I Would Do Anything For Love: A Food Post

Shepherd's Pie

 I think it's interesting my husband loves casserole type dishes but when he eats a regular meal he eats one thing at a time off his plate. I eat everything mixed up together on my plate and I'm actually less than thrilled with casserole dishes where everything is mixed up on purpose. It's hard to find casserole meals that don't call for msg laden soups acting as the flavor and thickener to pull things together. Lots of things call for cans of soup! I once looked up how to make cream of chicken soup and the recipe called for a can of condensed cream of chicken soup! Really!? This seriously takes away from the original intent of making a homemade meal. With the exception of chicken pot pie and taco bake the kids aren't crazy for casseroles either, so that can also be a challenge.

 Ricky has always wanted me to make him shepherd's pie. Honestly shepherd's pie looked gross to me. I was such a little kid about it. But just look at this picture, seriously! I just don't think it looks good at all. It always seemed like it was having mashed potatoes with ground beef instead of gravy. 

 I was vegetarian but starting to transition back over to meat when Ricky and I met, so I had a lot to learn about cooking meat, especially country/home cooking. I have learned to make tons of other dishes since, including an awesome Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and gravy. I kept plenty busy making other things over the years, but I avoided shepherd's pie like the plague... I would do anything for love but I won't do that. (After typing that I have MeatLoaf stuck in my head SO BAD! My poor kids, I'll be singing that all day now. Oh my, 1993. lol.)

 I'm a pie maker at heart and so a good 'ol chicken pot pie with homemade crust comes naturally for me. Plus chicken pot pie is a pretty package tucked under a tender crust. It's moist and mild. It's down-home comfort food. (That's another dish that's near impossible to find a recipe that doesn't include canned soup!) Ricky liked chicken pot pie okay, but would drop the Shepherd's pie hint every time we had pot pie. I have a real aversion to putting ground beef in everything under the sun. I pretty much reserve ground beef for hamburgers. Big, thick, juicy, veggie and cheese topped, dripping with ketchup, grilled burgers! Also: Salisbury steak, meatballs, taco bake, meat loaf, and stuffed peppers are all suitable uses for ground beef to me. Sticking it in a casserole dish with mashed potatoes was just not appealing to me. Mashed potatoes go with turkey, fried chicken, smothered pork chops, meatloaf, roast, Salisbury steak... but not ground beef! I grew up with stuff like Hamburger Helper which is probably where the entire aversion came from.

 A couple months ago I finally got bored enough with meals to try Shepherd's pie. I wanted to make it to surprise Ricky. Work has been super stressful and he wasn't eating as much as he should (stress can suppresses the appetite). My first shepherd's pie was a success. The kids even liked it. It looked better than most the ones in pictures, but still kinda gross. It was pretty good though. It was not bad at all. Ricky said it was "very good." My second attempt was last night where I tweaked some things and more confidently prepared it. It turned out AMAZING! The mashed potatoes on top were crisp at the peaks and edges and the inside was bubbling up around the edges. The filling was perfectly seasoned and just saucy enough to be like a gravy for the mashed taters but not soupy. Ricky said it was totally *delicious* with a lot of enthusiasm and he couldn't believe how much better I had gotten it this time. I love the baked corners and peaks of potatoes. *pats self on back* The extra "gravy/sauce" in the pie really made it awesome. Plus I had baked it perfectly (credit the vintage stove, which is the most amazing thing I've ever owned, ever).

I'm going to make it again this weekend while I carefully write down my recipe. Then I shall share it for all who, like me, fear the shepherd's pie! Reading online I have learned that shepherd's pie is technically supposed to be made with lamb, but it can be made with ground beef at which point it is then called cottage pie. Technicalities.

The mashed potatoes reminded me of yummy twice-baked potatoes! And technically they are. (Boiled and then baked) They were so good! Seasoned and browned to perfection.

