Thanksgiving Hits and Misses

I am so thankful for my family. How great a gift a family is! My parents were finishing up their stay; we are already missing them so much as they went home yesterday. We had a wonderful couple of days with my brothers Guy and John here from Chicago. We hadn't seen them for 4 years since they have been living in London. To quote Sunshine, "We don't get to see Guy and John that often so I forget how much fun they are!" It was fun and it was a blessing.

We started the day with Pepper's yummy caramel rolls. Guy and John made a wonderful paper bag turkey (stuffed with popcorn) for the Littles. Pepper made an adorable crudite tray.  It was fun to have some cute Pinterest touches on the day!

We tried some wonderful new recipes; one by me, two by the Barefoot Contessa, one by Paula Deen and then all our tried and true favorites. Almost everyone helped with cooking in some way but Mamaw, Pepper and I did the bulk of it. We ate:

Cranberry Sauce

Dressing - The Best EVER (my new recipe)

Turkey (a pre-ordered fresh natural turkey that was super moist thanks to the prep and cooking but, frankly, a little tough)

Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potato Puree (Barefoot Contessa) with candied pecans (contributed by Pepper)

Roasted Brussels Sprouts (Barefoot Contessa)

Pumpkin Pie (made by Mamaw, of course, and perfect!)

Fresh Apple Cake (Paula Deen)

I think we'd have liked the sweet potatoes if they weren't so orangey. We will cut the orange way back next time. We loved the cayenne in them, though! The Brussels Sprouts, on the other hand, were sublime. Oh, my goodness! The apple cake was a huge hit, too; it has such yummy apple flavor and was super moist. This apple cake will make a great addition to our New Year's brunch.

So, in the end, we were thankful for the food, too.  Here are a few assorted pictures. 

Summertime is Family Time - Album 2

It was worth driving 2400 miles for what awaited us once we arrived.  We arrived at my sister's in Montana on Friday and then got to the folks' in Idaho on the Saturday before Mother's Day.  Somehow the time just flew by and I did not get out to see the Uncles and Aunts, but I was so thrilled to get to spend so much time with "my" Idaho kids.  We didn't get to see Guy and John (in London)  Royce (in Montana), Anneka (in California) or Carin and clan (in Oregon) but we are hoping to drag them out for the next Huntley camping extravaganza.

 Uncle Jason and Gabriel

 Aunt "Dark" (Darinda) and Papa

 Alli looking happy to be out of the car

 Yes folks we have it right here -- Kolby can be captured for a kiss from his beautiful mama

 Lisa with her newest niece, Zita.  These two have a special bond.

 Cousins and friends; Kolby was so patient with all the Littles

 Ted looking pretty in Maggie's hat

 TJ and Mikayla monkeying around 

Love this sweet shot of Papa and the Littles 

He has endless patience!

 Mamaw and Papa

 Guy was busy working in London but here are the rest of us "kids" with Mom and Dad

 Mom and her "baby."

 Alli and our precious Zita

 She is the best of both her parents

PHere is her proud mama, Melissa.  We love you so much, Melissa -- we're so glad you and TJ ran into each other!

Every child should get to play in the wheat.

Uncle Ted

I'm Glad to be Here

Day 1 of the 10 Day Family Re-Charge

I'm glad to be here.  I'm grateful for space and shelter and running water.

I'm grateful for hands suddenly able to cut a heart and for hands that reach for forbidden markers.

I'm glad to be here.

I'm grateful for the crisp skin of baked chicken and the creamy comfort of polenta.

I love the smell of cooking in the house.

I'm glad to be here.  I'm grateful for teens who cook and leave messes in the kitchen

and for the prayer of washing dishes.

I'm glad to be here.  I'm grateful for the blessing rain - so grateful -

and for the sounds of laughing and fussing; for running feet and banging doors.

I'm glad to be here. I'm grateful for one more day I have not earned;

Blessed to have one more day on this ancient earth;

One more chance to laugh, to live lustily, to reach out to love.

I'm glad to be here.

PS -- la pequeña muchacha returned yesterday evening for a short stay. By law, I can't post her picture here!  But if you email me, I'll send you her picture!  She's a cutie!

Menu Sharing

A few months ago my smart friend Colleen suggested I start keeping my menus on Google Calendar, a resource I already use to pieces anyway.  It was a brillant idea and beat the heck out of my former paper and pencil system.

