Food Wins

I love food. And I love taking pictures of food I love. I've had some major wins recently, and I thought I'd share them with you. Pizza Meatloaf A variation of Sabrina's stuffed meatloaf, except I used 1 pound of sausage and 1 pound of hamburger, then stuffed it with the pepperoni and mozzarella (or in this case, Italian blend shredded cheese). And I topped it with even more cheese, instead of your normal ketchup-y sauce on the top. This was even better as leftovers than it was straight out of the oven! Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Born from a major craving for chicken and bacon one day, I tried to find a recipe that combined the two. I found a lot that sounded like something I would like, but none that would meet the stringent anti-poultry tendencies of my husband. So I set out on my own. I cut chicken breast tenders in half, then sprinkled them with blackening seasoning. I wrapped each chunk of chicken in a slice of bacon, securing it with a toothpick. I broiled them in the oven and viola! Paul said they were good enough I could put them on the menu as a regular dish. We even tried out smothering them in Italian shredded cheese, and they were excellent that way as well. Dill Bread I love bread, and have an incredible weakness for crackly-crusted, chewy inside bread. Or any type of homemade bread, really. So imagine combining the two! I printed off the recipe for Dill Bread from Grit.com that I got in a newsletter forwarded to me by my mother-in-law. It sounded interesting - dill in bread. It was wonderful! It's not so much the dill I'm in love with, as I couldn't really taste the herb, so much as the end result (maybe because my dill is several years old). If you love ciabatta bread, you will love this recipe. I had to deviate from the recipe a bit - it mentions using dough scrapers, and I don't have any. So I used a combination of a large rubber spatula and my hands, and I think it turned out fine. I also didn't have bread flour, and I thought it turned out great. I did lower my oven to 400. I've had trouble with things burning, and didn't want to chance it. Cooking the bread in the pot with the lid on makes it deliciously moist and chewy on the inside, while that last 10 minutes after you take off the lid makes the crust delightfully crackly and beautifully browned. I loved it, and may or may not have eaten 2/3 of the loaf on my own. It does make a rather small loaf - 8 inches around and 3 inches thick. It's a one-day loaf, not a eat-on-it-all-week loaf. Other Random Food Pictures: Mom's Bread Recipe. My mom makes the most amazing wheat bread and rolls. I have her recipe, but she's tweaked and adjusted it so much over the years, that she's not positive of amounts. I'm getting close. In fact, I've quit buying bread and just make our own. Serves as a two-fold: It's better for us (all natural), and not as easy to just grab a slice and eat it, so not as many carbs for me. Grilled Cheese on Mom's Bread with Sauteed Onions. Saute some onions. In bacon grease is the best. Slice up the above homemade bread, and assemble a grilled cheese sandwich - layer the onions in between two slices of cheese. Heaven. The Ugliest Most Delicious Cookies. I'm going to brag. I make the best sugar cookies. They are amazing. One morning Nathan woke up as Paul was leaving for work, and was inconsolable, about seeing from his upstairs window Paul pulling out the driveway . I finally got him calmed down when I suggested we make Daddy cookies while he was at work. Nathan asked, "And we'll take them to him at work?" How could I refuse? I asked what kind he wanted. "Blue cookies." Okaaaaaay. I asked him if he wanted to put frosting on them. "Yes, purple frosting. And sparkles [sprinkles]?" They didn't really turn out blue, and the frosting wasn't quite purple, but they weren't any less amazing. And Paul enjoyed them even more because they were hand-delivered by the cutest two boys in the world, so he didn't even notice how ugly the cookies were. Cinnamon Rolls. I make treats once a month for Paul's shift. He likes treating them, and I don't mind doing it. I tweaked the The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls (I can't ever be satisfied with a recipe the way it is written), and this is what I come up with. I send this many with him when I make them (which is a double batch), and it makes 1-2 round dishes (pie plates) of extra and ugly ones that we (I) get to enjoy at home. (When I send cookies, I make a quadruple batch.) Do we even need to ask why I can't lose weight?

Thoughts on Miscarriage

I'd like to ask prayers for some of our friends who lost their baby this week. I'm not sure how far along she was... I'm guessing 15 weeks. (She and I got pregnant at about the same time.) They had a miscarriage last year, and everything had seemed okay this time around. My heart is really hurting for them, and I know they would appreciate your prayers.
Having recently been through this (and not even as hard as their experience, her being much further along), I remember how I felt, and offered to help out however I could (I'm not tooting my own horn here). As I was preparing a meal to take to them today, I was thinking about how people react to a miscarriage.
For example, our church has a meal ministry. We take meals to people after the birth of a baby, after deaths, and after surgery. Isn't a miscarriage all three of those rolled into one? Yet we ignore it. We give a pat, "Praying for you." and avoid the topic, if not the person entirely. Why is that? If we're truly pro-life, shouldn't we be showering them in support, as they've lost a person? A dream, hopes.... shattered.
I know we all feel awkward, and we think we don't know what to say. But honestly, just being available would be wonderful. You don't have to say anything. A meal. A bag of groceries. Watch the kids for a couple hours.
Two things that helped me make it through were my sister, who has lost three babies, and talking about our experiences and pregnancies, and my best friend Brooke, who let me celebrate my pregnancy, even though we lost the baby, by not avoiding the topic. Also, Paul being home, so I didn't have to stuff my emotions down and be brave for my kids.
I don't know what I'm thinking I'll accomplish by writing this, but maybe next time you hear of someone losing a baby, you might think of it differently.

