foody friday--as simple as I get

It's Simple Foods for Foody Friday.

Well there's the REALLY simple:

PB & J's for Johnny & I

For the kids:

• Jam sandwiches (1 or even 2 types of jam if we're getting creative)
  
• Cream Cheese sandwiches
• Jam & Cream Cheese sandwiches
• Honey Bread
• Honey with Butter on bread
  

Then there's the cooked simple:

• Grilled Cheese
• Quesadillas

I gave a simple recipe on my last Foody Friday post too.

Then there's dinner tonight where we needed to eat fast. I mixed:

• 14 oz can black beans, rinsed & drained
• a couple of handfuls of frozen corn
• a splash of lime juice

Henri & I enjoyed it though the corn was still frozen.

On the list of common meals I make, here's one that requires the fewest ingredients.

Simple Shepherd's Pie

• 1/2-1lb Ground Beef
• 1 can Cream-style Corn (add more veggies or seasonings if you like)
• 2 cups prepared Mashed Potatoes

1. Prepare your mashed potatoes if you haven't yet.
   
2. Brown ground beef, season as desired, and place in casserole dish.
3. Pour creamed corn (and other veggies) on top.
4. Top with mashed potatoes.
5. Bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes.
   

speaking of 18 months

Cosette had her check-up today, and everything checked out great.

Rash update: After taking an oral anti-fungal medication (with a name I couldn't pronounce, let alone spell) for 5 weeks, Cosette's rash that lasted over 5 months finally went away. Praise the Lord! It looks like it wasn't eczema, which is an excellent sign that food allergies may not be an issue for her. Nevertheless, we're delaying the introduction of egg, peanut, and tree nuts for her since allergies run in the family. I've been doing a lot of reading on food allergies the past few months. The information has been VERY helpful. I go to our food allergy support group meeting tomorrow night. I feel like I should do some sort of food allergy support group meeting cheer.

Cosette is in the:

• 10th percentile for weight--21.5 lbs
  
• 15th percentile for height--30.5 in
  
• 61st percentile for head circumference--18.5 in

Henri was a little bigger at this age.

isn't it strange

that Henri loved getting his eye drops to treat his pink eye when he was 18 months old

BUT

he screams and cries when we give him his eye drops to treat his seasonal allergies now at 4 years old?

Henri's eyes still are not looking great, so I may take him to see his allergist.


Isn't it funny what my boy (or any boy or girl) comes up with to wear? Our sprinkler was on in 60 degree weather at 7:00pm. So that meant that Henri needed to run into the house, find some swimming shorts, and wear them with his new green boots. He's had his eye on those green boots at Target ever since his friend Joshy came over to our house in them months ago. We had some money in his specific "clothing" envelope, so I let him get them.

Today for Cosette's doctor appointment, he wore a green sweater, brown pants, his mask from Ava's birthday party, and the green rain boots. (The greens in the sweater & the boots were not the same). He explained to the staff in the waiting room at the clinic that he was wearing a tiger mask (just as Bernard did in Alfie Gives a Hand). He was happy, and I was amused.

can she really be 18 months?

one of my allergy boys

foody friday--black bean & couscous salad

Today's Foody Friday theme is picnic food.

I've got two recipes. One that's just for me in my family and one for sharing.

Salmon Wrap
When we head off to watch Johnny's softball games and need to pack a dinner, I enjoy making this creation.

Mix a can of salmon with some mayo (or eggless canola-based mayo) and sweet relish to taste. On a bread wrap, lay some spinach and desired amount salmon mixture. Wrap and enjoy.


Since not everyone enjoys canned salmon or tuna the way I do, here's another recipe.


Black Bean & Couscous Salad
I will double this recipe when making for a potluck. I got it off of RecipeZaar last year. If it's just us (4-5 servings), I use the following ingredients:

• 1/2 cup uncooked Couscous
• 3/4 cup Chicken Broth or Water
• 3 TBSP Olive Oil
• 2 TBSP Lime Juice
• 1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp ground Cumin
• Green Onions (about 4), chopped
  
• 1/2 to 1 Red Bell Pepper, seeded & chopped
• 2 TBSP fresh Cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup frozen Corn, thawed
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed & drained
• salt & pepper

1. Bring chicken broth (or water) to a boil and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot & remove from heat. Let stand for at least 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar, and cumin.
3. Add green onions, red pepper, cilantro, corn & beans. Toss to coat.
4. Fluff the couscous and add to the bowl of vegetables. Mix well.
5. Season with salt & pepper. Feel free to adjust ingredients to what you have on hand & as desired (adding more or less couscous, peppers, cilantro, green onions, corn, black beans, ect.)
   

about my back & other things

I've been running around today with my kids.

1. oil change--we ate breakfast in the car on the way there and while we waited for the car.
   
