Friday, October 30, 2009

Pinky Dinky Doo

On Tuesday, I was talking to a friend and out of no where, Lucas started screaming and crying. The cry told me hurt himself. He was maybe 4 feet away from me, but my back was turned and I didn't see what happened. My friend was facing towards him, but didn't see what happened either. He was standing near the coffee table and she said she thought he might have hit his head. I picked him up and was holding him out from me looking at his head. His little forehead was wrinkled up from crying, but I didn't see any indications that he hit his head. I had already asked him what he hurt, but he was crying so much he couldn't answer. It hurt so bad he was literally crawling up me. Finally he blurted out, "My foot, my foot". I looked at his foot and his "pinky toe" was red. He got a couple kisses on his foot and all seemed to be better.

When his daddy got home that night, I told him that Lucas hurt his foot. Lucas went to greet him and we noticed he was limping. I inspected his toe and it was swollen and starting to bruise. My husband thought I should call the doc even though we knew they couldn't do much if he happened to have a broken toe. I called the doctor the next morning and they said they wanted me to bring him in so they could take a look. The doctor felt all around his foot and Lucas didn't mind at all. When she started feeling of his toe, his eyes got big and he said, "Nooooooo. Don't touch it, don't touch it". The doc said she didn't feel anything obvious, but it was very likely that his toe was broken. As we already knew, they can't really do anything for a broken little toe. She said to keep an eye on him and that if he was still limping in a few days to take him and have it x-rayed.

That night, I went out alone and when I came home, my husband told me that the boys had been rough housing. The toe clearly was no longer slowing Lucas down. He had even cut it on who knows what and had a new bump on his head. He is certainly a clumsy one!

Logan insisted that Lucas did not have a broken toe, but Lucas would always correct him, "No. It's broken, it's broken". I had called his injured toe his pinky toe and he corrected me, "No. My pinky dinky doo toe!".

Here are a couple pictures of his "pinky dinky doo toe".


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

First Grade....

We are several weeks into first grade now and so far it is going great! Each week Logan has been learning a new Proverb. He typically remembers it by the end of the first day!

Here is this weeks Proverb (click to enlarge):



I thought this was an excellent one for him to learn. I asked Logan if we should try to be wise or a fool. He said we should be wise, but then he raised his eyebrows and said, "But, you're not a man, Momma. Does that mean you are a wise girl?". I smiled and told him that I guess it does. Momma wants to be a wise girl!

When my husband got home that night I showed him the new Proverb. I told him I thought it was an excellent one. He raised his eyebrows and said, "I'll let it slide since it is part of the curriculum". Haha, at first he thought I had hand picked this Proverb for him. It is true that I think we all give full vent to our anger from time to time, but I am striving to be wise!

Logan also made a little book. Each day he would write a sentence and illustrate it. I just loved watching him illustrate each page and thought I would share it with you all. (You can click to enlarge if you wish.)






He asked for a bit of help on the mule's nose, but I think he did a pretty good job on his drawings!

I'm really loving homeschooling him. Getting to see his little light bulb moments is amazing!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Menu Plan Monday...



Last week we didn't get to a couple of meals because we ended up having friends over for pizza on Thursday. Then we had pizza and other leftovers on Saturday, and Sunday. So, I am carrying over some meals to this week. I have been baking a batch of banana bread every week because my husband loves to take it to work with peanut butter on it for a snack.

The pulled pork sandwiches were very good! I used ribs for mine. I cooked 4 pounds of bone in ribs in ths crockpot with just water, salt, pepper, and garlic on high for 4 hours. They were falling off the bone, so I figured that was a good sign. I don't make ribs very often and was concerned that 4 hours on high might not lead to very tender ribs. It worked, though. I shredded the meat and disposed of all the liquid and bones. The first night we had them, I did not toast the buns, but I had one for lunch on Saturday and toasted the bun (a bit of butter spread on then heated in a cast iron skillet---YUM). It was way better with the toasted bun! I really loved this recipe, but my husband is not a big fan of pork, so I likely won't get to have it again any time soon.


On to this week.....

