Monday: Mmmmm, I think we may have just eaten a loaf of homemade bread
Tuesday: Zuppa, Caesar Salad, Edamame Beans and Popovers
Wednesday: Samosa Wraps
Thursday: Pancakes, Eggs and Fruit
Friday: Pizza and a Jammie Party
Saturday: A Birthday Party
Sunday: Veggie Lasagna, Greek Salad, Bread and Apple Rhubarb Crisp with Ice Cream
Mmmmm, I think we may have just easten a loaf of homemade bread
So the girls had two really late nights in a row for them, both followed by very early mornings. So today we spent the day laying low and trying our best to avoid any major meltdowns. We watched a little T.V., played some board games, read lots of books and put together a puzzle. The girls told us all about the sleepover and my cousin and her husband's status has been elevated to rock star. We ate all our meals at weird times, having lunch around two making dinner more of a large snack spread out over a couple of hours than an actual meal. There was some protein and a little fruit, but mostly the loaf of bread I had made disappeared. The girls had baths and were tucked into their own beds, asleep by 6:30.
Zuppa, Caesar Salad, Edamame Beans and Popovers
I try and get the girls to sort out their clothes when they take them off and put the clean stuff in their drawers and the dirty ones in the laundry hamper. I often find dirty clothes in the drawer and clean ones in the hamper, but at least they're not on the floor. Today I asked Harper if her shirt was clean or dirty, she looked at it, it was covered in drips of soup, and said, "Ahhh, it's cwean." I said, "Really, clean?" She looked me straight in the eye and said, "Ye-es, it doesn't have boogers on it, so it's cwean!" It's good to know the girl has standards!
Recipe
This recipe is from the Best of Bridge Series: That's Trump. It's actually suppose to be made by cooking the onions and celery with 6 slices of bacon, but obviously I omitted the bacon. My parents have been making this soup for a very long time now and it's really simply and very yummy.
A glugg of olive oil
2 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp each marjoram, thyme
1/2 tsp each oregano, rosemary
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
5 cups veggie stock (the recipe calls for chicken)
28 oz can tomatoes, chopped
2/3 cup baby shell pasta
14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle
In a large heavy pot, cook onions, celery, garlic, herbs and hot pepper flakes in olive oil until onions are softened. Stir in stick and tomatoes. Bring to boil. Add pasta. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes, or until pasta is just tender. Stir in artichokes and season to taste. Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Serves 6.
We also had caesar salad, I was out of bread and so cut up a thin bagel and two tortillas into squared and toasted them in a pan over medium heat with a little olive oil and a sprinkle of onion powder and oregano to make the croutons. The dressing is my mom's, it's one of those that's a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Start with a sprinkling of salt in the bottom of a bowl, crush a large clove of garlic into it and then mash with a fork until turns into a paste (I can always remember asking my mom, "like this?" she'd always respond, "no, it needs more" so keep that in mind). Once the garlic is paste like, add about a 1/4 cup of mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip or any of those other "sweet" ones) and about the same amount of olive oil and mix together. Then add a small dollop of Dijon, and a splash of lemon juice, mix and taste, you can also add a splash of red wine vinegar if you are so inclined. Toss some romaine lettuce, grated Parmesan and croutons together with the dressing and serve. |
We also had popovers found here. |
I went and registered Harper for preschool tonight. I sat in a room with a lot of the same moms that I sat with three years ago when I registered Hannah, which is so nice to know some of the families and little ones that will be in her class. It was an entirely different experience. When I registered Hannah I think my heart was beating so fast as I asked the teacher all kinds of questions about how she disciplines or what the children play with, will there be musical instruments? Will they get to run around at all (like I was concerned that she wouldn't get to exercise for the two hours twice a week she was going to be there) I may have been slightly (very, very) crazy! This time, I looked at the sheet a little disappointed that the third day option was only offered at the 4 year old level. It is bittersweet though, the thought of my 'lil one starting preschool makes me a little sad. But, I feel like the first time I drop her off, I may actually skip back to the car...
Recipe
We had samosa wraps found here.
Pancakes, Eggs and Fruit
I hate potty training. I really, really do. I have very little patience and I feel I need to spend them very wisely, going back and forth daily with potty training isn't really where I want to spend them. Having said that, I really want Harper to use the potty. When Hannah learned, I pretty much waited until she was more than ready, took her diaper off and put a pair of underwear on her and away she went. Of course there were a couple bumps in the road...but, none of them were messy. Harper has been hopping on and off the potty training train, changing her mind daily and I don't want to discourage her or somehow damage her for further success, yet secretly half the time I just want to say, "Just go in your pull up." I don't, but I often want to - like today at the Y.
