Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

A quilt for Violet

2013-05-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of my best friends in the world, had her third baby recently. Little Violet joined two older brothers, and inherited absolutely nothing of use from them. Well, nothing pretty at least.

Auntie Sarah simply couldn't allow that to stand.

The quilt is similar to a few of the last ones I've made. It's from the book, Patchwork Style, which is worth the $13 just to see the crazy photos of the woman in the book closing her eyes in almost every picture. Oh, and she is posing while eating an apple with a spoon. Good times.

Megan loves bright colors, so I wanted to make sure little Violet wasn't bored to tears with pastels and muted tones. The camera equipment, and cassette tapes honor the sacrifice that Violet's dad gave up by replacing his photo and music man-cave, for a baby girl's room.

The Star Trek is an ode to Megan's family tradition of watching the show every night growing up during dinner. The Beatles show Megan and Ethan's love of music; one of their first dates was to a concert. The Charlie Brown fabric is to reflect Megan's love of all things Peanuts (she walked down the aisle to a song from Peanuts), and the rest is just colorful fabric that I enjoyed and thought Miss Violet would enjoy spitting up all over.

I firmly think that girls in our society are "over pink-ified" and covered in glitter, sparkles, and "princess" monikers as soon as they are born. The back of the quilt reflected that a pretty blue can be "feminine" and just as lovely as something that screams "I need a man to rescue me". Boom.

Little Violet was so excited by her quilt, that she spent majority of the time snoozing in my arms. Jack was a crazy busy infant - which has followed him in to childhood - so I am not used to a quiet and peaceful baby resting the afternoon away.

I'm in no hurry to be a single mom to two kids, but lawd have mercy, my ovaries were barking today. Maybe some day Troy will have a steady job that allows us to have another one.

Until then, I have little Violet in my life.

Homemade Mondays week 29

2013-05-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

Homemade Mondays is a series for people that are on a journey to better living, via healthier eating and a more natural lifestyle. We realize that there are different paths that we all take to get to that place, and this bloghop celebrates that. Whether you’re a seasoned raw foodist who has banned all things unnatural, or a rookie who is starting out by cutting out junk food, we’d love to hear from you! Link up with your favorite recipes, projects, crafts, or rants and raves.

The Hosts

Sarah of Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Aubrey of Homegrown & Healthy

How to

Homemade Mondays will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.

Link up. Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you’d like, as long as they’re on topic. What’s eligible? Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice. We’re pretty open.
Tell us about yourselves. Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you’ve shared. Of course this isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good way to stand out.
Link back. Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of these great ideas as well.

The most clicked post from last week was "Agave Syrup is Bad For You" by Small Footprint Family.

Meal plan for May 19th - 26th

2013-05-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

My sister and brother-in-law are keeping Jack next Saturday. We took my nephew last weekend, so it is a bit of a swap. This week, Troy and I had the following conversation about our "free time":

Me: hey sweetie, I have a great idea for Saturday afternoon.
Troy: oh yeah?
Me: yeah. It will take about 2 hours. :wink:
Troy: :eyebrows raise:
Me: it's something we can't do when Jack is around...
Troy: :eyebrows now up in his hairline:
Me: we, can...
Troy: :looks at me expectantly:
Me: finally clean the garage!!!!
Troy: :shoulders sag, and he walks away:

Needless to say, our garage is finally getting cleaned out this coming weekend. Yippee!

Chicken Naming Contest results!
I'm pretty sure that anyone who read the comments kinda instantly knew what her name would be.

Of course. Of course. OF COURSE I would pick "Mother Clucker". Around little ears though, we're going to call her "Momma".

The girls are hilarious, and we're so pleased to have them here finally. We'll be more pleased when they get around to laying eggs, but all in good time. We added more sand this week, and then last night I added a bunch of white wood shavings (word on the street is cedar is toxic for the chickies) to the floor. When I started dreaming of a coop about two years ago, I really wanted to do the deep litter method, but with the coop design I chose, I was worried about the shavings getting all wet and clumpy. Now that we've have the ladies in there for a week, I can see where the rain comes in, so I tried to place the shavings in the drier spots. I know they'll kick it everywhere, but I can only do what I can do!

The shavings were a welcome distraction for the girls, as I could tell they were a little bored. They were starting to pick feathers out of each other and were having a game of chase around the coop with them in their beaks.

One two separate occasions, 5:30 and 11 am, I've caught a raccoon watching "chicken TV". Le sigh. The coop is solid and Troy did a fab job securing the hardware cloth, but a mama always worries. I eventually want a chicken tractor so that they can be a bit more "free range" in the yard, but the 11 am raccoon visit has me a little stressed about letting them out of the safety of their strong coop.

In other news, my chickens are morons.

They can't figure out how to roost, so every night at 9:30 pm, I have to go out and pick them up and put them on the roosts. Within seconds, they're on the divider between the coop part and the rest of the run, and they stay there until morning. Yesterday, I caught them all in a cluster sleeping on the stairs up to the coop. Dummies.

Meal plan time! Reminder, I only plan dinners, because breakfast is always smoothies or eggs with something, and lunches are always leftovers. We rarely eat dessert during the week, and our dinner drink of choice is water kefir soda.

Monday:: Organic hot dogs from Trader Joes, coleslaw, and grilled asparagus.

Tuesday:: I'm working late. Booooooo. Let's say leftovers or cereal.

Wednesday:: Grilled shrimp kebabs, grilled asparagus, and an Asian noodle salad that I just found the recipe for in my homemade recipe book.

