Happy Birthday Daniel!

My baby boy turned four this weekend! We celebrated with a family party at the local bowling alley. The boys had fun bowling, playing video games, and eating lots of chocolate cake! Nana and Popo even joined us for while. Little did I know that they were some heavy duty bowling aces! Doug says Popo even won a city championship. They offered LOTS of good tips on technique but unfortunately none of us walked out of there with a score over 70!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Chicken, roasted pasilla and bell pepper tostadas
(and just so you know, I could eat this every day of the week!)

Tuesday: Happy Birthday to me! No cooking for this chick.

Wednesday: 15 bean soup and cornbread

Thursday: Huevos rancheros

Friday: Spinach lasagna

Saturday: French dip sandwiches. Deli shaved roast beef and provalone cheese served on toasted whole wheat sub rolls. Organic beef consume for dipping!

Sunday: Crock pot beef stew with marsala wine

Weekend plans

I'm making grand plans this weekend to have my backside firmly planted in this chair and my thrift store quilt wrapped around me.
I will be drinking copious amounts of hot tea...

...and reading these lovelies from cover to cover.

See you Monday!

A must for the pantry

One of the first things I did when I decided to overhaul our diets was add ground flax seed and raw wheat germ to our pantry staples. I initially added it to boost the levels of omega-3 fatty acids in Ryan and JP's diet (studies show that diets high in omega-3's help children with ADHD function better.) And now I put them in just about everything I make to benefit the whole family.

These two superfoods can be easily incorporated into just about any meal or snack. I sneak them into yogurt, homemade breads and tortillas, muffins, smoothies, soups, dinners such as meatloaf or spaghetti sauce, or sprinkle on salads, their use is really endless!

Here I'm putting them into our morning breakfast-pancakes (it makes me feel better about letting them eat all that syrup!). When mixing them into a recipe, I usually add 2T. of ground flax and 1/3 cup or less of raw wheat germ. You can't tell a difference by taste, but your body can definitely tell nutritionally!

Flax seed and wheat germ have been shown to:
Lower blood cholesterol levels, lower high blood pressure, increase energy, vitality, and stamina, increase sense of calmness under stress, reduce threat of blood clots, protect against cancers, particularly hormone sensitive cancers such as breast and prostate, better regulation of blood sugar levels, eases inflammatory tissue conditions, including arthritis, alleviation of dry skin, eczema and psoriasis, enhanced immune system, helps with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), is a natural laxative, and the list goes on...

You can find ground flax and raw wheat germ at just about any grocery store these days at a pretty good price. Be sure to store them in the freezer once opened because they can go rancid.

Homemade hand soap

I saw this recipe for homemade hand soap on Tipnut.com and thought we'd give it a try.
Here's what you need:

1 bar of soap
1 TBS. glycerin
1 tsp. honey
water

THAT'S IT!!!

First, grate bar of soap into small flakes, pour in blender. I don't have a blender so I just used my food processor.

Add 1 cup boiling water and whip.

Add 1/2 cup room temperature water and stir in blender.

Add honey and glycerin, stir.
Allow mix to cool (15 minutes) then whip again.

(and yes, Danny is wearing a clip on tie...I'm not sure why.)

Top off mixture with 5-6 cups of cool water then mix again. I had to move the mixture to my biggest bowl at this point. Between the soap and the foam, my mixer was almost overflowing! I had no trouble mixing in all the water with just a wisk.

Pour into containers and allow to cool (do not put lids or caps on yet).
After an hour, close containers. Soap mixture will thicken up.
Shake before using as needed.

I stored my soap in an old laundry detergent bottle I had cleaned out. I really like this soap! It's light and creamy and smells super clean. I think we'll be using this recipe for a long time!
I did make one change to the recipe, I used a vitamin E body oil instead of the glycerin and it worked just fine. I also debated using my coconut oil, which I will probably use next time. I also might use an essential oil like lavender or lemon!

I also don't see why you couldn't make this with herbal infused water. Just boil a handful of herbs, like comfrey, in 6 cups of water and allow to cool. Strain herbs out before adding to soap mixture.

I bought a three pack of Ivory soap for a buck. The vitamin E oil was $2. We always have honey on hand so I didn't even factor that into the cost. It looks like I was able to make 8 cups of soap for a grand total of .65!

Next, on to homemade laundry detergent!

Damn you Jack Bauer!

