A wife and a SAHMomma with obsessive compulsive tendencies, a love schedules and organization, and a passion for crafting, cloth diapers, and all things green. In a perfect world I would be able to keep up with it all, but life with two young children you never know what will happen next…and honestly I enjoy a little crazy in my life.
If there's something on your mind let me know - gohncrazy at gmail dot com
Obviously there's me...
"The Husband" and I have been together since August 2001, married since May 2003. He's an amazing father and husband - you know the kind that all the other women are jealous of because he cleans and doesn't think he's "babysitting" when he's taking care of the kids amongst other things, but most of all he puts up with moody ole me with very little complaint. ;)
"K-Girl" is our 6 year old, too sassy for her own good, daughter. She is obsessed with Chihuahuas, loves all animals, and plays hard. She's a tomboy that likes to get prettied up now and then.
"E-Man" is 3 years old and usually attached to me although gaining his independence a little more each day. He's been a Momma's boy since the day he was born. He's obsessed with the Wii - especially Super Mario Bros, and LOVES to play in the dirt!
Tofu Tuesday is the place to share all of your vegetarian secrets. If you have a great recipe to share, a product to rave or rant about, or anything that has made being a vegetarian easier for you please share it. (And vegans, please jump in too!!) Feel free to grab the little button over there to the right. After you post come back here and link up down there with Mr. Linky. Make sure to link to your Tofu Tuesday post and not to your main blog address. I'm looking forward to reading all your posts!
It's been one of those weeks - really full and not much in the form of actual cooking going on around here. I don't have a super splendid new recipe to share with you...or well a not so super or splendid one either. I'm going to take the easy way out this week with a suggestion.
Tonight we had Morningstar Farms Original Chik'n Tenders. They were great. The husband raved about them. There were 7 tenders in the box which made a perfect proportioned dinner with some perogies and carrots. K-Girl ate her two and then half of E-Man's. The kid is not a meat eater, fake meat or not. Ah well, E-Man's loss = K-Girl's gain. ;)
Next time you want somethings easy and kid-friendly I'd definitely recommend them. And if you need a small step into something meatless but familiar these would be perfect.
Hope you'll check back next week for an actual recipe. Perhaps some black bean burgers or some pasta fagiole as those are on deck for the next weekish.
Welcome to the second week of Tofu Tuesday. Sorry for the late start today.
This week I'd like to share with you our recipe for Stuffed Peppers. This is one of those recipes that you'll have to add a bit of this and a bit of that to the amounts that you deem good for you. You can handle it though.
Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers Green Peppers - tops cut off and hollowed out Fake burger - I used a pack of LightLife Smart Ground diced onions Brown (or white) rice prepared small can of tomato paste small can of tomato sauce ketchup to sweeten it up a bit oregano, basil, pepper, & garlic salt *optional* mozzarella cheese to top
Take your peppers and place them in a large pot of boiling water. You'll only want a small amount of water and you'll put the peppers in with the open sides down into the water. Place a lid and steam them until they are tender (about 15 minutes?).
Meanwhile fry up your ground beef substitute according to package directions. Add in some diced onions and fry until tender. Add in your tomato paste, tomato sauce, ketchup, and seasoning. Once that is put together add in your rice to make a nice thick mixture.
Once your peppers are tender take them out of the water and stuff them with your tomato mixture. Top them off with ketchup on top. Put them into the oven in a baking dish with a bit of water in the bottom so your peppers don't burn. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350. It's optional, but if you would like you can take the peppers out when they are done, sprinkle the tops with mozzarella cheese and put back in under the broiler just until cheese is all melted.
This is a recipe I have always used with ground beef and no one was any the wiser when I used the substitute. They were still as delicious as ever. The added bonus to this recipe is that I made three peppers and had enough of the tomato mixture to freeze and I'll be able to make another dinner of these in a couple weeks. If I'd have to estimate it makes enough for about 6 - 8 peppers depending on the size of your peppers.
E-Man is quickly becoming obsessed with all things Thomas. We got him a set of Thomas jammies and all is well except in the morning when you try to get him dressed. He never wants to take them off. We went to pick up a pack of Gerber plastic pants (diaper covers - not impressed btw) and these Thomas underwear were right beside them. He grabbed them and did not want to put them down. I figured it couldn't be a bad thing to have a few pairs of underwear around to work with too.
Last night after bath time he came down to me wearing two of the three over his diaper and the third on his head like this. The Husband swore that he did it all by himself. Silly kid. When I went to finish getting his jammies on he would not let me take the last pair of underwear off so he did end up sleeping with them over his diaper. Ah well, it most certainly could be worse. I'm hoping that his excitement over the underwear will help out in the potty training front once we completely get there. Until then I'll have plenty of blackmail pictures for later in life.
