Kids- Keep it Simple.

I am looking at all of the toys in my closet that I have to wrap for my 9 month old son's first Christmas! I admit, I went a little overboard... which brings me to the point of this. A very dear family friend is having her first baby soon, and my step-brother had his first last month. Naturally, because I have a 9 month old, people think I have a plethora of knowledge and wisdom on what to do, what not to do, buy, ect. Well, newsflash, I figured it out the hard way. I prioritized what I thought was going to be really important... and bought more INVALUABLE things later. So, since I spend so much time on Pintrest anyway trying to figure out how to entertain my son, I looked there. What a crock of crap! I can NOT believe some of the things new parents are DYING over... that are totally not important to have. I have found, that honestly, no matter what I think my son will like or need, I am wrong. So here is the list of misc. items I find totally over the top, with what I bought/did instead.

1.) Sophie the Giraffe: Whoever invented this little plastic/rubber animal is a genius. Not because it is revolutionary, but they know how to sucker people out of money. When my son was teething I looked at this little thing. It is natural rubber (whatever that means?) and natural paint and whatever. I'm all for green toys and whatnot, but it is a teething toy... a "revolutionary" teething toy that "babies go crazy for". Guess how much this little rubber animal is? $22 for the "standard model". No. Freaking. Way. Nothing is too good for my child, except maybe this. I have a VERY hard time believing this is any better then any other thing to chew on. I had little wooden beaded ring things to chew on as a baby and plastic keys. I bought my son a few $3 teething toys.. and after a few, guess what his favorite thing to chew on ended up being? The TV remote. YUP, an extra TV remote he found in a drawer. Buy whatever you want, but most likely, your kid will chew on you or some other random item they prefer. 

2.) Baby Bottle Keurig, or BabyNes: OK! How freaking lazy do you have to be (even in the middle of the night) to not warm up some breast milk or some water and measure out formula. Dropping like $200 (roughly) into one of these things is just asking for your Mother in Law to criticize you. Not to mention that $200 is roughly 10 cases of Huggies. I never would have bought one of these, my son didnt even LIKE warm milk after I stopped breastfeeding. (see number 3)

3.) Baby Bottle Warmers: Like number 2, why on EARTH would you spend $60 for one of these things? It takes 30 seconds to a minute to warm up some water from the tap (see number 4). Plus, you can check it on your wrist before you even mix your formula. Breastfeed? Run the bottle under hot tap water and check the milk temp. 

4.) Nursery Water: Now I really do love people's reaction to my using tap water for baby formula. It is usually along the lines of "eww chemicals and blah blah blah".. yet they are buying water that comes in plastic bottles, that you cant refill with more nursery water. Not only do these come with a large price tag (about $1.25 a gallon, it adds up fast once you child is drinking 6 oz at a time), but pediatricians actually advise AGAINST using it. Tap water has natural vitamins and minerals that get taken out of nursery water, fluoride, and the plastic bottles could have BPA in them.

5.) Dr. Brown's Baby Bottles: Probably the biggest waste of money I have seen. The have rave reviews and are highly recommended by parenting magazines, but guess what? Not only are they expensive, they are misleading and impractical. Here is why: 1. They have a GAZILLION parts, any mom on the go will easily lose a piece and not be able to feed a baby in the middle of a crowded mall. 2. Not all babies have colic- this is IMPORTANT. They are acclaimed as reducing colic significantly, but not all bottles are created equal or even "better" to treat colic. Some babies do GREAT with less expensive, more simple bottles after parents have dropped hundreds on more complicated ones. Another issue about colic- it is not always simply colic that can be fixed by using expensive bottles. Milk sensitivities are a big factor also if you are formula feeding, and there are MANY formula options: soy, alimentum, sensitive, advance, pro.. the list goes on and varies by brand. 3.) part of having a million parts to these bottles, is cleaning them all. I'd rather spend that time with my child (who has no history of colic). 

Take note of the 5 million parts.

