Joy to the World...

...the Lord is come!

Well, Christmas has come and gone. The decorations are still up and Christmas music is still playing in my mind, but we don't have the anticipation of Christmas day to look forward to any more. Happily, this joyous season continues for our family until at least January 8th. First comes New Years, then our anniversary on the 3rd, then Sonny's birthday on the 8th. After taking down the Christmas decorations the second week of January last year, my husband told me that I was a scrooge. I promised him that we could always leave the decorations up until after his birthday but it seems that he wouldn't be satisfied unless we leave them up all year long!

On Christmas Eve I made a ham that was given to me by a dear friend. It was the first ham I had ever made and it turned out delicious, however, I had a bit of trouble in the cooking process:

I mistakenly used a recipe for a 12 lb ham and didn't think to change the cooking time to match my much smaller one. If I had been home to baste it frequently like the recipe called for, I would have noticed that it was starting to get too done but we had a couple errands to run and we took MUCH longer than anticipated. We came home to that black thing! We believe that perhaps the outer black shell kept the inside nice and juicy, making for the most wonderful accident I could imagine! I would post the recipe on here for you, but I'd like to keep that a secret. It's something you would never expect so I'm not going to tell you! Haha! I've never had a food with a "secret ingredient" before, but this ham recipe will be it! We also had alfredo noodles and lima beans with corn. We ate by Christmas and candle light with my pretty table cloth all the way from India!

One of the gifts I received is a book called "The House that Cleans Itself: Creative Solutions for a Clean and Orderly House... in Less Time than You Can Imagine!" by Mindy Starns Clark. It is so helpful and fun to read and I can't wait to start implementing some of the steps detailed in this book. I will consider it my new challenge for January and will post about it soon! In the meantime, I'm still working on trying new, healthy recipes that I've never tried before. Last night I made polenta for the first time. I was going to use it with spaghetti sauce but my mom didn't like it, so we had noodles instead. I'm going to find a new way to have it other than with pasta sauce so we will all enjoy it!

Y2K to Today: 2001-2002

In continuing the Y2K to Today challenge set forth by my friend, Uneventfully Wonderful, I'm going to try to remember the years 2001-2002. I'm not going to do every post like this, but a lot happened those two years so I'm just going to give a list of the big points--the good, the bad, the ugly, and the praiseworthy.

• I was in love with the Backstreet Boys and *NSync and had their posters covering my wall
• Learned to drive the spring of 2001
• Counseled middler camp in the summer of 2001 with my dear friend, Sarah and had a blast!
• Started my Junior year in high school and started Advanced Placement Classes
• Hated high school and all that went with it: obnoxious teenagers, noise, crowded hallways, obnoxious teenagers, misunderstanding teachers, bad attitudes, mean kids, obnoxious teenagers
• I woke up the morning of September 11, 2001 to radio show hosts talking about planes hitting the World Trade Center in New York. I thought it was a prank because they had done pranks about seeing UFOs and other such things before. I turned on the news just in time to see the first tower fall. I knew the US was under attack but what that meant, I was very unsure of. Everyone was so somber at school that day and teachers left the television on in every class so we could watch what was happening. Some teachers continued on as if it was a normal day but gave us the option of watching the news. My father and I kept the TV on CNN all day every day for almost a week. I remember putting up a sign in our window that said, "God Bless the USA." It was a very sad time in my life and in the history of the US but it was amazing to see everyone come together to grieve as one and to experience the bond we all had as fellow citizens of a strong nation.
• Came down with mono and missed 3 weeks of school
• Started doing very poorly in school
• Daydreamed about being in college, getting married, and having a brood of children
• My aunt had bone cancer and was given 6 months to live
• Spent four weeks total at camp, three counseling and one as a camper
• Was in the oldest girl cabin at camp and had dance parties, nail painting parties, and star gazing parties
• Brother baptized at camp
• Grandfather had open heart surgery and never went home from the hospital--he died 3 weeks later
• Still hated school and continued to do poorly
• Got my braces off
• God provided a miracle in my family and cured my aunt of her cancer--without treatment! Praise the Lord!

The biggest event happened at the end of 2002, one that has shaped me into who I am and I know that I would not be the same person I am today if it were not for it happening. My mom left to be a truck driver. I will explain more in future posts, since the main part of the story happens in 2003.

It seems that a lot of what went down those two years was negative, but again, I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for those struggles. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'" Jeremiah 29:11

Y2K to Today

In my last post from yesterday I asked for some ideas on topics and challenges and my dear friend, Sarah, challenged me to participate in what she is calling, "Y2K to Today." Basically, she is going to spend some time remembering the last ten years of her life and post about her "special, hard, boring, or breathtaking" moments. She is challenging her friends and readers to participate on their blogs and in return, they will have a chance to win some of her homemade sea salt. I think it is a great idea to sit back and view the last ten years of your life and to reflect on how much has changed and how much you have grown, whether you have a chance to win an amazing gift or not!

