Friday Fave's

Okay, here we go, quickly as I have a lot on my to-do list today.  Five things that make me happy today...

1. My iPhone.  Yes, completely indulgent, but SO MUCH FUN!  I love having my grocery list on it, pictures of my kids, songs I enjoy... This week Jacob was home for a couple of days, he had a ball listening to music, whatever he wanted, literally with the click of a button.  I'm sure eventually the novelty will wear off, but it hasn't yet!
2. Rat-a-Tat-Cat.  Yes, we finally got around to playing card games.  Jacob, Julianna and I enjoyed many rousing games of Rat-a-Tat-Cat last night.  It was wonderful.  We played for about an hour, the lead changed constantly, and we had a lot of fun together.  I'm hoping we'll be playing more often, and I'm going to do my best to make that happen.
3. Fall.  I love fall.  Honestly, I can take or leave the whole Halloween thing, but I love the color of fall leaves, the crunch of the leaves on the ground, Thanksgiving, the nip in the air...I love fall.
4. Rainy Days.  We've had a bunch this week and, don't hate me, I love a good rainy day.  I know it's because I'm home all day, rarely needing to leave, but a good rainy day feels so cozy to me.  It makes me want to get in the kitchen and make a pot of soup, or a pot-pie, or some other form of comfort food and snuggle up with a good book.
5. New recipes that exceed expectations. This week I made what was supposed to be a riff on Olive Garden Breadsticks.  Honestly, even though I decided to go ahead and make them, my expectations were pretty low.  Bread in an hour and a half?  Good bread?  Hmm, maybe not.  Plus, I'm always dubious about recipes that are supposed to be restaurant clones, in my experience, they rarely are.  This one, was delicious!  We all loved them.  I'll definitely be making them again...and again.  (Sorry I don't have a picture of mine, but they did look remarkable like these.)

Here's a bonus fave.  Last Saturday Mark and I were killing some time in a new, local toystore, waiting until we could drop Julianna off at Jason's and go on our much-anticipated date, when I got a text from Rebekah.  It was obvious immediately that she was homesick, and really wanted to come home.  Even though Mark and I were both really looking forward to our date, Mark asked right away if she wanted to come home.  There was no hesitation on either of our parts.  We knew she needed a dose of family love and we dropped everything and went and got her.  I'm so glad we did.  I'm so glad that's what kind of family we have.  We had a fabulous time having her here with us during her quick trip home and hopefully we gave her just the booster shot of home she needed.  I'm very thankful she's only an hour and a half away.  She's never needed that before, but it's always been a comfort to me to know that we're really not that far if there's anything she needs.  I'm also thankful that so many times when it comes to parenting, especially biggie parenting, Mark and I are on the same page.  We both knew that we wanted to get her, to be there for her, and that the time for our date would come again.

Well, that's it.  A quick snapshot of some of my favorite things I'm thinking about this week.  Hope you're having a week full of blessings too.

Yummy...a good rainy-day dinner

Unfortunately, or, I guess to be more accurate, fortunately, the rain stopped and it got nice outside way before dinner.  The only reason I'm tempted to say "unfortunately" is because this is definitely a great dinner for a rainy, chilly day.

I'm sorry I don't really have pictures.  It's a ballet night which means very little time.

Today I made two things that were fairly healthy, well one of them is very healthy, and they both were very easy.  I wanted to share them with you so you can make them too.  You just have to promise not to tell anyone how easy they are.  Hey, you might as well let them be impressed.  : )

Minestrone
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced and chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
28 oz. can chopped tomatoes
15 oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained
15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed & drained
10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups tomato juice
1 cup red wine
1 T basil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. pepper

Saute garlic and onion in olive oil for 5" or until onion's softened.  Add all remaining ingredients.  Simmer an hour or two.  Serve w/grated parmesan.  Freezes well.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Image credit:  Kate Sears, Food Network Magazine

Almost-Famous (Olive Garden-ish) Breadsticks

Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 T butter, softened
2 T sugar
1 T kosher salt
1 1/4 cup plus 2 T lukewarm water

3 T butter, melted
garlic salt
oregano

Make the dough: Place 1/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a mixer; sprinkle in the yeast and set aside until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, butter, sugar, salt and 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons warm water; mix with the dough hook until a slightly sticky dough forms, 5 minutes.

