Stress

My absence the past few days has been not been for lack of will. I enjoy posting, sharing (or some may consider it over sharing) and creating here but sometimes there are only so many hours in a day and only so much energy in my battery. Needless to say the past few days have been a bit busy with non-bloggable stress.

I use to mock my mom for cleaning when she was stressed. I much preferred my oh-so-mature response to stress; sleeping. The classic story being when I told her I was pregnant for the first time, she cleaned my entire apartment from head to toe in just a few hours. Now, those that know me, know that I was quite young when I got pregnant, so, despite the fact that she was thrilled to be having a grandbaby, she was stressed for "her baby" and cleaned grout line to baseboard while she talked to me. I think that was the cleanest my apartment ever was and the most sleep I've gotten in my life time.

Since I've grown up and morphed into some OCD combo of her and June Cleaver, I now clean when I'm stressed. I wish I was one of those women who jittered and didn't eat, but no, the women in my family eat! Eat and clean.

The upside....stress = extra clean house.

Despite not being home much the past few days and not sleeping much, thus having little energy, my house is beautifully clean right now. Just in time for my handsome husband to celebrate his 31st birthday. (If he could ever get out of the office tonight, he's stuck on a project. Those of us married to techies know the bad word is the "S" word. Server!)

Stress may not be good for, my temperament, my sleeping habits, my marriage, my kids, my relationships, my heart, my blood pressure etc...but, one things for sure, when the EMT's come to take me away one day, my house will be clean! *smile*

This is why....

See this mom here? This is her and her two kids (hubby not pictured)

This is her and her two nephews that her and her husband agreed to take guardianship of while their mother is serving our country in Iraq.

 All the food that's pictured below was brought to her tonight to surprise her and her family. To help make ends meet, to help someone who rarely ever says "I need help."

It's my sister-in-law, Marissa. My other sister-in-law Monica is in Iraq and Marissa agreed to take temporary guardianship of her boys while she was oversees. We have all asked Marissa what we can do to help her and she continues to shine as a wonder mom and has only ask for small favors. So, my mother-in-law and I came up with the idea of the ready to go food's. Marissa works Monday thru Friday as does Curtis so getting home after 5pm to four hungry kids makes for a hectic night time. Marissa admits she's not a “kitchen person” so having all the meals ready to go suits her style. My mom-in-law and I pooled our money together and over the past few weeks I have been coupon shopping getting free or nearly free pantry items and purchasing all the supplies to make these meals. All in all, everything pictured plus a giant box of pantry items only cost $200. We filled her chest freezer plus some of her inside freezer plus helped restock her pantry a bit.

Marissa was very grateful and excited and even thawed one of the items to have with dinner tonight. She said it truly was the best gift we could have done for her. (cue tears!) Her kids, Abby and Jayden, who've had some of the dishes before and loved 'em, were super excited too. Branson, the baby and Isaiah, the 5 year old were most excited about the snack baggies but really who could blame them? Us adults busted into a few while we were unpacking!

I wish I could do more for her but for now, I'll use my love of cooking and baking to hopefully off-set the extra babies she's feeding, tickling, giggling and cuddling with on a daily basis.

*I want to say a special thank you to my in-laws Helen and Joe, who helped fund the supplies and to my cousin, Missy, who helped cook, bake and compile everything. Thank you both for coming together to help make Marissa and her whole, expanded family, smile!

Mega Cooking Day

Missy and I were a cooking storm yesterday! Most of the foods focused on convince and a daily serving or more of veggies/fruits, in a sneaky way! Over the past three day’s here is what’s we’ve accomplished.

Breakfast

100 snack baggies of mixed cheerios and raisons

25 Egg (with purred yellow pepper and onion) cheese, bacon and sausage (turkey) burros

48 Whole Wheat Banana muffins (with pureed parsnips, plantains and carrots)

4 trays Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls (with purred butternut squash)

Snack:

24 Mini black bean, cheese and graded carrot burros

75 snack baggies of Snack Mix (whole wheat chex w/mini marshmallows or 100% fruit funs)

Lunch:

50 PB&J homemade “Uncrustables” on whole wheat bread

25 Open-face Ham & Cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread (with purred broccoli and carrots – you can’t tell!)

24 BBQ pop-over cups (with puréed red pepper and onions)

Dinners:

2 large trays Homemade Mac&Cheese w/veggie noodles (puréed carrots in the cheese)

2 large trays Chicken and Dumplings (with celery, carrots, onions and corn)
2 large trays Lasagna Casserole

1 large tray Chicken Enchiladas

Spaghetti Sauce with 24 homemade meatballs (with puréed Spinach)

4 quart bags Taco Meat

24 Ranch Chicken Drum Sticks

10 Mini-Meatloaf’s (½ ground turkey, ½ extra lean ground beef)

1 BBQ Beef Roast – shredded (with puréed red pepper and onions)

2 Cranberry Pork Roasts

1 gallon bag 15 Bean Soup (with carrots, celery, onions and sweet peppers)

I have some GREAT recipies to share later but for right now, I'm off on to the "special plans" for all this food. Check back soon!

