Accidental Crockpot Creation

I have no idea how this happened, but I'm pretty happy it did.  If you've been following the blog for awhile you know that I'm completely afraid of my crock pot.  I don't know how to use it, the recipes that I've found are usually multi-step, include cream of something, and I'm always afraid that I'll leave for work and burn the house down. 

I was inspired by Hy-Vee's $3 dinner idea for Beef and Vegetable Lo Mein when I logged on to activate my new fuel saver card.  It was yum at first site and I wasn't sure how I was going to pull it off...enter the crock pot.  I knew I had a package of frozen steaks in the freezer that desperately wanted to be eaten, so in the morning I popped them (still frozen) into the crock pot with a garlic clove, half an onion, a little olive oil and a splash of soy sauce.  I turned it on low and hoped for the best (and that our homeowner's policy was current.) 

Over my lunch hour I stopped at Hy-Vee, which is literally my place "where everyone knows your name", waved hello to all the friendly employees that I have come to love, and ran into several friends who were also grocery shopping sans kiddos.  I picked up some fabulous produce, including the organic broccoli and seasonal oranges pictured above, and only broke the rules for four cans of diced tomatoes.  My total was $68.04. 

When I came home from work about 5:30pm we still had a kitchen to speak of and the meat smelled incredible. I quickly washed and chopped up some broccoli, mushrooms, and scallions, heated a pan and coated it with olive oil. I threw in another garlic clove and sauteed the mushrooms and broccoli.  I sliced the meat and put it in nearly last since it was already cooked.  I added a little of the drippings from the crock pot to the pan for extra flavor, and squeezed half an orange for a little citrus note.  Scallions went in just before I put everything on the plate.  While all of this was going on in the pan, I quickly boiled some lo mein noodles (which believe it or not, I had in my cupboard!)

It was a truly fabulous Use-it-Up night!  I still don't totally trust my crock pot, but I might be gaining just a little more confidence in it...

What I Used-Up:
Three frozen steaks
Lo Mein Noodles
1/2 onion
1 orange
1 head of broccoli

A Tale of Two Grocery Trips

We begin this story on a sunny Sunday afternoon, as we hopefully piled into the car after lunch to make our way to Costco and begin our experience as "members".  We made a couple of stops on the way while Jett slept in the car.  Then we pulled into the lot, and as if by fate scored a spot right by the door. 

The plethora of food and other stuff was overwhelming, but we were up to the challenge.  With Kevin pushing the cart and Jett on my hip, we picked out flats of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. At my sister's suggestion, we purchased some artisan lettuce to split with her, and Jett would not let me leave the produce cooler without a mammoth bag of mini peppers (the kid is CRAZY about them!)

On to paper goods next, we were out of everything and before long our cart was nearly full.  It seemed that at every end cap we just missed the samples by a matter of seconds, probably a sign to me to stick to the Use-it-Up challenge.  I faltered in the cereal aisle buying two jumbo boxes of Ancient Grains granola.  And because of this I feel as though I should admit how addicted I am to this cereal.  If it was the end of the world and I could only save three material goods I would take a flashlight (for practical purposes), my wedding ring, and Ancient Grains granola.  This may have been the logic that did in the Mayans...

Jett got suckered in to buying squeeze packs of applesauce in bulk.  I tried to stop him, but he couldn't resist how much cheaper these were at Costco than Walmart or Trader Joes.  Kevin bee-lined for Nabisco snack packs and graham crackers, and I caved.

We finished the adventure with a trip to the concession counter for the world's largest yogurt parfait and called the $90.14 spent on groceries a success. 

Our next tale began just hours ago, as a happy kid and I piled into the car on a foggy dreary morning to run some errands on my day off.  He was good as gold at the dry-cleaners and sweet as can be at the recycling, but Hy-Vee was a whole other story. 

We pulled in and he immediately remembered the car shaped carts that weigh 500 pounds and hold half the groceries of a normal cart.  They are my favorite too.  He shouted "blue, blue, blue one" all the way to the door.  As we entered, on a whim his choice turned to the orange car that was parked near the front and after a thorough clean up with Clorox Wipes, we hit the road.  He drove happily through nearly half of the produce department until he remembered that he actually wanted the blue one. 

