Thanksgiving Dinner for $4.54

Wednesday 15 November 2006



This is what Emily and I ate for lunch today! Families were invited to join their child for Thanksgiving lunch today served by the school cafeteria. Em and I had just enough time to eat lunch with Becca before dashing off to pick up Sam from preschool. It's been a really, really long time since I last ate school cafeteria food and with all the bad press school cafeteria's are getting these days I really wasn't expecting much, but this was actually yummy.

Fast and yummy recipe for dinner

Italian Baked Chicken and Pastina

1 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (1-inch cubes)
1/2 cup diced onion (about 1/2 a small onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Drain pasta into a large mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, put the olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and cook until the onions are soft and the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes more. Put the chicken mixture into the bowl with the cooked pasta. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Place the mixture in a buttered 8 by 8 by 2-inch baking dish. In a small bowl mix together the bread crumbs and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle over the top of the pasta mixture. Dot the top with small bits of butter. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Happy, Happy Birthday Mary Ann!

This is my sister and her family... aren't they photogenic... GR took this picture while M&M and the girls were in town for a few days over Labor Day weekend. Sending lots of hugs and kisses your way... hope you are safe and that your cupboards are well stocked.



Mary Ann I'm sending you a copy of this picture, it's in the mail with lots of other pictures and little fun snippets.

Soundbites from the Week

Friday, 3 November 2006
GR, K & A in Nebraska Friday night - Saturday. K's sister Suz and boyfriend Josh stay with B, E, S. IM to K in hotel Friday night, 9pm.

Suz: kids are in bed, everything's fine.
K: great ....
Suz: yeah, we wore them out on the trampoline. josh and I thought the clocks were wrong - it feels like midnight.


Sunday, 5 November 2006



Monday, 6 November 2006
Sam: Mom, a spider!
K: GR... GR... GR... [K, grabs kids sneaker and kills spider]
K: Sam where did the spider come from?
Sam: Outside.


Tuesday, 7 November 2006
GR is working odd and long hours again this week. Because of his modified schedule he was home when I went grocery shopping and came along.

K:[loading groceries into the car] Who taught you how to bag groceries?
GR: There's nothing wrong with the way I bag groceries.
K: You have four cans of chicken broth on top of the eggs!


Wednesday, 8 November 2006
Preparing for Dad's day at the preschool.
K: Sam, where does Daddy work?
S: At church.




Thursday, 9 November 2006
The hospital had a new system go live this week and GR is on the support team providing 24 hour support for the next two weeks. He's gone into work at noon and come home around 4am every morning this week. Today he went in earlier in an effort to come home earlier ... he got home at 11:30pm and told me this story.

GR's not the only dad with small kids on the team. Most, if not all of them, are like GR, working through the night, and their wives are fed-up with the long hours and being single mothers. I guess a lot of them have been calling their hubbies and complaining. GR said tonight he overheard two of them tell their wives ...

"GR has four kids at home, and his wife isn't calling and complaining about the long hours!"

Halloween, Halloween

Halloween, Halloween, what does it mean?
Halloween, Halloween, what does it mean?
It means costumes and candy and pumpkins and cats,
Goblins and spiders and hoot owls and bats,
It means popcorn and cupcakes and apples and brew,
Scarecrows and witches and ghost who go, "Boo!"
It means heaps of treats!
Oh, yummy, yummy,
Halloween, Halloween, what does it mean?
It means spooky fun!

It has been so much fun to get all your email/blog Halloween greetings, traditions and pictures! In turn, here are ours.



Even with a 30 degree drop in temperatures overnight, the kids held out for nearly 45 minutes trunk-or-treating at the church last night, and no one threw-up or got stomach aches from eating way too much candy - which was a complete surprise, because they managed to eat a ton!

The pictures of the kids in their costumes are from the PTA Fall Potluck we attended last week. I have to be honest and say that before the kids put on their costumes I was disappointed in our costumes this year... on the hangers they simply didn't look a cute as I thought they should for what I paid, and I again asked myself why we didn't have a "costume trunk" like so many others, and simply re-purposed something we already had. Of course all doubts melted as soon as they put them on, and were beaming from ear to ear because they were exactly what they wanted to be, and looked adorable!

Rebecca ended up with two costumes this year, and instead of picking one over the other, she came up with a great solution all on her own, she wore her witch costume for the school event and her cheetah costume for tricker-treating.

ColorKu

Sunday 29 October 2006

Last week a package arrived for me from my SIL (Thank you Elspeth!), containing a ColorKu game.

