::Yard sale! (not mine)

Yard sales are the best. I get such a thrill over getting a bunch of neat ol' junk for hardly any money. I took the girls on a walk around our neighborhood and hit a couple of sales. I got two shirts for a quarter each, and two brand new DVDs still in the plastic for 50 cents each.

Woohoo! Movie night!

I got a little ambitious last night and made something totally weird to go with my crockpot bean stuff. I wanted to use tuna, because Kurt bought an 8pack of tuna from Sam's on our last trip. Canned tuna. It smells like cat food when you open the can.

Now as far as my no-meat diet goes, fish is the exception. There are some really great health benefits from eating certain kinds of fish. Especially salmon. I could eat salmon everyday. Tilapia is good, too. But canned tuna...it's like...spammy...that's the only word I could think of to describe it.

So, I went searching for a recipe that would make canned tuna a bit more palatable. I found one for a tuna rice puff. It sounds weird, it looks weird, but I'm really into weird right now.

It was a bit of work, and it kept me in the kitchen longer than I wanted to be during arsenic hour, but it really went well with the black eyed peas. I made a fruit salad, too.

The puff was good, but it needed something. I omitted the salt, because I thought the tuna would be salty, but, I should've added it. And maybe some cheese and green onions. Then it would be really, really good.

The girls didn't seem to care for anything that was on their plate last night. Except for the marshmallows that I put in the fruit salad. There was only like twelve left in the bag...

*sigh* I will not give up offering them good food!

::Naptime

When Faith sings her ABCs, she says, "Naptime won't you sing with me," instead of, "Next time..." They are all napping right now. I like naptime. It's a very good time of the day.

I already have dinner in the crockpot. My crockpot is my friend. I'm making a spicy black eyed pea concoction. I didn't have any chipotle peppers like it called for, so I just added a can of tomatoes and green chilies, and added some ground red pepper. It should work. I also added some turkey bacon to give it some smokey flavor. Yeah, I know, I'm not eating meat. But turkey bacon is to real turkey as a frito is to an ear of corn. It's just not really meat anymore. So lemealone.

I need to start a series of posts about freebies I get in the mail. That will be coming soon...

::Chinese

This turned out so good. It had the red cabbage, broccoli, celery, (gotta beeee, VEGGIE TALES! ha, sorry) peas, carrots, onions, and garlic. Karis grabbed handfuls of onions as I was chopping them and shoved them into her mouth. And she bit into a whole garlic clove. I think it was burning her mouth. She's a character.

Anyhoo, I sauteed the veggies in olive oil and apple cider vinegar. The vinegar is what made the flavor so awesome. I hate the smell of that stuff, but it really made this dish taste like...well...chinese food.

The other fun part was the rice noodles.

These things were weird! And addictive. I couldn't stop sampling them. I thought for sure the girls would love them. Karis gave them a good try, but ended up getting most of them on the floor. And Faith decided she wasn't hungry. Oh well. More for me, I guess. Kurt really liked it, too. I'll definitely be buying these noodles again. And making this dish again. I still have lots of cabbage left, though. I need to find a way to use it up this week.

::Change of plans

Well, looks like no yard sale this weekend. The chances of rain are too high, and I don't have anyone lined up to help, anyway. My new date for the sale is July 8th-10th. Next weekend is the Fourth of July, and it's also Faith's birthday week. So, that week wouldn't be good.

Monday's planned dinner turned out pretty good.

This was before I roasted it in the oven. The broccoli was the best part. It turned out so good. Using fresh broccoli opposed to frozen makes such a difference in flavor and texture. I served this with some leftover curry rice salad. I love this stuff.

Last night's BBQ chicken and potatoes and beans were good, too. Well, I didn't eat the chicken, but it looked really good. Grill pans are nice to have for indoor grilling.

Tonight I'm making an oriental dish with some red cabbage. I've never made anything with cabbage before, but I've read about cabbage's health benefits, so I'm anxious to see how it turns out.