Yes, it's Christmas Eve and you might think there are much better things to be doing right now, but this is so much fun! We already had our family Christmas this morning and even though the house is a wreck, I am relaxing in my new fuzzy pajamas and socks while watching the Blindside (my newest favorite movie). Everyone knows that there is no hurry to clean up after the grand present opening, and if they don't know that, they should lighten up!

So, in the year 2000 I was a freshman in high school. I wore braces and had long frizzy hair which I always put up in a pony tail of some sort. I was very quiet and shy, only speaking to my friends Tia, Rachel, and Savannah. We had huge crushes on junior and senior boys who didn't know we even existed. We called them, "That Guy," "This Guy," and "Number 28" because we didn't know their names. I remember going to Senior High camp at Ross Point Camp that summer and being so excited to finally be one of those big kids! That was also the year that I counseled at camp for the first time and I discovered how much fun it was!

Another large event that sticks out in my mind is having a family friend living with us. She was young and used to babysit my brother and me when she was a teenager. She hadn't made the best life choices but having a 20-something woman in my house gave me someone to look up to. She was nice and liked to take me out and spoil me so of course I thought she was awesome! She took me ice skating, took me to a salon, and bought a ton of junk food for us to enjoy at home and I thought I was livin' the life! It turned out that the all the money she had been spending was my parents' money and she had no right to it. She had also been taking drugs and had a paranoia attack one night in my room. She made me think that someone was in the house and we were hiding. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. When I found out the truth, I was crushed. I had been lied to, deceived, and tricked into spending my parents' money without their permission. I was heart broken. It did, however, teach me how to follow my gut (or rather the Holy Spirit's guidance) in deciding who to spend my time with. I knew all along she made poor choices and she wasn't the best role model, I just chose not to pay attention to those feelings. I learned a lot from that tough experience.

Besides for that, it was a relatively uneventful year and not much else sticks out. Whew, that was a long time ago and I feel so old!

Merry Christmas!

I fear I was a little ambitious with my monthly challenge. I've decided to throw December's challenge out the window. I'm too busy to even think about new meals! I did make a chili last night that was delicious but it hardly counts as a new meal because I've made it a few times, it's just always a little different. Speaking of chili, perhaps I'll have myself a little helping now...

Yum!

Well, since my mother has gotten here, we have been quite busy! We've been shopping and visiting friends every day and it's going to continue into Christmas Eve. She still needs to get a gift for Lil' Squirt at the mall, *gasp*! I know, I know. The mall so close to Christmas! Perhaps it won't be so busy though since people will already be starting their family celebrations. Yeah right! We've also made gingerbread houses and Cream Cheese Spritz cookies, which were to die for!

So I have a question for you. What kinds of things would you like to read about? What sort of topics should I post about? I have a few ideas, but none that are really all that interesting. I feel like I should have a monthly challenge but I need some ideas on challenges as well. Leave a comment with some ideas and feedback. Please!!

I hope you all have a safe, happy, and delightful Christmas!

Troubles in Cloth Diapering

Warning: This post may be very boring to non-mothers, and to mothers as well. In fact everyone might find this rather boring but me!

If anyone ever read my old blog, they might know that we have chosen to use cloth diapers. We have been very happy with that decision until recently when we started having many difficulties with diaper rashes and heavy wetting.

One of the biggest problems we have been having is that Lil' Squirt is such a heavy wetter at night that we have to fill his pocket diapers with a terry cloth prefold and a terry cloth insert (made by my mother-in-law). Filling his diaper with so much fabric isn't such a big problem if you have a good cover. A friend from church gave us these two really nice Flip covers which work great for folding a prefold into thirds and tucking them into the cover but that only worked for our Lil' Squirt for a few months until he started soaking his diapers in two minutes flat (a bit of an exaggeration)! We had to start using both covers at night to make sure they had good coverage around both legs but even that started to not work.

All this said so that I can tell you about our new Thirsties Duo Wraps in mango and ocean blue colors we bought using an Amazon gift card. I started using them today and they are fantastic! Not only do they have great coverage around the legs, but we don't even have to try to stretch them out to cover his pocket diapers. They are so simple and quick to just slap on and go! I ordered them with velcro because that was all they had, so we'll see how that goes. I've always heard that snaps are better. We'll see!

I also ordered two Kawaii diaper covers from Ebay. I had a hard time finding reviews for them and they were fairly cheap so I don't know if they were a good investment or not. I plan on those just being backups for now and using the Thirsties as our main covers.

