cashew dip/spread

this is that spread that the family with allergies used instead of ketchup/mustard/mayo/cheese. 

Ingredients:

1 cup raw CASHEW NUTS
2 tablespoons cold-pressed OLIVE OIL
2 tablespoons WATER
... 1-1/2 tablespoons LEMON JUICE
1 teaspoon SEA SALT (or to taste)
1 teaspoon PAPRIKA
1/4 teaspoon TURMERIC

Directions:

Soak cashews in salted water 4-6 hours, rinse and drain.

Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend on high until super smooth, scraping sides as needed. You may add additional water, one tablespoonful at a time, to adjust consistency to your liking.

notes: 

1.)  watch the salt!  it's very easy to overdo it so start with 1/4 tsp. and add more as needed.

2.)   if you use a blender, make sure you put in the water, start it, then add the nuts a little at at time or some of them will get stuck at the bottom.   the food processor is easier.

1. atch the salt! It's very easy to overdo it so I always start with 1/4 tsp and then add as needed.

friday food post : crockpot chicken cordon bleu

here's an easy recipe to throw in your crock pot:

ingredients:
boneless/skinless chicken breast(s)
ham
swiss cheese
cream of mushroom soup
milk

take the chicken boob and slice it into about hamburger sized pieces (for me it was quartering the breast) and then slice them all in half so that they ARE like two hamburger buns per section.

• man, here's where i wish i had the camera for y'all.

lay down the bottom "buns" of the chicken in your crock pot.  layer them with a slice of ham, and then a slice of swiss cheese.  then place the top "buns" of your chicken on top. 

mix up the soup and the milk, then pour it over the top of all the chickens. 

cover and heat until chicken is done (high = 4ish hours.  med = 6ish hours.  low = 8ish hours).  this isn't a beautiful recipe, and it's hard to get the "sandwiches" to stay together, but if you serve it with rice... the "gravy" is perfect and the taste is all good!

notes:

1. i didn't have swiss cheese and used a pizza blend instead.  it was fine. 
2. 1 can of soup per breast of chicken. 
3. for leftovers, i kept it in the crock pot and poured about 1 c. of rice in to mix up with the "gravy" and it was delish!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

what is going on?!

so what's the deal?  am i a blogger, or just a wanna-be??? 
here's the deal.  i'm busy, ok.  busy doing what?  well... things i guess.

• i started watching 3 kiddos in the afternoons.  it's supposed to be mon-wed.  i have a 1,2,3,4,5,and 6 year old in the house from about 11:45 to about 4:30.  and from 4-whenever they get picked up, i add another 6 year old and a 12 year old.  busy?  it's alright.
• i started a new bible study last week and it rocks.  i love it!  i'd invite each and every one of you to come with me... if i knew you.  or if you were in the area.  i guess if you fit that criteria, get a hold of me so the invitation can be a bit more personal!
• starboy is pretty much 100% day-time potty trained.  he wears a diaper still at nap and at bed.  he communicates well when he needs to go and i haven't taken him.  hard work?  yes.  busy?  it's worth it!
• with jones in school, the district took out mid-day bus trips.  i have to go get him every day at about noon.  it's a huge change for me to get out of the house every single day.  HUGE.  i don't love it, but i love getting him home... so it's a wash.
• also, with three out of five kids going to school in the morning, i get to get up and ready and walk with them to the bus stop each morning.  if i'm feeling hefty, and the company is right, i extend my walk and get some exercise too.  it's been lovely.  i really enjoy it!  so do the little ones!!!
• i found my camera.  it was right where i left it... just back a little further.  buried a little.
• um... what else.  that doesn't seem like much.  oh yeah... i'm cooking a little baby.  that's hard work! 
• and on that note... i changed my wardrobe and broke out the maternity bag.  as i got dressed this morning, otter pop questioned, "what're you doing today?!"  ... uh, i guess i was pretty much wearing you-must-be-staying-at-home-all-day clothes...  oops.  (because i wasn't)
• my heart monitor caught an episode and reported it to the cardiologist.  *click the heart monter link to see what that's all about, or the an episode link to see my heart history story.*  they put me on a medication yesterday that is supposed to lower my heart rate and strengthen the pumps.  apparently, from what the nurse said, i had been having rapid heart races... i only had one episode... so perhaps the heart is having a hard time keeping rhythm.  (i always knew i wasn't made to dance)
• i've learned a few new recipes to try.  and have tried.
• i've thought of a million posts to update you all about... and forgotten most of them.

i'm really sorry.  i'll try really hard to be better about AT LEAST posting my weekly non-updating posts... (menu, gratitude, hair, food, and now that i have my camera back: adejay's art)  stay tuned.
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

monday menu -- leftovers all week long!

ok, so not really...  but kinda.  i'm not going grocery shopping and i don't have any roll-overs from last week.  i do have 2 things in the fridge that might last two meals, but we're gonna empty shelves (in the pantry AND the freezer) this week.  let's see what i can come up with.
well, how about I'LL see what i can come up with and YOU tell me what's on YOUR menu this week?!  that should be fun. 
who has a menu to share???  there's some great ideas over at my favorite meal-stealing-idea-site if you need help.  just share here too!  i'd like to freshen up with some new ideas in the upcoming weeks.

