Moving Up the List

Every year for the past three of four years we have been attending Railroad Days and every year I dread going out and melting in the extreme heat.  Why on Earth would anyone have such an event (or any event for that matter) in the middle of July?!  This year the event is moving up the list on what I am most excited for this summer.  My husband works for Union Pacific and this is an exciting year for them.  This year marks the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln signing the Pacific Railway Act establishing Union Pacific Railroad.  This year we will have the opportunity to see the original Pacific Railway Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln as well as a rare collection of photographs illustrating the construction of railroad from Omaha to Utah, and many more exciting exhibits.  Okay truth be told, I have to admit over the years this event has slowly grown on me (with the exception of the heat).  Really you can't beat $15 for an entire family to see five metro area attractions.  What are those attractions you may ask?  The Durham Museum, Lauritzen Gardens, the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, the Historic Dodge House, and the RailsWest Railroad Museum.  Normally if we wanted to visit all five attractions as a family it cost of $60+.  So you can see it's quite a bargain.  This year they added an additional attraction, the Joslyn Art Museum so we are getting an $80+ day for the bargain price of $15 and they throw in transportation (okay, it's a school bus, but what do you expect for that price)!  Now that's what I call savings!

Recipe Discovery

I recently had the opportunity to help a friend with the food for her daughter's wedding reception and in the process discovered some out of this world recipes!  A few I didn't get to try,  but looked and smelled delicious.  Here's what I found:

Wonton Cups with Cream Cheese and Chutney - The filling on these little appetizers was absolutely divine!  We used mango-ginger chutney from Trader Joe's and skipped putting the chives on top.  I didn't try one in the wonton cup, but I could have eaten all of the filling on it's own...must try this appetizer recipe if you get the chance.

Smoked Paprika Shredded Pork with Orange Fennel Marmalade - Didn't get to a chance to try this one, but the smell alone is reason enough to make it.  The smell in the kitchen was the most wonderful meat potpourri!

Mini Quiches - These were made sans asparagus and with store bought pie crust, but still quite yummy.  These smelled absolutely divine when they were cooked, the Gruyere gave them a wonderful nutty flavor.

Zesty Marinated Olives - Now, I'm not an olive eater, but upon opening these up after marinating them a couple of days, I had to try one.  They were absolutely delicious and I would imagine you could use the same marinade on various different items.

Croquettes with Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese - These are an absolute pain to make, but smelled wonderful.  I didn't try any mostly because I'm not a fan of ham.  Serrano ham was difficult to find, so we substituted prosciutto.

Vegetable Sushi - This was so much fun to make and was really quite good.  I would recommend watching a how to video on YouTube before attempting to make it.  We rolled it using a $2 bamboo mat we found at a local asian market.  The sushi dipping sauce was a snap to make and complimented the vegetable sushi well.

Chicken Satay Skewers - I can't say enough good things about this recipe.  Not only is it really simple to make, but it also has tons of flavor, and the chicken stays most and tender.  The chicken is excellent on it's own and adding the peanut sauce gives it an entirely different flavor.

Artichoke Turnovers - If you love artichokes, this is the recipe for you.  They are quite easy to assemble, but are a little pricey to make.  They have a lot of flavor, but if you don't like artichokes, stay away.

Tomato-Avocado Toasts - I don't care much for avocados so I skipped trying this one.  It was really simple though, my only recommendation would be to use the avocado mixture sparingly or doubling the amount you make.

Cucumber Bites with Garlic Herb Filling - These were absolutely fantastic and super easy to make.  I LOVE Boursin cheese, so naturally I would love these.  The cucumber adds a freshness to this recipe, but beware of the bitter cucumber.  The first one I tried was really bitter and I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth.  The second, was much better.  I've made these before and added store bought hummus to them, makes them even easier.


Hope the next time you have guests for dinner or throw a party you try one of these delicious recipes.  Happy Eating!

Good Intentions

We were supposed to have Simple Scrumptious Grilled Chicken for dinner tonight.  I was ready for dinner.  Marinated the chicken for four hours, made the sauce (which was fantastic) and started the grill.  So excited to finally be eating this meal.   I placed the chicken strips on the grill and went inside to set the table.  Anyone want to venture a guess what happened next?  No, well the doorbell rings and I answer looking oh so lovely after my workout but no shower. (I know gross, but it was dinner time.)  Went outside to flip the chicken only to find it completely raw!  I had run out of propane!  I can't believe it.  Someone does not want me to make this meal.  I couldn't let the sauce go to waste though....I ate most of it by itself.  It was heavenly.

Food This Week

Alright, I'm starting to see a trend here.  I plan a weeks worth of meals and then only cook two to three of the meals.  Why do I do this to myself.  Well quite honestly, I love reading recipes.  When I read a recipe I can almost taste what the finished product will be.  Unfortunately I sometimes let myself down.

Once again last week I only made a couple of recipes.  So you will see a few repeats.  I also had trouble finding a couple of ingredients so I am still on the hunt for them.  Tuesday is my regular grocery day, so I am off to hunt some more tomorrow.  I will continue to plan a weeks worth of recipes at a time in hopes of someday achieving my goal.

