Wanna Go To Paris??

I love new blog finds!  Oh Happy Day (hello, cutest blog name ever) is giving away a trip for two to Paris!  Just don't enter, ok, because *I* need to win this.  Pop on over and check out the amazingness.  
Now, who will I take with me?  You?  You?  No, not you - you?

It Is ....

Bloody F-ing HOT.  
99 degrees here today, in fact.  It was this way yesterday too - when I got home from work my whole lil' family was napping, so I did some stuff around the house (including what may or may not have been a craft gone horribly wrong - we shall see), and watered the garden for a second time since everything looked droopy.  Since it was too hot to do much more than sit around in the lovely, wondrous central A/C, we headed to our YMCA waterpark!  We are lucky enough to have a Y pool, built two years ago, with a water slide and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.  We stayed there until dinner time, then my sister and her fiance met us at home with takeout from our favorite Middle Eastern place.  Perfect!  And nothing makes your minions sleepier than swimming all afternoon.

So.  I have a new girl-crush.  I StumbledUpon Sayward Rebhals' amazing blog, Bonzai Aphrodite, a few weeks ago, and promptly read through everything she has ever written.  At first, as a happy omnivore, I read over it out of curiosity.  But her approach to food, and her amazing recipes and advice, have inspired me to incorporate some vegan elements into our diet.  I don't know if I could ever go completely vegetarian, or vegan - happy days start with eggs over easy, for me - but getting more fresh "real" foods into your diet is never a bad thing.  


So I've been eating mostly vegetarian, with even a few vegan meals thrown in (!).  It just makes sense, with our garden starting to churn out produce, and the unbearably disgusting heat that makes turning on my oven the last thing I want to do.  And I feel lighter.  Cleaner.  Better able to focus.  
And the kicker is ... I put on pants this morning that a few weeks ago fit me like a hug, to discover that they don't fit.  Not just don't fit -were HANGING off of me.  Every time I've made a decision to focus on health and forget about losing weight, it just comes off.  


And - excuse the crappy camera phone picture - I'm eating some really yummy stuff

Lunch today was radish greens, tomatoes, basil leaves, and a bit of ricotta on whole wheat toast.  I brought this and a Pink Lady apple - and was too full to eat the apple.  
Now it's a challenge every day to keep this going.  I'm hoping between this shift and incorporating "juiced" smoothies, I can get the girls to be better about eating veggies.   


Annnddddd in other news - my evil sisters (not really, but I'm mad at them right now) are going to see Mumford & Sons tonight without me!  Traitors!!!! This is my favorite song right now, I will leave you with this.  When I heard it the first time it reminded me of quiet summer thunderstorms and heat lightning - then I found out the title was actually "After The Storm"

Try not to lick the screen ... Marcus is pretty edible! :-)


 

The One Where I Bitch About Having To Work

Yes, this is a slight vent, and it involves the lovely SAHM vs Work outside the home mom thingy.  If you aren't in the mood to read this, I completely understand, I just need to get this out there.

Lemme start at the beginning - before I had kids I was a nanny.  A nanny for a couple who were both lawyers, who worked anywhere from 40-60 hours per week.  And I judged them.  I am ashamed to say it but I did.  Why didn't they re-arrange their schedules to stay home more with their two daughters?  They were paying me a significant amount of money to watch their girls, surely they could swap out paying me and cut back hours?

The clarity that I have now is - they worked damn hard to get themselves to where they were, professionally.  They also tried like mad to make up for lost time when they were home with their kids.  I understand now, as a work-outside-the-home mommy, that you never have total peace of mind.  If you're at work, you're thinking about how you should be at home, if you're at home, you're stressing about what needs to be done at work.  You are judged constantly as a mother, whether SAHM or not, but when you work you get a whole other set of people thrown into the mix - your co-workers.  Is she getting special treatment?  Is she really focused when she's here?  Oh, lord - her kid is sick again, who knows when she will be back in.

