Lots and Lots going on...

So there has been a lot going on around here.

• Kylie started school and she's loving it.
  
• We've had a family trip to Miller Farm with our church.
  
• AWANAs started last week.
  
• I had been running around like a crazy person to find someone to help with the utility bill.
  
• We went to a parade
  
• I have been experimenting with new frugal money saving recipes. Beetroot Hummus anyone?
  
• I'm taking a dicipleship prayer class at my church. In other words how to pray more effectively.
  
• And we have been getting our socks blessed off by the wonderful people that God has put into our lives.
  

I know this is not much of an update. But I will have more soon to include pictures and hopefully some recipes.

I have been out of it lately but I have some wonderful things to share. So check back with me soon!

I Miss You, My Hawai'i

Do you know that song? It's by Na Leo Pilimehana. Probably if you're not from Hawaii, you have NO clue who I am talking about.

I have been feeling extremely nostalgic lately. Thinking about the "good 'ol days" and remembering growing up in the lush island paradise known as Hawai'i. I am and always will be a Hawaii girl at heart. Being so far away from the seashore is just killing me. Maybe that's part of my problem, part of the reason why I have been in so much of a funk lately.

I haven't been home in 4 years!!! I have not seen the ocean, smelled the salty air, or inhaled the intoxicating fragrance of ginger or gardenia. I miss seeing the palm trees and feeling the trade winds on my face. The feel of the sand between my toes and the warm clear ocean water lapping at my thighs. My soul longs for the shores of Waimea and Waikiki. My heart longs to see my family and hug my Gramma one more time. My tongue longs for the flavors of home. For poke and laulau, haupia and Okinawan sweet potato, malasadas and manapuas.

So what can you do when you are thousands of miles away from home and feeling so incredibly homesick that you can't stand it? Well for me, I dig out some old cookbooks. I can't go to Hawai'i right now but I can bring some of the flavors from home into my kitchen.

This cookbook was my Grandma's.



My Dad gave me a whole bunch of her cookbooks when I was home in 2005 (she passed away in 2001). I have no idea exactly how old this one is because there is no copyright date in it. I do know that it was given to my Grandma as a gift in 1966.



And I do know that it is old. Well old to me. Just look at the funky graphics.



Anywho, I tried two recipes from this cookbook tonight. We had the Chinese Beef Tomato and I attempted the Malasadas recipe. Notes on the Malasada recipe to come.



Doesn't it look yummy? And before you ask, yes I did take a huge bite out of it before I took a picture. That is the reason why the fork is dirty. I had to make sure that it wasn't poison before I posted the recipe right?

Chinese Beef Tomato

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp canola oil
3/4 lb sirloin tip, thinly sliced and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 C water
2 stalks celery, cut on the diagonal
1/2 onion cut into chunks
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into chunks
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and cut into chunks
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tbsp water

Brown garlic in oil and then add your seasoned meat and brown lightly.
Add sugar, salt, soy sauce, ginger, vinegar and water into the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add celery, onion, green bell pepper, and tomatoes, simmer for 2 minutes.
Add your cornstarch slurry (cornstarch mixed with the 1 1/2 tbsp water) and cook another minute or until sauce is thick and glossy.

Serve over rice.

Now a note about the malasadas. I have been craving malasadas since the Punahou carnival in February. All my friends and classmates were posting about how they were working the Malasada booth. And being unemployed, I can't exactly go out and buy some though there is a Vietnamese restaurant up the street that makes a pretty decent knock off.

Anyways there is a recipe in the cookbook for malasadas so I decided to try it. I followed the directions, got the oil up to 375 like the directions said and well...they cooked to fast leaving the outside nice and brown and the inside like goo. So once I get the recipe right, I will post it with some pics.

Just Breathe...

Well it's been quite an interesting last few weeks...

• I lost my job
  
• Jeff got approved for a job, but can't get hired right now because they are on a hiring freeze.
  
• Kylie starts Kindergarten (real school) on Monday and will be riding the bus home...2 guesses on the part I'm most nervous about.
  
• I feel like I haven't had a minute to myself in 5 years and I am in desperate desperate need of a vacation.
  
• I've been calling around to different assistance groups and we don't qualify either because A. Jeff and I have no current job and therefore can't produce a workable budget for next month, B. Jeff is no longer active duty military, or C. Jeff is not "wounded enough" to qualify for assistance.
  

So what does this woman do when pushed up against a wall and feels like she can't breathe? Chop all her hair off!!



Oh yeah and did I mention that my camera is not working right. Go figure!

Do you like it? I do. What I didn't like was getting made fun of when I got home. Not like I haven't been having a crappy enough time the past couple of weeks but I had to come home and hear Jeff start in on me about "Dude" this and "I'm married to a man" that. What a way to pop someone's bubble not to mention hurting their feelings. Plus to top it off, he takes a subject and rolls with it until someone is on the verge of tears and then doesn't feel bad about it because it was "just a joke" and "not his fault if you take it the wrong way".

But I digress...

Just please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers these next few weeks. I'm a little tired of my situation and a LOT frustrated. I need deliverance NOW or I might just leave (by myself) and hop the next flight to Hawaii and camp out on the beach for the rest of my life.

After writing this post, I went to my living room to vacuum up the cereal crumbs from this morning and wouldn't you know it, my vacuum stopped working. Chock it up to another perfect day!

Recipe Review: A Year of Crockpotting's Brown Sugar Chicken

I have been rather lazy lately and not wanting to cook so what does someone on a budget with no air conditioning do? Break out their crock pot!!

I have been making all kinds of stuff from garlic studded pot roast to slow cooker "roasted" chicken. So good and perfect for the lazy chef. You just throw everything in the slowcooker and let it cook all day! Well in my search for even more crockpot goodies, I remembered that Brown Sugar Chicken recipe over at A Year of Crockpotting. She says that her kids call it "Candy Chicken" because it's so sweet. The original recipe calls for a WHOLE CUP of brown sugar. I firmly believe that I feed my children enough sugar what with all my baking escapades and all so after reading the reviews I cut the amount of sugar in half but pretty much did nothing else to the recipe and you know what? OMG it's so good!! It reminds me of my Grandma's Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs. That's exactly what this sauce tasted like.

So for those of you who don't feel like venturing over to A Year of Crockpotting, here is the recipe that I used. Also, I think the term "Sweet and Sour Chicken" is more appropriate. There wasn't much of a brown sugar taste left after I cut the amount of sugar in half...

Sweet and Sour Chicken


10 bone-in skinless chicken thighs and drumsticks
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (it's good and essential I promise!!)
2/3 cup vinegar (I used half white and half apple cider vinegar)
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 T soy sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper


Use a 4 quart crockpot for this recipe.

Plop the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The chicken is done when it is cooked through and has reached desired consistency. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

I promise that you will want to ladle the broth over the rice. It's so yummy!!

This is something I will DEFINATELY make again.

Incidentally I served this with Jasmine Rice and Cucumber and Onion Salad. My Cucumber and Onion Salad recipe will be coming soon. It's a perfect use up for all those summer cucumbers and so yummy too!!

For Sale! Get it while you can!

Just thought I would throw this out there but I have some things for sale right now and I don't know if anyone is interested but here goes...

http://s910.photobucket.com/albums/ac301/kristi-proverb31/

Leave a comment if you see something you like. The Punchbowl is already spoken for.

Contentment? What's that?