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

allergies anyone?

last night we had some new friends over for dinner.  it was another family, like us, that doesn't get invited over for dinner very often.  they don't have 5 kids, only 3, but between the three kids, here is a list of their allergies:  gluten, dairy, soy, everything in the lily family (ex./ garlic, onion, etc), peanuts, corn, nightshade plants (ex./ tomato, pepper, etc.) potatoes, eggplant, and paprika. 
the meal i thought up was grilled meat, grilled asparagus, and rice, with fruit salad. 
this was the response i got:  grilled meat is great!  Rice - let's, see, the rice that I know is corn-free is lundburg, and some of the rices from the asian store are ok also. Asparagus is part of the lilly family.  as far as Seasoning goes: anything grown in your garden. Real Salt is the only corn-free salt (cornstarch is added to most salt to keep it from clumping). Fruit salad is great - only fresh fruit, everything must be peeled (like apples), the bananas need to be organic (or don't serve them to *boy*, he gets a rash from them, I can bring those if desired).
wow, huh?!  seriously???  yep. 
so we had grilled hamburgers (some with buns. some wrapped in lettuce. some with fresh tomato, lettuce, and pickles, ketchup, and mustard.  some without.), fresh -and organic- fruit salad (apple, pear, nectarine, peach, plum, kiwi, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries), jasmine rice (from thailand), baked beans, and corn.  --those last two were leftovers we had in the fridge because i totally spaced the asparagus!
and did it work?  yes it did.  we didn't season anything, just put salt and pepper on the table.  the mom made this cashew dip (or spread) that is a good replacement for salt and pepper and/or cheese.  i'm going to get the recipe as it is pretty good.  adejay is allergic to nuts, so she can't have it, but she most likely wouldn't be interested in trying it anyway...  also, "real salt" is salt from the great salt lakes.  it's a brand, and she brought it for her family. 
the kids all pretty much loved the fruit salad.  since i did so many different fruits it didn't seem nearly as labor intensive as most fruit salads.  i think i'll start making FRESH fruit salad on the menu more often (now that fall is here).
we just recently got invited to pick fresh grapes and pears at a friend's house.  we need to meet someone with cherries, and peaches, and nectarines though...  my parents have blackberries and raspberries, although i haven't seen or smelled a dash of them this year.  :(  oh... and strawberries... i'd love to pick some big ripe strawberries. 
maybe we need to look for a fruit farm. 

today is family day.  we have a variety of options to try out, but most likely we'll just bunker down here and watch movies...  we have our home group tonight.  i'm looking forward to that.

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

friday food post : white chili

one of my favorite recipes that i've found on allrecipes.com is this one for white chili.  i'm not huge on variating recipes... but i read a lot of comments on this one and then just did what i did.  i did a good job too!  it's so good, that i emailed it to my family members that don't eat meat and told them that i thought the flavor was good enough that they'd even like it without the meat part! 

well, the other day, it was on our menu to make and you wouldn't believe it, but i TOTALLY and COMPLETELY spaced out the chicken.  i knew i was making it early in the day because i used dried beans and cooked them in the crock pot.  i just forgot to get out the chicken, unthaw it, and cook it.  AND... i didn't even realize i forgot it, until the recipe called for it.  so... i was kinda at a loss as for what to do.  but i just decided we'd try it without the chicken.  my sister had said she made it and LOVED it (even adding it to their menu) and i knew she doesn't eat chicken, so... i'd just go for it! 

awesomely enough, this recipe was seriously just as good without the chicken (or chicken stock). 

also it uses a LOT of beans, so to make this recipe really relatively cheap, you can easily cook up a package of dried great northern beans and use them all in one recipe! 

i used to only buy dry dried beans because the cost of them is so much cheaper than canned.  but i just found that i'd dread making anything with beans because it'd just make SO MUCH!  and we'd be really sick of it by the time we were half done.

that was back before i had a lot of the reasoning skills and talents i have nowadays.  it was also when we had a family of 3 eaters.  we eat a lot more these days.  but still... a bag of dried beans makes about 4 canned beans worth.  and how many recipes call for more than 1, maybe 2 cans of beans?!  and then, you have to take in account the time it takes to make those dried beans, right?  (this usually was the kicker for me, to be honest.)  if you follow the directions on the package, you have to rinse, sort, soak, rinse again, and then cook the dried beans.  that, for me, (because i'm a rule follower) took at least 4 hours.  who has 4 hours to rinse, sort, soak, rinse again, and then cook beans?!  i mean, who WANTS TO?!!! 

