I've Got Mommy Brain Splattered All Over My Kitchen

If my husband and I want to eat dinner every night before, say, 11 p.m., I am almost contractually obligated to prepare part of it earlier in the day.

Say at, oh, about 9 a.m.

I throw food in a Crock-pot, pre-make bolognese sauce, cut up some veggies - do something, anything - while Ella is content in the morning-time so that, once she's in bed, I've got less than 30 minutes until I can feed the hubs and my ravenous self in peace.

It sounds like I have it all together, but trust me, it's a plan born out of desperation, and I cling to it.

As the pot of soup simmering on my stove as my witness, we shall never go hungry again.

Anyway, on Tuesday, we were having chef's salads for dinner - an easy meal because Ella and I were attending our pre-natal yoga reunion in the early evening, and I needed to put together dinner fast when we got home.

So, once Ella was happy in the Moby wrap, I set about slicing and dicing vegetables and pre-cooking some meat.

Then, inspiration struck.

I decided to boil some eggs.

Because what's a good chef's salad without some hard-boiled eggs?

I put a small pot on the stove, filled with a half-dozen eggs or so covered in water, set the gas to high so I could bring it to a boil, then walked away.

Ella was getting fussy. It was nap-time.

I nursed her, put her down, and went about my to-do list.

I dusted. Called to re-schedule her 4-month pediatrician's appointment. Put in a load of dirty cloth diapers. Answered e-mails. Stitched up a button on a shirt of mine Ella had popped open while nursing and yanking at my top.

Then, finally, I sat down to write for my blog and maybe, if I was lucky, read a few blogs myself, before Ella woke up.

I was literally 10 minutes into this post, just hitting my writer's stride, when I heard it.

An explosion.

Coming from my kitchen.

My eyes, which had been squinting in concentration, flew wide open, and I glanced down at Marvin the Dog - mostly to ascertain that he was indeed with me and not the source of the loud noise that had just emanated from his favorite room, The Place All Food Is Held.

But the poor mutt couldn't be blamed.

So, slowly, semi-scared out of my mind, I crept from the living room and around the corner of the kitchen, and, literally, stepped in it.

A pile of yellow mush.

I looked up to find the carnage continued everywhere.

Yellow and white bits of flesh scattered across the floor, little white hardened kernels stuck to the cabinets and my ceiling.

And, straight against the fridge, another large splat of yellow mush.

One quick glance at the stove revealed all that had happened.

There sat my little pot - empty.

No water.

No eggs.

Nada.

In fact, the empty pot had started to burn.

Now, I'm no scientist. In fact, scientific reasoning and skill are not even my strong suit.

But it didn't take a doctoral degree in chemistry to figure out what had happened.

The pot of eggs and water had been left to boil so long that the water had plum evaporated right out.

Leaving the eggs to, from what I can deduce by the pieces of blackened shell I found scattered across my kitchen, toast a bit in the empty pot.

Until, finally, the direct source of heat applied to the already boiled eggs caused them to, scientifically speaking, combust.

Which, unscientifically speaking, left this mama with one heckuva a mess to clean up all over her kitchen, along with the strangest scent of burned eggshells, which, I'm not gonna lie, still permeates my kitchen.

There aren't enough Scentsy warmers in the world to get rid of that odor.

***

So, when the hubs got home from work, and I got home from our pre-natal yoga reunion, needless to say, we ate our chef's salads. Without hard-boiled eggs.

However, I'm still finding little pieces of egg shell scattered in the oddest places.

So, really, it's like the gift that keeps on giving.

It's a constant reminder that my mommy brain won.

And is splattered all over my kitchen.

***

Happy Friday, everyone!

Not My Normal Sauce

I'm not a recipe blogger.

The Pioneer Woman is admirable, but I'm just not the same kind of girl.

I don't feel others turn to me - and here - for recipe advice. Just not what I'm serving up, I guess.

And the thing is, I'm a good cook.

There. I'll say it. I'll toot my own horn: I'm a darn good cook.

But I still take short cuts. Little fast-forwards in the culinary process.

I am woman, hear me roar, and all that jazz. This momma-to-be is busy, because not only do I work part-time, but I also take care of my husband; carry around, prepare, and care for my future progeny; exercise; parent a dog; shop for our every need; clean; launder; pay bills; sort paperwork; sew, and bake.

Oh, and cook.

Yeah, I cook. Every day. Three times a day.

So, in this day in age, when I can buy a box of whole-wheat, organic raviolis with a coupon, I don't see the need to make my own pasta dough and filling.