Thursday:: Breakfast for dinner.

Friday:: Popcorn dinner. Yes, seriously we eat popcorn for dinner. It's popcorn, leftovers, cheese slices, fruit, and cut up veggies. Everyone gets as much as they want, and no one leaves hungry. I adore Fridays because it is the easiest night of the week for making everyone happy!

Saturday:: Chicken salad on pretzel rolls, and whatever veggie I can find on sale.

Sunday:: Family dinner at my parent's.

I didn't track my spending this week, but I still have cash leftover, so I know I was under budget!

What are you guys having?

Name my chicken!

2013-05-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Alright folks, my chickens are named.

All save for one.

I left one unnamed intentionally. Why? Because I wanted to let one of you name her.

Golden Star chicken

Boom!

Chicken naming contest time!

Rules
1) Leave a comment with your name suggestion in the comments.
2) Post prior to 8 pm PT on Saturday
3) I will pick my favorite name, and announce it Sunday during my meal plan

As you can see from previous names, I am pretty ok with almost any kind of name as long as it is creative and fun!

Welcome to Downton Eggey, my cute coop tour

2013-05-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

My father-in-law dubbed this the Taj Mahal of chicken coops. I wouldn't go that far (I've seen a chicken coop with a chandelier in it), but I love it with all my heart.

We could have gone simpler. We could have gone cheaper. But, good golly, we did not. As a result, the coop has been formally named, Downton Eggey.

We live in a neighborhood with very small lots - I live on less than one-fifth of an acre - and because the houses are so close together, many various neighbors would have this coop in very close proximity to them. Also, our town doesn't have any laws about chickens, and I didn't want to put up something that would cause them to create some! Basically, I wanted this to be visually pleasing, and neighbor approved.

Also? I wanted to be able to stand up in this thing. I'm 6 ft tall, and didn't want to be stooped when cleaning.

The coop is based on this design, and we stayed pretty true to it. The original link has better building step by step photos.

Troy found some plexiglass in the garage, and built an egg window. I know, right???

He pulled a rock from the weeds in the side yard, and added it to the coop for a chicken "zen garden".

Instead of spending time digging a trench to bury hardware cloth around the coop to prevent predators from tunneling, we got smart and just laid it across the floor and attached it to the floor beams. Troy used an air compressor to do all the stapling, and said that if a raccoon can pull those staples out, he deserves to eat a chicken. Ahem.

The floor is sand so that I can just rake it to clean up the poop. Kind of like a giant litter box. We are in a rainy area, so the idea of sand was appealing as it drains well and fast!

The paint is leftover green from Jack's room, mixed with leftover white from god knows where. The stain on the beams is leftover from when we stained the deck last summer. Almost all the latches, hooks, and hardware was free, thanks to my dumpster diving spouse. Many of these things came from movie and TV sets in Los Angeles, back when we lived there and Troy worked on various sets. At the end of each production, the odds and ends would be thrown out. Troy was always happy to take them instead of letting them be put in the trash.

Total cost? I have no idea. Probably about $600ish. I've been saving my garden budget money ($30 a month), and I used every rebate we've received in the last year. This is the coop that contacts, fridges, and energy upgrades built. The most expensive items were the hardware cloth, and the gutter system that Troy really wanted. All the work was done by Troy and my father-in-law.

Chicken Details
I started out wanting mainly Buff Orpingtons, but I ended up with only one. Due to Troy's allergies to anything adorable and covered in fur or feathers, we couldn't do a brooder with baby chicks (boo). I found a local farm that raised their chickens organically, and had older coop-ready ones for sale. You just had to roll the dice that they had something you wanted.

What I got was one Buff, and five Golden Star (two of those goldens are gingers, i.e., redder goldens). The two breeds are known for their friendliness, and the Stars are egg laying machines. All my girls are about 10 weeks old, and should start laying in about two to three months.

They've yet to realize there is a nesting and roosting area in the coop, and they sleep in a little pile of chickens on the floor in the corner. Silly birds.

Shall we meet the ladies?
In a really rookie move, last year we told Jack he could name two of them. Really, giving carte blanche to a (then) three year old was pretty stupid. That being said...this is Poo Poo Sandwiches:

This is "A Chicken Knocks on a Door, whaaaaaaaaaa?":

Thanks to my friend's nine and six year olds, this "Yolk-o Bock Bock":

I fell in love with the book The Power of One earlier this year. As an homage to a character in that book, please meet "Grandpa Chook". Yep, it is a female chicken, and I've named her "Grandpa", but oh well.

(Hold me) Troy named this one Egg Shen after a character in Big Trouble, Little China.:

This one doesn't have a name yet either. Stay tuned for details.:

The coop was a two year dream for me, and took months to complete because of Troy's crappy work schedule, but it was so worth the wait. I'm so pleased and overwhelmed to finally be a chicken owner.

Best.Mother's.Day.EVER!

Homemade Mondays, week 28

2013-05-13T03:30:00.000-07:00

Sarah of Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Aubrey of Homegrown & Healthy

How to

Homemade Mondays will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.

Link up. Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you’d like, as long as they’re on topic. What’s eligible? Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice. We’re pretty open.
Tell us about yourselves. Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you’ve shared. Of course this isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good way to stand out.
Link back. Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of these great ideas as well.

Our most viewed post from last week was "10 Ways I Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle" from My Epicurean Adventures.

