It all started with getting up early with the farmer. So my darling husband usually gets out of bed with my farmer son at 5 am. I say farmer son because somewhere in our vast farmlands in the USA there is a farmer who has a son who won't get up and out of bed early. And my son, born into a life in the suburbs of Chicago, wants to wake up at 4 am. We keep him in bed until 5 am with the help of the Goodnite Lite, which is an alarm that is attached to a circle which changed from a moon to a sun depending on the time you set. We have him in his crib waiting and playing by himself for an hour. Not that we are sleeping during that 4 to 5 o'clock hour, but at least we are resting in our bed.
So as I was saying, my darling husband usually gets out of bed with my son at 5 am. I rest for a bit longer, then get up, put my makeup on, and get ready for the day. Because once that kid-horse-race starts a-movin' there is not much that slows it down. Today my husband was really sleepy, so when the farmer woke up at 4 am, I rested until 4:30 and then got up, put my makeup on, and got ready for the day. You read me right -- I put makeup on at 4:30 am in order to get a head start on my son. The things that we do to maintain some form of what we used to look like before kids. I used to be quite put together, so in order to not look like a complete disaster -- I get up early to get ready for the day. Once the horse race starts, I never look in a mirror again. Anyway, I got up with my farmer at 5 am.
We had a fine morning playing with trains and what not. At 6:20 am my husband came downstairs with my four month old in arm - lucky me she usually sleeps until about 8:30 am -- wow I am glad she woke up nice and early today. So, I make my husband a breakfast to go sandwich, and he is out the door 5 minutes later. And mommy is at the starting blocks....... she is off and running. I breastfeed my daughter, put her down to play, and make my farmer his breakfast -- all while returning a friend's phone call -- I have a phone operator's head set that allows me to multitask at peak performance.
Once I clean up after my farmer's breakfast, the horse race started to move a bit faster. My daughter was screaming, so I went to her and she had pooped though her cute outfit. I cleaned her up and gave her a bath -- and yes, after that she needed a bath. I put her on a towel on the ground only to notice that my farmer's diaper (my husband was the last one to change him -- the only reason this is important is I didn't want to take the blame for this poorly fasten diaper -- I was way too tired and the day was way too young for me to start blaming myself) was hanging somewhere around his knees. I tacked that pony to the ground and found out that he was soaking wet with pee -- shirt, pants, and socks. Yeah!!! Another twist in the track. I took his clothing off and put a new diaper on him. I then looked around the house for a wet pee spot on the carpet, so I could take care of my home. Luckily, I found nothing -- he only peed on himself. So, I had a naked daughter rolling off her towel on my family room floor and a naked but diapered farmer son sitting in his Little Tike Cozy Coupe in front of the TV. I put the dirty clothing in the wash and glanced at the clock -- it was 7:40 am -- wow that is a lot of action -- I guess this makes up for watching a little Oprah in the afternoon IF they both take a nap at the same time today. And this all started with getting up early with the farmer.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Yummy French Toast
I have made French Toast for years. And I am sure you have too, but I have finally landed on my perfect mixture of flavors that makes for the best french toast ever. My husband and my son love it; I hope you will too. However my picky son doesn't like the leftovers warmed up the next day. So it is a good thing that it is easy to make this fresh on demand. I am posting pictures of my french toast and maple sausage links from this morning. Here is the recipe I have come up with.
As always the measurements are flexible-- cooking is an art not a science.
Yummy French Toast
(These measurements are approximate for 6 pieces of thick bread)
Start with preparing the honey so it will cool off by the time you put it in your mixture
1 Tablespoon honey(microwave it for 20 -30 seconds in a glass bowl this will make the honey thinner and easier to mix with your other ingredients -- remember you don't want to put plastic in the micro -- let it cool off before adding it to the other ingredients)
4 large eggs
a splash of milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cap full (about 1teaspoon) vanilla
a pinch of salt to balance the flavors
thick Italian bread
butter
powder sugar for decoration
Directions:
Mix ingredients adding honey when not so hot. Place bread in a shallow dish and pour mixture over the bread. Flip bread to get bread fully saturated with yummy mixture. Let sit for as long as need. Warm up your pan on medium heat and melt some butter (real butter is key at this point -- if you use real butter in the pan, you will not have to put butter on the french toast once it is finished) to coat the pan for use. Place bread in pan and turn after about 2 - 3 minutes depending on thickness of bread. Place cooked pieces in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Once finished with all your toast, sprinkle with powered sugar and serve. It will be yummy and soft.
As always the measurements are flexible-- cooking is an art not a science.
Yummy French Toast
(These measurements are approximate for 6 pieces of thick bread)
Start with preparing the honey so it will cool off by the time you put it in your mixture
1 Tablespoon honey(microwave it for 20 -30 seconds in a glass bowl this will make the honey thinner and easier to mix with your other ingredients -- remember you don't want to put plastic in the micro -- let it cool off before adding it to the other ingredients)
4 large eggs
a splash of milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cap full (about 1teaspoon) vanilla
a pinch of salt to balance the flavors
thick Italian bread
butter
powder sugar for decoration
Directions:
Mix ingredients adding honey when not so hot. Place bread in a shallow dish and pour mixture over the bread. Flip bread to get bread fully saturated with yummy mixture. Let sit for as long as need. Warm up your pan on medium heat and melt some butter (real butter is key at this point -- if you use real butter in the pan, you will not have to put butter on the french toast once it is finished) to coat the pan for use. Place bread in pan and turn after about 2 - 3 minutes depending on thickness of bread. Place cooked pieces in a 200 degree oven to keep warm. Once finished with all your toast, sprinkle with powered sugar and serve. It will be yummy and soft.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
How big is my lap?