Frankly, I don't have that kind of time. Not unless you want my house to completely devolve into a dog-hair-covered hot mess.

A girl needs a few easy fixes in her complicated day. Am I right, ladies?

Case in point: Pasta sauce.

You can buy cheap, organic, gourmet jars of spaghetti sauce almost anywhere.

And a lot of the time, when I'm in a pinch, they save me. It's the modern housewife's quick fix - the jar of pasta sauce.

But this week, after getting a deal on bulk, canned, diced, organic tomatoes, I decided to take a novel approach to my normal easy-to-make Italian dishes.

I decided I'd make my own pasta sauce.

I know, I know. Be still your beating hearts. Quiet your gasps. Alert the media that I am, indeed, finally living up to the fact that I am an Italian woman.

My grandmother would be so proud.

So I started by throwing in a can of diced tomatoes with the juice.

Then a can of tomato sauce.

Then - my favorite - a huge spoonful of minced garlic, followed by a tablespoon of sucanat (an organic, healthy sweetener - it works just like sugar), and a big spoonful of already-prepared basil pesto.

I brought it to a boil then let it simmer for 20 minutes.

Grand total prep time? Less than five minutes. It was literally almost as easy as heating up the jar of pre-made sauce.

And it tasted?

Amazing.

Like, a thousand times better than any sauce I've ever eaten out of a jar.

I boiled ziti that night, to serve with it, and I liked it so much that I actually had a second helping of the sauce.

In a bowl.

With a spoon.

Yep, just the sauce.

Trust me, it was that good, people.

That. Good.

I'm a convert. A full-on, sauce-making, spoon-licking convert.

As God as my witness, I will never use jar sauce again.

***

For those of you who are red-sauce lovers, try this at home and impress your family. Take full credit for it, too. It's just that easy, and I'm more than willing to let you bask in the glory that is the five-minute process of making your own authentic pasta sauce with me.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

A No-Veggie Man

I liked to think that my husband appreciated the thought and effort I put into cooking him healthy, well-rounded, organically based meals.

The crunchy salads. The roasted vegetables. The whole grains. The lean, hormone-free meats.

It took such detailed menu-planning. It took such extensive grocery-shopping.

And, most importantly, it took such inordinate amounts of time.

Which is why I thought the man ate it. Day after day, dinner after dinner, he chowed down on my hard work.

All the while, I sat beside him, eating along, glibly thinking that we sat there, forks raised, of one mind when it came to nutritional values and whole foods.

And then I got sick.

Really, really sick.

So sick that I couldn't eat food, let alone cook it.

My poor husband was on his own, feeding not only himself, but his wife, who could only consume a diet that was made up primarily of simple carbohydrates and flavor-less broths.

Last week, I could only eat crackers, bread, plain rice, and, on a good day, noodles with butter and a touch of salt.

So, my husband ate right along, chowing down on all my sick foods right next to me.

And, at first, I felt bad for subjecting the poor guy to food so void of flavor and nutrients.

What he couldn't give for a spicy piece of pork! I thought.

But, then, I watched him, chowing down on bowls of buttery noodles and, on the days I really couldn't eat anything, frozen pizza.

I watched him run out for take-out the second I thought I could manage something with flavor, not a hesitation in his step.

And I pondered how, when he helped me make up the grocery list for the upcoming week, he suggested we have more of that "sick food, like those noodles and stuff."

Then, it hit me.

My husband likes this.

He actually enjoys starchy foods slathered in butter and salt and enriched with approximately 0.00000001 percent of you daily vitamin needs.

Better yet, you throw in the occasional frozen pizza?

The man is in heaven.

And it only took me two years to figure it out.

Two years of peeling and chopping and steaming and mixing and grinding and compiling and spending ridiculous amounts of money to buy raw, organic, unprocessed food.

Meanwhile, all he wanted was some white toast with butter.

Lucky for him, my tummy troubles are still not 100-percent gone. Which means I'm not 100-percent back to the kitchen yet.

At this rate, the man's probably got another week's worth of carbo-loading before I can work up the energy to put a stop to it.

Still, if I don't make it out of this alive, promise me one thing:

Someone, somewhere, will make my husband eat a vegetable once in a while.

If left to his own devices, I'm fairly certain he can't be trusted.

At least not around plain pasta, anyways.

***

Happy Monday, everyone!

I'm lovin' it

I'm having one of those weeks.

One of those weeks where I'm guaranteed to lose five pounds because I don't have enough time to eat, and I've constantly got the adrenaline pumping. At times, I'm literally running from task to task.

My baby journalism students (ninth and 10th graders) are putting together their very first edition of the school paper.