Meal plan for May 13th - 19th

2013-05-12T06:30:00.000-07:00

Helllllllllllo friends! Big news in our house. The coop is done, and the chickens are in da' house! I picked them up yesterday morning. Friday night, I couldn't sleep because I was so flipping excited. It was just like that Disneyland commercial.

I'll do a whole post on the coop, and the girls and stuff later, but here is a sneak preview of our new ladies:

Our nephew slept over Saturday night, and homeboy loves himself some chickens. He was having a blast chasing them and was giving them gentlest of pets.

This week I wrote a post on American Profile Magazine about things that I REALLY want for Mother's Day, that are fabulous and cost zero money.

A few weeks ago, I was included in a City Hits Best of Frugal Living article featuring online resources helping people stay on a budget.

I also wrote an article for U.S. Kids Parents and Teacher magazine about helping your kids stay hydrated WITHOUT JUICE.

Meal plan time! Reminder, I only plan dinners, because breakfast is always smoothies or eggs with something, and lunches are always leftovers. We rarely eat dessert during the week, and our dinner drink of choice is water kefir soda.

Monday:: Grilled salmon and some sort of veggie. We'll see what is on sale.

Tuesday:: Spaghetti and grilled asparagus.

Wednesday:: Tomato soup (canned from last year's garden), quesadillas, and grilled asparagus.

Thursday:: Dinner at my in-law's.

Friday:: Popcorn dinner. Yes, seriously we eat popcorn for dinner. It's popcorn, leftovers, cheese slices, fruit, and cut up veggies. Everyone gets as much as they want, and no one leaves hungry. I adore Fridays because it is the easiest night of the week for making everyone happy!

Saturday:: No clue. I'm helping throw a shower for my dear friend Megan, and I'll probably be too wiped to cook that night.

Sunday:: My nephew's birthday party. My plan is to fill up with cake and not cook dinner. It's a good plan. It's solid.

I am off tomorrow, and will be doing my grocery shopping then. I haven't spent a dime yet, so no clue. I know we're not buying milk this week because we let the last half gallon go bad. We are not milk drinkers, and I was not interested in making yogurt last week. We'll just go ahead and label that as laziness.

And you all? What is on the menu for the week?

Permission to fail. My early Mother's Day present to you.

2013-05-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

While this post is written from the viewpoint of being a mom, permission to fail is trying a concept that can be applied to anyone and anything (job, home, etc.).

We have a new pastor at church. He just started, and already I'm really digging him. He is young, used sarcasm (in a very kind way) in his first sermon, and used a quote by Mitch Hedberg. Given that I go to a Lutheran church, I'm pretty sure I was the only person in the room full of 80 year old Norwegians who understood who Mitch Hedberg is (was).

One of the things the new guy said was, as our church moves forward, we have to give ourselves permission to fail. We have to build in the grace to say "whoops, we tried this, but it didn't work. Let's regroup and think about something else".

Wow. That spoke to me. Like really spoke to me. Spoke to my heart.

All too often in the Christian faith, we feel like we have to be perfect example of the "good Christian". We can't be flawed, and we can't be wrong. We can't show ourselves to be vulnerable and we can't try something new without fear of others pointing out our faults.

It's the same with being a mom. Once you pee on that stick (and let's be honest, we keep peeing on sticks for weeks after the initial one), you're expected to have all the answers, and to know what to do. I remember the day I found out I was pregnant, Troy came to have lunch with me at work. He was so frazzled and scared, and I remember having to keep it together for him. I wanted to be taken care of and protected, but there I was telling him "it's not that scary honey, don't worry". Already a mother I was. Already lying through my teeth I was. Talking like Yoda I was.

My pregnancy was rough with lots of puking and weight loss, but I still enjoyed it for the most part. I knew I was growing a life, and had this huge responsibility that was so much bigger than me.

The week I went in to labor.

Labor was labor, fears, love, creepy things, poop. You know the drill. But holding that little nugget in my arms for the first time was pretty awesome. Seeing Troy's face and the face of our families was even more amazing.

But then, it got hard. I wanted to put him back in. He had a horrible painful latch and was never full. Troy went back to work like three days after Jack was born, and I was on my own a lot of the time. Sure, I could stare at his little face and talk to him, but it also made me feel alienated and there was no one around to let me know if what I was doing was right or wrong.

Thanks to Jack's dairy allergy and GERD, what I ate impacted my child's behavior.

I remember taking him to my in-laws when he was six weeks old and thrusting him at my mother-in-law saying "you take him" and just driving away. I went to the mall and wandered around for a few hours (well, until my boobs starting leaking) and just relishing the time being alone.

At one point I heard another new mom talking to someone at Macy's saying "I just miss her when we're not together". I thought "how could someone miss their screaming and fussy kid"? I was just so worn out and worn down, that I didn't "get" it at that point.

One day at Costco, I was wearing Jack in a sling, and an older woman said "oh aren't they just precious at this age". I just smiled because I felt I would be judged if I honestly said "well, he sleeps 90 minutes at a time, he makes my nipples bleed, I still can't poop without crying, and he hurls most of the milk that I spend so much time making, that I smell like the floor of a Dairy Queen that was shut down".

In hindsight, it doesn't seem all that bad now. My kid sleeps through the night, wipes his own ass, and can go get lost in a book when I'm busy doing something. Momnesia has kicked in and it doesn't seem "so hard". But it was. It really was.

