Friday, February 24, 2012

Lazy?

I read a blog post that got me thinking. Here's the link to the original post, there's a short clip of Working women calling all SAHM's (stay-at-home-Mom) LAZY! http://www.holyspiritledhomeschooling.net/2012/01/the-value-of-a-stay-at-home-mom/#comment-3264

Am I viewed lazy in the eyes of society, or even worse, in the eyes of the ones I love, my own family and friends? A couple weekends ago my in-laws came to visit us and we got a new fridge (well it was new to us, a used one!) and my MIL helped me switch everything over, actually she did most of the work! The old refrigerator was disgusting, I mean embarrassingly disgusting! I don't get embarrassed about much and boy was I embarrassed! I only clean out my fridge every 2 months, that means a deep cleaning, shelves/drawers. It was past due a cleaning then I had my back issues so that put it WAY overdue! My gracious MIL didn't blink an eye and got to work! No snide comments, no eye rolling, no vomiting, LOL! I'm definitely blessed to have her! You could then look around, piled up laundry (even though I honestly do laundry at least 5 to 6 days a week!) cluttered house. I do wonder if people think I do anything around here!

It's just not possible to have a spotless house when you live in it. By saying that I mean when you live in it, have little people going around making new messes, dirtying up new clothes, dishes, you name it! I don't even want to talk about dirty bathrooms with four boys! Could I do a better job, sure, we all could improve on things! I'm going to try and get more organized, that will help with the clutter! I often wonder how a home does get dirty if there's nobody in it all day long!

If leaving dirty dishes in the sink after feeding your family a home cooked meal and enjoying talking and laughing with them makes me lazy, then I'm lazy! If having dirty clothes piled up in the laundry room while I'm outside playing with my kids makes you lazy, then I'm lazy! If having a cluttered filled house because you're too tired to clean it because you've spent the whole day playing with your little ones, then you guessed it, I'm lazy!

So maybe that is why working Moms view us SAHM's as lazy :-)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

A must see movie for every parent!

Please watch this 1-minute trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L6xEBkMnTE


http://www.overruledmovie.com/

This is only 36 minutes, I highly recommend every parent to watch this movie!

Vicky

Time4Learning.com

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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Soft Whole Wheat Bread Recipe (Kitchen-Aid Mixer)


As you may already know, I LOVE trying out new bread recipes. But I usually stay away from Whole Wheat ones. They're dry, heavy, and just bad tasting! There's nothing worse than wasting your ingredients, and your precious time, on a recipe that isn't that good! Well I'm happy to report this recipe brought a smile to my lips! It was soft, delicious and super easy to make! I found this recipe at http://trainsandtutus.com/?p=833 (if you wanna peek at the original recipe). I changed a little bit of it, but left the instructions the same.

Whole Wheat Bread

-1 Tbls Yeast
-2 and 1/4 cups warm water
-1/2 cup Honey
-2 Tbls butter, softened
-1 Tbls salt
-1/4 tsp. baking soda
-3 cups Whole Wheat flour
-4 cups unbleached All-purpose flour

*Mix yeast, water and honey. Stir with a spoon until yeast is dissolved. Add remaining ingredients. With the dough hook attachment on your mixer, stir on low until mixture becomes dough and begins pulling from the side. You want it a little sticky, but if it’s way too sticky, just add a little more flour. Turn off the mixer and let rest for 2-3 minutes. Next, turn the mixer to speed “2″ and let knead for 5-7 minutes. Take the hook out of the dough, and set the bowl, covered with a dish towel, in a warm area and let the dough double in bulk. About 45 minutes. After dough has risen, punch down and knead 4-5 times on lightly floured board. Place into two bread loaf pans. Cover and let rise again another 45 minutes to an hour. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 35 minutes. Brush tops with butter when they come out of the oven.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

KeyLime Cheesecake


Cheesecake is another one of those foods that I found late in life, especially this one! I'm weird and never really liked cheesecake before (I know some of you almost passed out!) Like so many foods lately, I found this one from fixing something my husband would love, but I ended up loving it too! It's very "limey", but in the most surprising and refreshing way! I found the recipe on allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs, (1 whole package, 9 full crackers)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
24 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 eggs
1 tablespoon grated lime zest
2/3 cup key lime juice

Directions:

Combine cookie or graham cracker crumbs with butter or margarine. Press into bottom and partially up sides of 9 inch springform pan. Refrigerate.

Now grate your limes and juice them. I used my Pampered Chef Microplane Fine Adjustable Grater for this step

In a large bowl, beat with an electric mixer the cream cheese, sugar, lime peel, and cornstarch until smooth and fluffy.

Beat in eggs one at a time, blending just until smooth. Add key lime juice with mixer on low. Finish mixing by hand. Do not overbeat, or cake will crack during baking. Pour batter into prepared crust.
Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 55 to 65 minutes, or until set. To minimize cracking, place a shallow pan half full of hot water on lower rack during baking.
Turn oven off, and let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes with the door open at least 4 inches. Remove from oven.
Refrigerate cake overnight, and up to three days.

I can't help it, this makes me automatically think of Pac-Mac, LOL!

Enjoy this refreshing, tasty dessert!!

*Note* For a perfect Cheesecake that isn't cracked in the middle, remember DO NOT over beat! I also always bake my cheesecakes on a cookie sheet (in a springform pan of course!) with a round cake pan 1/2 full of hot water on the bottom shelf.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Quick lunches...



We buy fresh spinach at a little produce stand for $3-$4 a bag. I'm talking about a huge bag! I love putting it in minestrone and then fixing the rest into quick lunches for me and my husband. I use the same mixture for both sandwiches and quesadillas.

-Saute a small onion in some olive oil, couple cloves of garlic, then add fresh mushrooms (sliced), a tablespoon of butter, , salt and pepper. Cook slightly, then add your spinach. It will wilt down pretty quickly.

Add mixture on your choice of bread, or put in quesadilla. Melt some cheese over it and you now have an ooey gooey, yummy quick lunch!!