Good To The Last Drop - A Thousand Words Thursday

I wonder if she liked it?

For More ATWT visit Jen.

Selective Hearing

Have you ever passed a really expensive car driving down the road?

Not sure? Don't remember? I'm not surprised. If you answered yes however, I'll either assume that you know your cars and that's why you remember or your husband is and didn't stop drooling and that is why you remember.

We'll be driving along talking, okay usually I'm talking, and Luke will notice a super expensive/fast/fancy car drive past us and he starts talking over me, drooling, Oohhing and Aahhing. It drives me crazy. Crazy. Then he rattles off things like torque, horsepower, the kind of brakes, tires, shocks, blah blah blah. He always knows the price too.

The other day he came home from a quick trip to the grocery store talking about some $220,000 car that he saw parked near a Starbucks. You know what he did? He pulled into the empty spot next to it got out of our car, walked to the front of this ca,r and took a picture of it with his camera phone. Yep he's that guy. Luke came home and proudly showed off his prize picture, honestly the only thing I remember is that it was black.

Tonight at dinner Luke was flipping through one of his new magazines (some car mag of course) and pointed out some car. Here's what I heard "Blah, Blah, Blah, yack, yack, blah, blah, blah" Just to see if I could remind myself what he said I just looked through the magazine and couldn't even figure out which of the cars he had shown me.

He knows me well because when I asked him which car he had shown me he asked me what color it was and if it was fast or slow. Sad thing is I couldn't even remember what color it was or if he had told me if it was fast or slow.

Do you think he knows that I don't always pay attention, ahem, to him?

Maybe I should tell him to talk about purses or stand mixers and paella pans...I could totally pay attention to that.

Three Non-Political Questions About the Presidential Address

Luke, Monkey and I are watching the President speak to Congress right now. I have a few questions. Don't worry I'm not going to get political on you.

1. Why is Monkey so interested in Obama? She was in bed but when she heard his voice she started crying and calling his name. She keeps pointing to the TV, looking over at me and saying "Bama, Bama" like she knows him personally.

2. Does it look like Obama is wearing a fuchsia tie to anyone else? I don't have anything against fuchsia it complements Biden's baby blue tie nicely.

3. Why on Earth won't the damn congress just let the guy talk? All this standing and clapping makes it hard to watch and listen to. All this standing and sitting and standing and clapping and sitting is like an elaborate senior citizens chair workout show on PBS.

Blah

Houston the flu has landed. I'll do y best to still be around but with a sick, baby, sick hubby and a sick self I'm thinking my bed is pretty appealing right now.

**Edit: I think sick equals bad punctuation and sentences that don't make sense. You all must have felt bad to comment on the above jumble of sick-ese.

It Has Dual Pedals of Power...

We are Netflix subscribers. This usually means that we get a movie in the mail and it sits on our counter for 2-3 weeks before we get around to watching it. Which of course means we are really getting our $9.52 worth every month, but that's for another post.

We are also incredibly behind on movie's. For example we just watched Casino Royale, Knocked Up, and Juno which all came out in 2007. At the rate we watch movies it will be 2011 before we start watching movies made in 2008. But I digress.

Recently we watched the first Narnia movie The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Which by the way, came out in 2005.

I think it a more appropriate name for it would have been: Mean Lady Witch With Scary Hair Cons Little Boy With Sweets, Then Santa Claus Gives Out Weapons.

But I guess The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe works... whatever.

Anyway, My adorably weird husband looks over at me during a battle scene and says "Do you think a centaur could ride a bike?"

Naturally I was wondering the same thing, which I guess is some of the beauty of our marriage. We always seem to be thinking the same thing which usually ends up in one of us laughing and yelling at the other "God! Get Out Of My Brain!"

So we did what any other couple would have done after watching Mean Lady Witch With Scary Hair Cons Little Boy With Sweets, Then Santa Claus Gives Out Weapons . We fell asleep that night discussing centaurs on bikes.

So a few nights ago after joking about centaurs on bikes and unsuccessfully searching google to find a picture of one, Luke made it his mission to bless the world with a much needed rendition of a centaur riding a bicycle.

Sadly, I'm not making this up.

