Monday Menu and mea culpa

Forgive me friends for I have failed. It's been five days since my last blog post despite my commitment to blog daily. What can I say? It was a crappy week. Hopefully the coming week will be better. Unfortunately our Thanksgiving guests have had to cancel so it will be quieter around here than I had hoped. Also unfortunately, we may have to spend the weekend helping Ian move... back into our dining room. But it's still Thanksgiving week and I've still got plenty to be thankful for and I'm going to focus on that.

So.. on to the menu!


Monday - Pink Beans, Fajita Beef, Tortillas, Cheese, Avocado, Lettuce and salsa

Tuesday - Veggie Lasagne and Garlic Bread

Wednesday - Leftovers or Sandwiches

Thursday - Thanksgiving Feast - I'll post the actual menu on Wednesday. It looks like it will be very interesting. Zane is coming up with some fantastic vegetarian dishes to cook.

Friday - Hockey Game! Dinner at the rink.

Saturday - Thanksgiving leftovers

Sunday - Dinner with friends

Miss, Miss, and Monday Menu

Well.. I missed posting Friday and Saturday because I was busy being busy. Friday I was setting up for the bazaar and Saturday I was there all day. Sales were a little slow but at I did earn what the booth cost me. However, it was a fund raiser for the high school band so the money is money I probably would have spent anyway. I definitely can't see myself becoming the type of person who spends every weekend at a different festival or show though. I'll keep making jewelry for friends and family but the show circuit will just have to go on without me.

After the bazaar we went straight to the football game which was logistically complicated because the band kids had to tear down and clean up the bazaar and get to the football stadium in less than two hours. Pep band is what really takes us to the games but this year the football has been great too. The team was undefeated until last night's state level playoff game. It was so hard for the kids to accept this loss. The first loss of the year ended their season. They were all bummed out... and the football team took it pretty hard too. It was a fun season though. The games were exciting but I had as much fun watching the kids in the stands. They really are a great group of teenagers. They give me hope for the future.

The last six weekends have been all about football games and making jewelry so it is fitting that both obsessions ended on the same day. Now we can focus on the holidays. Bob will be out of town most of this coming week so meals will be simple and mostly vegetarian. I plan to spend the week cleaning up the house and getting ready for Thanksgiving... and Christmas too because after our Thanksgiving house-guests leave we will only have two weeks until the kids are out of school for winter break!

Ok.. no hyperventilating.. let's just take it one week at a time... organization will get me through this... (I'll probably make this my mantra for the rest of the year.)

Monday - Pancakes and scrambled eggs

Tuesday - Baked Ziti with Tomatoes and Kale

Wednesday - Frijoles a la charra (Pinto Beans) and Quesedillas


Thursday - Teriyaki Tofu or Chicken, Rice, Gingered Carrots

Friday - Homemade Pizza

Saturday - Anniversary Dinner - I don't know what we are doing yet but I hope it's not staying home and eating fast food...

Sunday - Football munchies - Sub Sandwiches and Chips


Hopefully I will stay on track and get a lot accomplished next week and I will resume posting everyday!

Because Jason asked for it...

Jason at The Jason Show left this comment on yesterday's shoe post.

"Women have so much more license when it comes to fun shoes.

Guys shoes are all...just...boring...."

Now I love a challenge. I especially love a shoe challenge. So I had to go looking for guy shoes that aren't boring and I found some. But before we get to those shoes I have to mention that the shoes from yesterday's post are also available in Men's sizes. No, they aren't just big women's shoes, Jason. The shoes I featured yesterday are Sanita Clogs, which are then painted by The Swanx the majority of their standard designs are fairly feminine but they also offer a custom design service and can paint just about anything (they also specialize in pet portraits so Jason could wear Pumpkin and Patches to work if he really wanted to.)

Now, on to the other cool shoe options...

How about these? They are sturdy and fashionable with soles that "Resist alkali, water, acid, fatigue and Satan." Which might come in handy in the classroom...



Or these?