Monday - Simple Scrumptious Grilled Chicken

                Salad

Tuesday - Korean-Grilled Beef Skewers

                Far East Summer Slaw

Wednesday - Gnocchi in Vanilla Brown Butter Sauce with Baby Spinach & Toasted Hazelnuts

Thursday - Chicken Piccata
                 Angel Hair Pasta
                 Salad

Friday - Date Night!!!

Saturday - Family Date Night

Sunday - Mother's Day at my Mother-in-law's (FONDUE!)

Monday - Moroccan Bean & Pepper Stew

Tuesday - Garlic & Herb Marinated Chicken
                Roasted Rosemary Fingerling Potatoes
                Salad

Wednesday - Ropa Vieja

                     Spiced Saffron Jasmine Rice

Holding Court

Last night was crazy!  By crazy I mean epic storm, sounded like a freight train was going through our back yard!  The storm was amazing and if I had not had little children to care for I probably would have opened the blinds and watched the storm from the family room.  There was a fantastic lightning display, tons of rain, a little hail and high winds.  The funny thing was we were never issued a watch or warning for severe thunderstorms.  These storms were most definitely severe.  I could have sworn that one of our windows was going to be blown out.  The glass looked like saran wrap, the wind was so strong the glass in the windows was moving.  The storms hit about 4 a.m. and due to the freight train we heard in the backyard thought we should check on the boys.  Of course our youngest was sound asleep and oblivious to what was going on and the oldest asked if there was going to be a tornado.  He is so eager to experience his first tornado - if I haven't said it before I'll say it now, this child amazes me.  We told him to go back to sleep and if he had trouble sleeping he should come down to our room and he could sleep on our couch.  Needless to say we had an extra child in our room this morning.

We woke up this morning to find all our patio furniture and planters strewn across our lawn (so wish I had thought to take a picture).  And the garden we had been attempting to start from seed (an experiment in expanding the oldest's diet) was scattered across the patio.  This last little problem was entirely my fault I had forgotten that I put the pods outside and hope they survive their torturous night.  As we were surveying the area we saw this:

So glad our brand new playset escaped this fate.  Pretty sure if we had, the boys would be able to add a few choice words to their vocabulary.

After retrieving all of our lawn furniture we got ready for church.  After our church service was over, as we were leaving the chapel some friends of ours stopped to talk and our oldest began a detailed description of what we woke up to this morning, including the fate of our neighbors playset.  He held court with five adults who were so engaged in the story I thought we would never be able to leave.  They kept asking questions and he just kept answering them.  When we finally said our good-byes he proceeded out of the chapel talking the entire time to no one in particular and anyone who would listen.  He had several adults very amused.  This is my precocious child:

He is sometimes too smart for his own good and has little to no fear (he's been that way since the day he was born).  He is the most curious child (should have named him George).  He says the funniest things and makes some of the most amazing observations and apparently is a fantastic story teller.  Maybe he'll be a writer when he grows up.

Filling Time With Five Year Olds

I volunteered to watch a friend's son for a few afternoons while she packs her house to move to a new house across town.  He is a good friend of my oldest son and the youngest in his family.  It is really interesting to watch 5 year olds interact and amazing how birth order plays a role in things.  I have had to get creative with them as it is sweltering outside and it is only the beginning of May.  They can only take so much time playing outside in this heat and I am hoping that next week's weather is a little more tolerable.  So far they have built Lego planes, crashed cars, played with our various play musical instruments, watched a movie, played outside and created some very lovely bird feeders.

I knew I had to have a craft just in case it rained.  It needed to be simple, inexpensive and something somewhat useful.  What better craft medium than popsicle (craft) sticks.  At first I thought we would just make picture frames, but then a friend pinned a really cute idea on Pinterest.  A bird feeder seemed simple enough.  I found the tutorial at here.  A few minutes into the project, I realized things were going to go horribly wrong if we didn't split it into two days.  The glue stick is a great idea, but these two little boys couldn't grasp the concept of using more glue.  Weird to me, my problem was always using too much glue.  We switched to the green glitter glue I had on hand today and things worked so much better.  We started early and the boys and I just finished decorating - uh oh, tears!

Crisis averted.  Why is it that when my son falls when I am looking, he laughs, but the minute my eyes aren't on him, because I am looking at the screen and he falls and scrapes his knee, it is the absolute end of the world?  I will never understand the mind of a 5 year old boy!

Back to the crafting.  A wonderful time was had by all.  The boys and I finished decorating a few minutes and here are the finished products.

I think they look fabulous, but now I have to come up with something to top this for next week.  Why do I do this to myself.

Packard Family Vacations

So we are three months into planning our family vacation this year.  That's right folks it takes this family months to plan a vacation.  This is fast by our families standards we usually begin planning vacation at least six months out, sometimes even as far out as a year.  Now I always knew that vacation planning took time, but I was never really an active part of the process until I married Sam.

Let me give you a little background.  Sam is a planner, down to the very smallest of details.  Had I known that our honeymoon would be planned down to the minute, every detail of every day, it may have been a game changer for me.  Okay, well probably not, but it was a shock to say the least when my brand new husband presented our itinerary to me on the plane at 6:00 a.m.