My delightful child had a terrible two sized meltdown while I received parenting advice from 100 much older, wiser patrons who thought blocking the aisle while telling me how to handle my yelling child would be a good idea.  (It may have been just two, but that was enough for me.)

We made it out of Hy-Vee in record time with a $22.89 bill for milk,  eggs, bananas, and orange juice.

May all your grocery trips be as eventful.

Over the weekend I'll be posting some freezer friendly ideas, and tell you what I do with a flat of blueberries.

Wrap-It-Up!

Each year on the 23^rd, my sister and I go crazy and wrap gifts.  We’re not sure why it’s the 23^rd exactly, but for as long as we can remember we’ve wrapped gifts on that date.  We pull out the wrapping, the ribbon, and the creativity. 

While watching Elf and sipping hot cocoa, here is the before.

 

Gifts to my husband are always a strange size, bulky, huge, or just plain awkward. Notice the gigantic floor jack in the middle of the photo.  How does one actually wrap something like that?  Lillie had the challenge of wrapping him some equally awkward dust masks this year.  It only took about 5 seconds of rolling on the floor laughter to find a way to display this gift.

I hope your Christmas was full of favorite traditions, lots of love, and the blessing of time with family. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Coming up, stay tuned as I kick off the new year with the 2013 Use-It-Up challenge.

The Heart of Giving

A couple of weeks ago I got to experience bell ringing for the Salvation Army for the first time.  It was so much fun to see people make a point to stop and put a little something in.  Most of them did it with joy,   but one guy did not.  He reached into his wallet, folded up a couple of bills and put them in the bucket.  I wished him a Merry Christmas, and he looked me in the eyes and glared.  I happened to be standing next to the store manager at the time, and I turned to him and laughed.  He said, “That is the grumpiest man I have ever met.  He comes into the store twice a week, I swear, just to yell at a checker in the aisle.  I can’t believe he just put money in!”  We laughed and commented on the Christmas spirit getting the best of everyone. 

It got me thinking, why would the most grumpy man IN THE WORLD make it a point to stop, reach in his wallet, and put money into the Salvation Army bucket?  I’ve witnessed a lot of giving over the years and charitable deductions, fiscal cliff, armagedon, guilt, whatever…people give because they want to give, because they have compassion or feel inspired, and most importantly they want someone to experience a gesture of love from their hearts. (Even if they glare while doing it.)  This experience got me thinking about when giving from the heart started for me.

Each week on Wednesday morning, the teacher would collect our chapel offerings for the week.   A quarter, a couple of dimes, maybe a dollar or two for something really special.  We were being taught to give, taught the concept of tithing, and taught to do so from the heart by connecting our donations to giving that really meant something to us as kids. When I think back to all the weeks from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade, two special campaigns come to mind, Heifer International and Secret Angel Tree.  As a kid, both seemed like the coolest opportunities ever to get to be a part of.  Give money and get to pick out an animal from a catalog to give to a family in a country super far away to either raise or eat. Wow, now that’s fun stuff! I can still see the chalk board with tallies under goat, flock of chickens, rabbits, and sheep for the class to vote on our animal of choice. 

The teacher told us why Secret Angel Tree was important, because not all children in our community would get presents on Christmas morning.  Some people didn’t have basic things like warm winter clothes, good food to eat, or even a home to go to.  As a kid, it was unimaginable and pretty darn sad to think that someone like you might wake up on Christmas morning and not have a present to open, and so around this time of the year it’s fair to say that our chapel offerings increased.  Extra presents to give to the angel tree families poured in, and if you were a REALLY lucky kid (who happened to be the kid of a teacher) you might actually get to go to Wal-Mart and help pick out the gifts.  My mom always let my sister and I pick a couple of additional angels off the tree in the fellowship hall from our family too.  We always had a great time on this shopping trip, thinking about what was on the family’s list to Santa, thinking about what we had circled in the toy catalog that they might like too, thinking about the color of stocking cap that might make a little girl proud to wear.  I imagined the joy I experienced on Christmas morning and wanted to give that to a kid like me. 