We have learned the hard way that buying the cheapest is not always the answer. If you buy cheap cloth diapers, you will just have to buy more sooner. It may be more expensive up front to buy good diapers but in the long run it comes out cheaper because they last long. Now we know for our future 7 children (or however many God chooses to bless us with)!

A Pleasant Christmas Surprise

Due to some rather terrible circumstances, my mother, the truck driver, will be spending Christmas with our family! We consider it a blessing in disguise. She lost her job (BOO!) but it happened on my side of the country so she gets to be with us for Christmas (YAY!). She already has some prospects for a better job so don't be too sad! She hasn't been around Lil' Squirt for more than a week so she can't wait to spoil him and for us to spend some quality time together.

Meet My Family

Two Tales of Woe...and Chicken Stew-ish Stuff

Let's just say that today has not been the hottest day, in more than one sense. First of all, it's still frigid (I'm currently wearing my snazzy blue striped winter hat indoors)! Secondly, I made many blunders today and am in need of some venting. A blog is a great way to vent! Another great way to relieve ventation (yes I just made that word up), is to watch Cops on Hulu and remind myself that no matter how many blunders I make, I'm not as dumb as those people! "Do you have any weapons on you?" "None that I know of." ~~~~ "I was not driving!" "What were you doing on this side of town?" "I was driving my friend home."

First Tale of Woe

I locked myself and my son out of the house in the great, freezing outdoors! I had a spare key in my wallet but guess whether or not it worked. NO!! Of course not! There was supposed to be a spare key for the car but guess whether or not it was there. NO!! Of course not! I tried to call my landlord but guess whether or not I had his number in my new phone. NO!! Of course not! I do have a truly heroic husband, though, and he came to our rescue! Luckily one of the car doors was unlocked so we were able to sit in the car with blankets while we waited for him to get there.

Second Tale of Woe

I recently bought these rather hideous looking stove burner covers from Goodwill and so far they have been a delightful addition to our home. However, they don't do any good if you forget to cover the burners all the way! I turned on the wrong burner (a common occurrence in this house, for some reason) when trying to cook some rice for dinner and melted part of the lid of one of my nice plastic storage bowls. The lid shouldn't have been anywhere near the burner, but the one time I don't nudge the cover back into its rightful place, I melt something!

Ah, I feel better just getting that out there. As you will come to learn about me, I am very accident prone. It's probably due to my lack of observation skills, which I definitely need to work on. All righty, now that I have embarrassed myself for life, let me tell you about my second new meal this week. At least I didn't burn any of it.

Chicken Stew-ish Stuff

I have no real name for it because I don't really know what to call it.

3 carrots, chopped into rounded slices

1/2 onion, chopped

1 can low sodium cream of chicken soup

2 cans of water (I just used the soup can)

Lemon & Pepper seasoning

Pepper

Garlic powder

1 chicken leg and thigh

I added all of the ingredients in a crock pot and cooked on high for 3 hours. After 3 hours, I took the chicken out and pulled all the meat off the bones then placed the meat back into the crock pot and let it cook on low for an hour. I don't think the last part was necessary but that's what I did anyway. I served the chicken on brown rice and poured the stew-ish stuff on the rice as well. I also made broccoli & cauliflower and bread.

So tell me, what are some of your recent blunders?

Freezing with Tuna Pasta

Since I failed to get three new meals made last week, I HAD to make one last night. I was prepared to use the now thawed chicken that prevented me from getting my third meal last week, but alas, the cold was just another hinderance. I spent all evening like this:

In light of my time spent in the tundra, I was able to do some more searches on Allrecipes.com, which by the way is the best recipe website in the world! You can do searches based on specific ingredients, which is how I found the Tuna Pasta. This was one of the first recipes I have found in recent memory when I had everything I needed to complete it and I didn't have to make substitutions! I will admit, it is a very simple and quick recipe, but let's face it, I was freezing!

I usually make my own alfredo and buy the occassional Ragu, but this time I had two coupons for Classico alfredo sauce and it was so good! I also never expected tuna to go with alfredo but it did, to my pleasure and delight!

Tonight: Chicken stew of some sort. It's probably one of those meals where I'll just throw a bunch of ingredients in and hope for the best. What are YOU making for dinner?

EDIT- The link to the tuna pasta is not currently working, so here it is:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tuna-Pasta-with-Peas/Detail.aspx

Week # 1: Failure

All right, so my first week was a monumental failure. I managed to make two new meals but due to a problem with frozen chicken, my third did not happen. I will make something fantastic tonight then report back to you tonight or tomorrow!