Phew!

I am not even done yet and I don't have the energy to put up a full post but, this is my freezer:

Everything in there was done today! I'm so thankful Missy was here to help! I have a very special plan for all this food. Stay tuned tomorrow for more pictures, recipes and the revelation of the plan. I'm off to pass out!

The Strive to be Perfect

I want to be perfect, I want to have the never dirty yet always approachable house. I want to be the perfect mom, daughter, sister, wife, friend, neighbor, soccer mom, employee, etc…I almost wish I didn’t but I do. I want to be perfect.

Missy is on her way to my house right now and although she’s been here a dozen times before, knows I have kids, knows those kids were sick all last week, excuse, excuse, excuse. I am still running around like a mad woman, cleaning my house. (Is that dust on the fan blades? Crap! Grab the ladder! )

I know, I know, I know, she won’t care or probably not even notice, but what if she did? What if she didn’t want to come back because my house was dusty, the floors weren’t mopped, I didn’t run the clean cycle in the oven last night? I’m not just talking Missy, obviously, this is just the way my brain works, I think this about everyone, even my parents. Have I ever mentioned that I have OCD? As if you probably didn’t guess.

The thing is, I think everyone has a maid but me. Some how, everyone’s pictures of their house are perfect, no dust bunnies under the couch, no cheerios under the cushions and bathrooms that are always sparkly.

I remember my Aunt Kathy’s house growing up. She had 3 boys and both her and my Uncle Bill worked full time, yet her house was ALWAYS spotless. I spent many a nights over there hanging out with my cousins and I never remember seeing her clean, there was never an “off limits” room that you knew was crammed full of all the junk she couldn’t sort thru at the moment. It was a prestine house. How?

My Grandma Nina’s was the same way. I do remember seeing her with her cleaning bucket and gloves on Saturday mornings but that was it. Just a few hours every Saturday. Her house was always company ready, always clean. How do these people do it? What am I missing?

 I have my schedule, I feel like anyone random could walk in at any point and my house would look OK, but just OK. And, it comes at the price of me spending 4 hours or more every day cleaning plus busting my butt the moment before someone shows up just to make it look OK. What am I missing here folks? Anyone willing to share the big secret that I’m missing, or maybe share their maid and how they are affording it?

There are people in my life, loved ones, that, forgive me, I just can’t picture on their hands and knees scrub brush in hand, cleaning the toilets. Nope, sorry, the image just doesn’t work. So who does it? How is it always clean?

The messed up part is that logically I know there’s an answer out there and it’s probably a lot simpler than I’m making it. Heck, I never look at someone else’s toilet when I go to sit down, I just sit down. It’s only in retrospect, when comparing to mine, that I think about their house’s cleanliness and somehow most of them are always immaculate in my hindsight. Am I just falling victim to rose colored glasses? Grass is always greener on the other side and all those catch phrases that make us feel better about feeling bad? Is everyone else busting hump moments before I arrive to make sure their fridges are wiped down because god forbid I look at the shelf with the sticky unknown goo?

I really want the perfect 1950's house. I want my husband to come home everynight to a clean house, dinner on the table and a happy, non stressed out, not exausted wife. I just haven't figured out how yet. It's like a yard sale puzzle, one or two pieces are always missing and you don't find out till you've got the rest all put together. By then, its like what's the point? What's the point of rushing all day to get it all done, nice, ready only to be too exausted to hold a conversation with my husband?

Who has the energy for a sunset walk after dinner? I have dishes to do!

New week, Fresh Start

Ahh Monday. Normally I'd be complaining about how much I loath thee, yet I find myself strangely motivated and energized this morning. It could be the Vinte Coffee Frapachino with two extra shots that I've already downed but I think its just my normal charisma shining thru. (Yea right! Go Starbucks!) I plan on cleaning, organizing and prep'ing a lot today.
My kids are finally feeling healthy enough to be back to their normal energy level. Someone remind me next time they are sick to cherish the quiet time please! They both still have a terrible cough but other than that they are on the mend. Attitudes are another story! Because they had such a hard time breathing due to the cough and sore throats I tried very hard to keep them happy so they didn't cry because if they did it ended in gagging and or vomit only exacerbating their circumstances. A.K.A I gave them what ever they wanted when ever they want just to keep them happy. Well, as great as that worked while they were sick, its biting me in the butt now! Hailey understands a bit more but Kenna is just a whiney mess right now.

