Playing Outside and Helping Daddy

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous and we pretty much spent all of it outside. After a rather uneventful Easter - which kills me - it was always a great family time with grandparents and eggs and yummy food and fun when I was little - we were trying to at least get the Spring kicked off right.

It was in the upper 80's all weekend so we broke out the new toy of the summer. A big sand and water table. It was a huge hit. Now if we can just keep them from eating the sand and drinking all the water (eewww.) There was lots of fun to be had. They spent a lot of time cycling between the swings, the slide, the water table, and under the maple tree digging in pots, waving around sticks, chasing bubbles, and tasting all shapes and sizes of mulch. Doug taught them how to blow the seed heads of dandelions, which cracks me up because never in a million years would I have thought he would be OK with spreading the seeds around the yard. He's been on dandelion extermination crusade the entire time we have lived in this house!

Our lawn mower has seen better days, but Doug is still hanging on to it in some hope it will magically start to work properly. (I can't even describe how bad it is!) Since the grass clearly was in need of being mowed, Doug got out the tool box and flipped it up on end to try and somehow perform some magical feats to make it work better. Gabe immediately slipped in right next to Daddy, picked up some tools from the tool box, and got under the mower with him. There was banging, turning, socketing, and more. It was too funny. He would grab one tool, "use it", put it back and then go in for another. This went on for over half an hour.

SPRING!!!

Yeah! We are finally starting to see signs of spring in the yard. We were able to get outside this past week with the kiddos and play on the swing set, crunch up some old dried up leaves, and poke around in the garden. (Gabe and Grayson are both very good at finding little rocks and putting them in the bucket for Daddy.)

We lost LOTS of branches during the record snow over the last two months. It looks like over half of a huge cedar tree is gone and enough of our magnolias came down to make a pretty substantial third tree. We are pretty bummed about loosing so much off the big old magnolias. We would like to replace the cedar with something else, but it is so big and blocks a nice part of the yard from the parking lot - so we hesitate to take down what is left. I think we are going to have to finish cleaning it all up and survey the overall damage more so than we have thus far.

The boys are so happy to be able to go outside again. There are still a few spots with snow, but it has finally started to warm up enough that we can get outside with them. Unfortunately, they are calling for several inches of rain over the weekend, so we will be trapped inside again instead of getting to play outside with them, which is kind of bites.

We have been talking about fencing in a part of the yard as a play area so the boys can kind of 'run free' when I am with them this summer. They always want to go in two directions and it is pretty dangerous in our yard, given it is a 6+ foot drop off on all sides (we are an odd high island amongst the concrete.) We are thinking about fencing around a play set in the shade somewhere. I hope we manage to actually get it done. I they will really like the freedom of not having me chasing after them saying - stop, stop, stop!

18 months! How did THAT happen??

The boys had their 18 month appointments yesterday. When did they grow up so much?

Random things happening in our house right now:

Grayson has decided he is going to walk. Gabe thinks he might be talking. Grayson has decided to sign. Both boys are stacking and making animal sounds. Both want to eat and drink out of the cat bowl on all fours. (Weird, I know.) Bath time is the best thing EVER right now :) Now if we can get that to 'stick' we'll be set! Gabe now tells us when he is wet or poopy and even brings us diapers on occasion to let us know to get with the program. Grayson holds his nose when he is poopy, then grabs his diaper and laughs. (Ahhhh....boys.)

When we are in the car the both like to take turns making raspberries and laughing hysterically at eat other. Sometimes said raspberries involve milk. It is very messy, but very entertaining. Grayson can do chin ups - literally. He can grab a book shelf and pull himself completely off the follow by his hands - legs dangling. Both boys are climbers. (I have no doubt this is due to Doug's DNA.)

They have over 100 signs they know. Watching the Wiggles turns into a signing/stand up/ sit down/stomp your feet/ sign-sign-sign/dance fest. It is MOST entertaining. Gabe loves monkeys and elephants. Grayson still loves to poke your eyes out. The more you say 'owie!' the more he likes to do it.