6.) The Baby Bullet: Super popular at showers! It IS a great idea, but it isn't a "must have" item. If you have never heard of The Baby Bullet, it is used to make home made baby food. Here is the issue I have with it- it is not that helpful in the long run. It is pretty much a food processor that comes with Tupperware. You still have to cook the food, dump it in, blend it, and put it in the little containers. At about $65 retail, if you already have a blender or a food processor, then pick up some little Rubbermaid containers for about $2 for 2. 

7.) Sleep Sacks: Basically, another super expensive baby item used for cutting corners. Two things to consider here- 1. Not all babies like being swaddled, after the first week of life, my son hated it. So did my sister's son, and my brother's daughter and so on. 2. You are spending $22 on 2 sleep sacks. A package of receiving blankets is $10 for 5, and can be used for LOTS of other things- my sister STILL HAS some of hers, and her son is 5. Learn to swaddle in the hospital, they will teach you, and thank me later. 

8.) Water temperature Rubber Ducks: I am 100% guilty of this. It was so cute, and seemed so practical I HAD to have it. Here is the problem, it was expensive (for a rubber duck) and does not even do it's job, but made me paranoid. These are the little rubber ducks that say HOT on the bottom. When the water is "too hot" the writing turns white. After 3 baths of my son shivering (because even though the water felt too cool to me the duck said HOT) I put it away until he was old enough to actually play with it. 

Now, what IS invaluable? Here is a quick rundown:

1.) Onesies: You can never have too many. Regular, plain, printed, colored onesies. They get poopy, pukey, and stained, and will be changed several times a day. 

2.) All Free and Clear: Babies have sensitive skin, Dreft is expensive, and you are going to be doing a LOT of laundry. 

3.) A GOOD thermometer that you can use well into older years: Splurge here. Buy a good one. Not a pacifier or rectal... try using THAT on a 7 year old and tel me how it work out. When in doubt, in ear is best.

4.) INEXPENSIVE teething toys: These will be taken everywhere. They will get dropped, lost, abused, and well chewed on. Don't go TOO cheap though, they need to be safe too. A good price range is $3-$5.

New Holiday Traditions. How to have a stress free Holiday on a budget!

With Thanksgiving behind us after today, MANY people are starting to get nervous. Let's be honest, everyone is broke. With a big huge meal that we just paid for, and only about 30 days until Christmas, what are we to do? We have a big meal, a HUGE decorating obligation for us ladies, and of course, gifts. 

I am convinced that most of the family dysfunction we all know and love during the holidays is caused by stress. We have presents to buy and wrap, dinners to pay for and cook, houses and trees to decorate, and (most likely) kids and husbands who go behind us and make HUGE messes. I have studied, and dug, and organized over and over in my head how to pull off a large Christmas by myself. It's kind of like a dream of mine. To be able to have all of my family in one place and cook everything and have a beautiful spread and an even more beautiful tree. There are a few problems with this though. 1.) We are a military family. Not just a military family, but a Navy family, and I can safely say we move more then ANYBODY. Plus, we ALWAYS will move around Christmas because of when my husband enlisted. 2.) Unless your family rakes in about $300,000 or more a year, nobody can pull this off anymore. Like I said, everyone is broke. It's nothing to be ashamed of, but we need to re-prioritize. So, noticing my dream was not within reach for quite some time, I have pulled together some tips. Some things that my family has changed in our traditions to re-distribute the high cost of a nice holiday, and the immense stress that comes with it. Read, and enjoy.

1.)The "hostess with the most est" is a thing of the past: Holidays will not be perfect. I don't think they ever have been to be honest. I think our parent's just drank their way through the holidays and never said anything to us as kids about how awful the whole process is. Either open up your home and allow guests to make themselves at home with drinks, or arrange a table with drinks and snacks so they can serve themselves and you don't have to run back and forth. This is NOT rude. It actually makes people feel MORE comfortable in your home, and gives you time to socialize and not look crazy and frazzled with your hair falling out of it's perfect bun that you spent and hour on. 