Knead the dough by hand on a floured surface until very smooth and soft, 3 minutes. Roll into a 2-foot-long log; cut into 16 1 1/2-inch-long pieces. Knead each piece slightly and shape into a 7-inch-long breadstick; arrange 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a cloth; let rise in a warm spot until almost doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Make the topping: Brush the breadsticks with 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Brush the warm breadsticks with the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter and sprinkle with the garlic salt and oregano.

Jacob and Julianna--Wordless Wednesday

I really, really wish I had used my Nikon.

I finally get good pictures of my youngest two and they're not good quality.

Still, they make me smile.

Happy Wordless Wednesday.

Time

Time.  Probably my biggest nemesis.  If only I had more time...

I feel so pressed for time, all the time.  It stresses me out.  Big time.

Not only time to do things, I get stressed trying to find time to schedule things.

Big things.  Little things.  It really doesn't matter when I can't find time for them and they're important to me.

Right now, the most important items that I'm trying to fit into my "to-do" list:

• making pumpkin chocolate-chip bread with Julianna.  She's only been asking for this for forever.  :(  Hard to find time though.  Time when we might actually want it/eat it too.  Right now we have a couple of slices left of a delicious! chocolate cake she made with my daughter-in-law this weekend while we went to pick up Rebekah for an improptu trip home.  We have mini cupcakes leftover from a batch we made to send back with Rebekah.  We have awesome pumpkin snickerdoodles.  I don't see making the bread soon as next week is Julianna's birthday.  That means I'm making a cake Sunday for our family celebration with Jason, Lori, Matt & Lily, plus Rebekah.  I'm making brownies to take to school Tuesday and a cake for Tuesday night.  Plus, cupcakes for next Friday when she has a friend sleepover for her birthday.  Did I mention Halloween's in there somewhere with all it's junk as well?  *sigh*  No, obviously we don't need the junk, it's the stress, worry, and guilt.  You see, in my life, I have learned that things happen.  Bad things.  Things you're not prepared for that make you regret putting things off.  Therefore, I stress like crazy when I put things off.  
• Apple dumplings for Mark--same stresses as above, obviously.
• Wii time for Jacob.  I need to find some time to sit down and play with him for an hour or so.  Shouldn't be hard to find time for that, should it?  Yet, between my work schedule, my chores that I normally try to do around here, plus taking Julianna to dance, I'm struggling to find, you guessed it, time, to play with him.  
• Time to play cards with Julianna.  She's been after me for a few days now to play some card games.  How long does that take really?  Yet, one thing or another seems to come up and it doesn't happen.  *sigh*

Well, you may look at this list and think, 'what's her problem?  those things aren't that important, or if they are, just schedule them already'.  I know, because I try to tell myself that if those things were important I would have just scheduled them already.  That's really not true though.  These things are important to me, it's just that I keep letting life interfere.  I am really struggling with the guilt that I feel.  Does anyone else out there do this??

I also realize that there are probably far more important things that should be on my "to-do" list.  My house needs vacuumed, my floors haven't been mopped in a very long time, ditto deep cleaning the bathrooms.  Those things don't stress me out as much because, God forbid if something happened tomorrow, those things wouldn't matter.  These things?  The things that are important to the people I love?  Those things matter.

Thank you for listening.  I feel a tiny bit more in control already.  The baking has to be put off, there's not much I can do about that, but not forever.  I'm setting a deadline that by November 8th I will have made pumpkin bread with Julianna and apple dumplings for Mark.  I'm playing at least 3 games of cards with Julianna tonight, and as soon as Jacob's up to it I'm playing Wii. 

Then, I'll feel better, at least until the next list starts to build up in my mind.

The Best Snickerdoodle...Maybe Ever. Seriously

I know, I know, usually when I see "the best" anything, I tend to disregard it, because Really?  But, this is seriously one awesome Snickerdoodle.