I was so frustrated with her attitude on Saturday night that I had to step back, let Dad intervene and go take a bath to clear my head. I decided that maybe part of her frustrations are due to not being included in life but rather taken along for the ride weather or not she wants to. Part of that comes with being a kid I know, but I was much better at including Anthony and Hailey than I am with Makenna. Things like having a choice of drinks, lunches and snacks and getting to help with "big girl" things like picking out her clothes, choosing her hair ties and helping in the kitchen. Some of those things may sound trivial but I did all of those with the other two but I realized that Hailey still runs the roost when it comes to a lot of those things and Makenna is just taken along for the ride. So, I talked to Brad about it and we agreed that we need to include Makenna more in the decisions of her life. That sounds more dramatic than it really is but hopefully it still makes sense. Time out's aren't working to change the behaviors so I'm trying another approach.

Sunday was a bit better but I'll admit, dinner time is hard. I just want to do it myself, get it done and be over with, so stopping to include her is a bit of a hassle. She was a gem at lunch helping me make the Mac&Cheese and actually sat down then entire meal time peacefully and ate her food with out whining or crying. It's going to take patience and discipline on my part to do this, I really hope it works. Wish me luck!

On a completely different tangent, last week was a complete "Swing and a Miss" as far as food is concerned. I made 4 different meals that no one but me would eat, with the exception of the soup, even I wouldn’t eat that!
Italian Sausage and peppers in a ricotta cream sauce
BBQ pop-overs
Mango chicken lettuce wraps
Potato, bacon, cheddar soup

Last nights soup was so bad that Brad went out to get us take-out instead and for those of you that know Brad, that’s a big thing! He never likes to waste food! Even though I followed the recipe, it just tasted like watered down grease! Bleh!

A few were new recipes and the mango chicken wraps, from Stephanie O'Dea's Crockpot365 were a hit last time but not this one for some reason. I think they're major Yum, but then again, I love her website for crock pot wonders.

One recipe, from the Pillsbury website is worth experimenting with. I thought these BBQ pop-overs were great! Brad said they were ok, just not "dinner" material. I did use shredded beef instead of the ground beef because I thought it would taste better. The kids would have liked them I think if the shredded beef was in shorter strands, if that makes sense. When they would try to bite into it they would always get too much or end up with strings hanging out of their mouth.

So, needless to say, this week I’m sticking with good 'ol tried-and-true stand-by's.

Meatloaf
Spaghetti and meatballs
Tacos
Cranberry pork
Hamburgers and Hotdogs

I am doing another big baking day tomorrow. The theme is "convince." I have been stock piling a lot of snack and breakfast items with the recent grocery sales so not all of this is homemade, obviously, but it's still part of my plan to get it all separated into snack size baggies ready to grab and go. Here's the plan:

Breakfasts:

Silver Dollar whole wheat pancakes x 48

Egg and veggie biscuits x  24

Breakfast burritos x 24

Cereal bags (divided into small travel size bags for breakfasts on the go) x 24

Whole wheat muffins (with some sort of fruit, depending on the sales) x 48

Lunch:

PB&J Freezer sandwiches x 24

Ham and Cheese pockets x 24

Sloppy Joe muffins x 24

Snacks:

Frozen Fruit Salad

Trail Mix

Mini black bean and carrot burritos 

Dinners:

Cranberry Pork Roast

Chicken and dumplings x 2

Lasagna Casserole x 2

Enchilada Casserole (red and green) x 2 each

Homemade Mac&Cheese x 4

Spaghetti and Meatballs x 2

Taco Meat x 4

Chicken Drumsticks x 2

Mini Meatloafs x l2

BBQ pulled pork and whole wheat rolls

My cousin, Missy, is due here around noon so we'll be working fast to get it all done. I'll be sure to post pictures and recipes. Keep your fingers crossed that my plan with including Makenna doesn't backfire on me tomorrow.

Scientific Discovery of the century!

Scientist have been trying for years to determine if there is another intelligent life form out there. Well, folks, I’ve figured it out. Thru 10+ years of clinical, hands on, research, I can safely say, Yes, there is another intelligent life form and it’s right here on earth with us.

What is this mystery life form you ask? Viruses.

Yep, that’s it ladies and gentlemen, what we affectionately refer to as “the common cold,” “the bug that’s going around,” and the Dr.’s ever favorite “It’s just a virus.” Those little bugs are the smartest darn thing on the planet and they’re in cahoots with Doctors!