They love to eat Mexican food. Gabe had learned how to blow bubbles, but it makes him cross eyed when he does it. Grayson is cutting more teeth.

Stuff is happening so fast! How do you make it s--l--o--w--down?

The stats:

Grayson: 31.5 inches tall, 20 pounds, 2 oz.
Gabe: 33.5 inches tall, 24 pounds, 11 oz.

Saying good bye :(

OK, maybe that title is a little dramatic, but this has really has gotten me down. It is time to start thinning my "stash" of cloth diapers. Grayson has really gotten too long for the smalls, even though he is plenty thin enough to keep wearing them. I sold some to a friend, I sold some on Craig's List, and I have almost finished selling the stash on DiaperSwappers.

I felt like I should keep them in case we have another, but I know if they just sit around they will dry-rot and that would be even more sad! So I thought I would post a few pictures of the cute little diapers that have been covering our boys bums for the last 18 months.

Now we have started to rebuild the stash in medium sizes, and we are hoping the boys will be potty trained before w would need to go up another size. Of course, that means I have to have some sort of knowledge about how to potty train boys, and THAT is something I am not even remotely ready for!

Two sick babies, a week of snow days, and two tired parents!

It's a crazy week with all the snow, and then more snow, and now we have two sick babies. Thankfully, Grayson seems to be on the mend after a pretty scary week of what looked a lot croup again. Of course, Gabe ended up sick, too - but not as bad as his brother. Another new twist to my life is the concept of 'snow days.' With the two big snow storms hitting back to back, we missed last Friday and now this ENTIRE week! Granted, the snow this time was a bit ridiculous, but over a week off? It is a shame the boys are sick, and the airports have all closed down due to the storms, or we would be quickly on our way to a sunny beach somewhere. You know our motto - Have passports, will travel!

Other updates to keep track of -

Grayson - He is now 'toddling' between people and furniture. He is so excited that he is doing it, too. You can see it on his face when he is just about to walk across a distance - you can see him thinking - I'm gonna do it! He is also really starting to sign, which is really great. A lot of his signs look the same, so it can be a guessing game on occasion, but he is really trying hard and doing it a lot.

On a not so great note, we have been breaking the big healthy sleep rule by bringing him into our bed in the middle of the night because he has been so sick. This means he now pitches a totally fit when he wakes up and wants to come in our room. Last night he cried for over two hours :( and I gave in...which I know means tonight may be worse. Bad mommy.

Gabe - Gabe is learning signs faster than we can keep up with him! He is stringing a few together in little sentences, which is very cool to see. He is also trying really hard to learn to use utensils. It is messy, but fun to watch. Of course, he is having a rough time with being sick, too. His nose is a complete faucet - and he has a pretty nasty cough. When he is sick he tends to be very clingy and cries - a lot. He just takes it harder, I guess.

At least I have the week off to baby them both.

Crockpot Gyros...who knew??

30+ inches of snow today meant it seemed like the time to break out the crock pot again. I read a recipe for gyros that could be made in the crock pot and I have been dying to try it. However, we live in Strasburg in the middle of nowhere - so finding ground lamb has proven to be very difficult. I did finally find lamb at the lovely (ugh) Food Lion, but they refused to grind it for me. (Yes, the 'full service' butcher's department refused to grind it because it would, and I quote, "contaminate our machines." What planet do I live in???) Anyway, the hunt continued and this time I found lamb in Martins in Stephen's City - but a price that was outrageous. So I once again left the store sans lamb. By this time over 2 months from my original quest had passed and I still had not managed to try the recipe.

And then....