Click on the button to visit Angie and the other Wordful Wednesday participants
Winter had its last hurrah and now I think we're done. It's onward to better things...warmer things...SPRING! I'm gearing up to opening windows daily, more days spent outside, leaving jackets at home, oooh and hanging up the clothes line. I'm so over winter. It's been here too long and I have a serious case of the winter blahs. Every time the weather gets over 50 I get the itch. But it wouldn't be right to move on to the next season without paying one last respect to winter.
We may have gotten the sleds out three times this winter...that's a plus. But when it wasn't snowing half the time I wished it were. The snow would have made the temperatures at least seem worth it.
It actually didn't snow enough to even bother investing in a snowsuit for E-Man. Instead he got to enjoy layers...and his sister's old accessories. I'll be sad in another year or two when he refuses to go outside in purple and pink mittens or a rainbow scarf. For now it's more economical that way. ;)
The dogs longed to go out and play in it...
And don't worry, they had their turns too. I wonder what Gabs would do in more than a few inches. It's totally different with a low rider.
But I believe the best part of snow, at least where K-Girl is concerned, is the hot cocoa and cuddles under a warm blanket once back inside to warm up.
Silly girl.
And with that, Winter I bid you adieu. Don't let the door hit ya'....
Welcome to our first week of Tofu Tuesday. Tofu Tuesday is the place to share all of your vegetarian secrets. If you have a great recipe to share, a product to rave or rant about, or anything that has made being a vegetarian easier for you please share it. (And vegans, please jump in too!!) After you post come back here and link up down there with Mr. Linky. Make sure to link to your Tofu Tuesday post and not to your main blog address. I'm looking forward to reading all your posts!
My tip this week is a recipe. We tried this tonight for the first time. It turned out soooooo good. Just remember that I'm not a photographer and especially not a food photographer so I'm promising that it tastes better than my picture looks. ;)
Vegetarian Fajitas
2 tsp vegetable oil 1 cup quartered, sliced onion 1 cup red, green or yellow bell pepper strips 1 (15-ounce) can black, pinto or kidney beans, drained 1/2 cup frozen whole kernel corn 1 (1.25-ounce) package ORTEGA® Taco Seasoning Mix 1/3 cup water 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 6 (6-inch) fajita-size flour tortillas, warmed
Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Stir in beans, corn, fajita seasoning mix and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro.
Spoon 1/2 cup fajita mixture onto each tortilla; fold in half.
I used 1 small onion, 1 smallish green pepper (I'd have put in more), 1 HUGE red pepper, more like a cup of corn because it seemed 1/2 cup wasn't much in comparison to all those beans, and last I did need to add another probably 1/4 cup of water because it was way too thick to start after adding the seasoning. How's that for a big, long, run-on sentence? ;) Oh and I didn't have cilantro. The addition I made to this recipe is that I added in Quorn Naked Chik'n Cutlets. The Husband did them on the grill while I was putting together the rest of the meal and then at the end I sliced them up and mixed them in with the rest. I put in three of the cutlets and used the fourth in chicken and cheese quesadilla for the kids. My husband the meat man LOVED this meal and said that these "chicken" cutlets even had the same texture. He said they were right on. I agree. I couldn't tell that there was any "fake" meat in them. And you can feel free to make them with or without the addition of "chicken". I do think they would be just fine without.
Enjoy!!
Oh and for what it's worth, no they didn't pass my kid test although the kids didn't really eat the quesadillas either. They are picky picky children...wonder where they get that from. ;)
As you may know from my posts raving about them, I'm a mei tai momma. I just love mei tai baby carriers. Even though the straps may intimidate some, I think that's what I love about them...mostly. Browsing around The Baby Wearer, I discovered a new (to me) carrier called a podaegi. In its narrow version, it's basically a mei tai without the waist strap add a bit of length to its body. I decided I needed one, and it seemed to be simple enough that it should make my perfect attempt at making my first carrier. I bought the fabric a while ago but hadn't gotten around to making it. Lately I've been thinking about the fact that although there are still times I carry E-man, they are getting fewer and further between. I've also been feeling the pinch and thinking about selling them. It might help ease the pain of our recent diaper purchase (show and tell post soon to come of course). So anyway, yesterday The Husband gave me some sewing time (he's so sweet) and I figured I'd tackle the pod. I am SO pleased with it and can't wait for my next trip to market (the one place I almost ALWAYS wear him) to really try it out.
