Big RS Activity

This one time I was in charge of a Relief Society activity and it just kept getting bigger and bigger with another ward coming too and lots of guests and all kinds of things happening all the time, like ordering catering and getting babysitters and forgetting that i had already asked someone else to conduct the meeting, but the good news is that the bigger it got the better it got and it really turned out awesome and beautiful and both very spiritual and quite yummy, and by the end of the night i was so wound up that all I wanted to do was the dishes and the mopping and such that come after these things which was so super lucky because that's what i got to do plus also sit and chat with a friend and then go veg on the internet while my husband watched a really awesome basketball game which made him very happy.

So we're all happy and tired around here.  Plus there is leftover orange chicken. Time for me to go to bed now.

Confrontations with Mortality

Levi has food allergies. Serious food allergies. He is allergic to both milk and peanut on an anaphylactic level.

I remember seeing, several years ago, a Facebook friend flip out over her son's newly discovered peanut allergy.  At the time I thought to myself, "Okay . . . peanut is a very common allergy -- lots of people live good lives allergic to peanuts. What's the big deal?"

Now, I know.  For me, it was not so much to idea that he wouldn't be able to enjoy PB&J, (Tragic? Hardly.) but the knowing that something in particular could kill him. Confronting your infant's mortality is different from knowing that someday, something will kill us all: age, accident, disease. It was frightening.

In the time that has passed since our discovery of his allergies, I've been able to settle down a little bit.  Still, it's a game-changer. Sometimes it feels like he is allergic to everything, because I love dairy and nuts and am accustomed to using them liberally in my cooking. I've begun to realize that one can make foods taste good by the addition of spices, not just fats (haha).

Many things, in fact, have helped to alleviate my stress about this: We have a couple of Epi-Pens now, and that's a comfort. I remembered my own "Ah, he'll be fine" reaction to my friend's son's diagnosis, and that has helped. Also, amid all the scary things that you can find on the internet when you try to research food allergies, I found the lovely story of Morgan Smith at allergicchild.com. This is the kind of reassurance I was looking for -- anecdotal evidence of someone with food allergies living happily. In some ways I feel like the Lord has been preparing me to mother a food-allergic child for years. One of the best ways to avoid allergic reactions is to prepare one's own food. Many friends of mine in the past 5 years have been excellent cooks who have inspired me to increase my own culinary capacities (Ashley, Aislin, Amy, Susan, and April I'm looking at you ladies in particular, thank you).

So, here we go! Off on the same adventure as before, but with a new menu!

Potluck Picnic

Tonight is a potluck picnic with friends attending the Arthur Cheese Festival. Remember last year? When I was very pregnant for this? Well. We've got to go defend our title.  

Two Stories by Benjamin

We're having taco salad tonight of course! Because we're just a little family of four and a pound of ground beef mixed with a can of refried beans definitely makes two meals. Yum! Don't forget the Green Goddess dressing!
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I have a question for you. Once 'pon a time. This was a story. About 8 friends. Once upon a time there was 8 friends. And they lived in a house called 8:30. Then they came out. This is the one about the fire and the fire hose. Then a man bring out a fire hose. Then it got all ---- and it rained and rained and washed and washed away the fire. And they were OK. That's the end!
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This one's about Shadrach and Mommy. Once upon a time there was Shadrach and Mommy.  This one is not about the fire hose. This one doesn't have a fire in it. They were having a snack at home and went for a walk and they went to school -- to preschool. And then their daddy were driving them to preschool and then when they got there the bell ring and then it was circle time.
Mom: Is that the end?
Benjamin: No, there's two more verses left. There's a short verse, too, if you want to read it. Then they went home. And then they went for another walk. And then they went to Primary!
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Benjamin is a big fan of the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego story, if you can't tell. Also he's very excited to be starting preschool in a few weeks and move from Nursery (18mo-3years) to Primary (3+) at church in January.

Tacos!

Tonight we're having tacos. Mmm, tacos. A staple of my childhood. Ground beef seasoned with a packet and mixed with refried beans. Topped with the works. Or, if you were me in my childhood, only cheese. No lettuce, no tomato, no green onion, no salsa, no sour cream.  What can I say? My tastes have changed.