This looks saucy, but when we were finished the sauce was all gone. The pan was dry and so were our bowls. We ate every last drop and it mixed in well. Some people use only peas and carrots while others use peas, carrots and corn. I buy an organic mixed veggie blend so ours has corn. Ricky isn't crazy about corn and ground beef together, but for Shepherd's pie he says it is appropriate. (Appropriate use of corn is actually a very funny discussion in my house LOL. A lot of my Dad's  family is from Iowa and we use corn a lot, and in "everything." According to my husband's observations anyway. Hahaha.)   The family gobbled this up so fast I'm going to have to start making two casserole pans, or one big one and a small one. At some point as these little kids get older we will be a two casserole dish family! Wow!

More food Stuff...

This is my favorite summertime dish:

Ricky smokes the salmon and we use it in lettuce wraps topped with mango and black bean 'salsa.' The salsa is super easy. Lime juice, black beans, tons of cilantro, and lots of chopped mango. You could add salt if you wanted, we dd not. The corn is roasted with lime-chili-butter. The lime chili butter is SO GOOD. I make it with melted butter, chili powder, a dash of seasoning salt, salt, sprinkle of pepper, a pinch of paprika and cayenne pepper. Use as a dip for corn or anything else. (Rolls! lobster! Shrimp! Endless possibilities here!) You can experiment and make your own buttery dip with seasonings.

Date Night in the Backyard!
Last month the kids were away visiting Aunt Sharon and so I surprised Ricky with a seafood extravaganza dinner for two! Yummy salad, lobster, crusty grilled cheesy garlic bread (garlic bread on the grill is GREAT!), shrimp, oysters, escargot, steak kabobs, and a brown rice-quinoa boxed dish. Beatrice is still little and nurses so she was with us, she LOVED the rice. I wanted to take a picture of her nomming the rice down in her high chair but the camera battery died. It was a really fun dinner! After the baby went to bed we had a fancy carrot cake cupcakes I bought, and coffee for dessert.

A couple years ago I was really excited to make Salisbury steak from scratch and it was actually pretty easy. Recipes online called for beef bouillon, canned soups, or gravy mixes! I refused! That's not from scratch. I was really proud of this super flavorful gravy, made from pan drippings and mushrooms! I had the same happy experience when I learned to make chicken fried steak. I really love home cooking. (I think I enjoy feeding my husband more than myself!) So many of these skills are lost since people don't grow up with as many home-style meals these days. People are busy doing other things and so homemaking is a lost art. People also fear real fat and don't widely buy healthier raised meats (less fatty). Our meats are all locally raised and much of it from Ricky's parents' farm. I'm happy that there is definitely a resurgence and trend of stay at home families, do-it-yourselfers, and backyard gardeners. Most of the people I know cook at home, but I also know many people don't these days.

Healthy Super-food Salad

Last but not least, I re-purposed the leftover salmon and mango/black beans from the Salmon salad above and spooned it onto a salad mix of shredded broccoli, shaved brussels sprouts, chopped cabbage, curly kale, and chicory. This was fantastic and I'm not even a big fan of kale (bitter to me)! I just put some extra lime juice on it, no fancy dressing needed. This is a new favorite that I have to make for Ricky. I got the bag of 7 super food greens from Costco. Looks like this:

Mix comes with dressing, cranberries, and pumpkin seeds included. I haven't tried them though. I bought it for the greens.

Gratitude for Staying Home: A letter to my husband about being a stay at home mom and wife

  I never take staying home for granted. I never take the luxury of setting the rhythm for my day for granted. I like both organized chaos and organized non-chaos. I like daily breakfast at 8am sharp, but I also like when the kids trickle down and all eat on their own before 9:30ish. I like 10am coffee after I’ve done three loads of laundry, or after I've done nothing much but hang out with the kids, or after I write a blog post like I am right now. I like never leaving the house unless we want to. I like choosing to prep dinner at 9am, 3pm or 5pm. I like playing Legos and blocks. I like rearranging the living-room furniture for the 5th time this year. I like planning our days around the weather. I like crafts. I like napping with the baby if I need too. I like planning TV and video game time for the kids around their school work, nap time, or other things that work out best. I love organization and routine but I love flexibility too. I'm given the gift of having the schedules I want: meal times, play times, school times, garden time, craft time, and free time. I could have none of this freedom if I worked outside the home. I love living life on my own schedule -and of the schedules of the little people who I live with. The kids make up a lot of what I have to juggle, plan and balance around, but I get to set into motion the routines that work for all of us on any given day of the year. It's a powerful responsibility and I'm honored to be in charge of it. I love my life and I owe it to you, my dear husband, who I fondly remember once telling some of our children, “This house is Mom’s house, I bought it for her.”

