best thing to all 6 of us around the table. I do try to at least get that done, with the exception of Friday pizza night (though some nights we make our own pizza, which can be a lot of fun). Cooking at home is, generally, cheaper, healthier, and more balanced than haphazardly making a circuit of drive-thrus.

In addition to the schedule of activities, being the chaffeur also plays a factor in meal planning. I can't really do a quick-cook on the stove if I'm not there to cook it (still waiting for that be-in-two-places-at-once magic wand). For those nights, I consider foods I can cook during the day and leave for a self-serve, hot meal for the dinner table rotation. My crock-pot and rice cooker are my go-to appliances.

Asian Chicken (Crockpot)

For this recipe, I use a seasoning mixture similar to what I use when I make bul-go-gi, Korean sliced beef bar-be-que.
Ingredients: 
1/3 c soy sauce
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t sesame seeds
2 t sugar
Pepper
Minced garlic
Green onions, sliced in small pieces
About 10-12 pieces of chicken (I use drumsticks &thighs)

Adjust seasonings to taste



Mix together all ingredients, other than onions and chicken.
Arrange chicken in layers in crock pot
Pour seasoning mix over chicken, top with sliced onion

Arrange chicken and seasonings in crockpot

Turn on the crock pot, cook for a few hours.
(This can also be cooked in a regular pot on the stove.  Add a little bit more soy sauce or about 1/3 cup of water.  Cover pot, let simmer until done.)
Dinner's done.  Serve with rice.
Enjoy!

Tasty with a side of rice and seaweed salad

Easy cooking - Crockpot spaghetti

Is it just our house or is summer crazier than the school year?  We start with tennis lessons in the morning, then swim team practice, move on to the stage for play rehearsal for one while the other is at tennis practice number two, then to swim meets and basketball games or practice.  Some time in there, we're home or, at least, pass by close to our house.  We barely have time to stop and eat, so I really don't have time to cook.  Other than feeding them chicken nuggets on the go, what's the other options?  Yes - the rice pot and crock pot - busy mom's saving cooking appliances.

Here's a quick, easy dinner I put together in the crock pot.  It's sure to be in the summer rotation, along with quesadillas (quick, easy, portable, great use of leftover meats) and kimbap (or sushi rolls as everyone calls them, but with no sushi).  Try it and let me know what you think.

Crock-pot Spaghetti

1 lb. ground beef/turkey

1 box of spaghetti

2 cans of diced or stewed tomatoes

Seasoning - basil, garlic, pepper, oregano

1 bottle chili sauce or 1 can tomato paste

1.  Season and brown ground meat in a skillet, set aside.

2.  In the crock-pot, layer the remaining ingredients, with the uncooked spaghetti (break in half to fit, if necessary) on the bottom.

3.  Pour in about 1/2 can of water.

4.  Layer cooked ground meat on top of other ingredients.

5.  Turn crock-pot to Low.  Let cook for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Everything's ready to cook - spaghetti, seasonings, tomatoes.

A few notes:

- whenever I cook ground meat, I like to cook more than I need and save some - this is great to put together some quesadillas or fried rice for a quick meal the next day.

- I used chili sauce because that's what I had in the pantry.  You could also use tomato paste.  Either will work, but you need something to thicken the sauce.

I couldn't even get a picture before they ate it all!

Enjoy!

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