Dairy Queen

Note to self: don't eat at the DQ on Stan Schlueter. One, because the service is horrible. There were about 10 workers each running around like chickens with their heads cut off. They kept switching who was making what, who was attending which register, didn't know who had been helped or not... one girl started to take our order then literally ran off when she saw I had coupons, and told the girl who was in the middle of making someone else's drinks to take our order. They took 10 minutes to make Dave's Blizzard because they busted through the first cup and had to re-do the whole thing. Overheard from behind the counter: "I just had a brain freeze. Do we put cheese on the Chili-Cheese Fries?" Honestly this isn't anything new. They've always had terrible service. Sometimes I just forget. Secondly, large groups of teenagers tend to hang out here and choose to speak very loudly using words I'd prefer by almost-3-yr-old not hear. Just a few things like "Suck my ____" multiple times and "Mother-F*er" very loudly. You know wonderful things like that as I try to quickly eat my Blizzard and hope that Cali is engrossed enough in her ice cream that she really isn't hearing it. I only went because of the coupons but next time I'll definitely use the drive-thru or go somewhere else completely. Its pretty sad when I can't treat my kids to an ice cream at DQ because its no longer a family-friendly atmosphere.

Mangos + Pork = Delicious!

Who would've thought? This recipe was sooo delicious. It sounded really unique but all yummy ingredients and simple enough to make (granted I did all the chopping, etc. while the little monkeys were napping). From the always wonderfully simple, homey, down-to-earth Taste of Home Magazine...

Mango Pork Stir-Fry

2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 small head bok choy
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into small strips
2 tbsp vegetable oil divided
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp minced fresh gingerroot (or substitute 1/4 tsp powdered ginger)
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (opt) (or substitute dashes of hot sauce to taste)
4 green onions, thinly sliced (I forget them so left them out)
1 medium mango, peeled and cubed
1 tsp sesame oil

Hot Cooked Rice

In small bowl, combine cornstarch, broth and soy sauce until smooth. Set aside.

Cut off and discard root end of bok choy. Cut remaining leaves and stalks to measure about 4 cups.

In a large skiller or wok, stir-fry pork in 1 tbsp oil for 3-4 minuts or until no longer pink. Removed and keep warm.

Stir-fry bok choy stalks in remaining oil for 2 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and bok choy leaves. Stir-fry 2 minutes. Add water and pepper flakes. Cook 2 min longer or until bok choy is crisp-tender.

Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil, cook and stir for 2 min or until thickened. Add the green onions, mango and reserved pork. Heat through. Stir in sesame oil. Serve with hot rice.


PS I have never in my life had bok choy, never so much as glanced at it before last week. It was very easy to wash & chop. I was too chicken to taste it raw but it was a great addition to the stir-fry and I'm sure a great source of vitamins considering it is a dark, leafy green. If you're looking for it it was near the cabbage at my store.

Getting Gum Out

Some really good-to-know info...
Best way to get gum out of hair: Vegetable Oil

According to the new Food Detectives show on Food Network. They did a trial where four women actually willingly matted a big wad of bubble gum into their own hair to test out the four most common methods: peanut butter, ice, oil, or rubbing alcohol. The vegetable oil was the winner by far, the gum actually slid out in one piece after about 20 minutes. All the others just made a worse mess and broke the gum into itty bitty pieces. Yuck.

CA Roadtrip Dec '07

My latest project: Altered a $2 mini album for our roadtrip/vacation to California last December. Here's a preview...

Commissary Shopping

Sure is nice to get the big monthly grocery trip done without the little ones in tow. Even though it still takes a full evening to prep for the big trip: clipping/organizing coupons, makings meal plans, checking the pantry, writing the list*, taking strollers out of the Trailblazer, loading in all the recycling... At least I didn't have to pack all the drinks, snacks, and entertainment for the kiddos. Not to mention lug along all their other accessory items. I actually walked into the store with nothing more than my "little" purse and my stash of reusable bags. Somehow it still took an hour and over $200 but the difference is really the amount of time I get to spend actually looking at the items, comparing prices and nutrition labels as opposed to keeping the kids entertained and content. Fun times.

