I love my routines. It is nice to go to the store, buy some food and refrigerate it. The strange thing is, I do not need as much fridge space right after a trip to the store, I need it once I have cooked a bunch of food. Leftovers were the main problem. I could freeze the food, but most of our leftovers I like to defrost in the fridge or just eat the next day without freezing them.
Our food budget has gone up just a bit as there are days I would just serve leftovers for dinner instead of cooking a new meal every night. It is strange to think about how it costs less to just make more of one thing than to make a whole new meal. (Maybe not always the case of course) Yesterday I was tired after a long day of cleaning the fridge from head to toe on top of my usual tasks. I just wanted a break, so instead of preparing a bunch of foods I made a salad and bought some ready made pasta salad, kale salad, roast beef, and some bread (made locally.) It was kind of like a mini picnic in our house.
Things that I wished I had done before our fridge quit might help others out in the future. I have not cleaned every shelf and all the old veggie leaves out of the fridge since before Bria's birth (almost 5 months ago). Even though I consider our fridge to be tidy, it was not spotless. This would have worked out better if I had kept on top of wiping each shelf ever few weeks and making sure all the drawers were free of carrot leaves and really old ginger root. Most of the time I take care of leftovers that have not been eaten on trash day, but there was some really old stuff I had forgotten about.
Even after a nice wash with white vinegar, tea tree oil, and water, my fridge smells terrible! I want to puke just thinking about the smell. We tend to stay away from bleach unless we have to use it. Baking soda gets rid of smells, but not this one. I think all the mess is well cleaned up, but we might need to spray it down again. The actual appearance of the fridge is much better.
Now the wonderful news is our fridge was repairable. After talking to three different repair people, only one person had a positive perspective and he was the person we hired. After less than an hour we had a fixed fridge. The other people were preparing me for the worst. I am glad I stuck with the person who seemed to be honest and knowledgeable.
I have missed baking cookies and cooking double portions of stews. Fresh salad greens will be served again at our house!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Kitchen: 5 Kids, No Fridge
This weekend has passed by in a blur as I spent a lot of the time trying to figure out how to operate without our fridge. On Friday night it was making some strange noises and then I realized there was a puddle below the freezer. We hardly use the freezer, but what was in it had melted completely and our fridge was no longer feeling cold either. Things like this always happen on the weekend when it is impossible to get help.
I am thankful for family down the road and they have some extra fridge space. Right now my slow cooker stew is in their fridge as I write. Some might be thinking, who cares about a fridge just order a pizza or something. Let's just say we are not all able to do that. Getting restaurant food for all of us is just not that easy right now.
By Friday a lot of our food is eaten as I plan to shop Saturday nights or Sundays. We had a turkey breast to roast and some vegetables, some milk, a few eggs, and the fact that I can list everything by memory proves how empty the fridge was. Food rotting has not really been a problem. The main problem is picturing a week with multiple trips to the store. I barely feel like grocery shopping once a week, but now we might need to go every other day until we fix this problem. All of our leftovers are being stored 3 miles down the road and let's face it, I am feeling a bit frustrated.
I went on my usual Sunday shopping trip today and thought mostly about dried foods. We will have pasta tomorrow, but if we want meat, we will have to get it before dinner. Our fridge space is a decent sized cooler, but it does not really hold that much. Last night when I knew we had half a turkey breast to preserve, I decided to throw it and some beans into a slow cooker for 12 hours so that I would not have to go to my parents house until it was time to go to church.
Planning meals has been a part of life at this point, but now we are scheduling how to keep our food, when to pick it up, and what we should not have around without a fridge. I never thought about how nice it was to just place things in the fridge before. It is so nice to have modern machines.
I am thankful for family down the road and they have some extra fridge space. Right now my slow cooker stew is in their fridge as I write. Some might be thinking, who cares about a fridge just order a pizza or something. Let's just say we are not all able to do that. Getting restaurant food for all of us is just not that easy right now.
