Archives for January 2012

Seize the sleep.

January 22, 2012 by ·
This blog post has been zooming through the web world like a loose hogwarts snipe.  I read it and found myself saying, “amen, sista!”  all throughout.  How perfectly she captured motherhood moments.
It also reminded me of a question I received from a dear friend just a few days ago, who a couple of years ago entered the world of twindom.  A couple being the key word.  She has now entered the lovely “2’s”  phase – something that really does get exponential in the twins world.  She asked one simple question:  “How did you survive??”
And my response was pretty much just as simple, “I went into survival mode… and I seized the sleep moments!”
I have learned that this is my mommyhood point of reconnection.  As in, re-connecting myself with some semblance of sanity.  There really are moments during the thick of the day when I have thought the words, “someone in this house is not going to make it to tonight – it’s either one of the kids, or me!”  and yet, each night as the ‘GO BACK TO BED’ cries die down, the giggling from the shared rooms settle down, and sweet silence coats the second level, I sometimes like to take a peak at their sweet sleeping faces.  These are the times that I remember truly how sweet they are, and that in the end going through the trenches of mothering is really worth it.
These are the times when I can honestly and truly answer the older women’s warnings to “CHERISH THE MOMENTS NOW!”  with a heartfelt, “thank you!”  Because, for this brief moment in eternity, I get to have every person who is physically a part of me all together, within the walls of my own home.  Those are the moments that I truly do wish for time to pause for a brief moment so that I can bask in it for one small second longer.
I don’t kid myself into thinking that tomorrow is going to be all ‘gleefully skipping through the meadows for a perfect family picnic’ but seizing the sleep moments truly does help me come back and regroup, and get ready to get up again to climb right back into the poppy diapers and tantrum territory.
So, to quote a phrase from momastary… “carry on, warrior, only 6 more hours to bed time!”
Seize the sleep!
Filed Under: Uncategorized

holy moly stromboli!

January 19, 2012 by ·

 Love this recipe – so simple, so fast, and a favorite with the kiddos!

Start with a refrigerated french bread loaf

roll it out into a rectangle (If you get the kind in the tube, it’s usually rolled up jelly-roll style, so you can just find the seam and unroll it that way – no rolling pin necessary!)

If you are a make-from-scratch type of person, by all means, use your own recipe 🙂

I’ll keep doing it this way…

cause I’m lazy like that.

 cut slices down each side, going in about 1/4 of the way, leaving 1/2 of the space together in the middle

Put cut up meat and cheese in the middle

I only have a picture of the meat – use your imagination for the cheese 🙂

 

braid the side pieces… simply criss cross each of the little cut out pieces (you can even add a twist to make it look really fancy!)

If you want to make the top bakery-esc, you can brush it with whipped egg whites, and sprinkle some parmesan cheese over the top
Bake in oven according to french bread package directions (usually 350 for 25 minutes)
(okay, I realize this picture is a far cry from Food Network worthy, but hey, I had 5 hungry kids who wanted to eat more than look at the meal)
Slice up and enjoy!  The biggest challenge we have here is the kiddos waiting for the cheese to cool down enough before they can dig in!
Filed Under: Recipes

Smooth Moves!

January 10, 2012 by ·

 

 

 

Let me be VERY clear.

I am not a nutrition fanatic.

well, okay, maybe in some respects I am (you’ll have to ask my sister about my GREAT corn meal waffle recipe that warrants mocking to this day!)

But normally, I am well, normal.

So when I got my vita mix blender a year ago (have I mentioned how much I LOVE LOVE that thing??!  So worth the scrimping and saving, and then scouring the best deals around – I use it every day!), I didn’t exactly get it for the ‘ah-natural’ types of crazy carrot-pea-spinach smoothies that they touted it could do.

Nope.

Not me…

I got it mostly because it could make ice cream in 60 seconds, and super duper yummy strawberry smoothies 🙂

 

and I swore that I would never let a ‘green’ smoothy pass my lips.

 

That is, until I went to a nutrition convention where they were demo-ing the vita mix

and I ran up to give my own little testimonial as to how much I loved mine (seriously, these guys should give me a commission for how much I have touted it in my seminars!)

… and they usually have samples, so they asked if I wanted to try…

their GREEN smoothie concoction!

 

In an attempt to be somewhat cordial, I hesitantly took a sip.  and then another.

and then a gulp, just to be sure.

And much to my surprise, the most delightful feeling showered upon my tastebuds.

It was actually good!

a Green smoothy.

Good.

Who would have thought??!

So I instantly snapped a picture of the recipe,

and brought it home to try it out on the toughest critics…

the kiddos.  and wouldn’t ya know – they LOVED it just as much as I did!

 

So without further adieu,

here is the ever-covetated TASTY green smoothy!

4 cups spinach (yep, the leafy green stuff!)

1 peeled orange

a few slices pineapple

1/3 cup frozen white grape juice concentrate

1/4 lime (with peeling ON)

1 cup ice

that it.  Simply blend until smooth (about 60 seconds in the vita-mix),

 

 

 

Pour into glasses,

and watch the quizical looks on your guests faces turn from utter horror to sweet delight as they, too, become unwitting fans of the GREEN smoothie 🙂

 

Filed Under: Featured Posts, Recipes