"I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern form me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances, I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:10-13 NIV

This morning I got up early and I was still feeling the effects of yesterday's heat exhaustion (don't work in the yard during mid-day when the sun is blazing). So I called in to work and said that I wasn't going to come in. The idea of driving to work with a mind splitting headache was just not a happy thought. The house was quiet early in the morning so I went to the kitchen grabbed a cool wet cloth, a tall glass of ice water and an Excedrin and plopped myself down on the couch with my iPod. While checking email and looking at Facebook I had an urge to check my bible verses app and see what brilliant quote it would bring me today. The past couple of days it hasn't brought me anything inspiring or relevant to what I have been going through lately but this morning, it was like a slap in the face (in a good way, if there is such a thing). This morning it brought me Philippians 4:13, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." Most days I will get my quote and find it in the bible so I can read what comes before it and what comes after it. It's extremely important to understand not just the quote but also what precedes and follows it. What precedes that quote is powerful! Being content no matter what.

It is no secret that I am not content. I was doing some self examination after reading this quote. Why am I not content. Well there is the obvious my husband being jobless, having virtually 0 dollars in our account, creditor calls everyday. But I think I could handle all of that. I think I could be content if I didn't... have kids. It hurts me to see my kids going without things. They have food and a roof over their heads but apart from Church we don't really go anywhere. They don't get to get out and see the world. We have the occasional hike or trip to the park but that's about it (cause gas costs money too you know). When my friends are talking about swim lessons and mutton busting my heart hurts for my children knowing that they can't have that. I realize that stuff is material. I realize that stuff is not important in the grand scheme of things but I feel as if my children are deprived on some level because I can't afford any of that, no summer programs, no T-ball, no soccer, nothing. I mean we don't even have grass in the backyard for them to play on. To me it's sad, it makes me feel like a bad parent and leaves me with a feeling of discontent. But I sit here and imagine what it would be like to just feel satisfied all the time no matter what life throws at you. What a dream that would be! To just be okay all the time, not worrying about anything because you know that at some point anything you need or have ever needed will be met.

I remember the days of plenty. I remember not having to struggle and that makes this period in my life even harder. I remember being able to take trips and not just to the zoo but back home to Hawaii, Las Vegas and Oregon. I remember vacations and eating out and even just the basic of paying my mortgage on time. And it's hard to put all of that out of my mind and just live in the moment and be satisfied with what today holds and not think about what tomorrow will bring.

The flesh worries, the flesh stresses out but when you live in the spirit the worries of the flesh disappear. I want to live in the spirit. I want to be like Paul and feel satisfied no matter what life brings to me. Most days I can. Some days are easier than others to be satisfied and content, but recently I have been growing more and more frustrated with my husband. And it's been harder and harder to feel content and satisfied. I have been feeling very angry and resentful and I know I shouldn't but I do. I don't talk about it with him and that's mostly the reason why I haven't blogged in so long cause if you can't say anything nice... But I'm trying to deal with it. I'm clinging so hard to my faith that God will deliver me and I keep telling myself that it will be soon. Realistically I know that everything happens in God's time and not mine but lately I've been feeling that God is trying to do something good NOW but Jeff is holding it back. I'm probably projecting, but that's how I feel.

Pray for me!

Summer Veggie Casserole

See that? That right there. That picture. That is just a big cake pan full of YUM I tell you what!

I bought some really nice looking zucchini and yellow squash today at the farmer's market and I wanted to do something different with them. I really do like sautéed zucchini and yellow squash and "buttered" noodles are great but I just wanted something different. So I was over at AllRecipes.com and I found this recipe. It looked good but I was concerned that there was no meat in it. Don't get me wrong "I" like a good meatless meal. It's the husband that has issues with meatless dinners. He claims that he needs more protein in his diet because his poop is green. TMI? So sorry. Well no I'm not. If I had to hear it so did you. You're welcome. :) Anyways... I made some adjustments to the original recipe and O.M.G. So yummy! Kylie just asked for seconds and I received much praise for being "the bestest Mommy ever" for making a "delicious yummy dinner". I'll take any praise really even though I know she's just buttering me up because she was in trouble earlier today for breaking the towel rod in the bathroom...

So the recipe Kristi, get to the recipe! Right, so here it is. ENJOY!!

Summer Veggie Casserole

1 zucchini, sliced thin
1 summer (yellow) squash, sliced thin
1/4 yellow onion, sliced thin
1 ripe tomato, sliced thin
2 garlic cloves, chopped fine
3/4 C mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 a 3 oz package of sliced pepperoni
garlic salt
pepper
onion powder
dried basil

Layer your veggies in a greased 8x8 pan. Between each veggie layer add a little bit of chopped garlic, some of your mozzarella cheese, and a sprinkling of your salt, pepper, onion powder and basil. I did zucchini, then tomato, then onion then summer squash.

Once you have added your last layer of veggies with the garlic, spices and cheese, top the casserole with your pepperoni and a little bit more cheese.

Bake your casserole, uncovered, in a 375 oven for 25 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

I served this with apple slices and garlic toast.

**A couple quick notes. I baked this in my toaster oven. Also, next time I may add some baking mix between the layers too. I think the baking mix would make the casserole a little more filling and it would help to absorb all the yummy juices that form at the bottom of the pan. If I try that, I will post an update.

Helen Hunt Falls 6-8-09

For my birthday last month we headed for a family day at Helen Hunt Falls. My goodness is it gorgeous out there! If you are in Colorado Springs and the surrounding area and have never been out there, you must must must take a trip out there. First of all the drive to Helen Hunt Falls is just gorgeous. You drive through Cheyenne Canon to get there. Cheyenne Canon is green and lush and beautiful. Jeff just loved the winding drive up there. He said that the park reminded him of being back in Oregon. He grew up off of a US forestry road so the smell of the trees and the towering pines took him back to his childhood. I REALLY need to take another trip up there.

Please Excuse Me

It's been a difficult 6 weeks for me so please excuse me for not updating my blog regularly.

I will start updating it again on a regular basis soon.

There are some family issues going on right now that have taken over my thoughts, dreams and every waking hour. My mind has been a blur and I haven't been myself. So as soon as I can get my head screwed on straight, posting will commence again.

Thank you all for your patience.

The Frugal Gourmet, Oh My!

I found a recipe this morning on The Pioneer Woman's website for homemade egg pasta.

You must must must try this recipe! It's easy. It does take a while though because you really have to knead the dough. I think next time I'll use my Kitchen Aid mixer. I'm sure it will make my life much easier. :)

To the basic dough recipe on the website, I did add just a little salt probably a 1/2 tsp full and a palm full of dried parsley flake (This was to 3 eggs and 1 1/2C of flour. If you read the original recipe, you'll see how you can gauge the ratios you need). Yes, I measure ala Rachel Ray. I really only use measuring spoons when I'm baking.

To go with this yummy yummy homemade pasta, I made a tomato cream sauce. Who says you have to spend a fortune to eat a gourmet meal!

Here is the recipe for my tomato cream sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp garlic, minced <--- no that's not a typo! I like garlic.
3 tomatoes diced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 C pasta cooking water
1/4 C half and half
1/4 C grated Parmesan Cheese

• Heat your pan to medium high heat.
  
• Add your olive oil and butter to the pan. When the butter starts to bubble add your garlic. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and lightly browned. Add your diced tomatoes and pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, salt and sugar. Cook about 2 minutes so the tomatoes can soften.
  
• Add your pasta cooking water. Turn your heat down to medium low and simmer your sauce for about 5 minutes.
  
• Add the half and half and Parmesan cheese and simmer for another minute. Taste your sauce and adjust your seasonings as necessary.
  
• Toss with your cooked pasta and serve with additional grated Parmesan cheese.
  

ENJOY!