I hit the Costco! They have lamb! And the BIG surprise, they have lamb in reasonably sized packages (like 5 pound roasts) at a great price, only $3.99 a pound. So today we tried the recipe. Here it is as we tried it, followed by our thoughts:
Crock Pot Gyros
For the meat:

1/2 pound ground lamb
1/2 pound ground turkey
2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. paprika
1 medium sized onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice from 1 lemon

For the tzatziki sauce:

1 c. plain yogurt
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs mint (yeah, we have 3 feet of snow, we don;t have this. Oddly, dried dill works very well)
juice of 1 lemon
cumin - to taste
grated or small diced cucumber (we didn't have this either, but it is fine without)
salt to taste

Mix all sauce ingredients together and put in the fridge to marinate while the gyro meat cooks.
Directions:

1. Mix the lamb and turkey with the paprika and oregano and make it into a meatloaf in the size and shape of your crock pot.
2. Chop the onion and garlic and spread it on the bottom of the crock then lay the meatloaf on top of it.
3. Squeeze the lemon over top of the meatloaf and cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 2 hours. Test for doneness with thermometer (170 degrees)

Slice thinly and serve with sauce in pitas with your choice of toppings (we used lettuce, feta, tomatoes and slivered onions.)

The Verdict:

Not bad. It was not at all greasy like the gyros we get in the restaurants. When I sliced it I was surprised by the slight pink hue it had from the paprika. When I tasted it straight from the loaf it seemed a little dry, but once it was in the pitas with the sauce it didn't seem dry at all. I think it will be nice on a salad as left overs, too.

This was our first time ever making gyros of any sort so we stuck to the recipe - which I usually do the first time I try any new recipe. We enjoyed it but felt like it was a bit bland for our taste and a few small changes could make a big difference. When we make it again I am going to grate some onion into the meat mixture as well as add several cloves of minced/mashed garlic. It could also use a little salt and some super coarse black pepper added in, too.

I think this recipe was a really good starting point. I am going to a little more research on what is traditionally used to flavor gyros and I will be trying this again. It was certainly easy enough - and fast enough - to be a keeper.

Snow, Snow, and More Snow

I think maybe pictures are the best way to help you understand how ridiculous this weather is...

For Michele...Grits, they aren't just for breakfast!

Here you go -- dinner in under 30 minutes with very little in the house! This is one of our 'go-to' meals because you can make it from the pantry and/or freezer.

Spinach and Black-eyed Peas over Cheese Grits.

Start the grits (please tell me you know how to do this...)

While those cook work on the rest. You need:

10 0z bag of spinach (fresh is great, but frozen is good, too. We use frozen.)
2 cans black eyed peas, drained and rinsed if too 'saucy'
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tbs oil
pinch red pepper flakes (or cayenne or even hot sauce)
ground black pepper
sharp cheddar cheese

1. Saute the onion in the oil. Add the fresh spinach to the pan and cook just until it wilts. (If using frozen, cook according to package, the drain and add to the onion.)
2. Put peas, pepper flakes, and pepper into the spinach and onions. Stir to heat it through and salt to taste.

This part is now finished.

3. Grate cheddar cheese and stir into your grits until as cheesy as you like.

Now assemble. Put a big pile of grits in a bowl and top with spinach mixture. I like to also put a little hot sauce on top.

Yes - it sounds weird. However, it is really, really good comfort food. Trust me. :)

The First Day of School....again

Today I had my second first day of school for the 2009-2010 school year. Weird. I can't say I so much like having to do the first day stuff twice in one year - it is boring and yuck. And I am so bad at learning names - so, so bad. I want to be one of those people who can hear a name once and just remember it (and the matching face, of course), but I can't. And to be in a job where you have to learn 100+ new kid names every year. Yikes. It gives me a complex.

I am trying things a little differently this semester compared to last - so I hope it works. I was thrilled at the 100% pass rate, but that is a double edged sword because now the only way for my performance to go is down! Maybe I should have thought this through a little more before I got all super-teacher on them first semester. Should have paced myself. Crud.

Wish me luck.

Grayson's 1st Haircut!

