Month: January 2007

Where Does He Get This Stuff?

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I thought this was really funny. Yesterday I got the boys Happy Meals because I was ill-prepared and out at lunchtime and they both were super hungry. Jake wanted one of the Littlest Pet Shop toys. I never let him play with the toy until after he has finished eating, so there we were at home, and he was really excited to open up the prize. It was this little sheep and he was in love with it! He started having a conversation with the sheep about how it was time to go for a bath so he could get his wool cut to make some yarn. LOL! I guess he really was paying attention at the Sheep & Wool Festival last fall!

Meanwhile, it’s snowing out! We got maybe 1/8th of an inch last night. I admit that it’s very pretty. And Jake is excited to make snow angels later. I’ve also rediscoverd my French Press. It’s been a long time since I drank coffee on a regular basis, but in the last Knitter’s Teaswap, I was gifted a press pot — a nice small one, unlike the huge Bodum I had in college. So I bought some Dunkin Donuts coffee (I prefer it to Starbucks, though I got the Green Mountain Coffee catalog yesterday and, well… I might have to place an order!) and I’ve been enjoying it lately. Go figure — I can’t brew a pot of coffee to save my life (because it’s been so long), but I can make a rocking cup one at a time. Mmm. A lovely winter morning, indeed.

What’s Cooking, Baby?

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It’s that time of the week! Yes, it’s Sandra‘s Slow Cooking Thursday. I love this meme because it’s really gotten me using my Crock-Pot again, plus I’ve tried some new recipes. My recipe for this week is simmering as I type. I’m actually cooking it to have some healthy meals in the freezer. I hate when Drew or I need to take a meal to work, but we’re either too tired or lazy to make it. So I bought some small freezer containers (enough for one portion), and I’ll divide up my stew, freeze it, and have it handy for a quick meal. Just heat and eat! Easy, peasy. So here you go. Enjoy!

Zesty Beef & Bean Stew
1 lb lean beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 can (16 oz.) kidney beans
1 can (16 oz.) black beans
1 can (14.5 oz) tomatoes with chiles (or 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 small can diced chiles)
1 can (2.25 oz) sliced ripe olives, drained (I used a can slightly larger)
1.5 cups frozen corn
1 cup hot water
1 cup chopped onion
2 celery stalks, chopped
** 1 small zucchini, chopped
** 1 small yellow squash, chopped
1-2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 beef bouillon cubes, crumbled
1/4 tsp. salt
** I also add Adobo seasoning and Mexican seasoning
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
Shredded cheese, sour cream, scallions (optional)

In a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the first 13 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until beef is tender. Stir in tomato sauce; cover and cook for 30 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, and scallions if desired. Yield: 10 servings
** Now, I’ve adapted this a little from the original recipe which doesn’t call for the squash and zucchini, and adds rice to the stew. If you want to add rice, add 2 Tbsp. uncooked long grain rice. Here is the nutrition information for the original recipe (which includes the rice and does not include the starred items in the ingredient list). So at least you have an idea.

Nutrition: 1 cup (using reduced-sodium bouillion, calculated without cheese and sour cream) = 209 cal; 4 g fat (1 g saturated fat); 28 mg cholesterol; 558 mg sodium; 28 g carbohydrate; 7 g fiber; 17 g protein

Noooo! It’s Really Winter!

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Ugh, I knew it would happen. It is really, really cold out. I’m talking hat-and-gloves cold. Phooey. I was really enjoying the mild winter we’ve been having up to this point, but as I said a couple weeks ago, winter is a long season and there’s plenty of time for the cold and snow. And while we haven’t had much in the way of actual accumulation, there have been some dustings here and there. Luckily, we pretty much escaped the ice storm the other day. Lisanne isn’t that far away from me, but they got hit and lost their power! I did make sure our oil tanks were filled, though. I have this fear of running out of heating oil and not having hot water. For some reason I don’t worry much about heat (I figure worse comes to worse, we all camp out in the living room with the fireplace), but no hot water stresses me out. Weird, huh? Oh well. I’ll deal with the cold as long as there isn’t tons of the white stuff out there. (How long ’til spring? 😉 )

“Banana” Is A Tough Word

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Noah is so freaking funny with some of his words lately. He is obsessed with “dahhhhhgs” and “baaaaaaaall”s. He also said something that sounded like “remote” Sunday night. Typical! So this afternoon he ran into the kitchen and pointed at the fruit bowl and asked for a banana. Kind of. Here, see for yourself. I took the video while he was having his snack. I’ve watched it about 10 times since I took it (both boys wanted to see it over and over) and it still makes me giggle!

Hip Hat Hooray

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A little knitting update for you on this rainy Saturday. Poor Drew. His scarf has taken a back seat to everything, it seems. Luckily he is understanding. Right now I’m working on a hat for Jolene‘s hat drive. I’ve been looking forward to knitting this because I thought it would be a great chance to take a simple hat and jazz it up with some embroidery or knit flowers — something I’ve been wanting to try for a while. Also, as I was knitting last night it made me realize how lucky I am to have two healthy little boys, and that both my husband and I are healthy. Cancer is so scary, and the patients and their families have to be so strong. I think that I can see myself continuing to knit and donate chemo caps, as just a small way of providing comfort to people who need it. Plus, it really is a reality check for me — a reminder to not sweat the small stuff, you know? Life is too short for that. So yes… I’m enjoying knitting my hat and hopefully I will be able to knit up at least one more. I found some really cute patterns; I’d like the chance to use one of them. And if you’re interested in knitting or crocheting a hat or two, the information is on her blog. Each and every hat will be appreciated!