*photos care of K-Girl photography. ;) Looking up is never a very flattering angle, but this must be shared sooner than I can get the help of someone adult sized to share. I think she did a pretty good job though.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ I'm putting this edit in January 26, 2010 (yes, I'm aware that it's been 10 months since originally posting this):
I never thought that this post would get as many views as it has but due to that the pictures are really bothering me. With more wear of the podaegi I found that it is entirely possible (comfortable and secure) to do the straps backpack style as I would with a mei tai carrier - thus no squishing of the girls. So today I decided to grab the pod and E-Man and get some pictures that may help the case for this carrier.
OK, now that I feel better that you have another tying position, I'll let this original post continue...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I think it's really comfy though. I love that I don't have to wear it on my shoulders. Yes there is some squishing to the girls, but it's not an uncomfortable squish. I do need to play with it though. This is only the third time I've tied him up there. I made the straps lightly padded the entire length and I made the width of the body plus a little on each side extra padded. I am so glad that I did that. Having the padding there makes it super comfy
Here's just the podaegi...
I absolutely love the fabric. The back side of the body area is yellow to complement the main fabric. Other than a few issues with sewing such thick fabric and making sure to catch all pieces, I feel like it turned out REALLY well. And for my first attempt at a carrier I am more than thrilled with my outcome. I'd love to make more, but really I don't really need more than one.
And if you are wondering how I tied him up there, this is the video I used and found most helpful and despite I can't understand what she's saying I just have to have the volume up. I love listening to her (anyone know exactly what language she's speaking?). She's using a typical podaegi rather than a narrow one like I made. Same stuff involved though.
I thought I'd give an update on how Molly and Gabby are getting along...
I wouldn't say they are "friends" exactly, but Gabby is awfully fond of Molly. And when Molly is too tired to fend her off anymore they do get along well. hehe You have to give Molly a break. She's seven and would rather be sleeping on her papasan chair than dealing with a yippie little puppy biting at her legs to play.
Gabby was at the vets on Wednesday and she's doing really well. She's up to a whopping 5.9 lbs. haha She's 4 1/2 months now so it's time to schedule her spaying/chipping appointment. No more puppies for us. Now if she could just get a complete grasp at the house breaking. Still getting better but she leaves MUCH room for improvement. But for the accidents she makes up for them in cuddles. Gosh she's such a snuggle puppy and will sleep in any position as long as she's next to you.
For about the past month or so diaper changes have been getting progressively worse. I've never had an issue with putting a diaper on him before (well other than the normal wiggly toddler issues), but whenever I put a diaper on him he pulls and pulls at it. He grabs and tries to get the snappi off and then after the cover is on he still sticks his hand inside and tries to pull up on the prefold. He's just been crazy about them. Just cries and holds himself very rigid so that I can't get it on him. I couldn't figure it out.
My daughter was potty training by now but she initiated it. I didn't want to force him into potty training because it's a huge commitment and I honestly didn't think he was ready. He has cried the few times I sat him on the big one just to test the waters. I was thinking we'd start working on it in summer when it's warm enough to go around naked from the waist down (much less laundry that way).
So I posed this dilemma to the gals on DiaperSwappers and got the feedback from one that he may be ready to potty train showing me that he was unhappy with diapers anymore. Others said that I should pick something side snapping that could be pulled up and down. On a whim I thought I would grab a little potty at Target on Saturday and see what happened. I didn't want to use a little potty but I figured maybe that is what he would be more comfortable with. I found this cute little froggy potty and thought that since it seemed so simple it would be easier to keep clean so we'd give it a try. He's obsessed with it.
Sunday I spent too much money on 6 Dream-Eze AIOs, 6 GADs pockets, & 6 Sandy's. I figured I used Dream-Eze we had used when E-Man was smaller in their fitted variety and they were great. GADs were recommended by quite a few people and I was able to actually touch and feel one at a recent playgroup and found they are very similarly shaped to my BayBee AIOs that I just love. Sandy's I just love and I thought that they would be good when I want his heiny to get some air. All the diapers can be used as diapers and trainers or night time or day time. I think these will be great for us to take us through to big boy pants.
However, it hurts to buy new diapers when I just sized up prefolds a month ago. Well these things will happen and whether I like it or not prefolds are not potty training friendly diapers.
Oh and can I add this...
Part of me is already sad that we will *soon* be done with cloth diapers. Truly.
Kaci of Ellyphant and myself have teamed up to bring to you Tofu Tuesdays. Each Tuesday we'll post about something (anything!) vegetarian whether it is a new recipe we've tried, a new brand we picked up at the grocery store and want to rave on (or not), or a tip or trick that has helped you with your vegetarian ways.
