I'm Officially Breaking Up With Betty Crocker!

I grew up on box cakes, brownies and cookie mixes. My mother was a single parent of three for seven years, so the majority of the time, we did things the quickest way possible. Even my grandmother tended toward the mixes, instead of from scratch. Its not that they never made things without mixes, but it was a rare occasion. Therefore, when I thought of baking, it always started with a box, featuring a picture of your chosen project on the front.
Lately, I've been trying everything from scratch. Its an adventure! The upside is, though, once you have the basics in your pantry, you can make most anything on a whim, rather than having to go buy the kit at the store. Every pantry, even the novice, should have vanilla extract, baking powder and soda, sugar, salt, flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, powdered sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil and you must have butter, eggs and milk in the fridge. Now, I'll warn you, there are many more traditional recipes, like pie crusts or breads that also call for shortening, so when you get really brave, you might invest in that, as well. These things are inexpensive and most of them have a long shelf life and you can keep them on hand for whatever projects you might want to try. Yesterday, I found this brownie recipe on the outside of my cocoa powder canister. Well, I didn't have a choice... I had to try it! Once I tasted the first brownie, I knew I could never go back. Here's the recipe, copied from verybestbaking.com, so I didn't have to type it again. This is a good reference site for lots of recipes. Hope you enjoy!

Chewy Cocoa Brownies
Ingredients

1 2/3 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine, melted

2 tablespoons water

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Baking Cocoa

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Powdered sugar

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350º F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

COMBINE granulated sugar, butter and water in large bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.

BAKE for 18 to 25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into bars.

Just Call Me Mrs. Fixit!

My washing machine filled up and then stopped working today. So I had a theory that it might be the lid switch. I messed with it enough to figure out that it was. Then I thought, I've got a load of laundry in water waiting to wash. I don't have time for parts and repair technicians, etc. I pulled the model and series numbers off of the washer, googled the brand and problem and found this very helpful video. All I needed was the instructions on getting into the washer so I could see with what I was dealing. When I realized that the trigger mechanism that engages the lid switch had broken off, I pondered the necessity of this switch. Then I did the only obvious next thing... I called my Dad. I told him I was thinking of bypassing the lid switch and needed to know if this was safe. He told me how to do it and, some wire strippers, electrical tape and a nut/cap later, voila! Problem solved.

Now, if you are thinking that I have had experience with anything like this before, you would be wrong. What I have is a desire not to pay a handy man or save a honey-do list for my husband, if at all possible. Was this a little scary? Yes. However, I decided the the risk of royally screwing up did not outweigh the reward for fixing it myself and the brag rights. I must also mention that I prayed before and during this little project. The point is, there is no reason not to at least try. I look at it not as being too independent or a feminatzi, but remembering the pioneer women who helped build our country. They had husbands who may be gone for months at a time, harvesting or building or moving livestock. They couldn't let the daily household routine stop just because something didn't work. They had to roll up their long, homemade sleeves and figure it out. Next time you get the chance, before you call in someone to do it for you, look it over and think about how you might handle yourself. You go girls!

Real World Lessons In The Not-So-Real World Of My Eight Year Old



Courtesy of clipartof.com

In the past, we have tried several different incentive programs with our kids. We have required them to perform daily chores since they were 4 years old. Now, as they are getting older, we have decided to put them on the payroll, so to speak. My husband and I fell that they are at the perfect age now, having a firm grasp on their basic math skills, to learn about tithes and offering, as well as the value of the hard-earned dollar. Contrary to our many efforts to ground them and teach them that money doesn't grow on trees and to be good stewards of their belongings, they still seem to take for granted any treats or gifts. So, time for a wake-up call.

This is the first week in which they will be earning a daily wage for their well completed tasks. Seeing dollar signs and already making a mental list of all the things she would be buying with her giant paycheck, my daughter came to me to ask how much they would be earn and when they would see the money. I explained what we would pay them each week for a job well done. This made her jump up and down with excitement. I then explained how they could expect to be paid biweekly, just like a real job. Immediately, her shoulders slumped, she stomped to the couch and threw herself down. "You said we would start getting paid this week!" she grumped at me. "I meant it. You will begin earning wages this week. You will not be paid, though, until pay day. This is how it works in any job, so you can learn it now." I replied. She did not like this answer. I reminded her that in our home, its not just the task at hand, but the attitude with which the task is carried out. I've told both the older kids that it is very important to do everything as though doing it for Jesus. I told them that if they always try to please Jesus with their thought, words and actions, they will always be rewarded for their efforts. It reigns true, in most jobs, if you are surly and hateful while at work, your evaluations will not go well and some times you will not remain in that job. It is difficult not to laugh, though, when they get so frustrated over silly little things, like not wanting to do the dishes. It's such a small moment in the vast expanse of a lifetime, that it seems ridiculous to throw a fit about it.