The Google calendar allows me to repeat menu items, so something that is a big hit might get repeated in 2 weeks, whereas something else yummy, but very odd -- like smoked salmon -- might only get repeated every 5 weeks.

What I truly love about this is that each week when I sit down to work on next week's menu, it is already loaded with lots of meals!  Sometimes there will even be 2 or 3 choices for each meal and I just see what "feels" right this week, then set the other meals forward a week or two.

I can now do my menus in 10 minutes where it used to take an hour or more.

This week I was wishing I could have a peek at someone else's menu;  all the kids were sick and craving comfort food; I was looking for fast inspiration!  Today I thought, "Well, why not share my menus?  Maybe they can help someone out when they feel uninspired."

I have done so.  Here is the link to my menu calendar.  It's public so you should have no trouble seeing it.  If you click on "details" you can see a link to any online version of the recipe(s); if I have a photo, it's attached which you can also see under details.  For an example of both, look at the details under my lunch entry for Feb 2, Bo Luc Lac.

Disclaimer:  I only work one week ahead, so menus for two weeks from today will be incomplete and lacking detail!


I would love to see some other folks' menus too!  If you'd consider sharing, please be sure to let me know!  Happy cooking!

(Cross posted to Bright Weight Loss)

The Land of the Living (Barely)

Almost everyone is sick.  Really sick.  The Blitz is the worst, with a temp fluctuating between 103 and 105; Pepper is a couple degrees behind (but upchucking) followed by The Captain who started the day fever-free and ended it at 101.  Sunshine is sick but not feverish last I checked;  all (even Tink) are coughing that kind of yucky cough that sets off the "cower and cover" reflex if they are too close.  Oh my.

Nonetheless, they are all being really sweet kids and as long as I aspire to accomplish nothing, all is well. 

I am feeling strong and fit - no worries. The baby spent the whole day flopping between my arms and the cool floor; everyone else is lounging here and there.  I think all 5 are finally asleep for the night now -- I'm hoping they all feel better tomorrow.  I can't stand it when even one is sick, much less 4 of 5. 

Two funny events of the day:
Tinker marches into the kitchen, arms crossed across her chest."Mama, The Blitz is trying to make me sick!  He cough all over me." 

And The Captain, arriving home from school says, "Mom.  Take my picture."
"Sure, son, but why?"
"Cuz dis how I look sick!"

Adorable Letter Mix-Up

So.  Benny was playing his favorite game with the alphabet magnets called, "What letter is this?"  He said, "Dat a 'u'.  Dat me!"

We all laughed. Then Maggie, says, "Wait, that's me? "

"No," says Bennie patiently, "Dat 'u'!"

Gabe picks up the letter "p".  "P U!"  He shouts.

They all laugh.

"Pee me?"  says Maggie.

Oh my goodness.  In case you haven't had enough of this madness, here's a little video of Bennie who is definitely the letter king in our house.

Thankfulness

This was my first Thanksgiving in many without my parents and my sister.  I missed them fiercely!  But I think the pain was definitely dulled by not cooking and by being extremely full both in body and spirit. 

We are spending Thanksgiving weekend with Paul's folks in Plano.  Our Thanksgiving feast was fit for a king and it is wonderful spending some time with this side of the family.   My in-laws are the connsumate hosts and boy, can they cook!  The "horn of plenty" was filled to overflowing this year!

The bird was roasted in a new-fangled infrared cooker and it was so delicious.   I really, really love turkey and have resolved to be eating it more often in the future.  I didn't bring my camera so you will have to try to imagine what the cooker looks like;  it kind of looks like a stock-pot sized space capsule with a propane tank attached.

Yesterday was my black Friday shopping day. Boy, howdy.  For various reasons, I couldn't sleep Thursday night.  I went to bed at 10:00 because I was tired - triptophan dontcha know -- and I went right to sleep, but by midnight I was sleeping fitfully and after 1:00, I gave up.  I wound up doing the very thing I swore I wouldn't  -- shopping in the middle of the night.  At least I waited until Thanksgiving was over.  I shopped until about 6:00 then declared myself finished.  Since I was  little behind the crowds for most stores, I only encountered long lines and crazed shoppers twice.  I sure did miss my shopping companions though!  I think Mom was sleeping in at home in Idaho and sister hit the Idaho pavement early with her new beau.  I bet she missed shopping in Texas where I was able to leave my jacket in the car!