*=new recipe

Monday--baked chicken breast, baked sweet potatoes, and green beans

Tuesday-- pan seared red snapper*, rice pilaf with pine nuts*, and carrots

Wednesday--honey balsamic chicken, homemade spaetzle, steamed broccoli

Thursday-- cheeseburger crescent rolls (recipe below), baked sweet potato fries, salad

Friday-- chicken strips, mashed potatoes, Syrian green beans

Saturday-- bean soup with kielbasa, roasted potatoes, corn bread

Sunday--leftovers

Breakfast choices:
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit
--oatmeal
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter

Lunch choices (never anything exciting):
--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit
--cheese quesadilla, chips, salsa
--macaroni and cheese, fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--fresh fruit or dried fruit
--nuts
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--Jiffy Cake cookie bars (recipe on the box....so easy and so good...I baked these up on Sunday.)
--rice crispy treats with choc. and peanut butter chips (I didn't make these until the weekend, so we still have them)
--ice cream

Cheeseburger Crescent rolls:

Last week I was making the bacon cheeseburger wellingtons and decided to try something different (with a little inspiration from my sister). Instead of making a patty and wrapping it in 4 crescent rolls, I just scrambled the hamburger meat with the seasonings. I used 2 triangles of dough to make a rectangle and put the cooled meat onto the dough. I topped it with cheese and mustard, folded the dough over and sealed the edges (I was out of bacon, so I omitted it, but if I had it I would have chopped it into little pieces and included it). It made great little pocket sandwiches and these were a much better size for us (the patty and 4 crescent rolls were HUGE). I did a pound of meat and one can of crescent rolls and that left me with leftover meat for this week!

Head on over to Laura's for more menus!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Smart boy!

A couple of days ago, I was in the basement doing laundry and talking on the phone to Christi. Logan had been sent to his room and I could hear him saying, "Momma, can I come down now?". I told Christi to hang on and walked out of the laundry room headed towards the stairs to go back up to the main level. I thought that is where Logan was, but when I headed that way, his voice became more distant and muffled. I walked back into the laundry room and I heard him more clearly. "Momma, can I come down now?".

Hmmmm. That is when I realized that he had gone into the bathroom and was talking to me through the vent. LOL! We have a 3 level town home and he was in the very top and I was in the very bottom and I could hear him like he was in the next room. Smart boy!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Funny how....


It's funny how a smell can take you back. This morning I was getting Lucas dressed and he grabbed some lotion out of his closet. I put a little bit on his hand and turned to choose some clothes for him to wear. When I turned back around, I smelled the lotion and was immediately transported back to when he was a tiny, new baby. I always used Johnson's Soothing Naturals Lotion and hair/body wash on him. It smells so good! Man, I miss that sweet, new baby, but I am loving this feisty preschooler, too! And when I say feisty, I mean completely full of energy ALWAYS (oh, and loud....did I mention loud)!

Yummy hot chocolate!

This past weekend we went grocery shopping at an international food mart. Our list was very small, but there is just so much to see that we always spend a while there browsing! We typically pick up a few things to try and we got a winner with this:
It is chocolate syrup with cinnamon. You just add a bit to warm milk. YUM! Soooo good!

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

MMMM, falafel....

We really love this homemade falafel thing. I made it for dinner on Monday (and last Monday, too...LOL!!) and I doubled the recipe and froze part of it to see how it turns out reheated. It only took a little more time and effort, so I hope it pays off.

We found some frozen falafel that we really loved and the grocery store stopped selling it. Then I tried a couple of boxed varieties that you just add water to. They weren't that great, so I decided to go for homemade. I turned to Allrecipes, and it didn't disappoint! I'm pretty bad about following a recipe, but not really following a recipe. It drives my husband batty because he fears I won't be able to duplicate it the next time around. I guess he thought it turned out, because he loved the falafel just as much the second time around!

Follow the link to the recipe I used. I don't make the yogurt, since the Costco variety tastes yummy!

Here are my eggs (remember, I doubled the recipe) with the cumin, (I omit the coriander) salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, and baking powder.