"For music and fashion lovers alike, John Fluevog and songwriter Brother Daniel of the Danielson Family have finally released their exciting new collaboration. Complete with crowning cut-outs of dark and baby blues, crimson double stitch, and the Danielson iconic heart on the heel"

They are also available in black and white but that's a little boring...




Both are made by Fluevog Shoes. They have many other cool styles for men and for women too.

On the cheaper side there are Sketchers. They are comfortable and fun although they do tend to cause foot funk if you don't wear socks...



These are available at Zappos.com

So, Jason.. what kind of cool shoes are you hoping for? This is just a small sample of what is out there. Boring isn't your only option!

Crazy shoes

I have a long history of choosing shoes that cause my friends and relatives to question my sanity. I can't explain why.. I'm just drawn to shoes that other people think are ugly.





Wanna help me pick my next pair?

I forgot to add... these wonderful shoes and more like them are hand painted and available at The Swanx.

A little choked Up

If you mix a bit of this...



with this...



You get an embarrasingly weepy mom.

I love this movie (and the vodka too.)

Busy, busy!

Oops.. I forgot to post yesterday and almost forgot again today because I've been parked at the table for days now. My dogs are traumatized, my computer is feeling neglected but I've just got so much to do. I have four days left to finish making jewelry for my first bazaar. Today I finished three necklaces and twenty pair of earrings and my fingers are starting to feel like arthritic claws. The bazaar is Saturday and it's pretty small but I'm worried that my booth is going to look bare so I'm doing my best to make a ton of stuff.. then I'll worry that no one will buy it and I'll be stuck with a couple hundred earrings!

Free Stuff!

My friend Leeann at Is is Morning Already? Is giving away two sets of these really cool Skoy cloths. Check out her blog for more information!

Ahhh... now it makes sense

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I was complaining about the movie "Where the Wild Things Are"? My biggest complaint about it was that it took a simple story about a normal boy and turned it into a complex story about a bunch of dysfunctional characters. The story I love, the picture book story, seemed to be a creative prompt for a much darker movie, almost as if the movie had been based on a completely different book inspired by the picture book.

Well, guess what... it was.

The Wild Things
Dave Eggers

The Wild Things, based loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay co-written with Spike Jonze, is about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can’t control. His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, he finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness — he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, can’t always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods. He finds a boat there, jumps in, and ends up on the open sea, destination unknown. He lands on the island of the Wild Things, and soon he becomes their king. But things get complicated when Max realizes that the Wild Things want as much from him as he wants from them. Funny, dark, and alive, The Wild Things is a timeless and time-tested tale for all ages.

It's just hair

Is anyone else a bit annoyed that the girl who redefined eyebrows when we were teenagers....

Is now telling us that our eyelashes aren't good enough?

Just asking...

Progressive?

When I was eleven I realized why I was such a lousy kickball player. Not because I was lacking sufficient foot/eye coordination, or because I hated running. (So why in the world would I want to actually kick the ball?) No, the real reason I was always the last person picked for the kickball (other than the fact that my nickname was "wart woman") was because I couldn't see well. My vision wasn't so bad that I truly couldn't see but I was amazed to find out that my friends could identify who was standing in the outfield. Glasses solved my vision problem but I never really got attached to being able to see clearly... or to playing kickball. Year after year my glasses sat in a drawer getting more and more unfashionable. Eventually I just decided I never really needed them. That worked until recently... now my pleasantly fuzzy world is finally getting on my nerves. So, after 33 years, I gave in and went to see the eye doctor again. The good news is that I'm no more near sighted than I was in fifth grade. The bad news is that I now need reading glasses. Oh Goody.. I'm progressive.. or at least my glasses are.

Comic courtesey of www.marriedtothesea

Nablopomo

It's been months since I felt like writing anything at all. I don't know why. Maybe I need a challenge? So for the third year in a row I am going to participate in Nablopomo and post every day for a month and hope that I can jump start my creative engine.