2.)Divide the cooking:  Gasp! Really? Before you cry blasphemy hear me out. Remember when your crazy uncle used to be in charge of bringing pie? This isn't much different. Either potluck (which is a great idea if you have a LARGE gathering), or do half and half with someone close to you (like if your family and your BFF's family join forces). This is IMPORTANT. It divides up the cooking, stress, and cost. Look at it this way, not only do you have less stress and financial burden, so do the people who are also bringing food, and there will be more then enough to go around. Plus, this makes for great conversation starters. You get a variety of food traditions that everyone can share. 

3.)Enlist your children to help:  I would say your husband too, but it's probably best not to, unless they do the meat. Not that men can't cook, but you are more likely to get frazzled if they decide to do something in a way you wouldn't. Kids are easy, and eager to get to help. Assign children age appropriate simple tasks. 5-6 wipe the table, pick up toys and trash, put on napkin rings. 7-8 wash and peel potatoes, set the table. 9-10 vacuum, shake out rugs, dust, set out snacks, ect. 11 and up you can pretty much guide them through most things. Make your kids help. They enjoy it (anyone remember hovering in the kitchen begging to help cook and whatnot?) This also prepares them to one day have their own family and take over your traditions, keeps them occupied and out of trouble, and helps you out. 

4.)Don't start too many projects:  Yes, that home made tree skirt looks fabulous, and you would love to MAKE all of the ornaments on your tree, but don't do too much. If you are a DIY-er, you already know projects don't always come out right. You also know they can be very time consuming and expensive. Sometimes you need to suck it up, and buy those glass bulbs at Walmart for $4 and take a trip to the Dollar Tree's holiday section for single ornaments. Pick a few key DIY projects, take your time, and get them done right. 

5.)Skip Black Friday: Yes, I DID just say skip black Friday. The key to getting inexpensive gifts and stick to your budget is NOT bludgeoning someone with a coffee pot. Make a list of everyone you are buying for, and what they are getting. STICK TO THAT LIST! Buy a newspaper every Sunday, and watch the sales. This is not where store loyalty takes a priority. Look at everyone. As good as the Black Friday deals seem, they aren't. They are based on a few key items that stores know you are going to fight over, possibly not be able to get, and make impulse buys on sale items not even on your list. Check out Cyber Monday too, you are less likely to buy things you don't need when you see the price total in your online shopping cart. Make a plan to divide your shopping list up, and hold out for a sale. 

6.) Re-evaluate gift giving practices: I'm not sure how many times I have said EVERYONE is broke. Well, we are. This is a time to suck it up, be adults, and realize that we don't NEED a gift from everyone (or anyone). Maxing out credit cards and making payment arrangements on bills to buy gifts is plain irresponsible. Change up your gift giving. Have a group chat with the people who are spending the holiday with you, and decide what works best for your group. Try secret Santa. It is a fun (and potentially creative) way to give gifts. Then you can focus on giving that person one good gift, instead of buying everyone you know a pair of pajamas and bargain bin books. Another idea is deciding in the group to be grown ups and (gasp) only buying for the kids and your spouse. 

7.) Christmas trees:  If you are not spending the holiday at your own home, and do not have children over 2, or a tree yet, skip it. If you are just now buying a tree, decide how you want to spend your money in advance. You can pay up front $100-$200 for a good fake tree you can use over and over, or about $30 for a real tree. It depends on your own financial planning, but take both into consideration. If you have small pets and small children, or are forgetful (not making sure the tree has water combined with leaving the lights on is a fire waiting to happen) you may want a fake one.

Overall folks, lets remember what this holiday is about, (enter religious beliefs here), family, love, fun. Laugh at yourself if your turkey comes out dry or burned on top. Laugh at yourself if it looks like a 5 year old wrapped the gifts you wrapped. Drink, chat, dance, have fun. Enjoy your company. Indulge your elders in their war stories. Let your kids make a mess with the wrapping paper. Secretly stick Christmas bows to people. You will look back and remember your company, and the fun you had. Chances are unless you are given diamonds from your husband, or something VERY sentimental, you wont remember the gifts at all in 15 years.