We use corn tortillas, softened, warmed, fried, (however you want to put it) in oil. I mention this because the last two times we have had people over for tacos they said that they didn't do it that way.  The first time this happened I was bemused. The second time I was like, "What do you people do?!?" Use flour tortillas, I was told. Hm! I don't really understand that. That...does not...compute. Sounds like a burrito that's about to fall apart, to me! To each his own, though. Far be it from me to claim that my tacos are the One True Path.

So, if you've never had tacos made on corn tortillas prepped in oil, I highly recommend it.

Speaking of tacos, I've had tongue tacos. Cow tongue. Yep. It was fine. I don't really remember it much except that I was excited that I could say I had eaten cow tongue tacos. Check that one off on the bucket list! And now you will be one step closer to knowing the answer if you and I ever play Two Truths and a Lie.
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Grilled cheese was yum. We added tomatoes, red onion, and pepperoni in various combinations to make some yummy ones.

The moon is made of

People, things are gonna be lookin' up around here pretty soon. That's right, only one day left until I can wear contacts again. I awoke on the morning of our 5th anniversary with pinkeye. (love you honey, happy 5th!) Conjunctivitis. And let me tell you the hardest part has not been itchiness or doing the prescription eye drops, it has been wearing my glasses full time. Contacts are so much better. Also, I miss wearing eye makeup. But on Thursday it will be back to my regularly scheduled programming, thankyouverymuch.
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So. Tonight. Grilled Cheese.

On the grill.

I've made many, many grilled cheese sandwiches in my life. But never have I ever made one on an actual, outdoor, fueled by propane, grill.

Probably this is partly because I've never had a grill before. So many thanks to the Petersons for moving to the big citay and giving us their grill!

It will be homemade bread. So, many thanks to Jeremy and Molly for the bread machine! Merry Christmas!

It will be white cheddar cheese. So, many thanks to Ashley for introducing me to white cheddar, since her mom bought it, since they don't have yellow/orange cheddar in Maine, apparently. And also to Walmart, for selling cheaper than regular cheddar.
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Berber King Burger King was good. Actually it was fantastic as fast food goes, because everything was so clean. And the employees were really excited about making a good impression. So we got awesome service in a very very clean restaurant. Also Benjamin got a Sponge Bob watch that he loves. Levi held onto the Lemon-scented wet wipe that came in his high chair (with disposable bib) throughout the whole meal. And successfully demolished his paper crown.

Pasta was a bit overcooked. I always under cook it, so I compensated a little too far tonight. Oops. Also, ironically, I did not end up making broccoli.

Pasta Night

So. Tonight we'll be having pasta for dinner. How about you?

I'm thinking noodles (Levi loves noodles!), sauce, maybe some chicken and veggies? Broccoli most likely.

My dad met the guy who invented broccoli. Or maybe it was my grandpa. Someone, somewhere, knew the guy who invented broccoli. I tell people this all the time, even though it has been years since my dad mentioned it to me, and clearly the details are fuzzy.  But that's not the point. The point is, someone invented broccoli!

Wait. You guys, I just tried to look this up on the internet. I can find no evidence of someone inventing broccoli.

Regardless, let us continue with this story! Someone, Mr. Broccoli, perhaps, created broccoli. In the lab? Accidentally, on his farm? By the hybridization of brussel sprouts and cauliflower. Think about it. It could totally be true.

Dad, what kind of lies were you feeding me along with that broccoli?

Every day we eat

So. Tonight is special. Tonight we will be having dinner at the newest restaurant in town. That's right: Burger King.

I'm not typically found in Burger King. I think that while I'd like to say that it has something to do with my impeccable taste, what it comes down to is that I didn't go to Burger King much growing up, so I'm not very familiar with the menu, so I don't know what to order when I go there (plus also the Whopper is so big!) and therefore I don't think "I really want a ...whopper?" so going to Burger King just doesn't happen much.

But. This new Burger King is pretty close to our house and we've been watching the construction on it for weeks. The big trucks (Oh, the big trucks! How we love big trucks!) showed up and demolished the old spaghetti place, and started work on the new. Once the site looked remotely like a building, Benjamin started asking when we could eat there. "Can we eat at the wood one?" he would say.  It was just beams.

Well. Now it is open. Today is the first day of business. Because we've had a lot of time to plan for the opening of this Burger King, since it was a "wood one," we've got it all planned out. And we'll be eating at Burger King tonight.

