So work went really well, except for one day where I left forty minutes late (not acceptable), but I suspect (but don’t want to believe) that I was given an easier-than-normal assignment and that this will not last. Well, whatever, I won’t think about that.

Yesterday at work everyone was supposed to wear pink for breast cancer awareness month, which is October. My manager even texted us all at 5:30 a.m. to remind us. And that’s fine and good and all, but my pink scrubs don’t currently fit. I tried them on and they were looking more like leggings. It’s pretty embarrassing when you outgrow scrubs, even fitted ones, I mean they have a DRAWSTRING. So I wore a pair of blue scrubs that do fit, and of course EVERYONE was wearing pink including the GUYS. That means that everyone was asking me, “Why didn’t you wear pink?” And I could have just said that I don’t own pink scrubs, except for the fact that I used to wear them all the time. So I had to spend the whole morning telling people about the baby weight I put on and haven’t lost yet. THAT was fun.

***

Enough about work. Let’s talk baby! She spends Monday through Thursday in daycare, and Fridays my mom is off work and keeps her. She did awesome. My dad drives around for work and was able to stop by and visit her every day, sending me a picture each time. Witness:

Monday: Dad feeds her a bottle (hence the drool)

Tuesday: The fuzziest hair of all time

Wednesday: Just chillin’ with Pops

Thursday: All the single ladies, put your hands up

And then there was Friday, when I made my mom text more than she ever has in her life to keep me updated. She sent me lots of pictures, but I couldn’t stop looking at this one:

The cuteness is overwhelming. First of all, her smile. Anytime she smiles I melt, but this is a serious grin. The squinty eyes, the dimple, the double chin, ahhhh. Secondly, the huge Astros onesie. It’s a size 18 months which is all my mom had at her house, because apparently what I sent her in got dirty and Mom didn’t want to try to put her in the backup clothes I sent since they said “up to 11 pounds” and Meredith is over 12 (even though, for the record, they totally fit). Finally, she’s sitting in a Bumbo! We don’t have one, so this was the first time she got to try it out and I’m so proud of her for sitting in it so well.

But back to daycare. I’m going to be honest and say that it feels very wrong to be dropping her off there all day. The first few times I didn’t know if I’d be able to continue to do it. BUT it has gotten easier. And the more I get to know the people there the more I like them. There are only three other babies there, and the director and assistant director are both very involved so I know she gets a lot of attention. One awesome thing is that they LOVE her cloth diapers! I thought I’d be lucky to find a place that accepted them, but it’s so much better that they are actually happy about it. And Meredith is happy there so far; my dad says that every time he comes by she’s smiling and content. So I know everything will be okay, despite my inability to not cry about it.

***

One day this week I thought, “I should probably check the mail.” When I opened our box all that was inside was a key to the package compartment, and when I opened that it was full of our mail. I was so happy, because this answered a longstanding question I had about what they would do if the mailbox became too full. I was also happy because in the mail had arrived three issues of Martha Stewart Living, one of Elle Decor, and a Rearz fitted diaper that I won in a giveaway. This particular diaper requires a cover, which I do not have. So now of course I must buy one. I’m thinking of getting the Thirsties Duo Wrap, but anyone have any thoughts on the matter?

***

I need to buy a dress for my brother’s wedding which is in TWO WEEKS. This is crazy because I never thought my brother would get married. But anyway, he is, and in two weeks, and I am the only bridesmaid other than the maid of honor, her sister. The bride has graciously allowed us to choose our own black dresses. I am looking for something with an empire waist (see: baby weight), in a silky material, and preferably with sleeves of some sort because her sister’s dress has sleeves and I want to kind of sort of match her.

Maybe something like this faux wrap dress with cap sleeves:

 Or this, which I really like better, but it’s strapless:

 I don’t know. And now I’m realizing that I’ll need to buy shoes also. Well if I MUST.

***

Oh! I forgot to mention another exciting thing. Up until this week my husband has been driving a truck and therefore we’ve only had one car with a car seat which makes things kind of difficult at times. We didn’t want to get a new car because we want to pay off our debt, but we were able to work out a deal with his dad and we ended up trading him our truck for his car. Now all we have to do is buy a car seat and then I’ll be able to drop Meredith off at daycare, take the bus to work, and then David can pick her up much earlier than I’d be able to. We want to get another convertible car seat, but since we have to buy this one ourselves, probably not another Britax like we have already. What are some good, economical choices?