Later when I was fortunate enough to marry a teacher, this tradition continued with my husband now charged with shopping for the Secret Angel family, and getting to tag along and help pick out gifts.  As a couple we picked out a family to buy for personally too.  Over the last couple of years, our giving has changed a little bit, but the idea behind the Secret Angel Tree has continued, with a special gift given through Care Corps, Salvation Army, or Toys for Tots.  Even though he’s too little to understand now, I hope that in a few short years, Jett will also learn about the joys of giving from the heart, and how special the matchbox cars or pillow pet may be to someone just like him on Christmas morning.

Let your LIGHT so SHINE!

After a long, frankly pretty stressful couple of days, all I wanted to do was go home, put on pajamas, cuddle with my kiddo, and eat the leftover birthday cake hidden in the back of the freezer.  So I sent my mom a text message that said, “What r ur thoughts on church?” Hoping she’d say, “up to u” or “Jett is a little cranky.”  Instead the message said, “Meet you there at 4:30.” 

And praise God it did.  I didn’t need the pajamas or the cake (although I ate it later anyways.)  I needed to hear and see the joy of the season.  I needed to experience His light, through His children.  And boy does light radiate out of kindergartners, first and second-graders.  Loud, proud, joyful praise in song and message about letting the Light of Christ shine in the darkness.  Letting the world know who the Light is.  It was a beautiful first advent service of the season and I am so thankful that I went. 

As I sat with my baby on my lap, I couldn’t help but think that he’s not too many years away from standing on those risers, and yet how strange it is to remember so vividly what it felt like to be up there.  The new black tights, the stiff shiny shoes, the beautiful (but itchy) Christmas dress.  Excitement and a little nervousness, but pure joy at the chance to get to sing praises and celebrate the birth of the Savior. 

I’ve thought a lot this season about traditions.  I’ve wrestled with the Elf on a Shelf (not literally, I think that’d be against the main point of the book, not to mention strange) and all the new cool Pinterest-y stuff.  What are the traditions we want to start in our house?  What are the traditions that we’ve always had in my family?  What traditions did Kevin have in his?  What are the things I love to do year after year, but never realized that they were actually traditions. 

We’ve decorated the tree for the first time since Jett was born, and put out the nativity early this year.  I have a new wreath on the front door, and I’ve been listening to Christmas music since Thanksgiving.  I ordered Christmas cards on time and the first batch were sent this morning.  I feel very joyful about the season, and I'm incredibly excited to share the meaning and the traditions with my little guy.

A couple of weeks ago God laid on my heart to sing in church during the Christmas season.  It’s been since before Jett was born that I’ve sang beyond just the pew (while searching for binky and scooping Cheerios off the floor.)  It’s time to restart one of my most cherished Christmas traditions, singing in church.  It’s time to be like those little children and let my light shine so that others can see and know the Good News!

Over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing some more of my favorite traditions!

I dropped off the face of the planet. But I'm back with a list of "Stuff I Love."

It's hard to believe that October is nearly over.  It's been a great month filled with celebrations, stomach flu, and the best of graduate school. 

So, to commemorate the end of my favorite month, I'm sharing a "Stuff I Love" edition of the blog. 

1. Who doesn't love Trader Joes?  And if you don't, I'm not sure we can be friends.  Kidding...but not really.  Specifically, I love Trader Joes soup in a box.  Healthful, delicious and not too crazy on the calorie side of things. I love every flavor!  I give this little box of soup credit for my super-duper work in grad school, because without it I'm not sure I could study over my noon-hour almost every day.

2. If I was a song writer, I think the first song I'd write would be about my new Keurig (sorry Kevin and Jett, you get the next songs,) but I love it that much! My grandma surprised me on my birthday with a darling bright red ingenious coffee maker, and it's been love since first sip.  I've found myself wanting one for the office building, and one for my personal office, and one for the car...

3. Why do I love this fabulous brewer so much?  Because I very recently learned how to replicate the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks... This bright blogger A Farm Girl Dabbles has a fabulous recipe that makes enough pumpkin stuff to last for latte drinking all week.  Add this perfect pumpkin goop to a cup of strong Keurig coffee, and you'll be happily buzzing for far less than $5/cup.