And now without further ado I present to you Luke's Top Secret Centaur Bike Concept:

Just in case you can't read the "artists" notes here are some of this bikes sweet features:

Apparently the frame is made of crushed unicorn horns...for strength of course, there are 2 sets of pedals which Luke as aptly named the "dual pedals of power," and lets not forget the full body seat for maximum support of a huge centaur body.

My favorite part of this illustration is that the centaur pictured above has a mullet.

As you can see I didn't marry Luke for his drawing skills.

***note: we are actually quite normal, most of the time. We do not play Dungeons and Dragons and normally centaurs, hobbits and leprechauns don't come up in many conversations in our house.

Big Mouth - A Thousand Words Thursday

Luke has some of the best table manners you've ever seen.

"Hey Babe, do you think I can fit this whole pancake in my mouth?"

Wow.

Gentlemanly...um, maybe.

Hilarious...Oh yeah.

The Missing Warning on My Hair Dryer

I checked the warning tag on my blow dryer tonight. It doesn't say anything about not blow drying your hair while your toddler is in the room.

So I am thinking I could sue the manufacturer of my blow dryer, because they clearly should have warned me that operating a machine extremely blowing hot air at my head is a bad idea while attempting to keep an eye on my daughter.

I totally fried off a chunk of hair...right on top of my head in the middle of my part. It feels like I might have burnt my scalp too. I mean seriously I have this chunk in the middle of my part that looks like a mini-buzz cut.

Maybe no one will notice.

Maybe I can turn this into millions. I mean due to their negligence in not warning me I am going through a lot of pain and suffering. I'll be rich and when people ask how I got to be so well off I'll tell them it's because my first husband was filthy rich and very old and I just got done fighting his children in court for what is rightfully mine, which is way more respectable than getting rich through suing a hair dryer manufacturer.

Maybe I should just learn my lesson and hog tie Monkey while I am using a curling iron or blow dryer so that she can't get into my make up and draw all over her face and clothes...ha, that isn't likely as this is not the first time I have singed off a chunk of my own hair or burnt my self due to being distracted by Monkey...it's just in the most obvious spot this time.

Ethiopian Beef Stew and Spinach Poori

As promised I have two recipes to share with you today. Ethiopian Beef Stew and Spinach Poori. Luke wanted me to tell you that even though The stew looks like dog food it tastes really, really good.

Well, gee thanks honey. It's nice to know you think my cooking looks like dog food.

But really this stew is yummy and spicy, and easy too. I prepared this stew in a crock pot but it could also be cooked on the stove. The Spinach Poori is a fried Indian bread that has become our go to bread to eat with spicy meals.


Ethiopian Beef Stew

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat. Could also use lamb or pork.
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom. Can substitute coriander if needed.
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 jalapenos diced, seeds and ribs removed
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup canned chick peas
1 cup sliced yellow onion
1/2 cup water

If cooking in slow cooker: Combine all ingredients in slow cooker cover with lid and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

If cooking on the stove: Saute beef with onion and garlic over medium heat. Add remaining ingredients and simmer on low heat for about 2-3 hours.

Spinach Poori
This recipe is from Step-By-Step Indian by Cara Hobday and Louise Steele The recipe calls for the spinach to be blended, but usually skip that step so that I don't have to clean the blender and the bread still comes out great.

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup all-purpose whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh or frozen spinach. Blanched and blended, all excess water squeezed out.
1/4 cup water
Oil for deep frying

Mix the flours and salt in medium bowl. Drizzle vegetable oil over salt and flour mixture. Mix together until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.

Add the spinach and the water and then stir to make a stiff dough. Knead for 10 minutes until smooth.

Form the dough into a ball. Put dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 minutes.

Pour oil into wok or skillet to 1 inch depth. Heat it until a haze appears.

Divide the dough into 12 equal balls. Work with one dough ball at a time keeping the rest in the covered bowl. Remove one ball and roll it into a 5 inch circle.

Line a plate with paper towels. Put one rolled out circle of dough into the hot oil. If the dough sinks it should rise up to the surface immediately and sizzle; if it doesn't, the oil isn't hot enough. Keep the poori submerged in the oil using the back of a perforated spoon or spatula. the poori will puff up almost immediately. Turn it over and cook the other side for 5-10 seconds.

As soon as the poori is cooked to a nice golden brown, remove it from the pan and place on the paper towel lined plate to drain. Repeat the rolling and frying process for the remaining dough. Serve immediately.