***

Cooking during the week now? Not going to happen for awhile, until I really get into a groove. I’ll be able to stock up on some weekends, but not this one. I’m too tired, have too many other things to do, and we have other things going on for dinner. I feel a little bit bad about that since it means I’ll have to take frozen meals to work for lunch next week, but I need a break from something. And that’s okay.

***

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have about a million loads of laundry to do.

Meredith is wearing cloth diapers now!

At a little over ten pounds, she finally fits into her small Fuzzibunz. She’s been wearing them for about a week now and I love it SO much. I was worried about the transition, but it has been extremely easy! Honestly, I would choose cloth diapers just because of how much fun it is for me, to say nothing about the money-and-planet-saving aspect of it, and how good it is for the baby’s skin. I’ll do a post about this once we get a little more experience. But seriously, LOVE. So much so that I’m now addicted to entering all the giveaways I can find for cloth diapers. Did y’all know that there’s, like, an entire black hole of blogs dedicated solely to cloth diapers and giveaways? It’s amazing and dangerous.

I made a recipe binder!

I completed the binder I linked to in my cooking post, and I’m pretty happy with it. First, I’m happy about completing a project, and second, I think this will help me a lot! I always thought that I would compile my recipes online somehow, but I think I do better with having something printed out for me to look through. I think I will eventually look for new recipes online, and then once I have tried them and know we love them, I’ll print it out and add it to the binder. My next goal in this area (other than continuing to cook several dinners a week, which, so far so good) is to figure out a good system for meal planning and grocery shopping, and I also want to reorganize my pantry and kitchen cabinets to make everything easier on myself.

The nursery is almost finished!

I’m especially excited about this one because this will be the first room that I can say I’m completely happy with in our house since we moved in almost three years ago. All I need to do is frame and hang a piece I just received from Etsy, and when that’s finished I can do a complete nursery tour. I just love spending time there, it makes me so happy.

In other news:

>I’m still plugging through Infinite Jest and will for sure be finished by the time I go back to work, but if I can finish this week that would be ideal. I appreciate the mastery of the writing and really enjoy some parts, especially as it gets near the end, but I have to say that I almost lost it with the animal abuse (if you’ve read it you KNOW what part I’m talking about). Anyway, I am looking forward to having it behind me and moving on to other books, like The Help which is our next book club book, but I think I’ll actually miss it once I’m finished.

>Our small church recently disbanded (long, sad story) so now we have begun the process of visiting new churches every week. It’s kind of fun and exciting, but overwhelming too, especially with a new baby! We went to one over the weekend that I really loved, so things look promising.

>My brother is getting married next month! Check out the cool wedding website he designed.

I’ve never been “into” cooking and haven’t done all that much of it. The preparation overwhelms me, I’ve never had anyone teach me anything,  and my husband is kind of a picky eater. BUT, we can’t afford to eat out much and convenience foods are unhealthy, so I know that cooking is the way to go.

So this week I broke out my cookbooks and analyzed every recipe. I picked ones that looked good to me and that I thought I could make, then ran them by my husband and he vetoed several. The rest I wrote down ingredients for and I chose a few meals to make in the next week. My husband grocery shopped on the way home from work and last night I actually made a meal! And it was good! And pretty easy!

Maybe it’s because I have more time on my hands at the moment, or because I have a child now and I want her to grow up eating homemade meals and be able to teach her to cook, but I think I’m finally ready to master cooking. I’m also ready to enjoy it.

One thing I think will help is to get organized and inspired. My next project is going to be making a recipe binder like this one. I also want to start watching the Food Network more. What are your favorite shows? Also, do you have any cooking magazines or websites you recommend?

I’m determined to conquer cooking!

Any good day off starts with sleeping in, which I did. Then, after some lazing around, David and I decided to cash in on a Cracker Barrel gift card he got for his birthday. Although we’ve been trying to eat healthier this year, we give ourselves one meal a week where we eat what we want. This was DEFINITELY the meal. My love for breakfast food is deep and true, only surpassed by my love for dark chocolate, Blue Bell ice cream, and my Tempur Pedic mattress. And living beings, of course. Anyway, David and I basically ordered one of everything.