4. And what would be a great cup of coffee without something to put it in? I won't give away my secret as to how or where I got this... only this hint: in order to be bestowed the honor of a microwave safe, dishwasher safe, awesomely branded mug with a silicone top, you must impart "knowledge" upon a group of sleepy college freshman.  Well worth the feat! 

5. If you haven't caught on yet, I was obviously cold in October, because the first things I love all have to do with warming up.  Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year, and I love, love, love it when the days are chilly and gray.  In my mind, that means it's fleece wearing season, and this year for my b-day my wonderful husband surprised me with an update on an old favorite, a new North Face Denali coat.  I bought my first one back when I was walking backwards giving tours to hopeful incoming freshman a the U. 

6. The title of this blog is, Bananas On My Skirt for a reason.  Today, as I pulled into the parking lot before a big meeting, I happened to look down at the lapel of my suit jacket (which I never wear) and notice something dried and peanut buttery.  I'd like to tell you that it was from that morning, but I highly doubt it because I had granola...eww!  So, in a panic I reached into my purse to pull out a recent impulse buy from the laundry aisle, a Tide To Go Stain Eraser.  This product is sold in packs of about a million...or 24, and if I have your name for Christmas, this is going in your stocking.  Saved. The. Day.  I smooshed that stain right out, blasted hot air from the heat vent on it to only one round of Gangnam Style and I was good to go!

7. After a long day of stain fighting and coffee making, it's good to know that there really is a Helpful Smile in Every Aisle at my local Hy-Vee store.  I can't express how much I love this store, and it's a good thing because I'm there at least three times a week.  So much so that it's my place where "everybody knows your name."

8. I have been so blessed to get to re-know someone fabulous from way, way back when.  Becky Novacek is the mom of one of my grade school classmates, and way back in fourth grade she was the mom everybody wanted to sit by when she came to visit at lunch.  I remember thinking she had great hair and was really cool.  I still think she has great hair and is really cool, but now I also think she's a fabulous photographer. This past month she took pictures of Jett, who will be two next week. You can see some peeks on Becky's blog. She has taken pics of our family since J was 10 days old.  Literally if I could order a 8x10 of every single shot I would. Forget "only child syndrome" the only thing holding me back is the wall space!

9. We all had the flu.  And by all, I mean ALL. I'm still not entirely convinced that we didn't pass the flu via text message to a friend who's daughter puked while I was telling her about our week.  Clorox Wipes to the rescue!

10. "The Doc is in and she'll fix you up, if you're a toy, then you're in luck! It's okay, don't be afraid, the Doc really knows her stuff! Doo, doo, doo..." This song runs through my head at all hours of the day, and boy am I thankful!  Doc McStuffins is a delightful little girl who has captured the heart and imagination of my little boy.  She's smart, witty, and fixes broken toys.  The storyline is interesting enough, thank goodness, that the whole family doesn't mind watching it...a hundred times a day. 

11.  And finally...what would be a "Things I love" list without Banana Republic or JCrew.  I hesitated, I waited, I pondered, I read reviews, and finally when BR ran their latest 40% off one item Wednesday promotion I went for it...the Gemma Wrap Dress.  It is fabulous, fits great, and goes with everything. 

I hope you get as much enjoyment out of some of this stuff I love as I do!

A Fire Alarm, Sticky Floor, Pinterest Kind of Night

"The most expensive ingredient in your house is the one you are throwing away." - Melissa d'Arabian

Pinterest is for those random few minutes in between, and last week I had more of those than usual.  I went a little crazy, pinning everything in sight. It can be a little more than just a little addicting you know.  I took advantage of the in between time and pinned several new recipes that I actually wanted to try.  A different approach than pinning recipes that just look good.

Today with a full week ahead of us I thought it would be a good time to try out a new crock pot recipe, and boy was it a good one.  For those of you who have been following along since Use-it-Up February, this recipe is the perfect solution for using up some odd-ball ingredients. 

This is my version of Spicy Crockpot Chicken.
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salsa - whatever amount you have available, up to about a jar
1/2 bag of frozen corn
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried onion
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 mini bell peppers or one big bell pepper roughly chopped
1/2 cup water

This is the perfect recipe for me because there is no way to mess it up.  I always have half eaten containers of salsa in my fridge and this is a great way to use-it-up.  Put the chicken in the crock pot and the other ingredients right over top in the order listed.  Set crock pot for 6 hours on high.  Shred chicken about 30 minutes before serving and let it soak in all the juices.  Serve on multi grain tortillas.