I am very, very lucky with my situation, but I never, ever planned on working again after I had children.  I thought for sure I would be a stay at home mom.  But after moving across 4 states and a job change for the Mister, we were definitely not well-off.  My parents moved to our area when I found out I was pregnant with Mooch, and my Mom volunteered to watch her while I worked (I was working at a soul-sucking restaurant job that I loathed, but it was a paycheck).  Because I hadn't been at my job for a year, I had no maternity leave time.  I could leave my job, unpaid, for 6 weeks and they would have to guarantee that I could go back to the same position, but that was it.  So after having my first child, teaching myself (and her) how to breastfeed, learning how to use a pump, figuring out this whole new mother thing, and attempting to prep and freeze meals, I headed out to work.  
And cried.  Every day for a month when I left for work, I cried the entire way there.  That, I've found, never completely leaves you - I still get a lump in my throat and feel like my heart is being torn out when I have to kiss them goodbye in the morning.

I also made a resolution.  Just because *I* had to live with being a work-outside-the-home mommy, that didn't mean my kids were going to suffer for it.  I already got to avoid daycare (to say that I send up praise to every entity in the Universe for this, every day, is a gross understatement), and the girls get to spend either days with Daddy or with my parents.  But that wasn't enough.  They needed to be fed the best food, have a clean house to come home to, have a relaxed and happy mommy and daddy.  

So, now that I work a job that is a vast improvement from the last, and I only work 28 hours a week (so I am out by 2:30 every day) I usually wake up by 6 at the latest, and start the day out with a run.  This is my head-clearing, soul-searching, spiritual time.  I'm only half kidding when I say running is my church.  It makes me a more centered person for the rest of the day.  When I get back to the house I dash in and grab the clothes out of the washer, and hang them on the line, then water the garden.  By this time everyone is usually stirring, and I make breakfast.  I still haven't showered, so after I serve everyone I wrap my breakfast to-go and shower while they finish eating.  Get everyone dressed, do hair, make sure teeth are brushed.
Then, my least favorite time - a time that, just this morning, Butterbean clung to my leg and said "You no go work, Mama.  You stay home with me"  :-(
When I get home Butterbean is usually napping, so Mooch and I either play outside or do crafts (her favorite).  TV isn't allowed in the afternoons, unless someone is sick.  They both love to help me prep dinner, and now that the garden is producing, they love to go out and "pick dinner"
After they go to bed it's time to prep the coffee maker, make lunch for the next day, do laundry, clean, and catch up with the Mister.  I also try to set my running stuff out so he doesn't get woken up when I go out.  

It may seem like I'm trying to justify my situation, and in a way I am.  Because some comments still cut deep.  Like at a playgroup when I told a woman I worked and she said, "Oh, when we had our kids we agreed that they were our first priority".  Or telling someone I work and having them even say, "Wow, that's too bad."  Equally awful are the suggestions we cut back spending so that I can stay home.  We pay bills every month with enough leftover to *maybe* take the kids out for pizza.  If we had to pay for childcare, I would not be working - but we also would probably be living in an apartment with no backyard, and no beautiful 100 lb dog.  

So I work, and then I go home and am overjoyed at getting to have time to play with my kids.  I am usually the parent you see trying to teach them how to hopscotch, or with dirty bare feet from chasing them around the yard, or blowing bubbles and giggling like a fool at a toddler trying to catch them.  I try to feed my family healthfully, organically, and ethically.  I cook almost every night.  I can't remember the last time we had takeout, and my husband loves to tell people that "no restaurant cooks as well as my wife does".  I am always on the lookout for the latest craft to do with the girls, making playdates for them, trying hard to make every minute of their day filled with fun.  They have an amazing father who gets down on the floor and plays with them, signs them up for activities, takes them to museums and zoos.  They have grandparents who live on 5 acres of wilderness, where they get to run wild.  
Yes, I sometimes run myself into the ground trying to make sure that the 5 hours a day that I am gone are as pain-free to everyone as possible, but it is worth it.