Kaci's a vegetarian wonder and has been at it a little over a year and blogging her Tofu Tuesdays since August 2008. I just recently decided that this is really something that I feel strongly about pursuing so I'm a newbie. I'm sure I won't be perfect to start, but that's where all of you come in. Let's share our knowledge and maybe help a few others see that being vegetarian isn't all that hard.
Check back next Tuesday - March 17th - for our first Tofu Tuesday and if you have something to share you'll be able to sign up with Mr. Linky and grab our cute little button too! You can grab the small version code over to the right if you'd prefer.
I was browsing over the Treehugger homepage this afternoon and I noticed an article about Fast Food Trash and it included a video. I'm a sucker for videos so I clicked. And after I was done watching that I decided I had to watch more from them. So I clicked over to Dodo Films to check them out. It's these two guys, Hal & Leigh, that go by the name The Enviromentals.
Because of their little video on worm composting I think I may have to give it a try. Hey Husband, you getting excited yet?! ;) I think it would be so much easier than our current regular composting we have since we've been having issues with well it's disgusting - or at least towards the end of summer it was disgusting. I know a well maintained compost is not supposed to have these issues, but I guess we are struggling with it. Go watch the video. Could worm composting be any easier?! Of course for the record, worms don't give me the heebee jeebies either. During middle school I remember various times of saving the ones that came up out of the dirt and ended up on the concrete. I didn't want them smooshed so I'd move them back to the dirt. *L* How's that for a little bit of quirky me?
Anywho I just wanted to tell you all to go check it out. They've got a great message and a very entertaining way of getting it across.
The actual video has the embedding option disabled so enjoy this one instead. I think it's funny, but you may not share in my stupid humor. ;)
I've said many times that I want to be a vegetarian, but I think I'd starve. Those who know me know that I'm quite the picky eater. Basically cooking for me and your toddler are very similar. New = Scary. But you know I'm ready for the leap.
I've been saying it a lot more lately and I've decided to really look harder into it than just saying that it's a nice idea. I've been googling a lot and been on the lookout for picky-friendly vegetarian recipes. I've found quite a lot. I've also found that you can retrain your taste buds. Who knew? Basically the fact that I "don't like" so much is mostly in my head. Sure, there are things that I'm honest to goodness not going to like, but most of them are a mind set. So I've decided that I need to change that mind set.
I've heard a lot of buzz about the book "Skinny Bitch" and I decided to request it from the library. I read it in one day and turn after turn of the pages I became more and more horrified but determined. It basically confirmed many of my thoughts in a no B.S. your best friend telling you how it is kind of way. A disclaimer if you are thinking about reading it - don't read with a heavy stomach and have a tissue or two ready.
For a long while I've been thinking about my food way too much as I eat it. Consequently, I get a sick feeling when I do. That's what bothers me the most. I really honestly think that you shouldn't block the origin when you have a plate of food in front of you. Where that food came from should not make you sick to your stomach. That right there is the reason that I'm ready to take the plunge. I don't want to have to push those thoughts from my head in order to get that food to my stomach. I already made the change from buying whatever they have to offer to only really buying organic and whantot, but that's not cutting it.
I have two hangups though - the first is offending others. Yeah yeah I know - it's me not them so I shouldn't worry about what others think. But I do. I don't worry about my family because well honestly they know me and all my "crazy" ways so they probably wouldn't even bat an eyelash at this. When it comes to my inlaws I fear that they are going to think I've finally gone off the deep end and then they are going to fear for my children and the fact that they would absolutely not be eating anything decent. But also just being a pain if I go to eat at friends' houses. I don't want them to feel like they must cater to me. I'm not sure how to get past this one. The second is with the kids. Honestly, if I'm going to be eating vegetarian well guess what, the rest of you will be too. I'm not all keen on the thought of having to still buy and make meat if I don't want to eat it. Kind of seems like a slight hypocrisy. So inside my own home is where I see having really few issues. But again going out. Do I stop my daughter from getting burgers? Do I stop getting chicken nuggets for my son? They haven't decided for themselves that they want to be vegetarian (not that I think a not even 2 year old and 4 year old can make this decision for themselves). So that's what I'm not sure and are kind of stuck on right now. I guess the biggest thing is that it will definitely effect where we do eat outside of the house and make sure that we choose places that I can be sure there are options for all of us that don't include meat.