Doug only watches TV on two occasions, football or Fox News. I've grown accustomed to being a "football widow" on Sundays, but now I'm a "24 widow" on Monday nights as well.
Doug just happened to watch an episode of 24 one day and has been addicted ever since. Thanks to Dana (who lent Doug her 24 boxed set), Doug went on a 24 bender and watched five seasons in ONE MONTH!

So for my dear addict, er, I mean, husband (and all you other 24 fans)...this is for you!

BASIC TRUTHS ABOUT 24'S JACK BAUER:

Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry.

If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.

If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.

Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.

If it tastes like chicken, looks like chicken, and feels like chicken, but Jack Bauer says its beef. Then you better believe it's beef.

Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the next half-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.

1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.

Let's get one thing straight: the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.

Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.

Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.

When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer hates lemonade.

Jack Bauer once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.

Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of him finding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.

Jack Bauer is the leading cause of death in Middle Eastern men.

Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.

When Jack Bauer was a child, he made his mother finish his vegetables.

Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a real fact.

Simon Says should be renamed to Jack Bauer Says because if Jack Bauer says something then you better do it.

Jack Bauer won the Tour de France on a unicycle to prove to Lance Armstrong it wasn't a big deal.

When Jack Bauer pissses into the wind, the wind changes direction.

Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.

When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.

When Google can't find something, it asks Jack Bauer for help.

You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.

Jack Bauer can get McDonald's breakfast after 10:30.

When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.

There's a little milking going on...

...and it ain't of the cow variety!

Kyle stepped on a nail that went through his shoe...THREE DAYS AGO! He didn't think it was a big deal until it started hurting him last night. Let me tell you, he thinks it's a big deal NOW, especially since I've enlightened him on the risks of tetanus, staph, and sepsis ('cause I'm an awesome mother like that!)

So we get up at the butt crack of dawn this morning and head to the clinic. I hate, hate, HATE taking kids to the clinic! You walk in there with a well child and walk out with half a dozen diseases, but I knew we just had to do this. He took his tetanus shot like a champ...didn't even flinch. The most painful part of the experience for him was this Snoopy band aid, you know, because he's waaaay too cool for that!

My tough boy is now on the couch milking this for all it's worth. He's relayed the horrific story ten times over of the needle that "was like five inches long" punctured his arm and how he was injected with the "vile tetanus virus". He had Danny captivated as he told about the "screams of the other children" coming from the near by exam rooms.

Oh, and did I mention the doughnuts he talked me into on the way home?
He's on his fourth right now...

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Pot stickers with sauteed bok choi.

Tuesday: Ribollita and homemade french bread.

Wednesday: Red beans and (brown) rice with cornbread.

Thursday: Meatloaf and collard greens.

Friday: Garden Buffet! Eating up our garden harvests: Cabbage, brussell sprouts, swiss chard, field peas, and collard greens.

Saturday: Homemade pizza.

Sunday: 10 Grain Pancakes.


For hundreds of other meal plans check out www.orgjunkie.com

A Novena for Life

A Novena for Life

The next few days will be extraordinarily important in the life of the Pro Life Movement and the life of faithful Catholics, many Christians and persons of good will. On January 21 and 22, Congress will vote on the most radical and unrestricted legislation in the U.S. history regarding abortion. Such legislation is called The Freedom of Choice Act or FOCA and in such legislation it is stated that every woman has a "fundamental right" to abortion on demand, at any time of her pregnancy, without any interference from federal, state, or local governments, and without any consent or interference from parents, in the case of minors, or from the other spouse, in the case of married persons. Moreover, no government may "discriminate" against the exercise of this right when regulating of providing "benefits, facilities, services, or information" to the public. In other words, abortion may not be treated differently from live birth - if the public supports motherhood it must equally support abortion. FOCA endangers a wide range of laws enacted by the people and their elected representatives over 35 years - laws upheld under Roe and in cases applying it. These include laws on informed consent, parental involvement, physician licensure, clinic safety, and taxpayer funding. FOCA's far reaching rule on abortion is more radical than anything wrought by Roe. FOCA will invalidate laws enacted to protect a woman from unsafe abortions and to insure that she is informed about abortion.

FOCA will require all the taxpayers to pay for abortions. The current FOCA version removes language that is found in previous versions of the bill ensuring that taxpayers will not be forced to pay for abortions. The current bill says that the government may not "discriminate" against abortion in publicly funded programs. It goes further and removes any restriction for abortion on demand.