I wouldn't trade this for anything in the world.

Green Enchiladas & Kale Chips

I love kale.  I started cooking with it a few years back for the famous Italian Wedding Soup, and since then we've tried it lots of different ways.  Friends kept telling me about kale chips but for some reason it took me forever to try making them, but I am HOOKED.  Easy, good for you, and so yummy.  I was at a loss for a side dish for the green enchiladas I was making with some leftover rotisserie chicken, so I added some spice to these, and they were perfect.

Chili-Lime Kale Chips
1 large bunch of kale, rinsed and patted dry, ribs removed
2 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice
2 Tb olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
Sea salt to taste

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.  Cut the kale into 2" pieces and arrange on two large rimmed baking sheets.  In a small bowl whisk together olive oil, lime juice, and chili powder.  Use a basting brush dipped in mixture to sprinkle it evenly across kale.  Sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake for 10 minutes, remove pans from oven and toss chips so that they crisp evenly, and bake again for another 5 minutes.  I adjusted the baking times from other recipes that I saw because they reduced the kale chips to almost nothing.

Green Enchiladas
One day last week I ran late picking up the girls and stopped by the supermarket and grabbed a rotisserie chicken for an easy dinner.  You can easily substitute beans in here to make this a vegetarian meal, but this was a great way to use up the rest of the chicken.
1 c Goya Recaito Cilantro Sauce
1 c milk
2 c leftover chicken, shredded; or 1 can of beans, drained
1/2 c shredded Mexican cheese
1/2 large onion, chopped
3 jalapenos, finely diced
6" flour tortillas


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a small skillet heat 2 Tb olive oil, then add onion and jalapeno.  Saute for 5 minutes, until onions are just translucent.  Remove from heat and set aside.  
In a large bowl whisk together milk and cilantro sauce.  Take one tortilla, dip in cilantro sauce mixture, and lay on a cutting board.  Add shredded chicken, onion and jalapeno mixture, and cheese.  Roll up and place in a rectangular baking dish, repeat process with remaining ingredients.  Pour any remaining cilantro sauce mixture over enchiladas, and top with more cheese.  Bake for 35 minutes, until tops begin to turn golden.

You Crafty Bitch

This here craft is brought to you with inspiration from Mary Janes & Galoshes, probably my new favoritest crafty blog.  She featured this craft back in May and I was itching to try it.  Her photography is amazing too, so check her out!

So I posted a teaser picture of the before, with all my materials:

 And here is the after!

How cute is that?!?  
This will help me organize a corner of counter in my kitchen that accumulates junk way too regularly.
The pie tins cost a grand total of $2.50, the glass bird was $1, and the glass candlesticks were 2 for $1.  OK, so I had to buy some heavy-duty glue to assemble ($4 at AC Moore) but since it was already put to use repairing a broken Polly Pocket figurine and fixing a headband, well worth it.  The all-surfaces spray paint I had leftover from a shelf that I refinished (but if you had to buy it, it's around $4 a can).  
To start I scrubbed everything down and wiped it all clean.  Then I laid the bird and the two candlesticks in a paint tray, took them outside, and sprayed them and rolled them around until they were good and coated.
*Warning - the all surface spray paint is extremely sticky and goes EVERYWHERE.  Lay whatever you're spray painting on cardboard, take it outside, and set it on grass to spray it.*
I had to repeat this step the next day to get a good even coating.  The next day when everything was dry, I glued the candlestick into the bottom pie tin, glued the next pie tin to the top of that candlestick, and repeated with the next layer.  Then I put a jumbo can of tomatoes in the top pie tin to weight it down, and let it dry for 24 hours.  The next day I glued down the bird and again let it dry for 24 hours.

I may duplicate this with some variations to organize my jewelry, which is in a pretty broke-down jewelry case right now.  
And it wasn't until I looked at the bird head-on after being spray painted that I noticed it had some serious wonk-eye going on:

 Hmmmm ...

