News By The Numbers.....

I borrowed this concept from our morning news show - hopefully they won't mind. I hope this doesn't turn into a diatribe on how expensive life is....even though I just paid a dental bill of $969.70 last week, but who's counting.

here goes:

0 - the number of pull-ups I am capable of doing

1 - the rock Emma brought home from the cabin to use as a bench for her Barbie's


2 - the amount of items Rob added to his "requirements"

4 - the number of times he asked me if we had one of his added requirements [in the past two days] - Perrydell vanilla ice cream

$7.22 - the amount of money it takes to make our kids happy. On our way home from the cabin yesterday we decided to reward our kids. They had worked so hard to help us clean up and get ready to leave. We stopped at a gas station and bought them each a popsicle and bag of chips - and rewarded ourselves with a "take 5" and a cherry coke. I wish I would have taken a picture - they were so excited!

16 - the age I was when I went on my first date with my husband. That's right, we've been together more than half of our lives! In case you were wondering, our first date was watching Aladdin in my best friend, Stacey's, basement.

25 - the amount of minutes I am currently huffing and puffing while I "run" - that's what happens when you take a year off!


$53.88 - amount I spent on socks and underwear today

72 - the number of juice boxes I scored for $9.98


91 - the current temperature outside. My girls insisted on wearing corduroy pants today.

Guilty Pleasures....

We discovered this naughty "cheese product" that had been lingering in the cabin refrigerator this weekend. I'm not sure who initially purchased this cheese [from the devil], but oh my goodness. I had totally forgotten this guilty little pleasure. I used to love this "cheese" on top of pretzels when I was in high school.

Don't worry, I'm not going to add this to our grocery list or anything, but I think it's ridiculously fun to indulge every once in a while.

I am a sucker for "savory" treats. Chips, wings, french fries, etc.

Most of my "guilty pleasures" involve food - except one: reading. I could literally sit around and read. all. day.
My favorite are conspiracy/spy/mystery thrillers. I find that if I read male authors that I can avoid most of the smut that abounds in some of the "romance"-style garbage.

So, my question to you is: what is your guilty pleasure? Maybe once you tell me yours I'll remember some more of mine - at this point I'm thinking that I'm pretty darn boring.

Highs and Lows....

We enjoyed a great weekend away. It is always a relaxing time when we spend the weekend at our cabin and this was no exception. The weather was perfect (70's), the sun was bountiful, and the woods are still filled with green.




We also had a great time hiking just the five of us....except that Kate coincidentally "forgot" her sneakers. We pushed on and bless her little heart, not one complaint walking three miles in flip-flops! The surroundings were breathtaking.




It wasn't all fun and relaxation - but that's okay. The guys pulled a few logs and split some wood to fill our woodshed. There is never a shortage of work around the woods and the family has decided to embark on an addition to accomodate our growing numbers.



Can you spot the cutest little helper? And, yes, that's right - Rob was using my truck to pull the logs out of the woods!




Along with all of the fun and relaxation, there were some lows....

-trying to help Rob install the ceiling [in our bedroom to be] and realizing that the boards are warped and that we're two boards short.
-watching Rob tear our four-wheeler apart and realize that the back end is ruined.
-using an entire Magic Eraser to clean the tiny shower.
-cleaning the wood floor and having to throw away the cloth because it's so disgusting.

But then - there were some highs....oh, there were highs....





smores with milky ways--Rob enjoyed placing the graham crackers directly onto the fire ring....the graham crackers toasted nicely and the results were reminiscent of a smores pop-tart! Please don't pretend you've never had one.

Sesame Overload

For some reason, I have been eating less meat. I never thought I'd feel this way, but I am happy with small doses here and there. I always found it kind of annoying when people (usually very thin women) would say, "I just don't like meat". It's very possible that I'm just enjoying lighter fare because of the summer weather and over-abundance of fresh produce. With the exception of my husband, the rest of our family enjoys mostly meatless meals (nice alliteration, huh?). For the purpose of this post, I'm operating on the supposition that fish is not technically meat.

