Career Day

Today is "career day" at Kate's school. The kids are encouraged to dress to represent what career they will pursue when they get older. Kate wanted to dress like a mom. It was a cold morning, with a coating of new snow on the ground and she dressed her bitty baby in a snowsuit to keep her warm. I pray for my children that they would know the joy of being a parent and it is obvious to me that God has created my little girls to be mommies. Both girls have the natural gift to nurture.

I don't understand why our culture has decided that the natural inclination to nurture has become undesirable. In our quest to find equality, women have been denied the privilege of being who they were created to be. To watch a two-year old that already has the instinct to rock their baby is enough to prove to me that our ability to nurture is inborn.

I strongly feel that to be able to nurture is to die to self. Becoming a parent very vividly illustrates how incredibly self-consumed we really are. It is hard work to put another first and a baby demands that from us. Even though raising children is hard work, there is no greater privilege. I strongly feel that this is my purpose on this earth. I have been entrusted with three precious lives to mold, and as a result, to bring glory to God.

Two Easy Dinners

Easy Dinner #1 -
I know I've mentioned this dinner before, but since we just enjoyed it for dinner tonight, I thought I'd share with you these pictures! Last week I was perusing the discounted meats at Giant and grabbed a package of "stew meat" for less than $2. While I was grocery shopping yesterday I decided to buy a few different kinds of beans to make chili. One of our favorite ways to eat chili is to create a loaded baked potato. I know my mother-in-law doesn't approve, but you could totally bake the potatoes and let the chili simmer if you needed to run errands. Once the chili has been assembled and the potatoes are in the oven, this is totally a hands-off dinner. I found the stew meat created a little bit of a different texture, but definitely required a longer simmer time than ground beef would have.

Chili with Baked Potatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 pkg stew meat (I cut mine into bite-sized pieces)
1 medium-sized can tomato paste
cumin, smoked paprika, garlic salt, onion powder, ground pepper
3 cans of water (I used the tomato paste can to measure)
1 small jar roasted red peppers, diced
3 cans of beans (I used red kidney, small red, and small white)

1. Saute onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add beef and saute until browned.
2. Add spices, tomato paste and stir to combine. Add water, peppers, beans and simmer until beef is tender (at least 2 hrs).
3. Bake potatoes: Wrap whole russets in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hrs or until tender when pierced with a fork.
4. To make the loaded baked potato: Slice potatoes in half and mash each half. Top with a generous portion of butter, sprinkle kosher salt and fresh ground pepper over potato halves. Place desired amount of chili, cheddar cheese and sour cream over potato haves and enjoy!


Easy Dinner #2

This is always my go-to meal when I don't have any other ideas. Spicy Italian sausage with peppers, onions, and cherry tomatoes over rigatoni. Typically I grill the sausage, peppers and onions, but I can't seem to get out of my pajama pants to grill. I always pray no neighbors see me when I scurry out to my truck to run to the bus stop (yes, that's right, I'm too lazy to walk to the bus stop and our garage is filled with renovation materials and has no room for vehicles!). So, anyway, I just browned my sausage in the oven and sauteed the onions and peppers on the stove. I also made cheesy garlic bread, a mixed greens salad with homemade blue cheese dressing and whipped up Ina Garden's brownie pudding.


Sausage, Pepper, and Onion Pasta
1 pkg (6 links) spicy italian sausage
1 medium onion
1 small red pepper, chopped
3/4 jar marinara sauce
1 pint cherry tomatoes
3/4 lb rigatoni, cooked al dente

1. Grill or bake sausage until nicely browned and fully cooked. Slice diagonally into bite-sized pieces.
2. Saute or grill onions, red peppers, and cherry tomatoes until browned.
3. Mix remaining ingredients (including sliced sausage) and cook over low heat until pasta is warmed through (less than 2 minutes or the pasta will be overcooked). Top with parmesan cheese if desired.




Here are the recipes for the cheesy garlic bread, homemade blue cheese dressing (courtesy of Betty Crocker), and Ina's Brownie Pudding.