I know, I am not a food photographer, I did not do these cookies justice visually, but the cookie is easy to make and absolutely delicious.  I found them on Annie's Eats, a great food blog.  When I first told Mark I was thinking about making pumpkin snickerdoodles, let's just say the enthusiasm was underwhelming.  Very.  However, I am trying to keep our cookie jar full.  Jenny, from In Jennie's Kitchen, inspires me.  She lost her Mikey and she's been very open in writing about it.  Unfortunately, I can relate all too much to the sin of putting things off.  Even worse, I tend to "do" for my kids before I "get around" to doing for Mark.  Ouch!  It hurts just to write that, but I'm trying to fix it and make sure I get around to doing for him as well.  Mark absolutely loves homemade cookies.  He's pretty easy to please, he doesn't care much what kind, though oatmeal chocolate chip with walnut is probably his very favorite (last week's, I'll post that recipe soon), but he thought pumpkin snickerdoodle was not going to do it.  Still, he was willing to try them and happy to see his beloved cookie jar full again.

He was wrong about these cookies.  After inhaling, ahem, *some* of them, he said he would never make regular snickerdoodles again if he were me.  These are that yummy.  I would say the pumpkin is subtle, but it adds a delicious "something" that really elevates this cookie.  I also like that they're not a flat cookie.  They're puffy, slighty cakey, light and delicious; if you make them, I am willing to bet you will enjoy them. 

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

3¾ cups all-purpose flour

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the coating:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Dash of allspice

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Whisk to blend and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.  Blend in the pumpkin puree.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated.  With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend. Scoop the dough (I used my small scoop) and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the sheets, spacing the dough balls 2-3 inches apart. Dip the bottom of a flat, heavy-bottomed drinking glass in the sugar-spice mixture, and use the bottom to flatten the dough balls slightly. Recoat the bottom of the glass in the sugar-spice mixture as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set and baked through. Let cool on the baking sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

I got 37 cookies

Store in an airtight container.

Source: Annie's Eats, slightly adapted from Recipe Girl, originally from dlyn

So, get out there and get baking.  Making something you've been putting off for someone you love.  Unfortunately, in this life, we just never know.

Now, I still *owe* Mark apple dumplings.  I promise to get to it soon...and Julianna's pumpkin chocolate chip bread.  

Happy baking!

October 23 Meal Plan

I'm definitely having a love/hate relationship with meal planning.  Difficult to find the time to plan, time to shop, motivation to cook.  Impossible to consistently go out.  Too expensive, too much time, too lots of things.  So, I'll keep pressing on and ignore the fact that some weeks what I plan bears little resemblance to what we actually end up eating.  More often than not it does, so I'll be happy with that.

Saturday lunch:  pot luck/out?
Saturday dinner:  Date?/Pumpkin Show??
Sunday lunch:  Clam Chowder, cheddar biscuits
Sunday dinner:  Chicken Parmesan, pasta, caesar salad
Monday (dance, scouts):  Homemade chicken noodle soup, Oatmeal bread
Tuesday (piano): Lemon-Rosemary Chicken, roasted carrots, pan roasted potatoes
Wednesday (dance):  Pork chops, stuffed sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, pumpkin pull-apart rolls
Thursday:  Pepper Steak, rice
Friday:  pizza/out/who knows, don't care, just know I'm not cooking.

Check out more meal plans at Organizing Junkie's. 

Friday's Favorite Five

I've been reading Susanne's Friday Favorite Five posts for a long time, it always makes me stop and think about what things I'm thankful for, this week I decided to actually write them down.  Thank you Susanne, for encouraging me to stop and remember what brings me happiness each week.

This week, five of my favorite things:

My hubby.  This week has been really hard.  Sometimes it's just like that.  I'm very thankful that I can work at home and that I have the children I do and the families I do.  I am very lucky.  Still, sometimes it's hard and overwhelming and this week there are some things going on within my family that exacerbate that.  Sometimes I really miss the days when there wasn't so much pressure.  When laundry could get done; cleaning could happen; the groceries were bought on "my time", not family time; when I could take my kids to the doctor without taking 3 or 4 other kids along and having people stare at me disdainfully; when my child called from school needing me and my first thoughts could be about being there for them, not my job.  Yes, I'm very thankful, but sometimes I do struggle and miss the days when my family did not need me to work for our very survival.  This was one of those weeks.  Yesterday I was really stressed and when Mark came home it just spilled out.  I'm so thankful that he was able to let me let it out, to deal with my feelings and support me.  I know he feels guilty.  I know he wishes things were different.  It means the world to me that though neither one of us can change how things are, that he can set aside his feelings and be there for me.