(On a side note, if you haven't tried Mission's new artisan brand, you are missing out.  I love the flax and blue corn.)

Inspired by the success of the chicken, I decided to try another pinned recipe that "looked good," roasted chick peas.  They were as bad as they sound and for some reason the fire alarm thought I had started the house on fire.  I didn't notice any smoke, but that's what you get for putting in new batteries and roasting tiny beans in the oven on high heat.

After all of that, I was craving something sweet and thought it would be fun to make vanilla shakes.  Sure, that sounds like a nice idea, except that I "forgot" that my blender doesn't work.  Just because you haven't used your blender since 2008 doesn't mean it's still not working...maybe if you just gave it another try.  It's only ice cream and milk, how bad could it go? 

Darn subconscious.  If a blender is broken in 2008 and no one fixes it, it still will not work.  It made an awful sound, sputtered and splurted, and I ended up mushing together something that resembled a shake with my spoon.  Somewhere between waving a dish towel around the hallway and talking myself into the blender situation, I momentarily lost my mind and handed the baby a cup full of shake and a spoon.  He's pretty good at both, but the consistency was really bad.  Pretty soon the shake was all over his face, hands, arm and legs.  And all over the floor.  Kevin laughed at me and suggested that maybe making a shake wasn't such a good idea.

Having it all doesn't mean having it all together.  If the rest of the week goes this well, I think we'll be doing pretty good! :)

A Pea in the Pod - The Store! (This is not a social media announcement!)

Wanting to buy a new wardrobe full of stretchy, Lycra based, expandable clothing is not a good reason to have another baby.

And yet I found my thoughts wandering in that direction as I shopped with a good friend of mine at A Pea in the Pod recently.  Some women get "the itch" while they are packing away all those super cute newborn footie pajamas, but I packed away the dreadful breast pump at the same time.  But shopping for cute, fashionable clothing, well that's another story...

You see, I wasn't so hip on maternity clothes early in my pregnancy with Jett, with one very important, completely fabulous exception...my first ever pair of truly designer jeans.  I ordered my first pair of Citizens of Humanity jeans when I was expecting Jett, rationalizing that if I was going to get chubby and feel exhausted and cranky, I might as well look good doing it.  It was my investment piece, and after that I limited myself to slightly larger clothes that I could wear post-pregnancy, some hand-me-down pieces from my aunts, the clearance rack at Gordmans, and a couple of cute work pieces from Target and the Gap.  Other than my on-time excursion on A Pea in the Pod online, I didn't fully take advantage of the situation. 

Looking at all of the fabulous clothes in the store, I even wondered if one particular black lace dress could pass for pea-free wearing mamas (different than pee-free for those of you who have boys.)  The twenty year old sales associate admitted to buying a few pieces herself and I could see why.  Really good maternity designers are brilliant people.  They have to take the season's fashion trends and transform them into smart pieces that can be worn for nine months+ of a transitioning woman's body and still look as good at the end, as the beginning.  They have to be cautious of pattern placement, sleeve length, and fit.  Not to mention the genius that must go in to designing maternity jeans; making sure that pocket placement and overall fit will not be compromised due to the large tummy panel in place of a traditional waist band.  But, when done correctly these jeans will cause one to wonder why all pants don't have an expandable, smoothing, panel of wonder (very helpful at Thanksgiving!)

So as I looked on with envy as my adorable friend tried on countless fierce fashion items, I sent my husband a text that said, "Such cute clothes, I'm getting the itch!"  He didn't reply, but later handed me the credit card and said he thought it was time for me to go shopping at JCrew.  That's one way to cure that problem!  That, and when I returned home that day I promptly went down in the basement, pulled out my favorite jeans ever, and plopped the Medela box on top.

Graduation Staycation Road Trip - We Survived! He Did It! And The Stuff That I Love!