We skipped family vacation last year for various reasons, but mostly because we were building our house and living with my parents.  It was too much to handle to plan a vacation, not to mention pull off getting ready for it while not even in my own home where I normally would spread everything out so I can pack everything.

I have come to appreciate the planning of each day, it takes time and a ton of research.  Every detail gets talked about until I want to scream.  But I must say that my husband does a very good job.  He no longer plans every single minute, it is more a general guideline, he plans each day carefully so we are most efficient with our time and gas, but has come to realize that planning down to the minute is not ideal and we never stick with the schedule anyway.  He even thinks to plan a rainy day schedule, with mostly indoor activities or driving days.

We only have about three weeks until we leave and while Sam has almost every detailed planned, I am already behind.  It takes this mom about a month to get everything organized and ready.  When I say everything, I mean everything.  I prepare for almost any situation that could occur while traveling.  I count out the exact number of diapers, prepare the snack bag, get a kid bag ready for each kid, and prepare "I'm bored" activities for the car and the hotel.  Can you see why it takes a month.  I have been really busy this past week helping friends and trying to get organized for vacation.  Then last night, okay well really early this morning (chronic insomnia) I had a great idea.  I would look for a logo bingo game for my oldest.  I searched and I searched and guess what I found....NOTHING!  So I have started making one for him.  Every year since he was two years old he has told us what stores were coming up as soon as he could see their signs, so I thought this might be fun and I have some little prizes for him, when he fills his card.   Hoping this will keep him pretty entertained.

I also am putting the finishing touches on a custom coloring book for the boys.  I found some fabulous coloring pages at crayola.com about the states we will be driving through and visiting as well as some pictures of families on vacation.  Hopefully between the movies, bingo, car games, snacks and coloring we will be able to avoid the dreaded, 'Are we there yet?'.

Here's What's Cookin'

I'm trying to get a jump on next week as I will be helping a friend out who is moving and won't have as much time to get things done during the week.  Last week didn't quite go according to plan, yet again, mostly due to the terrible cold I've been fighting.  We are repeating several recipes once again this week.  Hoping things go a lot better this week.

Monday - Chicken Souvlaki

                Herbed Rice

                Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Tuesday - Korean-Grilled Beef Skewers

                Far East Summer Slaw

Wednesday - Simple Scrumptious Grilled Chicken

                      Salad

Thursday - Basil & Garlic Tortellini

                 Salad

Friday - Date Night!!!

Saturday - Family Night Out!!!

Sunday - Ropa Vieja

              Spiced Saffron Jasmine Rice

Just a reminder, I have finally activated comments (or at least I think have), so if you have any comments, suggestions or questions feel free to use the comments section.

Favorites - Food Edition

Other than being sick this week, this week was fantastic.  Why?  I was reminded of a few of my favorite things this week.  I had forgotten how much I loved the McCormick and McCormick Gourmet websites.  The recipes from these sites are easy to make and have tons of flavor.  They also are usually pretty low fat and inexpensive.  Of the 60+ recipes I've made from both of these websites, I think I have only had one or two that our family agreed, weren't the best, but they weren't the worst either.    They also make fabulous products like these:

These products are great, the Recipe Inspirations include pre-measured spices and the recipe card so you can make it again without buying the package.

Mr. GBR and I had two date nights this week.  Friday night, our standard date night (if you don't have a scheduled date night each week, I highly recommend it), we went to one of my favorite restaurants in Omaha.  Jim and Jennies Greek Village is located near 90th and Maple Street in a little strip mall.  They aren't big on atmosphere, but the make up for that in flavor.  I have never had a meal there I didn't like and recently discovered their Chicken Tigania (my new favorite).  It is amazing.  The portion size is good for the price.  If you are looking for good Greek food in Omaha try this place, you won't be sorry.  Instead of having our family date night on Saturday, we opted to go out with great friends.  They chose to go to Roja in the Old Market.  What a great night.  Of course all meals are best when shared with good conversation, but I was particularly pleased with my dinner, Chile Rellenos.  The only downside was having to park six blocks away, if only we had known they validate parking and the garage next door would have been free.  Oh well, it's always a plus to get a little exercise in before dinner. 

Finally...

Okay for those of you reading this, I finally figured out how to allow you all to post comments or questions.  So please feel free to do so if you would like.  Sorry if the last post offended, that was not the purpose.