A family that appreciates my efforts with dinner, be it beef stew or pancakes.  Sometimes you just aren't feeling it and that "thank you" or "this is yummy" really goes a long way to making it worth it.


My halloween decorations.  So many of them were made by my mom and they are really special.  Our family gets such joy out of looking at them and it means the world to me to be surrounded by all these special things made with love by my mom.



My mom.  Last week she was in the hospital for a couple of days.  At first, they thought she had had a heart attack.  Thankfully that was not the case and it was nothings serious, simply related to the prep she was doing for a procedure.  I'm so glad she's all right, that she's relatively healthy, and that she and my dad get to leave tomorrow on their much anticipated vacation as scheduled.

Hair products.  Hey, it can't all be deep, just keeping it real.  I remember what it was like when I was little, with thick curly hair and no hair products and it was not pretty.  I'm so happy that there are products available that can make my hair shiny, smooth, curly and in control.  It doesn't all come together perfectly everyday, but I'm very thankful for the products that at least make it a possibility each morning.

Most of all, I'm happy that this is a very short list our of all the things in my life that bring me happiness.  I hope it brings you a moment of peace and contentment to stop and think about what things bring you happiness today.

PSI Smart Phone Safety

Okay, I am not an alarmist.  Do I think that my children are in danger from what I'm about to show you?  Probably not.  Is "probably not" good enough for me?  Not in this case.  It's so easy to eliminate this particular danger, why not do it?

Recently I received the following email from a friend, also not an alarmist.  I was surprised when I checked my Iphone and saw that this feature was not turned off, it is now.  I'm passing on the info in case you would also like to make this change.

"Warning" If you, your kids or grand kids take pics from your phone---WATCH THIS! At the end they'll tell you how to set your phone so you don't run this risk! PLEASE PASS THIS INFO TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO TAKES PICTURES WITH THEIR CELL OR SMART PHONE AND POSTS THEM ONLINE. I want everyone of you to watch this and then be sure to share with all your family and friends. It's REALLY important info, about what your posting things on your cell phones can do TO YOU!!! Too much technology out there these days so be aware........... If you have children or grandchildren you NEED to watch this. I had no idea this could happen from taking pictures on the blackberry or cell phone. It's scary.

Check it out.  It's not that long and it's potentially important...and scary.

I was going through some pictures from the weekend tonight, with the intentions of posting them.  They're pictures from the pumpkin farm, maybe I'll post them, maybe I won't.  The poses, and my children, are darling, I wish I had used my good camera and captured them.  But I didn't.  I used my Iphone.  The blurriness and picture quality aren't the worst things about them however.  I noticed that these photos, the photos that 24 hours ago I would have placed on my blog without a second's thought, all contained GPS coordinates that pinpoint the exact location on Google Earth that they were taken.  The. EXACT. location.  Now, for these pictures, maybe that's not so bad, they were taken relatively far from here at the pumpkin farm we visited.  Had these pictures been taken in our home however, like the ones taken the day before?  Those pictures you can click on and get the exact location.  Exact.  By the way, the news report is not exaggerating, it shows you exactly where in the house the picture was taken, complete with the option of getting directions of how to get there.  Now that's scary.  The chances of some weirdo acting on that information is indeed remote, but why go there?

We Are That Family hosts more Works for Me Wednesday tips.

Magazines...check

Just one of many, many piles that went away this week.

If you've been around here for more than a post or two, you know that we live in a small house.  A small house with many uses and demands on it, and it tends to get, well, cluttered.  The fact that most, if not all, of us likes "stuff" doesn't help.

I am a foodie.  I subscribe to a lot of food magazines and there are an awful lot I keep.  Well, there were an awful lot.  Last week, I sat down with a pile of magazines, a notebook, scissors and tape and prepared to go through them, cut out recipes, put them in a notebook and throw away.  I've done that before.  In some ways it's good, (Yay! no piles of magazines!) but it's definitely not perfect.  Can you guess what happens to the notebooks?  Yeah, usually they sit there, not really organized, not all that appealing, difficult to find what I'm looking for, you get the picture, it just doesn't work very well.