so, after talking with my mom about it, because she couldn't understand why we'd buy canned beans with a family as large as ours.  i told her my complaints (see above paragraph), and she reasoned with me like this, (and i quote) "I don’t clean, sort, or soak. I just throw them in a pan, cover them with water, and cook them. The beans you buy in the store are already clean (after all, you boil them so any germs would be killed even if they weren’t)".  so... since i grew up eating her uncleaned, unsorted, unsoaked beans and didn't die, i decided i'd see if i was being unreasonable. 

i couldn't just completely trust her, because i still am, after all, a rule follower.  after reading the directions on the back of the bag completely several times, i decided that i'd just pour the beans out in a strainer, rinse them, pick through them and take out the rocks and clods of dirt, (i do buy them from the store, but the bottom of the bag says, "beans are a natural agricultural product.  despite use of modern cleaning equipment, it is not always possible to remove all foreign material.  sort and rinse means before cooking."  and then rinse them again real well.  then i put them in the crock pot (or pot on the stove) and use the amount of water it calls for (around 6 cups), and boil/simmer them until they're cooked.  it still takes about 2 hours, but as long as i think ahead, it's worth the price comparison. 

also, i read a tip that you can make them in the crock pot and then just store them in canning jars (pint sized) in the fridge and then just use them as you would canned beans (in the small quantity)! 

anyway, so enough tips... onto the recipe!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (oil is always optional)
• 1-2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cooked, boneless chicken breast half, chopped (optional amount and/or optional altogether)
• 3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken or vegetable broth  (or just water works)
• 2 (4 ounce) cans canned chopped green chile peppers
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• at least 5 (14.5 ounce) cans of any white or light colored beans, undrained (at least 3 pureed) ---we use mostly great northern, sometimes substituting a can or two of pinto. 
• i use 1 bag of dried great northern beans and add 1 can (or pint jar) of pinto beans
• 2 cans of white (shoepeg) corn

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, or until onions are tender. Add the chicken, chicken broth, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to low and add the beans and corn. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated thoroughly. Pour into individual bowls and top with the tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, green onions, or whatever you desire.

i wish i had pictures for you... but again, i've lost my camera.  please help me look for it!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."   

the reason why i'm not a rich appliance maker

when otter pop got done with school, we moved to the city where we live now.  it was right after (like, 2 weeks after) jones was born.  a friend gave us an old washing machine that we used until winter.  we hung our clothes out to dry.  we would've just gotten a dryer, but the washer started flooding or leaking or something to do with water all over our floor. 
we went to home depot and invested in a good set of HEAVY DUTY super capacity plus matching washer and dryer. 
well, when we moved to this side of town, something happened to our washer and it stopped wringing out the clothes well when it'd spin.  still washing them and i'm not a complainer... the only adjustment that i made was that i started having to dry my diaper covers because they wouldn't dry fast enough via air dry.  no biggie.
well a few months ago, something else happened.  but the next day it worked again.  and then a few weeks ago, it started sounding REALLY loud.  like, i was in the back bedroom (complete opposite side of the house) and came out because i thought the kids were throwing things around the house-loud.  that day it stopped agitating.  mid-load. 
so... i called the service people to come out the next day.  she called back and said they couldn't come out until monday (it was thursday) and it'd cost $95 (for nothing other than the guy to come out and make sure it was broke).  well, we need a washer, so i thought, i guess that's what people with washing machines do. 
but then i thought about it.  and otter pop looked at it and googled some stuff.  and we decided we'd start looking through craigslist. 
we found a used washer for $65.  it's not as nice as what we had, but it works.  AND it wrings all the clothes out when it spins!  so, i can stop ruining my diaper covers by drying them... not that i'm using them all that much.  ...
and we got rid of ours this morning.  :(  for free.  we think it needs a new transmission and that's about a $300 fix... which is about how much it cost.  and i think it sucks that companies have started making "heavy duty" machines that don't even last 5 years!  i mean, i know we do a lot of laundry... but to me, heavy duty should AT LEAST last 10 years!!!!!  and that's when they're used heavy duty for the whole 10 years.  but that's what i would do... and that's why i'm not a rich appliance maker. 
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