Argh

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Why? Why can’t things just go swimmingly with this house sale? I’ve actually simmered down a lot about this since my discovery earlier this morning, but I’m still ticked off. I decided to do a quick Realtor*com search to see what other properties are for sale in our town, to compare. I noticed that there were two listings for our house, which I knew, but for some reason this time I noticed two different prices — the price we listed it at in June, and then the (reduced) price we listed it at in October when we renewed our contract. I left a message with our realtor to let her know.

Then, I looked at the MLS sheets I have (for the rare occasion when someone comes to look), and though they were printed out in December, the price is still the old price. So then I looked at a few different sites: Homeseekers*com, a couple local brokerages that have MLS searches, and guess what? Every time our house is listed at the old price. It is a $5,000 difference! I called her back and let her know this. This time I spoke with her and she was like, “Oh, those sites aren’t updated regularly.” I said I’d feel much better if she would check for me. She had another client on hold so she said she would and she’d call me back.

After thinking about it a bit, in the big picture it’s probably not a huge deal because around here, November/December are very slow months, and obviously we’re going to decrease the price now, if it wasn’t changed, so it might be good timing since the “spring” market is said to start in February. But that doesn’t excuse it. She was the one who pressed us to lower the price, so I just assumed she’d be diligent about making the changes in MLS (because obviously that’s something I can’t do!). I really don’t want to micromanage every single aspect surrounding our lives.

Movies and Knitting and Stuff, Oh My

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So not too much has been going on around here this week. I’m knitting the most ridiculous things: tiny scarves and hats for wine bottles for a window display. Totally goofy, yet cute and funny at the same time. When they’re done and the window has been decorated, I’ll have to take a picture.

Had a false-alarm this week with a house showing. That was really annoying. Our realtor left a message on Monday that there was going to be a showing Tuesday morning between 11 and 12. Now, that’s a rough time for me to be out with the kids because 1) it’s lunch time and 2) Noah takes a nap right after lunch so he’s also tired around that time. Nevertheless, we busted our butts to make sure the house was clean and, really, it sparkled. It looked so pretty! So you can just imagine how disappointed I was when I returned from grocery shopping with one hungry child and one sleeping child and heard a message from our realtor that the showing never happened. The buyer decided it was too far. Um, hello? This is something that she could have figured out before making the appointment. Has she not heard of the many mapping sites online? So that was very disappointing. But now our house is nice for us. I guess. I’m sure you are all tired of hearing me say this but I am so frustrated. I never in a million years would have thought selling a house would be this hard.

Anyway, last night Drew and I watched “X-Men: The Last Stand.” It was entertaining, but at the same time a little disappointing. I felt there were some holes that could have been patched. And what happened to Nightcrawler? He is completely absent from the movie, without explanation! Good effects in the movie, but the dialogue was eh and the color wash in the Golden Gate Bridge scene was totally weird. I don’t know if there was a reason for it, or if it was a processing error. All in all, it was a let down. But Hugh Jackman was still hot, so that’s a good thing! 🙂

Not much else has been going on. A quiet week over here.

Yummy Recipe Here!

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It’s slow-cooker Thursday, hosted by Sandra! I’m about to heat this up for today’s lunch, actually. I made it yesterday and Noah couldn’t get enough of it for dinner. In fact, Jake had a bowl of this soup in addition to his spaghetti and sausage, so it’s obviously kid-friendly. It’s also possibly the easiest chicken soup I’ve ever made. I had my doubts, I’ll admit. I usually do the whole thing — make my own stock with the chicken carcass and veggies, strain it, chop up fresh veggies, et cetera. I wasn’t sure how this would compare, but it is really good. I found the recipe in a new slow-cooker cookbook I bought over the weekend. I’ll also keep it posted on my cooking blog. Enjoy!

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 lb diced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package (6 oz) of long grain and wild rice mix with seasoning packet
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 tbsp. parsley
black pepper

Combine everything in your Crock Pot. Cook on low all day.

Yarn Raffle for a Good Cause

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grandma1.jpg My friend Holly‘s grandmother passed away in December, and she is raffling off a very special skein of her own handspun yarn in her honor. You may order tickets to benefit Mountain Valley Hospice in Gloversville, NY (they helped Holly’s grandmother and family during her last days). The drawing will be on February 1. You can buy tickets at Miss Hawklet. It’s a good cause and I can personally attest to the amazing quality of Miss Hawklet yarn. I already bought my ticket!

No Snow In Sight, And That’s Alright!

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My SP9 hostess is having one last contest: Post about why you do or don’t like the snow. That’s actually a tough one for me because I have a love/hate relationship with it. Before I had small children I really liked it because it made for cozy days drinking tea, watching movies, reading, scrapbooking (because I didn’t know how to knit back then), and just lazing about. But now, it’s a different story. It’s fun to play in for a while, but then the kids don’t want to come in, which starts a big arguement and that’s no fun. Plus, there’s the hassle of getting everyone dressed, which takes at least 20 minutes. And aside from the kids, living in the middle of nowhere, the snow is a huge pain in the arse because roads don’t get plowed well, the Taconic is a nightmare to drive on in the snow (twice last year we spun off the road and I really can’t believe that not only did we not hit another car or roll the car we were driving, but no one was injured in the least). Our driveway is not paved, so it’s not easy to shovel, and using the snowthrower is tricky because of the gravel — you don’t want rocks chewing up your blade. So all in all, I’m pretty happy with the lack of snow this winter. It’s rainy and that’s fine with me. I really don’t miss the white stuff!