Their business plan is pretty simple if you think about it, they sneak in under the guise of a hand shake, a hug, an uncontrollable sneeze, or a used fork passed off as clean at your favorite hole in the wall restaurant. Then, they take up residency, make you achey, crabby, uncomfortable in your own skin, but to make matters worse they find the kids.

Here’s where the money maker is: They hide dormant in the kids until after 5pm, and I mean 5pm in what ever time zone you’re in. They know it, they set their clocks to it and wait. They send the minions off to throw a few symptoms out so Mom’s know the kids are a bit sick, making us wonder, “Should we call the Dr?” “Will they get over it on their own?” “Is it just a virus?”  Once you decide to wait it out another day, that’s when they strike!

Come sun down - BAM! You’re kids are party central for fevers, gagging coughs, sore throats, painful ears, etc… So you rush off to Urgent Care, unsure if they (or you!) will make it thru the night (come on, who wants to be the mom that waited “just too long?”), only to have the kids either perk up just as soon as you get to the waiting room or they wake up the day after you’ve spent $$$$ for co-pays, perfectly fine ready to run and play!

The Dr’s pocket the money, the germs jump ship and lay in wait for the next victim to party in, all the while assuring the Dr’s they will once again get to pad their pockets. See? Evil Geniuses!

(* This is not factual, obviously, and this is nothing against the doctors who I know are not actually “padding their pockets” out of spite or any other sadistic reason or partnership. No hate mail please, well, the germs can hate me, truly, I hate them so it's only fair.)

What I want....

I want my kids to feel better.

I want to do mega coupon shopping for my sister-in-law.

I want to make a crock pot of pork hominy soup for my husbands work.

I want to make a crock pot of chicken soup for my boss.

I want to rent a suite for a long weekend at Hacienda Del Sol for my mom and step-dad to get away.

I want to take my best friend out for martini’s, mani’s and pedi’s.

I want to go to Phoenix and take my other best friend for a margarita and a massage.

I want to take my kids somewhere fun for Rodeo Vacation.

I want to take my husband to Vegas for his birthday.

I want to fix what’s broken; I want my worrying about it to accomplish something.

I want world peace.

Too much to ask?

Cabin and other fevers

(***Yea right! Who forgot to remind me that this was not a day off for me but a sick day for the kids. I'm lucky if i can go pee today with out a girl in my arms! Oh well, I got the puree's done and the frozen yougert has been a sore throat miracle)



Well, the girls are still sick. They seemed better this weekend but yesterday and today their fevers are back and they sound like 80 year old lifetime smokers. Not to mention the seal bark of a cough they both have. Fun! Needless to say, we've been grounded. I feel like it's been forever since we could go to the park, walk around Target or go to music class so I'm suffering from canon fever. The reality of it is that I was at Target on Friday, Grocery store for 3 hours on Sunday and the park sometime last week but none the less I'm feeling a little closed in!

So, I've opened all the blinds, done my hair, put make up on and am cooking yummy treats.

I peeled and sliced the 6 mangos from my bountiful basket then pureed them. Some went into a sheet pan and is in the oven for fruit leather. Some I diced and set aside for mango chicken wraps tomorrow. I pureed the rest with two clam shells of strawberries and froze ice cubes with half of that and am making frozen yogurt with the rest.

I stemmed two artichokes for Hailey and me to eat after nap time.

I put a steak in the crock pot with some random Asian seasonings. If it turns out good I'll share the recipe. Once it's done I'll sauté up some veggies and serve it over rice.

I'm making a brownie pizza that I'll top with a cream cheese spread and fresh strawberries then baste with an orange glaze.

Humm, what else can I make? I'll come back in a bit with more and pictures.***

Best Recipe Ever

(Warning, this is a way round-about story to get to a point that's probably only funny to a select few with a weird sense of humor like me)

My husband and father-in-law swear by these Relish Tacos. I've never much cared for them having grown up with the more traditional salsa, or for the kids, ketchup tacos. Yes, we put ketchup on our tacos growing up because the salsa was too hot. Anyways, my father-in-law would make these on occasion and my husband would just ooh and ahh over how great they were and how much he loved these growing up. Fast-forward to his birthday last year and he asked me to make the relish tacos for his dinner and so my parents could try them. We were at a restaurant eating dinner with his family the week before and so I whipped out a piece of paper and a pen and asked my father-in-law to share the recipe. Pappy, Brad's grandfather, piped up saying that he had the original recipe that Grandma use to make that was published in a cook book. She was on a committee at her Baptist Church in Texas in 1996 that published a little community cook book. Food for Body and Soul. Anyways, we left the restaurant, drove to Pappy's house and he ended up giving me a copy of the cook book. I made the relish tacos for Brad's birthday that year with mixed reviews from my parents. The book however was a complete success. It's a total gem of old-time wisdom and has some of the strangest recipes including a complete section on Microwave cooking. Since I gained the cook book, despite my declaration that I was going to go thru and make all of Grandma's recipes that were published in the book, it has sat in my cabinet for a year gathering dust.