At the heart of election season, here are some facts.

So, this is MY blog. (Notice the red? :) It's for Romney/Ryan). I can be myself here, and if people don't like it they can choose not to read. I recently composed this little blurb on Facebook, but thought it would look SO PRETTY on here where I can highlight and emphasize! :D

I did some fact digging, history checking and such (which is a lot because I am NOT a history buff.. meehhh). I found some interesting things out. Here are the facts:

FUNNY SHIT! I did a little history digging (idk, maybe my sister coming out in me? I like to think she would be proud).

 

The things Democrats Blame republicans for happened under Democratic watch! 

OPEC: Opposed by Nixon, passed by Carter, Oil regulation caused gas prices to soar, and soared some more (Obama rejected the Keystone pipeline that would essentially make us energy independent, and dependent on countries he is pulling out of)

SUB PRIME MORTGAGES (or the mortgage crises): Started in the Clinton Administration- government mandates basically forced banks to give people mortgages that could not afford them, and it was blamed on bush in 2003 when everything went to hell in a hand basket.

Trade with China:This one is a hard-case with democrats. Taking jobs to China is bad when we don't have any at home. This blame is often placed with Nixon (and rightly so) because he originally opened up trade with China, but put legislation in course where all of our allies have the equal opportunity to as well.

       --------> HOWEVER it was under CLINTON that this trade agreement was made permanent and opened up LARGE amounts to trade with China. CLINTON effectively opened up trade in China.

The Things Democrats say republicans are either against, or want to take away have hard roots in Republicans, not Democrats:

Roe V Wade (abortion right): Passed 7-2, 5 of the 7 were appointed by Reagan

Women's sufferage: Passed by a 52% republican senate

On the topic of military and Foreign policy: out of the top 5 best presidents, 2 were republican, 3 democratic- all stressing the importance of military strength and foreign relations (Kennedy, Reagan, Bush (jr), Eisenhower, and Roosevelt who was "a little left of center").  4 of the 5 WORST for foreign policy were DEMOCRATIC! INCLUDING THE WORST- Lyndon B Johnson. (we take responsibility for Nixon)- (Nixon, Truman, Wilson,  Carter, and Lyndon Johnson). 

------>Of course, Obama isn't on the list yet, but I'm sure he will be, he officially snubbed Isreal (our ally), sent back the bust of Winston Churchill to England (our ally) (kind of the equivalent to sending the statue of liberty back to France), and told Russia (our kind of not really ally which is kinda on our "to watch" list) (on CAMERA) that "this is my last election, I will have more freedom after November". 

So let history speak, let freedom ring. I just HOPE that the CHANGE planned doesn't move us FORWARD into a crumbling nation. 

Yes, my sources are cited, so suck it.

*OPEC: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1979_energy_crisis

*Housing Crisis: http://www.sundriesshack.com/2008/09/21/the-roots-of-the-subprime-mortgage-mess-have-clinton-all-over-them/

*Women's sufferage: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/66th_United_States_Congress

*Roe V Wade: http://www.theprogressiveprofessor.com/?tag=warren-burger

*Foreign policy leaders and screwers: http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/07/the-best-and-worst-foreign-policy-presidents-of-the-past-century/242781/4/?single_page=true

*China Trade act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Bill_Clinton

The first three days suck- My struggle to get over work out embarrassment.

I am officially over 6 months out after having a baby. Everyone told me to rest, and enjoy him and I KNEW the day would come where I have pounds to shed. Now don't get me wrong, I gained a LOT less weight during pregnancy then most people. In fact, I was underweight for my height through most of it and was being practically force fed ice cream, cheese, bacon, and eggs most of my 2nd and 3rd trimester. I breastfed for about 2 months, and often either didn't have time or forgot to eat. The weight unfortunately came later. When I had time to relax and breathe, cook, and stopped breastfeeding (due to my son's medical/developmental issue). 