Had I given myself permission to fail, it might have been easier. Had someone, just one person told me "this part is going to suck so much, but it will get better", I might not have been so hard on myself. I thought I was doing everything "right", but I wasn't. I needed to know that I would trip and fall and make mistakes, and perhaps then I could have enjoyed that time so much more. There is no perfect mother, but you are the perfect mother for your child. Sometimes you don't need to know how to swaddle, or that breastfeeding isn't all rainbows and unicorns, or that there are days when you will do everything by the book, and still need to go outside and scream.

So now? Now I am the "reality" mom. I am the mom at showers who doesn't give the cute onesies, sweaters, or soft blankets. Nope, from me you get a paper bag full of pads the size of phone books, stool softeners, snacks you can eat with one hand, and a giant bottle of Motrin.

I am also the mom who when everyone is cooing over the new baby, will lock eyes with the new mom and whisper, "this part might suck so much, but it will get better. Just love that child, do right by them, and it will be ok".

Some day I will be nostaligic for those days, and just wish he was little enough to puke on me again. But for right now, giving someone permission to fail, and be imperfect tops any gift you can buy at Babies R' Us. Allowing someone to know they can be imperfect, while still being perfect, is the grace that we all need.

Deep breaths. It does get better.

Zesty Quinoa Salad for the quinoa haters

2013-05-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

Want to hear a secret? You know quinoa, the super food that everyone tells us we need to be eating more of?

Not a fan.

I think it tastes like gritty bland poop.

Now there is a visual for you! Not exactly a culinary delight in my opinion.

I recently challenged myself to make a quinoa salad that even I would eat. After a few tries, I felt like Doc Brown in Back to the Future realizing that the Delorean had to go 88 mph. Not 87, not 89, but 88.

Zesty Quinoa Salad
Salad fixin's
1 cup quinoa
1.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tblsp butter
2 carrots, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 cup frozen edamame, thawed
3 green onions, sliced small (I love green onions. If you don't, reduce to 1 or 2)
Few sprigs of cilantro

Salad seasoning
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
3 tblsp rice vinegar
1 tsp honey
3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, minced or crushed
Juice of 1 lime
1 tblsp olive oil

1) In a heavy saucepan, like a dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the quinoa and toast for 5-8 minutes, or until you can smell the nutty undertones from the pan.

2) Add the chicken broth and stir to combine. Bring to a boil for 1 minute, and then reduce to a lower heat. Put the lid on, and cook for 15 minutes, or until the liquid is completely absorbed. Let cool.

3) Meanwhile, dice your veg and mix up your sauce. Once the quinoa has cooled, add the ingredients together, and stir to combine. Store in the fridge.

If you are a quinoa hater, like I used to be, I'd highly recommend you give this one a try before writing it off completely. This is super cheap to make, it produces a ton of food, and it's perfect for when you don't want to heat up your house by using the oven for more complex side dishes.

Homemade Mondays, week 27

2013-05-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

Sarah of Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Aubrey of Homegrown & Healthy

How to

Homemade Mondays will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.

Link up. Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you’d like, as long as they’re on topic. What’s eligible? Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice. We’re pretty open.
Tell us about yourselves. Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you’ve shared. Of course this isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good way to stand out.
Link back. Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of these great ideas as well.

:knock knock: is anyone there? I'm back!

2013-05-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

I missed you guys! My computer is back and I'm back, and I hope you're still here (there)! Here are a few things you've missed:

1) I need to go on a sugar fast or something, because I've been downing the sweets like sugar is about to be made illegal.

2) Jack sweetly asked me to take my glasses off the other day. When I asked why, he said "because you look prettier without them". Charmed.

3) My flipping chicken coop is STILL not done. Troy assures me that Tuesday will be the day. I am waiting with baited breath. This is how Jack has been supervising construction:

4) Troy and I watched "End of Watch" recently, and it was pretty good. Funny, scary, suspenseful, but I'm not giving the end away. It's not for everyone. Watching it reminded me of the craziness that was our life for four years living in Los Angeles. :shudders:

5) I still have almost nothing planted in my garden that wasn't put in last year. Sigh. I just can't get motivated.

6) Costco has their LED lights back on sale with a rebate. Stock up people!

7) Costco has Washington State asparagus in stock!!! Washington State used to be the number one producer of asparagus in the world. There you go. A little fact for you. You're welcome.

8) I have some fun posts coming up for you this week - yummy quinoa, and another installment of FARTS.

Meal plan time! Reminder, I only plan dinners, because breakfast is always smoothies or eggs with something, and lunches are always leftovers. We rarely eat dessert during the week, and our dinner drink of choice is water kefir soda.

Monday:: A lemon chicken recipe I found in a magazine (will share if it is good), asparagus, and fruit.

Tuesday:: Organic hot dogs, asparagus, and fruit!

Wednesday:: Asian chicken bowls, and lumpia.

Thursday:: Dinner at my in-laws.

Friday:: Double date with Troy's partner and his girlfriend and her son. We're having a picnic at a park where the boys can play, probably hit each other, and get torn away from the playground in tears.

Saturday:: TBA. My nephew is spending the night, and I'm waiting on guidance from my sister on what to feed him.

Sunday:: Mother's day brunch with my in-laws, and then Mother's day dinner at my parent's.

I spent $35 at Trader Joes, $47 at our local butcher (I was straight up out of chicken breasts), and $50 at Costco.

What are you having?

Confessions. It is good for the soul

2013-05-04T16:43:00.001-07:00

It is time to get some things off of my chest. And thanks to two years of nursing, sadly it can't be my bra.