Getting A Little Political

I try not to get into politics on Facebook, but lately have been tempted.  I'm going to get a little political, but I think it is important for my boys to understand why I stayed home, and most importantly how we were able to make it happen.  After all, this blog is as much for them as it is for family and friends.  I know it's been a while since it was discussed, but I have to say I was quite offended by several comments made by Hilary Rosen.  When she said that Ann Romney had never worked a day in her life, and then her apology was somewhat more offensive to me when she said that it was because of wealth that Mrs. Romney was able to stay home with her children.  Here is why I found these two things offensive.  I stay at home all day with my kids.  I admire working moms, I just don't know how they get it all done.   Staying at home was a choice my husband discussed for years before even having kids.  We wanted to prepare ourselves emotionally and financially for what it meant.  In someways staying at home is the hardest thing I've done.  It is difficult to not have contact with other adults on a regular basis.  I crave adult conversation by the end of the day, something my husband is still trying to adjust to five years after I quit working.  Some nights I talk non stop until bedtime and others I don't say a word because I've spent the day entire day talking to the boys.  Honestly some days I think it would be easier to be a working mom.  My job is 24/7/365.  All mom's have this job description, stay at home moms never have the opportunity to leave their jobs.  All mom's are on call to put out fires, to run home at a moment's notice if something goes terribly wrong, but a stay at home mom doesn't get the commute to decompress, to have that regular time to themselves almost every day.  Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but most stay at home moms don't sit around all day eating bon bons and watching soap operas.  This is the picture that came to mind when I first heard Hilary Rosen's comment about Ann Romney.  While I admit it was probably a mistake and a poor choice of words like she stated in her apology, I believe that you need to be extra careful and choose your words carefully, especially politicians.

The apology was even more offensive to me because it was a sacrifice for me to leave the work force to stay at home with my boys.  We took a financial hit when I left.  That's why we discussed things for a few years before I even tried to get pregnant.  We knew it would mean sacrifice.  We weren't the kind of people that spent our money foolishly to begin with.  We thought about everything we purchased and discussed it together.  As a rule most purchases over $50 are discussed with one another.  We don't buy each other extravagant gifts most of the time, occasionally we splurge.  We don't get completely new wardrobes every season of every year, we replace things as needed or if there's a great sale, until very recently I only owned one purse (the second was a gift).  We don't carry debt, this is something we work very hard to do.  We do without and save for the the things we need and want.  I know there are families that would love to have one parent home with their kids and aren't able to swing it financially, I get it, but to assume that every family with a stay at home parent is wealthy is naive.  There are plenty of families I know that make it work the same way we do.  Don't get me wrong, we have a nice things, but we tend to purchase things that give us the most bang for our buck.  I'm not judging those that choose otherwise.  I believe that everyone has the power to make their own decisions.  Just don't assume because a family has a stay at home parent that they are well off financially.

There are days like yesterday, when I felt like a workhorse.  Taking care of two sick kids, a sick dog and being sick myself is no easy task and all the while I worked, doing laundry, dishes, running errands, etc.  Being a stay at home mom can be a thankless job. It can be grueling work, but it has it's rewards as well.  Seeing my children grow up, happy and healthy is my reward.  The hugs and kisses and the smile and laughter are my payment for the work I do.  Hearing my oldest tell me I'm his "Best girl in the world", no amount of money can compare to that.  Even yesterday, the toughest of days had it's rewards.  Seeing my boys laughing and playing with one another (a rare event in this house), ganging up on their dog to trap her so they could pet her and love her (she pretends she hates it), and I realized that I am very rich, just not monetarily.

Princess Isabella

I love this face!

This is Bella, our 10 year old pug.  She was my first baby, and quite frankly the only girl I will probably have.  She was the gift we gave each other for our first wedding anniversary.  I was against getting pug, because the shed and they are one of the loudest animals I have ever encountered.  But Sam slowly wore me down and then one Saturday morning he was reading the paper and saw an ad selling pug puppies.  I remember that day so well, it was a snowy January day.  We decided it was time to become "parents"  We called the number in the paper and were on our way.  We drove an hour an a half in the wind and snow to the small Nebraska town of Howells.  There we met our first baby.  The family we met was wonderful, we were able to meet our little girls parents and her aunt.  Bella came from a large litter.  She was one of thirteen.  We were the first to inquire about the puppies and so we literally got the pick of the litter.  How do you choose one from thirteen.  Immediately I had puppies crawling all over me, eleven to be exact.  The runt was quite ill and was not able to be handled yet.  Soon the puppies, became interested in other things, except one.  One curled up on my lap and started sleeping.  Then I saw another puppy out of the corner of my eye, number 12, she had been playing behind the couch, and emerged to claw at the blanket on the floor.  She was full of energy.  The other 11 were all beginning to wind down and she was just getting started.  I knew immediately, she was meant to be mine.  The decision was made, my husband encouraged me to think about this nice mild mannered little boy that had curled up in my lap and loved me immediately.  Not even batting an eye, I said no, he wasn't spunky enough. We put down a deposit, gave her a name (Princess Isabella Packard, Bella for short) and took pictures.

Five weeks later she was delivered to us in Omaha.  I picked her up over my lunch hour and Sam left work early, he had already scheduled an appointment with a vet to have her looked over to make sure she was healthy.

Adopting Bella was one of the best decisions we have ever made.  We have shared many proud moments with her.

