Weekly menu

Oh, hi! Thanks for stopping by! I'm sure you were hoping for something more than my menu for the week, but posting stuff like this on the Internet keeps me accountable and prevents me from resorting to feeding the kids ice cream for dinner.

We're working on a major landscaping project so we'll be posting some before-n-after pics shortly.

Meanwhile, back to the MENU:

Monday - Meatloaf; potatoes; asparagus

Tuesday - Pasta w/ corn, burrata, herb breadcrumbs & bacon

Wednesday - Chicken sandwiches, corn on the cob, caeser salad

Thursday - leftovers!

The Daily Make:

Monday

Sandwich bread (N.B. - just one loaf this week)

Strawberry cheesecake ice cream (gotta use up my strawberries!)

Granola

Tuesday

Sandwich rolls

Thursday

English muffins

Chilling

The "news" these days is either endlessly entertaining or like the worst horror story you've ever read. It's amazing the level of discord, anger and paranoia on BOTH sides of the political spectrum, much of it as the result of the MSM's blatant disregard for unbiased reporting.

But no matter what side of the aisle you sit on, how could you not be upset over the most chilling "news" story this week the open mic gaffe between the POTUS and Dmitri Medvedev? How has he not had to account for one he meant by "all these issues?" What else were they discussing - Iran? North Korea? NATO? Shady, shady.

Well, our POTUS promised transparency so we're apparently getting a taste for what four more years of this idiot will bring us.... back-room, "off the mic" deals with other wannabe-Superpower nations guaranteed to undermine our national security. We already know about his blatant disregard for the Constitution; we're already aware that he will happily enact executive orders to further his power; we've already seen his arrogant contempt for any public opinion that runs counter to his agenda.

Four more years of "flexibility" with him will fundamentally, perhaps permanently, change America - and NOT for the better unless you are they type that enjoys big government authority sticking it's meddling fingers into your private business.

NieNie

One of my favorite bloggers - NieNie from the Nie Nie Dialogues - is featured in People Magazine this week. I never, ever buy that mag, preferring to skim through it in waiting rooms, but I might make an exception this week. She is a beautiful, faith-filled, family-oriented SAHM with an incredible story to tell. She's been on Oprah, the morning shows, the Glenn Beck show, and she has a book coming out soon. Check her out. Read her archives if you haven't already. I dare you not to cry at least once.

Hurrah for Spring!!

S P R I N G!!

When I was younger, I loved wintery clothes - heavy sweaters, wool skirts, jeans, my perfect black coat, boots, and especially turtlenecks. But these days my wiser grownup 2012 self scoffs at my 1992 self dressed in a kilt and tights in Florida. What was I thinking?! Although I still like chilly winter weather, my wardrobe is almost 100% polar fleece with the occasional Land's End Canvas Heritage cardigan thrown in. So much more suited to the mild Florida winters.

I'm also making an effort to wear more color, but that kind of change comes slower.

Here are some things I'm loving this Spring:

Swimming

Country club pool opens 4/1 and we can't wait! (That's a LEC red cardi and khaki capris w/ flip flops. Doesn't it just scream "Florida-mom-in-winter?" Ignore my lack of hair style, this was after a long, long day at Disney.)

British Breakfast tea

I still need a cup of joe to get moving in the morning, but this stuff is the perfect afternoon pick-me-up.

Method Lime & Sea Salt dish soap

Smells like a beach vacation. I got mine at Target, and I had to buy up a bunch since it's one of their limited edition scents.

Farm-opoly

One of the many "opoly" versions out there and our new fave family game. It's actually the first opoly-style game we've played. The first time we played I only taught them the basic rules, figuring I could help them with strategy over time. I thought they were too young to understand the concept of buying properties and collecting rents. Boy was I wrong. Anders is a natural risk-taking mogul, buying up everything from the get-go with the sole intent of putting barns on everything (barn = hotel) and raking in the huge rents. Watch out Donald Trump!! Dagny is a totally emotional investor refusing to buy a property if she doesn't like the way the name of a property sounds or how the picture looks. When I told Anders to watch his cash and maybe not buy a barn just yet, he gave me a look like "what kind of strategy is THAT?" and ignored me. The next round of the board he collected $800 in rent from Dagny & I. Thank goodness I can still beat them at Scrabble (for now).