Note: Jeff even ate two servings of this and it has no meat! Ms. Picky Kaitlynn ate this with a declaration of "Num, Num" "Num, Num".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay so a note on the frugality of this recipe. You know how I like to calculate how much something really cost me so here goes.

The homemade pasta:

1 C Flour is approximately $0.10 (1 5lb bag of flour is about $2.00. There are 18.75 C of flour in one bag. So to make it easier to calculate lets say 19C. So each cup is about $0.10)

1 egg is about $0.07 (I just bought eggs on sale for $0.88 a dozen)

Total for homemade pasta is: $0.46 (I ended up using about 2 1/2 C of flour total after kneading some in.)

The pasta sauce:

3 tomatoes, $1.00 (purchased in a 3 pk at Walmart)
garlic, nominal
butter, $0.06 (32 tbsp in a lb and I pay $2.00 for a lb of butter)
Olive Oil, $0.16 (I purchased a bottle of olive oil for $9.99, there are 133 Tbsp in the bottle)
Spices and water, nominal
Half and Half, $0.08 (there are 31 servings in the container of half and half I purchased for $1.12. I used 2 servings)
Parmesan cheese, $0.25 (I purchased a 24oz container of parm cheese for $3.00. I used probably about 2 oz)

Total for the pasta sauce: $1.55 (if you use fresh tomatoes from your garden, it would only cost $0.55! Can't beat that!!)

Total cost for the meal for 4 people, $2.01

SwagBucks!

Have you heard about this? You search online, you win points and you can redeem those points for things like gift cards, video games, even airline miles!

It's simple, you sign up and download their toolbar. In no time, you're searching the internet and earning points. Their search engine is powered by Google btw.

I have been using SwagBucks for a couple of months now and have racked up about 94 points. With those 94 points, I could get a ton of stuff, including MP3 downloads, gift cards, video games, books, etc but I'm saving up my points for the end of the year. I'm going to try to see if I can pay for most of my Christmas presents with SwagBucks. Wouldn't that be cool? To have a FREE Christmas?

There are other ways you can earn points on SwagBucks:

• You can send in your old cell phones, MP3 players, video games or consoles and earn more points. I just found a bunch of video games from Jeff's old PS1 that I'm going to send in to get more points.
  
• You can also get points when you shop online. There are partner sites like Hot Topic, Walmart, Lane Bryant and many others. For every $5.00 you spend, you get one SwagBuck.
  
• You can also get your friends to sign up. When your friends earn SwagBucks you do to!

So yes, if you sign up I will earn some SwagBucks. But the main bonus to you, would be to earn your own SwagBucks and invite your friends to earn SwagBucks. How great will you feel when you can get yourself something nice FOR FREE all for searching and shopping online!

If you are interested in signing up for SwagBucks just click on the image above and get yourself signed up!

Confessions: Why I Don't Like Mother's Day

Mother's Day is always a day where I try to keep my expectations low. After all, I try to tell myself, it's just another day. Another day in this mad and crazy house. I tell myself that if things don't go the way I want to, that's okay. I tell myself that I don't need to be celebrated...again it's just another day. It's just another day, an ordinary day. Nothing special about this day. I build myself up to think that way every year. And every year...When I wake up on Mother's Day...I'm still upset and disappointed.

People say that if you keep your expectations low, you'll never be disappointed. I think for me, I try to keep my expectations low but there is something at the back of my mind tugging at my heart saying, "what if..." What if this year it will be different. What if this year I will have my ideal Mother's Day. It is that very thought that raises up my expectations and then brings my world crashing down upon me every single Mother's Day.

This morning I wake up to a filthy kitchen and a filthy living room. I have been so busy the past couple of weeks. I have been working extra hours, shuffling the kids back and forth, drafting patterns, preparing and opening my girls boutique, stocking us back up on groceries and trying to do enough around the house so that we don't get too far behind on things. But no matter how much I do around here, I never seem to get caught up. While I'm running around trying to be super mom on 4 hours of sleep, my husband sits on his computer and plays games or looks for jobs. Sometimes he'll clean the living room. Sometimes he'll do a half load of dishes and sometimes, he'll actually pay attention to the kids like he's supposed to. Most of the time, I'm hurrying to do a load of dishes while I'm trying to cook dinner or yelling at the kids to pick up the living room when it's not all their mess or walking into the house after a day at work and then errands to find that Kaitlynn has marked her entire body with Kylie's pens and is drinking of of a cup that only God knows where she found.

I'm tired, I'm exhausted and I desperately need a break. More than that, I need a clean house. My mind is so unfocused because I'm thinking of all the 50 million things that need to get done around here on top of what I have to do for work (I still need to write this month's newsletter article). I just deep cleaned the kitchen 2 weeks ago and now it's trashed again. I go to work and come home and the dishes are piled to the faucet (one of my biggest pet peeves) and I know that it didn't look like that before I left...

So I guess this rant is really about two things:not feeling very appreciated and a husband who is being awfully self centered right now.

So now I'm off to do a load of dishes, make the girls breakfast, get them ready for church and head out the door. And when I come home, I know that the house will look exactly the way I left it. And when I come home, I know that I'm not going to want to be here. And when I come home, I know that I'll probably have to start making my own Mother's Day dinner or we will be eating at 10 o'clock tonight.

Yes, I Have Been MIA.

Okay so I bet you're wondering what happened to me and where I have been right. Well I have been a busy busy bee! I have been working on two other blogs as well as being a guest blogger on a third. I have been drafting all kinds of new clothing patterns and on top of all that I have just launched my new little girls clothing line.

Are you tired yet? I know I am.

So if you don't see me posting here, please check around... You never know where I'm going to pop up!

If you want to see my other blogs:

Future Homeowner Online is the blog I created for work. So far I haven't had too many reviews on it. So if you visit it, tell me what you think! BTW if you are in the Colorado Springs area, I post weekly grocery deals there.

KyLynn Designs is my new little girls clothing boutique. Custom clothes for your unique little princess. If you find something you love, drop me a line!

And my guest blogger spot appeared here. This blog is mostly geared toward Hawaii Moms. It's authored by my dear friend from high school Andrea.

I'm telling you I have been a busy busy...bee? beaver? duck? horse? Okay I'm strange and I need to have some coffee! :)

Another Great Recycling Project

Recycling, re-purposing. Whatever you call it, this project is super easy and quick.

Not to long ago I purchased a copy of Amanda Soule's "The Creative Family." In it, she describes the idea of re-purposing clothing. Her book details how to take an adult shirt and turn it into a pair of kidlet pants. This idea of clothing re-purposing intrigued me so I started to google it and I found a ton of information. But the best one was a tutorial on how to turn a man's t-shirt into yoga pants.

I filed this tutorial on my to do list and forgot about it for a while until I was in Goodwill the other day. It was military discount day, 15% off so I figured that if I could find a plain black shirt in decent condition, I would give it a go. I found a shirt and checked out for all of $.90, went home washed the shirt and started to cut it up. Really from start to finish this project took me about 45 minutes. The extra 15 minutes were for seam ripping and restitching when I sewed a seam on the wrong side.

This is a must try! It comes together quickly and easily. And once you're done no one is going to know that your new yoga pants used to be a man's t-shirt!

I would take a picture but I'm kinda wearing the pants now and I need to shave my legs. You're welcome for the visual. :)

Happy Earth Day, Plant a Garden!

So after my long and tired rant yesterday, I thought I would spread some good cheer today with a tutorial. Now I'm not always the best at explaining how to do things, that's why I hesitated at posting tutorials before. But this project is easy, so I figured that even a dunce like me could explain it.

To celebrate earth day, my daughter and I decided to make a seed starting tray out of a recycled egg carton. Are you ready?

