Thursday, April 4, 2013

proud mom

I am a proud mom

Son#1 made a mistake.  Son#1 copped an attitude when called on the mistake.  Son#1 needed to suck it up and pay for said mistake and learn from it (please)

and he did

suck it up I mean

and he took it

the extra punishments that Babycakes and I doled out onto him

without attitude

and

just one tiny bit of eyerolling

:)

Cream Cheese croissant bars

2 packages of refrigerator croissants
2 8oz packages of cream cheese
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
around 1 tbsp cinnamon

heat oven to 350 
spray cake pan with nonstick spray (or butter it or crisco it or however you non-stick it)
layer one can of croissant rolls on sprayed pan (don't take the rolls apart, just try to unroll it all in one sheet.  For awhile, they made nonperforated croissant rolls but I am not sure if they still do..they worked AWESOME)

blend:
cream cheese
sugar
vanilla
until smooth

layer onto croissants
add next package of croissants onto the cream cheese...don't press down

pour melted butter over the whole shebang and then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

bake for around 30 mins until brownish and delicious looking
enjoy warm or cold or room temp

:)

I think I may have posted a version of this recipe before that had eggs.

I like this one better...so delicious...and the pan never lasts longer than 12 hours in our house :)

proud of my baby

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

It's been awhile

OK...
It's been awhile
But, in my defense, pinterest is really....well...interesting.  And it has spots for all the recipes I try....

And, being a parent is some tough business.  Son#1 and Son#2, being teenagers, have been e s p e c i a l  l  y teenager-esque.  Like, after-school-special-teenager-esque.  And, Finn has been Finn.  Being a parent of a kiddo with special needs seems a bit easier than a parent of teenager, though, I have to say.  At least Finn comes with equipment and a team of support staff.  These boys just come with rolling eyes and attitude.  Have I mentioned they know everything too?

Good grief.

I just can't imagine I was T H I S bad!!!  I am sure my mom and dad would have something to add, but, alas, they are not on this blog and therefore can't interject about what a perfect vision of teenagehood I was and how I had no attitude, except love and respect.  And how I willingly complete all my chores and then some.  So, you will just have to take my word for it...

Tomorrow, I have the pleasure of getting up close and personal with the court system.  Yay (where is that mad face guy) and then on Monday there is IEP for Son#2 and his ongoing med changes for the impulse control issues that cause him to play video games, without stopping, for weeks on end and forget to shower. I wish there was a medication for Son#1 and his incessant need to be with GIRLFRIEND, as if she will disappear if he is not within 10 feet of her.

Even though all this is going on, MainMan has managed to continue to construct his zombie fortress with his clan of friends and plan for the end of the world, as we know it.

Sometime, I would just like to shower, without interruption.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

OK...today's blessing...

Even though Finners has been a little...ummmm....challenging (?!?!?!) lately, she has learned to say "I yub oo mommy," which of course, forgives everything and makes it all better.  Good thing because challenging is a delicate way to describe some of these behaviors!!!  ;)

Soup recipe of the day

Chicken Wild Rice

First...make your chicken stock...
I like to take a whole chicken and cover in with water in my stockpot
add a couple of bay leaves, 2 celery stalks (leaves etc included...just break it into a couple of pieces so it fits in the pot), a whole onion cut in half, and a 2 carrots halved or quartered (however they fit in there)

cook for an hour or so...until the chicken is done and should be falling off the bone

pull 3 cups of broth from the stockpot and set the rest aside.

boil 3 cups of broth and add 1.5 cups of wild rice, simmer for 45 mins until rice is tender (or follow the directions on your wild rice...some are different...the main point is to use the broth and DO NOT use instant wild rice)

while rice is simmering,strain broth in stock pot...you want to get rid of the celery, onions, carrots and bay leaves you put in there and any pieces of bone etc that happened while cooking chicken.  I don't strain it in any fancy kind of way, i just use a straining spoon...works just fine but I suppose you could get all cheesecloth etc with it if you wanted.

you can also pull apart the chicken.  Get rid of bones and skin (yuck) and add meat back to stockpot broth.