 I really appreciate being an at-home mom and just love the way days crash, roll, ripple, flow and peak like an ocean’s waves. Peaceful, playful, loud or wild the kids and I can swim, float or sink...and we do so day-in and day-out because we stay home and follow the rhythm of life. I don’t take it for granted and I show it by being the best I can be (most days!). I enjoy keeping home-cooked food on the table (most days!), up-keeping our home, keeping our kids happy and cared for, and I do it with a smile on my face (most days). I make the bed and get dressed every morning to show gratitude for each beautiful blessed day, unless it happens to be a pajama day. In that case we might all dance around, eat chocolate, and wear pajamas -and I sigh with relief that we are free to do so. Life is crazy and sometimes hard, but it's a free spirited kind of crazy. Thank you, Ricky. I love you.

 

Penelope

A day after we were home from the hospital I saw on our dining room chalkboard wall "Bring Nellie Home" written around flowers, hearts and other pictures from the previous week. I stood and stared at it almost welling up with tears. There are those moments when you look at your child and wonder 'what if the worst happens to my child, what if this actually happens.' It can be triggered by a sad news report involving a child or something like a medical uncertainty and scare. The moment when you stop and imagine the unimaginable can also be triggered by nothing at all, just fear and imagination. It’s called having kids.

In the hospital I soaked up her blue eyes and occasional smile as I couldn’t hide from my thoughts: what I would life be if she weren’t here? When you're in the hospital and bone scans and MRI's start being mentioned you can't help but ask yourself 'what if it is something really bad... and in our future we have to watch her die?' I then thought of other parents who were in the very same hospital just floors away from me who were actually doing just that with their own kids. It's so unfair when kids are hurt. It's a fear and terror like no other I could truly imagine, and of course I have had and probably will continue to have those thoughts and moments with each and every one of my kids. Several years ago I had to stop reading a book where a child was abducted and killed because it was too disgusting and horrible for me to even read in fiction. Even worse the blue eyed child in the story reminded me so much of Penelope that I sobbed and sobbed before finally putting the book down forever without finishing it. I'm a total basket case about things like that and totally avoid it in any form real or not.

No matter how stressful things are day to day I feel we live with a lot of gratitude, I try to pass on that thankful spirit to my kids as we really strive to see the bright side. I feel like the last few months have been really trying and stressful but I'm so thankful our family works together to make the best of it all. I hope the children learn to deal with life as it comes and to keep trying and remembering that this too shall pass. Ricky and I smile and laugh through tough times, we break up a lot of kid fights and live through a lot of toddler meltdowns, we wade through work, home repairs, chores and money problems. We sigh a lot and we hold our head from the stress, we tell each other it's going to be okay... and we have each other. We all have each other. I really try not to get too caught up in the stress because as long as we all have each other things are good.  