Recycled Egg Carton Garden

Gather your materials:



A paper egg carton with the top removed (save the top, we'll use it later)
Seed packets, here we have Marigolds, Daises, Sunflowers and Rudibeckas
Soil that has been mixed with water until it's damp
A spoon to scoop the soil
A Travel sized (ours was 1 oz) pump bottle

Step 1:



Use the spoon (we switched to a plastic one) to scoop dirt into each egg cup.

Step 2:



Add your seeds to the egg cups. The size of the seeds determined how many we added. You don't want to crowd them after all. The Rudibecka seeds were small so we added 5-6 per egg cup. The sunflower seeds were large so we added 2 per cup.

Step 3:



Add a bit more dirt on top of the seeds to cover. I told Kylie just to sprinkle some additional dirt on top. She eventually decided to use the spoon because she felt that she wasn't getting enough dirt on top just by sprinkling.

Step 4:



Water your garden. This is where I had a flash on inspiration. I filled the travel sized pump bottle with water and let her pump out some water onto her newly planted seeds. Brilliant right! This way she doesn't over water the plants. Two squirts is all you need. Sometimes I really surprise myself at how smart I can be. :)

Step 5:



Your done! This is where the top of the egg carton comes in. Place it under your newly planted seedlings to prevent too much seepage from the paper container getting on your table tops. Place in a sunny spot and let the children watch in amazement as their seeds grow.

Speaking of growing seeds. Check this out!



I just started these seeds last Friday and look! I'm so impressed with myself because normally I have an extremely brown thumb. Can I tell you the only thing I could grow before was aloe. And that's only because it's a cactus and if I forget to water it for a week or two...or three. It's not such a big deal. I can't wait until after Mother's Day! That's when they say that it's safe to plant things in the ground out here.

Lending a Helping Hand or Not...

This is something I have been thinking and talking about (to Jeff) all day. When your husband puts in his ear buds and turns his head toward you and with a glazed over look says, "Ah huh." You know that you have probably talked a subject to death. But I think no matter how much I talk about it, obsess over it really, I think it will continue just to bug me.

So dear readers, I'm going to tell you a story. If you read my blog, even if I don't know you personally, please feel free to respond with your thoughts...

An old man sits on his motorized shopping cart, in a busy parking lot. He wheezes, trying to take deep breaths from his oxygen tank while struggling to put his groceries into his cherry red S.U.V. He's alone, and in obvious need of help. People walk by him, but he's not unnoticed. A young couple strolls by on their way into the store. Their eyes wander and rest on this man. They stare at him as they walk by and just as they pass him, their eyes shift focus. The doors to the store are calling. The scene repeats itself over and over. An old man struggles, people walk by noticing him but not caring. Until...

This was the scene at Walmart this morning. I noticed this man as I pulled into the parking lot. His car was parked in a handicapped stall by the main entrance. As I pulled in, I noticed that people were staring at him as they passed but at no time, did anyone ask him if he needed help. He was clearly struggling and in need of assistance. He was having a hard time pulling himself up to put his groceries into his car. I parked, got out of my car and went over to him and asked him if he needed help. He thankfully accepted. His name is Sam by the way.

I just can't understand how people can walk by someone who is in obvious need of help and not stop. It's self-centered and selfish. It's one of my biggest irks. But sadly it's the culture that we live in. If there is nothing in it for us, why do it? I just don't want to get involved. I'm in a rush. The excuses go on and on. I was in a rush this morning. Jeff was at home with Kaitlynn. He was tired and in a bad mood and had already yelled at me the day before for "taking too long". I didn't want to upset him but at the same time, I knew that helping someone was more important than irritating my husband.

But this is not the first time something like this happened. There was one occasion in particular that happened a couple of years ago that was much more dramatic.

Jeff and I were on our way home. We had been helping one of our friend's parent's unload their moving truck. As we were driving home, there was a white car rolling down a hill, backwards. The hill wasn't very steep and the car was rolling slowly. There were at least 5 cars in front of us that passed this car and did nothing. As we drove past, we noticed that there was no adult driver. There was a child about 7 years old in the drivers seat, a baby and a 2 or 3 year old. None were wearing seat belts or in car seats. I yelled at Jeff and told him to help them. He stopped the car, jumped out and ran over to the kids. I jumped into the drivers seat and drove the car into the gas station and waited for him. The kids were scared but eventually let Jeff into the car. He was able to unlock the steering wheel and pull the car into the gas station. Right as Jeff pulled the car into the gas station, a frantic mother sprinted over from the strip mall across the road. She was thankful and obviously shaken.

Can you imagine what would have happened if we had not stopped? These kids were rolling into on coming traffic. It just takes one person who is not paying attention and the outcome could have been much different. But what about the other cars who passed this trio of distressed kids? I don't know. Maybe they just didn't want to get involved, after all there was nothing in it for them.

Tomorrow is Earth Day. So how about a challenge. Instead of thinking about going green and all the things you can do to save this planet, why not focus on a smaller picture. Notice someone and care. Help someone with their groceries. Pay for the lunch of the person behind you in the drive-thru. Practice some kind of random act of kindness. Because if we don't take care of the people of this planet, why would care about trying to save it.

Okay so I'm feeling a lot preachy tonight. But this is a topic that is near and dear to my heart. I believe it's fundamental to help those in need in whatever way we can. I believe that it's part of the reason why we are put on this earth, to take care of each other and respect each other.

Rant over.

Jam, From Scratch!

As I cooked this jam on Sunday morning I thought to myself:

"Wow, look at me. I'm so awesome! I'm making jam. This is so cool. I could totally live in the 1800's. I could totally be one of those frontier wife's. I make jam. I make bread. I'm learning new ways to cook from scratch."

Then I woke up from this haze to the smell of burning sugar. My jam had overflowed and I realized that I definitely could not be a frontier wife. I like my KitchenAid mixer. I like electricity. I don't think that I could light my own stove. And forget about running water. In short, I realized that I'm not as high speed as I thought I was. But back to the jam...

This jam is so good, and so easy to make. It's a refrigerator jam, there is no pectin, no storing this on the shelf. It should last about 3 weeks in the fridge. However, I don't think it's going to stick around that long. Jeff says that he is very impressed with the way it turned out. He doesn't think I can do a lot of things...I love proving him wrong!

This jam is based off of a recipe I found in the book Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy. Her recipe calls for equal parts berries to sugar. I found that too sweet for my taste. I also added some apple cider vinegar. In my mind, the vinegar will help to preserve the jam. If it doesn't, don't burst my bubble. But it did turn out surprisingly well. Okay, so I sounded like a dork when I yelled at Jeff, "Look jam! I made jam!" Let's just say I know what people are getting for Christmas this year...

Refrigerator Jam

1 C Sugar
1.5 C Berries (I used a frozen mixed berry blend that had strawberries and blackberries in it. I defrosted the 12oz bag and added the entire contents, juice and all to the pot)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

In a heavy bottomed 3 qt or larger saucepan, add your berries, sugar and apple cider. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat (watch it or it will boil over and you will have to scrape burnt sugar off your cook top). Once your jam has come to a boil, turn it to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally (or the sugars will burn) until the mixture has reduced by half. I would say that this took about 15-20 minutes.

Transfer your jam from the pot to your container and let cool. Once the mixture has cooled store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.

I Covet Thy Bread

So my friend and I were talking the other day. I told her that I was baking homemade bread and first she told me that she kinda hated me and then she told me that she coveted my bread. I thought it was funny.