How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

Cause mine is kicking BUTT! :-)

 Moonflower vine is getting pretty big ... how long til it flowers?  Anybody?  Our planter of mustard greens is pretty awesome.  I added some more seeds in the empty space and they are already sprouted, 5 days later.

 WHO ran into my garden and messed up one of my zucchinis?  Hmmmm?

Happiness.

Lavender.  One day I will have a house with a field, and that field will be almost completely filled with lavender.

Bullhorn pepper.  This was a plant "rescued" from Home Despot's (typo on purpose) cast-offs.  Again, they put out flats of plants that have maybe a few brown leaves on them to be tossed in the garbage.  I scored 2 flats of tomato plants, peppers, perennials, and two planters of petunias. Say that 3 times fast.

Cucumber plant is blooming!  I finally smartened up and put a giant tomato cage around this, and it makes all the difference.  It was sprawling out across the garden, and now I have a few extra feet on either side of it.

Spring onions, that will be ready in the summer.  Hey, I got a late start this year.

Is it .... arugula?  I honestly can't remember.  I planted tons of seeds in one day and depended on my memory (HA!)  It's kind of fun though .. it's MYSTERY GARDEN!

 Cabbage.  I think I have to thin this though, there are 3 coming up all crowded on top of each other.

Peas and radishes!  I pulled up a few gorgeous radishes in the last few days.  I should have thinned them when they were smaller, but I'm still getting some beauties.  I brought a yummy veggie sandwich the other day with produce from the garden - sliced radish, mustard green sprouts, pea tendrils, and a bell pepper from the farmer's market over some ricotta in a whole wheat pita, with dill from the garden and a drizzle of herbed olive oil. 

Beets were thinned this morning.  I'm researching recipes using beet greens for dinner tonight.

The girls' favorite thing in the afternoon is checking the strawberry plants for ripe ones to eat.  And is there anything cuter than two girls sitting on the edge of a garden, wolfing down strawberries as fast as they can pick them?

This weed pops up all over this side of the house.  It is spiny and a bitch to pull out, so I'm letting it have this little space next to the garden in my mint patch.  I *think* it's thistle, and it's native ... so if it attracts pollinators, I'll let it be.  Anyone know of any uses for thistle?

I don't know who ran into the zucchini plant, Mom.  Definitely not me chasing a tennis ball.  

I couldn't figure out what this was, until I saw the mottling on the leaves.  This is a calla lily, from the garden that used to be here.  So this sucker pushed up through 6 extra inches of dirt.  I love calla lillies!

My tarragon is blooming.  Is it supposed to?  Should I pinch the blooms off, like with basil?  I have big plans for this herb, so I need to know!

Rescued tomato plant is the first to produce!
Hope you all are having a great start to your summer.  We had neighborhood kids over All. Weekend. Long.  I love that the girls have friends in the neighborhood, but it got a little tiring.  I'm hoping to steal some quiet afternoons with my loves this week.  Be well!

Love Styles ... Food For Thought

From Wikipedia:
Love styles are models of how people love, originally developed by John Lee (1973,^[1] 1988^[2]). He identified six basic love styles—also known as "colors" of love—that people use in their interpersonal relationships:

• Eros – a passionate physical and emotional love based on aesthetic enjoyment; stereotype of romantic love
• Ludus – a love that is played as a game or sport; conquest; may have multiple partners at once
• Storge – an affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship, based on similarity (kindred to Philia)
• Pragma – love that is driven by the head, not the heart; undemonstrative
• Mania – obsessive love; experience great emotional highs and lows; very possessive and often jealous lovers
• Agape – selfless altruistic love; spiritual;

Clyde Hendrick and Susan Hendrick of Texas Tech University expanded on this theory in the mid-1980s with their extensive research on what they called "love styles". They have found that men tend to be more ludic, whereas women tend to be storgic and pragmatic. Mania is often the first love style teenagers display. Relationships based on similar love styles were found to last longer. People often look for people with the same love style as themselves for a relationship. These styles are akin to the Greek types of love.