Suddenly, a lightbulb went on.  Pinterest.  Most, though not all, food magazines put their recipes online, with the pictures from the magazine (you know, what drew you to it in the first place).  Last week, I spent hours going back through saved magazines, determining which recipes interest me enough to want to save, finding them on the appropriate website, and "pinning" them.  Now, when I'm meal planning or looking for inspiration, I can go to my Pinterest boards and browse through them.  I still get the storage I wanted, in an easy to use format, and no more piles!  I have thrown away/recycled well over a 100 magazines this week.  (Mark's going to love me when he takes the garbage/recycling out.)  I've made room for another obsession of mine--cookbooks!

I think Pinterest is here to say.  I think my beloved bookmarks are safe, if not, I really don't want to think about it, I'd probably cry, but maybe, just maybe, the loss of clutter and piles of stuff around my house, would make up for it.

I still have about 30-40 magazines to go through and then, that's it!  The piles will be gone, my boards will be organized, hated clutter will be eliminated.  Best of all, it's gotten me started, I feel like I'm on a roll.  What can I get rid of next??



Check out what other people are tackling at Tackle it Tuesday, or tips they're sharing at Works for Me Wednesday.

Monday, Monday

We just finished up a pretty terrific weekend.  The kids did not have school on Friday and I didn't have all of the kids I normally watch, so we packed up and headed for a day at our local science museum.  We all had a great time.  Well, most of us had a great time.  The four year old was a little overwhelmed at times with the darkness of some of the exhibits and the loudness! of others, but she was as brave as could be and a little cuddling or hurriedly leaving, and I think she still had a really good time.  No pictures though, wrangling five kids, lunches, a diaper bag and a stroller left me thinking the camera was an "extra" that didn't need to make the trip.  We saw a terrific science show about chemicals where things were set on fire and blown up, it was great fun.

Friday afternoon my Iphone came!  Yes, I am beyond excited, and yes, I am absolutely loving it, and yes, I absolutely recommend Iphones.  The one thing I wish I had known to seriously consider is size.  I got an Iphone 4, 8G.  If I had it to do over again, I would spend the money and get a 16 or even, possibly, bigger.  My Iphone is full.  Yes, full.  Already.  I wish that that wasn't the case, but after trying, and failing, to exchange it for a bigger model, I have made peace with it and I'm going through and being much more selective about what songs are in my playlist.  All of the music on the computer is definitely not going to fit, but that's okay.  Really, how can I complain?  I can still easily put hundreds of my favorite songs on it and that's pretty awesome.  I'm a little concerned about how it's going to handle storing photographs I take, but it's all workable and I definitely love it.  The other thing I would have considered is possibly upgrading all the way to the 4S simply because of the 8mb camera, but I'm not at all sure I would have taken that financial leap.  I did notice when I used my phone for pictures this weekend that they look pretty grainy to me.  Am I doing something wrong?  I'm also looking for App advice.  If you have any you love and find really useful or just plain fun, please share.  I'd really like to find one that's good for documents such as grocery lists too.

[Sidebar:  I may offend some of you with this one, but yesterday at dance I saw a little girl, 8-10, somewhere in there, with her own Iphone.  Really.  I'm sorry, I do not understand this, on a couple of levels.  One, I'm a firm believer that the internet needs to be monitored with kids.  All kids, I don't care how good they are, can be tempted and the internet is just way too free and easy.  Remember when the advice always was (and, full confession, I think it's really good advice), to keep computers and the internet out of private places such as bedrooms and put it in the family room or kitchen instead?  Now, parents hand over Iphones and Ipod touches with full internet access and no restrictions?  Not appropriate, in my opinion.  Also, if you get an Iphone when you're 8 or 9 or 10, where do you go from there?  What's to look forward to?  Julianna would love to have an Ipod for her birthday.  She'd really like to have a Nano, but she's getting a shuffle.  Number one, it's more affordable for our family, number two, at $50.00 it's not the end of the world if it gets lost or something happens to it, which though she takes very good care of her things, she is going to be nine and things do happen.  Number three, it gives her something to look forward to down the road when she's a bit older.  For the record, she's also getting a speaker to go with it because in our family we do not isolate into headphones.  Pet peeve.]