::Gevalia coffee deal

One of the blogs I follow posted a Gevalia deal that's out right now. I've never tried Gevalia coffee before. I'm very particular about my coffee, and I don't like flavored coffee, which is what I thought all Gevalia carried. But after I clicked on the link, I found that they have quite a nice selection and also have a ton of teas. I ordered an Organic Peruvian blend, some raspberry tea, and a coffee called Creme Brule. Yeah, I know I just said I don't like flavored coffees, but the description sold me. It also came with a travel mug and shipping was free. The whole order came to $3. I have to cancel my subscription as soon as I receive my first order so that I don't incur any more charges or coffee, but that's easy. ;)

::Eat your peas

It's been at least two weeks since I stopped eating meat. I don't really remember the exact day, and I kinda wish I did, because it'd be good to know and to keep track. But, I'm telling you, I don't miss meat one bit. I still have a teeny bit here and there, but mainly because I'm finishing someone else's just so it doesn't get wasted. In addition to stopping my meat consumption, I've increased my raw fruit and vegetable intake. I've definitely noticed a difference in the way I feel. And in a good way. A very good way. I have more energy now, because I know that my body isn't using as much on trying to digest meat. I don't crave garbage. I can stand with the pantry door open and stare right at a can of Pringles and not want them. I want almonds instead. I want an apple instead of ice cream. It's really exciting, actually. The way the human body reacts to what you put in it is such an interesting thing. It really is a wonder why we don't take better care of ourselves when it's so easy to just eat healthy. This is an ongoing process for me. I'm still seeing how this goes. Cause I still want ice cream occasionally. :) I'll post more about all this soon. It's getting late, and I need some sleep.

::Ants in the cookie jar

What a morning...
I don't know what was going on, but my kids must have been observing some sort of national holiday that I wasn't aware of. It must be "Cry, Whine, Break and Spill Stuff, And Cry Some More" day.
Both the girls woke up crying. You know that really annoying whiney cry? Yeah, that's what they were doing. During their breakfast (which Karis wouldn't eat), Kurt went to open the shade and noticed that the shade was pulled all the way down and touching the floor. It's one of those kinds that if you yank it a bit, it retracts up by itself. Well, we all know who pulled it down to the floor. Kurt tried to make it retract, and the entire shade came crashing down in a big unraveled pile of...well...shade. Something to add to Karis' list...
After breakfast, I needed to shower, so I thought I would just let the girls watch a movie in their room while I cleaned up. For some reason, unknown to anyone, that set them off into another crying fit. So, I just put them in bed and they watched it anyway. Can you hear a mom saying, "You're gonna watch a movie whether you want to or not!" Haha. I didn't sound like that, though.
After I got out of the shower, they seemed to have calmed down and be in a better mood. So was I. I took them downstairs and instead of doing my usual morning chores routine, I just sat on the couch and snuggied with them. I decided they just needed some loving, and it made me feel better, too. I was feeding KIII when he had a diaper blowout. Up and out the back, all over his clothes, and on mine. *SIGH* It's okay, he's just a wittle baby. I go upstairs, grab some new clothes for him, ignore my poopy skirt, come downstairs and see Karis standing on the couch looking quite guilty. I also notice that my coffee cup is not on the coaster anymore, and that my coffee is now all down the front of Karis' dress and on the couch. Granted, I should not have left my coffee cup in a room with kids unattended. But it still made me mad.
I went into the kitchen to clean all the maddness up and pack Kurt's lunch. I reached into the cookie jar to get some of the AWESOME cookies I made the other day and was going to post about and found that my hand and the cookies were swarming with ants. Half a dozen perfect oatmeal raisin cookies...I'm concocting ways to salvage them somehow.
So, my morning in a word? Cryingkidsbrokenshademorecryingkidspoopybabypoopymamacoffeecoveredkidcoffeecoveredcouchantsinthecookiejar.
All before 9:30 am.

::Glow-in-the-dark 18 mo old

Karis will be 18 months the end of this month. She is definitely my wild child. If there is any possible way to climb, spill, shatter, ingest, or disassemble any given object, she will find a way to do it. And in light speed, I might add. You always have to watch her, you can never leave anything fragile within her reach, because she will, and I mean SHE WILL, grab it. She is constantly moving and is very tough to keep up with. I've compiled a mental list of the crazy things she's done, and this is not the extent:

::Climbed up on top of our antique grand piano

::Dumped a bottle of bleach water on her clothes and the floor

::Peeled paint chips off the outside of our house

::Houdini-action-escaped out of her highchair and stood on the tray

::Fell behind the sectional (which is pushed up against the wall)

::Escaped out into our store at night after all the lights were shut down. Took us a while to find her.

::Used her baby brother as a spring board

::Broke our VCR after shoving a handful of rubberbands into it

::She also likes to knock over various lamps, end tables, suck on the bottoms of shoes, and eat ants

There's a lot more that I can't even think of right now.

Last night, their Nana gave both Faith and Karis a glowstick, the kind that comes with the little plastic end so you can turn it into a bracelet. Well, we specifically gave Karis one without the end because we knew it would go straight into her digestive tract. So, on the way home, both the girls were playing with their glowsticks and loving it. It was dark outside by the time we got home, and when we unbuckled Karis, I noticed that her hands, dress, mouth and "Fwuf" were all glowing. She somehow snapped open the glowstick and was eating it. The nipple on her bottle was glowing, too. *SIGH* At least the sticks were non-toxic. She really keeps things interesting, that's for sure. I'm going to be continuing this list...