Fast-forward again, to yesterday, I was at the grocery store and radishes were on sale 2 bunches for $1. They are a primary ingredient in the relish tacos so I called Brad and asked him to get the cook book out and read me the recipe so I could get the rest of the ingredients to make them this week for him. While he was flipping thru the book which is sprinkled with bible quotes compiled by good church going south Texas Baptist women with tastes circa the 1970's, he came across the following recipe. By far, my favorite! In case you ever needed to know, here's how to make

Elephant Stew:

1 Medium Elephant
1/2 ton onions
1/2 ton carrots
1/2 ton potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2 Rabbits (optional)

Cut elephant into bite size pieces. Add enough brown gravy to cover. Cook over open fire four weeks at 465 degrees. Add vegetables and continue cooking. This serves 3,800 people. If more people are expected, add the two rabbits. Do so, however, only in case of emergency because most people do not like "hare" in their stew.
(From Dorris Westbrook to Betty Morris)

OMG! How funny is that? It's just mixed in the recipes in the Meats and Main Dishes section. I Love it!

Tornado aftermath

I hate those damn weekend tornados! Why do they always hit my house? Why can't I have one of those picture perfect weekend houses? You know the ones where the family cuddles together to watch movies, plays games, eats good food and NOTHING gets dirty? Please?
I am on clean up duty this AM, hopefully I can get it done quickly. I have a few great recipes to post as well as my meal ideas for the week. That's if I don't get too obsessive with cleaning up. Don't believe me that it's bad? How's this:

Ugly huh! I swear, not only was it clean on Friday evening, but my hubby even cleaned for me on Sunday afternoon while I was at the grocery store. This house can go to hell in a handbag in just under 4 hours. (Good thing I'm shameless or these pictures would really embarrass me! I'm an equal opportunity sharer, it's not all schedules, routines and roses here, trust me!)

I'll be back...wish me luck!

Bountiful Basket

Wow, what a basket this week! We were warned that due to the hard freeze on most of the US that the crops were low thus our baskets may be small. It was missing some of the standards but it made up for it in the curious extras.
7 Apples
5 Bananas
5 Mangos
1 Cantaloupe
1 Clamshell of Strawberries
8 Mini-pears
3 Yellow Squash
2 Heads of Cabbage
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Bunch Spinach
12 Small Sweet Potatoes
15 Sunchokes or Jerusalem Artichokes

And I ordered an extra case of Strawberries as well as 12 dozen tortillas.

I have no idea what a Sunchoke is but I look forward to figuring it out! Here's what they look like:

Look at these pears, aren't the the cutest thing EVER!

TGIFN

Thank Goodness It's Friday NIGHT!

Oh Friday, how I love thee. I whiped it together this afternoon and smoothed out my entire house. I have candles lit, house clean, beds turned and waiting for us and 1/2 asleep kids. Time for a glass of sangria and some snuggle time with my hubby.

This weekend is pretty light. Bountiful Basket pick up, grocery shopping, maybe a pedicure and a science fair project to finish. I think we have a few movies on cue that we're going to watch. Anthony has just shown some interest in the original Star Trek's so Brad's anxious to sit and watch them with him.

I am debating about cutting Hailey's hair. It's never been cut and is down to her mid back. It's so beautiful and she likes it long but it tangles so much and it's always a battle to brush it. Wet, dry, conditioner, no-more-tangle's spray, it doesn't matter. She said just today that she wants to cut it short like mine. Do I let her? Why does it make me sad to think of cutting it? I'm not sentimental like that, not at all, yet, I am finding myself oddly attached to her untouched long baby hair.

Sick, Sick, Sick!

Eww, I hate sick!

When I came home last night I had a restless, boogiery baby in my bed (on my pillow - Bleh!) and a sick, way over worked husband fleming it up next to her. I moved Hailey back to her bed only to discover a restless Kenna rolling over and over in her bed running a temp. Once settled, both slept the rest of the night thank goodness. Brad worked until he dropped at about midnight but was even then still restless. I went to bed with a wonderful headache and was luck enough to wake up with an even worse one. Isn't life grand? Thankfully Anthony was his chipper helpfull self this morning, even making PB&J's for the girls for breakfast.

Oh, but, wait, it gets better, my beautiful 3 year old niece who comes to hang out with us during the day, threw up 20 min's into being here. Yea! Boogers, sneezes, headaches AND throw up! I won the mom lottery!