I couldn't have loved her any more, until yesterday.  I took her to the vet yesterday because she had an eye infection.  During the exam, our vet started to talk to be about her vision.  We have known for the last 7 years that she had pigmentary keratitis.  Initially we had her on daily drops, but when those failed to do any good, we ceased using them.  We knew she may have vision problems the rest of her life, but the vet said it would be like looking through a dirty windshield.  She would still be able to see some, but mostly just shadows and movements.  Yesterday, the vet (our old vet retired) told me she was nearly completely blind.  There is a small area at the corner of one eye that she can still see from, but it has gotten so bad he said it would be the equivalent of having latex paint on the windshield.  He said we may have noticed her behavior  change recently.  On the contrary, if anything, she is more like a puppy than ever before.  She continues to walk up and down the stairs (something she rarely did in the old house), eats normally, plays with her toys, cuddles with me on the couch, etc.  She amazes me.  I started watching her more closely yesterday.  How was she able to still get around being almost completely blind.  I noticed small changes, she turns her head to one side, always the same side, before walking up the stairs.  She clings close to the wall and the fence when she has to find her way around new areas.  She adapts to every situation.  She uses her sense of smell a lot more too, she sniffs almost everything now and I think she must have super hearing because she can hear the garage door go up from anywhere in the house, but I never do.  I am so proud of her.  She has learned to adapt to her situation instead of giving up and letting us do everything for her.  She is fiercely independent.  I'm sure if she could, she would feed herself and get her own water.  She hasn't let this little setback slow her down.  I hope that someday if I am ever faced with similar circumstances, I remember Bella's example and handle it in the same way.

This Week's Menu

A few notes on last weeks menu.  The  Marinated Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta was AMAZING.  So much so that the two year old even loved it.  He and I ate the leftovers in two days.  For our dinner out we went to Fernando's on Pacific.  I much prefer their other location, but it was the closest to our Plan B and was Sam's Choice because it was his birthday weekend.  Can't say it was my favorite meal of the week and even more difficult because our two year old was extra hungry and guess who forgot to bring the extra snack.  For Sam's birthday dinner we went to Spezia.  It was pretty good.  I thought the service was extraordinary and the food was really good.  Again it wasn't my pick, but I think I would return.  I didn't quite make it through all of the recipes on last weeks menu.  This means less meal planning for me this week and fewer groceries to buy as well.  Here's what's cookin' this week:

Monday - Simple Scrumptious Grilled Chicken

                Salad

Tuesday - Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice

Wednesday - Chicken Souvlaki

                      Herbed Rice

                      Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Thursday - Korean-Grilled Beef Skewers

                 Far East Summer Slaw

Friday - Date Night!!! - Location TBD

Saturday - Family Night Out - Location TBD

Sunday - Creamy Parmesan & Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Penne

              Salad

Here's to hoping I stay on target with my menu plan this week.  Happy eating!

My Favorite Mantra

"Adapt and overcome"  has long been my mantra.  I think it stems from the years spent as an Air Force brat.  So it is no wonder when things start to go wrong or I'm not as equipped to handle cooking recipes I never have as I thought I was, that I begin repeating this mantra over and over in the hopes that I will come up with some great solution.  I've been prepping as much as possible for Sam's big family birthday lunch/dinner over the past couple of days.  We are eating at 1:30 and we will be at church until noon, which means I have to start slow cooking the meat at 8:00 a.m.  Anyway who knows me well knows that I am not a morning person, I repeat I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON!  So the idea of having to cook at 8:00 frightens me.  I am trying to do as much ahead of time as possible and the menu was specifically designed for this purpose.  Everything will be ready to go into the oven and hopefully the only prep I will have to do is set the table, which I may even do tonight if I think about later.  Back to the problem at hand.  I have never really made cole slaw before.  I've bought shredded cabbage and cole slaw dressing and mixed them together before, but I thought I would attempt to make my mom's cole slaw.  She is visiting my sister right now and thank goodness for cell phones, because I've already called her this morning to see how she shreds her cabbage.  After talking to her I felt confident that I would be able to do this task no problem.  Unfortunately when I went into my cabinets and got out my food processor I found that I was missing some very key parts of it.  Not only was I missing key parts, but if I had said parts, it still wouldn't have worked.  I guess it's time to get a new food processor.  Don't I wish!  The only attachment I had was a small multipurpose blade.  Not sure how it would work I put a small amount of cabbage in the processor and it wasn't exactly what I wanted but it worked.  Thinking I would speed things up I emptied out and put a larger amount in.  Well the processor really didn't like this.  It took out it's frustration on my poor cabbage and cabbage mush was born.  I'll just use it as a thickener I think and pour into into the bowl.  Lesson learned I begin cutting the cabbage into smaller chunks and putting a small amount into the processor.  Much better.  I really wish I had taken pictures during this process, oh well, next time.  It only took me an hour to make the cole slaw, I probably could have chopped the cabbage faster.  Next time I'm just going to buy the shredded cabbage at the store, or maybe I will get a new food processor.  We'll see.

Getting It Done

I have been asked a couple of times how I get it all done.  I try really hard to keep a clean house, although we all know life can be unpredictable, which means sometimes a clean house just needs to take a backseat to everything else.  Last year at this time I was wondering how I was going to live in a house that we would have to vacate within two hours and it would have to be presentable to potential buyers.  My mom helped me come up with a fantastic plan that I have adapted to fit my new life on the Ponderosa.  I call it the work smarter not harder plan.  Here it is.