Well I thought I would share that "coveted" bread recipe. I have just started baking bread and I find it extremely satisfying. The aroma that permeates the air when I'm baking, the feel of the dough as I shape it into loaves. The rising... Yeah not to thrilled about that. And this is a recipe that I have been working on. I'm still perfecting it. I baked two more loaves today and we'll see how they turned out tomorrow.

I have to say this about homemade bread. My 5 year old who used to absolutely REFUSE to eat the crust off of her bread, will eat the crust on this and not only does she eat the crust but she eats it first because she says it's so delicious. My bread-phobic 2 year old. Yes, she's not a fan of store bought bread (I don't think she's my kid sometimes), begs for this bread. If I'm eating some and I don't share she folds her arms in disgust and stomps away. Yes, it's that good!! So why should I keep this recipe to myself. I need to share right. So here it is...ENJOY!

Kylie's Favorite Bread

To a bowl add:

1 pkt or 1 tbsp yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 C warm water (110-115F)

Let the yeast proof (get foamy) for 15 minutes while you prepare your other ingredients

Once the yeast is proofed add to the bowl of your mixer (I use a Kitchen Aid, I love it!):

1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 C oil
1 C milk

mix to combine

Now add your flour:

2 C whole wheat
3 C all purpose

Mix to combine. Add more flour as needed (I do it a 1/4C at a time). The dough is stiff enough as soon as it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Once this happens turn your mixer to high and "knead" for about 30 seconds and then turn the dough out into a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk. I like to stick it in the microwave. That way little hands don't want to touch it. It takes about 1 hour for it to double.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface and divide in half. Roll out the dough (or just flatten out into a rectangle with your hands) and then roll it up jelly roll style and pinch the ends in. Repeat for the other half and place into greased bread pans. Return to your warm spot and let rise a second time until double in bulk again. This will take about another 30-45 minutes.

Once it has risen a second time. Place in a 350 (375 if you're high altitude like me) oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when thumped. I find that 25 minutes is perfect.

After all that hard work, treat yourself to a warm slice smeared with butter. So good!

Whirlwind

It has been a crazy couple of weeks to say the least. I was able to get some extra hours at work. Jeff was able to help some friends move back to Colorado and they graciously paid him for his time. Easter was Sunday so I, in true Kristi fashion waited until the last minute to start making presents. In a matter of days I managed to make felt pencil rolls, easter dresses, felt eggs, treasure boxes and Cletus and Bob. The fabric dollhouses? Yeah that didn't happen as planned. I was not paying attention and thought I would be high speed and didn't read the directions. Then I got frustrated because I was an idiot and pushed that project to the side for a while. A while might be Christmas. Who knows.

The finances are looking up for the moment. I filed our taxes on Wednesday. Yes I know, procrastination queen. But it looks like we'll be getting a good chunk of money back. So that takes a huge weight off of our shoulders for now. We should be good until June. I'm most definately happy about that. But in the midst of our financial crisis, a business was born. Friends started ordering the dresses that I make for my girls. I'm coming up with a website soon, so be on the lookout for that! I have two styles that I'm currently making and I'm in the process of drafting two more patterns/styles. I'm excited. It's slow going right now. Perfecting patterns is a pain but so well worth it in the end.

So big things are happening. And right now, everything is going well. Gotta love when that happens!

Da Bunny Da Bunny Oh I Love Da Bunny

Yeah okay, sorry. We watch far too much Veggie Tales around here. But I do love this little bunny that I made.

Isn't he cute? His name is Cletus. I'm sure his name will change though once he is gifted to one of the lucky little girls in my house for Easter. I still have to make his brother Bob for the other little girl in my house.

But I really do think they will like him. He is based on a pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. You need to sign up for an account to access the pattern. But the accounts are free and you gain access to all kinds of free patterns. This particular pattern is called "Best Bunny". Isn't he cute?

I did make a couple alterations to the pattern however. The head and body are one piece. The pattern suggested to make the head first and then the body. The thought of sewing the body to the head just didn't thrill me so I made it all one piece by following the body pattern in reverse. Also the hands were supposed to be 6 count single crochet all the way around. I did the initial 6 count single crochet and increased it to 8 on the second row and continued that all the way up. I think they look better that way. Also I shortened the ears a bit. By then I was tired of crocheting and did 23 instead of 26 rows. I also didn't crochet a tail like the pattern suggested. I did a pom pom tail. But I think he is adorable. If you understand what I just said...more power to you. :)

He didn't take me that long to make. Maybe 1.5 - 2 hours give or take. He will make a sweet addition to any Easter basket! I hope if you are handy with an H hook, you give him a try.

The Monotony of it All

I am bored. Oh so bored. Lately, my life seems like it's a never ending carousel of sameness. Nothing changes. Nothing is different. Nothing is exciting. My day is usually this:

Wake up
Get Ready
Wake up Kylie
Make Sure Kylie gets ready
Make Breakfast for Kylie
Take Kylie to school
Go to work (or come home and then make Kaitlynn breakfast and then get on Facebook while Kaitlynn plays and watches cartoons)
Pick Kylie from school. This is where the teacher usually tells me about what Kylie did wrong that day.
Come home and make Kaitlynn lunch and Kylie a snack.
Put Kaitlynn down for a nap
Wash dishes
Kaitlynn gets up and I change her diaper
Break up a fight
Play on Facebook
Break up a fight
Punish one or both of my children.
Make dinner
Shuffle the kids out of the kitchen while I make dinner
Watch TV
Tell my kids 10x that they need to stop playing with each other and go to sleep.
Watch TV while I play on Facebook
Go to bed.

Everyday, is exactly the same. Unless it's the weekend and then you can just omit taking Kylie to school and picking her up and add in a couple more "Break up a fight".

The monotony makes me nutty. We don't go anywhere or do anything. Going places (even to free events) costs money in some way because well...gas is not free. Everyday is the same. Some days there is laundry to do. Some days there is mopping and on Sundays we go to church.

My new favorite phrase lately has been "I hate my life" and you know what I do. I am sick of it being so darn boring. But right now, I don't know what I can really do to change it. There is no money to do anything. I have managed to stretch one tank of gas for about a week and a half now.

I just need some (good) excitement. Something to motivate me and give me a good swift kick in the butt. But right now, nothing excites me and I'm short tempered all the time.

Yes, I'm grateful for what I do have. I am grateful that I can still feed my family every day. That we still have a roof over our head. There are a lot of people who can't even claim that. But the sameness of it all is driving me insane.

Well, for now I'll take solace in a large marshmallow brownie and Bones. Oh David Boreanz, take me away. :)

Late Night Thoughts: What's On My Mind Now

So it's late, but I have been ignoring my blog lately. I've had a lot of things on my mind and have thus been immersing myself in Facebook frivolity and trying to think out the million and one thoughts swimming around in my head. Btw, don't join facebook, don't play bejeweled blitz or mafia wars. Facebook is evil.

There are just so many things I need to get done. Easter is two weeks away and I still have not done the girls Easter Dresses or presents. I am attempting to make this. I often have lofty ambitions so we shall see if this comes to fruition. I haven't even started putting it together, but I did buy all the fabric for it so that's a start.

I have spent all day on Facebook when there are so many other productive things I should be doing. Like cleaning the house, going through stuff in the basement, washing dishes, baking bread, I could go on. Facebook is a colossal waste of my time. But it's so distracting and that's what I need most of the time.

I am tired of having creditors call me, but until we have the money to pay them off, I guess I'll just have to deal with the phone calls.

Jeff needs to lose 5 inches off his waist before he can get back in. Oy vay! I have no idea what we are going to do until then. I guess we'll just have to figure it out.

We still have not come up with the money to pay our mortgage. This is a to be continued thing. I have to talk to my investment planner to see what the penalties are for withdrawing from my retirement account. This is something I really don't want to do but when you are stuck, you need to find a way out.