See you there? Because that would be fun.

rainbows for breakfast

"You not can eat rainbows, because they're dery dery big." Benjamin, when Jacob asked if he'd like to eat rainbows for breakfast.

"Hi, window! Hi, dishwasher! Hi, Mom and Dad! Hi, window! Hi, dishwasher! Hi, Mom and Dad!" repeated many times as he spun in the kitchen.

"You messed up my plan." Benjamin says after messing up his own train track. "I'll give you one week."
"One week for what?" Mom asks.
"Painting. . . . Five paintings."

"Mommy! Mommy! . . . I'm not calling you!" Oh, of course not. Silly me.

***

So we've all been getting over a nasty sinus thing here.

Levi got his second tooth this week, so now he's got two on the bottom.

We got our taxes figured out, always a bit of a hairy mess, being part of a couple of family trusts. I can't say I'm not annoyed (because I am annoyed) that Jacob's income doesn't qualify as "earned" or that Illinois doesn't have a child tax credit, but hey, at least I'm learning about taxes.  Chalk one up for education.

Had a lovely picnic this week with some neighbors:

My awesome Korean neighbor Hyuna brought kimbap, which she packs for her husband's lunch each day. [sidenote: when she learned that I pack Jacob's lunch sometimes she was very impressed, and told Jacob "You have a very good wife!" Jacob said, "I know." :-)]

My other awesome Korean neighbor, Doyeon, made this delicious noodle salad with shrimp and peppers and blueberries and lettuce. Guys. It was so good! She is a fantastic chef.  Back in Korea she was a pharmacist. So, you know. Chemistry in the pharmacy, chemistry in the kitchen, right?  

Oh, also Doyeon told me that she took her congested little one-year-old in to the doctor for some medicine and they didn't have anything for the under 2 crowd (as we all know).  Well apparently in Korea they do!  Am I wrong in thinking that an infant decongestant would sell like hotcakes here?  I think that I am not.  She's like "what do you do?" and I'm like "um, let them sleep with an elevated head, turn on a humidifier..." all the while thinking, "where can I get me some of this drug?" Part of me thinks, "Well, it must not be safe!" and the other, bigger part thinks, "Pharmaceutical politics in the US are so, so, whack." Because as we all know Asians are geniuses. And also no entire country (or pharmacist) would give their babies a drug that was not safe.

So I can have some of that, then? Because remember we are all getting over the sinus infection here.

Granola Bars!

For those who have asked, here is the granola bar recipe! I got it from a friend (Ashley) who got it from a friend (Sara), and now you, my friends, can have it from me!

Granola Bars

Step 1: Grease or line a 9x13 pan. You can line with plastic wrap, waxed paper, or parchment paper. I've tried all three and I don't know yet which is my favorite. I recommend a metal pan rather than glass because the corners are more square, which seems to help my bars form more nicely.  I read about that trick on another lunch. Glass works fine too, though.   

Step 2: In large bowl mix the following:

2 & 1/2 c. Oats (either old fashioned or quick will work, and they're both yummy but different)

2 c. Cereal you have on hand (rice krispies work excellently)

1/4 c. nuts (almonds, pecans, peanuts, etc.) 

1/4 c. dried fruit (raisins*, craisins, etc.)

1/4 c. somethin' else** 

1/2 teaspoon salt

*I like to separate my raisins, and add them in a few at a time, stirring, so that they get coated in cereal dust. Otherwise, they can end up kind of clumped together.  

**In fact, you can use whatever you want for all three of these 1/4 cups, I just like to do nuts and fruit. Some ideas to consider: shredded coconut, flax seed, wheat germ, mini chocolate chips, any kind of baking chips, really, a second nut, seriously, whatever you want! But if you do chips that will melt, you may want to reserve them and press them into the top after the bars have cooled a bit.

oats and cereal. betcha never seen that before!
I took pics with all the other stuff in,
but those got lost cuz my camera batteries were low, ok!?!

Step 3: Measure the following into a small saucepan:

2/3 c. brown sugar

2/3 c. honey

1/2 c. peanut butter

Reserve 1 teaspoon vanilla (don't add till later!)