Where the Emotionally Overwhelmed and Tragically Misunderstood Things Are

Okay, I'll admit it right up front... I don't think picture books should be made into movies. There isn't enough substance to fill a 90 minute film and something always has to be made up to fill space. However, making stuff up to fill in the gaps in literature is one of the main tasks of the reader. It's the mental activity that makes reading a more cerebral activity than watching TV, because active brain engagement is required. No active brain work is involved in watching a movie, in fact most movies are written to avoid any possibility of needing a brain... that's why they make the music so loud and the special effects so enormous and fast... so that any brains not turned off along with cell phones at the beginning of the movie will be caught up in the noise and flash and won't bother anyone with pesky logical analysis. So, now that you know my bias, feel free to stop reading if you loved the movie. If you are planning to see the movie perhaps you shouldn't read this either... just go see it and then come back to compare notes with me.

Where the Wild Things Are is one of my favorite picture books, although I did not read it as a young child, I actually read it in college as an assignment for a children's literature class and immediately fell in love. The reason I loved it was because I have two younger brothers, brothers who I was frequently responsible for when we were growing up, brothers who could easily have been Max. They built forts in their bedrooms, climbed on the roof, burned army men in the back yard, and had rock throwing contests using each other's heads as targets... basically they were walking nightmares for a teenaged sister to be stuck home with all summer. In other words, they were boys. In the book Max is a boy doing normal boy things and annoying the heck out of his mother. Eventually she loses her temper and she sends him to bed without supper, because the book was written in 1963 and sending a child to bed without supper was enlightened parenting, so much more civilized than slapping him silly or sending him out to cut switches to beat his own butt with. Max goes to bed and that night a forest grows in his room and he takes a trip to a place that most boys I have ever known would love... the land of the Wild Things. The land of Wild Things is a place where a boy can be king simply because he is able to stare down scary things, where he can rumpus without being told to stop howling or to get out of the trees, where teeth and claws don't need to be cleaned, and no one ever yells about grass stains on wolf suits. However, the real magic of the book isn't that Max has found the perfect place to be wild, or that, after all of that wild boy energy has been expended Max, worn out and a little crabby, sends his new monster friends off to bed without their supper. The real magic is an everyday miracle that turns the wildest boys into sweet cuddle monsters... it’s knowing that there is a place where he is loved best of all, and finding forgiveness waiting there for him. For me Where the Wild Things Are is a book about the insanity and joy of parenting boys, regular, normal, wild boys. The kind of boys who might make a normal Mom loses her cool sometimes but who are so adorable that we just can’t stay mad at them.

This is not what the movie is about. (Now, seriously, if you are planning to see the movie you really shouldn’t read this next part.) Where the Wild Things Are – The Movie, is updated for our post Ritalin world where children who aren’t perfect must have a good reason for their aberrant behavior. Max is an unhappy, lonely boy with an absent father, a distracted stressed-out mother, an older sister who lets her friends ruins his things, and a teacher who delights in scaring his students with tales of the end of the world. Max doesn’t smile, doesn’t seem to have any friends, and has a tendency to act out in violent and destructive ways. During a screaming fight with his mother which ends with her chasing him around the kitchen, as out of control as he is, Max bites her and then runs away in a rage. He ends up on the island where the Wild Things are. These wild things aren’t the innocent creatures from the book. They are complex characters with serious emotional issues and sociopathic tendencies. The lead monster is a bipolar bully who destroys anything that isn’t perfect and he decides that Max is going to be their king. Max, intimidated by monsters and frightened by the bones of former kings, lies to convince them that he is more than just a boy. He struggles to lead them but is overwhelmed by the unending dysfunctional battles they wage. Eventually he decides to go home. The movie was filled with amazing scenery, fantastic beasts, and really bizarre music that my daughter and her friends were still talking about two days later, but there was no resolution, no deeper understanding and, sadly, no magic at all.

In all fairness I need to say that my fifth grade daughter and her friends thoroughly enjoyed the movie... but I did not. It was the most depressing movie I have seen this year. The best thing I can say about it is that it was so far removed from the original story that it didn’t ruin the book for me. I reread it several times before sitting down to write this and I still stand by my original understanding of the story. Beautiful in it's simplicity, eloquent in just ten sentences, no extra drama was necessary.