Friday night I was too tired from playing with my phone for hours COSI, so we went out to dinner with a Groupon.  Fifteen dollars (including tip!) for dinner.  Not too shabby.

Saturday the weather was very, very windy, so Mark and Jacob opted not to go camping.  Julianna had been up most of the night Friday with a horrible cough, so we had a delightful family day, getting some round-the-house chores done and just enjoying each other.  Perfect.  Oh, I also snuck in some retail therapy to help me get over the wasted trip to the Apple store, I scored a gorgeous purse on sale for 1/2 price as well as a great shirt for $9.  It's wonderful and a little scary how good that made me feel. 

Sunday after church we headed out to a local pumpkin farm.  So much fun!  I'll post more later in the week with pictures. 

Well, that's it for now.  Busy weekend, lots to do now to catch up.  Definitely worth it though.  Last week my meal plan did not go well at all, I barely stuck with it.  I'm off to figure out a new one that will hopefully fit the week better.

Happy Monday!

Girlie Things

Although we did not get the girly weekend we had planned, we did manage to sneak in some girly things.

 Hair Extension

 Sparkly Shoes

Check out more Wordless Wednesday.

Stop Me Before I Organize Again!

This is not a sponsored post, though I wish it was!

Recently I got a bit of a bee in my bonnet about the state of my pantry.  Everything was disorganized, I had mini bags of this and that everywhere.  My beautiful, but oh-so-bulky canisters took up too much precious counter space and they were a pain to use, so I still ended up keeping bags of flour and sugar in the pantry as well.  Everything was a mess.

The top of my fridge was a catch-all of everything that wouldn't fit in the pantry.  All kinds of boxes, bags, junk, everywhere.

Something had to give and as I cook a lot it wasn't really an option to scale back on what I have.  I like what I have, I use what I have.  There had to be another solution.

Well, what I've done isn't perfect, and it cost more money than I wish it had, but it's workable and user-friendly and I love it.  Now, I feel like almost every time I leave the house, I come back with more containers.  Stop me before my whole house is a series of canning jars, canisters, and Pop containers

[Sidenote:  The Container Store is a very dangerous place, did you know you can do all your shopping online, place and pay for your order, then drive to the store, call and let them know you're there, and they'll bring it to your car.  Awesome!!  And a bit dangerous.  ; ) ]

 Here's my snack drawer, with a few other things.  I love that it's easy to see what we have, how much we have, and it's easy for the kids to help themselves.  No more having 4 or 5 (or 6 or 7) half-used bags of this kind of pretzel or chip or whatever open.

 Cereals on top of the fridge.  

Easy to see what there is, how much is left.

 My baking cabinet.

There are 14 jars of milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet chips, bittersweet chips, peanut safe chips, butterscotch chips, Hershey kisses, M&M's, Heath chips, etc., etc.  You name it, I've probably got it, and before it was in tons and tons of opened bags making a huge mess.  I love having them in easy to see, easy to find jars.

 Some flours, 1/2 used boxes of pasta, etc.

 Ack!  I'm trying very, very hard not to look at this picture too long.

If I do, I'm simply going to have to go out and get containers for the pasta and taco shells.  *sigh*

 Rice.  *sigh*

I may have a problem.

I have long grain white, short grain white, Arborio, Jasmine white & brown, wild rice, brown rice, you name it, I've probably got it.  And I use it, I do!  Just obviously not terribly often and again, all those bags were making me crazy.  When organizing I discovered 2 partially used and 1 full box of barley.  At least with this system that won't happen again.

 Finally, sugars and flours.

I truly *heart* this.

I've got my brown sugar, which I did not realize would stay super-soft in a glass canning jar, plain white sugar, vanilla sugar, all-purpose flour and bread flour nice, easy, and within reach all the time.

It's not perfect, it's not for everyone, but I love it.

Also, much to Mark's chagrin, I'm probably not done yet.  I just can't seem to help myself, it makes my heart happy to see everything clean, sealed, and easy to find.

There's always room for improvement, but for me, I have had great luck with Ball quart-sized canning jars, Fido hermatic sealed jars in various sizes and Oxo Pop containers.  The glass canning jars and Fido jars are pretty inexpensive, sadly the Oxo Pops are not.  Still, I'm looking at it as an investment.  Hopefully they'll stay nice enough and work well enough that they'll be in my kitchen for years and years.