the heart God made me

as i was growing up, especially around jr. high and high school --when i was heavily involved in sports-- i was diagnosed with asthma.  it was a strange asthma.  it was pretty much indoor-exercise induced asthma.  i'm pretty sure i'm the only one that had that strand.  sometimes it would flare up outside, but for the most part is was indoors...
fast forward a few years and i got married and got pregnant.  during the pregnancy i had a few "asthma attacks" only i wasn't exercising heavily... it was around stressful events (which there are lots of during pregnancy because of the hormones!)  it only happened twice that i remember, but the first time was unforgettable.  let me tell you about it.
it was thanksgiving 2004.  it was the first thanksgiving that i decided to step up and be the wife of a family.  that's right, i made a thanksgiving dinner.  i was so stressed!  i got up really early because i knew the drill.  i was making the turkey and the potatoes and the dressing and the gravy and the sweet potatoes and opening two cans (cranberry sauce and olives).  i believe i was taking the turkey out of the oven when it hit me.  i got irritated because i was already stressed and i didn't have time for an asthma attack, much less any medicine.  i tried to just slow my breathing down and take big breaths.  it didn't help.  i put my hands on my head.  i walked in circles.  finally i came in to my bedroom and roused my sleeping husband.  i told him i was having a pretty bad asthma attack and he should know in case everyone woke up and found me in the kitchen on the floor, he'd know why.  (during high school sports my first reaction to one of these attacks was to go walk it out in the hallway by the lockers because frankly, they made me feel like a wuss trying to get out of some of practice!  i didn't want anyone to notice how "weak" i was.  my mom told me that was the worst thing to do in case something happened no one would be around to even know.)  so anyway, the young sweet caring otter pop said, "why don't you just lay down.  it's too early anyway."  and pulled me down to lay down.  since i'm an athlete i knew that wasn't the way to help breathing... but for some reason, it immediately helped.  i could feel my heart pounding in my chest, i could SEE my chest pounding, and then, it went from boomboomboomboomboom to beat... beat... beat...  interesting since i'd never tried that strategy before. 
well, like i said, in that pregnancy it happened one, maybe two more times but i didn't think much of it.  i figured it had something to do with the double circulation and the lack of lung space from pregnancy. 
after delivering my sweet tiny baby girl, i was being escorted to the pot to take a whatever-it-was-that-i'd-need-to after delivering a babe so that they could get me out of labor and delivery into the recovery room.  aleemay was born around 8pm, so since i'd been up since 2am i was bushed and ready for sleep and recovery! 
as they sat me up to get up, i started having another "asthma attack".  it was really bad.  i started getting really dizzy and told them i couldn't breathe.  i told them i needed to lay back down and they were saying, "that's normal... it's a head rush, we just got up too fast."  i don't remember anything after that.  i passed out.  the next thing i knew there were several panic-looked nurses around me.  i had oxygen on.  and one said, "oh, you're back."  i was like, uh... what happened?  they explained that i scared the crap out of them.  my heart was racing up to 230 bpm...  i looked down at the foot of the bed and saw my sweet husband swaddling our perfect little newborn with a terrified look on his face.  that's when i muttered, "sorry." 
come to find out, it wasn't an asthma attack.  hm.  i went and visited a cardiologist and found out i had a different heart.  different than normal.  different than i thought. 
it's strong.  it works.  but if i get an adrenaline rush, or a caffeine rush, or anything to push my heart to start beating fast... it starts beating faster and harder and faster and harder and... (i know that's what she said) until it's pretty much not doing anything productive because it's going so fast (for instance 230 bpm in the hospital room.  my normal -at that time in my life- was between 50-65 bpm.)
the cardiologist gave me a stress test (which meant put me on a treadmill and get my heart going to see if it could trigger another attack -or episode, as they call them.)  since they did this all AFTER i was pregnant, nothing was triggering an episode.  the dr. gave an educated guess (giving my age and my health) that i had a condition labeled PSVT (by medical peeps).  i don't even know what the PSVT stands for, except the T stands for tachycardia ---i think.  P is probably pulmonary.  and the V might be for valve???  that would be, what? pulmonary something valve tachycardia.  yeah... that's probably not it.

 
anyway, the cardiologist was awesome.  he got out a heart model for me and refreshed all my health courses in what the heart does and how.  he guessed that my AV node (in the center of the heart, that takes the electrical impulses and pretty much makes the heart beat) is a two-way valve instead of a one-way valve. 

somethin' like that.
anyway, i've had three pregnancies since then and haven't had too much of an issue with my heart condition.  when i delivered jones, they gave me some blood pressure medicine upon injection of the epidural and that freaked me out.  my heart started racing and i was pretty scared, but it slowed down and i was ready to punch that stupid whatchamacallhim (the dr. that gives epidurals) for not even consulting me about giving me a medication.  but other than that... nothin'.  the cardiologist said that it would be at its worst in my twenties, so i just figured it was "running its course". 
well, this latest pregnancy has proved me wrong.  i've had about a dozen episodes so far (i'm almost 15 weeks).  they're different this time though.  they aren't beating as fast but they're not stopping as quick either.  it's been kinda freaky.
anyway, that's my heart story.


Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

recent going ons here

i've been meaning to post an august-end-of-month run-down...  but that hasn't happened yet and i keep getting further and further behind here too.  if you come here to keep updated with our lives, i'm failing you miserably.  there have been so many wonderful adventures and excitement that i haven't shared.
latest news:
yesterday i met with a cardiologist.  i've been having many heart episodes as of late, and they aren't as severe as they have been, but much more frequent.  so, that's alarming. 
*note to self to write a whole blog on my heart history and link it here*
they hooked me up to this awesome monitering system.  i have three stickers stuck on me with wires that come down to a little beeper-looking-thing (b-l-t) that hangs on my hip (or wherever i want to hang it).  this b-l-t transmits my heart reading to a cell-phone-looking-thing (c-p-l-t) that i just have to have in a central place in our house (our kitchen).  somehow that c-p-l-t communicates with some teletechs somewhere and they're monitering my heart 24/7.  if i accidentally leave range of the c-p-l-t, as soon as i return in range, it will pick up everything that happened while i was away. 
i think it's pretty cool.  and, it's a much better system than trying to run laps on a treadmill in hopes that i'll have an episode in a dr's office!
that first week that i was sick, i was having an episode every day and twice on one day.  so... that's what spurred the cardiologist appointment.  i hope (as weird as that is) that i can trigger an episode while i'm being monitered so that they can pin point exactly what's wrong with my heart.  i don't know if anything will need to be done about it, or if anything will be able to be done about it... but knowing the cause is better than just taking a guess and labling it. 
the kids all think the wire system is pretty rad.  the boys especially like the b-l-t.  i wish that i could get a reading of some of it... but that's just 'cause i'm weird like that.
things are going pretty well, other than that.  i have post after post of news to put up here but until i start finding more time /slash/ finding more energy /slash/ be less tired, you'll just have to imagine what we're up to and what kind of fun we are having!
maybe i'll get the august month-review done so you can start wondering about september, since it's almost over!  geeze!!!
ok, well, my eyelids are starting to drag...

oh, btw... i lost my camera.  so, that even makes posting even less exciting!!!  i have had so many kodak moments (because they all are, right?!), but can't find it anywhere!!!  if you see it, let me know.
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  

monday's menu (grocery shopping done)

wa hoo (and no, i don't mean ah choo)!  my luvies took me grocery shopping yesterday since we've both been under the weather for a whole week.  i wouldn't say either of us are all better... but we were able to conquer the grocery store TOGETHER! 
... and $500 later ...
but that's what happens when you don't go for weeks, and then weeks...  so, well, anyway... here's the menu for this week:

• floating tacos (i really need to friday food post this, to get my recipe on the internet and more accessible for me and the general public -like you)
• chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas
• grilled hamburgers, baked beans, and our last meal of corn on the cob
• white chili (i need to friday food post this one too, because although i have an internet recipe -the link- i tweak it quite a bit)
• tortilla soup (no need to post any other tortilla soup recipe.  this one's THE BOMB!)

those last two are yummies for the sickies especially.  it may still be hot outside, but dang i'd love some soup!!!

what'll you be havin'?!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

re-post: 9/11

i'm reposting this blurb i put up a few days ago for today.  please read it and think about how great our God is. 

where were you?
last night my sicky husband and i watched a pbs special that was about the tragic events that happened almost 10 years ago on sept. 11. the special was focused on some of the people who were actually survivors and also some close family members who had loved ones parish.
it was an awesome documentary -as most of pbs' documentaries are. before i fell asleep (because i am still not 100% and that's what i do at night), it was on the topic: "the face of God." there were several people who praised God even through the storm, but i was amazed at the accounts of people shunning Him for the traumatic act. it was if they were almost blaming Him for it. i had to ask my sneezing, snuffling, congested otter pop why they were being so bitter because i couldn't imagine that anyone could take the events as a curse from God. i just didn't realize people of faith could be so faithless. otter pop suggested that they didn't think it was His fault, but they knew He could have stopped it from happening, and didn't.
here's my thought on that:
i wonder how many things God HAS intervened in, but since he has stepped in and stopped it from happening, we don't even know..
i wonder if people realize how much WORSE the events of 9/11 COULD have been...
i wonder how anyone could feel any peace at all in their life, blaming everything bad on their Creator...
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above..." James 1:17a
well, what i really want to emphasize is how IF GOD WASN'T... but that's just impossible because the turning wheel keeps on turning and then you get back to Him being the Creator of life. so if He wasn't... we wouldn't even BE. but what i mean to point out is that it is completely miraculous that ANYONE survived and that ESPECIALLY people off of floor 82 (directly below the impact crash) survived!
God is good! satan is a stinker and such a master of trickery to aid people into thinking anything other than the truth. look to what is True. don't be dragged down into satan's lies...
the 10th anniversary of 9.11 is coming up and we need to keep that (above) perspective.

i'm not heartless. i am very sorry for those that lost loved ones in the tragic events of 9/11. my heart breaks to think of all the fatherless and/or motherless children that are living without because of the terrorist attacks. millions of people WERE affected because of it... the Truth doesn't take that away. however, God is there to help and to comfort and to lean on, for those that lost. i will keep praying and doing my part in going out into the world and spreading the Good news so that others may come to know Him and have Him as their helper, comforter, and strong tower!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

gratituesday on friday (aka looking on the bright side)