I wont lie, I hate working out. In all honesty though, it's not out of laziness. I am just always finding something that needs to be done in the house. The housework never ends, and it took a LOT of convincing myself that the laundry can wait 40 minutes while I go run. What is worse, is the total embarrassment and awkwardness that comes from stepping into a gym or fitness class when you are TOTALLY out of shape. The pain/soreness, motivation, are to me easier to deal with then the thought of someone else looking at me while I face plant during Pilate's or cant get through the last 5 sit ups, or worse take a break after 10 minutes on the treadmill. So, headphones in hand I got to work at home. After 30 sit ups and 15 minutes of Pilate's some of my muscles (well a LOT of them) are on fire. I'm proud of my self. Then the shame and sadness come later.. only 15 minutes. I spend double that time to watch an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and well, that hurts my ego... a lot. I may be out of shape now, but I hope to be better in a month or so. No matter how insignificant it seems to others, for me it's a start.. a start I am happy with. Not due to the length of time I worked out, but due to the fact that my back, ass, stomach, and legs ache. I can do this, I WILL do this, because I am a woman, not an awkward overweight girl, but a woman. Let us break that down. Fe= Iron Male= man. I am Iron Man bitches, and this is for me. 

It's slow going, especially since some days I'm not sure where to start, but I will do it. 

Bacon Wrapped Egg Cups!

So in a bind to try some "paleo friendly" grab and go recipes for the husband before I go grocery shopping in the next few weeks, I was of course on pintrest. I found some amazing looking recipes for muffin tin pancakes, muffin tin oatmeal cakes, muffin tin egg scrambles, ect. The problem with all of these was of course, that they had some sort of cheese or grain (such as biscuits) for a 'binding' ingredient to keep the shape. So, I went ahead and modified one the egg casserole type muffin tin recipes and hoped for the best.

The result was amazing! These eggs are super yummy and take MAYBE 5 minutes of prep, plus the 20 minutes in the oven! The bacon grease kind of seeps into the egg white and gives it an amazing bacon-y flavor! You don't need to add salt either, the salt from the bacon is more then enough. Plus, it's easy enough for Non- Paleos to toss some cheese on top without having to make a second batch! I found some recipes kind of like this one online, but all of them use for some kind of dry biscuit mix, or are pretty time consuming (I.E. cooking the bacon FIRST). So without further rambling, here is my recipe:

Bacon Wrapped egg cups:
eggs (however many you would like to make)
1 slice of bacon per egg
shredded cheese (optional)

1.) Spray muffin/cupcake tin down with cooking spray, or oil with Olive oil on a paper towel.
2.) Wrap bacon slice in a circle on the inside of muffin tin
3.) crack egg into center of bacon
4.) season with whatever you like (I used pepper and garlic powder)
5.) Sprinkle cheese on top (optional)
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Pop those sucker out of the tin and enjoy! :)

BACON NOTE: For crispier bacon without dirtying an extra pan, place on 2 paper towels on a plate and microwave for 30 seconds before putting in tin
HEALTH NOTE: For less fat, calories, and cholesterol, Replace bacon with turkey bacon and use only the egg whites. 

Enjoy! :)

Baby Bottle Funk- how to get rid of that SMELL

So if you are like me, and have a baby at home you have probably smelled baby bottle funk before. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find any way to make that sour milk smell go away. If your baby is on formula (especially soy) you know how bad that smell can get. Even if you are super vigilant about washing bottles right away, chances are one has disappeared in a diaper bag or under the couch for a little while. Even if it hasn't happened to you, we all know that after a while the plastic bottles just plain STINK. I have tried all sorts of funky stuff, from vinegar (which made the sour milk smell worse) to rice (to absorb the smell I guess?). 