I gave Grayson his first haircut today. He is 17 months, 1.5 weeks old. It has taken him so long to grow hair, it was kind of sad to have to cut it. There was actually not that much to cut - he just needed a few places in the back trimmed up where he had a few rouge curls. He was so good. He sat on his little chair and held pretty still and let me clip away. He's such a sweet little boy. There, I said it. Little Boy.

Sweet and Spicy Pork - in under 30 minutes

I am a little obsessed with food again. I think we got off track with making decent food because we were overwhelmed (shocking, I know) and we started to resort to pretty bland and boring food. Like I said in an earlier post, we are looking for things that are easy - but better than "cooking" a frozen pizza. So for tonight we tried this...

Sweet and Spicy Pork
adapted from Cooking Light, June 2005

This comes together VERY fast.

Ingredients:

• 1# boneless pork tenderloin, sliced into thin chops (we made 6 slices)
• 1 Tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp EACH minced garlic and ginger
• 1 tsp oil
• 2/3 cup of salsa
• 2-3 Tbs of chutney or preserves (we used a combo of hot mango chutney and strawberry preserves)
• cilantro to garnish

Method:

1. Heat the oil in the pan on med/med-high and mix the soy, ginger, and garlic together in a small bowl.
2. Put the pork in the pan and immediately spoon they garlic mixture evenly over the chops.
3. Turn pork over when it starts to get a little golden brown.
4. When cooked to your preference (don't over cook, there is always carryover) remove from pan and cover with foil while you make the sauce.
5. For the sauce - put the salsa and chutney in the same pan you cooked the pork - stir until well blended and heated through.
6. Serve pork slices with sauce on top.

The Stats: If serving 4 (again, we made it serve 2 with a lunch leftover) - the entree is 169 calories, 5.1 g fat, 24.4 g protein.

VERDICT: OMG - this was so easy it was crazy. It took my 25 minutes from start to finish, INCLUDING the time it took me to wash three potatoes, wrap them and toss them in the microwave, find the pole beans in the freezer and get a pot of them going, find all the ingredients and chop everything and slice the pork. You can't even preheat the oven and cook a frozen pizza in that time. Oh, and before you gasp at the massive pile of white stuff on my potato - it's yogurt :)

Dinner: 5 ingredients in under 30 minutes -- Green Chicken Curry

Super fast and pretty tasty...start the rice first and the rest will be ready right as the rice is finished cooking.

Green Curry Chicken
(Cooking Light 2009-October)

Ingredients:

• one pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced into 1" cubes and sprinkled with salt
• 2 bell peppers (your choice of colors), diced
• 1 14 oz can of lite coconut milk
• green curry sauce (1-4 Tbs depending on the heat - add 1 at a time and taste!)
• 1 cup long grain or basmati rice
• fresh cilantro to garnish (optional, but nice)

Directions:

1. Start the rice first, omit the fat - otherwise follow package directions
2. Spray a nonstick pan with cooking oil and then lightly brown the chicken.
3. Add 1 Tbs of curry sauce and cook for 1 minute. (Taste and add more, if needed)
4. Add 1 cup of the coconut milk, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer until the chicken is almost cooked through.
5. Add the bell peppers, the remaining coconut milk, and 1/4 tsp. of salt. Simmer 5-6 more minutes or until bell peppers are cooked to your liking.

Serve the curry over rice and garnish with cilantro.

The Stats: 282 calories, 6.8 g fat, 29.7 g protein

VERDICT: Very, very easy. A bit mild for us, but I think it was our curry sauce. I think one of the really nice things about this dish is the coconut milk makes it have a great texture, but the calories and fat are still really low. The recipe says it serves 4, but I think if this is a dinner entree with no appreciable sides is really serves 3 with a small amount left for a lunch. The stats above are quoted as if you make four servings - but still - even with three servings it has less calories than one of those nasty microwave 'diet' meals and is way more satisfying and filling.

A Day in the Life...