Bonus, I finally figured out what I wanted. My boss and I were having a conversation. They are following the teachings of "The Secret". Since they started just a couple of weeks ago, they have been crossing a lot of things off their dream list. They are even buying a new house, they move in Thursday. Let me tell you it was nearly impossible for them to buy a house. New lending laws and all but everything fell into place and they are moving. I am unpacking the office Friday. So that inspired me. I'm not one to follow something like "The Secret". But the bible shares many of the same teachings. So I am going to "become what you believe" (Matthew 9:29, The Message). I have yet to make a list. Maybe I'll do it here on the blog and you can follow my progress. That makes me accountable.

I want to make a new purse. I saw this pattern online. It would make a perfect Easter purse don't you think? I just have to find some kind of closure for it. I already purchased the fabric out of the remnant bin at Walmart. It's this really pretty vintage white/off white fabric. I'll post pictures "if" I ever get to it.

I need to clean and organize my sewing area. Right now it's currently occupying the entire dining room table. I would ideally like to have a dedicated sewing space but that is not an option right now. I would love to have it in my basement but alas there are no available outlets down there and it's unfinished. So this is another work in progress. I just have to figure out where best to store all of my sewing stuff where it is accessible and out of the way. Hmmm... More thoughts on this to come.

So as you can tell this is a very random to do list really. But it's what has been on my mind and what has been keeping me from posting. I start thinking about everything that I need to do and everything that's bugging me and all the topics I want to blog on and nothing gets done. Story of my life. So bear with me in the next few weeks as I work through some of my "stuff"..

Oh and look for a new blog post coming soon. I have a desire in my heart to write about being the queen of denial when it comes to pregnancy. No I'm not pregnant right now. Thank God. Knock on wood. But it's something that has been on my heart to put down in words. That will be coming soon to a blog post near you.

P.S. Oh and please forgive me for any spelling or grammar errors. It's late, I'm tired and I don't feel like proof reading. Stream of consciousness is so much better if not proof read. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

Good night and so long!

I Can't Stop Myself

Okay so now that I am feeling better what am I craving? CHOCOLATE!!! And boy do I love my Gramma for aiding my addiction! She just recently sent us a care package and in it was this...



Do you see the one with the red oval around it? That's what I'm chowing down on. Oh.My.Goodness. You have not experienced happiness until you have put one of these yummy yummy gems into your mouth. It's a luscious macadamia nut enrobed in crunchy toffee surrounded by creamy milk chocolate. I'm not usually a fan of milk chocolate but these things, OH! So good! So sinful. So addictive. I need to stop eating them right now. Stop I say.

If you don't have a nice Gramma that lives in Hawaii, then go to www.maunaloa.com and order yourself some. RIGHT NOW! GO! HURRY!

Fabu Chicken and Noodles

Thanks to an apple, a hard boiled egg, two Excedrin and a bowl of Chicken and Noodles, I'm feeling much better. No more nausea and no more dizzy spells. No the Chicken and Noodle recipe is not magic by any means, but it is quick, easy, cheap and delicious. Just the thing I needed after two days of being under the weather.

Kristi's Chicken and Noodles less than $1.25 for lunch for 3 people

1 C small pasta shape (I used macaroni but any small shape would work), about $0.30
1 C frozen mixed veggies, about $0.30
1/2 C diced chicken, about $0.25

Sauce *:

1 C water, negligible
1 pkt or cube no sodium chicken bouillon, $0.16
1/2 tsp onion powder, negligible
1/2 tsp garlic powder, negligible
1/2 tsp thyme, negligible
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning, negligible
3/4 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt **, negligible
2 Tbsp flour, negligible


Cook your pasta according to package directions. While the pasta is cooking whisk the sauce ingredients together until everything is well incorporated and there are no lumps. Set aside.

In the last minute of cooking, add your frozen mixed veggies and bring back to a boil.

Drain the pasta and veggies and add your chicken and sauce. Cook on high heat until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is heated through.

Serve and enjoy!

*If you are not like my family and have no issues with dairy then you can double the recipe and use a can of undiluted cream of something soup instead of making the sauce.

**We don't usually consume a whole lot of salt so if this isn't salty enough for you please feel free to add more.

I'm Back!

It has been one interesting week. A week of conflict for Jeff and I and a week of illness for Jeff and I. Amazing how the children escaped it. Now we are in full blizzard mode.

We started the week in a "great way" with a fight; and we are ending the week in a great way, our stomachs are finally starting to resemble normal.

The children have ruled the roost the past couple of days. They have been pigging out on junk food and canned soup. It's about all I have been able to make for them. Today I am tackling a mountain of dishes and laundry and toys. Things tend to pile up when both parents are sick and the kids run freely through the house. You know you aren't feeling well when you allow the kids to have a fruit roll up, arare and sweet confetti puffed rice (I googled and googled this and could not for the life of me find it online) for lunch.

I'm still not 100% today. I'm feeling a little dizzy and still a little queasy but that is so much better than being bed ridden like I was a couple of days ago. My entire body hurt and I was well...to lack a better way to phrase it, peeing out my butt. I know you just really needed to know that. I know. Hey I'm the queen of TMI, what can I say.

Jeff is just now starting to feel better. He absolutely refused to listen to anything I had to say and thus made himself feel a whole lot worse before he felt any better. Yesterday even though he was still having his "issues" as mentioned above and throwing up, he was eating fruit roll ups, strawberries and drinking orange juice. No wonder he was up all night again last night, while I slept fairly well considering. Now that hes listening to me and eating what he's supposed to and drinking his ginger tea, he's finally starting to feel better.

Score one for the mom! I wish I could say that this would teach him to listen to me because I'm ALWAYS right. But I know it won't. One can only hope. Look for a couple more posts today as I catch up on not posting for over a week.

When Will I Learn?

So all day today I had a raging migraine. From 7am until just about a half an hour ago. There are a couple of reasons why I get migraines:

1. Poor Diet.
Either too much salt or sugar or both too much salt and sugar.
2. Dehydration.
Not drinking enough water.
3. Caffeine withdrawl.
I like my coffee...a little too much sometimes.

So what was the cause of my migraine today? All of the above. Yep, that would be why I titled this post, "When Will I Learn?" 'cause I don't. I don't ever learn. I eat crap, don't drink enough water and get my body used to too much caffeine and the next day I'm layed out all day with a queasy stomach and hot needles burying themselves into my forehead.

So what finally got rid of my headache? 2 cups of coffee, 4 Excedrine tablets, 64oz of water and a plate of migas.

And why am I writing this? Well because I think you care and if you don't, I needed to share. :)

Nummy Nummy Choctat Take

That's all Kaitlynn said as she plowed her way through this oh so good cake! Sorry there is no picture. I could take a picture of the empty bowl...

But this cake is fabulous and a must try!

I decided to try a recipe from "Not Your Mothers Slow Cooker Cookbook". There are some really great recipes in this book but none I have tried is as good as this. Could be that it was chocolate cake? You can't really go wrong with chocolate cake. But this isn't just any chocolate cake. It makes this pudding sauce at the bottom and wow...I have no words! Run out and get yourself a 1.5 qt slow cooker and make this...NOW!