My recent run- in with mildew-y laundry (and how I fixed that stench) got me thinking about how to get the smell out of my bottles. If I can get mildew out of towels with HOT water and baking soda, surely the same applies to not nearly as porous plastic right? So I went ahead and tested my theory out, and it WORKED! They smell brand new! (The nipples still have a VERY faint odor, but you need to replace those every few months anyway). They seriously smell like I took them right out of the box and boiled them. Here is how I did it:

--> Rinse bottles and all components well- DO NOT WASH THEM YET!
--> Boil water on the stove (yes the old fashioned pot method) with 1/4 cup of baking soda and add as many bottles as you can fit while leaving about 1 inch of water from the bottle to the top of the water line. BOIL FOR TEN MINUTES
--> With a long wooden spoon (use the handle) hook bottle opening and CAREFULLY pour out the boiling water back into the pot. (leave water boiling if adding more bottles- you can use same water) Using same spoon handle place bottle in sink standing upright.
--> Add 1 tbs. of baking soda to bottom of each bottle and fill with COLD water. Let soak for 10 minutes
--> Wash bottles with HOT SOAPY water BY HAND with bottle brush and allow to dry.
--> Repeat with any bottles left and nipples (minus the baking soda soak unless you do this in a bowl)

The reason I wash these by hand is to MAKE SURE all of the baking soda residue is cleaned out properly. I've noticed washing bottles in the dishwasher (even with the super expensive cascade complete) that you can sometimes end up with a powder residue. Since they have already been boiled, HOT soapy water does the trick pretty well. I personally use Palmolive Antibacterial and rinse until they make a squeaking sound against my finger, if your finger slides easily you didn't get all of the soap off. 

They smell amazing when they are done :) I would do this maybe once a week on Sunday (or whatever day you have the time to spend upwards of an hour to De-funk all of your bottles. By all means though, you don't want your little rug rat to get the runs from bottles that haven't been washed well enough :)

exercise kick for the lazy/ unmotivated

OK, so i hate exercise. Let's all be honest, it sucks.If you are one of those people who think it feels amazing, your nerves are probably just dead and can no longer send pain signals to your brain. OK, just kidding it's not THAT bad. I really don't mind it too much. The problem is ( and I don't care what anyone says about "everyone has ten minutes blah blah" because I have an ACTIVE 6 month old and a ton of stuff to do all the time) I never have time to make it to the gym. I could exercise at home if my living room hadn't been taken over by a rug rat. I always think to myself that the activity and energy spent just on running around the house, the store, after the baby, and on walks it kills me to think that I have no way to monitor those activities.

Not too long ago I found a nifty little App for my Android called Nexercise thanks to Dr. Oz. This app is AMAZING! Especially if you regularly run and exercise. Not only does it track your progress and activity by the day, week, month, and for all time, but It awards you XP and Medals for activity. Not only that, but it awards you cute little things called M points.M points are sweet! You can save them up and get gift cards for places like Bath and Body Works, Amazon, Home Depot, Regal Cinemas, and Floral companies. You can also donate your points to a number of charities.YOU CAN EVEN ADD YOUR FRIENDS AND NEXERCISE TOGETHER! YOU GET BONUS POINTS WHEN YOU ADD FRIENDS! One of the coolest things I've done is signed up for the Wounded Warrior Project Challenge. You sign up for an amount of push-ups and sit-ups you are willing to do each week to benefit the Wounded Warrior Foundation, and earn points (and bonus points) while doing them. 

Some of the things you earn points doing (there is a HUGE list) are: Walking, running, sit-ups, push-ups, weight lifting, Pilate's, yoga, Wii fit, Zumba, playing with others (this can be anything from chasing after your kids at the park to sex with your s.o.), swimming (I do not recommend using the track activity option on this one), housework, and any sport you can possibly think of. These are of course just samples. The list that they have pretty much opens up any number of activities to get you off your bum and burning off that pumpkin latte from Starbucks. Even exercise haters like myself find motivation and fun activities from this app. I love it, I'm on level 3 after having it about a week. If you have an iPhone, its available at the app store for you too. Android's version sometimes has trouble loading your M points, but you aren't losing them, they will still be there when Nexercise wakes up from it's brain fart. 

