The Bright Side

I live in California.  Home of ridiculous taxes, outrageous home prices and still our politicians bankrupt us.  Yes, it is infuriating.  Yes we bemoan this state of ours sometimes.  We gripe, we complain, we vote.  We wonder sometimes if it is worth it.

February 5, 2011 at the beach.  What do you think?

Enough

So if my weeks had a theme (which they don't), last weeks would have been Soup.  I think it's great, my husband, not so much.  He loves soup, but 3x in one week, with each one being a batch big enough for leftovers, is a little much for him.  But a meal that you can make in one pot, easily adaptable, healthy, uses leftovers and that you really can't mess up, he better get used to it.
  

Glenn and I both used to work as servers at a restaurant where they had a daily homemade soup.  The soup was always delicious.  One of Glenn's favorites was Lemon Chicken with Rice.  I don't know why this piece of information was in the back of my brain for 15 years without ever coming to the forefront, but I am glad I remembered.  Ethan, who wouldn't try it at first, proclaimed it "Heaven Soup" after tasting it (read previous post to learn more about the boy who loves to reference everything in the spiritual).


I have to say this soup was semi-homemade as I had about 3 cups of rice in the fridge that Emry had brought home from a Thai restaurant her Grandmother took her to.  If you know me, you know that I can never waste an ounce of food.  So my soup was heavy on the rice.  I would add more lemon next time, but otherwise super easy and very delicious.


If you also know me you know how technically challenged I am.  So do you think I know how to link you to the recipe, of course not.  I learned typing in high school, but seeing how I've spent the last 10 years changing diapers and playing at the park, I kind of missed the whole learn to be computer savvy stage.  Now that all my children are in school I will learn, slowly, but it will happen.

Holy Roller

Ethan was so excited to give me a Valentine when I picked him up from Kindergarten today.  Of course us Moms are suckers for anything homemade, especially when it is followed up with "I love you Mommy!"

 

So of course I was gushing about how much I loved it and said it was "the best thing ever!!"  Ethan then proclaimed that "No, Jesus is the bestest!"

Happy Earth Day

I don't know when Earth Day is, it could be today, but in our family we celebrate it every day.
Our love for the earth is evident all over Emry's face as we sit in church and I notice there is sand stuck all throughout her hairline. 

It is telling when our kids think buying new clothes at a fancy store like Target is a last resort after Goodwill and garage sales.

It is the rainbow of recycled yogurt spoons. And if on my way out of the shop there are some within my reach near the top of the garbage, I'll grab those too.

Every discarded paper from Glenn's office, junk mail, flyers sent home from school are utilized as scrap paper for the kids.  It's a pretty sure bet that if turned over, the typed report they turn in tomorrow will announce last years Halloween carnival.

It is obvious by how much we utilize our neighborhood parks, they're everywhere here.  And since Disneyland is out of our price range I just try and convince the kiddos that closing their eyes while going down the slide is almost as good as Space Mountain.

It's carrying a drippy, gross slurpee lid around because I have taught my kids how important it is to clean up litter.  I was fine with the empty (fairly clean) water bottles.

 And it's feeling pride when being lazy I tell Ethan we can leave the lid because someone is coming right away to clean it up and he says "but that's being mean to the earth!"

Tree Hugger, Hippie, Granola, they're all terms of endearment to me.  And by the way, I am probably packing your tossed out spoon in my kids lunch box.

Fleeting

Almost nightly Ethan complains of having to sleep alone.  It's not fair that he has to sleep all by himself when Emry and Lila get to sleep in the same room.  He is so sincerely sad it breaks my heart at how cute it is that he just wants to snuggle up and be with them.  He says he is lonely.  He says it is scary (about four feet separate their bedroom doors). 

I know the day is not that far away when he will stop thinking pet shops are "so cute", and not want to play with the pollys anymore.  He will probably also stop saying "thank you for my sweet mommy" when he says his prayers.

So for now I will let him sneak into the girls room for sleepovers.  I will say nothing when Glenn asks if all the kids are in bed.  I will secretly love his affection for his sisters all the while telling him to be a big boy and go to bed in his own room. 

And I will of course document it so I will always remember these moments.

Good Mom or Bad Mom?

I am both.


*I wake the kids up to fun music in the morning.
*That has only happened twice.  Most mornings I am working out and tell the girls to leave me alone while I finish, wake up their brother and fill the tubs for him, walk the dog, and anything else I can think of.


*I pack the kids healthy lunches.
*All week it has included certain thin and minty cookies.


*Breakfast was French Toast made from thick slabs of Oatmeal Bread I made yesterday.
*Ethan, who is going through a major growth and eating spurt, had to wait a whole 10 minutes, an eternity to him, to eat.

*I help in Ethan's Classroom every week.
*I think I am supposed to be there right now.

Pudding (a breakfast post)

When you think of dessert do you think of pudding?  Why the heck not?  In our family growing up we ate a lot of pudding.   Mainly vanilla, but sometimes rice or tapioca as well.  We all loved it and thought it was great.  When Glenn and I were dating he thought our love for pudding was comical.  Comical?  What's so funny?  Pudding is awesome.  He was hysterical watching Ty make a whole box of jell-o pudding and then polish it all off by himself.  Mom always made pudding from scratch, but do you think Ty has the patience for that?

Which brings me to breakfast.  Mom always made oatmeal too.  Since there were so many of us breakfast was usually a gigantic pot on the stove filled with one of two things.  Rice or Oatmeal.  Either way it was topped with milk, butter, sugar and cinnamon.  As I got older I got more adventurous with the oats.  Bananas, granola, apples, nuts, craisins etc.


Well I still love oatmeal.  There are probably only a handful of times throughout the year when I don't have oatmeal.  I just love it.  It takes a long time to eat.  It's very nutritious.  It's delicious.  The variety of add-ins are endless.   And key to any of my meals, it has to be FILLING!


So here are my breakfast staples:

*1/3 cup oats
*1/2 cup liquid egg whites
*1/4 cup pumpkin
*vanilla


I cook the oats with double the water.  When they are halfway done I add the eggs and stir every minute or so for about 5 minutes.  Next goes in the pumpkin and vanilla.  Mix it all up and let cook another few minutes.  When done push the oats to the side and pour in some almond milk just for a minute to warm up the milk. Top with  homemade coconut butter.  


The pero is Mormon coffee.  I usually add in a little something sweet.  Either a teaspoon of hot chocolate mix, or some of this chai that Glenn gave me for Christmas.  I really, really like this stuff and upon reading the ingredient list noticed it has black tea.  Sad for me.  No more chai. 


I am a volume eater.  I like to eat a lot so I try and find things that give me the most bang for my buck.  Oats are filling and the nutritional stats are great.  For my serving the calories are 160 with 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.


The liquid eggs are 60 calories per 1/2 cup with 12 grams of protein.


The pumpkin is 20 calories per 1/4 cup  with 2.5 grams of fiber and 150% of your daily vitamin A.


The coconut butter is about 100 calories per Tablespoon.  I bought the unsweetened shredded coconut and blended it in my Cuisinart for about 5 minutes to make the coconut butter.  It is somewhat nutritious but I eat it just because it's so dang good.  And fat is filling.  And eating what you love makes you happy.


So there it is.  A huge bowl of filling, nutritious, yummy oats made just the way I like and all, including the drink, for 400 calories.  The only sugar is in the 1 teaspoon of chai added to my pero.  The coconut butter does give some natural sweetness to the oats.  The almond milk I use is unsweetened and so thick that...............


My oatmeal tastes like PUDDING!  Is there anything better?