Sometimes dinner is really entertaining and high fives are in order...















And sometimes they work together and things get a little crazy.

Nothing like a weekend trip that requires 1000+ miles of driving...

This weekend we made a trip to SC for Doug's Granny's 90th birthday (oh, and her twin's) party. It wasn't our first 'big' trip with the twins, but it was the first time we tried to pull something off like this in only about 48 hours. (I think it actually ended up being more like 60 hours, but you get the idea.)

YEAH!! FOR:

Yeah!! for being able to stay with Chuck and Maria and enjoying some peaceful quiet time not walking on eggshells. Granny's house looks amazing and is so much brighter and bigger than it ever looked before. The only thing that could have made this better would have been if the weather would have cooperated a little more. We couldn't really go outside and play with the boys because it rained pretty much all day on Saturday and Sunday we were doing the birthday party and then driving home.

Yeah! for the boys behaving really well the whole time we were in SC. They were pleasant, took their naps when they were supposed to, slept all night in a new and strange place, and handled all the new places and people really well. Being in such an uncluttered location also really helped with Grayson practicing his new found un-aided steps. In the past few days he has been letting go and teetering a few steps at a time. It is too much fun to see him look so surprised (and excited) when he manages to make it a few steps on his own.

Yeah! for the boys getting to meet Snowflake the talking bird at Granny's party. They were both so excited to see the bird up close and when he started talking they were beside themselves. Gabe kept signing "pretty, pretty, pretty!" and trying to get the bird to talk to him. Grayson would have crawled IN the cage with him if he could have. He was so excited he kept jumping up and down, up and down!

We ended up needing to trim Gabe's hair while we were down there - Grayson really needs it, too - but he hasn't had his first hair cut yet and we wanted to make sure that we give it proper attention (set up the chair, save the hair, take pictures, etc.) We made sure Gabe's first hair cut was properly documented and we want to do the same for Grayson. Plus, he has been working on growing his little bit of hair for 17 months now, so cutting any of it off is a bit sad!

The down side of the trip really ended up being having the boys in the car for such long periods of time. We left to make the drive both days after dinner when they would normally be asleep, but now that they are in the upright car seats they really couldn't seem to get comfortable enough to stay asleep and they were sooo tired.

We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home (not our favorite place, but kid friendly) and enjoyed watching Gabe concentrate so hard on the little peg game on the table. He kept taking two pegs at a time out and switching their places. I don't really know why this was fun - but he did it over and over again.

We decided to make the drive back all in one big session since the boys didn't sleep so well in the hotel on the way down. It really wore us out, but everything seemed back on track on Monday, so we will count it as a success. I'm not in such a hurry to make such a long drive again any time soon, but it is good to know we can survive it. I am sure it will get a little easier when the boys are a bit older- but for now I think we did a pretty decent job.

Is there a red neck in the house????

So I have moved almost 650 miles further north than I ever would have imagined I would have to -- and while VA is under the impression they are still "the South", they are sadly mistaken. How do I know? Well, let's make a quick 'for example' kind of list...

• Most restaurants do not serve sweet tea
  
• Even less people know how to MAKE sweet tea (no, it does not come in a Snapple or Lipton bottle)
  
• Grits anyone? Not here.
• If you can't tell me the ratio of water to grits RIGHT NOW while you are reading this, you need to stop calling yourself southern
  
• Manners are few and far between. No one says Ma'am or Sir, please or thank you, and very few will even hold the door for you - and they certainly won't wave you in to traffic when you are trying to get out.
  
• Did you see the pictures of the snow? Yeah, in the south snow=freezing rain.

There are many, many other examples - but listing them all is not the point of this post. THIS post is about the fact that I am NOT in the South; HOWEVER, that does not mean that we don't have your quintessential red neck population. I have been driving past this on my way to work since Thanksgiving.

Take a look - a close look. Do you see it???