For me, this is the equivalent of corralling 28 baby bulls in a china shop, and not just keeping them from destroying everything in sight, but also coaching them through hand-painting an entire Wedgewood set of wedding china, without grabbing the brush and teacups from their hands (hooves?) and exclaiming, "Here! Just let me do it myself!"

Still, despite all that, I've made it a goal to keep up the normal blogging regimen. Something has to keep me sane. But I'm going to have to keep this week's posts easy, short and sweet, if for no other reason than out of necessity.

So, I'm so grateful to Gina, at Namaste by Day, who tagged me to play along with this little game a while back.

I have to use Google Images to explain my answers for each category listed below.

This is going to be fun...

1. Your favorite beverage:
Oh, how I love a steamy, foam-topped cappuccino. It's relaxing to drink, with an energizing after effect. I am most definitely a girl who needs her coffee, with extra caffeine, thank you very much. I love it a little too much, probably.

But there's something about a piping hot cappuccino, coupled with a good book or a good friend.

Heaven on Earth.

2. Your hometown:
I share a hometown with the Happiest Place on Earth.

I was born and raised in Orlando, Fla., the city known for Disney World, the always-terrifying Interstate 4, and over-crowding.

Apparently, it's also one of the 10 most violent cities in America and is becoming one of the best places to buy and sell heroin. (Can you tell I'm not a big fan?)

Seriously, if it wasn't for my close friends and family who still live there, I wouldn't go back. They are Orlando's only bright spot for me.

Well, them and IKEA.

3. Your favorite television show:
Oh, LOST, how I love thee? Let me count the ways!

My husband and I sit on the edge of our couch every Wednesday night, dinner plates on our laps, mouths gaping at the show that leaves us shocked and awed and wondering what will happen next.

We love it. And I cannot wait till January-February 2010, when it returns.

4. Your occupation:
I'm a high school language arts/journalism teacher (which is not a well-stocked area for Google Images, by the way.)

Technically, I teach English, but I also have certifications in journalism, photography, and art. (Ha! Which says nothing! I'm useless without a computer. Colored pencils are beyond me. Seriously.)

My background was not in education, at least not at first. I fell into teaching after falling in love with it while teaching a communications course for college freshmen and sophomores, as I worked on my master's degree in journalism and health communication. (My bachelor's degrees don't reflect my current job, either. I ended up with a B.S. in journalism and a B.A. in history. And had no intention of teaching at that point.)

Four years later, I now work with ninth through 12th graders in a variety of language and creative arts classes.
I also work as a trainer/fitness instructor in the evenings and on the weekends. I have worked in fitness and recreation now for almost seven years, and I can safely say that this field has graduated from being a hobby I did to make a little spare cash to a true passion. One day, I'd love to own my own women's wellness center, where I could take care of the fitness component of the program. One distant day...

5. Your first car:
A 1988, gray-blue Plymouth Sundance, which I named Molly. (Don't ask.) It was donated to me by my wonderful grandmother.

She (the car, not my grandmother) was on her last legs when I got her, and she(again, the car, not my grandmother) died the last week of my senior year of high school. But I remember her fondly.

She definitely put in her time, dragging my friends and me to and from water polo games, stalling out over deep rain puddles, and one time, hitting a chain-link fence as I was exiting a Saturday morning swim practice.

RIP, Molly.

6. Your favorite dish:
Eggplant parmesan.

Seriously, my grandmother, a full-blooded, tiny Italian woman (and the same person who gave me the Sundance,) makes the best eggplant parm on this Earth.

But, because I'm nothing if not a devoted granddaughter, I still insist on testing out every other Italian restaurant's version of this famous dish, just to see if she's still got it.

And people, I'm here to tell you: She's still got it. In spades.

7. Celebrity you've been told you resemble:
I really don't see this. And I wish I did, because hello! She's gorgeous!

But I've had a few people tell me I look like Jennifer Garner.

Still, I can't find much of a resemblance.

Her tall, lean build; her straight hair; her big lips?

While I wish I had those features, I'm a realist, and my short, muscular stature; curly hair, and puny pucker are telling another story.

8. Celebrity on your "to do" list:
I have loved Matt Damon since Good Will Hunting. He's just so darn cute.

Even my husband knows of my celebrity crush on Matty. After all, only two years ago, the hubs graced me with a Matt Damon postcard collection for my birthday.

I kid you not.

And you know what? The fact that Matt Damon married a non-celebrity and adopted her child makes me love him even more.

He is the only reason I went to see the Bourne Identity movies.

The. Only. Reason.