Check out 5 Minutes for Moms for more Tackle it Tuesday projects.

Monday, Monday

Well, I feel like I'm getting a dose of Karma, though of course that's not right because if I truly were it would be me laying on the couch sick instead of Julianna.  Mark was sick most of the weekend, though he rallied enough Sunday that we were able to have Jason, Lori and the kids over for lunch and family time.  That was wonderful.  They live half a block from our house, yet I don't see them near enough.  It was great to just hang out and be with them.  Unfortunately, at one point as I was snuggling up with both Lily and Julianna I noticed Julianna felt a whole lot warmer than Lily.  Yup, she was running a low fever and has been sick ever since.

Fortunately, Mark's back to normal and back to work and Julianna's up and down but she'll be fine soon.  I came really close to sending her to school today, thankfully I didn't.  That would have been a mom-of-the-year moment because when she crashed mid-morning, she crashed hard!  She definitely has what Mark has, hopefully Jacob won't get it next, or ever.

Yes, I feel like a real jerk for being upset about Mark being sick.  I was not upset with him, it just gets hard having it happen what seems sometimes like all the time.  Thank you to those who understood exactly what I was saying as well as those who gave me some perspective to think about.  I am ashamed at having been upset, but on the other hand, feelings are feelings and we can't help them, just how we act on them.

So, Julianna's sick, but not too sick, thank goodness.  In a looking-on-the-bright-side flash of optimism, especially allowable I hope as she's not too sick, I'm going to enjoy the enforced slow-down of our schedules and relish our evening home.  Hopefully, tomorrow we'll be back in the swing of our school year busyness.

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In other news, I ordered an IPhone today.  I've never had one and I am pretty excited.  I find myself getting more excited by the moment.  I didn't get the newest one, it felt too indulgent; and I didn't get the oldest one, that felt too out-of-date to be buying now; I bought the one right in the middle and just like everything about everything else Mama bear had, it feels like it's going to be just right.  :)

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Can I just say that it is beyond ridiculous that a dorm room and meal plan costs $1190.00 a month!  Crazy.  Rebekah's getting an apartment next year and while it is also crazy-expensive, it is nowhere near the cost of a dorm.  If you have money, buy rental property near a university.  Gold mine!

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My laptop's mouse pad died.  How does that even happen?  One minute it worked, the next, nada.  At least it's under warranty and Mark had a mouse I can use when he doesn't need it for paperwork.  Silver linings indeed.
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Mark just called.  He broke a tooth.  Yup, it's a Monday.

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I made cookies today.  Yummy, delicious cookies.  Yes, I have eaten too many of them, but at this moment, I don't care.

So, how's your Monday going?  Hope it's off to a good start.  The kids are napping, even Julianna, so in the spirit of keeping the house really quiet and not disturbing anyone, I'm off to read Fall of Giants.  In the Fast Lane turned me on to it, and I can not put it down.  It's different than anything I've ever read before, but I'm loving it.  Yup, I'm going to go snuggle up and read...and have another cookie.

*Sigh* ...Again

This was supposed to have been a very big weekend for Jacob...for Julianna and I too.  And Mark.

This was supposed to have been Jacob's very last Webelos campout.  Who knows if he'll go on to Boy Scouts?  He might, but then again he might not.  We're not there yet, he's yet to visit any troops.  Time will tell.

But this weekend?  This he was very excited about...as in would not have missed it for anything.

Well, almost anything.

Mark's sick.  Very sick.

So, no camping trip.

I offered to take him, but he said no.  He knew Julianna and I had big plans, though of course we're canceling those as well.  He felt someone should be here with Mark, for company, and just to be sure he's all right.  He said it's not the same if I take him.

I understood, but I still feel really sad.

Mark's a great dad.  Mark's a great person.  Mark works really, really hard.