i had a hellish night last night.  i'm still not better.  (neither is hub-a-lub)  all day i am just completely drained.  i feel well enough to get out of bed...  i go about my parenting routine doing what NEEDS to be done and nothing more.  i just don't have the energy!  by nap time, i HAVE to lay down with the kids.  yesterday i lasted a little longer and they had two hours of quiet/nap time before i got hit.  but then when 5:30 came along... i just couldn't even live. 
part of the problem, well, ok.  truthfully what happened was that i had soup and sandwiches planned for dinner.  easy for me.  still yummy to eat.  but otter pop woke up and saw me napping and decided that it'd be nice if we'd have pizza for dinner because then i wouldn't have to do anything.  after a few back and forth words on the issue, i said we'd just ask the kids what they'd rather have (because i guess i didn't really want to make dinner but wanted to feel ok about it).  and so we got pizza. 
well, let me tell you.  after being sick for almost a whole week, and not being able to eat much because the amount of mucus you have in you automatically chokes everything back up... pizza is not a good choice.  even if it sounds good.  even if it tastes good. 
i had 2 pieces.  if you know me at all... that's not much!  but it was too much for my i've-been-throwing-everything-up-all-week belly. 
i was miserable after dinner. 
finally i thew some up and felt a little lighter.
then after another hour of misery i threw the rest up.  ah!  and THEN i felt better. 
with this cold, the only time i feel good is at night after i've nasal sprayed my nose and taken a dose of tylenol.  laying down after taking the nasal spray just makes me feel almost normal.  and it's a 12 hour spray... so, it works.  but after not wasting any energy all day and then FINALLY feeling good... then i can't go to sleep (at 8pm).  i have to toss and turn and watch tv for 2-2.5 hours until i can fall fast asleep (10-10:30). 
complain complain complain.  i'm sorry.  but there's more.
last night starboy woke up at 1:30 and was crying/choking/coughing.  honestly he was hardly breathing.  i gave him a breathing treatment and that helped a smidgen, but then he'd cough up his gunk and start crying because it hurt... and then he couldn't breathe again.  i gave him a little cough syrup and then waited.  all the while my slumbering husband was urging me to take him to the ER.  he sounded horrid. 
i couldn't decide if he sounded croupy or if he was really struggling.  knowing what the bug was, i could just tell he was full of snot and couldn't breathe through it and couldn't cough it up.  so, at 2:00, i took him in.
i'm going to shorten this story a little and just say that it was a crazy night in the ER!  there were only 2 empty beds and by the time we got there, he wasn't doing so bad... so we were pushed back on the "emergency schedule".  finally at about 3, i decided we really didn't need to be there.  starboy was wanting to run around the hospital!  so, the dr. came and saw us, and confirmed croup, and gave him a steroid drink and some tylenol (because by that time he started running a fever).  we got home a little before 4.  i was SO SO SOOOOOOOOO tired. 
but again, i couldn't sleep.  now i had a cough that wouldn't go away.  i took the only cough drop i could find -that was more of a sore throat drop.  it completely numbed my mouth and made me choke on my gunk and throw up again. 
so now here's where the gratitude comes in.  when it was time to get up, my lovely mr. love got up and out of bed and got all the kids ready and off to school so that i could continue to sleep a little longer.  i love that i married a man that loves to be a parent.  he never complains about parenting.  he's great at it!
i hate being sick but i sure love my man!!!  even when he's sick.

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

where were you?

last night my sicky husband and i watched a pbs special that was about the tragic events that happened almost 10 years ago on sept. 11.  the special was focused on some of the people who were actually survivors and also some close family members who had loved ones parish. 
it was an awesome documentary -as most of pbs' documentaries are.  before i fell asleep (because i am still not 100% and that's what i do at night), it was on the topic: "the face of God."  there were several people who praised God even through the storm, but i was amazed at the accounts of people shunning Him for the traumatic act.  it was if they were almost blaming Him for it.  i had to ask my sneezing, snuffling, congested otter pop why they were being so bitter because i couldn't imagine that anyone could take the events as a curse from God.  i just didn't realize people of faith could be so faithless.  otter pop suggested that they didn't think it was His fault, but they knew He could have stopped it from happening, and didn't. 
here's my thought on that:
i wonder how many things God HAS intervened in, but since he has stepped in and stopped it from happening, we don't even know..
i wonder if people realize how much WORSE the events of 9/11 COULD have been...
i wonder how anyone could feel any peace at all in their life, blaming everything bad on their Creator...
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above..."  James 1:17a
well, what i really want to emphasize is how IF GOD WASN'T... but that's just impossible because the turning wheel keeps on turning and then you get back to Him being the Creator of life.  so if He wasn't... we wouldn't even BE.  but what i mean to point out is that it is completely miraculous that ANYONE survived and that ESPECIALLY people off of floor 82 (directly below the impact crash) survived! 
God is good!  satan is a stinker and such a master of trickery to aid people into thinking anything other than the truth.  look to what is True.  don't be dragged down into satan's lies...
the 10th anniversary of 9.11 is coming up and we need to keep that (above) perspective. 