-I feel like if I see one more blog showing photos of someone's house looking like Pottery Barn took a dump all over it, I might explode. Here is what two patches of my carpet look like, courtesy of the last renters.

I love being organized, thanks to growing up with borderline hoarders. That being said, the bedroom in our basement is a shithole dumping zone. My desk is a nightmare of crap shoved in every drawer, and most of my garage makes me want to kick a puppy. Remember that episode of Friends when it was discovered Monica had the secret hoarding closet? This is my hoarding kitchen drawer:

Who needs 4,812 neon green and orange chopsticks? Me. That's who.

-I desperately want a house cleaner, but it would likely be wasted money, since I know I'd clean the house before he/she came.

-When I'm sad, bored, or feeling like my life is out of control, I online shop. I'm trying to be better, and I talked myself off of the ledge the other day from buying a lawn mower on Amazon, simply because my lawn is long right now, and I don't want to use my push mower because I feel lazy. And we have a really small lawn.

-I would love to change my blog name, get my own domain, and produce an amazing fabulous site. However, I'm so lazy right now, the name title would likely be titled "Yoga pants. Phish Food. Killing Seedlings. And Ponies". (trademarked)

-Those bears on the Charmin commercials creep me out.

-I wonder why I get so many pageviews, but so few comments.

-I feel like that paper bag on American Beauty - being tossed in so many directions. And white. And flat. I go from wanting to quit my job and blog full-time, to thinking I should go to grad school because I see no room for advancement at my current company.

-I want wood floors, despite the fact that we could never afford it. Troy, the man with asthma and who is allergic to everything, wants carpet. Disgusting, nasty, dust mite love-shack carpet. Jack got a plasma car for his birthday from his Auntie Anne. I tried using it as a justification that we need wood floors.

-The weather here is amazing this week. I saw a man driving a Miata with the top down, and rocking driving gloves. M'kay.

-Every night, I kiss a sleeping, sweet, wonderful Jack, and promise that tomorrow I will be the momma he deserves.

No later than 6:15 am the next day, I've already told him he is driving me nuts. Go me.

Ahhhh, confession is good for the soul. That felt good. Surely, you'd like to share a few things too?

We interrupt this post for a blog-vacation

2013-04-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what exactly happened, but all of the sudden my computer crapped out. I've had to ship it back to HP, and it will take about 7-10 days to fix and return to me. And if I tried to blog via the Kindle, I would punch a nun. And, I don't touch my blog at work (that would be a big no no), so, I'm taking a mini-vacation from blogging and will use my time to ~~eat Ben and Jerrys and sit on my ass~~ get caught up in the garden!

While I'm away, I leave you with this story:

A few weeks ago, I was at a work training. There were various workshops each hour, for one hour. I chose ones that I thought would be entertaining or useful. The 9-10 am slot didn't have anything that really pertained to me, so I self-selected a 60 minute "mindful meditation" training.

I knew before I went in there, that it wasn't my kind of thing, but I'm exceptionally open-minded and decided to give it a legitimate shot.

At one point, we were asked to close our eyes put on our feet on the floor, and just feel how our feet felt being grounded, and take deep breaths through our nose to feel how air felt entering our nostrils.

After 3 minutes of that, we opened our eyes and "reported" our findings. Someone said "I realized how asymmetrical my body is man. My feel felt different on the floor". Another said "I've never focused on my breathing, and I thought the air was burning my nostrils".

Had there been a court reporter in my head, this is what the transcript would look like:

(3 seconds in)
this is weird

(45 seconds in, a door behind us opens)
ohhh someone came in here. I wonder if they're just standing there watching us thinking we're a bunch of nuts.

Hmmm, I don't hear them anymore. Are they just quiet, did they leave, or are they being quiet on purpose?

What if they mean us harm? We're sitting here like a bunch of targets, with our eyes closed, meanwhile there is a trained assassin waiting to attack us!

I wonder if anyone else heard that person come in?

I don't think anyone did!

Oh my god, am I the only person who knows that there is a ninja lying in wait for us to open our eyes? I alone know that there is an evil presence in the room behind us?

(eyes fly open)
dear god, I'm Jason Bourne, aren't I?????

(end scene)

See you all in a few days!

Homemade Mondays week 25

2013-04-22T03:30:00.000-07:00

Sarah of Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Aubrey of Homegrown & Healthy

How to

Homemade Mondays will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.

Link up. Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you’d like, as long as they’re on topic. What’s eligible? Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice. We’re pretty open.
Tell us about yourselves. Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you’ve shared. Of course this isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good way to stand out.
Link back. Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of these great ideas as well.

My favorite post from last week was Whole Wheat Pie Crust by Feel Great In 8! I haven't tried it, but I know what a challenge whole wheat baked goods can be, and this looks delicious!

Meal plan for April 22nd - 28th

2013-04-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

One of my dearest, best, and oldest friends had her third baby on Thursday! Little Violet is healthy and lovely, and I'm so thankful that she is here because I can finally talk about her! You might remember that this is the friend who gave her ultrasound tech an envelope with my address on it, and had her seal a copy of the sonogram with the gender identified to me as my Christmas present. My friend and her husband are the kind of weirdos who don't want to know the gender, so I was the only non-medical person who got to know! I'm way too Type-A to know find out the gender.

I am HORRIBLE at keeping secrets, and I'm so happy that I can let go of that huge one!!! Now, if only I can get off my ass and finish that little girl's quilt. Slacker aunt!