Sara's dad offered to come right home from work and get her but really, at this point, whatever she has we've already been exposed to or gave to her so its not like taking her out of here is going to save my family from exposure and this way her dad doesn't have to take a sick day. Let's face it, if the kids have it, odds are us parents are going to get it too, might as well let him save his sick day for when he's oozing.

Did I mention that Kenna has gone thru all the pull up's I had for today? The one's I knew would get me thru the day so I could wait and go to Target tonight to get more? Yea, she's gone thru 5 since 6 am.

What to do? What to do? Take three oozing, barfing, pooping kids into Target? I could get a Starbucks then. Humm? (Cue image of snot covered cart’s, barf splattering in the middle of the isle and three crying babe’s)

Nope!

"Mom! Help!"

Thank God for Grannie's! My mom is going to go to Target and get pull-up's, and tissues!

Ok, camping blankets on the floor, pillows and blankies to make everyone comftorable, buckets and wipes at the ready. Fun day here we come!

I need more coffee for this!

Freedom of creative expression

So it’s probably because I’ve been talking about it so much, how great it is, how helpful it can be, etc…but I’m now struggling with freedom of creative expression vs meal planning. I’m feeling totally oppressed by the thought of a meal plan. Oh well, hang in there with me as I fly by the seat of my mom jeans.

How do you prepare if you don’t know what you’re going to make? I just make sure to have the staples on hand. Meats (chicken, pork roast, steaks of some kind and beef roast), veggies (from Bountiful baskets) and I use my pantry storage to figure out a meal. I try to always keep on hand frozen corn, peas and lima beans, cream-of soups, beans and good seasonings. From there, I just wing it. Having the freezer stash helps for those inevitable non-creative days. I hate “cooking block” it’s a total bummer!

Tonight’s my once monthly Bunco again so I have to figure out something easy to have ready for Brad. Humm, I think I need more coffee for this. Check back later. J

*Well, that was relatively easy. I made a casserole, can't go wrong with a casserole.

1 bag star shaped pasta
3 chicken breasts
1/2 a red pepper
3 stalks celery
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 tbsp onion flakes
1 cup cheese
7-8 slices of bread
1/2 cup melted butter


I don't care for raw chicken cooked in anything so I pre-cooked it first. Boil the noodles till just bairly done, strain. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces. Dice the veggies very small since you're adding them in raw. Combine all ingredients except the bread into a bowl, mix well to combine. Transfer to your favorite casserole dish. Tear the bread into small chunks and toss in the butter and then top the casserole with them. I used the left over scraps from the heart cut out Roasted Tomato bread. It looks pretty yum! Hopefully they'll save me some for lunch tomorrow. Bake at 350 for 20 min's until warm thru.

Bountiful Baskets

Did you get your basket yet this week? If not, hurry up and go order! I got my normal 2 baskets (one is my for my parents) and this week I thought I'd try the Tortilla pack. I've only heard raves about it so I thought I'd try them. It's 7 dozen tortillas for $10. I also got the 8 lb box of strawberries since my kids love them and they freeze great for smoothies later.
Go now and order your basket!
Bountiful Baskets

I Love You More Than The Movie Tron Legacy

My valentines poem from Anthony:
___________________________________________
I love you more tha the movie Tron Legacy
Than our dog Daisy and our Wii

More than our Xbox 360
And Epic Mickey the video game
And being lazy on the couch

I love you more than yummy banana's
And having lots of money
Thank candy and sweets
And a bright and shiny Penny

I love you mroe than television
Than toast
For I love French Fries
of any size
But I love you the most!

This poem is dedicated to my Mom.
________________________________________________________

....cue tears.....

Valentines Day and meal

Happy Valentines Day to all! I hope you and your loved ones take the day to declare your love, maybe thru some pretty flowers or a special meal. (Poetic huh!?!)

Brad and I rarely celebrate valentines as a couple, more often than not, we volunteer to babysit or have others over for dinner. This year is no exception. We have our nephew, my grandmothers, my brother, and our best friend and her daughters all coming for dinner. That’s not to say that we don’t try to make it special. The little girls, particularly Hailey, are really into holiday celebrations right now so I try to make the most of it. My house has little foam hearts all around, some of the picture frames have been adorned with cute valentines wrapping paper and we will be making tomorrow as special as we can, on a budget. I bought some valentines for the girls to make for their family. I also have some construction paper to make place mats for dinner. We picked out some single flower vases for the grandma’s, a dollar picture frame and we will all be helping to make a yummy dinner. Hailey asked to play restaurant for tonight so we will make up menu’s for her to pass out as well.

