"You're tall like a crane, Daddy, and we're small like a bulldozer."
~Lincoln
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
new and creative ways to spend $$
My dear frugal husband cringes internally every time I get excited about spending money. I'm not your average shopper, though. I hate the mall; just stepping one foot inside makes me feel poor, fat, and ugly (even though I know I'm not!). But I do love buying chunky, colorful costume jewlery, would happily buy an endless supply of yarn if I could, and could easily spend a small fortune at a bookstore. And I love to window shop (especially at antique stores). And I can never seem to resist the siren song of Target...
Knowing this, you might understand my extreme excitement when I came across my new favorite website, http://www.etsy.com/. It's a marketplace for selling all kinds of
wonderful handmade stuff. Sure, some of it is bound to be a little tacky, but a lot of it is creative and original and really, really cute. I particularly love their jewlery (of course) and children's sections. I love love love how creative this "sweetpea" necklace pendant that I found there is. And here's where you can be relieved, Joe: I have so much fun browsing and getting ideas of stuff to make that I don't feel a compelling urge to buy. At least not until someone in our family has a birthday...
Knowing this, you might understand my extreme excitement when I came across my new favorite website, http://www.etsy.com/. It's a marketplace for selling all kinds of
wonderful handmade stuff. Sure, some of it is bound to be a little tacky, but a lot of it is creative and original and really, really cute. I particularly love their jewlery (of course) and children's sections. I love love love how creative this "sweetpea" necklace pendant that I found there is. And here's where you can be relieved, Joe: I have so much fun browsing and getting ideas of stuff to make that I don't feel a compelling urge to buy. At least not until someone in our family has a birthday...
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Recipe of the Week: Tasty Tostadas
Tasty Tostadas (serves 4 as a main course)
3/4 c. Vegetable oil
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas (white or yellow)
1 can refried beans (we like vegetarian)
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 c.)
3 large chicken breasts
1 can mild red enchilada sauce
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475 degrees.
Place chicken and enchilada sauce in a large skillet, and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from sauce and shred with two forks. Add enough sauce back to the shredded chicken to make it nice and moist. Discard remaining sauce and set chicken mixture aside.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in an 8-inch heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees, about 5 minutes (the oil should bubble when a small piece of tortilla is dropped in; the tortilla should rise to the surface in 2 seconds). While the oil is heating, line a rimmed baking sheet with a double thickness of paper towels. Using tongs, slide 1 tortilla into the hot oil. Fry until the tortilla has stiffened and is just beginning to brown, about 45 seconds. Using tongs, flip the tortilla and cook the other side until it is lightly browned, about 45 seconds. Transfer the crisp tortilla to the paper towls to drain and repeat the process with the remaining tortillas.
To assemble the tostadas, smear each tortilla with 1/4 c. refried beans, top with chicken (divided evenly among tortillas), and sprinkle with 1/4 c. cheese. Lay the tostadas in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the cheese is just melted, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately. Delicious topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, diced avacados, sour cream, and diced tomatoes.
Note: This recipe was adapted from the Refried Bean Tostada recipe in The Quick Recipe, by the editors of COOK'S ILLUSTRATED magazine.
3/4 c. Vegetable oil
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas (white or yellow)
1 can refried beans (we like vegetarian)
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 c.)
3 large chicken breasts
1 can mild red enchilada sauce
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475 degrees.
Place chicken and enchilada sauce in a large skillet, and simmer over medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from sauce and shred with two forks. Add enough sauce back to the shredded chicken to make it nice and moist. Discard remaining sauce and set chicken mixture aside.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in an 8-inch heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees, about 5 minutes (the oil should bubble when a small piece of tortilla is dropped in; the tortilla should rise to the surface in 2 seconds). While the oil is heating, line a rimmed baking sheet with a double thickness of paper towels. Using tongs, slide 1 tortilla into the hot oil. Fry until the tortilla has stiffened and is just beginning to brown, about 45 seconds. Using tongs, flip the tortilla and cook the other side until it is lightly browned, about 45 seconds. Transfer the crisp tortilla to the paper towls to drain and repeat the process with the remaining tortillas.