Blast from the Past

I think I'm going to start a new series on random things I find or remember. There are some hilarious stories from my past I think about every so often, and Paul gets tired of me re-telling them, I think.

For today, here's a picture I found. It's in really bad shape, because it was in my car for several years, and then I think it's hung on the fridge since then. It's the first picture of Paul and I together when we were "together". May of 2003:

We look so young. Funny how much responsibilities age you. (I was 20 and he was 22.)

His goatee is very short in this picture, not that most of you would notice this. Just a week or two before this, he had shaved it all off. He accidentally buzzed it while he was shaving, and in trying to fix it, made it worse, so he just shaved it off. It was the first time in 4 years that I'd seen him without a goatee. Consequently, he hated how he looked without it, and the only time since then that he's been without it is when he was required to shave it during a rebuild at work where they had to wear face masks. I like how he looks either way. :)

And looking at this really makes me want to get my hair cut short again. I just can't decide.... There are so many advantages to both ways of wearing it.

All in a Day's Work

All of a sudden yesterday, Jacob decided he needed to start potty training. I was in the bathroom with Nathan, and Jake wandered in; I asked him if he wanted to go potty (being silly), and he said yeah. So I sat him down - AND HE WENT! Thinking it was a fluke, I asked him again an hour later, and he went again - this time standing up! He's been very interested in everyone going to the bathroom the last week, so I know something's going on in his head. I think he just wants to be a big guy like his brother. So I decided to go with it. I think he's a little young, but I'd rather start training him now, than wait until I think he's ready, and then have him not be interested, or have it be a power struggle where he refuses to try later on.

Here's today's progress:

One sticker for each time he went - it may have been just a dribble, but it counts! He really, really wants to potty standing up, like Nathan and Daddy do, so we're experimenting with that. The problem is, he doesn't quite have the "relax and release" perfected, and pushes when he pees - well, this morning, he was pushing out pee while standing up....And pushed out some poop, too - onto my foot! Oh well. Tonight, his last potty before bed, he did with no pushing, so I'd call that progress.
We do the pantsless method for potty training - it worked for Nathan, and so we're going to do it again. And for all day without a diaper, he only had one accident (and that was on the linoleum). If he had a diaper on (for nap and when Paul's mom was here watching them during band practice), he still goes in it.
We'll see how it goes. I'm not saying He's potty trained and it's only been a day! But this is how it started with Nathan, so..... We'll see.

This is Spring?

As much as I did not want to wake up and find the inch (plus) of snow this morning, I will admit - it did make things pretty. I snapped a few pics of my daffodils, since you don't normally see this combination of snow and beautiful flowers.

7 Years

Last Sunday (the 20th) was our 7-year anniversary. In some ways, I can't believe it's been that long! In others, I can't believe it's only been 7 years!

Paul was scheduled to work nights all weekend. I asked him a couple weeks beforehand if he'd taken it off, because I remembered discussing it back in January. He told me no, and he doubted he'd be able to get it off in such short notice. Not a big deal - this is our 7th anniversary, and I'm pretty sure he's had to work 5 of the seven, so whatever.

But then the week beforehand, he asked his parents if they would watch the boys Sunday after church. Even though he would be asleep, and had to leave for work at 5:30. But he said it was so we could have some "alone time" before he left. I was like, Really - shouldn't we save the free babysitting for when we'll have more than an hour to spend together? But again - whatever. Then I happened to see him looking at the website for a fancy restaurant one night.

I started getting suspicious.

But Sunday came, and he still hadn't said anything. I wasn't disappointed, but I still thought he might be planning something. But really, I wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't do anything. And wouldn't have been disappointed either.

And then I came home from church, and found this note on a chair right in front of the door:

Written on a reservation confirmation for Chateau Avalon. I got the biggest, stupidest grin on my face. Seriously cheesy. And I couldn't make myself stop smiling. Apparently Paul was quite pleased with himself, because when I went in to kiss him (he was asleep, supposedly), he started smirking as soon as he heard me walk in the room.

Even though we've been to Chateau Avalon before, I think this was my favorite time. I think it's because it was a complete surprise. Like I said, I suspected he was up to something, but I just figured he was going to take the night off, then take me out to dinner. I have an amazing husband! (And an amazingly sneaky one!)

