This week on Catching up with the Kelnhofers, I’m talking about all things burgers, sharing some ideas for your Easter celebration and an update on Ben’s mailbox and what the twins are up to.
This week felt a lot better than the last two weeks. I typed that out and I thought we were starting to get into a groove, then I randomly cried in my office when the kids aren’t around, but I think that is normal. It’s a heavy-weighty situation going on in the world. It’s sad and uncertain. I’m trying to see the positives and am so grateful for everything I do have in my life.
I’m one who loves to cook, I mean, heck, I run a food-based business where I’m a recipe developer/food photographer/food blogger/cookbook author, but still, I don’t think I’ve cooked 3 meals a day, for a family, consistently, this long in a row. It’s been nice to be in the kitchen.
I’ve never opened ‘sweetphi.com‘ so many times on my phone to search for a recipe.
Nick and I both had a craving for burgers, and I remembered I had a recipe for the best burger seasoning. Ben helped me make burger buns (we used the King Arthur Flour recipe called ‘Beautiful Burger Buns‘.
Ben helped with everything from making the buns, to cutting the cheese (with his kid safe knives) and I turned around and he was holding the entire block of cheese and took a bite…then proceeded to have the most epic meltdown, lol. Thankfully it only lasted a minute. Then we all enjoyed burgers!
New on the Blog:
What to Make:
Reader Comments:
- “I needed something quick and easy for an Easter dessert to take and I knew I wanted caramel in whatever I was taking. I bought just the regular caramel that you put on ice CREAM. OMG we all fell in dessert heaven with these. Yum!!! So easy to make too!”
Speaking of Easter, I’m thinking ahead to some of my favorite recipes. Hopefully these recipes help you start thinking ahead and putting together your grocery list!
Reader Re-Creations:
I love this recreation shared by @safelysweetnutrition when she made my fail proof whole wheat pizza dough. She topped it with pineapple and ham and took a beautiful pic (check it out below). She shared it on her Insta story, so I’m glad I took a screen shot before it went away!
General/stories/things I’m loving:
- Noise cancelling headphones have been a complete game changer for me. I had a Bose pair from years ago that I randomly found in a box, and let me tell you, game changer for working from home. I cannot hear a thing (except my music).
Links from around the web:
- We made my friend Jocyln from Grandbaby Cakes recipe for Chicken and Dumplings because I saw that it had won a Chicken and Dumplings recipe test – it was comforting and delicious!
- On a different note…have you heard of the Quarantine 15? I’m trying really hard over here to be mindful because this year I added a health goal to my yearly goals. I have never set a health goal, and was pregnant the last few years so it just wasn’t the right time (is it ever? and that’s totally not an excuse, it’s just the way it has been) but this year I’ve been working on being healthier and working towards losing weight. I’m doing it the slow and consistent way, and it’s been working, and it’s the first time I haven’t felt like I was on a diet. A friend told me about My Body Tutor and how their programs helped him lose weight, so I checked them out. They had a free program – a newsletter program, and I really enjoyed it. It was just what I was looking for and exactly in line with the way I have been thinking about food (I’m not going to restrict or do insane things that aren’t sustainable, I’m just going to maybe have 1 brownie instead of 5 or figure out why I want the brownie), the free program has some great insights into emotional eating and something called ‘the broccoli test’ – basically asking yourself if you’re hungry and you’d eat broccoli or if you want to eat for a different reason than hunger. I happen to love broccoli (this is my favorite way to eat it ) but that’s besides the point, lol. I truly liked the free program, and emailed/spoke with the founder of the company Adam. He’s a really great guy, and in our conversation he shared that he had actually linked to some of my recipes in the past. I was so moved. Anyway, if My Body Tudor sounds like something you’d like to try, I worked with him to offer SweetPhi readers a discount of $50, just enter code “Sweetphi” if you join their programs. And I am humbled by some of the emails I’ve gotten from several readers who have lost a lot of weight, it’s inspiring.