Dove Coconut Creme eggs. Get 'em while you can. Yum.

Dream home

HGTV is announcing the winner of the 2012 Dream Home tomorrow. Unless they are planning on presenting it to me while I'm working at Dagny's Girl Scout cookie booth (at the new Publix on US 19 & 22 Ave N., just in case they come looking for me), I'm going to assume I haven't won.

Bummer, because I really liked that house. It spoke to me.

As the saying goes

"You catch more flies with honey."

Nowhere on Earth is this more true than at the mechanic's shop.

Maybe it's something to do with those guys being surrounded by greasy oil pans, old tires and dirty air filters all day, but in my experience using a little "honey" (and a cute dress and some lip gloss) will get you great deals and excellent customer service.

Bun in the oven

A couple years ago, for a New Year's "resolution" I decided I'd try to bake all the bread we eat. It was great - until the summer came and our a/c units were soooo inefficient and our house was sooo hot and running an oven at 450+ degrees for an hour didn't seem like a great idea.

Then we got new a/c units and now our house can reasonably maintain 78 degrees even in the summer. With the oven on. Yay for modern appliances. Also, I figured out a system wherein I am organized and efficient enough to bake in the morning when it is cooler.

So, fast forward, and I'm still baking year-round. I mostly make sourdough breads & English muffins. However, I've learned to not be so militant about it because being militant about something like baking bread can make you nuts. If I'm having a busy week, or if the kids are sick, or if I just don't feel up to baking several loaves of bread, I have no problem whatsoever buying a loaf of squishy-soft, white, sliced sandwich bread. The kids act like I'm giving them candy for breakfast and I get a reprieve from them complaining about having to eat, because it turns out they will eat most anything if it is accompanied by sandwich bread (this includes previously taboo foods like asparagus, fish, salads, tomatoes, and pot roast).

I'm happy that the kids know what fresh, home-made bread tastes like; they appreciate the vast differences in taste, texture and appearance. They don't always like it (even I'm not a fan of 100% whole wheat homemade - way to dense, crumbly and dry) but they appreciate it.

There are a few other things that we usually only eat homemade/homegrown: ice cream, baked goods in general, waffles & pancakes, soup, tomatoes, and, recently, jams and jellies. We used to not eat packaged cereals, but with Anders being in school full-time, my mornings were crazy and I've resorted to Cheerios, Grape-nuts and Life as a time-saver. Enter the No-Cereal Challenge. Since both kids also like oatmeal, granola, waffles, pancakes, yogurt, fruit, smoothies and toast, I'm going to challenge them to give up the boxes of processed, packaged cereal in favor of these other things. If I can freeze 3-4 loaves of bread a week, surely I can maintain a supply of waffles and granola? And it will be one less thing to buy.

Waffles of Insane Greatness

(from here)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Butter and syrup, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes.

Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and syrup.

Granola

4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raw pecans, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups large flake coconut chips
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 300° F.
In a large bowl, combine the oats, pecans, coconut, maple syrup, coconut oil, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Spread the mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake until golden all over, about 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Spring has sprung

Let's talk about the garden. The warm winter and early spring means that everything is blooming early. Tomatoes, lillies, irises, hibiscus, herbs, (weeds), and the prettypurpleshrub that I always forget the name of. Of course, the live oak pollen is a bit early too, which means that instead of being able to spend time outside in the glorious weather, I have to hide inside* for a few weeks. But no matter; pollen season is short and there will be no shortage of warm weather to enjoy later.

After getting burned a few years back when an entire yard of sod up and died within a few weeks of delivery, the Mr. and I are cautiously starting to talk about maybe re-sodding again. This time, we'll do our research more carefully, we'll do it early -- well before summer hits --and we'll hire a company that is qualified to spray & treat & that will warranty their work for at least 30 days. We also need to get the sprinkler system extended to the front yard, so if we can find a company that does irrigation as well that would be nice. Again, it's just in the talking phase right now. It hurt to literally throw away thousands of dollars of sod and it's hard to contemplate that it might happen again. But when I think how nice it would be to have a lush green lawn for people to walk, sit and play on during our big Easter brunch.... I tend to forget about the hurt.

