Let me bore you with some more food pictures

I am 3 weeks into an online class to keep my teaching certificate.  I am up to my ears in reading articles and writing responses.  My brain is kind of fried.  In my mind I have 3 or 4 blog post ideas in which I am really witty and/or inspiring.  I want to write about the shootings in Kokomo last week.  I want to write about what I'm learning in my class.  I want to write about a movie we watched the other night that was fascinating ("The Greatest Movie Ever Sold".  But all of the words are kind of muddled, and I am sick of staring at the computer screen.

So, instead I will share this picture from a few months ago.

Someone likes the markers.

David was trying to give her this very serious speech about how we don't draw on ourselves with marker.  He kept saying, "Do you think this is funny?"  And I am in the hallway whispering, "Yes.  Yes it is funny."

She is my little girl.


In other news, our new food this week is polenta:

I totally chickened out and bought the already made polenta.  This is what it looks like when you take it out of the tube.  All I did was slice it up and fry it in a little oil with some salt and pepper.

After 3 or 4 minutes I flipped them.

And then I put some chicken on top of it.

Overall, it was pretty good.  I wish I had put a little more sauce on the polenta, but it was good.  I have a little more in the fridge, and I'm trying to figure out what to do with it.  Any suggestions from polenta lovers out there?

You've been hit by. . .a smooth(ie) criminal

I'm going to admit first off that this blog post would be much more interesting if I had actual pictures of these smoothies, but I'm going to tell you something:

Taking pictures of food is hard when you have 2 young 'uns right in front of a blender and loads of messy stuff.  I do not recommend.

All of that to say:  we are a little smoothie crazy around here.

It all started out with the beet smoothie.  I was trying to find different ways to use the beet.  I discovered that my kids will drink almost anything if you call it a smoothie and add a bendie straw.

Side note:  EVERY restaurant should have bendie straws.  My kids end up with their drink all over them because they are too short to drink out of the big straw in the little cup.  Okay, back to the smoothies.

For the past 3 weeks or so we have been having smoothies about every other day.  They are a great way to get some fruits and veggies into our diets, and the kids love hitting the buttons on the blender.  I don't really have any recipe to share, but I will tell you what we do.

Get lots of different frozen fruits from the grocery store.

Put a little yogurt in the bottom of the blender (maybe half of a single-serving container)
Add a banana or an orange or some other kind of fresh fruit (today we did a clementine)
Add the frozen fruit
Add any other goodies you want.  Today we added some instant oatmeal.  The other day we added fresh baby spinach.  I've added flax seed and wheat germ before, too.
Blend.  We start on low and gradually add speed.  If the mix is too thick add a little fruit juice.  The beauty is that the frozen fruit makes it almost slushy-esque, so we don't even have to add ice.

And there you have it!
Anybody have any other smoothie ideas out there?

Thursday Thanks

In case you don't read my blog on a regular basis, I started counting the things I am thankful for.  Every Thursday I add some more.  We have so much to be thankful for.  If you haven't read "A Thousand Gifts" by Ann VosKamp, leave this blog immediately and go get it here.

This week I am thankful for . . .

461. one week of my online class under my belt.  7 more to go!  I'd like to blog a little about what we are studying once I get some extra time.

462. the lack of diapers around this house!!!  Yee haw!

463. the season pass to the Children's Museum that my mom bought us for Christmas.  We took advantage of it for the first time this week and had a wonderful time.

464.  good parent-teacher conference with Noel's teacher.

465. good medical news for a dear friend.

466.  Vicks Vapor Rub.  Goodness in a jar.

467. strong, healthy bodies.

468. discovering we can have the Food Network with no additional charges!

469. hearing my kids pray.

470.  NADINE!!!!!  Nadine is about 99% sure to get to come to the states, and we probably get to go see her when she's here!!!

What are you thankful for?

A Parsnip or Two

This week our new food was parsnips.  I had never in my life tried a parsnip, so when I saw them at the grocery store and they looked like white carrots, I grabbed them up.  I also had a recipe book from the library with a recipe for parsnip fries, so I tried it.

I gathered up my ingredients:  parsnips, olive oil, salt, and pepper

I washed and peeled the parsnips

And cut them into sticks

I tossed them with with the oil and salt and pepper and cooked them at 450 degrees for about 35 minutes, flipping them halfway through.

And this is our finished product.

They certainly looked good, but how did they taste?

Actually, kind of bland.  I made a dip of sour cream and chili powder to dip them in, and that was pretty good, but the parsnips kind of tasted like sweet potatoes that weren't sweet (which isn't the same thing as a potato, strangely enough).

The verdict?  I probably won't be making more parsnips any time soon, but if a recipe calls for them, I know what I'm getting myself into.