Mommas Valentines Café Appetizers Sliced Apples with cinnamon peanut butter dip Or Apricot Chipotle cream cheese spread with crackers Main Course House Salad with choice of dressing (Blue cheese, Ranch, Italian, Creamy Cesar) Roasted tomato bread grilled cheese sandwiches Or Whole wheat bread grilled cheese And Tomato soup Or Chicken noodle soup Desert Spice cake with peanut butter marshmallow frosting And/Or Homemade chocolate chip ice cream Drinks Root beer Sprite Chocolate milk with whipped cream Hazelnut Coffee Rose wine White Wine Spritzer

The Apricot Chipotle recipe idea came from the Kraft foods website here. I made it for the Super Bowl and aside from the chicken wings my brother made, it was the only dish completely polished off. I even saw a few finger swipes across the plate to get the last few smears.

1 pkg cream cheese

½ cup apricot preserves (I used sugar free)

1-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce finely chopped

Smear the softened cream cheese out on a small serving plate or butterfly the brick of cream cheese and lay flat. In a separate bowl combine the preserves with the diced up peppers and some of the adobo sauce. I started out following the Kraft recipe and only used one pepper but decided that it needed more heat to cut the sweet. (I’m a poet and didn’t know it!) So, I added two more, bringing the total to 3 diced peppers and a few teaspoons of the adobo sauce. Spread over the cream cheese and serve with sturdy crackers, like Wheat Thins.

Here's Hailey working on her Tinker Bell Valentines

Here's Dinner: Tomato soup with heart shaped grilled cheese on roasted tomato bread.

 And finally, desert, heart shaped spice cake with peanut butter marshmallo frosting (my hubby's favorite)

I have to say, the roasted tomato bread made the meal. Everyone was sneeking into the kitchen for the scraps left from the heart cookie cutter. Here's the recipe:

2-3 roasted tomatoes

5 roasted garlic bulbs

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup warm milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp itallian seasoning

3 3/4 cup flour

2 1/2 tsp yeast

Roast 2-3 tomatoes, sliced, coated in olive oil, at 375 for one hour.

Before Roast:

After roast:

I also like to roast a bulb of garlic if I have it on hand. Just cut the top off, drizzle some oil over it and close it up in foil.

Before roast

 After roast::

Just squeeze the garlic and the bulbs slide right out.

In your bread machine, add the ingreedients in the order listed. I combine the milk and water into a glass measuring cup, add the butter stick then microwave for 1 min, then add it all in. Set your machine to the dough setting and watch the mixture combine. Depending on the type and ripeness of the tomato the dough often needs either more water or more flour.

When the dough cycle is done, turn out onto the counter, kneed out the air and shape into a loaf. Coat your pan with olive oil and set your dough in to rise, covered, again until doubled. Cook at 375 until internal tempature is 180.

Yum!

I hope everyone had a great valentines! I'm ready to pass out!

Another installment of: Where in the house is Makenna?

SLAM! (Door being slammed)

Me: “Makenna? Kenna, where are you”

Me: “Brad, do you know where Kenna is?”

Brad: “Kenna? Kenna where are you?”

Me: “Kenna are you in my bathroom?”

Kenna: “EEEK!”

Me: “Brad, can you go check our bathroom please?”

Bathroom door handle

Bathroom Door - do you see the hand print?

Bathroom floor - the "hair tie basket" - see the lipstick

Brad: “You better go show your momma….Jen, Jen? Kenna, go find mommie.”

Me: “Uh oh, Kenna, what did you do?”

Kenna: “Pretty?”

…cue tears…..

This crackes me up:

How did she get lipstick on her ankle? Seriously? And this isn't just any ol' lipstick. This is dollar store, 6 years ago, Black Orchid, mostly wax lipstick! Any idea how difficult this stuff is to get out?!?! Why do we have it you ask? Who, would ever buy Black Orchid lipstick from the dollar store?.....

Isn't he pretty?!?! That's my dear husband as a goth kid for halloween 2005. The real question is why have I kept it for so long? The answer: Entertainment value. Not only do I smile when I see it remembering him as his former self goth kid, but obviously, I was keeping it to entertain Kenna and by association, us.

Scheduling a stay-at-home-mom

I know every one, from working mom’s to stay at home moms struggle with having enough hours in a day. A common misconception is that us stay at home moms eat bon-bons while we watch soap operas and spend the rest of the day at the park. Trust me, that’s so not true!  There is a lot to accomplish in a day. I can easily find myself completely absorbed in cleaning the house all day long. It always feels like there are dishes to be done, laundry to be folded, floors to be cleaned, etc… Yet, on the other end, there are stories to be read, parks to be visited, crafts to do, classes to attend, homework to do, etc… and these conflict with each other on a daily basis, Monday thru Friday. Weekends are almost more challenging to find the balance since dad’s home and I want to give him a clean relaxing house to unwind in and we want to spend time with the kids doing fun things, not cleaning the house.