Monday - This is my free day, everyone deserves one.  This is the day that I don't have to take the oldest to preschool, and I don't care if we all stay in our jammies all day long (it usually doesn't happen, but it's fun when it does).  I try not to schedule anything this day and use it as a catch up/get ahead day for housework.  If I don't want to do anything on this day, I don't.  I also meal plan and make my grocery list on Mondays.  It relaxes me, it's one of my favorite things to do and I can catch up on DVR while I do it.

Tuesday - I do the boys laundry, iron, and do the grocery shopping on Tuesdays.  I have about two and half hours to kill in Omaha while Noah's at preschool and it really doesn't make much sense for me to go back home in between drop off and pick up.  If I have other errands to run in Omaha I take care of them at this time.  Frankly it's easier for me, I only have one boy with me and he doesn't mind all the running.

Wednesday - This is my favorite day, bathroom cleaning day.  No joke.  I love to clean the bathrooms, don't tell my husband though.  I really enjoy a clean bathroom and I can sanitize the heck out of it.  Nothing is better to me than walking into a freshly clean bathroom.  We have four now and I start at the top and work my way down.  Every bathroom has it's own set of cleaning supplies, excessive maybe, but I really hate carrying cleaning products around the house, especially toilet brushes.  I also do our laundry on Wednesdays.

Thursday - Dusting Day!  This is a fun day, if I wait until the oldest is home, he likes to help me dust and that means less work for me.  I typically just dust lightly and then once a month do a deep cleaning and dusting of the blinds.  This is also the day a collect garbage around the house, which means cleaning out the refridgerators and freezers.

Friday - Floor Cleaning Day is my least favorite day of the week.  I really hate vacuuming.  But this is the day I do all the vacuuming, mopping of tile and cleaning the hardwood floors.  I run a vacuum regularly around the kitchen floor so it doesn't become overwhelming.

Saturday - Do our laundry again and take care of any other odds and ends that need to be tended to.

I really only spend around an hour a day cleaning.  The rest of the time is dedicated to projects, cooking and playing with my boys.  I love the schedule as it is now, but I know things will change once we start Kindergarten and the youngest starts preschool next year.  I also make it a habit to straighten the house every evening after the boys are in bed and clean the kitchen every day.  Like I said before, life happens and sometimes I let things go a day if the boys need me or if I really don't feel well, but all in all  it's really not difficult to keep up with this schedule.  Thanks again mom for the great ideas.

Comfort Foods

So I'm sick, I came down with a really nasty cold, with almost no warning and I blame my dear husband.  He thought he was suffering from allergies a couple weeks ago, and I warned him not to get me sick (I was sick with some weird stomach flu at the time).  Now here I am sick as a dog and craving some of the weirdest combinations of food from my childhood, comfort foods.  One of the unfortunate things about being a stay at home mom is that you don't get a sick day, ever.  However, if you are sick and I mean really sick, your oldest may tell you to lay down on the couch, get you a pillow and a blanket, tuck you in and give you a big kiss and a hug, then ask if you are better yet.  My oldest did just that the last couple times I have been sick, he even brought me the box of Kleenex and the trash can from the bathroom.  I'm pretty sure his wife will thank me for this someday.  Anyway back to food.  My kids are too young to cook and Sam doesn't know how to cook anything except chili, which is very good, but not in my top comfort foods.

Because my parents are off visiting my dear sister and her beautiful family I have decided to make a list of my favorite comfort foods in the hopes that writing about them will satisfy me.  So here goes in no particular order...