Hopefully, if our encouraging them to keep a good attitude hasn't really worked every time in the past, money talks! Maybe when they don't get paid as much as they were expecting, they will be more motivated to try harder and stop sweating the small stuff. I am an eternal optimist!

We're Getting Better At This School Stuff!

Oh, when the alarm went off this morning, it was difficult for me to jump out of bed. I did, however, have a big incentive... the kids go back to school today! I rolled out of bed, headed into my daughter's room and found my toddler had climbed into bed with her. They were giggling and in good spirits. I love starting the day this way! We agreed on an outfit and I helped her fix her hair. I then woke up my oldest son, got his clothes settled and went to make breakfast. Both of my little students were so excited about school that they were extra cooperative. They even traded compliments about their outfits, which on any other day would be fighting for space in front of the mirror and elbowing each other at the table. Before we stepped out the door, we held hands and prayed over their day, their teachers and friends. We prayed for clear understanding and focus, for favor and wisdom in choosing new friends and for safety. It felt so good to start off the year ahead of the game, dropping them off early at school and having them be sweet to each other.
My other favorite part of the school year...the quiet. There is this peaceful lack of noise and movement in the house. My toddler is happily watching PBS and I actually ate breakfast. Now, don't get me wrong; I miss my kids and by the end of the school year, I'll be looking forward to summer with them. I just love that school offers that balance that makes us closer as a family. They need their space and so does Mom. It's a beautiful thing!

Midnight Meringues and Mixing in the Laundry Room

The other night I was awake and craving something sweet. My husband was at work and my youngest had fallen asleep on the couch (he's not feeling well), so I was on my own. I thought about meringue cookies and decided that was just the thing. I didn't want to wake anyone, though, so I took my hand mixer into the laundry room. Then, using the washing machine as my counter top, I whipped up some very pretty, opalescent, stiff egg whites. I had a sense of the ridiculous and giggled a bit, but that made it even more fun. Now, my favorite meringue cookies are mint cocoa, but I was out of cocoa and chocolate chips. The only chocolate in the house was a little bottle of chocolate sprinkles. Done! I put my peppermint extract in and then, as a finishing touch, I dotted the little dollops of meringue with chocolate sprinkles. The result was delicious and subtle. I'll warn you, though, that midnight meringues are not for the faint of heart or the must-have-it-nows. It takes at least an hour in the oven, so it is a commitment. Totally worth it! Here's my recipe. You can add in any flavor or food coloring. These are fun at Easter with pastels.

Meringue Cookies
2 Egg Whites
3/4 C. White Sugar
1/8 Tsp Salt
1/8 Tsp Cream of Tartar
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
Optional:
1/2 Tsp Peppermint Extract
1/2 C. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/2 C. Mini Chocolate Chips
1/4 Tsp Food Coloring
Colored Sugar
Nonpareils

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. It a mixing bowl, whisk egg whites, salt and cream of tartar until eggs are light and frothy. Now you need the mixer. Starting on low speed, mix the egg whites and slowly add in the sugar. Once you have incorporated all your sugar, you can add the vanilla and any other flavors. Increase your mixer speed to medium and continue mixing for several minutes. You'll notice that the mixture starts to look creamy and thickens up. It will also double in size before you are finished. It takes a good 10 minutes before you get stiff peaks, meaning that when you turn off the mixer and pull it out of the bowl, the meringue stretches and streams behind, leaving little peaks. If you want to add cocoa powder or chips, gently fold them in with a spatula. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a teaspoon, drop little, imperfect dollops of meringue on the cookie sheet. For the more advanced you can put the meringue in a pastry bag and pipe onto the cookie sheet with a decorative tip. These are whimsical and cute, so don't obsess about making them round or even. Top off with any sprinkles and put in the oven for at least 45 minutes. I usually turn my oven off after that and leave them in for another 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely, or they will come apart when you remove from the cookie sheet. Enjoy!

A Tisket, a Tasket, I Made My First Brisket!

We are a brisket loving family. So, when I got a 6lb brisket on sale, I was all about it. One problem, though: I've never made brisket! My husband really wanted to smoke it, but we didn't have enough wood. Not to be discouraged, I just jumped on All Recipes and looked up brisket. I found very easy directions for roasting it. I already knew that the trick was cooking it low and slow, meaning low temperature and long cooking time.
So, Sunday morning, I pulled my prize meat (roughly the size of a newborn baby) out of the fridge and attacked it. I started off by trimming away most of the fat, then made slices across the grain. This way any fat left didn't shrink during cooking. Then I took a bowl of black pepper and seasoned salt and used my hands to rub the mix all over both sides. Finally, I minced two cloves of garlic and rubbed it onto the exposed side. I poured about a cup of water into my roasting pan with the brisket. Then I put the lid on, put it in the oven at 275 degrees and got ready to go to church. By the time we got home, the timer I'd set to 4 hours had only 30 minutes left. The house smelled amazing and I had just enough time to boil potatoes for mashing. We had a beautiful, tender, juicy brisket for a late lunch and then snacked on it for the rest of the evening. Then Monday, we had brisket sandwiches. We plan on smoking it next time, just to experiment, but this was no disappointment for a first timer!