- How are you finding your quarantine food-related health? And really, if you feel like taking on all the baking projects and it’s helping you cope, I’m here, with you, totally not judging! If you’re looking for what to bake, the New York times put out 40 recipes for procrastibaking …and might I also suggest these salted caramel chocolate chip cookies or these raspberry cream cheese swirl brownies or these red wine brownies – no one is judging if you drink the rest of the bottle.
- I just found out about this (free) app, it’s kind of awesome! It has free 7 minute (and way longer) workouts with music.
What I’m Reading:
- I was taking a ‘break’ from reading because my daily schedule doesn’t include an hour plus commute like it normally does…my commuting is more like the below, but I finally got a few romances recommended to me so I’m starting those this weekend and honestly looking forward to it.
- I’m supposed to be reading Dear Edward for a book club. It sounds so moving and good and the reviews are amazing…but I think I need something light and uplifting right now.
- Just purchased Meet Cute, The New York Times best-selling author of Pucked and The Good Luck Charm delivers a Hollywood happily ever after where a famous heartthrob falls for his ultimate fangirl in this sexy stand-alone romantic comedy. It was one of ‘Goodreads‘ hottest romances of 2019.
- Also just purchased I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella because I loved her book My Not So Perfect Life so so much, so I’m excited to dive in!
What I’m Watching:
- The other day, we watched a super fun Beatles movie on HBO and it was cute. The best part was, of course, the music – I LOVED it!
- Juliet, Naked on Hulu. Don’t worry, it’s not a porno or anything lol, it’s a cute romcom) which was surprisingly good; a different romantic comedy that wasn’t the same formula as always. I loved it.
Personal Stories:
- The twins turned 9 months old!
- Freddie picked up his butt and is crawling now!!
- Frankie can hold herself up on stuff!!
- All three played so nicely…for 2 seconds before the babies wanted to eat Ben’s toys lol
- I’m getting creative over here, so if you have ideas, please let me know!! Keeping a 2.75 year old toddler entertained all day… it’s no joke! We painted spring themed things (bunnies and were going to make hand print chicks, he wanted the chicks to have purple hair, so they did!)
- We also got a little train and truck set that you build and paint. I would only recommend this to someone who has a 4 year old +…the paint is not the easiest to get out and it requires a little bit of patience.
- Ben has been getting some super sweet messages to his mailbox, it brings him so much joy to open the mailbox and find a letter. Also, I am so moved by the creativity and generosity of people sending him hand drawn letters, cards, and little activities. He goes back to the letters over and over and asks me to read ‘the penguin one’ or the ‘pink one’ – he names them all.
- Freddie came into the kitchen to sit at my feet as I cooked, it was so sweet!
- If you’re looking at the pictures of Ben and see a little scrape on his face…he was riding this little scooter thing over something he wasn’t supposed to be (it was like an exercise ladder thing) and then it got stuck and he fell forward, not fun, thankfully it was only a little scrape, cured with a kiss.
- That image above made me laugh…I went and bought my favorite mules in a different color (I have them in black and they’re my favorite shoes, and they’re on sale for $47)
Popular This Week:
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What is your favorite burger recipe? Just leave a comment below and let me know!
Corrie says
Oooh! The kidsafe knives look really cool. I think I’m going to buy them for my 3-year-old. Thank you for sharing!
Sweetphi says
I think you’re going to absolutely love those knives. They’re one of the best purchases ever, my (almost) 3 year old uses them every day, and it’s so nice to have him ‘helping’ in the kitchen, if he’s getting antsy around dinner, I ask if he wants to help ‘chop’ something (usually like an apple or cucumber slices) and he gets on his stool and chops away!
Corrie says
I just wanted to say that my kiddo totally loves using them! Thank you so much for recommending them. PS: please definitely consider more posts about kids in the kitchen (or ANYTHING kiddo related) as it’s a whole new world for me being a home-schooling/work-from-home mama!
Sweetphi says
This makes me so happy to hear!! And thank you, I’ll definitely add more content with kids soon!!