1. MACARONI & CHEESE - Especially my grandmother's it was the best!  I literally lived off this when I was pregnant with my first son.  It was one of the few things I could keep in my stomach.  I also LOVE Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, but it has to be prepared the classic way, with a 1/4 cup of butter (never margarine) and 1/4 cup of 2% milk.  I know it's a lot of fat, but it just makes it taste good!
2. MASHED POTATOES - This one surprises me.  I HATED mashed potatoes growing up, now I can't get enough of them.  My mom's are the best, it probably has something to do with the immense amount of butter and milk she puts in them.  
3. GRILLED CHEESE - Not just any old grilled cheese will do as a comfort food.  My dad has to make it for me to consider it a comfort.  He really makes the best.  Not sure what his secret ingredient is, but probably the amount of butter he uses.  I think I've discovered a pattern.
4. BLT - Not sure what it is about a good BLT, but it always makes me feel good, even better with garden fresh tomatoes and thick cut smoked bacon from Frank Stoysich Meats.
5. CHEESY POTATOES/FUNERAL POTATOES - This one comes from my adult life.  I was first introduced to them before my husband and I were married at his sister's funeral.  I have had a love/hate relationship with them ever since.  Love to eat them, but hate that I want to eat the entire pan.
6. CHOCOLATE CHIP BELGIAN WAFFLES - The best I have ever had came from the Ellsworth Air Force Base Officers Club.  I ordered them when we went there for Sunday brunch.  I was a kid then and could get away with smothering them with tons of butter and whipped cream.  I can still taste them today and haven't had one in years.
7. SCHNITZEL AND SPAETZLE - Does this count as two, maybe it should, schnitzel can stand alone, but the spaetzle is so much better when served with schnitzel.  My mom makes the best schnitzel and spaetzle!  For years it was the only thing I requested for my birthday dinners.  Pretty sure it was one of the first meals I requested she make after I had my oldest son and could eat meat again.
8. BBQ MEATBALLS - My mom has the best recipe, I'm pretty sure my grandmother made them too. They are soooo good.  
9. CHICKEN A LA KING - Again my mom makes the best chicken a la king around.  She puts it on top of the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells so it's like a mini pot pie.  Loved it as a kid and love it even more as an adult.
10. TOFFIFAY - Probably one of the best candies from my childhood.  I loved popping those little treats out of their tray.
11. CHICKEN FLAVOR RAMEN NOODLE SOUP - I know this will probably disgust some people, but this to me is the best when I have a cold.  Nothing makes me feel as good as a bowl of Ramen when I have a cold.
12. FUDGE - My mom's recipes for chocolate and peanut butter fudge are to die for.  I attempted them this Christmas and while the peanut butter (the more difficult of the two) turned out great the chocolate was an epic failure.  
13. HOMEMADE ICE CREAM - I remember making and eating homemade vanilla ice cream nearly every summer with my family.  It was an all day process, but was so worth the wait.  Not sure if my parents agree, it was probably never worth the mess it made.
14. HOMEMADE HOT FUDGE SAUCE - My mom must be a food genius, all her recipes are my favorites.  This fudge sauce stands alone.  As a kid, vanilla ice cream was not my favorite, but I could eat a whole bowl of hot fudge sauce and my parents often let me get away with it.
15. PICKLES - Dill pickles are wonderful.  I always keep a couple jars around, if I'm ever having a tough day I reach for a pickle spear.  It must be in the DNA, my oldest son does the same thing.  We both even drink the pickle juice, a little trick I picked up from my great uncle Matt.
16. BEEF BARLEY SOUP - Only if it's made by my dad though.  He doesn't have a recipe for it, and he never makes it the same way twice, but it tastes amazing every single time.
17. ERNIE'S SALSA - A long kept secret recipe in my family, although I know that Ernie shared it with a few other families, we love it and make it for others, but never ever share the recipe.  I have found a close second at our local HyVee stores, but it still isn't Ernie's.
18. QUICHE - Any kind is good, if it's made with bacon it's better but the best is my mom's jalapeno cheese quiche with no crust.  Love this stuff.  We had to make a bunch of it up when I was pregnant, froze it and then I could just take some out when I was craving it.  
19. BACON - Do I really need to explain this one.  It must be crisp though, nothing is worse than under cooked baon.
20. LEMON CHICKEN - My mother-in-law makes the best lemon chicken around, lightly fried with a lemon sauce that is killer.
21. STELLA'S HAMBURGER - If you have ever had one, you know why.  If you haven't you must try one sometime in your life.
22. NORMANDY STYLE ONION SOUP - Sadly I am no longer able to get this as my favorite restaurant was sold and the chef moved away, but I still crave it and will always consider it a comfort food.  It was the best and if I had the means I would offer him any amount of money he wanted for the recipe, it's that good.  Also the man could steam vegetables like no one else.  He made me fall in love with vegetables again, only when they are cooked right though.
23. BAKED POTATOES - It's hard to screw up a baked potato, but they are easily improved upon and my parents have perfected the baked potato.  I can eat them with nothing on them, and they are best with just a bit of butter and sour cream, not too much though.  Their secret involves grilling and sea salt.
24. HOLLYDROPS - My favorite cookie and have finally perfected the art of making them.  I believe they were a family recipe, not sure how far back they go.  The recipe must be followed exactly, it can often be made wrong, but when it is made right it is perfection.
25. ICE COLD MILK - Really it is the simplest comfort food for me.  Nothing can raise my spirits like a glass of ice cold milk, 2% only though.

Well enough for now.  I have succeeded in making myself more hungry than when i began, but at least I'm not craving anything in particular anymore.

What's Cookin' This Week

I haven't been talking so much about the food we've been eating lately so I thought I might post our menu for this week and into next week, hopefully will be taking pictures of dinner.  Nothing is more appealing to me than pictures of food.  It's how I survived pregnancy!  So here's what's cookin' this week:

Monday  - Marinated Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta
                 Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Tuesday - Dinner at Texas Roadhouse to celebrate Denise's 50th Birthday!

Wednesday - Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice

Thursday - Chicken Souvlaki
                  Herbed Rice
                  Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Friday - Dinner date with my boys - location tbd

Saturday - Dinner out to celebrate Sam's 35th Birthday - location tbd

Sunday - Texas Oven Roasted Beef Brisket
               Cole Slaw
               Sweet and Sour Bean Salad
               Oven Roasted Potatoes
               Macaroni & Cheese
(We don't normally eat this much on Sunday, but I'm hosting my husband's family for his birthday dinner.  Birthdays in our family get celebrated all weekend long!)

Monday - Simple Scrumptious Grilled Chicken

Where Does The Day Go?