Littles and Bigs alike have been good guests so far.  If we can just keep 'em out of "mist - chef" (as Tink says) one more day, we'll call the weekend a success.  Then we'll get home and back to diet and exercise.  Happy Thanksgiving, dear reader!

PS - being the most disorganized Mom ever means I left my camera at home. Sorry.  Please enjoy this lovely stock photo instead.

Feeding the Multitude

Sometimes getting healthy meals on the table is a real challenge.  It seems like we rush from school to athletic events to bed and back to school.  We really fell apart -- healthy eating wise -- the first two weeks of school.  Suffice it to say that at the end of that two weeks, "sandwich" was a dirty word in our house. 

So it was back to the menus.  Menu planning really works for me.  It saves money (because we are not grabbing fast food or convenience foods), it saves calories, and it saves time. When I make up a menu, I go do all the shopping for that menu at once, even if I go to two stores in order to take advantage of coupons.  Since every time I go into the store it takes 45 minutes to an hour (not including travel time), that saved time adds up quickly when I am not constantly going to the store.  I also save time because a little forethought means I can do prep work for more than one meal, slicing carrots for example.  Finally, not standing around thinking "what are we going to eat" somehow saves time.  No searching the pantry or fridge for answers.

My system may or may not work for you, but maybe it will spur your creativity and that's all that counts, right?  I have one picky eater and one two year old ('nuf said, right?), so I try to accommodate their tastes at least some of the time.  I plan for 5 servings of fruit and veg a day;  I get 3 and sometimes 4 of these into lunch.  I either use a handwritten form like this one from Just Bento, or I type them in excel.  This depends mostly on my whim.

I start my menu with weekday lunch because it now the main meal of our day.  Most days I plan bento boxes (see this post for details) because they are easy for Pepper and Dear Hubby to transport and we all love them.  What I love about the bento boxes is that even though we are in 3 different places, we are all eating the same meal, and it's almost like we are eating together.  It's a heart thing not a logic thing.  I usually send an extra piece of fruit because that's what we will be snacking on at home.   ( I have another post on bento boxes here.)

Next I fill in weekday suppers while consulting the calendar for games, meetings, etc.  That said, I do have a basic formula for the week:

• Thursday is pasta night, so the pasta chosen depends largely on complexity and time.  If we have had a lunch that is new and unusual I will serve "regular" spaghetti or homemade mac and cheese to appease my two special cases.  I make both of these in large batches and freeze them so some forethought on Wednesday makes it simple.
• Mondays are often meatless;  this is a night for 9 bean chili or a quiche or "breakfast for supper."  
• Fridays I do try to serve some sort of fish.  The whole family loves all things fishy though I am not a fan myself.  
• That really only leaves two weekdays to fill in with something easy.  We often have a very light meal at night; big salads, sandwiches, tacos, "snack plates" or leftovers. 
• If we have ballgames, I switch the "light meals" for the other meals;  I cook very little on ballgame nights.
• If I am in a hurry when I plan, I don't include veggies on my supper plans because my freezer and fridge are always stocked with veggies.

Now I fill in weekday breakfasts, and basically, I have a revolving list.  I just fill in from our list of  favorite breakfasts  based on what I feel is lacking from lunch.  Here are some of our favs (all served with milk):

• Scrambled egg and toast
• Yogurt, banana and "plain" cereal (like Cheerios)
• Pancakes (I make the mix ahead of time so they are fast)
• Boiled egg, dry cereal or toast, cheese
• Baked oatmeal
• Cold cereal with milk and fruit
• Cheesy scrambled eggs and tortilla
• Refried beans, egg "over" and corn tortilla

Finally, I fill in the weekends.  We have breakfast late and aim to have our big meal around 2:00.  This is when I try new recipes or make more complicated meals.  Also, if we are ever having waffles, it will be on the weekend.  The big girls and Dear Hubby know they will be fixing their own supper.  The little kids will be having a snack plate or leftovers.  

I keep all my menus and mark out anything that wasn't a show stopper.  If we didn't love it, we don't make it again.  I muse through these menus when doing my planning;   I sometimes just rerun an entire week from the past.  I take feedback from Dear Hubby and the Bigs about what they like and try to get a few favorites into every menu.

Last year I planned three weeks of menus for a friend.  It made me think through how I time-save so it has a lot of notes.  If you are crazy enough to want more detail, you can find it here.   These are clearly not bento lunches; more like lunches with a microwave available.