2. car wash--free with oil change, but we had to take it across the street to the car wash.
   
3. grocery store
4. doctor appointment--Henri's eyes swell up and are itchy during this time of year. He hates getting his eye drops, so we only give them to him when his eyes look really bad. This morning they were sealed shut with goop, so we began to wonder whether or not it was pink eye. The doctor seemed to think that it might be pink eye since the swelling around one of his eyes is red and drippy and allergies don't usually cause goopy eyes.

The amazing thing? My back hasn't hurt AT ALL today. It's like normal. I can move; I can bend; I can do a jig. Thank you Jesus! And thanks to anyone who may have prayed for my back. It made running all the errands this morning so much easier!

wondering about my back?

My lower back hurts. It's been tightening & spasming for a couple weeks now, but it's having a bad day today. I'm so thankful to the Lord that I went through physical therapy four and a half years ago when I was expecting Henri. Now I know how to take care of it to alleviate the pain and straighten my hips out--the cause of much of the problem.

The other problem? I have scoliosis. Yes, I was the public school child who always failed the scoliosis tests where they had you bend forward to check out the curvature of your back. It's not bad at all though. It's only curving in a "C" shape off by millimeters. After a series of x-rays every 6 months in my adolescence to make sure it wasn't getting worse, our doctor ruled it to be staying the same so that no intervention was needed. Praise the Lord!

However, ever since I was about 15, my back would periodically tighten up so that I couldn't bend over. At 18, it began to spasm--so bad the first time that my work sent me to an ER where they gave me lots of drugs to lessen the pain & relieve the muscle tension. The spasms came in a most severe way when I was pregnant with Henri. It hurt to do everything--sit, lay down, stand up, move. If I could just lie still... My doctor sent me to physical therapy where I learned that my pelvis was uneven due to my loosened ligaments & possibly the scoliosis. My PT taught me to straighten out my hips, and the pain was lessened and the spasms stopped...mostly.

When it gets bad, I just have to take the time to take care of it. For example, my back was feeling a little sore when I first sat down at the computer, but now it's tightening up again. Time to lay on the floor, and straighten out my hips again, which will help stretch it out. I've done this like 5 or 6 times already today. Hot & cold pads help too. I'm supposed to keep moving around though, which can be hard.

My dad has back issues too. I probably got this from him. :)

I had errands to run today, but I can't sit up in the car and drive when my back is spasming, nor walk around a grocery store, nor lift Cosette. So I'm asking the Lord how to best spend my time today. Because I can't sit for long, I think I'll go read in bed since the kids are napping. I'm praying that I'll use this back thing for Christ's glory and not for my own.

Thanks for reading.

foody friday--blue cheese stuffed burgers

Foody Tuesday?

This is late. I know. Here is my very late Foody Friday submission based on last Friday's grilling theme.

We like to stuff our hamburgers with blue cheese.

Ingredients:

• Ground Beef
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt
• Pepper
• Blue Cheese crumbles
  

1. Mix some Worcestershire sauce, salt, & pepper in the ground beef.
2. Form into large patties.
3. Press some blue cheese into the center.
4. Wrap beef around cheese, being careful to completely seal the cheese in so that it doesn't drip out. (If it drips out, there will be no cheese in the middle. The tangy flavor will be gone. All the fun will be gone too. This I know from experience.)
5. Grill.
6. Put on a bun with all your favorite toppings (i.e. barbecue sauce, tomato, spinach, etc)
   

confession: making phone calls can be very hard for me

Whew! I did it. I made the call. I just got off the phone after leaving a a message so that I can talk to someone at a local pool about swimming lessons for Henri.

Have I mentioned that I'm shaking? That my heart is racing? That my nerves are on edge? Argh! I do not like making phone calls. And I will get all nervous again when I see on the caller I.D. that they are calling me back.

By the way, I'm not talking about phone calls to my friends and family. I'm fine with that.

I'm talking about phone calls to organizations and businesses.

I think it's my pride that holds me back. I have so many questions, but I am afraid to ask them, thinking that I should have all the answers already. My heart starts racing, and I put it off, and I put it off, and I put it off.

Johnny doesn't have this problem. He is in sales, after all. I have such a gracious husband. He willingly used to make all the phone calls for us. Now he just doesn't have the time, and well, I do. Plus I'm feeling a tad guilty about listing all the questions out for him that I want to make sure get answered. So there. I need to take care of things, and stop whining about my questions and fears and just pick up the phone and ask them!

Stupid pride. I need humbleness, so I'm praying that the Lord will work that in me. I'm a wretch. God is glorious!

I hope my kids don't take after me in this. Be like your father, kids. Or better yet, be like your Heavenly Father. Read the Word. Do what it says.

quote of the day & more

Me: "Henri, don't throw rocks at the neighbors house!"