Frequently I look up at the clock from working all day only to find that it is 5 o'clock already and I haven't even thought of starting dinner.  Well no more!  When we were trying to sell our house last year I had a great system.  As soon as I got home from grocery shopping I would prep everything, dicing meat, washing and cutting vegetables, preparing marinades.  All I would have to do when dinner time rolled around would be to grab the things I needed and dinner would be ready in a flash with very few dishes to do.  It was so easy.  One day of hard work for a weeks worth of easy meals.  That was a much simpler time in our lives.  Weird to say that now.  It seemed so hectic at the time, but I didn't have a two year old toddling around the kitchen opening up every cabinet door and taking out every item in the cabinets.  I've needed to find that kind of efficiency again.  I'm trying.  I traded a ten minute commute to preschool in for a 25 minute commute.  It was easy to run back home and prep things for the day.  I would the baby down for a nap and get almost everything done, including cleaning the house done while my oldest was at preschool.  Those days are gone, well at least until Kindergarten starts.  I've been trying to find my way back to this efficient life I used to lead and here's what I've come up with so far.

1. I have to start getting up earlier.  Monday I was up early and was able to accomplish more by nine o'clock (partly because we didn't have to drive to preschool) than I was able to all day today.  Plus, my oldest starts school a whole hour earlier next year and we will walk to school.

2.  I have to start prepping food when the baby (who's not such a baby anymore) is sleeping.  I did this yesterday and by the time it was time to cook dinner all I had to do was dump ingredients.  I miss the simplicity of this.  This is what I did yesterday:

Don't mind my clutter in the background

It cut down cooking time, but it created more dishes.  I'll have to think about this one a little more, there must be a way to simplify even more.

3.  Meat must be marinated starting the evening before.  Not only will I not forget, but it has such better flavor the longer it marinates.

4.  I have to start saying no and stop taking on extra tasks that I know will only hinder me getting the things done that I need to get done during the day.  This one is the hardest for me.  I try to be superwoman, but I only end up setting myself up for failure when I do this.  Then I get terribly down on myself and don't get anything accomplished.  It becomes a vicious cycle.

The goal here is not to have more time to do more things, it is to have more time to spend with my boys.  More time so we can create better memories instead of memories of me always being in the kitchen, cleaning and running errands.  More time so they can learn from me and I from them.  I'm hoping by writing these things down I will work harder at accomplishing these goals.  

Nosy Neighbors?

Do you have nosy neighbors?  Door to door solicitors waking your baby while he's napping?  I HAVE THE SOLUTION FOR YOU!!!

BUILD YOUR OWN MOAT!

We were preparing for severe weather: hail, straight line winds, maybe even a tornado.  We were not expecting lakes to form in our yard.  I would have taken a shot of the backyard if it wasn't currently pouring rain.  With no covered patio anymore I didn't want to risk getting drenched in the downpour.  But trust me, we are going to have to build a bridge to the boys' new playset.  There is no way they will be playing on that for at least a week while the yard is drying out.  Looks like it has finally stopped raining and here come the winds.  Hoping all the hype about these storms is just that.

Embracing This Crazy Nebraska Weather

I'm a transplant to Nebraska, and even though I've lived here for 20+ years I still don't consider myself to be from Nebraska.  However, I have learned to embrace all things Nebraska.  I even follow, cheer for and look forward to Husker athletic events (okay maybe not basketball, but next year is a new start).  I've recently embraced severe weather season.  I'm actually looking forward to it for the first time since I moved here.  So why after 20 years am I finally looking forward to it?  Because of this:

My tornado survival kit.

I have taken it upon myself at the suggestion of our families favorite local meteorologist to put this kit together.  I also recently purchased this:

My very first weather radio.

I feel extremely prepared.  My oldest son and I created this area

as our designated tornado shelter and we have been running drills the past couple days.  He is so excited and prepared.  He even has his very own job to do if he should hear the sirens wailing.  Yesterday while visiting his grandmother and aunt they watched Storm Chasers on The Weather Channel.  He was so excited and riveted by what he was seeing.  He loves the weirdest things, like Auction Hunters, anything on the Food Network, jalapeno stuffed olives, pickles and mustard.  Is this kid 5 or 25?

Well anyway let's get back on topic, this season is supposed to be a record season for tornadoes and now that I am prepared, I'm sure nothing will happen.

The Big Launch

Okay so I've decided to start a blog, mostly for use as a way to communicate with friends and family, but also as a way to journal my life for my children.  I want my kids to understand what it means to be their mom.  I want them to understand what it means to stay at home and maintain a household.  I want them to know who I am.  I work hard everyday to provide a good life for them.  My husband works extra hard to provide a good life for all of us.  This is an experiment.  I could totally fail at this.  But I'm optimistic, even if the only time I have to post is when everyone goes to bed.  I will do this!

What is this?  I'm thinking I'll post about everyday life, things I make (food and otherwise), my big ideas, how exactly I get things done on a daily basis, and all things that impact me and the life of my family.  Not sure who will read this, but even if no one does, at least I will feel good having kept some type of record of our lives together.
Enjoy!