Stirring, bring these to a boil.  Boil anywhere from 0-3 min. If you boil shorter, the bars will be more gooey. If you boil too long, they will crumble. I prefer to boil for one and a half min, as that seems to work well with the quick oats I use. Add the vanilla after you take it off the heat.

gooey stuff measured...

gooey stuff ready!

 Step 4: Dump the gooey stuff into the dry stuff and stir! If you forgot to add the vanilla right when you took it off the heat, add it as you stir it all together. That's what usually happens to me.

Step 5: Press it into your pan.  I like to do this with the back of my spoon. The same spoon I used to stir my dry ingredients, and then my gooey ones. It saves on dishes.  I watched my friend do it with her hands, and that provided a lot more finger-licking opportunities, though, if you want that.

pressing.
This was the 1st time I used parchment paper
(ever! for anything!)
I should've cut it or creased it a bit to fit the pan better. 

Step 6: Let them cool. If you used quick oats, they'll set better if you can control yourself and not eat them for several hours, maybe even overnight.  Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. What can I say? Cut them as you please. These also freeze very nicely.  Sometimes I make a batch and throw half into the freezer to take on our day trips to the temple. 

smile for granola bars!

Delicious! Depending on how you make them, they can be sweet enough to satisfy a cookie craving (but maybe healthier?) what with the chocolate chip option and all. This is also an excellent recipe for your two-year-old chef, who can dump measured cereal into a big bowl and stir things all around.   

"Yeah, whatever. I can't eat these, I can't help make them. This baby stuff is a bum deal." 

Ashley says: I used those mini chocolate chips, but when you pour the sauce into the rice crispies/oatmeal mixture, it's pretty hot, so when you add the choc. chips, they melt almost instantly. So I added them very last and stirred only minimally after adding them. Then I sprinkled some more on top just as I was finishing pressing it into the pan. Then you really have to let them cool before eating them, because the chips are quite melted throughout.

Sara says: I call these Food Storage Granola Bars because pretty much everything I put in it is in my food storage. ...The whole process (including clean up...with a two year old helping) is less than half an hour.  If you do it without help, it'll take about 15 minutes to do including clean up.  Enjoy!

Been meaning to mention

Levi is weighing in at 17.8 pounds.

Yesterday I made sushi! Fun, yummy, cheap (fillings were canned salmon with lemon juice, avocado and green onion), a little bit labor intensive. We've also been enjoying homemade bread (thanks to Jeremy and Molly for the breadmaker) and homemade granola bars recently.

We have convinced a friend (Hi Susan, if you read this!) to lend us some cloth diapers, so that we can try cloth risk-free.  Probably not for 30 days.  More like 6 days. But it's been just over 24 hours, and seems fine.

Potty training continues. Benjamin prefers exotic toilets to his own two options at home.

Food, glorious food!

I have been thinking a lot about food lately.  This may be because I spend an amazing amount of time feeding people.  I'm looking forward to a phase of life when everyone can be served one thing.  As it is, I feed myself, Jacob and Benjamin one meal, then I feed Levi his own.  And it will be a while before he can eat what we eat.  I'm looking forward to cereals and such, but they're still a different meal to prepare.*

Anyway, let me write out some recommendations.  They're good enough that, if you don't know about them already, you should give them a try.

1. "Summer Sandwich" -- This beauty is a grilled cheese with a twist.  Well, a couple of twists, since grilled cheese is pretty boring.  Anyway, get your bread.  Spread it with pesto (mmm, pesto!).  Slice a tomato and put that on there too.  Top with mozzarella cheese.  Grill as you please.  I use my sandwich maker.  My friend Ashley uses her waffle iron.  You could do stovetop, but then you wouldn't get the bread all saturated with pesto and tomato juices.  It would still be dang good though.

2. Hummus -- Can I just say I love hummus?  I mean, this won't be a surprise to those who know how much I love refried beans.  Hummus is like refried garbanzo beans, basically.  That's the way I see it.  (Incidentally, I haven't figured out to make my own hummus or refried beans properly yet, though the refried beans were passable.  Most of the hummus got dumped.)  Benjamin and I eat hummus with tortilla chips, on crackers, with olives, and I'm wanting to try a hummus sandwich that I read about in Parents magazine.  I just need to find some pita bread.  Pita, hummus, olive, lettuce, tomato it would be.  I say "Benjamin and I" because Jacob never seems to get much hummus as it is all gone by the time he gets home.  This week alone Benjamin and I have eaten a full pound of it.  I buy it at Aldi (thanks to all those who recommended Aldi to me, especially Anna Frost [yummy raviolis!] and Britney Richards).