Henri: "I'm not. I'm just building my very own house so that I can wash my very own dishes."



Other Happenings:

• We ALL have colds, so we stayed home from church today.
  
• Cosette got two more teeth (upper cuspids) in the last week or so. The bottom two are getting close. She's been quite upset about the whole thing. UPDATE (5/19): bottom right cuspid found in Cosette's mouth today.
  
• May & June tree pollen are brutal to Henri when it comes to his allergies. He marches around with itchy, swollen, red eyes half the day before finally giving into eye drops, which really clear them up.
• I had two busy days on Friday & Saturday, which is why I missed Foody Friday.
  

graduating to a big girl...

crib?

Yes, that's right. Cosette graduated from sleeping in a pack 'n' play (where's she's slept most of her life) to a crib.

We did have the crib set up in Henri's room. We have tried to have them share. And it has sort of worked.

It stopped working though when Cosette would wake up in the night crying. Since I didn't want her to wake up Henri, I'd go get her and put her in the pack 'n' play. This would lead to us never letting her cry it out, and her sleep (and ours) becoming more and more interrupted. So we moved her into the other room (which was an office/guest room) where she could sleep in the pack 'n' play and cry it out and learn to sleep through the night again.

1. Then we moved the "office" into our bedroom. (I'm still working on that move--lots of paperwork & files left in the closet still.)
2. Then I decided to make that room her room when she was ready to move out of a crib. I would just move her into the full size bed already in there.

But the room was too small & strangely shaped to fit the crib in it too. Therefore, Cosette has remained in the pack 'n' play in that room. And we're not ready to move her into the full size bed yet and take on the "child gets out of bed" battle. However, I've been feeling really bad that my little girl has been sleeping in a portable crib and not the nicer crib that's been set up for her since she was born.

Then I finally thought of an arrangement that might work in the room. Wanting to get on it right away (much like the time I decided to move our piano across the living room) and without assistance, I found the tools and instructions for the crib, took it apart, moved it into Cosette's room, and reassembled it all before nap time. Cosette was very tired and pointing to her folded up pack 'n' play, seemingly upset that it wasn't set up.

Ahh, but now my little girl is finally sleeping in her crib, and we can use our pack 'n' play at our small group meetings and for traveling up to my parents house instead of having to take it down & reset it back up all the time.

Picture Fact (above): Cosette is carrying around her old pink sleepsack (her lovey) and wearing an outfit that Ava used to wear.

We don't know what to do with all the space in Henri's room now that the crib & changing table have been taken out.

Picture Fact: The bedspread on Henri's bed used to be Johnny's in college. The bed stand is an antique that my Mom & Dad got for my bedroom when I was in 9th grade. It was painted white then, but I painted it brown to try to make it more masculine for Henri.

happy mother's day to our wonderful moms

Kristi did it

She tagged me. My old college friend who lives hours and hours away from me tagged me days and days ago. I'm so glad she has a blog now so that we can keep in touch. So I've been meaning to write this post, and I am finally sitting down to work on it.

I am...
a Christian, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a friend, a nursery coordinator, part of a big family, and more.

I want...
to love & know Jesus with all my heart, to be like Christ, to be a great wife, mother, daughter, friend, ect. (see above).

I have...
a wonderful husband and two small children.

I wish...
I didn't sin so much and that I was better at hospitality.

I hate...
my sin and the effects of sin in the world.

I miss...
Johnny's family (immediate & extended)--most of them live on the west coast, which is far away from here and also my dad who has been working in Las Vegas for months, but he came home today for a few short weeks.

I fear...
death though I'm trusting in Christ for salvation and the pain I will feel when those whom I love die.

I feel...
hungry. Why do I always get hungry right before bed?

I hear...
the computer fan. My children are asleep. My husband is on his laptop in bed.

I smell...
nothing.

I crave...
chocolate.

I search...
the Internet for information on food allergies and schools and homeschooling.

I wonder...
what my house would look like if I could decorate because I'm really not good at it.

I regret...
asking Johnny to arrange the free airline ticket to Oregon before we purchased the remaining tickets. When I clicked to buy the remaining tickets, the airfare had changed by a lot. Mainly, I regret the sins I've committed against God, my husband, children, siblings, and parents.

I love...
Jesus, who saved a wretch like me and will save all the wretches in this world (that's everyone) if they'd only agree with him that they are wretches, trust him for their salvation, and treasure Jesus. I also love Johnny, Henri, Cosette, our parents, siblings, extended family, and our friends.

I ache...
because I got on the treadmill today.

I care...
that the lost would be saved.

I always...
sleep for some amount of time within a 24 hour period.

I am not...
able to draw or sew or decorate the way I wish I could.

I believe...
that the Bible is the word of God, fully inspired and without error.