Menu Plan Monday

Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of Bob's accident and, while we didn't actually celebrate it, I do feel as though we have good reason to acknowledge the passing of time. Bob is doing well. He found out Friday that he probably won't need to have surgery on his knee. A year ago we honestly didn't have any idea how extensive his injuries were or how long it would take him to heal but it's obvious now that this was truly a life changing event. However, we try to see this as positive, I think we are benefiting from the stark reality of how precious and fragile our lives are, and how lucky we are to have each other. We have also seen the truth of how hard life is when one partner is hobbled with pain and we both are trying to take better care of ourselves so that we can actually enjoy being old together rather than spend our retirement dragging each other to the doctor. So we are eating healthier, driving more carefully, riding our bikes more often... little changes that will hopefully help a lot. Now I'm sounding like an infomercial...

On to the menu!

In our CSA box this week we have:

1 pint Sungold cherry tomatoes
2# slicing tomatoes
2# fingerling potatoes (Austrian Crescent)
1 rutabaga
1 head broccoli
1 bunch pink beauty radishes
1 bunch carrots
1 shallot
1 bunch rainbow chard
1 bunch arugula
1# Liberty apples
1# Asian pears

I have to admit I am happy that we didn't get any green beans this week. I have found that I would rather eat Kale than green beans lately... it's very weird to see what happens when you have a surplus of fresh vegetables! The Rutabaga will be a challenge though.

Monday - Tortilla Casserole with Rainbow Chard, Fajita Beef, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Guacamole
Tuesday - Spaghetti, Meatballs or Beanballs, Broccoli
Wednesday - Shredded Beef Soup, Bean Chili, Tortillas, Corn and Avocado Salsa
Thursday - Baked Chicken or Chik'n, Roasted Root Vegetables, Biscuits
Friday - Timberline Football - Sandwiches or Hot Dogs
Saturday - Make your own Pizza
Sunday - Teriyaki Beef or Tofu Skewers, Rice, Steamed Carrots, Asian Pickle

The weather man is saying that today our lovely sunshiny fall weather will end as a rainy system blows down from Alaska. I'm going to miss the sun! I'm also going to have to figure out what to do with the hundreds of green sungold tomatoes in my backyard. I've only managed to harvest a couple of pints and now it's going to freeze before the majority of the fruit is ripe. Darn it! Lessons for next year I guess... I probably won't plant tomatoes again.

For more menu ideas check out the list at www.orgjunkie.com . Have a good week!

Too Late Tuesday...

Where did Monday go? I know it was just here. Maybe it's hiding behind that huge stack of paperwork that the schools NEED me to fill out again this year even though it's the same stack I filled out last year, and the year before, and the year before.. and nothing has changed? Oh well. Anyway... I guess I've lost Monday so today will have to be Menu Plan Tuesday. It doesn't matter much though because last week I failed to cook even one meal on my list. Honestly, I only cooked three meals all week! It was that kind of week... and then it got worse. This week will have to be better.

Our CSA share this week...

1# green beans

3 ears of sweet corn

1 bunch white carrots

1# slicing tomatoes

2# red potatoes

1 fennel bulb (plus two more that I snagged from the give away box... apparently some people really don't like fennel)

1# tomatillos

1 onion

1 cucumber

2 peppers (1 green and 1 sweet Kappelo)

6 jalapenos

1 bunch arugula

1 bunch cilantro

1 bag basil

• Monday - Spicy Tofu or Beef, Mung Bean Noodles and Vegetables


• Tuesday - Pulled Pork Sandwiches, TVP Sloppy Joes, Waffle Fries, Tomatoes and Cucumbers


• Wednesday - Chicken and Fennel made with Chicken or Quorn Chik'n and Couscous


• Thursday - Lasagna - Back to School night at the high school so this will be in the oven


• Friday - I will be at the Portland Bead Fest so it's leftovers, sandwiches or pizza


• Saturday - Shrimp Tacos, Pink Beans, Sauteed Peppers, Guacamole, Tortillas


• Sunday - Bob grills something

Today is apparently the first day of Autumn but we have absolutely gorgeous weather so I'm going to stick the pork in the crockpot and then get on my bike and go for a ride. Have a great week everyone!

