Friday, September 14

Our Favorite Snack

I am not a food photographer or anything close but this snack is too good not to share, so I will give this a try.

Popcorn is absolutely our favorite family snack. Every member of our family loves it, including Jude, and we eat it. A lot.

Right here, right now, I am going to share my super secret family recipe for popcorn with you. And it will no longer be a secret after this post but this is one of the few things my mother taught me to cook. And her dad taught her. So there you have, a family recipe. 

There isn't much to this recipe, really, because popping corn isn't rocket science, but I wanted to share it with you because if you are still making the microwaveable bag stuff, well you just aren't living.

Ingredients:

  • Popping corn
  • Vegetable oil (Vegetable oil or any oil with a high smoke point is so important here. This oil is going to heat way up so use it, its science, yo.)

To start, coat bottom of big stock pot with vegetable oil -1/4 Cup, maybe? Depends on pot size. Sorry, no exact amounts here.

And now here comes the family secret part. Place one or two kernels of corn in the oil. Turn heat up to high and wait for those two little kernels to pop. There is no reason behind this step. Just do. Because my mom said so.
Once the two kernels have popped up, add enough kernels to already popped kernels and oil to, once again, cover the bottom of the pot. 
Then, put the lid on and listen to the pop and inhale the delicious smell. So good.

Once the popping slows down, turn the heat off. Leave on burner a few more second until popping is to a minimum and then pour into large bowl.
Now the fun part, the toppings. The possibilities are endless. We drizzle ours with a little extra virgin olive oil, add some salt and enjoy. Best served with good movie and hungry kids, or course.
I have to send a snack for Nyah's class later this month and you better believe I will be popping up a big batch of this for those little sweeties. Cheap, tasty, healthy, and easy.

Hope you give it a try.


Side note:
(Yes, I love popcorn so much that I have I have to include a side note.)

I once had the best popcorn bowl ever, given to me by my old college roommate/cousin/bff Jami, but we lost it in our move to LA and I am sick about it, still. 

We gave my bother and sis in law a wooden bowl for a wedding gift and they turned it into their popcorn bowl! Definitely one of my prouder moments in life.

Ok, I'm done. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday, September 12

Oh My Heart

His post kiss face, so proud of his efforts.
See me, heart melted, a I heap on the ground waiting for my turn, and I am done. Forced to resign to a day of play and hugs and cuddling and fun. Laundry siting in the laundry room waiting to be folded. The same pile that took me two days to get from washer to dryer to basket. Two days! A dishwasher waiting to be emptied, toys begging to be picked up and all I do is nothing. 

My motivation for domestic goddess status living in the dumps. My motivation to just be with the kids to go and do what the day brings winning on the days George has class, winning without a doubt. My pride coming from successfully transporting, dressing, cooking, feeding, bathing, all three without tears or tantrums or injuries. And I even exercised! 
And then the end of the day comes, kids to bed, and I could accomplish so much but I don't. I relax instead and read or indulge in reality T.V. 

By the time George returns home around 10:00pm and walks through the door he walked out of around 6:30am, the guilt starts set in and I am convinced that I totally suck. How could I have accomplished so little today when he just worked so hard? 

I took the sweetest nap, with Elsa, while he was stressing a midterm during the business of a work day, how could I? I feel like I am cheating on him with laziness and it feels horrible. I mean, he just had to move one of the kids books out of the way to sit by me on the couch. The horror.

But he is the absolute best ever and always brings me back. Reminds me that the kids are the priority and I must enjoy my time with them. Their happiness is all that matters. And then we dissect each others days, his filled with stories of challenges I can't comprehend, his brained zapped from working numbers and I share stories of the kids-what they said, advances they made. And then we give in and go to bed, asleep before we can say goodnight.

So here I sit. A new morning, a fresh cup of coffee, and more lofty goals in my mind. But Jude is headed my way and by the look in his eye I can tell he needs to be held. So we will probably head to the couch and snuggle. 

And then what? Who knows? But what I do know is that I will try to keep the guilt to a minimum, but then again, what kind of mother would I be without a little guilt. I try to rise above and not subject myself to it but unfortunately, I am not immune. 