By Friday a lot of our food is eaten as I plan to shop Saturday nights or Sundays. We had a turkey breast to roast and some vegetables, some milk, a few eggs, and the fact that I can list everything by memory proves how empty the fridge was. Food rotting has not really been a problem. The main problem is picturing a week with multiple trips to the store. I barely feel like grocery shopping once a week, but now we might need to go every other day until we fix this problem. All of our leftovers are being stored 3 miles down the road and let's face it, I am feeling a bit frustrated.
I went on my usual Sunday shopping trip today and thought mostly about dried foods. We will have pasta tomorrow, but if we want meat, we will have to get it before dinner. Our fridge space is a decent sized cooler, but it does not really hold that much. Last night when I knew we had half a turkey breast to preserve, I decided to throw it and some beans into a slow cooker for 12 hours so that I would not have to go to my parents house until it was time to go to church.
Planning meals has been a part of life at this point, but now we are scheduling how to keep our food, when to pick it up, and what we should not have around without a fridge. I never thought about how nice it was to just place things in the fridge before. It is so nice to have modern machines.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Kitchen: Enjoy Cookies
When I was around eighteen years old my mom got me this wonderful book called, "101 Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies" by Gwen Steege. Baking has never been the same since. I have always loved to buy a bag of chocolate chips and make the recipe from the bag, but this book opens up a tons of new ideas. Now I am moving past just baking cookies.
I know my last kitchen blog also had a cookie recipe in it, but this one is for no bake cookies...all you need is a freezer and some way to melt chocolate chips (microwave, in a pan on the stove).
Ingredients:
mix 1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips
Then roll into little truffle size balls and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Next melt about 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and then roll the frozen ball in it melted chocolate and put back on the parchment paper. Place back in the freezer for a few more minutes. These taste great and they are fun change for chocolate chip cookie lovers like me.
Enjoy a coffee and this sweet treat!
I know my last kitchen blog also had a cookie recipe in it, but this one is for no bake cookies...all you need is a freezer and some way to melt chocolate chips (microwave, in a pan on the stove).
Ingredients:
mix 1/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips
Then roll into little truffle size balls and place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Next melt about 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and then roll the frozen ball in it melted chocolate and put back on the parchment paper. Place back in the freezer for a few more minutes. These taste great and they are fun change for chocolate chip cookie lovers like me.
Enjoy a coffee and this sweet treat!
Friday, March 16, 2012
Community: Friendship
Is it more important live where one is "from" or to leave. I am using "from" as the place most like home, since so many people have grown up in multiple places and may not really identify with one's birthplace. I was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, but is this where I am "from?" When I was five my parents moved to the US after living in different parts of Asia and England. Most of the life I remember took place living at a lakefront house in West Milford, NJ.
I spent many summers swimming in the lake and many winters ice skating. People who grew up with me probably remember my beach birthday parties. My closest friends now are still the friends I met in elementary school and early junior high. Even after moving to Washington state and spending my college years here, I still feel like I will be spending the rest of my life searching for local friends that understand me the way my childhood friends do.
Why is it considered cool to get as far away from one's hometown as possible? Are adventures to foreign lands the only things people want to talk about these days? Is it relevant to think that many the best things in life are right in front of us and we are missing them by wishing we were somewhere else? I was the kid that was a world traveler from a young age so maybe that has left me feeling like I am not missing out in that department. It is important to understand other kinds of people and different placing in the world. I still sit around dreaming of a way to bring all my kids to Europe and wish we could make a trip to Bangladesh. However, I do feel like these are the things that are temporary and real life is actually more interesting than one might think.
A couple of my childhood friends and I talk once or twice a week. Sure they are listening to my kids scream in the background and 90 percent of the time I am folding laundry or preparing food for my family, but it does not matter. Years of history means that we can chat about anything and it is entertaining. I talk to people miles away, more often than people I run into at the store in town. When my phone rings it is either my husband or one of the Rs. My friend C and I have called each other every Christmas morning from the third grade on.
Now here I am, living in Port Townsend for just over five years and I still feel like the new kid a lot of the time. Friendships are just in the early stages. If one where to put in grade school terms, we have not even made it to junior high. It takes so much time to cultivate friendships as a transplant.