Thuccotath! I Mean Spicey Christmas Delight

Whenever I hear the word, succotash, I think of Daffy Duck and his major lisp. Succotash turns into Thuccotath, or as Lil' Squirt repeats proudly, "Gagattth." I had leftover beans from our beans and rice meal last night so I did a search on Allrecipes.com for ones with kidney beans, red pepper, and peas and found this delicious meal. I call it Spicey Christmas Delight due to it's beautiful red and green coloring, but it's actually called Zesty Succotash.

Here is my own version of this recipe:

1 Tbsp butter

2/3 bag of frozen 3 pepper and onion blend (I picked through the bag to get more red peppers than anything)

1/2 bag of frozen peas

1/3 bag of frozen lima beans

1 can of corn

1 cup dried kidney beans, cooked and drained

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup mild salsa

(in the future, I will also add fresh onions to the sautee at the beginning, it would have added so much more flavor)

Melt butter in large skillet on medium-high heat, add peppers and onions. Cook until thawed, add peas and lima beans. Continue cooking about 5 minutes then add corn and cooked kidney beans. Add chili powder, crushed red pepper, and salt. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until all ingredients are cooked through. Serve alone as a side dish or with rice.

This is a very delicious yet cheap and nutritious meal! I decided to serve it as the main course on brown rice with cornbread since it is so filling. You should definitely try it!

Note: We use frozen and canned vegetables because we have found that it is cheaper and more convenient for this time in our lives. The more I experiment with cooking, the more I come to realize that fresh really is the best way to go but that will come at a later time. So for now, frozen it is!

I Challenge You...

Actually, I challenge myself! After inventing the delicious Chicken Enchilada Pasta the other night, I thought it would be fun to try to make something new that I've never tried more often. My husband and I are creatures of habbit and like to stick to what we know. We rotate between different versions of chicken and rice, beans and rice, stir fry, and mexican flavored dishes with taco seasoning. So I challenged myself to make a new dinner 3 times a week for the rest of December. If nothing else, I can learn to add more variety to our diets and our lives. Let's step outside of our comfort bubble!

The Rules:
1. The meal has to be something I have never made or attempted.
2. The ingredients must already be on hand. I may not go out and buy items for a specific meal.
3. At least one of the three meals a week must be meatless but have a protein substitute, such as beans.
4. I may use any means necessary to find a new recipe.

To start us off, last night I made Baked Penne and Smoked Sausage Casserole. http://http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baked-Penne-and-Smoked-Sausage/Detail.aspx



I didn't have french fried onions so I sauteed half an onion with 2 small chopped cloves of garlic and the sausage. I also added salt and pepper before baking, which the recipe does not call for. It was good, but definitely not the most exciting meal I've ever made. I look forward to my next try! I think tonight I will just make some good ol' beans and rice and save my creativity juices for my next attempt at something new!


How often do you try new recipes? I challenge you to take this adventure with me and try it yourself!

Welcoming a New Blog with Chicken Enchilada Pasta

All righty, so this is my second attempt at a successful blog. I am still throwing around some ideas as to what constitutes non-boring posts and I hope that writing about my new recipe discoveries and my adventures as a new mother will be insightful yet entertaining as well! I am definitely not saying that I have extensive knowledge to spread to the world, just that I want others to learn with me.

As you walk with me, I will introduce you to Lil' Squirt, my 1 year old son, and my husband of 2 years, Sonny. Please learn, laugh, and grow with us!

So to get us started, I want to tell you about my newest recipe discovery. Just to warn you, I don't really use exact measurements when I'm cooking and I'm sure my food would turn out much better if I did, but I usually just throw ingredients in and hope for the best. I make a taco casserole that my husband LOVES but it's a little different every time. So for those who are very precise cookers, I hope I don't annoy you too much!

The last couple of nights have been pretty hectic and I have had to throw meals together very quickly. Thursday night we had stirfry, which I will post about some other time, but last night I discovered Chicken Enchilada Pasta.

1/2 -2/3 of a 12 oz bag of whole wheat egg noodles
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2ish tablespoons of sour cream
1/2 cup medium salsa
A few pinches of shredded cheddar cheese
Chili powder (I just dumped it in until it looked right, that's how I do most of my seasoning, so I have no idea how to tell you how much...just use your own discretion)
Dash of garlic powder

Cook the noodles according to package directions and drain. Add all ingredients and let simmer on medium-low for about 5 minutes or until hot. I added corn to mine but Sonny made his into a wrap and added more cheese. It needed some chicken, so in the future, I will make this when I have some leftovers already cooked. It was very simple and quick and we can't wait to have it again!

A Nameless Love

She was a precious gift
From the Lord above she came
I never saw her face
No I never knew her name

Away she went so fast
He called for her from above
I had to say goodbye
To my precious nameless love

Just why she had to go
I will never understand
But God's will is mighty
He holds our lives in His hand

My precious nameless love
I may not understand why
But she will soar in heaven
As my precious butterfly