In other news, Jack is kinda sorta reading these days (mom, press the triangle at the bottom left of the square below):

My mother-in-law was an elementary educator for over 30 years, and said she is even pretty amazed with Jack's reading. As a child growing up, reading was one of my favorite hobbies. Troy never reads for fun, and I can't wrap my head around that. When I knew I was pregnant with Jack, I used to pray "just please let him love to read for the sake of loving it", and he does! That boy is never far from a book, and he just devours the words he knows, and uses the pictures to fill in the rest.

This month I have been off every Friday, and it has been lovely. Jack has preschool Tuesday through Friday, and his preschool is 35 minute away (by my aunt's), so I still end up driving like I was driving to work. The part that makes that ok is that I get 2.5 hours to myself every Friday in April. I've so far spent the time grocery shopping and running errands, which frees up the rest of the weekend for just chilling. I think next week I'm going to speed grocery shop, and then get a pedicure, cause my toes be lookin' busted.

Meal plan time! Reminder, I only plan dinners, because breakfast is always smoothies or eggs with something, and lunches are always leftovers. We rarely eat dessert during the week, and our dinner drink of choice is water kefir soda.

Monday:: T-Roy, aka the grill master will be firing up the BBQ to make these Yummy Honey Chicken Kabobs. I am not a fan of sweet and savory, so we'll be adding plenty of spicy thai chili paste to the marinade! It will be paired with a quinoa salad that I made over the weekend that rocks my world (ps, until now, I've HATED quinoa. Can't wait to share the recipe with you!), and steamed artichokes with garlic aioli. Welcome back artichokes, we missed you. Side note, our neighbors have an artichoke plant that is just lovely. They are renters and moved out on Thursday. I was totally planning on stealing the chokes this spring, but they went and found renters already. Is that not the rudest thing ever?

Tuesday:: Crockpot chili and cornbread with roasted asparagus.

Wednesday:: Salmon cakes and more roasted asparagus!

Thursday:: Dinner at my in-laws

Friday:: Popcorn dinner. Yes, seriously we eat popcorn for dinner. It's popcorn, leftovers, cheese slices, fruit, and cut up veggies. Everyone gets as much as they want, and no one leaves hungry. I adore Fridays because it is the easiest night of the week for making everyone happy!

Saturday:: We have a playdate in the city.

Sunday:: Family dinner at my parent's

This week I went way over budget on my groceries, and spent a total of $110. I was out of a lot of things, and couldn't resist the siren's call of Trader Joes (near preschool). I have to pick up a half gallon of raw milk this morning after church.

What are you having?

Happy Friday

2013-04-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hoping the "tail end" of your week is fabulous!

On why you don't get to win

2013-04-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

This isn't a Boston thing.

This isn't an American thing.

This is a human thing.

For some reason, on Monday, someone had so much hate in their heart that they thought it would be ok to injure innocent people. We may never know why, but that isn't the point.

If the point were about taking revenge, watch out. You should see what people from Boston do to Yankee fans.

If the point were to make us hate others and be as angry as you, you lose.

I'm not sure if you got the memo, but terror has never truly worked. Sure, people get scared, angry, and change their habits for a bit. But it never sticks. Eventually, people go back to living their lives. The fear dissipates. Life returns.

While there is a very small percentage of people in this world who thrive on hate, the vast majority of us have love in our hearts. And there ain't nothing you can do about that.

The United States government is very very good at finding people who do these kinds of things. And whether you live here, or somewhere else, rest assured, you will be found.

You don't get to win, because we won't let you.

The good people of this world will always win.

Love and goodness reign.

Hate, and fear are fleeting.

Kindness and mercy are not.

Introducing ApotheCaring - Nature at its Best

2013-04-16T05:15:00.000-07:00

I was contacted recently by Angie of ApotheCaring wondering if I wanted to try a few samples of their tea.

Tea is one of my favorite things to drink; iced tea with my breakfast, a mug of hot tea in the car on the way to work, and a cup at work most days. I love to stay hydrated, and tea is one of the tastiest ways to do it. It's also healthy and all the crap, but if I don't like the taste, I can't get any of the benefits from it, now can I?

Angie sent me a sampling of teas to try out

It came in this adorable cloth bag!

Soothing Tummy Tea, Fairy tea (relaxing blend), Early Grey, Roobios Mint, and Sleep Well tea.

All of them were delicious, but hands down, the Sleep Well tea was my favorite. I've been an insomniac my whole life, and have tried all kinds of things to ~~pass out~~ make me sleep. I used to have a prescription for Ambien. I've previously purchased huge bottles of Tylenol PM and Target brand Unisom.

The Sleep Well tea had the excellent calming effect of the Target brand Unisom, but without the "hang over" effect of Tylenol PM. It made me be able to drift off to sleep, but didn't make me feel like I might accidentally send out an email to the entire Los Angeles office of my former company at 2 am typing gibberish, like the Ambien. Hypothetically speaking.

And in addition to helping me sleep well, it tasted freakin' delicious.

Let's meet the genius behind this blend!

Angie Adams currently living in Stoneham Massachusetts, spent most of her life in New York. Residing in Queens during her childhood, then Nassau County as an adult, Angie moved to Phoenix Arizona in 1995. This is where her love for natural healing blossomed. A state that is so open to all types of healing, the biggest focus was herbs. Angie explored the dessert, mountains and small towns
of Arizona. She found a garlic/herb farm right in Phoenix and did a year-long apprenticeship with them. That’s where her love of herbs took over!