Here is the smashed chickpeas and olive oil with the onion, parsley, and garlic mixture. The recipe says to use a blender on the onion, parsley, and garlic, but my blender didn't do the trick. I tried my mini chopster (I don't have a full size food processor) instead and it worked great!


A close up of the onion, parsley, and garlic. I really let it go until it is super fine. No big chunks of onion in my falafel!


Chickpeas and onion mixture combined before adding bread crumbs. The chickpeas should probably be smashed up more, but I was in a hurry. It still tastes great, though!


A shot of the consistency after adding the bread crumbs. I didn't add enough the first time around and they fell apart while cooking.


Say hello to my little friends!! The recipe says to make 8 balls and then flatten them into patties. I personally like mine smaller since I make them into sandwiches. They also cook faster and are less likely to fall apart! I used a cookie scoop and I got 39 falafel balls.


Time to eat! We serve our falafel on Chapati bread. I buy the flour and just have to add water, knead, let sit 10 minutes, then roll it out and heat it in a hot cast iron skillet. We add hummus, tzatziki (from Costco), a squeeze of lemon juice, lettuce, tomato, and salt and pepper to taste! Yummy!!

It truly amazes me that Logan ate the whole thing up before I had even started eating mine!

Below is the slightly modified recipe.


Ingredients:

  • 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
  • 1 small onion, chopped (I didn't measure, but I would guess I used about 1/4 cup...this is measured BEFORE putting it in the chopper.)
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 egg
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 dash pepper
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup dry bread crumbs (Be sure to add these slowly. You don't want too much. I probably used about 3/4 cup)
  • oil for frying

Directions:
    1. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender (a food processor would be great...I don't have one, so used my mini chopster), process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas.
    2. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties (I like mine smaller, so I would do more like 16 balls).
    3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.

Enjoy!!


Head on over to 5 Minutes for Moms to see more tackles!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Menu Plan Monday...



Last week we tried five new recipes and we liked them all. The falafel will certainly be something we have often....we LOVED it! Matter of fact, I'm planning it into this week! The recipe says to use a blender on the onion and parsley, but my blender isn't that great and wasn't chopping it up. I switched it into my mini chopper and it worked great. I had planned on baking them, but ran short on time and fried them to save time. The recipe says to make 8 balls, but I had trouble with them falling apart when they were that large. I made some smaller ones and it worked out great.

The sesame noodles were very tasty! Even my 7 year old ate them up!

The fideo was very yummy, but I had to make a few adjustments. I didn't read at the top that you can "use less water for a drier pasta" until it was too late. It was more like a soup, so I drained most of the liquid off and added in a can of tomato paste. It stated above the recipe that you could add tomato sauce, but it was already so liquidy, so I thought the paste would be perfect and I was right!

We also tried the pumpkin pie oatmeal. I don't have individual-sized ramekins, so I just used an oval Cornigware dish and it worked out. My 3.5 year old loves oatmeal and my 7 year old tolerates it, so I thought it was something we could all eat. My boys did eat it, but neither of them really loved it. My husband and I thought it was rather tasty, though!

I also made the strawberry bread. YUM! I just finished it up late Sunday night, so the boys haven't tried it. I think they will love it!

We have had the butternut squash/sausage pasta lots of times, but last week we tried it with sweet potato instead. It was very good!


On to this week.....

*=new recipe

Monday--falafel sandwiches on chapati bread (I have chapati flour. All I have to do is add flour, knead, wait 10 minutes then roll them out and heat them on a hot cast iron skillet. YUM!)

Tuesday-- Bacon Cheeseburger Wellingtons and baked sweet potato fries

Wednesday--chipotle lime turkey breast burritos

Thursday-- pulled pork sandwiches* and baked beans

Friday-- oven baked chicken breast, baked sweet potatoes, and green beans

Saturday-- pan seared red snapper*, rice pilaf with pine nuts*, and carrots

Sunday--honey balsamic chicken, homemade spaetzle, steamed broccoli

Breakfast choices:
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit
--oatmeal
--strawberry bread with or without peanut butter
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter

Lunch choices (never anything exciting):
--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit
--cheese quesadilla, chips, salsa
--macaroni and cheese and fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--strawberry bread with or without peanut butter
--banana nut bread with or without peanut butter
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--rice crispy treats (didn't make these last week)
--ice cream

Head on over to Laura's for more menus!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Put them in the closet...