"There was this really smart mom that kept pulling out new toys and snacks for her toddler during the ceremony.  He was good the whole time.  So smart!" - Random Amazing Graduate Student

Yup, that was me, the really smart mom.  At least I think that was me.  It might have been the other dozen or so brilliant mamas around the room that in addition to praying wildly before the ceremony for patience, good naturedness, silence, and an aisle seat, also were smart enough to pack "the goods" before the hour and half ceremony.  Regardless, it was a very nice comment from someone that told this to my husband as he walked up to receive his diploma and get hooded. (Hooded?  Receive his hood?  That's why I'm going back to school.)

The trip up was a breeze.  Jett was a fabulous, happy, rested boy when we left and jabbered happily until Lincoln, at which point we dropped daddy off at his coaches' meeting and ran off energy at the Lincoln Children's Museum for an hour.  He then promptly fell asleep and remained that way until we hit Kearney.  Ah-may-zing!  We arrived and I asked Kevin if he would be up for extending our trip to the Black Hills for the rest of the weekend, thinking this whole traveling with a kid thing was a cinch.  Luckily, he had the good sense to say no.

The ceremony came and I was that "smart mom" who stashed away all kinds of "never in a million years would I feed my child Handy Snacks if I didn't want him to be quiet during a very important event," kind of things.  Thanks to the aaforementioned congealed cheese, gummy snacks, and a host of new cool toys I broke out for the occasion, we made it.  Barely, but we did.  It also helped that Jett's four-year-old cousin Katie sat next to him, was SUPER good, and let him touch her blond curls and say "pretty" for about 20 minutes.

My child was good as gold through lunch, and then vacationitis hit.  You know, that rotten hang over feeling you get before vacation is actually over.  You want to crawl out of your skin, run around like a banshee, burst into tears, and detox after eating congealed cheese for days...Well, news flash, this hits toddlers after a mere 24 hours on a trip.

Luckily or unluckily depending on where you were sitting in the car, Jett slept to Grand Island (44 minute nap, but who is counting) where we met our wonderful friends and their three kiddos for a play date.  I love Chris and Amy and their boys.  A truly amazing family that I wish we saw more often.  The kids played for nearly two hours, and Jett loved their child-sized trampoline and giant St. Barnard puppy.  I thought for sure he would sleep until Seward, but no luck.  He was however, "stuck!" and I had a chance to try out the car toys and apps everyone had sent me. 

So here is the stuff that saved me.  The stuff I love.

1. My favorite app was "Bizzy Bear Builds a House," very sweet, interactive and narrated with a British accent.  I'm not sure why that matters, but it was somewhat soothing.  Coming in a close second was the Disney Junior app that lets you watch select shows like Doc McStuffins. 
2. Cow puppet.  I asked my mom what she recommended I bring and this was her fabulous idea. 

    3.   Playdoh - in a bag.  This is SO smart!  Whoever put Playdoh in a zip top bag knew what they were doing.  Now the people who give this to toddlers who think it's a gummy snack do not know what they are doing, but that's a different story.  Jett loved to smoosh it, after he took a bite.

   4.   Flash cards. Who knew? I picked these up after perusing the school supply section at Walmart.  Jett loved looking at these and repeating the colors as a gave them to him.  We also received some Thomas the Train cards somewhere along the way and he loved these as well.

5. 27 Quart Storage Box.  You will thank me later.  Now I don't fancy myself organized, but when I put all the car toys and handy wipes in this nifty neat little container, and managed to keep the car somewhat together without my usual bundle of tote bags, I thought I had arrived. 

6. I found Jack at the Lincoln Children's Museum and had a hunch we'd become buds.  This is magnetic paper dolls for boys and I love it.  Jett loved it too, score! (The only bad thing is Jack's container, he now lives in a Ziplock.  But I won't hold that against the guy.)

7.  I also loved the Crayola Color Wonder Stow and Go Studio.  It was a little above Jett who isn't quite loving markers...yet, but he did love putting the caps on and off, and the neat little package kept everything together in the diaper bag.  This was a big hit with his cousin Katie during the ceremony.

8.  Darn Handy Snacks!*
*For those of you who are offended by congealed cheese and judging me, I don't blame you.  For the record, Jett's mother also packed fresh cherries, (pits removed of course), homemade whole wheat and flax zucchini muffins, and veggie and fruit squeezy packs.  Oh, and some gummy bears...