Monday, February 20, 2012
Plagued
Man oh man, our house has been plagued lately! Emmy started with a little cold a couple of weeks ago. When she was just about healed, she took a turn for the worse and got a fever and a nasty cough. Later that night, I started feeling flu-like symptoms of aches, chills, and nausea. Emmy and I quickly recovered and felt much better, just as Cody's nose started getting stuffy. About a day and a half later, my throat started feeling sore, and for the past 3.5 days, I've been so stuffy and out of it. I love my baby girl, but I hate all the extra germs we deal with because of play dates and things!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Fanciness in the kitchen
Just wanted to brag about what we've had for dinner the last two nights:
Sunday- inside out bacon cheeseburgers with roasted purple (!) cauliflower and homemade sweet potato fries.
Tonight- filet mignon (!) with twice baked potatoes and roasted asparagus.
Lots of deliciousness:) We tried the purple cauliflower because it was on the reduced produce rack last week. It was really good, I just coated it in olive oil and Paula Deen's house seasoning and roasted it, then tossed it with Parmesan. Even Emmy couldn't get enough of it! Then tonight's filet was also due to a good sale price; we had already decided to order in tomorrow for valentines day, but I couldn't pass up the deal I got, so I just made us a fancy dinner a night early. Sadly, though, I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have because poor Emmy was sick and needed to be held while I was trying to eat. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow, since we're supposed to host a big play date on Wednesday!
Sunday- inside out bacon cheeseburgers with roasted purple (!) cauliflower and homemade sweet potato fries.
Tonight- filet mignon (!) with twice baked potatoes and roasted asparagus.
Lots of deliciousness:) We tried the purple cauliflower because it was on the reduced produce rack last week. It was really good, I just coated it in olive oil and Paula Deen's house seasoning and roasted it, then tossed it with Parmesan. Even Emmy couldn't get enough of it! Then tonight's filet was also due to a good sale price; we had already decided to order in tomorrow for valentines day, but I couldn't pass up the deal I got, so I just made us a fancy dinner a night early. Sadly, though, I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have because poor Emmy was sick and needed to be held while I was trying to eat. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow, since we're supposed to host a big play date on Wednesday!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
weigh-in
boo. apparently all that southern food has not been kind to me. since last week, i gained 1.1 pounds, meaning i still have 26 to lose. i've been snacking a lot too for some reason, and it's often mindless, eat because there's something in the cabinet to get rid of snacking, so i really need to cut that out. curses on cody for finding the huge jar of peanut butter filled pretzels we had left over from our Christmas party!
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Southern yumminess
Apparently I've been missing home particularly much lately, because I've been cooking lots of southern dishes- the jambalaya last week and last night, Brunswick stew. With bacon cornbread. I realized today though that I was using a bizarre source. Instead of one of the 5 or 6 specifically southern cookbooks in my cabinet, both recipes came from rachael ray, a lifetime new yorker! But both were pretty good and pretty easy, which is my favorite things about her.but next time I will definitely try the "real thing."
Thursday, February 2, 2012
gleanings project
for a long time, i've been contemplating the whole Biblical concept of gleanings. God's people were told not to harvest all the way to the corners and edges of their fields, but to allow the needy among them to come and take what they needed. a while back when our small group did the truth project, we encouraged each other to figure out our own gleanings based on our profession; for example, a doctor could offer free medical advice or an accountant could help others with their taxes. i never did make a plan and get to it at that time. but now our church just finished a short series on generosity, which has made me think more about it. and sunday, it came to me. i have decided that every time i go to the grocery store, i will buy one extra of something and donate it to a local food ministry. simple, easy, and cheap, and yet in this way i can hopefully provide for others for whom a can of beans or a box of pasta is a lot harder to afford. so i started today, and i can't wait to see what God can do through me!
cody and i also decided to take our church's 1% challenge, which is basically to give the church just 1% more than you did last year. it could be your first 1%, or maybe a step closer to tithing the full 10%, or maybe even above and beyond. one of the ways God has gifted me is with a giving heart, so tithing has never been a problem for me, but i was really excited when Cody was the one to suggest participating in this challenge and upping our giving to 11% (ladies, isn't it exciting when your husband fulfills his role as your family's spiritual leader, especially when it means he's doing something he's uncomfortable with?!)! the same day we committed to this, we finished figuring out our taxes, and we can already see God rewarding us- the refund we're set to receive is much more than we expected! so now it's up to you: are you willing to trust God and "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." (Malachi 3:10)?
cody and i also decided to take our church's 1% challenge, which is basically to give the church just 1% more than you did last year. it could be your first 1%, or maybe a step closer to tithing the full 10%, or maybe even above and beyond. one of the ways God has gifted me is with a giving heart, so tithing has never been a problem for me, but i was really excited when Cody was the one to suggest participating in this challenge and upping our giving to 11% (ladies, isn't it exciting when your husband fulfills his role as your family's spiritual leader, especially when it means he's doing something he's uncomfortable with?!)! the same day we committed to this, we finished figuring out our taxes, and we can already see God rewarding us- the refund we're set to receive is much more than we expected! so now it's up to you: are you willing to trust God and "Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need." (Malachi 3:10)?
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
jambalaya
believe it or not, when i started this blog, i fully intended to write about more than just my child's sleeping habits. so here's a little something about what we had for dinner last night: jambalaya!
now, as you probably know, i did not grow up in louisiana. i have only even had authentic, new orleans jambalaya once. but i've tried making it a few times, and last night i finally found a recipe that i actually liked. find it here. i used smoked sausage instead of italian, and one red pepper and one yellow instead of 2 green, since they were on sale. plus, to be healthier, i used brown rice instead of white and upped the cooking time accordingly. i also added a generous sprinkling of cajun seasoning to the pot, since i had it on hand anyway.
i assumed that since it would be a teeny bit spicy, emerson wouldn't like it, so i had defrosted something else for her. but while we were eating, she whined a bit and reached for my bowl, so i scooped some onto her highchair tray, and she loved it! she ate several scoops in addition to the fish i had for her and the green beans she can't seem to get enough of lately. my good eater is definitely back, thankfully! we also had fun talking about the jambalaya- i told her what it was called, and she tried to say it back, and we repeated this several times. she was trying really hard to say it, but it's a pretty hard word for someone who mostly says "Ba!" and "Dadaaa," so it mostly came out as gibberish. still cute though. looks like we'll be having the leftovers tonight!
now, as you probably know, i did not grow up in louisiana. i have only even had authentic, new orleans jambalaya once. but i've tried making it a few times, and last night i finally found a recipe that i actually liked. find it here. i used smoked sausage instead of italian, and one red pepper and one yellow instead of 2 green, since they were on sale. plus, to be healthier, i used brown rice instead of white and upped the cooking time accordingly. i also added a generous sprinkling of cajun seasoning to the pot, since i had it on hand anyway.
i assumed that since it would be a teeny bit spicy, emerson wouldn't like it, so i had defrosted something else for her. but while we were eating, she whined a bit and reached for my bowl, so i scooped some onto her highchair tray, and she loved it! she ate several scoops in addition to the fish i had for her and the green beans she can't seem to get enough of lately. my good eater is definitely back, thankfully! we also had fun talking about the jambalaya- i told her what it was called, and she tried to say it back, and we repeated this several times. she was trying really hard to say it, but it's a pretty hard word for someone who mostly says "Ba!" and "Dadaaa," so it mostly came out as gibberish. still cute though. looks like we'll be having the leftovers tonight!
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