Not pictured: the hash brown casserole, French toast, and sausage that we also shared.

We somehow rolled ourselves out to our car when we finished and drove over to Lowe’s. My plan was just to price some blinds for our breakfast room and living room, but David convinced me to just buy them now. I had anxiety about spending the money, but since we’ve been living without privacy for a year now I figured it was worth it.

On the way home we stopped to see our nephew Lucas, where I got to experience this adorableness:

Their cat just crawled on to my back and made herself comfortable while I was playing with Lucas. That never happens to me with cats! I was so excited!

Back at home we set to work installing our new blinds, with the help of our talented and gracious fathers. Conversations with my dad can always be interesting. He is blunt and honest in an endearing sort of way, which makes me nervous at times.

Dad: One thing I’m looking forward to when I get older is being able to tell everyone exactly what I think.

Me: But Dad, you kind of already do that.

Dad: I’m not even close.

Me: (eyes widen in terror)

Amidst such riveting conversation we got the blinds installed and I cannot even believe what a difference they make. The rooms actually look finished now. I keep looking at them. Here is what the breakfast area looked like when we bought the house:

And here it is now, pretty much finished:

And here are the new blinds in the living room:

I’m in love. We had to get them specially cut, and Lowe’s did it perfectly right there while we waited. Eventually I’m thinking some different curtains would be nice for the living room, along with some sort of curtains for the breakfast room, but I am happy with this for now.

After the satisfying completion of that task, I set about making bruschetta to bring to a baby shower tomorrow. I’ve never made it before, and used this recipe. I had to double it, and the mixture  turned out looking like this before chilling in the refrigerator overnight:

Can anyone tell me, does this look right? Because I’m not so sure.

I am now ensconced on the couch with my two dogs, watching Ewan McGregor attempt to do a very poor Italian accent in Angels & Demons. Saturdays like these don’t happen very often for us, so I enjoy them to the fullest when they do. It’s been a great day.

So after a hot shower I promptly planted myself in our recliner by the fire, underneath a blanket, and commenced reading. Four days ago I realized that the library book I checked out for book club, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, was due in two days and I had barely even begun. It’s not up for renewal since there is a waiting list, and I want to minimize my fines. I spent the next few hours finishing the book, which was quite good, but by the end my nose and fingers were too cold for comfort.

I steeled myself and marched out to the garage, where David was busily cleaning his truck. I announced my presence and stated, “I came to tell you that I think it’s time we turn the heat on inside.” I expected cheers, hugs, and falling at my feet. He had, after all, been asking to turn the heat on for the past two weeks. Instead, I got an adamant “NO!” Not quite what I had in mind.

I argued that today was the first time I’d been home all day and just could not get warm. I promised that we’d still sleep close at night. I rationalized that we’d have to turn it on eventually. But apparently my principles have rubbed off on him these past weeks, and he told me to suck it up, put on more clothes, and move around to get warm.

Back inside, grumpy yet strangely proud, I put on another sweater and decided to take on a cooking project to raise my body temperature. Since we already had dinner plans, I figured I’d prepare a slow cooker meal that I could turn on the next morning before work and that way we’d have a hot meal when I get home tomorrow night. So I started working on this beef stew, which I had been planning to try soon anyway. Only problem was I didn’t realize how long it would take, and in the middle of it I discovered I didn’t have time to finish before we had to leave. Into the refrigerator it all went, and the meal will just have to be postponed another day.

We went to our dinner exchange meal at Scott and Vanessa’s, and this time David’s best friend, his wife, and their two children came too. I’m afraid I wasn’t much company in that I started getting sleepy around 6:30 p.m. and barely rubbed two words together the entire evening. But I did quite enjoy watching my husband interact with 7-year-old Gwen and 4-year-old Jacob. They made up a game called “Nice To Meet You” in which they shook hands and took turns saying, “Nice to meet you ________.” Any word could go in the blank, any word at all. The only rule was you couldn’t duplicate. You can imagine how long this could last, and it did. At least 30 minutes straight. I’m not sure who had more fun, the kids or David. One thing is for sure, I can’t wait to make him a dad.

Sadly, I have to work again this weekend. I would much rather be braving the chilly air at home with my husband, even if it meant frozen fingers and noses.