Being a mom also makes cultivating friendships more challenging. There are parent politics...kids don't get along, other parents do not approve of your parenting styles. Things get mixed up in the jumble of it all. I sometimes wish people could get to know me as me instead of Joel, Ellianna, Dominic, Charis, and Bria's mom. Instead of knowing that I am the kind of parent who is not afraid to tell my children, "no," I wish people knew that I love to give to others. I love hosting people and I love making gifts. I like spending time walking, running, and writing of course. Behind my children there is still a person. This is not meant to be pointed, I just feel like even I forget this sometimes.
I spent many summers swimming in the lake and many winters ice skating. People who grew up with me probably remember my beach birthday parties. My closest friends now are still the friends I met in elementary school and early junior high. Even after moving to Washington state and spending my college years here, I still feel like I will be spending the rest of my life searching for local friends that understand me the way my childhood friends do.
Why is it considered cool to get as far away from one's hometown as possible? Are adventures to foreign lands the only things people want to talk about these days? Is it relevant to think that many the best things in life are right in front of us and we are missing them by wishing we were somewhere else? I was the kid that was a world traveler from a young age so maybe that has left me feeling like I am not missing out in that department. It is important to understand other kinds of people and different placing in the world. I still sit around dreaming of a way to bring all my kids to Europe and wish we could make a trip to Bangladesh. However, I do feel like these are the things that are temporary and real life is actually more interesting than one might think.
A couple of my childhood friends and I talk once or twice a week. Sure they are listening to my kids scream in the background and 90 percent of the time I am folding laundry or preparing food for my family, but it does not matter. Years of history means that we can chat about anything and it is entertaining. I talk to people miles away, more often than people I run into at the store in town. When my phone rings it is either my husband or one of the Rs. My friend C and I have called each other every Christmas morning from the third grade on.
Now here I am, living in Port Townsend for just over five years and I still feel like the new kid a lot of the time. Friendships are just in the early stages. If one where to put in grade school terms, we have not even made it to junior high. It takes so much time to cultivate friendships as a transplant.
Being a mom also makes cultivating friendships more challenging. There are parent politics...kids don't get along, other parents do not approve of your parenting styles. Things get mixed up in the jumble of it all. I sometimes wish people could get to know me as me instead of Joel, Ellianna, Dominic, Charis, and Bria's mom. Instead of knowing that I am the kind of parent who is not afraid to tell my children, "no," I wish people knew that I love to give to others. I love hosting people and I love making gifts. I like spending time walking, running, and writing of course. Behind my children there is still a person. This is not meant to be pointed, I just feel like even I forget this sometimes.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Kitchen: Lime Curd Pie
I love looking up recipes on the internet. My latest find involves figuring out how to make lemon curd from honey instead of sugar. It is more refreshing this way, and sure it is still desert, but there is a little less guilt.
Tonight I found myself home with most of my kids sleeping. Bria is still not aware of her bedtime yet. Charis is choosing to sing instead of sleep. Other than that I had time for just me. This is quite rare. It is so quiet and peaceful. As I looked at all my unfinished projects, a baby boy sweater for a friend, some knitting magazines my mom is lending me, more diapers to cut out (yes, Bria is almost on to another new size!), and of course I could think of a million other things to do, I really just wanted to bake a 'healthy' pie.
There is something about baking that still lets the creative mind run free for me. I like learning a recipe and then changing it around as much as I can to make it perfect. When I was little I used to think if I changed a recipe slightly, it would not work. I will say there was this one time when my friend and I thought we were making a cookie recipe and after the first batch did not work, we realized they were supposed to be cupcakes. Yes, these things do happen. They have happened to me more than once, but as for should I use honey, sugar, butter, or coconut oil, these things can be mixed up. Think about liquid to solid ratios. If 1/2 my recipe is liquid and the other half is solid (i.e. flour, oatmeal, etc.) then I can mix and match some things. Maybe it will not be perfect, but maybe it will be.