When I'm craving a light meal I tend to gravitate towards asian-flavored foods. Ever since I made this delicious cucumber salad, we've been enjoying it at least twice a week. It's so easy to make a few minutes before the rest of our dinner is ready and it's light, crunchy, and healthy. A few weeks ago I made salmon - my gang likes it with brown sugar on top, go figure. I also decided to go all the way and make an asian udon noodle salad.


I adapted the Pioneer Woman's recipe for sesame noodles. Even though each part of our dinner was full of similar flavors, it was really delicious - and didn't taste redundant. The result was a perfect summer meal. The combination of flavors were very balanced - sweet, salty, sour, and spicy.



Sesame Noodles
* 12 ounces, fluid Thin Noodles, Cooked And Drained
* ¼ cups Soy Sauce
* 2 Tablespoons Sugar
* 2 tsp garlic powder
* 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
* 3 Tablespoons Pure "hot" sesame oil
* 4 Tablespoons Canola Oil
* 2 Tablespoons Hot Water
* 4 whole Green Onions, Sliced Thin

Preparation Instructions

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed.
Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat.
Sprinkle with green onions and toss.
I also added sauteed cabbage, toasted sesame seeds, and fresh chives.

Brown-Sugar Salmon
fresh salmon fillet
sesame seeds
soy sauce
brown sugar
fresh chives

Place salmon onto an aluminum-lined cookie sheet. Pour soy sauce over fillet. Sprinkle sesame seeds over salmon. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar and chives over salmon. Finish baking for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until the brown sugar is crunchy, the sesame seeds are golden brown, and the salmon is cooked fully.

Now What?

I now find myself in the position of being a full-time mom....with kids in school. Of course, I have all of these pipe dreams of finally having a perpetually clean house, being in the best shape of my life, and having it all together. I think we all know that these dreams will stay just that - dreams. I am, however, determined to be purposeful. I may not be fully productive, but I know I need to step outside of myself.

I have a strong (!) tendency to shy away from social interaction. I have always felt very strongly that children need a steady and calm home in which to enjoy their young childhood. We rarely ventured out into the world very much when the kids were babies and toddlers - it was easier for me and I think kids need time for imaginative play -not to be run around all the time. Naturally, this fit in well with my anti-social comfort. But, I know I need to break away from that and to serve others. I am prayerfully considering how to best serve my community and I have a few ideas, but will continue to investigate.

My grandmother is struggling a little physically, so I have decided to help her a few hours per week - cleaning, cooking, whatever she may need. I will continue to pray with our school district's moms in touch group. I have been considering volunteering in the political realm - I have strong opinions, but I need to actually do something instead of complaining. I am also pondering in which way I could incorporate my love of food with helping others....more to come on that when I've solidified my plan.



This is a transition for me, to say the least. I can not lie, I was not ready to send Emma off to first grade. I honestly felt like they were taking babies to first grade yesterday. I am excited for her to move into the next phase, but I am going to miss her a lot. This will be the first time in twelve years that I'm not nurturing. Don't worry, I'm not desperate enough to have another baby or to get a dog, but I'm feeling a little adrift.



I am excited for this year. My kids all have amazing teachers. The girls' teachers are always the ones that each child wants to have. Josh loves the social aspect of school and he's promised that this is the year he'll become organized and we're hoping for all A's (he's working towards being allowed to play football next year). We are beyond happy with our school district - we enjoy small class sizes, current technology, committed teachers, and great families.



We had a great summer together, but the kids were so excited and so ready to head back to school!

I'm off to let Jillian Michaels kick my butt and then I'm cleaning my kitchen floor - wish me luck!

Baked Oatmeal with Peaches

Have you ever had baked oatmeal? It is so, so yummy. I especially like to add raisins to it - reminds me of an oatmeal cookie. I am not usually very fond of the typical oatmeal, I think it's a textural thing. I hadn't heard of baked oatmeal before we visited some friends in New Hampshire. She is Mennonite and had a cookbook that included a lot of family style foods. Because there is such a large Mennonite population in our tri-county area, some of our foods are quite similar. After we enjoyed it with our friends in New Hampshire I came home and found a recipe in my Brethren cookbook. We typically enjoy this dish in the winter, warmed and topped with milk.