Menu Plan Monday

Another Monday morning and I'm struggling to commit to a menu for the week. I'm torn between my need to use up all of the vegetables in my refrigerator and our unbelievably busy schedule this week. This is the first full week back to school and we have two band meetings (elementary and high school), two gymnastics lessons, tennis team every day, two (I think) tennis matches, and Pep band at the football game. Plus, knowing how last minute the high school planning is, I expect the kids to come home today with a notice that back to school night will be Thursday. It would be easiest to have fast food a couple of times this coming week but I simply can't do that to my kids. It's been so long since McDonalds was a regular supplier of meals to my family that everyone got sick the last time we ate there. In a weird way this is very good news.


Our CSA box this week looked like this:


3# Purple Majesty potatoes
1 pint Sungold cherry tomatoes
1# slicing tomatoes
1 eggplant
2# green beans
3 green peppers
1 bunch carrots
5 cucumbers
1 bunch cipollini onions
1 onion
1 bag basil
1. 5# Asian pears


Now I have to admit that my family really does not like the Purple Potatoes. They taste pretty much like regular potatoes but the color just freaks everyone out. So far the only thing they have liked were purple waffle fries. This week I'm going to try hiding them in a spicy stew and then hiding the stew in tortillas! My other admission is that I've never cooked eggplant and I'm a little afraid of it. So I'm going to be bad and start with a fairly high fat recipe that looks really tasty. My theory is that if I can get the kids hooked on something extra yummy with eggplant then they may be willing to try something a little more simplistic with eggplant the next time. We will see... So the menu, so far, looks like this. Wish me luck.

• Monday - Asian Grilled Pork Chops, Spicy Tofu, Rice Noodles and Vegetable Stirfry
  


• Tuesday - Eggplant Lasagna Tart, Italian Sausage, Pasta Marinara
  


• Wednesday - Turkey or TVP Gyros, Pita Bread, Cucumber Tomato Salad
  


• Thursday - Shredded Beef and Purple Potato Soup, Pink Beans, Tortillas, Shredded Cheddar and Salad
  


• Friday - Leftovers or Sandwiches
  


• Saturday - Make your own Pizza
  


• Sunday - Roast Beef, Lentil Loaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

I hope everyone has a great week! For more menus check out http://www.orgjunkie.com/.

The first day of school

Today was my last first day.

For sixteen years I have enjoyed the excitement of the first day of elementary school. I love watching it all.. from confident sixth graders strutting on to the playground, reveling in the role of the oldest kids in school, to the timid first graders who light up when they see friends from last year. It's great to see the familiar faces in the crowd and the mothers of kindergarteners hiding their tears. But this is my last year. Next year my baby will move on to Middle School.

Who would have thought sixteen years could go so fast?

Angry bananas

For the last few months my doctor and I have been on a quest for the ideal way to control my blood pressure. This is not as easy as it sounds because apparently my body is a bit weird (like I didn't already know that?) and can be counted on to react negatively to most drugs. If the possible side effects of a drug are something like rash, dizziness, and night sweats, I am sure to develop all of them.. and invent a few new ones too. So far the various drugs have made my lips and tongue swell, given me multiple rashes, and caused severe joint pain.. and none of them have made any difference in my blood pressure readings.