Stay tuned for more food investigations

Prayer for Nadine

This is Nadine:

She is a young Haitian girl who lives in the village of Peredo.  I had the chance to meet Nadine when I went to Haiti a year and a half ago.  She has had this growth almost her whole life.  In fact, her mother didn't put her in school because she figured she was going to "die anyway".

My friend Ginny has been working incredibly hard to get medical care for Nadine.  After some tests in Port-au-Prince, we found out that Nadine has a series of tumors that can be removed, but it's a pretty serious surgery.

So we prayed.

And God answered that prayer in the form of a doctor (and a hospital) in Columbus who is willing to do the surgery for free.  So Ginny has been working even more incredibly hard to get the paperwork done so Nadine can come to the states to get the medical care she needs.  The longer she has these tumors, the more difficult her health situation becomes.  We almost lost her a few months ago to a bout with cholera.

So we keep praying.

Every night.

Praying.

Noel and Elise talk about Nadine like she's a girl who lives down the street.
"When is Nadine coming to get her surgery?"
"I don't know yet."
"Can we hang out with her?"
"I sure hope so, Noel."

Tomorrow is a crucial meeting with the embassy for Nadine to be cleared to come to the states.  Will you please pray for her today and tomorrow?  Please pray that they will allow her to come.  I believe that God has a plan for every person, including Nadine.  And I believe that part of that plan is allowing so many of us to be a part of her life.

Please join me.
Pray.

Fry it up

My friend Ginny suggested that I put plantains on my list of new foods, so this week is plantain week!

A plantain looks similar to a banana.  You can cook them green, yellow, or with brown spots.

If you're looking for plantains, they are with the bananas in the produce section.

Although they look like a banana, their texture is more like an avocado on the inside, and the peel has to be cut off, not peeled off.  

I looked up a couple of different plantain recipes, but most of them just said to pan fry them in some butter, so that's what I did.

Make sure you have some paper towels/newspaper to drain them on afterwards.

Place plantain slices in the pan and let them cook for 2-3 minutes.  

Flip them and let them cook another 2-3 minutes.  One recipe I read called for squishing them a little with a glass at this point.  I think I will try that with my next plantain, to get them a little thinner.

And this is your finished product.  The plantains got 2 thumbs up here at our house.  When I ate plantains in Haiti, they were served wish fish and this amazing spicy coleslaw.  I wish I had made some of that to go with the plantains, but they were very good.  

Any more suggestions for foods to try here at Wittenbach Test Kitchens?  

Happy Eating!

Here I Go

I am starting an online class tomorrow for 8 weeks.  It's called "Cultural Competence" and the book we are reading is "We Can't Teach What We Don't Know, White Teachers, Multiracial Schools".  I am really interested to see how this class goes.  As I have been working with Bridges, I have learned that there is a big difference between where I taught in Noblesville and working with students at Central Middle School in Kokomo.  I hope to be able to share some of the things I learn on this blog, but please forgive me if I don't get around to it for a while.  I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to sneak 6-8 hours out of every week to complete this class.  But I know it will all get done.

In other not very important news, we took the kids sledding this weekend, and they were so good.  Before this year, this is how sledding has gone for them.

Elise:  never touched a sled until Saturday
Noel:  1st year out--wouldn't get out of the van
           2nd year out--went down, but wouldn't walk back up the hill

So, it was a great surprise to find them both having so much fun going up and down.  Noel loved going down on his belly, and Elise liked riding double with Noel (until they crashed and he knocked her face right into the snow--minor detail).  I want my kids to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible, and we had such a good time as a family sledding.  Of course, we didn't bring a camera, so you'll have to just imagine us all bundled up and hurdling down a hill, but you get the idea.

Happy Monday, and Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.  May we all live with passion and conviction like he did.

Violence in the Bible and other things I'm unsure of

This month I am teaching the high school students at my church on Sunday mornings.  We are working our way through 1 & 2 Samuel, slowly but surely.  But I also just finished "Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne, so the idea of Jesus not wanting violence is at the forefront of my mind.

So when we read in 2 Samuel that David's men were off raiding and plundering another town, I have to ask myself, "Was this really part of God's plan?"  I know that there were times in the Bible when God called for war.  I know there was bloodshed.  But, was ALL of it God-ordained?  I'm not so sure.  And I'm definitely not sure how to explain something I don't understand to the students.  But I think there is something to being honest and upfront with students in your own struggles with studying the Bible, so that's what I'll be sharing on Sunday.