But then.....I saw this recipe. Fruit on the bottom of baked oatmeal. We are still enjoying a plethora of juicy, sweet, firm, and delectable peaches. I buy mine from the seconds basket - $2.95/half peck. We usually have to buy more every few days or so. The recipe was super-simple, utilizing ingredients I always keep on hand. I took this to a brunch this morning, but I'm planning on making it for our weekend cabin trip - and we will eat it warm with milk for breakfast!



* ¾ cups Butter, Divided
* 1-½ cup Thinly Sliced Fruit*
* 4 Tablespoons Sugar Divided
* ½ cups Milk
* ⅔ cups brown sugar
* 2 whole Large Eggs
* 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
* 2 cups Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
* 2-½ teaspoons Baking Powder
* ¼ teaspoons Baking Soda
* ½ teaspoons Salt


Preparation Instructions

*Peaches, pears and apples are good choices. If using apples, make sure to slice them thinly or they will be crunchy.

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Melt butter; pour 1/4 cup into the bottom of a 9-inch square baking dish. Arrange sliced fruit on top of the butter and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together milk, brown sugar, eggs, remaining 1/2 cup butter and vanilla.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well. Pour over the fruit and smooth the top.
4. Bake at 350°F for 40 to 50 minutes, or until browned on top and fruit is bubbly. Allow to cool slightly. Serve with milk, cream or vanilla sauce.

I adapted this recipe from Erica Lea on the Tasty Kitchen Blog, courtesy of the fabulous Pioneer Woman. I omitted some of the more obscure ingredients, instead replacing them with sugar, brown sugar, and regular milk.

Here is the original post and recipe, if you're interested.

Knoebels

Located in Elysburg, PA - a sleepy little town in the middle of coal country - is a little gem of a family amusement park. I have been enjoying Knoebels for almost all of my years and love to see how excited our children are to continue the tradition. The atmosphere is family-centered, the rides range from antique to modern, the crowds are diverse, and the food is awesome! Yes, I realize I'm a little obsessed with good food, but let me tell you - the food here is award-winning. For the past eleven years, Knoebels has earned the golden ticket from Amusement Today magazine for best park food.

The kids had a blast on all of the different rides. Josh and Emma loved the roller coaster, the Phoenix, the most. Kate likes a little more of a tame ride - and enjoyed the bumper cars and bumper boats. The kids even went through the haunted house with my parents.

click here to see our album

As a child, we used to camp at Knoebels and spend an entire weekend. I'm not really a camping person, but I've heard that many people enjoy the campgrounds. There is a huge pool with diving boards and waterslides, but we typically skip that part in favor of the riding and the eating!

We so enjoyed our time at Knoebels as a family and with my mom and dad. We missed having my sister and her husband with us this year, but I'm hoping to make a version of "the Antonio" for them when they come home again.

The Antonio was a dessert selection in one of the themed food pavilions. Basically, it's a deep fried tortilla bowl with cinnamon and sugar, vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. And, as predictable as I am, I was intent on recreating it the next night. I made a few variations, of course. It was too hot to deep fry (I always deep fry outside, on the few times I do it, to cut down on the smell). I decided to brush canola oil on the tortillas and simply bake them. I used a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa for a decadent caramel sauce, and I made fresh whipped cream with cinnamon. The reviews were rave - everyone liked my version better than the original! This is such an easy and tasty treat - make it before summer ends.



The Antonio
1. brush flour tortillas with canola oil. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Place tortilla into a bowl and bake for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.
2. top cooled bowl with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and cinnamon whipped cream.
3. Other variations: hot fudge sauce, toasted coconut, various flavors of ice cream, chopped nuts, etc.



Ina's Caramel Sauce
* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1/3 cup water
* 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Mix the water and sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Do not stir. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), about 5 to 7 minutes, gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful – the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture very carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. Don't worry - the cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify.

Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.


Oh, and in case you're interested, Knoebels has a whole page dedicated to their food. Check it out here

I can't recommend this park enough. Admission is free, pay as you go. There were seven of us and we rode a lot of rides - our total, including food (a sit-down dinner was included) was $150. seriously.