While my mother was here helping out after Alex was born, she started teaching the girls how to play Sudoku on her little hand held Nintendo game. We also purchased a couple of Sudoku for kids puzzle books at the local toy store. Ever since, whenever Grandma Mutti is around, the girls want to play Sudoku either on her little game, on the computer, or on paper (in that order of preference).

As you can see from the pictures ColorKu is a version of Sudoku... each color represents a number 1-9, and the game comes with 100 or more puzzles cards.

Despite my children's fascination with the game, until last night I had never played. Rebecca and Emily were extremely patient with me. We started with puzzle #2, on the EASY scale and thanks to my inexperience, we had to start over twice! But once we got off on the right foot, we were able to quickly solve the puzzle. We started the puzzle by working it out together, then I transitioned into letting them either solve rows, columns or squares. It was a lot of fun, and we're all looking forward to playing another game when they get home from school.

Finished!

... a month later than I'd hoped, but finished none the less, and before Halloween!

Congratulations to Lori who started her wall hanging well after I started mine, finished it super fast, and did a fantastic job!

News of the Day

R-E-S-P-E-C-T:
I got a phone call last night from Rebecca's teacher, Mrs. M, alerting us that Rebecca had been nominated to receive a character award. PP has character words that they focus on each month. September was RESPECT, and October was SELF RESPECT. During the month they talk about what each character word means and ways to apply and implement that characteristic into their behavior. The idea being that it will help each child build a stronger character and improve behavior at school.

So Rebecca received the award for RESPECT - "Rebecca has demonstrated the concept of respect. She knows how to be courteous and hold others in high regard."

GR I must apologize, I made the classic picture taking mistake and turned on the flash when taking the picture of Mr. M giving Rebecca the award. I know better... I took the picture at the half court line with a flash that travels 5 feet, so the original photo is totally BLACK. Thanks to the wonders of Photoshop and digital photography, amazingly the image wasn't a total waste:



"Yes, I own other clothes":
Today is also Alex's 3 month birthday, so here's a picture from this afternoon of my beautiful baby who is so incredibly good! Ahhh I am so blessed.



Mute Mommy:
In other news, I'm spending the day as a mute... okay that might be a bit dramatic. More accurately, I'm not talking much today, and if/when I do it's in a quiet whisper. I wish I could say it's a new parenting technique I'm trying out or that I'm finally dealing with my Mommy Temper Management Issues, but sadly it's just my yearly dose of a sore throat that develops into laryngitis. I just hope it doesn't transition into something more major.

Happy 40th:
Grandpa Bob just called to alert us to the Charlie Brown special that is on TV tonight - "It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." I heard a interesting little snippet about the show on NPR this morning while driving to Blockbuster to return a movie. Despite what the camera captured, I'm hearing lots of giggles and laughter coming from the couch. I'm just sorry I didn't have enough time to set up the computer to record it for future viewing this weekend.

Friday October 6, 2006

This afternoon I had the rare chance to sit for ~15 minutes and IM with Mary Ann. There's a good 8 hour time difference between us, so we hardly ever chat this late in the afternoon. Matthew was out late and she was waiting up for him, and my kids were all getting ready to spend the evening with Grandma & Grandpa. M&M have been home for about two weeks from their 1st world, 80 day "vacation," so we chatted a bit about how life was back in the 3rd world. After bringing me up to speed on the events of the last two weeks, she asked:

MA: -- what's new in your house?
K: Rebecca is wrapping her library books in plastic wrap to keep them clean.
MA: ???
K: I know ... crazy. I told her that was a little silly, but she didn't listen and went right on wrapping them in plastic wrap ... where she got this idea I have no clue. Sam had his preschool pictures taken this morning.
Emily got her second shot against Hep A, so we ate lunch with GR in the hospital cafeteria.
MA: wow, busy, busy
MA: you drove to [the hospital]
K: Yeah, Emily's doctor's appointment was at 1:30 and the doctors office is in the same complex as the hospital so it all worked out well. AND, 1st Presbyterian had their rummage sale today and I found two little boy suits for a friend, two church skirts for me and a box of 8 pint size jars for $10.
MA: all that for $10? wow.
MA: God bless America.
K: :)
MA: I spent $10 today just to dry clean two pillows and two blankets ...

Rebecca wrapping her library books - all by Robert Munch her current favorite author:


Sam's preschool picture:


A stunning visitor in our garage. The picture doesn't do this moth any justice. His size and color were beautiful!