On another church note, our church is getting ready to do a 6-week study on the book of Nehemiah.  They are asking everyone to come to both services so they can meet in small groups to discuss the book and study it further.  (insert sarcastic gasp!)  They have seriously been almost-begging people to make it a priority to come for 2 WHOLE HOURS on a Sunday.  You would think this is the biggest sacrifice we will ever have to make!  This is one of those moments when it's clear to me why I am not in a paid ministry position, because I would not be able to control my mouth.  I'd get up front and say, "I know it's Sunday and we are all over-committed to other stuff, but seriously, get your butt here for 2 hours for this study.  Is it too much to ask for 6 weeks?!  Come on, people! Are we the church or not?  We'll drive our kids all over the county every day for games, band, clubs, etc. but. . .

Deep breath.

Maybe I WILL have to resort to violence afterall.  Ha!

Have a great weekend, everyone!  Do something this weekend to show love to someone else.

I

Thursday Thank You's

I am thankful for. . .

451. a warm, dry house to sleep in.

452. cooking with Noel.

453. shopping with Elise.

454.  sharing good books with good friends.

455. healthy bodies.

456.  prayer.

457.  forgiveness.

458.  downtime with the kids.

459. people who are honest and transparent.

460. getting to travel through this life with David.  There's nobody else I'd rather laugh with, cry with, serve with, fight with, raise children with, and love.

What are you thankful for?

This is what you get when I forget your birthday

I've been crocheting quite a bit this fall/winter, and I was kind of tired of hats and dishrags, so I found a pattern to make a little monster stuffed animal.  I made it for my niece, whose birthday always gets looked over because it's the 26th of December.  Before I added the face and arms it looked like a giant tooth.  Maybe I could sell them at the dentist's office.  Anyway, now my kids want ones, so I'm onto an orange monster for Noel (with no flower, of course!)

Also, just in case I totally fall off the blog wagon for a few weeks, I am getting ready to take an online class.  I'm actually very excited about it, and I hope to write about it once we get started, but we'll see how much extra time I have.

What kinds of creations are you making these days?

I'm always late to the party

So, if you see me this week and I am climbing a tree or trying to camouflage my backpack, just know that I have finally started reading The Hunger Games.

And I can't put it down.

I think part of it is that those darn Harry Potter books, although I love them, were so stinkin' long that a 300 page book seems like a pamphlet now.  The story goes so quickly.  I am usually not a science fiction reader, but this book really makes some statements about the American culture, and it's fascinating to me.  If you haven't read this book, give it a try.  And if you have, I'd love to hear what you thought about it.

Sorry this post is so short, I have a hive of tracker jackers behind me and I have to run.

Just Beet It

Is that the worst pun ever?  Probably.

Anyway, this week's new food is the beet.

I have eaten beets before, I've just never cooked them myself.  I actually have pretty fond memories of eating pickled beets when I was growing up.  I can't believe I like them when I was a little kid--it seems like an old person food to me--but I did.

I started looking at different ways to cook/eat beets.  Most recipes called for roasting the beets before you do anything else, so that's the first thing I did.  I just cut the stems off, washed them, wrapped them in foil, and baked them at 400 for 45 minutes.  Once they cooled, they were super easy to peel.  (I DO recommend using a paper towel to peel them, because beets stain something awful!

This is what they look like after roasting and peeling.

So, then the big question was what to do with these beets?  David told me that he really doesn't like beets (he didn't have the fond childhood memories I did), so I tried to come up with something else.  And, thanks to Pinterest, we made beet smoothies.

Yes, you read that correctly, beet smoothies.

We put a couple of beets in the blender with ice and frozen fruit (mangoes and raspberries were what we had in the freezer), and pureed the heck out of it.

Now, for the record, the kids didn't have too much beet in their smoothie.  I didn't know what it was going to taste like, and I didn't want to turn them off to smoothies, so they just had a little bit of beet in theirs.

So, the verdict?  Not bad.  Not great, but not bad.  I think if I had added a little bit of sweetener, it would have been pretty good.  However, the good news is that smoothie made me feel great all morning.  I didn't even have a cup of coffee, I felt full and had lots of energy.  So, I think I'll be making some more beet smoothies in the future.  But I probably won't have anyone in this house begging me to share.

Any suggestions for the next new food?

Just go ahead and slap that "hypocrite" sticker right on my forehead

Okay, so we go to Meijer a lot.  Like, every few days a lot.  And for the past few  years, we have developed a friendship with Donna, one of the greeters at Meijer.  Both kids love her.  We know the days she doesn't work, her grandkids, her vacations.  And I like to pride myself that we have become a kind of witness to her, sharing about Haiti, church, our Christmas traditions, etc.

And then today it all went down the drain.

Not with Donna.  No, she's still our pal.

Another cashier.

She is in there every time we are in there as well.  She's not as friendly as Donna.  Not as easy to talk to.  In fact, I'll just say she's kind of odd.  And the whole time we were doing the self check-out today, she is over at our aisle, just waiting.  I couldn't figure it out, and then as I start making small talk with her, I realize that all this time she wanted us to befriend her the way we have befriended Donna.  She is lonely.  She needs Jesus.  And I should be showing her God's love.  But all of this time we've been having fun and laughing with Donna we could have been showing her just as much love and attention.  I don't even know her name.