Penelope before she turned 6

 No one ever says 'I wish I hadn't spent so much time with my kids'
There are many things that I'll never regret that are time consuming and self-sacrificing. Co-sleeping is one of those things. Beyond just typical co-sleeping though we also lay with whatever child, at whatever age, for however long, to get them to sleep. For example Penelope is six years old and I still lay with her every night to get her to sleep. Usually we let her fall asleep in our cozy bed. Sometimes this is really time consuming, sometimes I don't want to, sometimes I think it's ridiculous because I need to get something done and she needs me at bedtime. Most of the time, however, I find it calming, soothing, bonding, quiet time. Someday she won't be my little girl, she'll be big. She won't cuddle or need me as often, and one day I'll never lay with her at bedtime again.  Sometimes we are tired and heads hit pillows and eyes close quickly; more often though she winds down by telling me about some thoughts, fears or dreams. Sometimes she tells me about something that happened that day and I get to really hear her speak and I often find myself loving her excitement and voice. It's usually during bedtime that I get to find out even more about who she is and how she feels about things. I get to hear her imagination churn on about things without being distracted by daytime sounds or other kids. She tells me about interactions with her siblings, too. Once she repeatedly reminded me to talk to Layla about something that hurt her feelings. We kept forgetting during the next day to talk to Layla, but at night she'd remember and talk about it with me. She tells me sweet things too. She'll tell me she likes that I am spending more time with her during the day (I cut out internet time and deleted my Facebook two months ago). That touched me so much that she told me that! Tonight she told me that she couldn't wait until she could run again (she's on limited movement for illness). I realize as I write this it's not always what she says but how she says it. She's just so sweet. She rubs my arm sometimes while she falls asleep. I think about how safe and warm she must feel. I think about how I slow down and take the time to enjoy my kids -not just my babies- and I so enjoy our quiet bedtime routine together. Ricky and I had a chuckle the other day over her telling me during quiet bedtime talks that she doesn't like it when daddy is on a business trips but kinda does like it because she gets to sleep with me all night long. :)

Update on the illness: Penelope's health continues to improve. She still has a cough, but she is on the mend. We had a couple more days of concern, swollen neck lymph node, fevers at night that went away and a little uncertainty about if we should get a chest x-ray. She is doing great and we are very confident now she's healing. We continue to keep her close to us, hydrated and on somewhat limited activity. She was skipping around the house after three days being home from the hospital. We had to keep reminding her to rest, rest, REST!!

Picture journal...Around the House

 I made chocolate covered pretzel heart necklaces with Penelope and Sebastian earlier this week. They loved them. To my dismay they love candy necklaces in the summer time (yuck) so I knew they'd love these!

"Stained Glass"

Everett trying to help with "stained glass"

What you do is put saran wrap on your freshly cleaned window. If it's freshly cleaned it'll stick like a charm. Then you take squares of tissue paper and use a glue stick to glue them all over the window. It's really cute and fun.  I want to do a 3in x 3in patchwork one in my pantry window. When you are sick of it pull the plastic wrap down...easy.

Lots of people ask how I homeschool so many ages. In this situation the little kids make a craft; the big kids help if they want or if I need them to help out. The big kids then learn about stained glass, hows it's made, it's rich thousand year history, Etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stained_glass Now you have: social studies, history, religion, and science all rolled into one craft project.

Did you notice in the picture above one of my kids ate a few bites of apple and then placed it back in the fruit basket?! lol.

I love when my kids love when I make mini grilled cheese on fresh baguettes from Panera/ St Louis Bread Company. They are golden buttery nuggets of deliciousness!