Paul confessed that he wanted this to be a do-over of our trip to Omaha, since that trip didn't end up being anything like we expected when we planned it. This trip more than made up for what we experienced there.

Paul had picked out the Roman Dynasty room. We had seen this room when we toured the hotel years ago. I really liked it! (Of course I did.... Duh!) Paul got me the romance package, which included a rose-petal strewn bed, a bottle of champange (which was not very tasty - I don't get people's fascination with champange!), and bubble bath for the tub.

We were going to try a new restaurant - they have lots up in the area - but we ended up going to our ol' standby: Outback Steakhouse.... A Bloomin' Onion always wins. And it ended up being free! (The Bloomin' Onion, that is - not the entire meal.) They had a special that if you eat at the bar, you get a free Bloomin' Onion. We were fine with that - it was actually probably better, because Paul would have tried to watch the game anyways, and this way, he didn't have to stare off across the room the whole time, or rubber-neck trying to watch a tv that's behind him.

We didn't go to see a movie, because honestly, nothing out looks any good. We enjoyed the hot tub and discussed the possibilty of getting one of those installed in our house. Oh my goodness. I love those tubs! Paul had our chocolate-covered strawberries (part of the romance package)delivered shortly after, and we ate them in bed while watching a movie. So relaxing!

After sleeping in ridiculously late the next morning and enjoying the completely delicious breakfast delivered to our room, we finally took off some time after 11, and went through Lawrence on the way home. I had several little stops to make, which would be infintessimally (is that a word?) easier if I didn't have the boys with me. (A 5-minute stop takes 20 at least, when you have to deal with car seats, shopping carts, and keeping little hands off the merchandise!) Paul wasn't thrilled about having to go to Hobby Lobby (he asked how much longer as soon as we walked in), but - the things you do for love, eh?

We ended our time in Lawrence by going car-shopping. We know we're going to have to buy a new car when we have our next child. We may be able to get by with all three in the back seat of my car for a while, but we're going to have to downsize some car seats to the "economy-sized" ones. And no, we are not preggo! We are just trying to plan ahead and know what we want when it comes time to get it.

We went to Crown Toyota, because Paul and I have always been impressed with the staff there (that's where he bought his first truck). We told the sales staff we were not buying today, and we wanted to just look on our own, and they left us alone. We perused their selection, and I hate to say.... I liked the minivan best. Grr. We had kind of thought we would like a crossover, because I do not want a minvan, and Paul does not want an SUV (and neither do I after looking at their gas mileage!) But after looking at the crossovers (the Toyota version, plus a Chevy and Saturn version they also had on the lot), the back row of seating is meant to be occasional, not every-day, and if we have 4 kids, we'd need the back row every day! And when you are using the back row in a crossover, you lose most of your cargo space. The van can seat 8, and still have a good amount of cargo space (for my once-a-month shopping). And it could even fit 8 adults, for shorter trips. But..... I am SO not a minivan mommy! However, I'd rather give up my reputation to get something that will really be what our family needs, rather than something that looks stylish. I'll just have to take a year or two, while we're saving up, to get used to the idea. (We are not buying new! I figure by the time we need it, we'll hopefully have enough saved up by making "car payments" to our savings account that we can afford a 1 or 2-year-old used one.)

Anyhow. That's how we old-marrieds celebrated our 7th Anniversary.

That Springtime Itch

Things I'm dying to be able to do outside:

1. Hang clothes on the line. (Need to build the clothesline first, though - we had to tear it down last fall when we replaced the cellar door.)
2. Weed the flower beds, without getting muddy. (There's a fine line between too wet, and perfect moisture for weed pulling.)
3. Till the garden. (It's still a sink hole.)
4. Order seeds! (Gotta wait for the next paycheck.)
5. Walk in the morning. (Except for the last few mornings, it's still pretty chilly in the morning - and windy, too.)
6. See my petunias in my flower boxes in bloom.
7. Let the boys run around outside half clothed. (Sounds kinda pervy....)
8. Let Jacob run around half clothed, naked on the bottom - so we can start potty training!!!

Funny story, witnessed by my in-laws:

Doug and Janice were watching the boys while Paul and I were at praise team practice. They went outside to play, and after an hour or more, Nathan had to potty. We have designated "okay to potty here" areas outside - a certain tree, and "the green rock" (a moss-covered brick behind the shed). So Nathan goes to the green rock, and starts doing his business, and Jacob walks up to him, pulls up his shirt, and starts trying to undo his pants. He looked back and forth between Nathan and Grandpa, as if to say, "You guys need to help me do this!" I wish I could have seen it! He's starting to show occasional signs of readiness, but I'm not sure I'm up for the fight of trying to potty train him just yet, especially when he still doesn't talk!