Mark has incredibly bad luck often sometimes.  Lots of things get canceled, for extreme headaches, for back problems, for bouts with the flu.  He's not faking or exaggerating, or being man-sick, he's truly sick and hurt and whatever each and every time, but still.  It happens a lot.  I try to tell myself it's worse for him, but it's also hard on all of us. (Gosh, does that make me sound as awful as I think it does?)  I try to remind myself to be thankful that it's nothing major, that he doesn't have a serious illness or condition, and I do thank God for that, I just wish these things didn't happen over and over again.

Bottom line, my precious boy's missing his last campout that he looked so forward to and there's nothing I can do to make it better.

*sigh*

(Can I just say that right or wrong, it made me really sad that none of the other parents or leaders offered to let him come along with them...I don't think there's a reason, I don't think he's a problem.  Maybe it didn't occur to them, but it would have meant the world to one 11 year old boy.)

Meal Plan

Back to tracking meal plans online, it's so much easier to be able to link to recipes and pull things up when I'm cooking.

This week, we'll be having:
Sunday lunch:  Southwestern Chicken Salads
Sunday dinner:  Chili Spaghetti (Chili's in the freezer), garlic cheese bread
Monday (dance):  potluck/leftovers
Tuesday (piano):  Southwestern Chicken Salads (piano), Bobby Flay's Grilled chicken Cobb salad for us.
Wednesday:  Noble Pig's Plum Chicken, rice, broccolini
Thursday:  Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, Brussels Sprouts or roasted carrots, dinner rolls
Friday:  Chicken Parmesan, Caesar salad

Hope you have a yummy week too.

Check out more meal plans on Meal Plan Monday at Organizing Junkie's.

Julianna

She's growing so fast. I wish I could catch it, slow it down, hang on to her.

It's like a shooting star slipping through the sky, beautiful, fleeting. I'm so aware of how temporary this stage of parenting is.

She's on the cusp of so much.

Already this morning, as I curled the ends of her hair a bit for picture day, she told me how much she loves blow dryers, curling irons, flat irons. No, these are not products I use on her hair regularly. Very once in a while, which is probably why she loves them so.

I'm so lucky to have this girl. So lucky to have been blessed with four children.

It literally takes my breath away.

When the weather turns colder...

When the weather turns colder, my thoughts turn to fall cooking.

When my thoughts turn to fall cooking, I start craving soups.

When I start craving soups, I make chicken stock.  [Super, super easy, if you've never done it, please give it a try, you will not believe the difference it makes.  Put a chicken (or 4-5 lbs. of wings/necks/backs) in a pot with several carrots, some celery (with leaves) an onion or two, some salt and pepper and some thyme.  Fill the pot with water, and let it cook for hours and hours.  If you want the chicken to be usable in recipes, take it out when it's cooked, remove the meat and throw the bones back in the pot.]

When I'm making chicken stock, I figure I might as well make chicken stock.

While I'm at it, I make two pots of stock and fill the freezer with quarts of it.  Yum.  Liquid gold.

While I'm cooking and craving fall foods, I look over at all the apples still sitting there from our trip to the apple orchard a couple of weeks ago.

When I look over at the apples, I decide to make Jacob happy and use some of them to make caramel apples (I used heavy cream instead of water because...duh!). 

When I decide to make Jacob happy and make caramel apples I realize that caramel apples are gluten free and I can make them for piano dessert too.  That makes me happy.  I like desserts that are easy-peasy and delicious to boot.

While I'm making stock, and caramel apples, I realize I still haven't really put a dent in the apply supply so I decide to make applesauce too.  [3-4 lbs. apples, 1/2 cup sugar, juice of 1 lemon, 2 strips of lemon peel, 1 cup of water 6 or 7 red hots--cook over medium low heat, stirring occasionally, until apples fall apart and sauce is done.]

While doing all of this, I had lots of help, because that's what I really do during the day.  Here's one of my cutie-pie helpers.








While I'm in the kitchen anyway, I may as well make bread, right?  Comfort food continued.

Finally, at the end of the day, the caramel apples were done.

The bread was cooked.  [So, so easy, and absolutely delicious.  I can not wait to make this bread again.  If you're looking to make bread, you should seriously try this recipe.]

The applesauce was finished, and it was all delicious.  So were the homemade chicken and noodles from the chicken stock and chicken meat.

It was a day that left me tired, but feeling really accomplished.

And then I turned around and looked at my kitchen.

*sigh*

Just keeping it real.  : )