Maybe I will fold that load of laundry and even put it away, just in time to start another. 

But for now, cheers, here's to you and what ever you work hard doing. Here's to a new day. 

Monday, September 10

First Pair of Shoes

It was time. These feet needed some shoes, because he is on the move and isn't looking back. 
Where will they take him? 
What will he do? 
Where will he go? Who will he become? 
The possibilities are endless.
The world is his.

Friday, September 7

Repeat

Nyah @ 1 1/2
Elsa @ 2 1/2
I love this shirt on our girls, it has to be one of my favs. I know it's just a shirt but this ol' thing lived a long life in Nyah's closet and now has a secure spot in Elsa's, courtesy of Aunt Ali. It's just so nice to see it again.

Long live hand-me-downs.

Wednesday, September 5

Catching Up

Hi. I am a slacker, I know. It's been awhile. What have I been doing you ask? I don't know, I really don't know. But sitting down and editing photos and writing doesn't seem to be fitting into that schedule and truly, I miss it.  

So here I am with a family update. Nothing special, just trying to catch up and then I am going to make a better effort to take time out for me to write our life down because I need to have something for me, right? And this blog is my thing, my creative outlet, something to do for myself. 

So, first thing is first. We survived Isaac. 
And looking back, our 24 hours without power was really wonderful. We had the windows open, the breeze was cool, the kids played and played and played and we ate and played and watched the storm. We were headed out in the morning to try to find some ice for our food when the power came back. Perfect.
George and I caught up on some checkers and cards and he was reminded of just how competitive I am (bad trait, bad). Everyone slept wonderful without power and overall it was just peaceful, minus the deep hum of allllll of the neighbors' generators. We spotted someone across the lake with candles lit but other than that we might be the only generator-less family in the hood. And that is all right with me. 

Our clean up crew and Elsa in her favorite jersey (??).
Jude is a new boy now that he can walk. No more babies over here and oh, it feels so nice. His new favorite hang outs are on Elsa's bed, in one of our empty cabinets (because this house is a hoarders paradise, storage galore over here), on top of anything he can climb on, in the mix of whatever his sisters are doing, or anywhere someone has food. 
This kid will eat anything as long as you are eating it but the moment you set him in his high chair and feed it to him with a spoon or cut it up nicely for him, its over. He might take two to three bits and he's done. So he grazes and thats okay with us. Remember when Elsa did the same?

He now gives the best kisses. He leans in, bottom lip out and gives a full on muah too. Its the best. I live for them. And he has learned to growl. 

Playing outside with him is such a joy now that I don't have to worry about his poor knees on the cement. He is busy in everything and playing, just playing. It is so nice to have my arms free again.
His first walk around the house. 
Other major happenings, Nyah and Elsa are now taking showers. Not a big deal, I know but up until this point all three of them have been taking a bath, together. And yeah, they don't fit, and Nyah is old so in the shower they went and it is so much easier, and quicker, and Elsa especially loves the shower. She giggles the entire time. Why didn't we make the switch sooner?

Nyah still wakes up excited for school every morning, though has started taking her lunch. Beefy taco melt just wasn't her thing and I can't really blame her. 
I finally broke down and emailed her teacher, just to check in on how she is doing. I am so proud of myself for waiting so long. Kindergarten is so impersonal. Nyah gets out of the car in the morning and gets back in the afternoon and what goes on in between is a mystery. From what I can gather, they play and read stories and thats about it. 

And Elsa is still running things. She asked Nyah today when she was not accepting no for an answer, "Who's the boss, Nyah?" 

Yeah, Elsa. Handle it. 

She wills start at the Montessori school Nyah went to in January. She is just so aware, so wise, she would be fine in school now but I am enjoying these long days her. 

"I do myself!" is her favorite phrase lately. And she does do it herself. Cleaning, dressing herself and changing outfits five times a day, cooking, dragging a chair across the house to reach her light switch. Just watch out, she has it under control.
So thats it. Thanks for checking in.


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