Hot Fudge Spoon Cake

Cake:
3/4C all purpose flour
1/4C baking cocoa powder
2/3C sugar
1 1/2tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2C milk
2 Tbsp butter (melted)
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping:
1/4C baking cocoa powder
1/4C granulated sugar
1/4C firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2C boiling water

1. Grease the slow cooker
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center and add the milk, melted butter, canola oil, and vanilla, stir in the liquid ingredients until well blended. Batter will be thick. Spread evenly into slow cooker
3. To make the topping, combine all the ingredients in another bowl (I washed out the original bowl and just used that. I hate having a lot of dishes to wash) and whisk until smooth. Gently pour the batter in the cooker; DO NOT STIR. Cover and cook on high until puffed and the top layer is set about 2hrs to 2 hrs 15 minutes.
4. Turn off the slow cooker and let stand 30 minutes before serving. (I did not do this. I served it as soon as it was done and it was GOOD!).

ENJOY!! I know you will. This is the BEST cake ever! It makes this well...hot fudge sauce at the bottom of the slow cooker. Oh man so good!

As for cost this is a very frugal dessert. I bought several containers of baking cocoa when they were on sale at the commissary for $1.00. Yep and they were the dark chocolate variety too. My favorite. The flour I purchase at King Soopers for $1.99. It's the cheapest in town even compared to Walmart and the Commissary. So pretty much for pennies you can have a great dessert! The original recipe called for 1/4C of melted butter but I substituted half for canola oil because I'm running low on butter. You could use all canola oil and save yourself even more money.

Gluten Free/Dairy Free variation: Replace the flour with GF flour. Replace the butter and canola oil with coconut oil and replace the milk with your choice of milk replacement. We prefer vanilla rice milk.

A Lazy Monday Afternoon Walk

There is a great area near our house. It's a very light walk with lots to see along the way. Kaitlynn walked most of it all by herself. That is except when I had to pick her up because she was very mad that the rocks on the trail would not get out of her way. I don't ask why. Mine is only to make the, "Out My Way! Out My Way Wock!" stop so that we can continue our walk. But it was still a very nice walk and it was a great day for it. It was wonderful family time together without any distractions and the girls enjoyed seeing all of the animals that called the area home. Kaitlynn even tried to convince us that she saw a snake. She was very adamant about it too. At one point she was even calling to "the snake" which was just a fallen branch by the trail. Kylie enjoyed investigating and yelling out whenever she saw a bird or a squirrel. I definitely think that we need to start going on family walks more often. Even sour puss Jeff had a good time.

Here are just a couple of pictures from our walk today.



This was at the very beginning of the trail head. Kaitlynn was just walking along as happy as can be. She was singing to herself, "I walking! I walking!" This while Kylie was trotting up ahead. She kept trying to get to the next sign so we could read and "learn 'bout everything."



Some of the local wildlife. A goose sitting on her nest.



Some kind of bird in the cattails. I'm sure that there was a sign that told me the exact name of this bird but I can't remember.



Some ducks in the marsh.

And finally for your amusement...



Do you see what Jeff's shirt says? Hah! That is his perfect day. I believe that I got him that shirt for his birthday. It's actually his favorite shirt even though he knows I got it to poke fun at him!

The First Haircut

I remember when Kylie got her first haircut. She and Daddy both got their haircut at the same time. We went to the barber shop at the PX. She was 2 and so very excited to get her first haircut. She sat perfectly still and she was done in about 10 minutes. We saved the hair from that haircut but it was lost when we moved to our new house.

Kaitlynn on the other hand...

Kaitlynn just had her first haircut about 3 weeks ago. She did not sit perfectly still. She looked everywhere completely overstimulated by the lights and the toys at Kiddie Kutters.



She kept trying to look in the mirror to see what the stylist was doing. Every time the stylist put her head down she perked it back up to look at what the other kids in the salon were doing. That is until she was given her lollipop.



Then you couldn't get her to look up. It was funny. All she was concerned about after that was getting that darn wrapper off. She was perfectly still after that.

I do have to say that the cutest thing was right after the first picture was taken. Right after that, the stylist cut Kaitlynn's long bangs and she proclaimed to everyone within a 5 mile radius, "I SEE!". It was very cute.

Sorry there is no pose with her new haircut. That's when my camera batteries promptly died!

Got Hope?

It's been a while since I blogged about the Sunday church message. But something Pastor Mike Routt said made me think that I need to do it today. If not for any other reason than to share some of my testimony.

As you can probably guess by the title, today's message was about "hope" and more specifically the hope that we receive through salvation and a personal relationship with our savor Jesus Christ. I have hope. I have more faith in my God than my President. I have more faith in what my God can do for me than what Wall Street can do for my mutual fund. I have so much faith that I wait on my God to help me through the dark times. As the song says, "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord". I have hope because I know who my God is. And that He is greater than my circumstances.

Let's put it this way, this month Jeff and I don't have enough money to pay our mortgage. They approved us for unemployment benefits through the military but not through Jeff's last job. This has caused something to go screwy in their system and our phone doesn't want to stay charged for the two hours it takes to get through to someone (no joke, you call them and they say that the wait time is 2 hours if you can even get through). Refiling unemployment, has gotten us nowhere. Now if I didn't have hope, I would be really freaking out about not being able to pay our mortgage. We even have creditors calling about bills that we just can't pay right now. Pre-Salvation Kristi would be freaking out. Freaking out about my credit score, freaking out about the mortgage payment, etc. But me, right now, in this place, I'm not freaking out. Most normal people would be right? Well I know that my God is bigger than my circumstances. I know that he is bigger than the amount in my bank account. I know that my God will take care of me. He has been so far. Hope breeds faith. If I didn't have hope I couldn't have the faith and the knowledge that I will be delivered from the mess we currently find ourselves in.

Now take Jeff on the other hand. My husband who says he is a non-believer. He doesn't have hope. He has a sour attitude about the whole thing. He's having a hard time finding a job and it's even a bigger blow to his ego to not be able to provide for his family. He stresses and struggles everyday and finds his solace in playing World of Warcraft which doesn't really help but allows him to take his mind off of his situation for a couple of hours. He doesn't have the hope, faith or peace about our situation as I do and believe me it's hard not to let his attitude rub off on me. But I truly have peace about it. I told Pastor Mike Farnham a couple of weeks ago, that it is very liberating to be able to give our problems to God and let Him worry about it for us. It took a long time for me to learn how to do that. And there are some days that are better than others. There are some days where the doubts creep in, I'm human it happens. But those days are fewer and fewer now.

In our situation, hope and faith are extremely important. I pray and I wait on the Lord. I know that He will deliver and take care of me and my family. That knowledge has led me through some very dark times. It has helped me through 2 deployments, dealing with post-partum depression, and unemployment. If I didn't have hope, I don't know where I would be.

Do you have hope?

If you are interested in reading the scripture passage that we talked about in church today, please look to Mark 5: 24-35 the story of the woman who bled for 12 years. It was through her hope and faith that she was healed.

Feeling Rather Unaccomplished

I don't know why I read my class bulletin. Every time I read my alumni magazine it makes me feel unaccomplished and a little annoyed. Part of the alumni magazine is to give updates on what is going on at the school right now. The other part of the magazine is to highlight the alumni and their accomplishments. Of course this being the first bulletin since the inauguration, there was a 6 page spread on our new president Barak Obama. Oh didn't you know? He graduated from my high school. Following the 6 page spread of President Obama, there was an 8 page spread about Punahou grads that are making an impact on the "Big Apple". Amongst them were a Tony award winning producer, the co-founder or NorthStar Capital Investment Group, a Broadway actress and a up and coming designer that incidentally graduated the year after I did. If that doesn't give someone an inferiority complex I don't know what will.