Before loading in the car, I lined all the kids up for a picture. And voila... 10 clicks later:

Preparing the perfect pancake pan

Mom emailed me some clarification on her pan preparation for the Feather Pancake recipe and since so many of you are planning to try them (if you haven't already) I'm passing her email on to the rest of you:

"I do not put half an inch of oil in the pan. I do, however, want the oil to run around the side of the pan before I start frying the pancakes because I typically get at least one pancake flopped up against the side of the pan, and I think it's more likely to come off easily if I've oiled the sides of the pan just like the bottom. I might use a teaspoon of oil to condition the pan. After tilting the pan in every direction so that oil covers the bottom and the sides, I pour any excess oil into the bowl of pancake batter. Wiping the sides with a paper towel is another way to distribute the oil onto the sides of the pan.

One way you can determine if the pan is hot enough: the oil will form what look like little fingers where the bottom of the pan and the sides of the pan meet.

If the oil is smoking, it's too hot.

If you pour batter into the pan before it's hot enough, the pancake won't brown on that side.

By the way, you only need to put oil in the pan in the beginning--not after each pancake. Some people really like the crispy, fried effect oil has on batter. If you are one of those, you'll want to add a little oil after every pancake. On the other hand, if you are trying to cut back on the amount of fat in your diet, adding additional oil to the pan is unnecessary."

Bear Bottoms

Samuel is finally to the age where he doesn't want to take a daily nap... while technically he doesn't need a daily nap, his attitude drastically improves if he gets a good two-three naps in during the week. Wednesday after three straight days with little or no afternoon nap, Sam and I weren't on real good terms, and by bathtime he and I had both had it with each other.

Mom: "... Sam, does Mommy need to swat your bare bottom?"

Sam: "No, me not have bear bottom!"

Mom: "What?! Honey, you aren't wearing anything on your bottom.

Sam: "Me not have bear bottom. Bear's have brown bottoms, me bottom not brown. Me not have bear bottom!"

Mom finally catching on, desperately tries to hold back the laughter ...

Mary Sue's Feather Pancakes

1 cup flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk*
2 tablespoons salad oil.

* For thinner pancakes, add 2 more tablespoons of milk to batter.

Put frying pan on stove and turn on heat to low.
While the pan is heating, make the pancake batter.
Do not put oil in the pan until the batter is prepared.

In a large bowl, combine egg and oil. Add milk. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl and add to egg/oil/milk combination, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Put just enough oil in the frying pan to coat the bottom and up the sides of the pan about 1/2 inch.

Pour about 1/2 cup batter into the center of the pan. Watch for bubbles to come up in the pancake. Then watch for the outer edge of the pancake to look "dry". The bubbles and the dry look are indicators that it is time to turn the pancake over. After flipping the pancake over, you should see the pancake puff up. Wait just a little for the second side to brown and remove the pancake to a plate.

The above recipe makes about eight 4-inch pancakes.


I typically tripple this recipe, but I also make big pancakes that are 6-8 inches in diameter.

Random pictures from September

Pancakes! (Wednesday, 20 September 2006)
Lately when you ask Sam what he'd like to have for dinner (any meal really) he will scream, PANCAKES! So I've stocked up on baking powder and I'm working on memorizing my mother's amazing pancake recipe which I typically triple so we have enough to eat and a few to save.



Murphy, baby protector (Thursday, 21 September 2006)
I am happy to report that Murphy approves of Alex. I have a picture of Murphy like this with each of the children at about this age. He stretches out next to them on the couch, sit on their laps when laying on the floor or asleep in their bouncy seat.


Too Good to Pass Up (Friday, 22 September 2006)
This year, Emily has been invited to and attended four birthday parties. Consequently we are prrfecting the art of purchasing 6 year old birthday presents, her gift of choice - make-up and hair accessories. On this Friday night before two back-to-back parties, we took a family trip to Walmart and saw this t-shirt. GR thought it would make a great come back to his sisters comment about him, Joe and Dime.


Why you shouldn't purchase too much Halloween Candy (Monday, 25 September 2006)
Yes, I still have Halloween Candy from last year.. I won't be making that mistake again this year. This is Sam in our bed at about midnight covered in chocolate. If I remember correctly he had a half eaten Reeses Stick in his hand when we found him... chocolate was everywhere, as were wrappers. My hiding place in the closet obviously compromised.

What's this suppose to mean?

Over the last two months I've been reminded what a 'people magnet' newborns are. Random people, who would have never said boo to you, now stop and have in-depth conversations with you - typically about babies and their children. The first question out of most peoples mouths (and if it isn't the first, it quickly follows... how old his he?) - Is this your first?