9. Your favorite childhood toy:
Books.

I used to take laundry baskets to the library, fill 'em up, and return the books a week later, all read.

I loved to read, even as a small child.

Before I could walk, apparently, my mother would prop me up with a book and turn the pages for me. And even as a baby, I'd stare at the book, mesmerized, for hours.

And you know what? Not much as changed.

I'd read through an entire weekend if I was allowed.

10. Any random photo:

I have a little guilt talking about this, in light of the recent pumpkin shortage some areas of the country are experiencing, but thanks to dumb luck, I haven't had this problem.

Right when it became available, I bought a bulk package of giant-sized cans of pumpkin from Sam's Club, simply because I was so darned excited to cook with it, as I have a deep and undying love for all things pumpkin.

And then I got home and realized I only knew how to make pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice cake. And that even if I made jumbo batches of both, I still had about 5/6ths of my unintentional pumpkin supply left.

So I turned to the blog world, and I was not disappointed.

I made Lauren's pumpkin crisp, Mrs. Southern Bride's pumpkin pie soup, and Shaina's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. (I also improvised a pumpkin milkshake of my very own!)

Which means I only have one word left to say:

YUM!!!!
(Thank you, girls, for sharing your recipes. My over-crowded pantry, and my husband, are thrilled.)

***

I was going to tag some specific bloggers to play along, but I figure, with the fall rush hitting all of us full throttle, some of you all might be a little hard-up for thoughtful blog topics, too.

So, I tag you all. Play along if you want. It's a blast! (And it's a great, easy excuse for a blog post!)

Also, come on back tomorrow. The fabulous Mrs. Potts will be guest posting for Workout Wednesday!

Thanks for reading! Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. Head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have NOT been doing this week.

*Our house office is currently NOT such a mess that, instead of cleaning it, I've simply closed the door to it for the last week. No way. Not me. I'm definitely not that bad of a housekeeper.

* This morning, my husband did NOT turn the T.V. on and find "A Baby Story" for me, saying, "Here, babe, I know you like to watch these baby shows, now that you're home for the summer." I did NOT then lay down a huge helping of guilt by uttering the following: "I just can't watch these anymore. They hurt my heart because I want a baby." My husband did NOT then roll his eyes at me as he was leaving for work. Apparently, he is NOT immune to my pointless, random guilt anymore. Sigh. I now have no idea what I'm going to do to get my way around this place anymore!

* Because I'm NOT all-over the stay-at-home wife gig this summer, I did NOT make elaborate menu plans for every night of this week, which were NOT complete with homemade desserts. I do NOT already know that I'm doomed to fail. I do NOT hear the Crock-pot calling my name, even though I did NOT vow to give the Crock-pot a break once school was out for the summer.

* I did NOT have a student call me on my cell phone yesterday to tell me how her gall bladder surgery went. I was NOT entirely shocked as to how in the heck she got my number, until my stilted, awkward conversation must have tipped her off (and you know it had to be bad to tip a 14 year old off,) because she uttered the phrase, "Oh, my mom totally had your digits, Mrs. C. And I told her I had to tell you how the operation went." I was NOT more than a little irritated at the thought of my teenage charges for 10 months of the year being able to track me down for the two months where they weren't my responsibilty. (But before you think I'm competely heartless...I did NOT find it a little sweet that she wanted to tell me about her surgery. I was NOT glad she was doing well:)

*Speaking of students, last week, I did NOT walk into a frozen yogurt joint in sweaty workout clothes and no make-up, only to see another student and her family helping themselves to the creamy, low-fat treat. I did NOT then make a beeline for the bathroom and lock myself in, only to emerge after my dear friend texted me that they "had paid and were currently exiting the premises." Seriously, every time I walk out of the house looking like a gross teenager, I do NOT run into the actual gross teenagers I teach.

*Yesterday, while I was reading a book on the couch, my dog did NOT manage to wedge his head between my knees, putting himself in a virtual headlock. I did NOT then fall asleep like that, only to wake up and find the poor dog staring up at me, plaintively, from between my legs, as if to say, "Please! Let me out of this vice grip!"

*I have NOT spent the last week trying to cajole my husband into doing a guest post. I don't think he's buying it.

*I do NOT know that I have had several requests to tell my my love story, along with details about a place I worked, both of which I alluded to in a previous post. I also do NOT remember that a while back I also mentioned that I know how to make lots of tasty treats with cake mixes. I do NOT promise, over the next few weeks, that I will take care of these. No worries. All of them do NOT take a long time to write, so I'm NOT currently trying to work up the courage and brain power to get it all down on the blog. (You know, because I have such a problem being long-winded. Yeah, right.)