Cheesy Garlic Bread
1. Slice french bread horizontally.
2. Spread butter, garlic salt, dried Italian herbs, and parmesan on both sides of the bread.
3. Sprinkle with shredded cheese (I use sharp cheddar). Close sides of bread together, wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.



Blue Cheese Dressing
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
freshly ground black pepper
3 oz crumbled blue cheese
mix above ingredients until combined

Ina's Brownie Pudding (adapted with the ingredients I had on hand)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/8 cup cocoa powder
1/8 cup flour
1 tsp vanilla

1. Lightly butter a pie plate.
2. Melt 1 stick butter with chocolate chips in microwave for one minute or until melted. Stir until smooth.
3. In stand mixer on medium speed, beat eggs and sugar for 5-10 minutes, until pale and thick.
4. Add flour and cocoa powder over low speed. Add vanilla and butter/chocolate mixture.
5. Bake at 325 (in a water bath) for exactly one hour. Pudding will be crusty on top and will appear underbaked.
6. I served ours with pureed thawed red raspberries (I added 1/2 cup sugar and warmed the mixture to dissolve the sugar). Vanilla ice cream or whipped cream is a must!

This will keep you honest...

I have days that I just can't stop eating. I try to only keep healthy things in our house for such days. I realize that a lot of this hormonally related, but I also find that if I start the day eating unhealthy foods, I'll just keep on eating them (know what I mean?). Now, if I exercise and start my day with a healthy breakfast, I can usually continue the trend.

I enjoy running, but not so much in the frigid weather. Rob has actually been running very consistently, in the snow, in the wind, in the rain, and in the very cold mornings we've been having the past few weeks. I try to use my exercise tv on our comcast box or on my laptop, and I enjoy that almost as much as running outside.

My sister-in-law took a nutrition class for her master's equivalency a number of years ago. She utilized an online tool that calculates your calories and evaluates the foods you've eaten and gives a breakdown of the vitamins and minerals. She called to get a list of everything Josh had eaten the day before. The result was actually quite pleasing and I was interested in the website so I could gauge my own diet.

The actual tool is a program of the University of Illinois and a bit labor-intensive, but I do it every so often to keep myself in check. Basically you enter all of the foods you ingest during the day. It seems that they have many "brand-name" pre-packaged foods, and since we rarely eat things like that, I needed to improvise. What I do is to input all of the ingredients used to make the foods I eat. For example, if I make tomato bisque for my lunch, I simply enter: 1 fresh tomato, 1 T butter, 1 small onion, etc.

If you're interested, here is the link: http://nat.illinois.edu/mainnat.html

By the way, I have not figured out how to link a website without just listing the whole address. I love how other bloggers say, "here"...anyone know how to do that? I'm sure it's probably pretty simple, but I haven't figured it out yet!

My results usually go something like this: calories are higher than recommended, vitamin c is higher than recommended, vitamin d is lower, and the rest are just about normal. The results are posted in a percentage. For example, my calories are usually posted as 113% of the recommended daily calories.

Let me know what you think! Tell me if you decide to try it and if you find it helpful.

A Little More Pennsylvania Dutch...

We have friends who are from Spain. She just graduated from college and her family visited over the Christmas break. They traveled all around trying to sample the local history and sights of the Central Pennsylvania region. I thought it might be fun to cook a local specialty for them. What do you feed international guests, you ask? Why, stuffed pig stomach, of course! Hog maw is a derivative of a German dish brought to America with the farming immigrants that settled in this area. Traditionally it's a dish that was either served on hog butchering days or on New Year's Day as a "good-luck" dish. The pig's stomach can be bought at local butcher shops and is stuffed with various ingredients, including sausage, carrots, and potatoes.

I love the fact that when I make this dish I am carrying on a tradition that my grandmother also included in her family. She also added stuffing to her hog maws and I follow her recipe. While it is a novel meal, we also really enjoy it. We add lots of ketchup on the side, as the vinegar cuts the richness of the dish. I usually serve pepper slaw and spiced apples, as I think it provides a nice complement.