The Proper Way to Melt Cheese (Yeah There's a Wrong Way)

Back story: my husband comes from a very Italian family. While I have an Irish heritage, my mother was a single parent for many years, so our spaghetti came from a box and the sauce from a jar. After I got married, it didn't take long for me to realize I had to learn a few things in the kitchen. So, by now I have mastered making what we affectionately refer to as "the sauce," or a good, from scratch marinara sauce. I also learned to make Bechamel and Alfredo and I've learned how to make my own pasta dough. So, I was feeling pretty confident when I decided to try my hand at home made mac-n-cheese.
Oops! If you have made cheese sauce from anything but Velveeta, you already know what I'm about to say. I took some milk, butter, salt and pepper, heated it up and threw in some cheese. After whisking furiously for 15 minutes, my cheese was not melting, but separating and hard. At this point I used my favorite kitchen tool: GOOGLE. I found a very helpful article on All Recipes about how to make cheese sauce.
Immediately I discovered my first mistake, which was too much heat. Also, I knew I needed a starch to thicken the sauce, but I should have had that incorporated before adding the cheese. So, refusing to call it a loss and waste everything, I cut a bit of cheese cloth (which was a mystery to me until recently, I found it in the fabric department) and used it to strain out the curdled cheese. By that I mean, lined a bowl with the cheese cloth, poured the sauce in, the gathered the cheese cloth and squeezed out the liquid. Then I threw the liquid back into my pan and brought it to a medium heat, lightly bubbling, so i could whisk in a bit of flour. Then I lowered the heat to low-med and added the cheese. Another tip from the article was to sprinkle a bit of an acid, like lemon juice, on the cheese before melting, to keep it from getting stringy. This worked very well. So, after a small bump in the road, we ate home made macaroni and cheese for lunch.

All I Wanna Do Is Enjoy Shark Week!

So, this may sound out of character, but I love Shark Week, on the Discovery Channel. And I'm happy that many of the programs during the afternoon and early evening are only PG, so the whole family can marvel at those beautiful, vicious creatures. One problem: the commercials, mainly the movie trailers. There is a new horror film being advertised on every commercial break! The trailers are disturbing to me, so I'm really disgusted that I have to worry about my kids watching them. I suppose I could DVR everything we want to see so we can skip ahead, but it's not very convenient nor as much fun. So after one very frustrating hour of the annual "Sharkapalooza" (and this was 5pm to 6pm, not even prime time) I decided to change the channel. I'm really disgusted with the increase in disgusting movie trailers on many channels, before prime time viewing. I understand that programming after a certain hour is geared toward adults, but during football season, we are watching Sunday afternoon and I cringe at the trash being during breaks. And while I'm at it, we watch a lot of PBS, Disney and Nick, although we bounce around between the latter two, due to shows I think are too mature or just innaproproate for my family. Disney is now on my list, though, because they've decided to make a vampire show and its advertised during programs my kids are allowed to watch. It's ridiculous! Just because the rest of the world is vampire crazed because of a series of novels (geared toward teens, ugh!) doesn't make it ok for all kids everywhere, does it? I would love to be at a point where we could give up the tele completely, but to be forced into it because the general decency of the major networks has gone out the window! This Mom is about fed up.

Mama Bear Syndrome: The Fierce and Unrelenting Need to Protect Your Children

Because we are a "blended family" (the newer, nicer way to refer to what used to be called dysfunctional family), I have the pleasure, or rather, the challenge of trying to keep the peace between my husband and the birth mother of my two oldest children. With all due respect to her, she has had many challenges of her own and has many times, over the course of our four years of being a family, been less than reliable (to put it nicely). Unfortunately, our views of what is appropriate when it comes to diet and t.v. viewing are often at odds with hers. The upside to this is that, because the children live with us full time, this is not a concern we have to deal with more than once or twice a month. Another down side that we've found, though, is that a lot of damage can be done in one over night visit.
Our oldest son, who will be 7 in October, has always been a good sleeper until recently. Over the summer, he has been crawling into bed with our daughter, 8, almost every night. We have tried everything to keep him in his bed all night. It seems to be getting worse, though, to the point that, minutes after he is tucked in, he's gotten his favorite pillow, blanket, and doggie and is sneaking across the hall. I had to put him in bed 5 times last night. I finally asked him if there was some reason that he refused to stay in bed lately. This is not the first such conversation, but he usually give me a shrug and an "I dunno." I pressed the matter and said that I needed to know why. This is how I discovered the latest in a long line of issues occurring when they visit their other mother. They were made to watch a horror movie. I started to name this movie, but thought better of it, because I'm a firm believer in not glorifying such negative things with any more attention than they might have.  If you keep up with cinema, this is a recently released to DVD horror film, rated PG-13, is about a family being harrassed by demonic possession. I looked up a review on Parent Previews, since I have no intention of watching it, because this site gives fairly detailed accounts of content, broken down into categories (violence, sexual content, language, etc.) and I wanted to know with what, exactly, we were dealing.
Now, my husband and I have to figure out how to keep this from happening again. I'll spare you the details. Here is where I rant. The previous was just for your information, so that you can understand the title of this post and what I'm about to say...