*Why I have to hide: extreme sensitivity to all allergy meds means that it is easier for me to just stay inside for a few weeks, popping children's Benadryl a few times a day to take the edge off the worst of the symptoms. I've had very severe reactions to Claritin & Zyrtec which have scared me off anything stronger. At any rate, live oak pollen is the only thing I'm allergic to and as soon as the trees' catkins stop producing pollen I'm good to go again.

Just for Janis!!

Soooo what in the world have we been up to? I can't believe it has been months, ages, since I last posted a real update. To tell the truth, blogs require a lot of hard work to keep them current and I just ran out of time & energy to keep it going every day. Add to that my love of Facebook - instant updates yay! - and my poor ol' blog just fell off the radar. BUT I sure don't mind posting an update for my dear, Facebook-challenged friend, Janis.

So, since we last chatted....

The Mr. has opened his own law firm and is doing really well. He loves working for himself and keeping his own hours, etc. Big change from Big Law Firm life, but all for the better.

We took a wonderful road trip to Kansas to see my BIL & SIL and family on their 40-acre working dairy goat farm.

Matt milking

Dags tractoring

Anders fishing

I love chickens

We had pit stops in Atlanta & St. Louis on the way out there and, on the way home, Chattanooga (planned) and Dalton, GA (unplanned, due to a slight car accident) on the way home.

Dagny at the Arch

Arch!

Rock City, Chattanooga

Ruby Falls, Chattanooga

Last November we trekked to Waynesville, NC to visit Matt's mom & dad. We loved having Thanksgiving there so much we're going back this year! The kids were hoping that there'd be enough snow to ski at the little resort there, but sadly there won't. On the upside, it also won't be freezing cold, so that's nice.

Playing in the leaves (we don't get to do that down here)

We spent Christmas with my parents in Naples, which was wonderful as always.



After a quick Christmas break, we were back at school. We celebrated Easter at our house here in St. Pete and the whole family (except for Matt's bro in Kansas) was able to come for the first time in years. It was wonderful having everyone here, esp. my Dad (cancer survivor) and Matt's dad (quad bypass survivor). Loved it.

Last spring, Anders played t-ball for the first time. So cute! It was my first time going to a sport with one of the kids, and it was so much fun to sit in the stands and cheer for the team.

Slugger

This past summer, we started off with a long weekend "camping" at Blue Springs for Father's Day. (Yes, we "camped" in a cabin. It was wonderful. It had a/c. And a private bathroom.) Then we spent a week in St. Augustine, Matt had to work but the kids and I explored the Oldest City in America and the amazing Castillo de San Marcos. Really fun vacation!

Blue Springs

Yeah, that's our cabin.

Yeah, it's fully furnished. It's still camping if there's no TV.

The rest of the summer was verrrry laid back. Except for a quick scoot to Naples we mostly hung out right here in town, played with friends and went swimming. A lot.

Fourth of July at the St. Pete pier

Fall started off with Dagny in 4th grade (yikes) and Anders in Kindergarten (wha...?!) They are both at the parochial school right here in our neighborhood, and we just love it.

First day of school

Poor Fize is definitely showing all 13-1/2 years of her age. She has developed severe joint problems and is on quite the regimen of pills just to keep going during the day. Luckily she has a very attentive nurse. We're thankful for every day she's still with us.

Good ol' dog

For Halloween Dagny was a fruit bat and Anders was Spiderman but you'll just have to imagine the pics for now because the Mr. still has them on his camera and I don't know how to download from it. (Talk about technically challenged!)

As always with the school year, most of our time is now spent doing Homework and me volunteering at school like it's my day job. BUSY. Hopefully as we get more organized in the Spring the kids will do some sports - they both want to do Karate and swim team, so that will be interesting.

So, that brings us up to date! I can't believe 2011 is almost over! Bring on the new year!

Turris Fortis Mihi Deus

Have a happy and holy Easter!

September blahs

We've had a TIME of it here.

Plumbing problems, rodent problems, a/c problems (related to the rodent & plumbing problems). Double down on the gross factor because we're Hot too, since we haven't had a/c for a few weeks.

Fun times.

I never thought we'd get rats in our a/c system!! I don't know whether to be happy or disgusted that they were pretty much there just to eat the possums that crawled in to the ducts and died. It's all so gross. And, my GOODNESS, how did they all end up getting in there, dying, eating each other, befouling our whole house to the point where we had to replace every stinking (literally) inch of the system in the TWO FREAKIN' DAYS between when the plumbers were here and the a/c guys came out to fix the ducts in the first place? ugh.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Repeat.