Several days ago, Lucas was pulling on his ear. He told me to "take them off". I explained that his ears won't come off, but I don't think he believed me. A few days later, he was pulling on them again and told me to "take them off". Again I explained that we can't take our ears off. He insisted, "Take my ears off. Take my nose and mouth off, too, and put them in the closet".

Haha! He is obsessed with putting things away (except for the things he uses....we must clean up after ourselves, but he doesn't enforce the same rules on himself) and wanted to put them away in the closet!

I should add, he likes to pull on his ears. It is something he has done for a while and I was concerned about it at first. I thought he may have an ear infection, but his ears always check out fine.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Menu Plan Monday...



Last week we tried a couple of new, tasty recipes. The fish was great! Logan even asked for seconds! I've roasted potatoes lots of times, but this time I took Ree's suggestion and added balsamic vinegar. It was very good and went perfectly with the fish.



The macaroni and tomatoes was really good, too! I think next time I would cut back on the butter a bit, though.

On to this week.....

*=new recipe


Monday--falafel* sandwiches on chapati bread (I will bake mine, instead of fry and omit the coriander)

Tuesday-- chicken and rice casserole, green beans, carrots

Wednesday-- chicken fajitas, chips, and salsa

Thursday-- beef broccoli stir fry and sesame noodles*

Friday-- tequila lime shrimp, fideo*, corn

Saturday-- sweet potato and sausage pasta (I am subbing sweet potatoes for the squash because I have some already cubed in the freezer that I need to use), salad

Sunday--bean soup with kielbasa and cornbread

Breakfast choices:
--pumpkin pie oatmeal*
--eggs, sausage, toast with jam
--cold cereal
--cereal bar, yogurt, cup of fruit

Lunch choices (never anything exciting):
--hot dogs, chips and fruit
--sandwiches, carrots and dip, fruit
--cheese quesadilla, chips, salsa
--macaroni and cheese and fruit
--grilled cheese and tomato soup

Snacks:
--hummus and pita chips
--strawberry bread* with peanut butter (Harris Teeter had 3 pounds of strawberries for $3.29!!)
--graham crackers and applesauce
--graham crackers, almond butter, choc. covered raisins

Treats:
--rice crispy treats
--leftover cake and ice cream

Saturday, October 10, 2009

7 already??

Yesterday, my sweet Logan turned seven years old. The time has passed by so quickly. I can hardly believe that 7 years ago this precious boy made me a momma. Mommy and Daddy love you very much Logan!!

Here is a slide show of the past year. If you want to see last year's click here.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Christmas Carol Train Tour in DC (WW)...

I don't know if the tour wasn't busy because it was in DC during the week (and we went during working hours), but there was absolutely no wait for us! I saw that in some cities, the wait was rather long. My husband took the day off and we made a day of it.














Monday, October 5, 2009

Menu Plan Monday...



I intended to get my menu plan up earlier, but I was so busy running errands and switching out wardrobes for the boys, I didn't get it planned. So, I'll figure it out as I type this up!!


We didn't get to 2 days last week, so Monday and Tuesday are covered!

*=new recipe

Monday--falafel sandwiches on chapati bread with hummus, tzatziki, lettuce, and tomatoes

Tuesday--pan fried fish*, glazed carrots, roasted potato wedges

Wednesday--honey mustard chicken, macaroni and tomatoes*, green beans

Thursday--sweet and spicy keilbasa, leftover macaroni and tomatoes, corn

Friday--?? Logan turns 7. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET BOY!! We haven't decided what we are doing yet, but thinking we may go on a little overnight getaway. Even so, I need to ask Logan what he wants to have for his birthday meal.

Saturday and Sunday--??

While looking at recipes to plan for this week I found something that I want to try next week, so I thought I would post it here (I don't want to forget).

Baked sweet potatoes