Now you have had a glance into my crazy mind, tell me how you keep from losing yours!

The Caper Chart

Many years ago I was a Girl Scout and there I was introduced to the concept of the Caper Chart.  A caper is a a frivolous, carefree episode or activity.  I think some clever scout leader years ago used word play to work in the idea of the shoemaker's elves and make a chore sound fun.  The amazing thing is, it really works. [FYI, the Brownie Girl Scouts use this story as a theme.]

In a spontaneous fit of creativity yesterday, Pepper and I sat down to make the Caper Chart for our upcoming family camp-out.  We really had so much fun.  In case you have not used a Caper Chart yourself, here is ours followed by a full explanation.  It looks a little unfinished because I photographed it before laminating it.

You can see the days of the week are across the top, while the specific "capers" are along the left side.  This is a chart for adults and the adults spend a lot of time playing cards on campouts, so using old playing cards for the assignments seemed fun.

When we get together, each adult will draw a card from the selection in the bottom pocket.  We will write their name on the corresponding card on the sides of the chart, just in case anyone forgets.  They can hang on to the one they drew.

Each day, we check the chart for "our" number.  (In this example, suits don't matter -- I only had so many old playing cards!)  So, for example, if you drew the queen, you would be a "Sous Chef" on Tuesday.   If you drew the Ace, you'd be the fire chief on Monday.  See how that works?

There will be 19 of us at the gathering, 6 adult women, 6 adult men and 7 kids and teens.  Instead of all the women feeling as if they "should" help cook every evening, this way, they can help on their assigned days and relax on the others.  Same with the fellas and the fire building.  For this camp-out, we decided to eat on paper and let the men wash the pots and pans.  Those heavy pots we use for big groups seemed like "men's work" this time around.   So each of the men will be the fire chief on one day and a dishwasher one or two others.  Simple, eh?

My teens are good helpers and the younger kids like to cook, so we found a couple of fun "assembly" jobs for the kids.  The teens will organize and support the youngsters.  The paintbrush represents Pepper's crew and the Softball is Sunshine's.

Even if it weren't such a useful tool, we had a fun time making it!  It's a great project for a rainy day -- or in our case, for the 42nd day this year that the thermometer topped 100 degrees!

Waiting is Such Sweet Sorrow

The Blitz is a huge cake lover.  He takes after Sunshine who loves all cake, but is particularly fond of a cake mix called "Funfetti."  It is pure and true junk food and a rare treat at our house.

I bought said cake mix and matching frosting for Sunshine because she is not a "scratch" cook.  It sat on the counter for three days and tortured the baby.  Finally the day came where we decided to make it, and the youngest two watched anxiously as I mixed the batter.  I allowed them each a tiny taste  (raw eggs you know) and popped it into the oven.  Thus began the 28 minute fit of a century.  When I got out the camera,The Blitz postponed his tantrum to talk to me, but spent the best part of the time lying on the floor in front of the oven moaning and trying to eat the box.  But I will let you hear it from him:

Finally, he got the cake.  I didn't even wait for Sunshine to frost it!

Trauma

Because we love The Captain, Tink and The Blitz so much, it's easy for us to forget their past.  They have been here 11 months in actual time, but it seems like they've always been a part of us.  They, however, can not so easily escape the reality of their early lives.

They have different ways of showing their stress.   A couple of weeks ago we were preparing to make a trip to North Texas to celebrate Grandma Clair Simmel's 100th birthday. 

As we were bustling around, packing suitcases, loading the car and shoveling breakfast into everyone, The Captain was stressing.  He kept dictating the movements of his younger siblings and intimidating the dog.  At every turn, he had a tantrum.  I kept pulling him aside to reassure him that all was fine, we were just going to Gram and Grandpa's all together and he would be okay.

  Paul missed most of this excitement as he was off on an errand.  So when he returned home to witness the Captain ordering The Blitz around, then getting sent to sit on the steps, then dissolving into a fit, he said, "What is going on with him?"  I postulated that every time we go somewhere, he thinks we are leaving him there -- that he is getting another new home.  Dear Hubby sat down by the distraught boy and said to him, "Are you worried that we are going to leave you somewhere?"

He nods mournfully.  "No, honey," daddy says.  "We are your forever family.  We are all going to be together forever.  We are leaving together and staying together and then coming home together."

That fixed it temporarily.  He needed to hear it from Daddy.