Happy Monday everyone!

I've got pound cake and painted toes...

...and an award and tag.

So we've got a hodge-podge post today, as promised.
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First off, Shannon at Mr. and Mrs. in Training tagged me to participate in what I like to call the Eight Game (I'm not sure what it's actually called, but I've been calling it that when I've seen it on other blogs.) Thanks, Shannon! (Love her blog so much, so make sure you all check it out!) Without further ado...

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. The weekend
2. Having time to read my books and magazines
3. Going to church and breakfast with the hubs on Sunday morning
4. Getting my haircut today!
5. Sleeping
6. Having an afternoon (heck, an anytime!) cup of coffee
7. Planning my friend Autumn's bridal shower
8. Having babies
8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Taught my students how to edit photos for Soundslides (i.e., corralled the masses while making sure they didn't do anything inappropriate or unethical to the school's yearbook photos)
2. Taught a spinning class
3. Ate my first tasty watermelon of the spring
4. Tried the 10-calorie Vitamin Water (not so sure about it, to be honest)
5. Read everyone's Wednesday blogs
6. Called four people who never called me back (which was weird since I'm normally the one that's horrible at returning phone calls!)
7. Took a 15-minute soak in the gym's hot tub after my workout
8. Drank two huge cups of coffee before work then crashed mid-way through teaching sixth period at 2 p.m. and had to drink another cup to survive a 3 p.m. meeting
8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Skip work, take a four-day weekend, and go to the beach
2. Visit the friends/family I never see in Ireland, Missouri, the lower-half of Florida, Maryland, New York, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, California, Texas, heck, everywhere! Why did you all spread out so much?
3. Eat popcorn for lunch
4. Go shoe shopping
5. Lose 5 pounds from eating Funfetti cake
6. Get paid to blog for a living
7. Make my own hummus and pickles (random!)
8. Dance ballet like I could as a kid
8 Shows I Watch (This is hard, as I don't have time for TV a lot):
1. Lost (This is the only show I actually watch on a weekly basis. The rest are hit or miss. If I turn the TV on, and they're on, I won't turn it off. That's my modus operandi with most TV programming, except Lost.)
2. RHNYC (I'm so ashamed, but it's like a car-wreck you can't stop watching! And yet, these women are so disturbing.)
3. Bridezillas (OK, I don't actually watch this, because we don't get the WE Channel here. But when I visit my parents in Orlando, it's always on, and again, I can't NOT watch. I just sit there and go, "I can't believe somebody is willing to marry these women!" And yet, I seem to be willing to watch them...)
4. Friends DVDs
5. CNN (I know. It's not a show, but I love the news, and I take sick joy in making fun of CNN anchors.)
6. 18 Kids and Counting(Again, I know! So crazy! The Duggars have a huge family, but I find them kind of endearing, despite their ginormous fam! And they live near my hubs' hometown, so it's fun to see!)
7. Top Chef (bring on the next season already!)
8. Paula Deen (I also find her endearing.)
8 Bloggers Who I Am Tagging To Do This (if you've already done it, just ignore me:)
1. Krystle
2. Melissa at Elijah's Adventures
3. Gina at Namaste By Day
4. Kristina at Everyday Love
5. Carrin at Carrin's Comments
6. Rachel at In No Simple Language
7. Nat at It's a Charmed Life
8. Jenna at Life, Love and Home Improvement.
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Next up, KLo, over at The Philosophy of Klo, gave me an award.

Thanks, KLo! As a new blog friend, it was so kind of you to share the Lemonade Stand Award with me.

Now, I have to pass this on to 10 people, which is always so darn hard for me, because I want to a) give it all of you because I really do love everyone's blog, b) make sure I don't hassle people by giving them something they already have, or c) keep giving some of you award after award (I just wouldn't want anyone to say, "Brittany, I get it. You love me. You love my blog. Enough with the love already.")

So, I hope I don't offend anyone as I pass this on to...
Annie at Two Up, Two Down
Ruggy13 at Adorably Distracted
Brown-eyed Girl
Emily at Living our own Fairy Tale
Shannon at Mr. and Mrs. in-Training
Christina at My Walk By Faith
Naturally Caffeinated Family
Pamela at Pamela's Pink Pencil
Becca at simply fit
Kristy at The Hall Family
Yours Truly
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Now, moving on to a delicious pound cake recipe I wanted to post for Annie, who's helping out with the Great American Sale to End Childhood Hunger. (Please go visit and help out with a recipe if you can!)