To assemble the tostadas, smear each tortilla with 1/4 c. refried beans, top with chicken (divided evenly among tortillas), and sprinkle with 1/4 c. cheese. Lay the tostadas in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the cheese is just melted, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately. Delicious topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, diced avacados, sour cream, and diced tomatoes.
Note: This recipe was adapted from the Refried Bean Tostada recipe in The Quick Recipe, by the editors of COOK'S ILLUSTRATED magazine.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Budding Geologist
Daniel loves rocks. He cannot walk past one, not even the tiniest pebble, without stooping to pick it up. Which means that his pockets are full of them, and you can't go far in our house without stepping on one. Every once in a while, he'll find a rock that is special. To the untrained eye (everyone but Daniel, and maybe Lincoln), it looks like any other rock-- could even be a chunk of concrete or asphalt. Anyhow, when he finds that special rock, he won't let it go for anything. A few days ago, he had a smooth, flat pebble that must've fit perfectly in his (not so) little fist. He managed to hold onto it through snacktime, playing with his racecars and legos, and chasing his brother. He put it in his pocket for dinnertime, but pulled it out when he was done eating to draw on it with a piece of chalk. When bedtime rolled around, there it was again, held tightly in his hand-- he insisted on falling asleep with it.
When I first noticed his indiscriminate rockhounding tendencies, I caught myself thinking that we should get some rock books from the library so that I could teach him which rocks are "officially" special, and encourage him to collect only those. The more I think of it though, I want him to hang on to his ability to find value and enjoyment in everything he sees, even humble little chunks of asphalt.
When I first noticed his indiscriminate rockhounding tendencies, I caught myself thinking that we should get some rock books from the library so that I could teach him which rocks are "officially" special, and encourage him to collect only those. The more I think of it though, I want him to hang on to his ability to find value and enjoyment in everything he sees, even humble little chunks of asphalt.
Revisionist History
When we're driving around town in the van, Lincoln keeps a constant dialogue going, peppered with short comments from Daniel. Today he told me, "When I was a baby, I had a funny word for water. I said: rock." This was news to me! He also likes to "reminisce" about when he went to high school, and the time he spent riding his tricycle around on his mission to upstate New York.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Lincoln on religion
Lincoln and Daniel are usually pretty good about keeping the Sabbath. Sure, they miss their morning tv shows, and outings to the park; but they love going to Nursery, eating pancakes for dinner, and Sunday Night ICE CREAM (a reward for good behavior during sacrament meeting).
This morning, however, Lincoln needed reasons. No longer is, "...because it's the Sabbath..." good enough. So, I told him the story of the creation-- how God worked hard for 6 days to make this beautiful earth and everything in it, and how he rested on the 7th day. We talked about how we should follow his example and use Sunday as a day to rest, be with our families, and serve others. He seemed satisfied with this explanation and I was feeling pretty smug for coming up with the right answer.
And then, while we were getting ready for church, Joe noticed that Lincoln had some seriously crazy hair going on. It was no accident-- he loves to borrow the blowdryer when I'm finished with it and use it to make his hair "cool". Well, Joe suggested that Lincoln comb his hair, to which our righteous little man replied, "I don't comb my hair on Sundays." We probably should have told him that we do, in fact, comb our hair on Sundays, but he was so earnest about it, and it was so dang funny, that we couldn't help just letting it go.
This morning, however, Lincoln needed reasons. No longer is, "...because it's the Sabbath..." good enough. So, I told him the story of the creation-- how God worked hard for 6 days to make this beautiful earth and everything in it, and how he rested on the 7th day. We talked about how we should follow his example and use Sunday as a day to rest, be with our families, and serve others. He seemed satisfied with this explanation and I was feeling pretty smug for coming up with the right answer.
And then, while we were getting ready for church, Joe noticed that Lincoln had some seriously crazy hair going on. It was no accident-- he loves to borrow the blowdryer when I'm finished with it and use it to make his hair "cool". Well, Joe suggested that Lincoln comb his hair, to which our righteous little man replied, "I don't comb my hair on Sundays." We probably should have told him that we do, in fact, comb our hair on Sundays, but he was so earnest about it, and it was so dang funny, that we couldn't help just letting it go.
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