i'm not heartless.  i am very sorry for those that lost loved ones in the tragic events of 9/11.  my heart breaks to think of all the fatherless and/or motherless children that are living without because of the terrorist attacks.  millions of people WERE affected because of it...  the Truth doesn't take that away.  however, God is there to help and to comfort and to lean on, for those that lost.  i will keep praying and doing my part in going out into the world and spreading the Good news so that others may come to know Him and have Him as their helper, comforter, and strong tower!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

status

well I feel almost 90% better than i did yesterday, however after lunch i had a POUNDING headache and had a MUST nap.  i'm feeling pretty crappy right now but NOTHING compared to how i was yesterday at this time.
the kids are all doing much better.
the hubs stayed home from work today.  he's a day behind me in this cold.  i don't blame him.  i had to run to the bank yesterday and i was thinking that wasn't safe.  i almost pulled over in the parking lot to lay down and take a nap so i could make it home.  i'm serious. 
so... keep praying and we'll keep mending.
Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

SICK!

well, here's what i get for not teaching my kids good hygiene.  jones brought home a small bug at the end of last week.  a small bug turned into a raunchy cold for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US!  it's "just" sniffles/congestion, sneezing, coughing, achy body cold.  we were all sick yesterday.  sunday was the beginning. 
otter pop had to go to work this morning and all three kids wanted to go to school.  that's such a hard decision for me because i really want to stress to them the importance of education.  however, i really feel bad if they're the ones spreading germs to the other kids!  most of my kids are asthmatic and their colds last longer and harder than the average joe. 
adejay was tested for allergies when she was about 5. 

age 6

she tested positive for every single thing they tried in her and by extreme amounts, so she started getting shots.  it only took a year or so to see the improvement in her health.  before the shots she was missing school at least once/month.  after about a year of being on the shots and since (~7 years), she has maybe missed 3 days total for illness!
aleemay doesn't have allergies and has average health.  she gets sick easily, but can kick it in a normal time period.  she has asthma, but not as bad as the next two.  she missed one day of school last year because she was sick.
jones has asthma and i'd bet has allergies too, but when he was tested he came out negative.  i'm wanting to get him tested again, but am not really sure how to go about telling the first guy he didn't do it right...  he shows pretty much every symptom for allergies, so i don't know how he COULDN'T have them.  but anyway, he gets sick anytime he's near someone that might be sick or was sick or knows someone that's sick. 

age 2.5

and it knocks him out for at least three nights and makes him pretty miserable for three days too.  his cough will linger for about three more nights too.
poor sweet boo wasn't born premature.  now, that's not what makes her poor or sweet though.  she was born at 39 weeks at a whooping 9 pounds 5 ounces.  so if anything, that makes ME poor and sweet... what makes HER poor sweet is that not even a month into life she caught RSV and was in the neo-natal ICU. 

she only had to stay there a day/night because even though she's poor and sweet, she's a durn good fighter!  she spent another several days in the pediatric ward being their most precious and darling patient. 

a few months later (i'd have to get out the calendar/records to be certain), she caught it (RSV) again.  she stayed in the hospital for another nice stay while she got over it.  i believe she's been admitted at least one other time... but between her and jones, i'd like to think the nurses all know us well!  (they don't... but i'd like to think they do.  the doctors sure do!)
now we've got the starboy to talk about.  he has eczema real bad... but i'm about 95% certain that he has healthy lungs and airways.  he hasn't shown any signs of asthma in his almost 2 years of life!  (and trust me, if they have asthma... you should probably know by the time they turn 2!)  so, that's exciting.  i thought that maybe he slipped by this cold we have too, but when he woke up this morning his little nose was a snifflin'! 
otter pop has had asthma and i would bet allergies his whole life.  he's fairly healthy, but catches things quite easily.  he gets sinus infections super easily and really bad!  he's at work today because that's what he does... poor guy!
i was a healthy kid.  after elementary school i don't think i missed hardly any days for sickness, and probably only 1-2/year in elementary.  but once i got into this family, i'm not going to say that i'm even fairly healthy.  i get most of the bugs that everyone else gets.  i can usually get over it relatively fast... but it's so hard to not get sick.  we're a sharing family.  we share pretty much everything.  i know it's not a good habit, but it's who we are. 

so there's our family health report.  please pray for us ALL to kick this cold's butt!  please keep us in your thoughts.  AND... if you have a spare minute, you're welcome to come on over and clean up a square foot or two.  :D 

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

monday menu *even earlier than last week*

i have three roll-overs from last week:
bbq beef sandwiches and tator tots
tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches
beef stroganoff hamburger helper (without the box) with green beans
my other meals will be:
floating tacos
baked chicken with mashed potatoes and peas
leftovers (i made a TON of that chicken salad!  i'm thinking wraps or somethin' fun and fresh and not so hot)

what're you gonna be eatin' this week?

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

starboyisms

i love having a talkative little tyke.  starboy's really verbal and almost completely understandable for those of us that live with him. 

however, for talking so well, he sure has a cute way of saying some words. 

i'm pretty sure he can pronounce most things correctly with the exception of the "r" sound still... but that's pretty normal (we're working with boo on it still).