Are you crazy?! How dare you subject our children, MY children, to such horrific images, not to mention the other movies we have heard about in the past, with foul language and violence and considered just completely innapropriate by 99.9% of the world with any kind of standards! They are so impressionable at this age, with wildly active imaginations that take those images and run laps in their little minds. I litterally feel like I could sprout claws and let loose a howling growl towards the sky. My babies should not have to be afraid of their own rooms and every shadow out the window. I'm so furious right now, I could shake a tree.
However, I am a Christian and therefore commanded to forgive. I am also commanded to love unconditionally. It's not easy on days like this, so I remember that I Cor. 13:5 says that love "is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]." This will be my mantra today. By the way, another good site for reviews is Plugged In, which gives you the same, plus from a Christian point of view. I didn't check it first, because I assumed they wouldn't have reviewed this movie. Upon closer inspection, they did have a very thorough and insiteful review.

Celebrating the Oops in the Bathroom

Always on the move.

So, if you've read my blog, you know my youngest is 2 1/2. We tried potty training several months ago and, 6 new pairs of undies, a training seat and a mini potty later, we decided he wasn't quite there yet. It's a tough call because every child is so different, but I tried not to stress about it, remembering that we didn't even attempt to potty train my oldest son until he was at least 2 1/2. However, we have a new reason to try to master this skill. If due dates are to be believed, then our newest addition to the family is arriving exactly 3 days before Declyn turns three! I'm not one to rush him, but he is developing more understanding each day and thought it would be prudent to at least give him a chance. Yesterday was day 1 of "Potty Training: The Sequel." This time was much different, as Declyn went for long stretches with no accidents, as opposed to last time where I set a 15 minute timer and about 3 minutes after I pulled him off the potty, we had a mess.
Now, to this morning. After he woke up, I gave him time to eat, then put him on the potty. We got out some "Big Boy Pants" with a T-Rex picture on them. We discussed coming back to the potty if he needed. Fast forward 45 minutes and I hear the toilet lid hitting the tank repeatedly. Realizing after a quick head count who's missing, I jumped up and ran into the bathroom. Declyn stood there, in a puddle, next to the toilet, trying to put his potty seat in place. Awesome!!! Not that he had an accident, of course, but that he went to the bathroom to do it. I praised him and told him I was so proud that he knew to run to the bathroom. I reminded him to let Mommy help next time. We got cleaned up and danced around, "What a big boy!" I've never been so happy to clean up a puddle.

Plumbing Issues and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Pancakes

Last night, while preparing dinner, a strange thing happened. Foul smelling water came into both side of my sink, from the drain. I ran the disposal and it went away, but as soon as I turned it off, the swamp water returned. Ewww! Today, my husband and I both tried our hand at plumbing. About an hour into this, we threw in the towel and decided to leave it to the professionals. So, I had to get creative for lunch because, while waiting the professional, my sink was in pieces. I went for something fun and filling, although I may not win Mother of the Year for it. I took a standard pancake recipe and threw in some melted peanut butter and a cup of quick cook oats. What came out was delicious and my kids ate it up, with no syrup! I've actually never had a habit of buying syrup because I showed the kids long ago that a yummy pancake with the right extras in it, and a pat of butter on top, tasted great without any extra sugar. Of course, they still love syrup when its available, but I never get any complaints without it.
You can try this or leave out the peanut butter and throw in your own twist, like a mashed up banana or sliced up apples.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Pancakes
2 c. All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
5 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 c. Milk
2 Eggs
2 tbsp Melted Butter
3 Heaping tbsp Melted Peanut Butter
1 c. Quick Cooking Oats

Mix your dry ingredients first, then whisk in the wet ingredients. It will be thick and you may thin it out slightly by adding a tbsp of water at a time until just right. Heat a skillet or griddle over med-high and spray with cooking oil. Laddle batter into the skillet, wait for it to bubble and brown around the edges, then flip. We enjoyed these with a little butter on top. If you really want to get crazy, powdered sugar is nice, too.