We are toasting...something... with multiple margaritas. I say something because we don't technically have a specific reason. Maybe it's because yesterday was Valentine's Day ( thanks for the yummy food and visit Mom and Dad xoxo), maybe it's because Luke and I have the day off tomorrow (Happy Birthday Lincoln and Washington xoxo) , or maybe it's because tomorrow we have been in our house for a year... either way we're celebrating with margaritas. Real ones, no sweet and sour...yuck. Tomorrow I'll have a recipe that you'll love, or maybe two. Monday is Yumday after all! But for today I'll leave you with this...

3 parts Tequila
2 parts Triple Sec
1.5 parts fresh squeeze lime juice
Salt...lots of salt
Lime juice

Mix Tequila, Triple sec, and lime juice. Dip glass in remaining lime juice and salt. Fill glass with ice . Pour margarita mixture over ice and drink. drink. drunk.

enjoy!

p.s. 2 full strength margarita's = randomness...maybe tomorrow will be normal ;)

Ahhh, Love

The loves of my life...
They are always finding way to make me feel so very loved.
They are always finding ways to make me smile.

I am such a lucky wife and mommy.

Luke is cleaning the house right now, could this be my Valentine's gift? We said we wouldn't give gifts to each other but I'll take a clean house if that's what he is giving.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Looky What I Got

Remember Bloggy Giveaways...

Ah, those were the days, right? That thrill of entering giveaway after giveaway and hopping you would win some awesome prizes. Well, guess what... I won, I won, I won.

Okay technically I didn't win win win three giveaways but I did win one. A very cool one if I do say so myself.

Have you heard of Le Papier Studio? I was the lucky winner of a $75 shopping spree to Le Papier Studio, awesome huh!

I love winning things, but I especially love winning cool things and the items in this shop are great. I had a lot of fun personalizing stationary and I have a few ideas for party invitations and gifts now too. Look at some of the cute things Le Papier Studio has to offer...

Awesome stuff huh?! There are a bunch of ways to personalize stationary, wall hangings and more, which was a bit of a problem for me because I am notorious for having trouble making up my mind. So a big thanks goes to Vana for her awesome giveaway. Watch out Mr. Postman because I'm totally going to be sending out personalized cards all the time now!

White!?! - A Thousand Words Thursday

I have a few questions...

1. White on a toddler really? Have children's clothing designers ever had children?
2. Why do people think that white is the perfect color clothing to give to Monkey? Do they really think it will look white for more than the first 4 minutes she wears it?
3. Why do I even put Monkey in the white outfits?

For more ATWT visit Jen at Cheaper Than Therapy.
p.s. I know I am way late, but at least I made it.

The Leaning Tower of Empty Kleenex Boxes

Remember last week when I told you about The Man Cold that had taken up residence in my house? Well, as a result of the colds running rampant through our house we have gone through 3 boxes of tissues in a little over a week. I am so over wiping runny noses and blowing my nose and... and I am so tired of snot in general. I am pretty sure we are going to finish off that box of tissues on the top of the stack in the next day or so...I wonder what the record for more boxes used buy one family is? Maybe I can get my name in the Guinness Book?

Small Batch Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I'm weak.

I broke down today and...made cookies. Not just one batch but two and I am thinking about making a third.

Okay I know what your thinking "Wow, when she gives in she really gives in and then proceeds to go completely overboard."

Well yes as I said before I am weak, but I don't think I went overboard and I have 3 words to prove it to you: Small. Batch. Baking.

As I showed you yesterday my kitchen was full of innocent looking foods just begging to be bad and become an ingredient in a baked good. Because of the sheer number of possibilities I couldn't decide what to bake. A "normal" cookie recipe makes enough cookies to feed an army and since Luke is gone (not that he'd eat many if her were here) and monkey doesn't really get to eat cookies I didn't want to become an army of one and eat 5 dozen cookies by myself. So I whipped up enough cookie dough to make about 8 cookies. Easier said than done right, well no it is surprisingly simple and I am proud to say that both batches came out wonderfully.

Seriously, I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner. Small batches are the answer to all of my baking problems and now if Luke gets a craving for brownies maybe I'll just make him a brownie or two instead of an entire pan that I would inevitably end up eating all by myself.