Find out more here:http://www.nexercise.com/

Happy Exercising And Add me to you Nexercise friends if you have my Facebook info! :)

Easy weeknight dinners.

Alright, lets face it.. I have a ton of stuff to do today. For one, i have probably like 6 chapters worth of anatomy homework due by midnight tonight. I have LOADS of laundry (remember how much I hate laundry)? Everything needs to be dusted and vacuumed, and I'm not even going to go into the smell coming from my husbands side of the bed (which means baking soda, my upholstery attachment and LOTS of Febreeze before I put on new sheets). 

So what's a girl to do for dinner? I'm obviously not going to roast a whole chicken tonight, and I'd like something that requires very little effort. Well I can across a tasty little casserole when I was pregnant. Well, more like invented it because my need for potatoes, meat and cheese wasn't being fulfilled. Here is the recipe:

Cheesy Potato and Corn Casserole:

1 box of Betty Crocker Au gratin or Scalloped Potatoes

1 lb of lean ground beef

1 1/2 cups of frozen or canned corn (drain if you use canned)

1 cup of shredded cheese.

1.) Pre-heat oven to temp. on box of potatoes. Brown ground beef. 2.) Prepare potatoes in a 9x13 baking dish according to directions on box. Drain grease out of ground beef. 3.) Mix ground beef and corn into potatoes and bake. 4.) take out 5 minutes early, sprinkle cheese on top and continue baking remainder 5 min.

OK, so its pretty simple and oh-so tasty! You could do home made scalloped potatoes if you are stuck up about boxed, but it takes the point away from this being an "easy" casserole. After last nights wildly successful soup (recipe to follow), I hope the husband likes it at least.

Creamy tomato tortellini soup:

(OK, so i kind of just threw some stuff into a pot and tasted as I went, but this is pretty much went into it)

1 can of Italian stewed tomatoes, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of frozen green beans, 1 package of Bertolli cheese tortellini, 2 small cans of Hunts tomato sauce, 1 diced Roma tomato, 1 can of kidney beans-DRAINED, 2 garlic cloves-sliced, salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, oregano, rosemary, PINCH of Cinnamon, fill rest of pot with water

-> toss everything BUT milk, tortellini, and seasoning in pot with water. Heat on medium about 5 minutes, STIR IN milk. Heat to boiling, add spices (for maximum flavor since this is a quick soup). Reduce heat to low (or about a 2) and cook for 30 minutes. Add tortellini and cook another 30 minutes. 

NOTE: so the reason I don't have specific amount of spices on here is because every one's capacity to judge spices is different. I taste as i go and add more as needed. My husband is so immune to spices that I have to over season everything. So add what your palate can handle but don't add more then a pinch of Cinnamon!

So I'm sure I will have another post later, but for now I have a ton of stuff to get done and I still haven't eaten today (sigh). Until next time :)

Crazy weird caveman diet

So two posts in one day is strange for me. I normally don't have so much free time, but I am kind of laid up with a very painful toothache. Anyway, so my husband is starting this new diet after pay day. Its the "caveman" or "paleolithic" diet.

The concept is to eat only what you would be able to find as a hunter gatherer. The 'science' (and i use that term lightly because it just doesn't make sense to me) behind this, is that our bodies haven't evolved to process grains, dairy, and other products of agriculture (like corn) yet. This is why it doesn't make sense to me though: obviously we have evolved enough to learn to grow things like wheat and barley (which i think grow naturally anyway?) so WHY wouldn't we evolve to process the food we grow? Well, the point behind this is not how skeptical I am or how little sense it makes to me, but that I now have to plan shopping and meals accordingly. Ultimately I will most likely be on the same strange diet he is, because well, its easier to only buy bread and pasta on an occasion then it is to make pretty much 2 shopping lists. Regardless of what I think, I have heard of people having HUGE success with these diets. 

Here is a sample:

Drink ONLY water (and occasionally tea), Eat lean meat (fish, poultry, beef, ect.), eggs, fruits and vegetables, and nuts (actual nuts, peanuts are legumes). 