Breaking in the new Crock Pot : Espresso Braised Beef Tips

It is official - we are swamped and it is a ridiculous thing to try and have two adults that work full time (plus) try and raise twins without help. It is kicking our butts. We need the two incomes ; can't really do anything about the lack of help; and we have to figure out something to make life a little easier/healthier/less hectic. So to that end, I have purchased a larger crock pot (my old one is too small to do a medium size roast) and I am trying to make a realistic goal of using it at least once every two weeks. We are also trying to do a better job of managing the grocery bill and trips. I bought two beef roasts on sale ($1.99!) and boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale ($1.79 pound!) this past weekend and now I am working on using them wisely AND easily. (Because cereal, I have been told, is not really dinner fare.)

This week we are trying Espresso Braised Beef Tips.

3 pounds beef stew meat (I used a tip roast) - chopped into 1.5 in chunks, blotted dry
2-4 Tbs flour w/ salt and pepper mixed in - all in a big ziplock
3 Tbs olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped large
3-5 carrots chopped into 2 in. pieces
4 new or red potatoes, peeled and quartered
6 small turnips, peeled and quartered
1 cup strong coffee
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup red wine

• Use the ziplock bag to shake and coat the chunks of beef. In a larger skillet over med-high heat, heat half the oil. Add half the beef and brown on all sides. When browned transferred to the crock pot. (Don;t crowd the skillet!)
• Add the onions to the skillet and cook until just starting to soften and brown a little. Transfer to the slow cooker.
• Add the other veggies to the cooker, then add in the thyme and coffee.
• Pour the red wine into the skillet and use to de-glaze the pan. Make sure you scrap up all the little brown bits.
• Pour this liquid into the cooker, give it all a good stir, and cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours.

The Verdict: This was very easy and very tasty. It did need salt - I think it would have benefited from some salt during cooking. Also, we did not have turnips - so I just left them out and added extra carrots. I actually ran out of fresh carrots and added a bag of frozen baby carrots. You couldn't even tell the difference
I took about 2 cups of the liquid out of the crock, stirred in a little cornstarch to thicken it up, and mixed it all back in and then served with old fashioned home-made biscuits.

If you are feeling brave, I think something that would really make this an over the top dish would be a different treatment for thickening the cooking liquid. I would suggest crumbling a few gingersnap cookies into the broth while stirring in a small pot. It will thicken it nicely and add a hint of sweetness. Add the crumbs a little at a time or it will get to thick. I know it sounds weird, but trust me -- it works like magic.

BONUS: The kiddos like it and it is tender enough that they can manage to chew it up. Yummy!

Golden Yellow Corn Bread

Golden Yellow Corn Bread/Muffins

We make both versions of this in our house - usually in muffins form for ease of serving to three small children.  We use the sweeter version when pairing with something spicier.  This is such a great recipe (from the package) because it is so forgiving.  Sometimes we throw in some leftover corn, shredded or diced pepper jack cheese, and/or a big spoon of salsa.  It always turns out great.  You just can't mess it up.

1 cup Indian Head Yellow Corn Meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup oil
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten

Corn Bread:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix oil, egg, and milk together and add to dry ingredients, mixing until batter is uniform. Bake in a greased 9”x9”x2” pan for 20-25 minutes.

Corn Muffins:
Pour corn meal batter into greased or line muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Recipe Variation:
**For a sweeter, moister corn bread or muffin, make these changes to the recipe above: use 2/3 cup milk, ½ cup sugar, ½ cup oil and 2 eggs. Reduce the heat to 400 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Snow Days : Dec. 2009

We got the twins first 'big snow' a few days before Christmas. Luckily we had bought them little snow suits, hats and mittens in hope that they would be ready to play in the snow if we actually had some - which hasn't happened in several years. Doug and the boys played outside pretty much everyday and they (that would be all the boys) seemed to really like it. I think Doug plans on having them both on skis next winter :)

Grayson the farmer.JPG

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