I feel sick just thinking about how much of a hypocrite I am.

It's soooo easy to love the loveable.  To hang out with people who are like you, who are good at conversation, who aren't awkward.  But Jesus didn't say, "Love those who are easy to love."  He said to go out and find the outcasts, the lonely, those in need, and love them.  And it's not going to be easy.  

But as my friend Ginny always says, "God never promised anything would be easy.  He just promises we never have to do it alone."

Some of you may think this story sounds trivial, but I'm a stay-at-home mom.  I don't have co-workers anymore.  No students.  Not even a boss.  So the people I talk to at the store, at the gas station, across the street, those are the people God has put in my path to show His love.  And today I was reminded of that in a big way.

May we never lose sight of His love and those who need it.

Thursday Thank You's

This week I am thankful for. . .

441. getting to sleep in my own bed!

442. our portable DVD player.  Makes long car rides much more enjoyable.

443. my nieces and nephews.

444. coats, hats, gloves, and shoes for my children.

445. a good book.  Just finishing up Jesus for President by Shane Claiborne, and although I don't agree with every single thing he writes, I think it's a book everyone should read.

446. sunshine.  For me, it doesn't matter what the temperature is, it's all about the sun.

447. hearing Elise talk about Jesus.  (Sidenote:  Sometimes she adds her own little flair to Bible stories.  The other day she told Noel, "And the next day, Jesus got up and made homemade sausages."  What?  Just roll with it.)

448. helping Noel ski down a hill for the first time.

449. time off for David.  He works so hard, and he was in definite need of a break!

450.  second chances.

What are you thankful for?

Cleaning House: What works for me

Two cleaning/cooking posts back to back?  How domestic of me!

I will be the first to say that my house is not sparkling clean every day.  I have a 5 year-old and a 2 year-old.  We are constantly in "pick up" mode around here.  But I have found one way to reduce the amount of time I stress about cleaning:  a cleaning schedule.

When I first left work to stay home with Noel, I felt like all I did was clean.  I wanted to go to bed every night with a clean house, and so I was disappointed every night when the house didn't get clean.  I would say in my mind, "This is my job now.  Why can't I get it right?"  And then David (and others) reminded me that my job is not to clean the house.  My job right now is to raise my children as best as I can.  Does that mean the house can be a pigsty?  Absolutely not.  But it isn't my first priority.

And so I created my cleaning schedule.  Here's what works for me:

Monday:  clean one bathroom and one bedroom
Tuesday:  clean one bathroom and one bedroom
Wednesday:  clean one bedroom and dining room
Thursday:  clean kitchen
Friday:  clean living room

Every day:  one load of laundry, dishes, pick up
Every 2 weeks:  mop hallway and foyer,

I don't ALWAYS stick to this schedule.  Sometimes I mix it up, sometimes I get behind, heck, sometimes I skip the mopping all together.  But it keeps me from getting overwhelmed and from spending all day stressing about the need to keep the house clean.

I'm linking this up to one of my favorite blogs:  We Are That Family.  Check out more "What Works for Me" ideas over there.

It's all chard to me!

Okay, so I haven't really done a good job with New Year's resolutions for several years.  In fact, a few years back, we decided to scrap the idea and come up with New Year's predictions.  We still do that, but I have decided to actually make a resolution:

Every week I resolve to cook with a food I've never cooked with before.

Are you as excited as I am?

So, to start things off, tonight I cooked my first new food:  Swiss Chard.

Swiss chard is a dark leafy vegetable, and the flavor kind of reminds me of spinach, but not quite as strong.  I looked up a bunch of recipes on Pinterest, but opted instead for a recipe from a Cook's Country book I found at the library.  It's just simple sauteed chard.

First, you wash and cut it all up.  Take the stems off, chop them up, and put them in a separate bowl.  They take a little longer to cook.  I actually bought Rainbow Swiss Chard, and the stems were hot pink and bright yellow.  Very pretty!

Next, cook up a little garlic, one minced onion, and the stems of the chard for about 5 minutes in a little oil.  I cooked the garlic a little first before adding the rest to make sure it got cooked through.

Then you throw in the chard leaves and cook until it's wilted, about 5 minutes more.  Then, after you take it off the heat, add a little bit of lemon juice and salt and pepper.

Finished product!

And the verdict?  Not bad.  I know chard is really good for you, and it tastes better thank spinach (according to David).  Now that I know what it tastes like, I can see using it in a quiche or something with eggs.

Next week's new food?   To be determined at my next Meijer visit.

Happy cooking!