*I don't really "write" my lists, I created an Excel spreadsheet grocery list of the Commissary in order of how the store is organized with all my most common items listed. I just checkmark and/or highlight the items I need and write-in others. I also list my meal ideas on the side so I make sure I get everything I need for those. If anyone's interested I'll figure out how to post it or I could e-mail it to you.

Mudskippers

Cali wants to know... what do mudskippers eat?

Insects, sandworms, small crustaceans (all found in mangrove swamps). They will eat other small creatures if provided with them (such as crickets, their staple food in zoos).

For more on these odd little creatures click here and here.

You Know You're a Scrapbooker When...

Having lunch at Target since we have no running water at home (or AC for that matter) Cali and Diego were sharing a fresh, HOT pizza. Diego was blowing on the pizza when she exclaimed loud enough for everyone in the sitting area to hear: "Mommy you should take a picture of that and put it in your scrapbook!"

Oh and this morning I wake up first to the plumber's dispatcher calling to tell me they won't be coming out today because its too wet, immediately followed by Cali bringing me some of my shape punches saying she wants to scrapbook. So, at 8am with no water to make coffee I help Cali gather up all the other punches, paper, glue, and scissors she wants so she can "scrapbook" while I figure out what to do for breakfast that won't involve getting any dishes dirty.

Family Bike Rides

Sure is nice to go on a family bike ride. Now that Dave is home for awhile we can all go cruise around the neighborhood. He left his previous bike in Iraq, claiming the rough muddy roads rendered it unworthy of a return flight. So when he got back from this recent class we were ready to buy a replacement. We had a toddler seat up in the attic from when Cali was a baby. I think I used it once before I found out I was pregnant and thus not able to go bike riding. Then a few weeks ago I bought the bike trailer so I could take them both. That was OK but not for very long since they are so squished together in there I start getting a lot of complaints and problems after about 5-10 minutes. So now we are able to ride as one big happy family - Daddy with D on the back and Mommy with Cali in the trailer with 2-3 of her babies tucked in too. Yesterday we went down to the horse field then looped back around to the city park. Today we went down toward Main Street and just took random streets around that neighborhood. Its really nice to just get out and spend time together as a family and not even have to spend any money! Ok, other than the initial investment of the bike, trailer, toddler seat, helmets, etc... Oh and yes we are all now proud owners and wearers of helmets. I just read in Parents magazine an article about all the health/saftey precautions we take for our kids that we should really be taking for ourselves too. They mentioned that the vast majority of fatal bicycle accidents involve adults and last year there were only 5 (or so) involving children.

I want...

to makes this:


I want to host a craft night so all my friends can make one too.
I want to start visiting this Dares blog: http://www.efferdares.com/

National Crayon Recycle Program

Hooray! One more thing I can start recycling. This is so exciting. Send all your broken crayon nubs, wrappers and all to:

CRAYON RECYCLING PROGRAM
LAF Lines, Ltd.,
721 Village Road
Pelican Lake, WI 54463


They melt them down to create fun new crayon creations and even collect all the wrapper scraps to make fire-starter. Check out their website at CrazyCrayons.com for even more exciting details. I'm definitely rounding up some of mine to send in. Please pass this info along and leave a comment telling me you did!

If...

I had more time, more patience, more talent... this is what I would be making.

Click for step-by-step then browse around Craftstylish.com for more great crafty inspiration.

Just Because...

I'm procrastinating, I should be cleaning my house, and sometimes I just need to make something. Inspired by Cali's new-found talent for drawing people. She's not even 3 yet so as her mom I'm highly impressed and was quite surprised when about a month ago she suddenly drew a picture of the four of us and even added our dog Huey. Funny thing.. Huey looked exactly the same as us people. She has since started adding extra legs and a tail for Huey. For some reason this little project popped into my head: to use felt scraps to create a 3-D version of her "people". Disclaimer: I never claimed to be good at sewing, I hardly even like sewing, so lets just call this "rustic" and remember its for a not-quite-3-year-old.