3. Chicken Satay -- I made this for the first time this week.  Wow.  I'll definitely be making it again. Got the recipe from Family Fun.   We made kebobs out of it, with onion, green pepper, and mushroom.  Next time we plan to use pineapple, too.  Seriously though, as I was making this I thought, "this is a lot of chicken...I guess we'll have plenty of leftovers."  Not a one.  It all got scarfed, and it was a big hit with Benjamin too.  He doesn't always eat a lot of chicken, but I think the dipping sauce made it so fun he couldn't resist.

I know what you're thinking now -- "where are the pictures?"  Well.  Let me just tell you that I am always too busy eating these things to bother taking pictures.  The thought occasionally crosses my mind, but then it goes away again.  Probably because it gets crowded out by the thought that goes, "mmm, delicious!"

I hope you enjoy!  Let me know if you try any of these, and if you do how you like them!  Also, let me know about recipes your family loves!

<3

Alysa

*Not that breastmilk has to be prepared, per se.  And I suppose we could ALL eat baby cereal, after all I rather like the baby cereals and have been known to eat Benjamin's leftovers.

My kind of sport

Yesterday (39 weeks and 1 day, for those of you counting) we went to the Amish Cheese Festival in Arthur, IL.  All kinds of fun, let me tell you.  For one thing, it was adorable listening to Benjamin say "cheese festival!" which sounds more like "cheese a bess a bull!" For another, there was cheese tasting.  My favorite flavor was named "friendly garlic." Also, there was delicious funnel cake.

eating delicious funnel cake

But the undisputed highlight of the festival was the 11th Annual International Cheese Curling Team Championships.  Allow me to emphasize that, being the only (to my knowledge) cheese curling event, this is the most prestigious of all cheese curling events in the world!

What happens is this: a team of four steps up.  Usually said team of four has a cheesy (pun intended) name.  The Cheese-its.  The Cheesettes. Winsleydale, The Cheese Slicers, Pretty Gouda, and so forth.  Our team name was Blue Cheese, since we were all coincidentally wearing blue.  Our whole team was coincidental, really.  It consisted of myself and Jacob, as well as our friends Joe Bair and Bill Evans.

looking like he's been sweeping cheese
his whole life

One team member is chosen as the sweeper.  On our team this was Jacob.  The other team members roll a four pound stone of Baby Swiss down the tarp field toward the target.  The sweeper does anything he can to get the cheese on the bullseye at the end.  Each curler gets one practice roll and one roll for points.  The bullseye is worth four, and there are rings worth three, two, and one points.  This makes the highest possible score 12 points, and the low score could be 0, if the target was never reached.

For participation, each team gets to keep their stone -- roughly a pound of baby swiss per person!  We almost didn't participate, but as we watched the other competitors, who varied widely in skill and in the punniness of their team names, we figured, "hey, free cheese!" (and also "what a great story, if this put me into labor!") and signed up.  Since we signed up mid-competition, we were the last team on the roster.


Two teams were tied at 11 points before team Blue Cheese took the field.

I rolled first, for practice.  My roll was too hard and the broom was too soft. It rolled right through the target and beyond.  Joe rolled second, and Jacob was able to sweep it over into the three point section (but it was just practice).  Bill was our anchor, and his roll went wide, hit the boundary, and never even made it to Jacob. Things were not looking good for Blue Cheese.

I stepped up to the line again, and sent the cheese flying with a nice follow-through.

just look at that form!

It headed straight for the bullseye and Jacob smacked it down for four points!  Joe sent another one nice and easy down the middle, and Jacob brought our total to 8 points!  In the meantime, Bill's two kids who had been standing next to us decided to head back to their mom -- causing a break in concentration on the team.  Where are the kids? Where is Bill?  Okay, here we go again.  The official stopped Bill saying, "Did you roll, before?"  He wanted to make sure we weren't pulling in a different team member.  Once Bill was cleared, he curled straight and true.  Jacob nudged the cheese over as it passed into the bullseye, and we had a perfect 12!