Roe allowed states to ban abortion after the baby became viable (when the child can survive outside of the womb). Late term abortion in the last trimester of pregnancy is something inconceivable due to the advances of modern medicine and the dignity of persons who are fully alive in the womb of a mother. The very way in which tools are used to extract a child in such partial birth abortion will be something demeaning, cruel, unprofessional, unethical, against the Hippocratic Oath of doctors, and just plainly immoral.

FOCA will force Catholic hospitals to do abortion. It will force Catholic doctors and nurses to participate in abortions. It will not allow a clause for conscientious objection on account of moral principles.

This is AN URGENT TIME. We have a new government that has promised this to be the first piece of legislation passed and the new President has promised to sign it. PRAYERS are NEEDED for a miracle and for a change of heart in the President and in the Legislators, especially the pro-abortion legislators, even Catholic Legislators. The faithful are asked to start a Novena of Masses, or a Novena of Rosaries to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Pro-Life efforts in the country, or a Novena of Fasting for whatever time may be prudent for you, or a Novena of a Holy Hour alone, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, or in your home..., starting on the 11th day of January, praying that, by God's Mercy, this legislation may not pass and that the new President may have a change of heart.


Prepared by Fr. Isidore Vicente O.P.

My latest gardening project

I plan to turn this barren little patch of earth into a medicinal herb garden.
It's going to be a challenge because, as you can see, it's covered in shade for most of the day. I've dabbled a bit in herb gardening in an old wooden barrel on my back porch. I love cooking with fresh herbs, and they did really well in containers, but now I'm ready to kick it up a notch and grow our own medicinals and teas as well. I'm in the planning stages right now, going through seed catalogs and sketching my layout. I have a LOT of reading to do! Hopefully next month Doug will till up the area and we'll start preparing the soil for a mid/late March planting!

Making silhouettes

I rearranged all the furniture in my living room and ended up with a bit of blank wall. I had seen tons of tutorials on how to make these silhouettes, so I broke down and made some of the boys on Photoshop.

I think I may try to find some pretty ribbon to hang them from, the area still seems a little "meh" to me, but the boys sure are cute (I'm partial, of course!)

Paper silhouette plaques - I'll leave the fancy paper cutting to my sister!
Photoshop silhouettes - The tutorial I used.

I'm not green...I'm just cheap! Take 2

I ran into a BARGAIN at our local grocer, 18 pounds of oranges for $3.99!

As I was emptying the last of them into a basket, I thought about how sturdy that little nylon sack was. All of the sudden I had a brilliant idea!
I cut each end off the sack:

Folded the netting accordion style and tied with the nylon drawstring that came with the bag.

It makes an awesome little dish scrubber!
You'd pay 2-3 bucks for one of these at the store.

It also works very well on glass stove tops...

...and the slave labor will work for peeled orange slices!

Scrub-A-Dub-Dub!

My friend, Linda, gave me a handy little gift and like any good friend, I decided to steal her idea and make more for myself! It's the cutest little knitted sack with soap inside.

First, knit a small tube on your blue Knifty Knitter loom and tie one end together:

Slip in a bar of your favorite soap:

Run a long piece of yarn through the other end:

Pull tight and tie off leaving the long ends to hang on your shower caddy!

It doesn't mold or get smelly in the shower, and by hanging it, it drip dries very quickly.
These would make great gifts using handmade soaps or different yarns for babies and children. I made this one in under half an hour while watching The Office!

Cranberry Jam

Now that the holidays are over you can find whole cranberries on sale in grocery stores! Why not make some delicious cranberry jam?

Cranberry Jam

1 bag of whole cranberries - washed
zest and juice of one orange
1 1/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. water
dash of cinnamon, or fresh grated ginger, or both!

Pour your washed cranberries into a food processor and pulse until they become the consistency you like (minced to pieces for a smoother jam, larger pieces for chunky).
Put the cranberries and the rest of the ingredients in a 2-quart pan. Let sit for about 10 minutes to macerate, then bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently. Let the jam cook for about 25 minutes, let cool, pour into jars and store in the fridge for up to a month.

How simple is that?

Cranberries are really good for you, full of antioxidants! Sure this recipe contains white sugar...but definitely NO high fructose corn syrup or preservatives!
Really good on some sprouted wheat bread!

Ummm...

Who are these people and what have they done with my children?

Guess I wasn't the only one glad the holidays are over and we are back to our normal routine!
Now I can provide photo documentation and say, "Remember that ONE DAY when you sat quietly and finished all your schoolwork?"