Last night my mother-in-law called and invited us to lunch today. She asked me if there was something that I might be in the mood for and I stumbled. Dinner to them is meat. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, the works; chicken with the same, ham with the same; You know. So thinking as quickly as I could I requested salmon cakes. I know this one is a gray area for vegetarians. Some eat it some don't. I'm 50/50. I'm not a huge fan of most fish and seafood anyway so that helps. But still I think if you are going to stop eating meat just to replace it with fish and seafood that you've kind of missed the mark. You're just going to be harvesting the oceans more and they are already way over harvested. But I kind of feel that if I eat it at the same rate I eat it now - maybe 2 fish/seafood meals a month then it's not a huge deal. Go ahead and boo-hiss if you'd like. So I picked the salmon so I wouldn't have to have too hard of a time.
I've thought about holidays and honestly that doesn't bother me. Yes, I do enjoy having dark meat turkey on Thanksgiving, but I'd rather fill up on the others stuff anyway and typically do so I can do without that. Ham is becoming one of my least favorite meats anyway so Christmas without ham, I'm ok with that. Honestly, I do think I'm ready.
We made a trip down to Whole Foods. (Closest one is about a 45 minute drive from here.) I've never been to one before. It was really nice. I'd like to go back again. I've never seen so many choices for alternative eating and all the foods looked so fresh and yummy. They had produce which made some of the foods I currently don't really like look appealing. We picked up some tofurkey deli slices, some Quorn naked chik'n cutlets, Morning Star Grillers Original veggie burgers, and some Lightlife Smart Ground. A few different ideas that would really work as substitutions in our recipes which we already enjoy. I know that a lot of it is try and try again as there are so many different brands out there so if one doesn't suit us we should try a different brand.
Are you vegetarian (or vegan)? If so what helpful hints/tips do you have? Any favorite websites or cookbooks?
A few weeks ago I was messing around on Facebook doing one of those time wasters. This one had these directions...
1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random” or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
2 - Go to "Random quotations" or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days” or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together. (I used http://wigflip.com/roflbot/) Easy to use.
5 - Post it with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in.
Those of you on Facebook have probably seen this going around. After seeing my friends put up some really neat ones I decided to see what my album would be and this is what I got...
Pretty nifty I thought. A few of my friends told me I should cut my hair like the picture. I really like the cut so I printed it out and took it along to my appointment on Wednesday. The moment I showed it to her there was no turning back. I was excited but nervous at the same time. This from the girl who has had her hair pretty much any color there is, blue included, and has at one point shaved it. I'm excited that I did something different. See...
The picture does not do the color justice in my opinion. It's nice and bright. Love it! And isn't that shirt fun?! I got it at the Ani concert on Tuesday...
That's Ani DiFranco for those that might not know. I love her. This was show number four for me.
We had great seats...the closest ones so far. I still aspire to be within the first few rows at some point.
And she has this amazing drummer who just happens to be a chick. Love it. There are not nearly enough chick drummers. Her name is Allison Miller and I enjoy watching her almost as much as I do watching Ani.
Though the night mostly consisted of new songs, she did throw in some old goodies too including Napoleon, Little Plastic Castles, and Hypnotized. I was especially happy that she played her Obama song (above). There's just something different about an Ani concert. You can go to another concert to listen to great music, but Ani's concerts have such a different vibe. If you like her music you need to see her live. She really interacts with the audience and she tells her stories. She's just amazing.
Oh oh and her opener! I can't forget to include him. His name was Chad Stokes. AMAZING!! Click his name there to view photos I found on Flickr from last night's show. It was just him with his guitar. Love me some acoustic goodness. He is part of the group State Radio though if you'd like to check him/them out. Here's a bit from the song he opened with "Calling All Crows"
I found this really cute book at Michael's the last time I was in...
picture credit - Amazon.com (click picture for listing)
You see the thing that sold me with this book is that little black kitty in the lower right-hand corner. Any Hello Kitty fans out there? It's Chococat! Sure they call him Chaos A. Cat in the book but seriously it's Chococat right down to the blue collar. So I had to have the book. K-Girl loves Hello Kitty and Chococat. I know I need to make her one of those little kitties perhaps as part of her birthday coming up.
My second reason is that honestly I was looking for some variety with gifts. I thought these looked like fun.
I decided to give this little hippo named "Lourdes" a try...
click above picture for link to Amazon.com
I changed up the colors a bit and decided to sew on the eyes since I didn't want any choking risks and this is my end product...
(taken next to the Method candle for size reference)
Isn't she cute?! I can't wait to make a few more of them. I just need to decide which to make next.
I just love to be able to strike up a conversation when you comment. Sometimes I start an e-mail reply only to notice you are a no reply e-mail and I sadly close the draft. If you haven't already please read this post and add your e-mail.
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