I stumbled upon my favorite way to make chocolate chip cookies this way:
1 cup of flour
2 cups of oats (if you like more oats I have used up to 3 cups)
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes and volia, some wonderful cookies.
Is this recipe mine? As far as I am concerned I figured it out one day when I was running out of some of the other ingredients commonly found in chocolate chip cookies. Maybe when one really wants to bake, but has not gone to the store, the best recipes appear. I cannot help picturing the kid who did even think to add pecans to cookies or consider white chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate.
Watching my kids color blobs of what seems like nothing reminds me to try new things. From blobs on nothing my son learned how to draw a circle and now knows how to write letters and words. Wow, rules are helpful, but is fun to just ditch them once and awhile in see what happens.
Tonight I found myself home with most of my kids sleeping. Bria is still not aware of her bedtime yet. Charis is choosing to sing instead of sleep. Other than that I had time for just me. This is quite rare. It is so quiet and peaceful. As I looked at all my unfinished projects, a baby boy sweater for a friend, some knitting magazines my mom is lending me, more diapers to cut out (yes, Bria is almost on to another new size!), and of course I could think of a million other things to do, I really just wanted to bake a 'healthy' pie.
There is something about baking that still lets the creative mind run free for me. I like learning a recipe and then changing it around as much as I can to make it perfect. When I was little I used to think if I changed a recipe slightly, it would not work. I will say there was this one time when my friend and I thought we were making a cookie recipe and after the first batch did not work, we realized they were supposed to be cupcakes. Yes, these things do happen. They have happened to me more than once, but as for should I use honey, sugar, butter, or coconut oil, these things can be mixed up. Think about liquid to solid ratios. If 1/2 my recipe is liquid and the other half is solid (i.e. flour, oatmeal, etc.) then I can mix and match some things. Maybe it will not be perfect, but maybe it will be.
I stumbled upon my favorite way to make chocolate chip cookies this way:
1 cup of flour
2 cups of oats (if you like more oats I have used up to 3 cups)
1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes and volia, some wonderful cookies.
Is this recipe mine? As far as I am concerned I figured it out one day when I was running out of some of the other ingredients commonly found in chocolate chip cookies. Maybe when one really wants to bake, but has not gone to the store, the best recipes appear. I cannot help picturing the kid who did even think to add pecans to cookies or consider white chocolate chips instead of dark chocolate.
Watching my kids color blobs of what seems like nothing reminds me to try new things. From blobs on nothing my son learned how to draw a circle and now knows how to write letters and words. Wow, rules are helpful, but is fun to just ditch them once and awhile in see what happens.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Parenting: DANCE
A glimpse into the week and we are having includes nonstop screaming as Dominic gets some of his last teeth and Charis, who just started to get teeth, is suddenly getting a bunch of teeth. I am glad we do not remember how painful teething is because based on the amount of frustration I am dealing with it must be torture. But enough complaining...
What are we doing to have fun? Dancing! I love dancing. It is one for the few things that keeps me feeling like I child. I love all the joy and laughter it brings. My kids are always smiling. The girls go and dress up. Dominic and Joel pick a partner...Bria is too little to know she is not dancing with a brother yet.
It is too easy to feel like robot mom. I have my schedule just so and very little extra time. Maybe I want to to work on other things, but dropping it all to dance around is worth it. I know that someday all the kids will be grown someday and I will be thinking about how I wished I had found more fun moments in the day. There is a fine line between keeping house and playing house. Keeping up a good looking family is tiring. When it all comes down to it, we are all flawed, I know I am. I miss some of the best moments because I decided to wash dishes instead.
Today I am reminded that we need a crazy day here and there. So to celebrate the fun we had dancing, followed by homemade cinnamon rolls and strawberry smoothies. What else should we do? When we have no sunshine, we need to make our house a fun place to be.
I am thankful that kids are reminder to try and have fun. Without them, I could see myself as a way too serious individual. Extreme focus deserves some distractions. Parenting is difficult and sometime not much fun. I really think it is that hardest job around in some ways. So balance it out by DANCING once and awhile.
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