::Plans for the week

I keep changing the look of my blog. I can't get it to look quite how I want it to yet. Ongoing construction...

Anyway, I'm thinking about having a yard sale this Thursday through Saturday. I don't know how it's going to work. I've been cleaning out closets and cupboards over the past several weeks and it's ridiculous how much junk we have. It has got to go. But, how to have a yard sale with three wee ones who need my constant attention?

That's the winning question. I still have to figure that out.

Well, at lease I've planned my meals for the week, and the weekend meals are all crockpot recipes, so that will help tremendously if I can pull off the sale.

::Monday (today!)
Mediterranean roasted broccoli and tomatoes (new recipe from my MIL, never made it before)

::Tuesday
BBQ chicken and oven potatoes (but this is subject to change)

::Wednesday
Oriental noodles and cabbage (I'm playing off this recipe here, but no ramen)

::Thursday
Spicy black eyed peas and tuna (another "play-off" recipe here)

::Friday
Pasta salad and italian chicken

::Saturday
Salsa chicken and black bean/corn/mango salad

I guess these are all subject to change, but it feels so nice to have a plan to refer to when making dinner. And I'm really trying to cook out of the box and find more recipes, try things I normally wouldn't make. It's fun.

Oh, it's supposed to rain Thursday and Saturday. :(

::Smoothies!

I've had a few people ask me how I make my smoothies...no really, I have. I'm not just saying that. Like any parent, I have trouble getting my kids to eat their veggies, so, I started making smoothies and adding various vegetables and other things to get them to eat more raw foods. They love them. And I love them, too. Probably way more than they do.

I make them different every time, it all depends on what I have on hand. My vegetable of choice is spinach, but I bought some fresh kale the other day, so I've been using that.

This one has blueberries, bananas, strawberries, pinapple, mango, kiwi, kale, carrots, and some ground flax meal. I usually only add water to blend it, but today Faith asked for milk and yogurt. She wanted it to be a "milkshake." Makes sense.

I know, it looks nasty. But I PROMISE you, you only taste the fruit. It tastes awesome.

Karis could hardly wait to get hers, she was standing on my toes.

My squash dish turned out pretty good last night. I didn't like the rosemary potatoes, though. I made them in the crockpot, and herbs can get pretty intensified when you slowcook them. They were just okay.

Start right here...

I’ve been meaning to resurrect my blog for a long time now, and I keep waiting for something interesting to happen to start it off with, but nothing interesting ever really happens. So, I’m just going to start right smack dab in the middle of our average, daily life. Alright. Here goes…I tried a new recipe last night. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten eggplant before, and I know I’ve never cooked with it. I’ve heard of eggplant parmesan a few times and it always sounded interesting to me, so I searched online
for a recipe. Turns out it takes a lot of prep work to make eggplant parmesan, and I don’t have a lot of time to invest in a meal. So, I found this one instead. I omitted the lemon juice because I added a red sauce and I thought that would taste bad together. I also made regular chicken parmesan for Kurt in the crockpot.
The verdict? Hmmm…I liked everything in it. I liked the idea of it. But something about it was kinda blah. The eggplant didn’t have much flavor at all. I loved the spinach, garlic and mushrooms, but the eggplant just seemed to just be…there…all soft…maybe I cooked it too long. I followed the directions exactly on cooking time. Karis liked the eggplant. Err…well…just the one that fell on the floor while I was cooking it. She said it was hot.I’ll see what I can find in other eggplant recipes.
Tonight I’m making a rosemary chicken and potato dish in the crockpot, and I’ll sauté some zucchini and yellow squash with carrots, garlic and onions.

Oh… I failed to mention that I’m not really eating meat anymore. Going vegetarian you say? Um, no, at least not 100%...more like…84.7%...I’m mainly cutting it out of my diet to save money. It’s expensive to eat meat at almost every meal. And, no matter what anyone says, I believe a vegetarian diet is healthier for you, too. Some meat here and there is perfectly fine, and that’s where I’m at now. But a diet that is mainly meat and carbs and refined, processed foods is horrible. That’s where I used to be.Now, my husband will never be a vegetarian. Never. Ever. And that’s fine. I’ll grill him a big fat steak every night if he wants it. Cause I love him. :) But he’s also gonna get a great big pile of veggies right next to that steak.