My kitchen - A to Z

I've been helping Anders learn to write his letters. He's doing great! He really, really, really wants to learn, probably so that he can write stories about Ben10 alien force meets Star Wars. Or write Dagny notes. Or letters to his grandparents, which is one of his favorite afternoon activities.

At the same time I noticed he was also really intent on learning the phonetic sounds to the alphabet, so hey why not kill two birds with that stone? Presenting Mommy's Kitchen A to Z! Now he can learn his letters and sounds while associating them with stuff that he is surrounded by every day - and since the kitchen is my favorite room in the house, why not?

A - Avocados
B - Bread
C - Cantaloupe
D - Dill
E - Eggs
F - Frozen french fries
G - Grapes
H - Hot sauce
I - Ice cream
J - Juice
K - Ketchup
L - Lemons and/or Limes
M - Mustard
N - Nuts
O - Oatmeal
P - Pasta
Q - Quinoa
R - Refried beans
S - Spices
T - Tuna
U - Us (the family)
V - Vinegar
W - Water
X - "X" marks the spot - I make it out of string cheese
Y - Yogurt
Z - Zucchini

Take the cake

I am baking a cake for my Mom's birthday this weekend. It is delicious, and I know that because I previewed recipes before deciding on The One. It is going to be a buttermilk layer cake (a white cake) with raspberry/blueberry filling and whipped cream cheese frosting.

The major thing will be keeping it cool til Naples. Big cooler? Check!

Happy Birthday Mom! We'll see you tomorrow!

Weak

The kids know by now that the one thing I'll always cave in on, the one thing I can't help buying for them, the one thing that all they have to do is ask semi-politely for and they'll get, that I just can't say no to is...

BOOKS!

I love books! I love to read! I love that my kids love them too! We do go to the library just about every week, but they also know that I'm a complete and utter pushover for any kind of reading material.

Right now Anders is all about action, adventure, even things that are a little spooky. Dagny is totally into Egypt & mummies.

Pretty cool.

An apple a day

Honeycrisp apples may be back in the stores as early as late September! Woohoo! I don't care that they don't grow locally, they are the BEST eating apple ever.

Easily pleased

Mr. J had a trade show a few weeks ago and had to buy a bunch of supplies: tablecloths, gift cards, candy, etc. For a candy bowl he bought the coolest Pyrex bowl - just the perfect size. I immediately traded the Pyrex for one of my Target cheapo plastic serving bowls (cute design though) and now I have the PERFECT mixing, storing, cooling, nuking, holding, chopping, serving bowl.

Happy me!

Commentary

Have you ever had this conversation at the dinner table?

"If you're going to talk, let's talk to each other, not just yourself."

It's, like, our #1 rule because both kids are inclined to talk endlessly to themselves at all times. Dags talks about imaginary creatures, our in her own imaginary language. Anders sings or talks about epic battles. It gets loud.

TGIF -- week 1 of school is done!!

Organized? Or neurotic?

I love to plan. It is both my biggest strength and a major weakness. It's a strength when we need something done both right and on time. It's also a weakness because sometimes Mr. J has a problem or situation at work and I automatically go into DEFCON 4 planning mode...when all he wants to do is talk.

So yeah. I plan. I make plans for my plans. I'm also a good organizer, but in a big picture kinda way. I hate clutter and confusion, I dislike piles o' crap. So I make the big piles go away. Do I care where? Notsomuch. As a result right now we have two "overflow" rooms almost overflowing with peoples piles of stuff. I need to get on that, STAT. The other area that I need to attend to is the garden, which is now pretty much just a weedfest.

So now that the kids are back in school and we are settled into our routine, I'm using my strengths to bring some order to the chaos. Starting next week, Monday & Friday are going to be dedicated to 1) cleaning out and organizing the two sunrooms and 2) attending to the garden, bed by bed. Tuesday will be errands/grocery shopping. Wednesday is my baking day. Thursday is cleaning and laundry. Starting in October, my book club will be meeting Friday mornings, so I'll fit that in as well. I love my plan; I hope I stick with it!

Reading list

For my soul:

For fun:

For book club:

Cool

Quite possibly the coolest tableware I've seen in a while.

http://chilewich.com/