It is hard for a mom to carve out time for herself. As I am typing right now, I have my daughter breastfeeding and my son sitting on the second half of my thighs and knees. My son is using my daughter's back to rest his back on. I have two screens up on the desktop of my computer -- this screen (for me to write) and youtube (for my son to watch G scale trains). I love being a stay at home -- these are the moments that I will not be able to recapture in the future. These moments pass too fast. It is hard to get things done -- things that I want to do. Anyway, I didn't think this moment should pass without me documenting it. How big is your lap?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Big A** Meatballs
Big A** Meatballs - so, that is what my husband used to call my meatball dinner BEFORE we had kids. This is one of my husband's favorite dinners that I make -- you know a stand-by dish. They are flavorful meatballs that have been cooked in tomato sauce, which makes the meatballs soft and tender. I serve the meatballs and sauce over rice with a side of fresh green beans. But what do we call this dish now that we have a two year old? We certainly cannot call it Big A** Meatballs anymore. Can you hear my two year old at preschool saying it -- I can. So, I told my husband we have to rename this dinner. We decided the easiest thing to call it is Big Meatballs -- I know this seems obvious and easy, but it was as hard as changing your child's name. So what does my husband call it -- Big (long dramatic pause) Meatballs. It sounds so ridiculous. And the sad part is I call it this too. At some our kids are going to repeat this with the dramatic pause. And no, they will not be cursing. But they are going to sound odd -- I love mommy's Big (wait for it) Meatballs.
Here is the recipe -- Mommy Tip call it whatever you want, but remember you will be stuck with whatever you select.
Big Ass Meatballs
(a bit more or less of these ingredients will not matter - cooking is an art not a science)
1 package of ground sirloin
1 onion chopped
1- 2 cloves of garlic minced
salt
pepper
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup graded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup more or less breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 Tablespoons olive oil (additional for browning meatballs)
flour
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
water
rice
green vegetable (green beans go great with this meal)
Place all of the ingredients: ground sirlion, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, ground cinnamon, graded Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, olive oil
into a bowl. Wet your hand (this is key -- meat doesn't stick to wet hands, so you have a few minutes to mix ) and mix the ingredients with your hands. Don't over mix so to keep meatballs soft -- just mix until ingredients are incorporated.
Create 4 to 5 Big Ass Meatballs. (Mommy Tip -5 meatballs means my husband and I have two meals. My son has his own meatball, which I mix with the rice and sauce and split up into several meals) Flatten the meatballs some so they are more like puffy hamburgers. Dredge meatballs in flour (this too helps keep meatballs moist and tender). Place olive oil in a high sided skillet that you have a cover for. Heat the oil on medium high. Once oil is hot, place meatballs in pan - don't move them for 2 - 3 minutes to create a nice crust. Then flip them for about 2 minutes. Turn heat down to low. Then pour tomato sauce over meatballs. Fill the can half way with water and pour that in the pan. Stir sauce and water around and cover. Cook for 25- 30 minutes -- flip over once half way through the cooking. Sauce will thicken with time.
In the meantime, make some white rice. And start your green vegs. Once meat is finished, place some rice on your plate with a meatball half on and half off the bed of rice. Take fork and slightly break meatball open and pour sauce over meatball and rice. Plate green beans Enjoy!
Here is the recipe -- Mommy Tip call it whatever you want, but remember you will be stuck with whatever you select.
Big Ass Meatballs
(a bit more or less of these ingredients will not matter - cooking is an art not a science)
1 package of ground sirloin
1 onion chopped
1- 2 cloves of garlic minced
salt
pepper
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup graded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup more or less breadcrumbs
1 egg
2 Tablespoons olive oil (additional for browning meatballs)
flour
1 15 oz can of tomato sauce
water
rice
green vegetable (green beans go great with this meal)
Place all of the ingredients: ground sirlion, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, ground cinnamon, graded Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, olive oil
into a bowl. Wet your hand (this is key -- meat doesn't stick to wet hands, so you have a few minutes to mix ) and mix the ingredients with your hands. Don't over mix so to keep meatballs soft -- just mix until ingredients are incorporated.
Create 4 to 5 Big Ass Meatballs. (Mommy Tip -5 meatballs means my husband and I have two meals. My son has his own meatball, which I mix with the rice and sauce and split up into several meals) Flatten the meatballs some so they are more like puffy hamburgers. Dredge meatballs in flour (this too helps keep meatballs moist and tender). Place olive oil in a high sided skillet that you have a cover for. Heat the oil on medium high. Once oil is hot, place meatballs in pan - don't move them for 2 - 3 minutes to create a nice crust. Then flip them for about 2 minutes. Turn heat down to low. Then pour tomato sauce over meatballs. Fill the can half way with water and pour that in the pan. Stir sauce and water around and cover. Cook for 25- 30 minutes -- flip over once half way through the cooking. Sauce will thicken with time.
In the meantime, make some white rice. And start your green vegs. Once meat is finished, place some rice on your plate with a meatball half on and half off the bed of rice. Take fork and slightly break meatball open and pour sauce over meatball and rice. Plate green beans Enjoy!
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