1. I need some new music. Suggestions?

I like acoustic guitar and piano-based stuff, but not exclusively. Over the Rhine has become my all-time favorite band, but some of my other favorites are Nickel Creek and Sandra McCracken. Recently I’m really enjoying Katie Herzig. I need some new Christmas songs too, just not the cheesy ones that they play on the radio.

2. What are your favorite kitchen tools and gadgets?

I’m still working on my Christmas list (even though it is super long already) and I want to know what I can’t live without.

3. What are your favorite iPhone apps?

I’m especially looking for the best Twitter app, the best camera app, and some good games, but anything useful is appreciated!

And go!

Ingredients:

1 (2-pound) bag frozen hash browns, thawed
1 pound pork sausage
2 slices cooked ham, diced
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
12 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 13×9 inch baking dish. Place the hash brown potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish.

This already takes up half of the dish. Like I said, next time I’ll use less potatoes.

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and cook and stir the sausage until the it is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink; drain. (If your husband likes onion this would be the time to cook a small diced onion along with the meat. Also, I decided to include some diced ham, because we had some on hand.)

Mmm, meat. A lot of it. Too much, actually, but oh well.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and pour over the potatoes. Layer with half the Cheddar cheese, the sausage mixture, and the remaining Cheddar cheese. Cover with aluminum foil.

That is a lot of cheese, my friends. Just how I like it.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Remove cover; return casserole to the oven and bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Forgot to take a picture of the finished product until after we had already eaten. We just couldn’t wait!

This was definitely good, but I’m not ready to declare my undying love for it . There was so much meat and potatoes that I could hardly taste the egg. I’d like to try it with some modifications, but if you’ve got a tried and true recipe for a breakfast casserole, I’d love for you to share.

]]> http://kapachino.info/2009/11/breakfast-casserole/feed/ 4 http://kapachino.info/2009/10/ten-on-tuesday/ http://kapachino.info/2009/10/ten-on-tuesday/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:26:21 +0000 kapachino http://kapachino.info/?p=1858 My friend Chelsea (I can totally call her my friend now because we had dinner together once!) has started a weekly feature called “Ten On Tuesday” where she comes up with ten random questions and answers them. I haven’t had the time to participate for the last two weeks, but today I made it a point to because the questions are always interesting.

1. What are you going to be for Halloween?
In all likelihood, I won’t dress up at all. I work that day, as well as the day before and after, so I don’t plan to be going anywhere. I think I may have only dressed up for Halloween twice in my entire life. Boring, I know.

2. Have you ever been on television?
Racking my brain, and no, I don’t believe I have. Not even on the local channel for high school sports.

3. Do you have a toilet paper preference?
Yes. I always buy Quilted Northern double rolls. I think it’s because that’s what my parents always bought. Also, the paper needs to go over the top of the roll, not down the back.

4. When you’re pregnant, will you find out the sex of the baby? Why or why not?
Yes, I think so. I’m a planner and I think I’ll need some time to adjust.

5. What are three items that every kitchen must have?
Other than large appliances, I’d say a saucepan, a baking dish, and some basic utensils. You could make a lot of meals with those three things, I think. (What I’d like to know: what are your favorite kitchen gadgets? Christmas is coming up and I NEED TO KNOW!)

6. Do you enjoy Christmas shopping?
Yes, I do. I love the holidays and when I’m in the mood I like going out into the bustling crowds. I like having specific things in mind to shop for, and I feel accomplished when I find them. Also, ever since 9th grade my dad and I have taken a whole day and shopped together, just the two of us. It’s become very special to us, and something I look forward to every year.

7. What is your go-to recipe? (The thing you cook more than anything else because it’s easy and mindless.) Please share the recipe.
I think this is one of, if not THE first thing I learned to cook, and was the first meal I cooked for David when we were dating. So good.

Enchilada Casserole
1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (10 oz) cans enchilada sauce
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
10 (6 in) tortillas
1 (16 oz) can refried beans

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook beef, onion, garlic until beef is browned; drain.
3. Stir in beans and enchilada sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook 5-6 minutes.
4. Layer tortillas, beef/bean mixture, and cheese in a 13×9 dish.
5. Bake, covered, for 20 minutes.
6. Remove cover; bake 5 minutes.