My solution is the one hour time blocks. I use a kitchen timer to keep myself on track for one hour cleaning spurts. It keeps me organized, on time and prevents me from getting overly detailed on a general project. I spend 1 hour in the AM and 1 hour in the PM each day doing clutter detail. Going from room to room in my house with a laundry basket picking up clutter and replacing it where it belongs. I start in my bedroom, pick up anything that doesn’t belong, stash it in the basket then move on to the game room, living room, kitchen, then on down the hall. I drop things off from in my basket only when I get to that room in my rotation. Does that make sense? In other words, if I pick up something in my bedroom that belongs in the girls’ bedroom, I don’t head directly there to drop it off, I keep it in the basket until I work my way back to their room. So, my basket is a constant rotation. During the clutter hour, I straiten books on the shelves, swipe down the counter tops with the stray towels that are inevitably around, I fluff the pillows, make the beds, run the vacuum and wash the dishes. Again, this is not detailed, this is just making the house look appealing at first glance. It keeps my house “company ready.”

Each day of the week I dedicate 2 hours to specific, detailed, tasks. Monday is laundry, Tuesdays is dusting, Wednesday is bathrooms and windows, Thursday is floors and cabinets/walls, Friday is bedrooms and catch up. I also take 1 hour every day just to myself. That’s my time to shower, read, play video games, what ever makes me happy and does not involve cleaning, kids or cooking. The final 1 hour block is dedicated to cooking. I also set aside 20 min’s after dinner to do the dishes and final sweep of the house so it’s pretty to wake up to.

 Here’s what my week usually looks like:

Monday:

1 hour (before noon) – clutter clean up

Rotate laundry from dirty, to washer, to dryer to couch

2 hours detailed – folding laundry and putting it away

1 hour (during kid’s nap) Me time

1 hour (before 5pm) - cooking

1 hour (before 6pm) – clutter clean up

20 min, after dinner: dishes, final sweep of the house so it’s pretty to wake up to

Tuesday:

1 hour (before noon) – clutter clean up

1 hour detailed (before noon) – dusting living room, game room, dining room

1 hour (during nap) Me time

1 hour detailed (before 5pm) – dusting bedrooms and hallway

1 hour (before 5pm) - cooking

1 hour (before 6pm) – clutter clean up

20 min, after dinner: dishes, final sweep of the house so it’s pretty to wake up to

Wednesday:

1 hour (before noon) – clutter clean up

1 hour detailed (before noon) – Bathrooms (we have two)

1 hour (during nap) Me time

1 hour detailed (before 5pm) – Windows/mirrors

1 hour (before 5pm) - cooking

1 hour (before 6pm) – clutter clean up

20 min, after dinner: dishes, final sweep of the house so it’s pretty to wake up to

Thursday:

1 hour (before noon) – clutter clean up

1 hour detailed (before noon) – floors (detailed vacuuming, hand mopping tile)

1 hour (during nap) Me time

1 hour detailed (before 5pm) – cabinets, inside and out wipe down

1 hour (before 5pm) - cooking

1 hour (before 6pm) – clutter clean up

20 min, after dinner: dishes, final sweep of the house so it’s pretty to wake up to

Friday:

1 hour (before noon) – clutter clean up

1 hour detailed (before noon) – Bedroom clean up, new sheets, toys in proper place,

1 hour (during nap) Me time

1 hour detailed (before 5pm) – Catching up on anything that didn’t get done

1 hour (before 5pm) - cooking

1 hour (before 6pm) – clutter clean up

20 min, after dinner: dishes, final sweep of the house so it’s pretty to wake up to

So, my day usually starts at 7am and ends at 9 or 10 pm. That means that in a typical 14 hour day, I am only cleaning 4 hours 20 min’s, cooking one hour and I get at least an hour to myself. The rest of the day, 7 hours or so, is taking care of the kids. We go to the park, the store, do homework, read books, play games etc. My kids know when I’m in cleaning mode that they either let me be, or help me. It’s not play time.

Does this schedule always work? Yes! Do I always do it? No! When I’m on task, it’s a great schedule that leaves me room to breath in my day and lets me go to bed at night not dreading the next day. It also lets me be flexible in when I do things; I can easily switch up any of the detailed tasks to what is an immediate need. Come on, you all know there are times when that bathroom just can’t wait till Wednesday and MUST be cleaned now. So, I just switch it out. What I also really like about this schedule is if I take a week off (or two) I don’t feel bogged down by the need to do the whole house in one day. I can just get back on schedule and know that in a week, it will all be good.

What do you think? Do-able? What kind of schedule do you use? How do you juggle everything that has to be done in a day?