Angie couldn’t get enough! Being drawn to the Native American culture since she was a child, she embraced the opportunity to visit the reservations and learn as much as she could on her visits. By 2005 Angie headed back to the east coast, this time settling in New England where her two daughters live. And her family grew, 4 grandchildren! Life is good!

During these years Angie studied with Rosemary Gladstar, completed a 10 month herbal course at Artemisia Botanicals in Salem, MA. and recently completed an on-line course with Karta Purkh Khalsa (president American Herbalists Guild).

In 2011 Angie Adams opened her own herbal business, ApotheCaring. She creates her own tea blends for health and wellness. Selling at some fairs and farmers markets brought her teas to the attention of local shops and she now wholesales to various stores. Her teas can also be purchased on her website, www.apothecaring.com.

Head over to Apothecaring, and tell Angie that Sarah sent you!

Redrawing the winner of The Homegrown Collective gift box

2013-04-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

The last winner never contacted me, and didn't leave an email address so that I could contact her. Therefore, I redrew for another winner tonight. The lucky winner is:

Aimée NicholsonApril 3, 2013 at 6:40 AM

I've been really wanting to try my hand at kombucha!

Fave: When Harry Met Sally (I'm a sucker, what can I say?)
Worst: Solaris with George Clooney. The only movie that ever caused me to leave the theater.

Please note, I only counted original comments (and deleted original comments), but not follow up comments if someone added their email address, made an additional comment, etc.

Homemade Mondays week 24

2013-04-15T03:30:00.000-07:00

Sarah of Being Frugal by Choice, Cheap by Necessity

Aubrey of Homegrown & Healthy

How to

Homemade Mondays will open every Monday. You have until Thursday to make your submissions. We will share our favorite posts on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and shout it from the rooftops.

Link up. Use the submission form below to add your blog posts to our gallery below. You can add as many links as you’d like, as long as they’re on topic. What’s eligible? Recipes, crafts, DIY projects, gardening, fitness, green ideas or just plain old advice. We’re pretty open.
Tell us about yourselves. Leave a comment telling us a little about your site and what you’ve shared. Of course this isn’t mandatory, but it’s a good way to stand out.
Link back. Share the love by adding a link back to this party with your readers so they can see all of these great ideas as well.

My favorite post from last week was Homemade Vanilla Coffee Cream from Far From Normal. It looks good enough to almost make me want to drink coffee on a regular basis!

Meal plan for April 15th - 21st

2013-04-14T06:00:00.000-07:00

Let's start with a recap of Jack's birthday party, shall we?

I made a huge ass chocolate cake that was supposed to look like Angry Bird Star Wars Chewbacca. Decorating and artistic stuff is not my forte. Do I need to remind you that my old roommate once offered to show my how to wrap presents after watching me struggle through it? I did my best with the cake, but even if no one knew what it was, Jack wrapped his body around mine and gave me a huge hug and said "oh mommy, thank you. I love it"!

However, this is what my kitchen looked like after the fact.

I served pizza, salad, fruit, veggies/hummus, and chips/salsa. I made a huge bowl of shredded mozzarella and another of sauce and kept them in the fridge. Each night after Jack went to bed, I made one batch of pizza dough, and made one pizza. The pizza went in the freezer and the next day, I'd take it out, wrap it in foil, stick it in the freezer, and make another one. It was so much easier than making them all the day of. Everyone was complimentary of the pizza, and it left me with more time to chill out the day of.

The house was FULL of people. The weather was absolutely atrocious, which means instead of playing outside with all the sidewalk chalk and bubbles we had, the kids were in my house the WHOLE TIME. It worked out ok, but it was a wee bit noisy and rambunctious at times.

Meal plan time! Reminder, I only plan dinners, because breakfast is always smoothies or eggs with something, and lunches are always leftovers. We rarely eat dessert during the week, and our dinner drink of choice is water kefir soda.

Monday:: organic hot dogs from Trader Joes, roasted asparagus, and onion rings.

Tuesday:: Homemade reubens, roasted asparagus.

Wednesday:: This pasta dish.

Thursday:: Dinner at my in-laws!

Friday:: Popcorn dinner. Yes, seriously we eat popcorn for dinner. It's popcorn, leftovers, cheese slices, fruit, and cut up veggies. Everyone gets as much as they want, and no one leaves hungry. I adore Fridays because it is the easiest night of the week for making everyone happy!

Saturday:: Dinner with a girlfriend. YAY!

Sunday:: Dinner at my parent's.

This week I spent $100 on groceries cause we were out of sooooo many staples, and I still haven't bought milk, which will be an extra $3.50.

What are you having?

The power of saying no

2013-04-11T04:45:00.000-07:00

I don't make New Years resolutions, or anything like that, but I do like to set goals for myself that I do my best to follow.

This year, my focus was on learning to say "no" to things.

There is so much in my life I can't control right now.

I can't control that my husband is gone so much, that he is almost missed one-third of our son's life.

I can't control that I am stuck acting as the mother, father, butcher, baker, and candle stick maker. Inside and outside of the house has to be entirely in my control. I work 45 hours a week, commute almost 90 minutes a day, come home, make dinner, clean everything up, and then my ass has to still mow the lawn, weed, etc.

I can't control that I have no control over Troy's dream career being as elusive to obtain as "Unicorn Rancher".

I can't control I'm stuck in my house seven nights a week. That I can't join any church groups, book clubs, or anything. I can't control that despite having fantastic friends around the country, in my heart of hearts, I'm incredibly lonely for actual human interaction that doesn't take place via the internet, email, or texting.