So without further ado I present to you the first of my two successful cookie recipes today:

Small Batch Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

8 cookies worth of pure deliciousness. The picture doesn't do it justice...my food photographer is out of town, but trust me these little darlings are delicious and since the recipe only makes 8 you don't have to feel guilty about making them. I call that built in portion control...not that I am telling you to eat 8 cookies, you could share them you know.


Ingredients
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons applesauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon well beaten egg or egg substitute
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour)
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg (optional)
1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degree.

Place butter, applesauce, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a medium sized mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed. Add the egg and beat until mixed.

In separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon nutmeg and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir well. Add in the oats and raisins and mix until all ingredients are incorporated.

Drop by mounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet to make 8-10 mounds of dough. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 16 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and cool on wire rack.

5 Ways My Kitchen is Torturing Me

I've mentioned in the past that I have no willpower and I have a bit of a sweet tooth and that there are certain times (monthly times) that my sweet tooth is in a heightened state of awareness (okay it's not just my sweet tooth cause I'll eat anything in sight).

Because of these things I purposely stock my kitchen with healthy foods. I purposely avoid buying junk food because I know I'll eat it if it is there. So why am I having so much trouble today when my kitchen is supposed to be safe?

So here are 5 little ways my kitchen is currently torturing me.

You might see bananas but I see fresh baked banana bread.

In my brain today walnuts and cranberries = white chocolate, cranberry and walnut cookies.

I'm pretty sure I could turn this trail mix into a cookie too.

Apples look innocent enough until you realize that all they are currently making me think of is pie.

Oats. Oats are healthy unless they are the crumble on a cobbler or the shining star in a beautiful batch of oatmeal raisin cookies.

Oh, man. I am in so much trouble because my conscience will be gone for the next few days and I will be left alone to battle my temptations all on my own. Translation: Luke is leaving for a business trip today and won't be here to give me that look when he knows I am about to crack...you know the one that says "are you sure you really need that?"

Someone send me some willpower stat!

Our Virtual Wagie Ride

In honor of Tuesday Whitt and her family Luke, Monkey and I participated in the virtual wagie ride being hosted by Lee and Em. We couldn't be at the official wagie ride and we don't have a wagon so we decided that we would take Monkey to ride her favorite thing...the swings at the park. We always love going to the park together but for some reason it doesn't happen very often. It was nice to spend time with my little family just playing around. I hope you are able to take the time to enjoy your families this weekend.

We live in a great city with wonderful parks. Today we tried out the swings...

and the slide....and the sand digger...and we chased after Daddy...and we rode the swings some more...
Hug your kids tight and tell them you love them. It is shame that something so tragic is our reminder to cherish everyday.


Visit MWOB or Life Liberty and the Pursuit to see more wagie rides from across the blogosphere and while your there link up to share your wagie ride.

My Quirky Idea of Organized

I live by the list.

You could say that I am one of those organized people who organize their days around as list of things to do.

You could also say that I am one of those women that came down with a terrible case of mommy brain during pregnancy and have never recovered.

Or maybe you could say that I am slightly anal and a little obsessive. Which would be true, so I guess you wouldn't have to feel bad about saying it.

Everyday I write a list of things that I need to accomplish. With Monkey and Boo, the little girl I watch, I need something to help keep me focused even though I am getting pulled in so many directions.

I write everything, everything, I want to get done each day on my list. I write the big jobs and little jobs, the no brainer's and the ones I might forget.

I include things that I would never forget to do like "Make bed," "brush teeth"and "Make Dinner" for a very important reason. Why, you ask? Well, I include everything in my list so that I can cross it off. Because after all it is not how much you actually get done it is how much it looks like you got done. Not only that but crossing something off the list is like a climax of sorts and I get an odd satisfaction out of striking through tasks with my trusty pen.

So for instance instead of writing "clean bathroom" on my list I would write clean toilet, clean tub, clean sink and counter, sweep and mop bathroom floor all separately.

Instead of putting something generic and broad like "laundry" I would write darks, whites, Monkey's laundry, sheets and towels, and put away laundry all on their very own line.

See it's all about tricking your brain into thinking you are crazy productive when in reality I spend the majority of my day sitting on the floor with a kid in my lap and a book about Elmo, rainbows or animals in my hands.