This is my mom's tried-and-true dessert recipe, and I stole it and basically think it's the only reason my in-laws let me into the family. (The hubs' grandmother forgets almost everything, but one of the only things she does remember is that I'm "that girl with the delicious cake." Yes! I'm in!)

Brief warning: It's so delicious because it's kind of horrible for you. I don't recommend eating this as an everyday snack. That's all I'm saying.

So without further ado...
7-Up Pound Cake
3/4 cup 7-Up (Sprite works, but I don't think it does the job quite as well)
3 cups cake flour (don't skimp! Get the cake flour, not the unbleached stuff!)
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 tbs. vanilla or lemon extract (We prefer vanilla, but if you want a citrus-y cake, go for the lemon. I've also done half vanilla, half lemon.)
3 sticks butter
1. Beat together the eggs, melted butter, vanilla or lemon extract, and sugar.
2. Then alternate pouring in a little cake flour then a little 7-Up, mixing the ingredients in between until you have a nice consistency and all of the flour and 7-Up have been added.
3. Grease 2-3 loaf pans (depending on the size.)
4. Bake at 350 degrees for close to an hour, until firm and set.
5. Eat with anything you like. Our fav is whipped cream and berries.
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And last not but not least, my dear friend Melissa requested a photo of my much-debated lavendar toes.

So, Liss, here you go!

Now, I'd like to point out why I shouldn't even get pedicures.

My husband steps on my toes (and by steps, I mean roughly slides up and under my toe nails with his huge man shoes) all the time, thus chipping, cracking and essentially ruining my polish and nails. You think I'm joking. I'm not. He's done this to every pedi I've had since we've been married, including the one I got for our wedding! Day One of the honeymoon? Skid and clop! He ruined my bridal, French pedicure. It's horrible. He's destroyed, I'd say, in total, close to eight pedicures. (Although, to be fair, my constant use of athletic shoes probably doesn't help either!)

Also, my toes are hairy. Apparently, I have no shame.
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If you made it all the way through this, well, God bless you. Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Dead mice, blog re-designs, life change, and an award

Yeah. I know. It's a lot to cover in one blog post. But I feel as if I've been lagging behind this week in the blogosphere. You know life's crazy when you can't blog fast enough about it:)

So, let's start with this morning, when I was awakened by a little squeak and a flurry of Marvin the Dog's paws against the linoleum kitchen floor.

Marvin, the passive, sweet, large lab mix we all love and adore, had finally done it. He'd taken down one of the enemies attacking our house for the last month.

He killed a mouse.

Apparently, a few less-than-friendly mice had chewed a hole in our laundry room and found their way into the attic and into one of the kitchen walls. I have no idea why they picked our house. I swear, my house is not gross enough to welcome mice. The natives around here said the unseasonably cold winter was driving them into homes (we do have quite a bit of woods and trees around our house), but I'm not so sure, because frankly, I think these mice could survive a cold winter. They've managed to survive everything we've thrown at them,anyways.

First, we tried the humane mouse traps (this was my idea, as I didn't want to actually hurt them.) They ate the snacks we left to lure them and evaded the actual traps as if they'd attended a little mice amusement park. A corndog and a thrill ride, if you will, but no one really got hurt on the "death-defying" roller coaster.

Then, they refused to eat mice poison (my husband convinced me that death was more becoming than a mouse-ridden house, and that poison, at least, would be less gruesome.) However, their keen sense of smell must have told them that the delectable treat we'd left would leave a distinctly negative aftertaste.

So then, throwing caution to the wind, we set the non-humane traps (to be honest, I don't know what the difference is between these and the humane traps, but the hubs assured me the end result, if they worked, would be far less pretty.) Well, there wasn't any need to worry, because they didn't work, either.

Mice: 3. The Caseys: 0

Until now.

Marvin, our adopted child, er, I mean, dog, has taken the first steps to settle the score. He killed one this morning.

I found him standing over it and staring at it, as if to say, "Mom, I was only trying to play with him, and he won't play back."

Despite my strong hatred of our new roommates, I freaked out and made the hubs deal with the murder's aftermath, cleaning it up and giving it a proper mouse burial. However, he made sure to loudly pet Marvin and praise him while doing so, saying, "Good boy. You're a good little mouse hunter, Marvy. Good job, killer!" I know this was done intentionally, just so I could hear it.

I guess you can tell it's a boring weekend when a mouse's sad death is the highlight, but things have been a little stressful around here lately.