I was pretty happy when this month's experiment in modern chemistry actually started working. Within a few days of starting the new medication my blood pressure was completely normal. But, of course, everything good comes with a price and in this case the price seems to be my body's store of potassium. I asked the dr. if I couldn't just eat a few bananas but apparently that wouldn't do. Instead she prescribed huge, banana yellow, tablets. Great, now I'm on a medication to fix the problems that the medication that's supposed to make me well is causing. What's worse? The potassium supplement makes me nauseous and I'm miserable all day. So for the last few days I've taken the medication at night... which has created a whole new interesting symptom... vivid angry dreams. Night after night I've been fighting with my children and friends in my dreams and waking up in the middle of the night upset and unable to go back to sleep. But as unpleasant as it has been for me I think it's been worse for my poor husband who is trying to sleep next to me while I battle my way through the night. This morning I actually HIT him while dreaming! Not just thrashed about and knocked into him.. no.. I punched him and then woke up when he said "OW!"

I guess it's time to call the dr. again.

Menu Plan Monday

School starts Wednesday and I think we are just about ready. Bob will be out of town so this week will be mostly vegetarian and fairly easy. Tonight, however, we are celebrating the end of summer with a mexican fiesta.

Here's the list of goodies that were in our CSA share on Thursday.


1. 5# Asian pears
1# slicing tomatoes
1 pin Sungold cherry tomatoes
1# Roma beans
1. 5# red potatoes
1# summer squash
1 bunch carrots
2 green peppers
2 cucumbers
2 onions
1# tomatillos
2 jalapenos
1 bunch cilantro
1 bag basil

And this is what we'll be making with them!


Monday - Chile Verde, Tortillas, Beans, sauteed peppers and onions, salad

Tuesday - Potato soup, and Grilled Cheese. I'm debating about this recipe.. it's potato, pear and pecorino cheese. Sounds yummy but will the kids eat it?

Wednesday - Spaghetti with Sungold Tomatoes, french bread

Thursday - Omelets, Country potatoes, Pancakes

Friday - Make your own pizza

Saturday - Maybe a movie and dinner out.. or something easy

Sunday - Bob grills something


For more menus visit www.orgjunkie.com.

Menu Plan Monday

Oh no! Monday is over and I'm already behind! The laundry is piled up, the dishwasher is full, the refrigerator needs to be cleaned out... and I don't want to do any of it.

My menu really fell apart at the end of last week. Friday I took the girls out to a movie and stopped at the store on the way home for a junk food feast instead of cooking pizza. Saturday we were busy all day and ended up just grabbing McDonalds on the way home. Sunday Taylor fell down the stairs and split her chin open. It took five hours to get her stitched up and the poor girl just wanted mashed potatoes for dinner.. so that's what I cooked. Hopefully this week will be better although we aren't off to a great start. Dinner tonight was at the Japanese steakhouse.

Tomorrow I'd better get back to cooking.

Our CSA share for this week contained:

4 ears sweet corn
1# Roma beans
1½# German Butterball potatoes
1# summer squash
1# slicing tomatoes
1# tomatillos
1 red onion
1 sweet onion
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch rainbow chard
2 cucumbers
2 jalapenos
1 head garlic
1 lettuce
1 bunch chives
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch flowers

I used the tomatillos and jalapenos for chile verde. Everything else will be pretty easy to use up.. nothing too weird this week.

Monday - dinner out
Tuesday - Rainbow Chard Tacos with Caramelized Onion and Fresh Cheese, Pink Beans
Wednesday - Beef Stroganoff, Vegetable Stroganoff, Potato and Cheese Pierogis
Thursday - Spaghetti and Meat or Bean Balls, Salad, Garlic Bread
Friday - Leftovers
Saturday - Make your own Pizza
Sunday - Bob grills something yummy

For more weekly menus visit www.orgjunkie.com. Have a great week everyone!

Six impossible things before breakfast

At 5am my son woke me up asking me to drive him to work because his ride didn't show up. I hate 5am but I got up, got dressed, got on the freeway, and got him to work on time. Then I came home and couldn't go back to sleep so I gave up and just got busy. Ok, maybe I didn't do six impossible things but I did discover that getting up extra early definitely improves my productivity.

I had onions, garlic, jalepenos, anaheims, tomatillos and cilantro to use so I made a pretty arrangement with them.



It looked nice but was a little too green for my decor so I roasted them all.



and made a couple quarts of chile verde salsa.

Then I took a nap!