Dice into small pieces
1 whole onion
2 celery stalks
2 cloves of garlic (or be like me and just use the minced kind in the jar...about 1 really big tsp)
you can also dice up a carrot or two if you want

melt 4 tbsp of butter in a pan and saute onion, celery, garlic (and carrot) until soft (about 1-10 mins)
add 3 tbsp of flour and whisk for 3 mins

add to stockpot broth and meat...stir rapidly so it is all mixed well

rice should be done now so you can add that to the pot too

now add some spices to taste...

I add salt (lots of salt)
pepper
basil
some cayenne
and a splash of lemon juice (like a tbsp or a bit more)

get the soup up to a nice rolling simmer and add about 2 cups of cream (or half in half if you are watching your weight but really...add the heavy cream already)

do not let the soup boil after this (the cream will separate.  you can still eat it but it won't look creamy and nice)

ladle up into boils and serve with some garlic butter croutons or fresh homemade bread...Yummmy


when I first started making soup I was always buying campbells broth and using chicken breasts.  This whole chicken way is waaaaaaaaaay more cost effective, makes a muuuuuuuuuuuch better broth/stock and serves more.  I always make sure that my stock pot is about half full (I am not so big on super thick soups) but if you like thicker soups, just use less water.  just make sure your chicken is covered with water

also...the difference between stock and broth is not a very big one...stock is just a more condensed version of broth...so the longer you cook the chicken in the water with the veggies, the more flavorful it will become.

To this end, I usually take a day or afternoon to make my soup...I let the chicken cook with the herbs and veggies for at least a couple of hours and the stock is a golden color...more flavorful (you might need to add more water so check on it every so often).  You can also throw in whatever veggies you have and can even go veggie if you are a non meat-eater....the soup would just be wild rice and would be made the same only you would cook a pot of veggies (maybe add some leeks in there, more carrots and then you could add some mushrooms in with the sauteing portion)...then no chickens will have been harmed in the making of your soup.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

OK...so the dessert experiment failed...onto new things

So I tried to do this thing, where I made desserts and we celebrated by eating a new one every night...and it went all fine and dandy until the desserts weren't getting done until like 9 or 10pm and the kids were sleeping and Cori had to get to work

And...let's face it...

I cook but I am not Julia Childs and I am not living like that other Julia who wrote that cool Julia and Julia blog

I am a mom of two teenagers and 1 toddler
I am a teacher

and...well...I am tired.

My kids aren't all that adventurous and the grocery store around here barely carries anything more exotic than vanilla extract.

So...in 2013...I am changing the message...desserts and blessings!!!

It is my goal to find blessings every day...and throw some desserts in there too :)

Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Ipad

Today...
I received the most amazing gift...

A co-worker, Lisa, pulled me aside and GAVE me an IPad for Finn!!!

Who does that?

Who just GIVES something like this away?

I am overwhelmed with gratitude.

She is so sweet and made sure to tell me that it was the 1st edition and so it wasn't that great (is she kidding???) and they had used it before so it wasn't new (I care why???) and meanwhile I was sobbing like a lunatic.

Gratitiude is my word for the day...overwhelming gratitide

how do you thank someone for giving you a gift that has the potential to change your child's life forever?

Friday, March 16, 2012

Seizures can SUCK IT

Seizures can suck it.

They really really really can (I am very emphatic on this point)

I have no desserts (although pound cake is up for tomorrow)

but

tonight

seizures can suck it


this is the latest video of our poor little sweatpea

this is a pretty typical event

notice how we can't get her attention, her right eye doesn't match her left and her whole body crunches up and into itself???

so tonight

I am feeling sorry for myself, my family, my friends and most of all my beautiful and amazing baby girl

seizures can suck it

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h06RkEBM66c&feature=youtu.be