The Tink handles her stress differently.  She tinkers.  She gets into things, she drops things, she sasses, she refuses to eat or wants to eat all the time.  She was a little sass-pot at the in-laws house.  I mean sassy.  She dropped her milk cup 50 times.  She touched everything she got near.  She walked around with her hands on her hips.  She refused to say "please," or "thank you."  (To her credit, she never once wet her pants!)  She doesn't tend to outright misbehave, she just constantly pushes the boundaries.  This is how stress (or worry) shows up in her.

We got home Sunday night late, well after bedtime.  We popped them quickly and efficiently into bed and they all went straight to sleep.

Monday morning I was bustling around a bit getting The Captain ready for school.  As I threw on my shoes to take him to the bus, Tink grabbed my leg.  You have never seen a sadder face.

"Are you leaving me Mommy?"

"Oh, honey girl, never ever will I leave you!  I'm just putting brother on the bus."

"Okay Mommy."

And then her joyful play resumed.  Simple as that.  No sass, no cup dropping, no touching everything in sight.  Just normal life.

These two will likely not have conscious memories of their other homes.  They were pre-verbal when they got here, so those memories will largely be inaccessible and inexpressible to them.  The trauma of those moves and broken attachments, however, remains in their subconscious.  Sometimes that's heartbreaking . . .  for all of us.

Oh, No

Today in my best "lazy mother" voice, I said to Sunshine, "Please go check on Tink in the bathroom."  

I had that nagging feeling she'd been gone too long.

"Mom, come quick -- Tink flooded the bathroom."

Shoot.  I knew it was too quiet in there.  I shift into Dictator mode and in minutes have used kitchen tongs to remove the 1/2 roll of toilet paper, plunged the beast and used the carpet cleaner (thanks, honey) to suck up the water.  Then the young mistress was called in for a little lecture and quite a bit of frowning.  It was a minor disaster, averted due to Sunshine's quick thinking in turning off the water to the commode.

An hour later, Tink, comes in from outside to go potty.  I trail a few steps behind and lurk outside the door.  I hear talking.

"Don't break da toi-wet.  Don't  break da toi-wet.  Pull up your pants.  Don't go bare bottom.  Fwush da toiwet.  Now fwush da toi-wet."

I hear her hand on rattle the handle, and then in the most deflated voice you have ever heard,  "Oh, nooooo."  

I peek around the corner and she nearly jumped out of her skin.  "What's the matter, honey?"

 She puts her hands on her head.  "I don know." 

"Don't worry.  Mommy fix it."

 It was fine.  I'd forgotten to turn the water back on , but it's safe to say, I think Tink has learned her lesson.  She was the best girl ever for the rest of the day.

Please Pass the Pepper

I never knew how great it was to have a high-schooler.  No, I am not (for once) being facetious.  It is truly fun.  I can see Pepper more and more coming in to herself.  I see her working less at what she thinks she should be and just relaxing into who she is. 

She is so funny and clever.  I love sharing humorous movies and books with her because she gets it on a deep level. She enjoys slapstick, sure, but she also loves dry wit and irony, in particular.   Her sense of humor is what earned her the nickname "Pepper."  She just has a bunch of zip.

She's well read, and I think that will stand her in good stead in the future.  In addition to having a broader, better-informed view of life, well-read people make interesting conversationalists.  I read a lot of books when I was her age, but they were mostly junk.  She reads the good stuff;  the challenging, complicated literary works that exercise her brain and her imagination.

I did not know that part of mothering would be this almost clairvoyant ability to see one's childrens' abilities and capabilities.  As she talks about her future career paths, I can see the possibilities.  There is so much potential for her;  she's a good student so academically, she has a lot of choices.  And she has a lot of creative possibilites too; cooking, art, needlework, writing.  I can see it all.


 

I especially appreciate her choices early on not to be a conformist -- but also not to be a rebel.  She is -- simply --herself, and most of the time, she is great with it. 

Several years ago, she made a decision "not to be embarrassed."  This is a huge relief to a high school mom.  I can't embarrass her!  Whew!  If she trips over the door frame or blurts out something "untoward" -- she forgives herself.  She wastes no energy on embarrassment.

Sure, from time to time she doubts herself -- she thinks she should be more popular or whatever -- but mostly, she is a gal with her feet on the ground.

She's a marvelous creature, "wondrous to behold."

  I'm immensely blessed to walk this path with her!