8. Do you sleep on your back, belly, or side?
Never ever on my belly. I usually lie on my back to decompress, turn to my side to fall asleep, and then I wake up on my back again.

9. How do you feel about Tom Cruise?
Well, I think he’s kind of crazy. Definitely lost and misguided. But I do like a lot of his movies.

10. What books are in your “books to read” stack?
I’m trying to read all of the books I own but haven’t read yet. You can see my list here (as well as other books I’ve read), or I’ll list them for you:

• The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood by David Simon (Got this one as a gift from my best friend years ago, because she did voluntary service in a similar neighborhood for a year)
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Supposed to read with a friend, but don’t know if that’s going to happen)
• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (I have the complete works)
• Emma by Jane Austen
• Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
• Lady Susan by Jane Austen
• The Professor by Charlotte Bronte (I also have the complete works of the Bronte sisters)
• Villette by Charlotte Bronte
• The Merlin Trilogy by Mary Stewart
• The Host by Stephenie Meyer (actually on loan from Maggie, she says I will like it)
• Inferno by Dante Alighieri
• Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs (bought really cheap because I heard it was the best of his books)
• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville (I’m big on reading classics if you can’t tell)
• The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl (loved The Dante Club by the same author and this one seems similar)
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
• The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

Okay…that is a lot of books! I need to get on that, especially since I’m trying to finish them all (plus some others) for my 101 goals.

I made this meal last week for my husband and I, and since there was so much of it we invited David’s brother and his wife over. They had already planned on going over to David’s parents’ house, so we just invited the whole crew over. When I told them that I hadn’t even tasted what they were about to eat, my sister-in-law said, “That’s what family’s for!” Luckily it turned out pretty good, although I will make some adjustments next time.

So this is just your basic ground beef casserole type thing, dubbed “El Burgos” by the More-With-Less cookbook. Hey, I don’t profess to be a fancy cook.

Ingredients:

5 large potatoes, thinly sliced
1 lb. ground beef
2 green peppers, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1 t. salt
1 T. brown sugar
2 c. tomato sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook potatoes in small amount of water just until tender. Drain.
My notes: 5 potatoes is WAY too many. 3 would be plenty.

2. Saute in skillet ground beef, green peppers, and onions.
My husband hates peppers and onions, so to season the meat I used some good ol’ Tony Chachere’s.

3. Combine in a bowl cheese, salt, brown sugar, and tomato sauce.
Next time I’ll double all of these ingredients. It needed more sauce!

4. Alternate layers of meat mixture and potatoes in greased 2 qt. casserole. Pour cheese-tomato mixture over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
I used my Pampered Chef stoneware and sprayed it with cooking spray.

When dinner was over, there was one helping left, which I ate for dinner the next day. Success! When I make it again with my modifications next time it will be perfect. Yummy comfort food. :)

Some ideas I have for the house:

• Some open shelving in the kitchen, filled with dishes, cute baskets of produce, and spices in mismatched glass jars
• Plants all over the place
• Tear down the outdated vanity in the half bathroom and put in a pedestal sink
• Replace the linoleum with tile throughout, and do it ourselves
• Make my own Roman shades

The inspiration isn’t just limited to home decor. For an anniversary gift, Becca gave me the cookbook More-with-Less: Suggestions by Mennonites on how to eat better and consume less of the world’s limited food resources. She explained to me that all the recipes use mostly basic ingredients that are healthy and can be bought in bulk. It stresses unprocessed foods and teaches you how to make some things yourself that you might be used to buying pre-packaged. While we were there Becca made some of the dishes and I was impressed with how good they were. So now I really want to get back on my cooking kick, and in a healthy, world-conscious way.

Finally, I noticed that Becca uses a lot of organic, fair-trade, local products, which is something I have wanted to transition into doing for awhile now. I have noticed that the older I get, the more hippie I become, except without the drugs or political activism. :) I’m not sure how my conservative husband feels about that, but I think he’ll be happy when he sees how I can save us money without compromising on quality and do good to ourselves and the environment at the same time!

Basically I want to be a perfect little homemaker, but unfortunately that’s a hard goal to reach having a demanding full-time job. It’s an ongoing battle to balance the two, but at least now I have some inspiration to keep me going!

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