You eat as much of these things as you want for the first few weeks, and make your dinner your biggest meal, as close to bedtime as possible. After that you shoot for 6 smaller meals a day, with dinner still your largest meal. 

So honestly I could probably get MORE lazy with his lunch to a point if i make an extra piece of meat at dinner, and toss it in his lunch. Breakfast for him will be the easiest, just tossing some fruit and nuts in a tupper thingy and calling it a night. (Yes, i pack his breakfast AND lunch, if your husband is in the military you will know that early mornings and long days require a good wife to send more food along, or your poor husband living out of the vending machine or Burger King). I think even if I'm overly busy or not feeling well it would be easy enough to wrap some tuna up in lettuce and putting it in the fridge. 

Do you have any good recipe ideas for this diet (remember: omit dairy and grains), or have a similar experience trying to find recipes for a strange diet? Send them in, we can swap recipes and giggle at weight loss fads together (cus we all know the neglected box of thin mints in the cabinet is calling our name :/ )

Pumpkin!

Brace yourselves, pumpkin flavored EVERYTHING is coming! The good, the bad, the unfortunate results of me trying to bake anything requiring more then 5 steps. 

In all of the chaos of pumpkin madness, some recipes make you go WTF???? I found one yesterday for curried pumpkin soup. CURRIED. PUMPKIN. This sounded really odd... but makes sense I suppose when you look at this map:

So really, I guess i could see it... but if you have ever had curried ANYTHING you would know how STRONG that flavor combination would be. I really want to try the curried pumpkin soup except that my husband wants nothing to do with pumpkin anything. 

Anyway, I'm rambling. The point is I am sure I'm not the only one to find some odd pumpkin recipes. It seems pretty out of hand- and I love pumpkin. SO if you find an odd pumpkin recipe you would like to share, please send it in to my e-mail and I will post it for others to also giggle at. 

One recipe that SEEMS fool-proof (at least for someone totally incompetent at baking) Is 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins. Here is what it is:

1 box of Duncan Hines or equivalent brand Super Moist type spice cake mix

1 16 oz. can of pumpkin.

Mix ingredients together (mix will be thick) fill muffin liners 2/3 full and pop in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes. 

Of course, I found this on Pintrest so it is guaranteed hit-and-miss. I'll let you know how this one goes. 

Share your favorite pumpkin recipes, or funniest/strangest pumpkin recipes with us! :)

Laundry Mistakes

OK so, I'm horrible with laundry. I mean TERRIBLE about it.

If you are anything like me, (and i hope you are so i don't feel so flaky) you have a TON of it. I have an infant, a husband in the military (can you say 2-3 outfits a day?) and myself. Now that may not be as much laundry as some of you with multiple children, but laundry is something I cant stand. I hate sorting it, I hate folding it, and I HATE trying to squeeze it all into it's proper place. Again, if you are anything like me your life is HECTIC. Like I said, I have a husband in the military, an infant, and I'm in school. Well once in a while, between apathy and chaos I forget to switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer, but normally remember in the morning. Not this time. This time I did it BAD. My load of towels and blankets had been sitting in the washer over a week. Now, I live in Northern Washington, so anything remotely damp is going to smell like mildew within probably 6 hours. The worst part is, towels and blankets are the hardest to get the smell out of. So, after much digging online I figured out how to fix it. Here is what I did:

1.) Don't even bother taking it out of the washer

2.) Since I was washing towels, I ran it in HOT water on the HEAVY cycle and put a normal amount of laundry detergent in.

3.) add 1/4 cup of baking soda to the laundry

4.) after it was done with the first wash, I ran it again: hot water, heavy cycle, with 1/2 the amount of detergent and another 1/4 cup of baking soda.

This worked MIRACLES! It actually smelled better then when I normally wash my clothes (I have to use Free and Clear for my boys) 

So, I hope this helps, because I was CLUELESS until I dug around online a LOT...I hope I wont need to do this again in the future, but lets face it I probably will. Until next time :)