Monday while Alex and I were at the grocery store in my little 90 minute window between drop offs and pick-ups, I was asked this question by a middle aged man with a four year old in his cart. I smiled and said, "No, it's my fourth."

Typical responses when give this answer... "God Bless You" ... "Wow" ... "You've got your hands full" ... "You're brave" ... etc.

His response ... silence.

And the numbers are in...

Weight = 12.5 lbs. ... 75%
Height = 24 5/8" ... 90%
Head C. = 15 3/4 cm ... 50%

Time's flying

Today, Alex is 2 months old and for the past few weeks he has been perfecting his smile. I think I'm going to need to work with GR on getting a really good picture of this boys beautiful smile.

In other baby news, Alex had 2 major diaper blowouts that both required a bath in the kitchen sink. He must be preparing for our weigh in tomorrow morning at the doctors office. I'll let you know the offical stats.

This one's for you Topher

I am so behind on so many deadlines it isn’t even funny anymore, and this is no different… It has been brought to my attention that I neglected to do a “happy birthday” posting for GR who’s birthday was September 23^rd ...

September 23rd - had WAY to much happening on it. The two big things in addition to it being GR’s birthday:

We bought a cow… GR and Joe went north and picked up a cow from a local meat market - and we now have half a cow in both of our freezer in various forms (ground beef, patties, stakes, ribs, etc. ... we gave Joe the tongue).

I was gone half the day for the Stake Home Family and Personal Enrichment meeting and General Relief Society Broadcast that we (Stormy, Carol and I – Renee was out of town) were in charge of.

Thankfully, Diane had GR and the kids over for dinner, so he did get a birthday celebration on his birthday. Bob spent all day working on two racks of ribs and I’ve heard they were excellent. Rebecca ate 3, Emily ate 2 and Sam ate 7!! His mom gave him a Lego Mindstorms Robot – they are pretty cool if you haven’t seen them before.

The weekend before GR’s birthday we went to StL to let the kids play with Stella and Danielle again while Mary Ann and Matthew were still in town with my parents. Mom suggested we celebrated GR's birthday while we were all together and given our schedule on the 23^rd, that worked out really well.

Saturday morning we went to Purina Farms and saw everything – they had a farm animal petting zoo where the kids got to pet baby pigs, chickens and rabbits and they got to milk a cow; they put on a mini dog show with five different dogs with their own tricks and each of the kids got to help in the dog show. If you’re ever in the area, I would highly recommend visiting – it’s free and definitely a kid and parent friendly place. We'd like to go back to see a dog show sometime - humm.... October 16-22 is the Border Collie National Specialty .

That night we celebrated GR’s birthday properly with two magnificent chocolate layer cakes from Party Pastry and lots of presents. He got candy to put in his suit pockets for kids at church; two ‘bathroom’ books – ‘Wisdom of our Fathers’ by Tim Russert and as‘It’s not ey being green and other things to consider’ by Jim Hensen; a conservative yet contemporary red tie; socks (yes, he got sock for his birthday… when I asked him what he wanted/needed, after a very, very long pause, he replied, “Well, I could use some socks.”); a very large 15” cast iron skillet to go along with his Dutch oven for camping; a ‘family’ size electric grittle for pancakes.

Bubbles!

Over the last couple of weeks, the kids and I have stopped in the down town quilt stores at least three times (more visits than I typically make in a year). Just a few doors up from the quilt shop is our favorite toy store. I don't know where I've been, but until this month, the kids and I had never noticed the blowing bubbles teddy bear hanging outside their shop door. Now we can't go down town without spending at least 15 minutes outside their shop popping bubbles. It's great fun to watch them play and to watch the faces of the adults walking by two little kids running and jumping and giggling and laughing with delight!

Yet another reason to go back to NYC!

This morning while feeding Alex, I flipped on the TV. It was on the Discovery Channel leftover from last nights viewing of Myth Busters, and I caught 20 minutes of a show called CASH CAB. Now this is an innovative game that is surprisingly fun to watch... and based on my 20 minute preview, one I could do well at.

What do you think?

The above picture is of a tree we found Monday morning in the preschool parking lot. Over the weekend a very large limb broke off the tree, landing in the parking lot covering two spaces. When we got there to pick up Sam, Emily's explanation of what happened was:

"Five grown-ups climbed up there and stood on it and broke it...
One of the grown-ups wasn't being a good example."