The recipe is an easy one: stuff a maw (pigs stomach that has been thoroughly cleaned!) with cubed potatoes, carrots, raw sausage meat (out of the casing), onions, and unbaked stuffing (white bread, lots of butter, celery, onion, parsley, salt and pepper). I layer mine (ie, a little sausage, then the veggies, then the stuffing, and so on). The stuffed maw is placed into a large baking pan with some water in the bottom (maybe a 1/2 inch) and baked for at least 3hrs, covered, in a 350 degree oven. The maw should be baked, uncovered, an additional 30 minutes, or until browned on top, sliced, and served. If made correctly, the layers will create a tight result, and can be sliced laterally and served.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, and we didn't have any left (yes, it was that good!). Here it is before it was baked. Sometimes I feel like I'm part of a dying breed: I simply love carrying on traditions that were started in my family long ago. I would love to hear about any regional specialties that you are still making.

What our family eats in.....less than a week

I'm not sure if anyone remembers the slideshow I posted a number of months ago. I found it quite interesting: a compilation of average families in various countries and the food they purchased and consumed in a week. In case you missed it, the link is http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373664,00.html

I decided to do something similar, but a little bit on a smaller scale. I continually extol the virtues of our local "Price-Rite" store. Basically, it's a discount grocer that seems to target more inner-city families of various nationalities. There are many brand-names, great produce, and phenomenal prices. I shop in the mornings, it's very quiet, the shelves are stocked and I miss the crowd that requires a security guard (no judgements, just an observation). I don't buy everything at Price-Rite, but here is a sampling of what I bought today:
4 boxes honey nut cheerios
1 bag dried pasta
4 cans of beans
1 bag dried beans
1 can tomato paste
1 jar roasted peppers
1 large 8pk juicy juice
1 box green-tea bags
1 bottle unsweetened grape juice
3 cans beef broth
1 bottle parmesan
1 box kashi seven-grain crackers
1 loaf baguette bread (sorry, Abbie, I promise I'll bake bread soon!)
1 box granola bars
spicy italian sausage
spring mix
parsnips
sweet potatoes
grape tomatoes
zucchini
sweet onion
russet potatoes
strawberries
red raspberries
blueberries
blackberries
bananas (2 bunches)
pineapple
gala apples
bartlett pears
6 chobanis
1 pkg cream cheese
1 tub crumbled gorgonzola
2 boxes superpretzels
1 bag frozen spinach
1 1/2 lbs sharp cheddar
naan flatbread
1 bag cinnamon raisin bagels

my grand total: $90.18

Now, this doesn't include my meat. I shop at our local market to buy beef and pork, then supplement at our local grocery store (Giant) with chicken, fish, etc (I usually buy what's on sale or discounted). I also buy our dairy and eggs at the local dairy. I probably spend about $150/wk total. Our diet isn't perfect, but I try to present a well-rounded choice of food to my family (albeit a little heavy on the meat).

Tell me what you think! How much do you spend a week at the grocery store? Any thoughts on the slideshow?

I'll be posting on some real recipes later today...promise!

Let's Celebrate Marriage-

Yesterday was our twelve-year anniversary. It was very romantic. Rob spent the better part of the day in our master bathroom. Seriously. Our master bathroom has been a work in progress for the better part of the last year. When we bought our house at public auction over eight years ago, it was very dated. Parts of it will always be very dated, but we've tried to update a little bit at a time. The master bathroom was an explosion of pink. The walls, toilet, shower, sink, and floor were all pink. My mother-in-law tried to tell me that retro is trendy. Maybe I'm just not trendy!