We're in the final steps of making a big life decision. I don't want to reveal too much yet, but the end result will have us moving (out of Florida!), switching jobs and starting a family probably sooner than we originally intended. We're really excited about it, but needless to say, the next couple months could be very new and very stressful. And because of our lack of free time during normal daylight hours, I'm having to make really late-night phone calls to family and close friends to fill them in on the details, too (so I apologize to anyone I may be waking up in the next two weeks or so.) Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers (and I promise to fill you all in as soon as I can. I'm excited to, actually, because I know some of you bloggers have good knowledge and experience in this area and will be able to offer a lot of insight.)

The other highlight of my weekend was surviving my blog re-design! What do you think? I'm happy with it. There are some things I'd still like to change, but I do like a new look, all in all. It keeps things fresh. Thanks to everyone who left me compliments!

Now, onto an award given to me so graciously by Gina at Namaste By Day and Ruggy13 at Adorably Distracted (love their blogs and these fun women! Check them out!)

I have to admit, this award is a little thrilling for me. I don't think a lot of people would describe me as "sexy." I've been called cute, nice, funny, even pretty, but sexy was always left for that elusive female that I never quite managed to capture with my essence. (This, apparently, is a family curse. My mother has informed me on multiple occasions that she was described as "cute," not sexy.)

So, for this award, I must name five things I find sexy about myself (I'm finding this surprisingly hard, so I'm sorry if the following are rather lame:)
1. My upper body: I'm not, exactly, a classic, womanly figure. I've been told multiple times I could have made a great football player or (gasp!) power lifter. I have very dense muscles, and I build muscle rather easily. While I HATED these attributes as a teenager (I used to say I had man arms, and the fact that I was swimmer didn't help because it had broadened my shoulders), I've grown to like my shoulders and arms. They slimmed down once I quit swimming and playing water polo, and they got more definition when I started lifting weights. So, physically, I like these features. They're the only part of my body I actually bare anymore, really.
2. The contrast of my education and my maternal emotions (sorry, Gina, I'm kind of stealing this from you!): I like that I have a master's degree. I like the knowledge I've gathered through university and self study, but I also like that I've learned that I can be an educated, constantly learning woman and still want to be a great mother and wife. I also feel that being an excellent mother to my future children is just as important as being excellent as a teacher and journalist, and realizing this, and being comfortable in that place, is sexy to me.
3. My ability to teach: I've been teaching and training fitness for more than six years, and I've been a teacher (in college, then high school classrooms) for three years. I started doing this really young, and while it was scary at first, I'm really glad I have the confidence now to be in front of a group of people and maintain my composure.
4.My taste in music: I really like all kinds of music (although, most popular music shocks me these days, simply because I'm a lyrics girl, and the things that these kids are absorbing through song lyrics scares me! Sorry! That's so old lady of me, but seriously!) Personally, I'm a huge fan of folk music, and I sing and hum along with complete abandon whenever I'm listening to it. While my students and husband have been known to roll their eyes at me, I think it's sexy:)
5. My flexibility in the kitchen: I'm not a huge recipe follower. I like recipes, but I never seem to have all the ingredients I need to follow them to a tee (and I'm also never high energy enough to hop in the car and go to the store for something like, "two sage leaves" or "a splash of rasberry vinegar.") So I always improvise, and 9.5 times out of 10, I think I do pretty well. My husband seems to like my dishes, and I have to say, I'm still a learning cook, but I'm getting a lot better. Plus, I've taken to wearing an apron (I know. How domestic of me!), which the hubs says he thinks is pretty cute, er, I mean, sexy. But hey, it's practical, too. It does a darn good job of protecting my overwhelming wardrobe of teacher's clothes. Practical and sexy? My kind of clothing item!

So, I do need to pass this on, but I don't want to leave anyone out with this one! I think reflecting on our sexiness is important as women, especially those of us who are too busy working and taking care of our families to think about being sexy all the time. It's good for us to recognize our strengths (I'm even thinking of doing this as a writing exercise for my high-school girls, except I'll make them use the word "beautiful," not "sexy." No need to encourage anything to do with sex. Teenagers are all too focused on that as it is. It's such an issue I think I might have to post on this, soon, just to see what you all have to say on the topic. But now I'm off on a tangent...) So anyways, self reflect, you beautiful woman, you! I'm giving you all this award and telling you to go for it!

Happy Sunday everyone!

The best thing to enter a microwave since...

Last week, I got an e-mail from my God-sister, Katie. While I was sick, it had been buried under a pile of (much more boring) work-related e-mails, so I didn't hit it until days after she sent it.

But when I finally opened it, I didn't quite believe what I saw...a single-serving chocolate cake you can make in a mug? In the microwave!?!