Team Blue Cheese (plus a few)

We are the International Cheese Curling Team Champions for 2010!  For winning, we each got a stone of swiss to take home, as well as a Cheese Festival T-shirt.  A local media man took our picture for the paper, and has promised to mail us a copy of it.

Since I figured our little family didn't need eight pounds of Guggisberg baby swiss (four will do, thanks!) we gave our second wheel to some friends who got lost on the way and arrived just after we'd won.  We finished the day with a picnic in the park, and unfortunately, winning my title hasn't put me into labor.  

Now I'd like to make a little speech, if that's okay.

Thank you, friends, for celebrating my success with me.  Winning this championship was one of those things I never knew I always wanted.  If you have any good recipes that involve swiss cheese, please, for the love of cheese, send them my way.

One Year Older and Wiser, Too.

Happy Birthday to Benjamin! The big little guy turned one a couple weekends ago. For his party, we stripped him down and let him have at a chocolate frosted chocolate cupcake -- outside. He loved it, of course.

On his actual birthday, I was orchestrating the Friday evening dance at Youth Conference for our church. We had super-fun neon and black decorations, complete with glowsticks and cool DJ lights. I'm a big fan of the DJ that we (*cough* I*cough*) have been getting the last couple of dances. He's got great equipment and music and is very willing to do anything I ask. We had some good line dances, a fun limbo and an awesome hula-hoop contest. I wore a neon blue wig -- just in case anyone needed to find the person in charge of the dance. Yeah...I don't just, like, love dressing up and stuff.

Right after Youth Conference, on Fathers' Day, Jacob left for a week long Spectroscopy conference in Ohio. Benjamin and I kept ourselves quite busy -- we started some swimming lessons, had Laura come spend the night, hosted a ladies night, and went for a swim and BBQ party with some friends.

Jacob enjoyed the time bonding with co-workers in his lab, listening to talks about "mol spec", playing video games, and reading A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett.

So. . . yeah. Isn't this kid cute?

Benjamin's New Favorite Food

Hormel Chili With Beans!This picture cracks us up every time.

Politically Correct Cookies?

Girl Scout Cookies. Mmmm. . . they're so good. I have long maintained that if I could choose the name for a boy band, it would be Girl Scout Cookies. Everyone loves Girl Scout Cookies! Plus, what do you want to bet that adoring fans would shower them with. . . Girl Scout Cookies? It's win-win. (Win for the band, win for the GSA.) Of course, it would have to be a boy band, because if there were any girls in the band it would be weird. It would be like "Were you in Girl Scouts?" "Well, no, not exactly. . ." It would be as bad as if there was a woman in The Barenaked Ladies. I mean, I love their music, but I can only (barely) stomach their name because there are no ladies in the group.

Anyway, back to Girl Scout Cookies. My favorite of the cookies are those cookies formerly known as Samoas! So delicious! Chocolate dipped and striped shortbread with carmel and coconut. It just doesn't get any better. But I am here today to tell you that my favorite of all cookies has been renamed. These tasty creations are now labeled "Caramel DeLites."

Say what?!

What I want to know is, did the Girl Scouts of America change the cookie name of their own free will? Did they feel it would be, somehow, more politically correct? Because let me tell you, it's not great for advertising, if you ask me. Sure, Caramel DeLites gives you the hint that there is carmel in the cookies. But it also implies that fake sugars (the most heinous of a confectioners ingredients) could be present. Lite? as in low fat or low sugar? Yuk! Who wants a cookie like that!? No, no, no.

To call the cookies Samoas would be far better. True, this former name didn't tell potential consumers that carmel could be found in the cookies. But it did hint of tropical shores and an island nation known for excellent cooking. And coconuts!

Now, like I said, I don't know what prompted the switch. But if I were in charge of Samoa, I would write a letter. It would say something like, "Please, Girl Scouts, change the name of your best cookie back to Samoa. Their tasty goodness reflects so well upon our country. Your sales have increased our tourism and our tourism has increased your sales for years and years. Why can't we be friends?"

What do you think? What is your favorite girl scout cookie? Also, please vote on the toothpaste poll in the sidebar.

P.S. Whoa, Wikipedia tells me that I'm not alone in the choice of my favorite Girl Scout Cookie. Samoa/Caramel DeLites account for 25% of sales.