My husband works very hard. He runs a non-profit foundation, maintains investment clients, volunteers a large portion of his time with a family non-profit, and manages to be a very involved father and husband. The fact that he devoted his time this past week to finishing our basement into a playroom for the kids and finishing our master bathroom project is the most romantic thing he could have ever done for me.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am impossibly practical. We have never really "celebrated" our anniversary. This may be due to the fact that our marriage didn't exactly have illustrious beginnings. My mom and I had always argued about the merits of a big wedding. She dreamed of a big wedding for me and I never wanted one. The fact that we arrived home on winter break during our junior year of college and informed everyone we wanted to be married before we returned in two weeks made the decision for us. I was quite relieved and our wedding was exactly what I wanted it to be. Small, low-key, and involving only close family. I'm not saying that I haven't attended very meaningful weddings, I just never wanted that for myself. I just wasn't comfortable with the amount of money my parents would be spending on one day and I really don't enjoy being the center of attention. All this to say, I've decided to celebrate my marriage instead of celebrating an anniversary.

I like to take care of my husband and to serve him every day. When he does something like taking his time to do a project that's important to me, that's way better than buying me flowers that were overpriced and will die in less than a week! Now, before you think we're some kind of poster children for a perfect marriage, just ask anyone who know us: we fight fairly regularly. When two firstborns marry, sparks fly (sometimes good, sometimes bad). What I am amazed with, though, is that even with all the stresses we faced as a young couple, we have thrived. I truly believe this is a testament to praying parents. Statistics were not in our favor, yet the Lord has truly blessed us.

Please understand I don't feel like anniversaries shouldn't be celebrated! Also understand that I think big weddings are a special way to celebrate a new life together. I have simply chosen that we will celebrate a little differently. The fact that we have two daughters will prove insightful as we navigate their wishes for a nuptial celebration. I will undoubtedly struggle as I battle between my practicality and their wishes. I am fairly certain that to make my daughters feel special I will probably have to put aside my own tendencies. Perhaps I should let my husband help plan the weddings. He does things like take our kids toy shopping. They returned home yesterday with "dinosaur goop". This drives me crazy, that they would pick something out that has no purpose! Last year on the fourth of July he drove three hours one way to get the best fireworks I've ever seen outside of a professional show. My husband is the most fun, thoughtful, kind, and generous partner I could have ever picked to go through this life with!

This post is about as sentimental as I get and let me just encourage you to celebrate your family, friendships, marriage, and all of your blessings everyday - don't wait for a special occasion!

A Little Name-Dropping...

I'm sure I've mentioned some of the luxuries I simply can't live without. I refuse to exist without good toilet paper and paper towels. I can't clean my house without "magic erasers". My life would be very empty without my trusty, old laptop (the one I've now dropped at least ten times and still somehow turns on). I adore having a good book (especially from the local library, as I'm a consummate cheapskate). As you can tell from this very sparse list: I am unbelievably practical. It's just who I am. I'm just very no frills utilitarian.

There are, however, things I could live without, I just don't want to. Here is a list of some things that make my life a little more enjoyable. Some of these things are on the expensive side, but I guess it's all relative. The socks I wear every day during the winter are upwards of $15/pair (of course I buy them for $3.99 at a local discount store, but I'd dare say I'd pay $15, I love them that much).

Here is my ever-increasing list:
1. Smartwool socks (I really can't overemphasize my utter devotion to these)
2. Chobani yogurt
3. Mott's natural blueberry applesauce
4. Kashi pumpkin-spice flax granola bars
5. Eucerin Calming Creme
6. Oil of Olay complete all day moisture (with spf 15)
7. Keen shoes (I only have one pair, but I'm hooked)
8. Stonewall kitchens jams and jellies
9. Perrydell milk, cream, butter, and ice cream (our local dairy)
10. Martha Stewart Living flannel sheets
11. Cheese: goat, gorgonzola, feta, cheddar
12. Burt's Bees lip balm
13. Dove deodorant
14. Epicurious.com
15. ThePioneerWoman.com
16. My vehicle (I'm totally in love with this 10yr-old beast)
17. Grape-nuts
18. J-Mar Farms (a local farmstand I buy from as much as possible during the summer)
19. Comcast on demand Exercise TV
20. Ina Garden (did anyone read the story about Ina and Jennifer Garner?)


Well, there it is, a few little things that make my days a little more sunny (during these gray and cold days). I kind of need to treat myself just to get past winter. I am not a fan. At all.

Have you gotten hooked on any of these things? I'd love to hear your "luxuries" list! Please share-