After my initial shock, it hit me. This could be, literally, the perfect dessert. Just think about it...
1. Who doesn't like anything that can be served in a mug?
2. This is fun for all ages. Little ones would love this; my high-schoolers would be pretty impressed, and my husband would be flabber-gasted (and thrilled!)
3. You can avoid the week-long temptation of having an entire cake sitting around your house after you cave into a chocolate craving and bake one.
4. This is like the ultimate version of hot chocolate. I mean, you could have people over and say, "May offer you a drink? A glass of tea? Some coffee? Perhaps a mug full of chocolate cake?"
5. Think of the clean-up time this would save!

Anyways, I tried it last night, and ladies, it worked like a charm.

Take a peek:



(Note: These are not my photos. These were sent with Katie's e-mail. Our camera's battery is dead, but I can assure you, my little mug of heaven looked pretty much the same...except my counter tops are far grosser than the ones pictured here:)

Here's the recipe Katie sent me for all of you who'd like to try this in your very own microwave!

The most dangerous cake recipe: 5-MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high).
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?

Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

As if we needed another reason to love our microwaves.

Thanks for sending this Katie!

Enjoy everyone, and Happy Tuesday (and St. Patrick's Day!)

The new wife tries cooking (yet again)

So there we were: The Casey Kitchen v. Me. Round 62.

As a few of my friends know, I'm currently struggling with the simple duty of cooking on a nightly basis.

I simply didn't realize that my graduate student former self didn't cook all that much. It wasn't that I was eating out, it was just that it was much easier to forgo dinner for, I don't know, a bowl of popcorn. And if I wanted a more formal meal, I could always warm up a can of soup. And then eat the bowl of popcorn.

Anyways, with marriage came 1) a hungry husband, and 2) a plethora of kitchen tools thanks to gracious friends and family who took our wedding registry all too seriously.

And I have been bound and determined to cook: for me, for friends, for Patrick. I mean, it shouldn't be that hard, right?

Wrong.

You see, I'm just too adventurous. Apparently, I'll eat anything, especially if it's pretty healthy. My husband won't, especially if it's pretty healthy. Nothing tastes that bad to me. I like lots of veggies and brown rice and basic foods. Not so with the hubs.

For example, he orders "chicken-fried steak" when we go out to breakfast. Frankly, the dish kind of freaks me out (it's not chicken or steak! What is it?)

But, I keep trying to meet him in the middle and produce something edible, tasty, and secretly healthy.

And ladies and gentleman, I've done it! Well, kind of. I found a recipe for macaroni and cheese from Shape magazine and modified it.

I, formally, would never eat mac and cheese. But Patrick does, and so, experimentation began. Frankly, none of my results are even worth mentioning, simply because if they weren't all-out disasters, they were just bland and boring.

But last night, I tried this (now, this is my version. I had to modify a couple things because my pantry was not adequately stocked and because all I had was cheddar cheese, not Gruyere, which the recipe called for):

1 head cauliflower
1/2 - 1 cup whole wheat macaroni
1/2 onion
1-2 tbs. butter
2 tbs. flour
2 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. hot sauce
2 cups milk
3/4 cup cheese
Salt and pepper

1. I boiled a large pot of water and blanched the cauliflower (cut into florets) for about 2 minutes. I then fished it out with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
2. I then poured the macaroni into the still-boiling water and let that boil until the pasta was done.
3. Meanwhile, I peeled 1/2 onion and stuck the two whole cloves inside it. I let this sit for 5-10 minutes or so.
4. I then plopped the clove-studded onion, bay leaf and two cups milk in a pot and brought it to a simmer.
5. While the milk simmered, I melted 1-2 tbs. butter and whisked in the two tbs. butter, which I let brown for 2 minutes (I'm going to point to this as the secret step. I've never done this before, and frankly, I think it made all the difference.)
6. I then whisked the milk into the butter and flour mixture, brought that to a simmer, and added one-half of the cheese, the hot sauce, nutmeg and salt and pepper.
7. I placed the cauliflower and pasta in a casserole dish (arranged strategically so that one-half held less cauliflower, per my veggie-reluctant hub's request) and then poured the cheese mixture over it.
8. I topped it off with the rest of the cheese, popped in the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, and then we ate it.

Yum! Patrick ate seconds! Woo-hoo! (Not my photo, btw. The ones I took were, quite frankly, not that pretty.)



And when I evaluated the nutritional ingredients, it wasn't too bad for us. Thanks to the cauliflower, low-fat dairy and whole wheat pasta, the meal was high in fiber and fairly low in fat! The hot sauce-nutmeg combo also gave it some real flavor without using cream, etc.

It was the perfect dish for a cold night!