This is one of the reasons I hate this stage so much, I hate public bathrooms (who doesn't?). I hate crouching in front of a two year old who is perched on the potty trying to touch every surface in sight while my knees are aching, I'm sweating watching her bring her hand back to her face and mouth while I try and stay calm as the panic rises up as I think of all the germs and I say, "don't touch your face, keep your hands away from your mouth, do you think you're done peeing?" This was the scene at the Y today. We were in there for 15 minutes (no pee), finally she decided she was done and we were able to wash up and leave the bathroom, walk out to get a glimpse of Hannah in her swimming lesson before Harper announced that she needed to pee. Three times we were haled up in that stall (she did pee once), about a half hour in time. Once we got Hannah dressed and were on our way out, all I was thinking was, "can I keep Harper distracted enough while we're at Superstore so we don't have to use that bathroom?" Because, I HATE the bathroom at Superstore and feel like I just ended a year and a half stint of having to visit it with Hannah every trip, sometimes twice. Just as I was thinking this and we were turning into the parking lot, Hannah announced that she needed to pee, and so Harper also did. She did pee though, which is good, I guess...no, no it's really good, I am very proud of her, just a little sad that I will now need to visit every public bathroom on every outing for the next two years.
Recipe
My family was very disappointed that we didn't have pancakes on Tuesday for Shrove Tuesday, so I made them tonight with fried eggs and fruit. I never make fried eggs and the girls were in love with them, and also confused as to why I didn't cook fried eggs all the time. The truth is, I don't know how to fry an egg. Really I don't. I've never made one without breaking the yoke. All the same the girls didn't really seem to mind and I had Dave make mine when he got up from his run because he can fry an egg.
1 cup flour, (I use whole wheat)
2 tsp baking
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp butter or oil
1 Egg
1 cup milk
Pizza
Harper has an imaginary friend, her name is My Friend. I've noticed her talking to someone over the past few months and have come to realize that My Friend is actually the name of one particular friend, who seems to follow some sort of personality pattern of likes and dislikes. Sometimes, My Friend actually pops up and surprises Harper, you'll hear her exclaim, "Oh, My Friend! I didn't see you there!" She also does the classic, "No, no your sitting on My Friend!" which I kind of love.
Hannah had jammie day at school today, so Harper had to have jammie day at home too. Which seemed like a great idea, so when Dave got home he and I put our jammies on, we made pizza and watched Happy Feet picnic style in the family room (My Friend had put her jammies on earlier so we were all good to go...but, I did accidentally sit on her - I didn't see her, honest).
Recipe
I would like to start topping out pizzas with different things to add a little variety to our lives, but we all just like the regular (mushrooms, onions, olives, cheese) so much it's hard to stray.
A Birthday Party
I fell down the stairs at the birthday party. Which makes it sound like a real rock'n party or like I'm a very inappropriate party guest. In reality it was a lovely party, but I'm just a klutz. I've never fallen down the stairs like that before (to clarify I've fallen down many stairs, I really am a klutz, but never in this manner). I had a glass of wine in one hand (it was my first and I don't even think I'd had a sip yet, and of course it was red), and my foot slipped on the carpet and I actually tumbled or rolled over and over again, thinking I would stop but I didn't until I hit the bottom. I only have a little carpet burn on my arm and elbow to show for it, luckily my clothes and the carpet were dark and the wine seemed to come out of everything. The thing that I found very interesting is that Harper was coming down the stairs with me, somehow she managed to avoid the tumbling disaster of me (thank god), she just followed behind me, pushed past me at the bottom of the stairs (without so much as looking at me) and headed for the toys and chips. Hannah on the other hand, who wasn't there at the time and heard about it later, was horrified. She was so worried, embarrassed and fascinated and has been asking a million questions about if I was hurt, how exactly I fell, who saw, did anyone help me, did anyone laugh etc... So now I know who to call when I get old and take a fall.
The birthday was for my Grandpa Tait, he turned 90. He's not technically my grandpa, as I have described in an earlier post, but he is. I'm not sure when we went from calling him Mr. Tait to Grandpa Tait, I'm sure there was a period in between where we just didn't use his name as one was too formal, and as young children, the word grandpa was clearly defined as your parent's parent which he was not. Soon we came to learn that it's not always the blood relation that defines a person but the the relationship and he became Grandpa Tait. On a 90th birthday that is the theme, the loving relationships that you have built over your life. Is this not the theme everyday? Under all the daily crap that we deal with, good and bad, at the end of the day we all want to be surrounded and to surround loved ones, and today was no exception.
We didn't have dinner, there was a table full of snacks, on which we munched at the party and three cakes.
Veggie Lasagna, Greek Salad, Bread and Apple Rhubarb Crisp with Ice Cream
Hannah went to her first Jets game yesterday with Dave. She loved it. I was a little concerned that she may get a little bored, she often gets to watch the first period with us at home, but has never sat through a whole game. She was not bored. Dave said, she yelled and screamed the entire time. The game went into overtime and then to a shootout for which Hannah was standing on her chair yelling! She has not stopped talking about it all day.
Oh, Sunday dinners how I missed you. Dinner was delicious, there is something so comforting about lasagna and warm apple crisp with ice cream. It is also why I'm sitting on the couch with a very full belly, the second serving of apple crisp was perhaps a bad idea...
I hope the sun shines down on you this week!
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