And so?

So, I've spent 2013 focusing on what I can control.

My church started a community garden, and wanted volunteers to help staff it. I said no.

For a new pastor "meet and greet", they asked me to make a platter of sandwiches. I said no. In all honesty, I probably would have said yes, had Jack not been recovering from his tonsil surgery.

I had the opportunity to take a fantastic environmental class this quarter at a community college. I would have LOVED to take this class, and the tuition would have been mostly covered by my employer. I know I would have done well and learned so much. I said no.

My sewing machine has mostly sat idle since Christmas except for a quilt I'm making for a friend, a door stop, and a Jedi robe.

My seedlings for this summer's garden are a hot mess. Nothing is in the ground that I didn't plant last year, or was a volunteer (who knew peas would reproduce if accidentally not torn out in fall!).

I'm not sure if it was the Roku we got for Christmas, or my determination to say no this year, but my couch and my ass have had a long lost rekindled romance in the last few months.

The inner Sarah calls myself a lazy bitch, but the "just say no" Sarah checks "ignore mean Sarah" off the to-do list, and goes back to watching The Americans on Hulu. Shame on you if you aren't watching this show.

Am I accomplishing less? Yup. Am I compromising how I care for my family? Nope, not really. Our food is still almost entirely homemade, because I still enjoy cooking, and I can only watch The Americans via my laptop (seriously, this show needs to be in your life), so that keeps me in the kitchen. My house may not be dusted regularly, and I may not have vacuumed for three weeks knowing I would have to deep clean for Jack's birthday party. I have had to get past that.

Mental clarity, sleep, and emotional health have now taken priority over clean windows, and an organized freezer.

I can't do it all. I don't have to. I don't need to.

I am doing my best to treat myself with the respect that I finally have to acknowledge that I deserve.

Coop dreams

2013-04-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

I foresee this coop being finished in time for next spring's chickens, but alas, I can't complain because my crew is so dang adorable! They have it all!

Team work

Jack is in charge of hitting random things with the hammer. He excels at this task.

Sexy Calves

Snuggles

A foreman who works them hard, but feeds them Quiznos and cookies.

Blurry photo by Jack

DIY Jedi robes

2013-04-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Jack requested an Angry Birds Star Wars birthday party this year. Knowing he already had an Angry Bird Star Wars shirt, and my friend Kat had already designed an invite for our friend Erika's son, I was totally on board. The least creative I have to be in coming up with original ideas, the happier I am.

Until Wednesday hit. I suddenly realized that we hadn't decided what to get Jack for his present. Thinking quickly, I remembered some ugly brown fabric I had left in my sewing cabinet leftover from making some Jedi robes for The Wonder Twins some time last year.

Wheels churning, time running out. Boom, Jedi robe for Jack.

The original idea came from these guys.

You'll need:
-Ugly and cheap brown fabric
-Chalk
-Pins
-Sewing machine

1) Double your fabric with the regular side of the fabric together (you want the back side showing), and have your ~~victim~~ model lay down with their arms in a "snow angel" fashion. Draw a chalk outline around them.

2) Lay the fabric out so that you can see the chalk outline, then fold it in half lengthwise. This is the time to do any "clean up" you might want to do around your original tracing. Starting from here down, the photos were taken at 8 pm in a basement. Sorry!

3) With the fabric still folded in half, cut out the robe, and unfold.

4) Pin all the open ends together, excluding the bottom of the robe, and the arm holes. I hemmed the bottom of the robe, but it's not necessary depending on your fabric.

5) Sew the pinned sides together.

6) Cut a slit down the middle, and then hem each side.

7) Cut out your hood (regular side of fabric together), and sew the back side. See the original tutorial for a great drawing.

8) Pin the center of the hood, to the back of the robe. Sew a simple stitch to connect the two pieces.

9) Turn the whole thing right side out, and gift to your youngling.

The birthday force was strong with this one.

Winner of the Homegrown Collective Kombucha box

2013-04-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

The lucky ducky winner of the Homegrown Collective Kombucha box is:

misstishyApril 3, 2013 at 4:15 PM

Super excited about this give a way!
Best movie: It depends on what I'm in the mood for... Jayne Eyre (BBC with Ruth Wilson) or Hairspray (with Ricky Lake & Divine)
Worst movie: Human Nature.... horror movies should NOT be BORING. Just sayin.
Guilty pleasure: Monty Python The Holy Grail

Please note, I only counted original comments (and deleted original comments), but not follow up comments if someone added their email address, made an additional comment, etc.

Congrats! Tishy, you didn't leave an email address, so please contact me within two business days (9 pm PT on Wednesday) to claim your prize, or I'll need to redraw. Thanks!

If you didn't win, but were still interested in owning the set for yourself, check out Homegrown Collective.

PS, I was dismayed to see that some of your least favorite movies are my favorites, but I think we can all still love each other none the less.

And also, I've been cracking up at Jennifer's comment about Pretty Woman ever since I read it last week:

The best movie I have seen is Pretty Woman, Funny thing is that I used to watched it day in and day out at my grandmothers house when I was in elementary school...yes you read right. And until I came across it on t.v recently (I'm 25 now) and watched it I had NEVER known she was a damn prostitute! When I called my grandma to ask her why she ever let me watch this movie as a kid she simply said " you never asked what she did so I never told you it was fine"....thanks grandma.