Lists are my go to organizational tool. I use them for everything from blogging to grocery shopping. Oh man, my grocery lists are a work of art that aid me in my obsession to save money. *I am very into my grocery list...someday we will cover this list but it is so speacial to me I think it deserves its very own post.

I would like to think that knowing that a list helps me to accomplish tasks means that I am somehow a more evolved person and I am more in touch with the way my brain works. In reality I think it just comes down to the fact that I get more pleasure out of crossing off tasks than I actually get from completing the task itself.

So now it's your turn to spill the beans, do you have a quirky organization habit?

Do you get a high out of alphabetizing?

Maybe you love to stack stuff in neat little piles?

Are you a little too into color coding your canned foods?

Come on you know you do something that other people might think is a bit strange. We all do, don't we? Right guys, it isn't just me? Please say I'm not the only one...please say I'm not the only one...please say I'm not the only one...

Risky Fashion Choices - A Thousand Words Thursdays

She is very fashion forward, don't you think? I am sure we'll be seeing "the colander" on the runways in Paris, Milan and New York next season.

For More ATWT visit Jen at Cheaper Than Therapy.

Be a Part of Something Good - Tuesday's Tribute

I'm thinking about Tuesday today. Tuesday Witt. To be honest I have been thinking about Tuesday a lot in the couple of weeks since I first heard of this beautiful little girl. How can thoughts of a little girl whom you've never met weigh so heavily on your heart? If you have never heard of Tuesday I am not sure I can do her story justice, so if you would like you can go here to read more.

We all know cancer is bad. It is very likely that all of you have been affected by cancer in some way.

Well, this little girl's story has been on my mind. Maybe because I have a little girl of my own and stories like Tuesday's scare me to the core. Maybe it's because even though it is sad to hear of anyone suffering with cancer it is especially sad to hear of a child suffering. Maybe it is because Tuesday's family lives in Colorado, making them almost feel like neighbors to me. Sadly I know that her story is not the only one and there are so many children hurting.

So I would like to tell you about a few things that I encourage you to take part in.

Jay over at Halftime Lessons will be shaving his head to raise money for St. Baldricks. Give Jay a visit tell him he is wonderful for doing this and maybe donate to his efforts. Every little bit helps.

Lee over at Moms Without Blogs along with Em over at Life, Liberty and the Pursuit are helping to host an online "wagie ride" in memory of Tuesday Whitt for all of us that are not able to join the Whitt Family in the real life "wagie ride" honoring their daughter. For more info on the blogland "wagie ride" visit MWOB. For more info on the real life "wagie ride" visit Tuesday's Mom's blog Go Blog Yourself.

Lastly, Alice 105.9, a local radio station will be holding their yearly radiothon for Children's Hospital February 11-13. Luke and I donate every year. Children's Hospital of Denver is a wonderful place and even though we have never had to make a trip there I am so thankful for it. There are so many ways to donate, for more information about this event you can visit Alice.

I hope that one of these "events" will touch your heart and you'll decide to join and support it. I plan to do all three.

Houston We Have a Man Cold.

My wonderful husband has been sick for what feels like an eternity.

I know that in reality it has only been about 2 1/2 weeks. Okay really he was well enough to work out on Saturday and Sunday after taking 2 weeks of to get over his cold. I thought I had been lucky and both Monkey and I had missed out on this round of yuck until Friday night when both of our noses started running like faucets. My runny nose has now turned into a stuffy yet runny nose, sore throat and, exhaustion.

He was fine all day yesterday and this morning.

At around 10:00am when I talked with him on the phone this morning he let me know that he was feeling sick again and by the time he got home he developed a full blown Man Cold.

Symptoms:

• runny nose
• it hurts him to talk (to me)
• grumpiness
  
• complete exhaustion (since he knew I have been feeling ill too he suggested that we order out tonight for fear that I might be too sick to make dinner and then he'd have to make something.)
• whining and my favorite:
• disregard for the fact that I am sick too.

Awesome.



So with Luke sick and Monkey sick I guess I just don't have time to be sick.

What the Hell!?! Mommy's always get the short end of the stick. It's not like I wanted to be sick, but now I get to be sick and still take care of everything/everyone. (or in other words pretend like I feel fine).

Now if you'll excuse me I better go check on my sick husband because according to the Urban Dictionary, Man Colds can be fatal.