I dance...
not as much as I used to. Johnny & I met because of tap-dancing. Thanks Rach!

I sing...
at church, with my kids, and in the car.

I cry...
not often. The tears come in waves. I've never been able to cry as easily as I wish, but when the tears start to come, they pour out.

I don't always...
make my bed.

I fight...
getting up in the morning and also getting on the treadmill (I am so happy that we have one though).

I write...
pretty much only on my blog.

I never...
have had blonde hair. My kids get theirs from their grandmothers.

I listen...
a lot more than I talk when I'm around people I don't know well. I'm more of an introvert.

I need...
to finish this and go to bed.

I am happy...
right now.

I tag my younger sister, Jaime.

foody friday--chili sin carne

Chili sin carne was on my menu for today, and that seems spicy enough to me for today's Foody Friday. Unfortunately, like most of the meals I make, I pulled it from one of my cookbooks that's still in print. Granted, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. Get yourself a copy of Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook from a book store or your local library. It has some tasty chili recipes in it. Thanks to my friend who gave it to me a few years back.

Thankfully, chili has some basic ingredients in it. If you throw some measurement of these basics in, you should at least come up with something that's like chili, right? Right? Right?

So here are the ingredients without exact measurements that I used in the chili that's sitting in my crock pot right now as I type.

• olive oil
• onions, chopped
  
• green, red, or yellow pepper, chopped
  
• garlic, minced
  
• 2 cans beans--any kind, rinsed & drained (I used black & pinto)
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
• brown sugar
• New Mexican chile pepper powder or chili powder
• ground cumin
• jalapeno--chopped (optional)
• coriander (optional)
  
• ground cloves (optional)
  
• oregano (optional)
• ground allspice (optional)
• cilantro, chopped
  
• shredded cheese for serving
• corn is great in chili too, but I didn't add it this time because I'm making corn muffins.

1. Saute the onions, green pepper, & garlic in olive oil.
2. Meanwhile, put remaining ingredients (except cilantro) in the crock pot.
3. Add softened veggies to crock pot and stir to mix.
4. Set to low for a long time--4-6 hours or more is probably good.
5. Add some cilantro to taste before serving.
6. Make some corn muffins.
7. Enjoy!
   

allergies, dirt, and negotiating

Henri has been enjoying playing outside and digging in the dirt. Unfortunately, besides nightly baths, this also has led to his seasonal allergies flaring up. The poor boy gets swollen, itchy eyes. I offer him eye drops, but he doesn't want them. He'd rather have red eyes than endure the pure torture of eye drops twice a day.

***Update: One of Henri's eyes was so itchy, red, and puffy this afternoon that he agreed to the eye drops. Johnny says the little man looks like he's been in a fight.***

While making dinner a few days ago, I peeked out the window to check on Henri. I couldn't see him, which is sometimes the case if he's playing in the dirt by our driveway. Then I noticed his sweatshirt on the ground. I opened the door. Laying on the back steps were his shoes, his socks, his t-shirt, and his pants! I called out to him, and he came skipping over from our garage in only his underwear in 60 degree weather.

"Henri!" I said. "You have to wear your socks and shoes when you're outside. Your feet could get cut on some glass. Why did you take your clothes off?"

"Because that's what little boys do." He called out as he bounded closer to the house.

"Come here and put your clothes back on."

Henri reached the top step, looked at me, and asked, "How about I just put on my socks and shoes and then my feet won't get cut by the glass?"

foody friday--butterscotch cream cheese pie

We love ice cream.

My Foody Friday post on dessert could be to go to the nearest grocery store and pick up a tub of ice cream, but that would hardly be a recipe.

I could give you an ice cream recipe because Johnny LOVES making ice cream in our ice cream maker though we haven't made ice cream in at least 2 years. My jaw drops at the expense of all the ingredients, so we buy it instead.


We also love cheesecake.

Our wedding cake was cheesecake.

We eat it whenever we can.

Then we had a sweet baby boy who happens to have an egg allergy, and most cheesecake recipes include eggs.

Then I found this recipe on Recipe Zaar (#114448) last year that tastes a lot like cheesecake only a little lighter and fluffier.

Butterscotch Cream Cheese Pie

Here's what you need:

• 1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust (6 oz) or make your own sweet pie crust
• 1 8oz package Cream Cheese, softened
  
• 1 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 3/4 cup Cold Water
• 3.5 oz package Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix (or any flavor you feel like trying)
• 1 8oz container Frozen Whipped Topping, thawed & divided

1. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy; gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth.
2. On low speed, beat in water and pudding mix until smooth. Fold in half of the whipped topping and pour into crust.
3. Chill 2 hours or until set.
4. Top with remaining whipped topping. Keep refrigerated.

I've also made this with chocolate pudding and pumpkin spice pudding.

Very yummy and very easy to make.