(sorry for the bad pic.  it's through the screen door.  he was SO CUTE out there in his sister's snowboots, looking up adoringly to his dadna.)

here's a short list of some of my favorite starboyisms:

• dadin or dadna = daddy (aleemay said it the same way when she was as young!)
• milt = milk
• helk = help
• nana = banana
• gaw-gaw or og-og = dog
• ut = up
• poot = toot and poop (and those one things that combine those two), also very confusing because his food sounds almost the same as poot.  he signs that one to help me out!

i really love the way he says sowwy (always with a big hug and sometimes kiss too)!

of course since i finally got to writing this, i can't think of any others.  but i'll try and add more as i think of them / hear them.

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

saturday adejay artday 1

drawn by my girl, adejay, 8-26-11

entitled, king of beasts

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

today's friday food post (since it's friday) : coconut chicken curry (via the crockpot)

the link where i got this recipe is found HERE, and the picture they post is by far much prettier than mine... but that's why i don't try out for shows like master chef, or hell's kitchen.  i may love to cook, and i may be darn good at it too, but do i make a pretty plate that could win an art contest?  no.  far from yes, no!
i will post the recipe over here on my blog, because that's what i do for a friday food post, and i'm not feeling that lazy... however, you might want to see a beautiful picture of the dish at the above link.  also, you can read comments and reviews on the recipe and such over at that link too.
oh!  and also, the recipe on the link is in metric measurements... so i've done the conversion for you over here. 

about 2 pounds of Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cut Into Large Cubes

1 whole Onion, Peeled And Halved

2 cloves Garlic, Peeled

1 whole Small Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Quartered

1 can (~5 1/2oz Can) Tomato Paste

1 can (~14oz 400ml Can) Coconut Milk

1-½ teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Curry Powder

1 Tablespoon Garam Masala (Indian Spice Mix)

*2 whole Dry Red Chili Peppers (optional For Extra Heat---TOTALLY NEEDED!)

*2 Tablespoons Water

*1-½ Tablespoon Cornstarch

*1 bunch Coriander (optional, For Decoration---DIDN'T USE.  I FORGOT!)

1. Place chicken cubes inside the slow cooker.

2. Place the rest of the ingredients (except astrik marked chili peppers, cornstarch, water and coriander) in a food processor bowl and process together until the mix is smooth(ish). Pour sauce mix on top of the chicken, mix well, add hot peppers if using any, then close the lid. Cook on low for 6 hours.

3. An hour before serving, mix together water and cornstarch until the cornstarch is completely disolved. Add to the chicken curry and mix well. Place the lid back on for the rest of the cooking time.
4. Serve on top of steaming white rice, something wonderfully aromatic like jasmine or basmati rice (i used jasmine). Decorate with lots of chopped coriander.

this was alright.  my rice was kinda soggy... but ignoring that, we still have some leftover in the fridge and i think i made it over a week ago.  ho hum.  out of my family of 7 stars, i think it'd get about 3.  however, that's an unfair rating because the night i made it, hardly anyone was home.  ???   i'll probably try it again and see how EVERYONE eats it.  i'll let you know.  ;)


Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

friday food post : a FANTASTIC dinner tonight!!!

i put all my food efforts into dinner tonight.  i didn't take any pictures because all the recipes were online already, so i wasn't thinking of a friday food post as i started dinner prep this morning at 9:30!!!  so, this is a different friday food post.  i have lots of others saved up, so perhaps you'll see another recipe before next friday anyway.  but here's what was on our menu for dinner (actually it was on last week's menu):
pan-fried pork chops with twice baked potatoes and creamed green beans.
1st off.  i wanted to do something new with pork chops.  i usually pour a can of cream of something soup over the top and put 'em in the crockpot.  but i wanted something new.  my mom used to batter-fry them and then bake them into yumminess...  that's kinda where i got the urge to pan fry them using the recipe on my menu's link. 
well, this morning i was thinking that the recipe is all wrong because there's no baking involved so i couldn't think what would make the pork chops tender like we all like!!! 
so, i pan-fried them without any batter (otherwise known as browned them) and then threw them in the crockpot.  at 10am.  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... talk about tenderness!!!!!  (we ate them at 6pm)
then i had to think, what're creamed green beans anyway?  i mean, i kinda had the idea of the beans that i throw in the crockpot with the crockpot pork chops (w/ cream-of-soup)... but i wasn't making that kind of pork chops, so now what???  well, i googled creamed green beans recipe and found THIS.  and that is what i made!  and they were incredible!  otter pop really loved them and all the kids ate 'em up well too!!!  (but i will say that my kids love green beans all the time, just heated on the stove... so they're not hard to please when it comes to green beans.)  however, many of the reviews were from non-green bean eatin' foos that really loved the recipe!  so, try it if you want.  (and just to tempt you a little more, the recipe isn't called creamed green beans, it's called "green beans with cheese and bacon" ... so go ahead... if you want.)
and then the twice baked potatoes... everyone loves those, right?!  so i don't need to expand on how perfectly they went with the other two dishes.  i don't really need to explain that the three of those dishes eaten together was like a little piece of heaven disolving in your mouth in just one bite.  i don't need to... so i won't.  but, i WILL say... that was an AWESOME FREAKIN' DINNER, MOM!!!

Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."