So why do I do this to myself every three months? Well I do like to keep up to date on the goings on at my former high school. I like to read the section about my class and see what they are doing now. But geez when friends of mine from high school go on to be engineers, defense contractors, teachers, doctors and lawyers and I'm here being a "mostly stay at home mom" with an unemployed husband, there is some jealousy there I'm not going to lie. Not that I don't like my life most days. Having my girls is probably the most important thing that I have ever done in my life, but I still wonder... What if I finished college? What if I hadn't gotten married so young? What if I went to Carnegie Mellon? What if I went to DePaul? What would my life be like now? Maybe it this is just my quarter life crisis talking. Maybe this is just the winning drive that Punahou instills in you. I don't know. But sometimes I can't help but think that I could have been more, I could have done more.

Yes, all this from reading the stupid magazine!

Soup! Soup!

Wow! Two posts in one day. Crazy right! LOL!

Well I thought I would let you in on another fabulous recipe that I'm trying today for the first time... Pasta Fagioli Soup. With one kid sick today and another looking like shes about to get sick and a husband who is trying to lose weight, what the heck do you make for dinner? Soup!

Can I just say, I love soup! There is nothing more comforting on a cold day or when your not feeling well than a hearty bowl of soup. I grew up eating mostly Progresso soup out of the can. Now nothing against soup out of a can but it just doesn't stretch that far. To feed a family of four you need a couple of cans of soup at least. When you make your own soup, you can have leftovers for days that just keep tasting better and better everyday. Though I don't think that this soup, like my Chicken Tortilla Soup will last very long. It smells great and I so can't wait to taste it.

You know me, I never make a recipe without making some alterations first. I used what I had on hand. Improvisation can be a fantastic thing!

Here is my version of Pasta Fagioli Soup! (Total Cost: about $3.00)

3/4 C browned ground beef (this is more ground beef from my stash that I mentioned the other day), $0.59
1/4 medium onion chopped, negligible
3 cloves of garlic chopped, negligible
1/2 C carrots chopped, probably about $0.10 (I bought a 2lb bag on sale for $1.00)
1 15oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes (sniff sniff, my last can!), $0.98
1 15oz can white kidney beans or cannelini beans, $0.50 purchased on sale
3 pkts beef bouillon(Sodium Free Herbox variety), $0.48
3 C water, negligible
2 C homemade marinara sauce, FREE!!! (How can this be free? Well I factored the cost into a dinner from another night. And this is what was leftover. Nice huh!)
1/2 T Texas Pete, negligible (I purchased a Costco sized bottle at the commissary for about $1.50)
1/2 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt, negligible
1/4 tsp pepper, negligible
1/4 C dry pasta (I used Barilla Picollini Penne), $0.13 (purchased on sale for $1.00/box. 1/4 C is about 1/8 of a box)

Add your browned ground beef to the crockpot.

Chop up the carrots, onion, and garlic. Add it to the crockpot.
Drain and rinse the beans (didn't rinse my beans...bad Kristi!), and add them. Add the whole can of tomatoes, and the pasta sauce. Add the beef bouillon and water. Add the salt, pepper, and Texas Pete. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. When the vegetables are tender, stir in the 1/2 cup of dry pasta.

Cover and cook for another hour on low, or until the pasta is tender. It will swell quite a bit.

Serve with a bit of parmesan cheese if you have it.

I'm going to serve this tonight with some homemade yeast rolls. Yum!

Warning: Do not try the yeast roll recipe. You will find yourself addicted to it. It makes a ton of rolls and can be used in many ways. I used it to make pizza dough the other day. Do not make rolls and eat them with strawberry jam and butter. Do not make them into bread sticks and brush with melted butter and garlic powder. Do not use as hamburger buns. I beg you! These are not good with your morning coffee.

ENJOY!

Potty Training...Oy!

So the other day, Kaitlynn decides that she needs to start using the toilet, "like a big girl". This through no prompting from me. But the problem is, she doesn't know how to empty her bladder when shes on the potty so we end up with a 1 hour span of her going tinkle tinkle, getting off the potty, putting her diaper back on and then within 2 minutes saying she has to go again.

I would say about 80% she will actually pee in the potty. The rest of the time its for sitting and playing with things within reach.

I have absolutely no experience in potty training. Strange right? I have a 5 year old. You would think I would know how to potty train. But Kylie being as stubborn as her mama, didn't want to use the toilet. Period. She loved to pee in her pull up. I think it was because she knew that it irritated me. She did however use the toilet for "stinky" because one day she got sick and I, being tired of cleaning up the child and the clothes and the floor and her general area, plopped her on the toilet. From that day on, she did not poop in her pull up. But getting her to pee on the potty with regularity was like pulling teeth. So it was not ultimately me who got her to do it. It was my 13 (at the time) year old babysitter. Kylie really looked up to her and she told Kylie that she smelled bad and that she needed to be a big girl and pee on the potty. And in 5 minutes... Kylie was completely potty trained. See, stubborn! It's not that she couldn't do it, she just didn't want to.

So now I find myself in unfamiliar territory. Potty training. Well at lest I can say one thing, the sooner shes using the potty, the sooner I get to stop washing diapers.

I Love Me Some Tater Tot Casserole

...but I don't like how it tears up my gut or how bad it is for you. So I came up with my own version of classic tater tot casserole that is a little bit better for my digestive system and a little healthier to boot.

Traditional tater tot casserole has condensed cream of mushroom soup and evaporated milk. Now, I love milk based products they just don't love me. I'm lactose intolerant. That on top of Jeff trying to lose weight right now, I decided to give the traditional recipe a spin. I used ground turkey instead of ground beef, made a gravy for the sauce and added some frozen mixed veggies. And guess what...it was SO YUMMY! I have to say I think I may actually like it better than traditional tater tot casserole and its much cheaper too and easier on the salt content. Have you seen what those jars of condensed cream of mushroom soup cost? I usually buy the "Healthy Request" variety. Which is always much more expensive than the regular salt and fat laden version.

So I'll save you the suspense and give you the recipe...

Kristi's Tater Tot Casserole Total Cost: under $4.50 with the cheese, under $4.00 without

1 lb lean ground turkey (I used the 93% lean stuff), $1.98
1/2 a medium onion chopped, nominal (I just bought a 5lb bag of onions for $1.00!!!)
2 cloves garlic chopped, nominal
6 tbsp flour, nominal
2 pkts Sodium Free Chicken Bouillon (I use Herbox), $0.32
1 1/2 C Water, nominal
1 lb potato tots, $1.00 (I bought a 2 lb bag for $2.00 at the commissary)
2 C frozen mixed veggies, $0.50 (this is about half a bag of mixed veggies)
1/2 C shredded 2% cheese (optional), $0.37
Your choice of seasonings, I used Lawry's Seasoned Salt, Garlic Pepper, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Thyme and Parsley Flake. I don't measure so don't ask how much I used., nominal

Preheat your oven to 425F

Add a tbsp of olive oil to a skillet and heat on medium. Add your onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add your ground turkey breast and seasonings and crumble while you cook it.

Once the turkey is almost done, add your flour and chicken bouillon. Cook for a couple of minutes to cook your flour.

Add your frozen mixed veggies and water. Cook until sauce thickens.

Once the sauce thickens add it to your 9x13 baking dish.

Place your potato tots on top of the turkey mixture. Make sure the potato tots are in a single layer.

Place in the preheated oven and cook for 20 minutes. At the end of 20 minutes take out the casserole, sprinkle with cheese and put it back into the oven for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Let the casserole cool for about 10 minutes prior to serving.

ENJOY!

Note: If you are gluten free/soy free/dairy free, then this recipe can of course be made with gluten free all purpose flour and chicken stock and would be fabulous over brown rice. After you are done cooking the turkey mixture on the stove top, then just take that "turkey gravy" and serve it over brown rice. YUM!