We have a cold going around the house. Ricky slept in a little one morning because of it so he got to see Layla get on the bus for the first time since she started school. I had to snap a photo...memories! (plus I love my husband in his work clothes)
~~~*The coat Miss Layla chose to wear on this day is my little sisters old coat.
This coat is over 22 years old!*~~~

This baby. I'm gah-gah about him.

Sometimes he does this though. ^ He's mad about me getting him dressed, but he's teething too poor little guy. He's been doing fairly well. It's no fun being cooped inside for winter, teething, having mom tell you no climbing on the bathroom sink 14 times a day, and no climbing on the stools/chairs/computer desk/kitchen table 45 times a day. This kid is wild.

Crafty Home Decor Projects

I am in love with this shower curtain , so to tide my cravings (I totally intend to buy that someday by the way) I printed a bunch of photos/ads from the 1800's and framed them in frames I've been collecting.

Light glare in this, but the wall color in this shot is a little closer to what it actually is

This frame was ugly, modern, and white so I dressed it up with a glue stick and a paper doily that came from a box of pastries. Am I completely resourceful or what??

Teaching the little kids to sew

Penelope says, "Sewing is easy and FUN!"

Her finished project. We bought these kits . Most of the the embellishments is ours, you really have to get creative with these (which I like) and they are really fun. I'm helping Sebastian finish a pirate one tomorrow.  

I was touched that Layla drew and colored this fantastic picture for me. It's a picture of me sleeping with Everett. Love.

Ahh here's that climber now. Up the ladder, alone at 1 year old

Ready, Mom!?

Hilarious. lol. (He loves this!)

He heard the chickens when he made this cute face. It seemed as if he was saying to me 'ohh my.' 

Took this as I walked back from getting the mail.

Our puppies have stayed the perfect size so far!!! They are fun.
Chip is smaller and is on the left. Ranger is the bigger and is on the Right.

Last week when it was so beautiful and warm I cleaned the porch off of a bunch of junk. I've been decluttering and spring cleaning lately. I love a tidy space.

Aslan one of our Great Pyrenees dogs

I love http://www.pinterest.com/  Not that I needed more projects to start...but it fills me
with happiness all the same. I made this in honor of being crafty and pinteresting everyday.

Eye love you Penelope Juliet...

Good-bye forever cardboard boxes, and I should decorate concrete rooms for a living

I've been cleaning the basement lately ...and painting it! I've recently discovered the wonderful thing about plastic tubs. I've been buying the clear ones and I'm getting all my kids' clothes organized and I love being able to see inside of them. I always knew tubs were great but who has money laying around to buy them. Or, enough of them rather. Let's face it a normal sized household would have trouble buying enough bins to store all their stuff in. Well recently I've started buying some. My aunt actually started me on them and she at first bought me a bunch. I've cleaned out several closets, Christmas stuff, Halloween stuff, winter coats/snow stuff and packed all the stuff in plastic tubs. They stack great and look tidy and wonderful and they now take up half the space that boxes used to. Plastic bins have changed my life! Then I packed up DVD's, books, and photo albums all nicely away in plastic tubs. They will last forever if cared for right, nothing will ever get wet, ruined, dirty, smelly, Etc. Mice can't get in them (heheh watch out cats I may replace you with tubs and put you out of a job Muahaha!)

Good-bye cardboard boxes. Forever.

Never did I think I could be so happy about plastic tubs. I like that I can see through the clear ones. Plus I'm finding the clear ones stack better and are less bulky. I like seeing the kids clothes in the clear ones, I don't have to dig through anything I can tell by looking about what age clothes and sex they are for.

Have I mentioned plastic tubs have changed my life?

You might say I'm a poor, bored housewife that needs a life to be so thrilled -- but this is my life and if I just found a way to organize my basement and closets it's like some one else getting a new better filing cabinet or computer program at their office! :D


So the basement is coming along! I want to put a picture up of my latest wall mural but I want to do more with it first! One side of the basement is painted as a whimsical land! And It's going really well! I'm not able to paint anymore though until I clean and move some more stuff. In the basement we'll have a really nice sitting area with toys and whatever else. There is a day bed, a love seat hideaway bed and a futon. Oh, and hanging hammock chairs. In some area of the basement the girls want a baby doll area and I think their toy kitchen. I think they want a house type area. I'm considering bringing in a picket fence so they can have a fenced in play area "house."

Then their will be a video game corner for the boys (and girls, but mostly it's for the boys). With lots of bean bags and a set up for their game systems. I'm considering buying a second used TV so they can play more than one system at a time.

I hope to have room for a small table and chairs. There are also cheap shelves filled with bored games and a game table that needs some stools for it.

I've packed away all the art supplies, extra homeschooling items and anything not being used so the clutter is at a minimum. (In plastic tubs!)

I'm turning our unfinished concrete basement into all of this! Because paint and imagination can do anything!!!! :)

Oh oh... one last thing. Behind my washer and dryer was an ugly wall full of drain pipes and stuff. I noticed it would be really really hard to paint. So I collected and hung many shower curtains behind it. All different kinds/colors/patterns/pictures. I created a instant colorful solution to an ugly problem!