The inspiration


The 3-D plush version

Preemies

I had the wonderful privilege today of meeting three tiny new little people that joined the world on June 23rd 2008. Our family friends were blessed with triplets that were born about 10 weeks early and thankfully are all doing very well. With Dave's mom in town this past week I finally had a chance to go meet them. It was such a great experience, they were so cute and small and adorable and looking so strong and healthy. You could tell right away it is an excellent facility with very caring and professional staff. It is the same hospital D had hernia surgery at back in May and they were just wonderful for us too. Two of the boys were sleeping peacefully the whole time, and the other I just happened to be there at his feeding time and they let me do the honors! It was amazing to hold that tiny baby in my arms and to realize that when you are 7 & 8 months pregnant there is already this completely formed tiny little baby human inside you. Its something everyone should experience if they get the chance.

Legos Anyone?

That would be Olympic Stadium, done in Legos. For more incredible pictures click here.

Don't Trust the Quaker Man

I'm pretty upset with Mr. Quaker man right now. Cali happens to really love instant Strawberries & Cream oatmeal. We're all out and we only have peach which she won't have any part of. So I go to buy her some more and since I'm working on replacing our processed foods that have HFCS with ones that do not contain HFCS I for once read the ingredient list. Now I've been eating this stuff since I was probably Cali's age and she's had it plenty of times already so I was a bit shocked at what I found out... Quakers Instant Strawberries & Cream oatmeal DOES NOT CONTAIN STRAWBERRIES. Yep, no joke. It does however contain some lovely bits of apple painted red and soaked in artificial strawberry flavor. Oh yeah and there's no such thing as blueberries in the Blueberries & Cream either or peaches in the Peaches & Cream. Again, dyed and flavored apples. What a rip off! Not to mention just a bunch of added crap nobody really needs to eat. I

f I wanted apples in my instant oatmeal I'd buy me some Apples & Cinnamon flavor, thankyouverymuch. Oh and by the way the Apples flavor proudly proclaims right on the front of the box: Made with REAL Apples! So if you were at Wal-Mart this evening around 9:30 PM and saw a lady in the oatmeal aisle staring at the boxes with her mouth hanging open, shaking her head in disgust that was me! Honestly, I thought I could trust that nice looking Quaker man, but no more. I already quit buying his Oatmeal To Go and Chewy granola bars because of the HFCS.

Oh and if you're wondering what Cali will have for breakfast instead, I got some Village Farm No Sugar Added Whole Grain Oatmeal with REAL blueberries listed as the 2nd ingredient (after oats). We'll see if its edible. I'll keep you posted.

Seafood Lover

We stopped into Petco today just to stall a little before lunch time and just because its always fun to show the kids all the animals. Sort of like the zoo, only with A/C and not so many animals. So we're looking at all the fish tanks and I notice one has a bunch of shrimp in it. I show Cali and her response... "Can we eat them!!?" So excited. So serious. "Umm no honey those are not to eat, but good to know that you really like shrimp."

Warning: May Contain Squash

We have no shortage of yellow squash and zuchinni these days thanks to our lovely garden. We only have 3 plants but that is more than enough for our little family. I'm trying to use it up wherever I can so in the past week I've snuck it into:

• Scrambled Eggs
• Mac N Cheese
• Homemade Pizza
• Fettuccine Alfredo
• Muffins
  

Muffins are always a big hit here, Cali even considers it dessert. Here's my recipe:

Oatmeal Zuchinni Muffins
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup oats
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/2 cup dried cranberries
4 eggs
1 zuchinni, shredded (I used 1 small zuchinni and half a medium yellow squash)
3/4 cup oil

Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl. In medium bowl beat eggs slightly, add squash and oil. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until moist, batter may be lumpy. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

The nuts, flaxseed and cranberries are optional but recommended!!

Beat the Heat

Its August. Its Texas. Its H-O-T!! So if we're going to be playing outside there better be water involved...

Enjoying a new toy (and swimsuit) from Grandma


Our usual Spalshin' Grounds