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Monday, March 8, 2010

Monday....Monday


I worked on my menu planning last night after finishing my freezer and pantry inventory for March.  I'm a little late to be working on the lists but it's been a crazy, busy month so far.

Here's our menu for this week (including 3 days of soccer practice until 6:45)

Monday:  Poorman's Dinner - fried potatoes with onions and hotdogs -all cooked together in a pile of        yummy goodness (don't judge, I have a house full of boys)
Tuesday:  Lemon Chicken and Spinach Salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Wednesday:  Pancakes
Thursday:  Crockpot dinner - German turnip delight (turnip, potato, onion and smoked sausage cooked together like a stew)
Friday:  Salmon Patties with hushpuppies and pea salad
Saturday:  Date night with Mr. Hautemama
Sunday:  Pork Roast stuffed with Louisianne peppers and whole garlic cloves, cheesy mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli
We'll use the pork roast leftovers for pork carnitas - soooo good!

Speaking of food, I've recently discovered the best low-fat snack evah!  It's Quaker True Delights Multigrain Fiber Crisps, Blackberry Pomegranate flavor.  I tried to find a picture on the internets, but no such luck.  You can eat 13 pieces of these delectable treats for 110 calories, 1.5 grams of fat and 3 grams of fiber.  That's 2 weight watchers points.  These rice cake crisps are sweet and crunchy without the fake sweetener after-taste that low-fat snacks can sometimes have.  I had to be careful to not eat the entire bag.  They...were....that....goooood!  That's my new go-to snack at night.  I'm a night snacker, I confess.

On to my other favorite subject.......TV!  I'm a total Bravo fanatic!  I've recently been watching Kell on Earth.  She's the lady that runs People's Revolution (the clothing, fashion, pr type company) that acted like a crazy boss on the Hills.  Lauren and Whitney worked for her in LA, then Whitney moved to NYC to work there.  Kelly Catrone is a crazy, confident woman who tells it like it is.....she's blunt and so real.  That's the draw.  I tend to be pretty real, what you see is what you get.  Just not as real as she is in the show.  She borders on brutal.

I can't wait for the Real Housewives of Orange County reunion show.  I'm really not digging Alexis and Jim, the new couple on the show this season.  Jim = slimy, controlling and white trash.  Enough said.  Vicki is a whiner and I don't feel sorry for Tamra. She needs to act more like a Mom and not a party girl.  The reunion should be good!

We have parent-teacher conferences at the boys school tomorrow.  I'm slightly nervous to talk to Small Fry's 3rd grade teacher.  I call her "the Nazi" at home.  My poor child tries so hard to not get a yellow or red card.  Sadly, he gets the ol' warning card at least once a week.  I told Small Fry just to try to cruise through until summer. Next year will be a better year!  Tater Tot went to the middle school to tour his school that he'll be going to next year and his teacher told him he would be in advanced Math next year.  That's a ton of work but I love it for him!  I'm so proud of both of my boys.  They are the best and smartest little guys in the world!







Wednesday, March 3, 2010

I really, really want to be Amish

Last weekend we had a family dinner with my husband's Masonic group (I know, please don't harass me about my husband being the youngest Mason in the world-it's kinda fun hanging out with the older generation!!!!)  The dinner was being held at an Amish Farm called Miller's Farm in a little town outside of the Big City. There is a large population of Amish people in a few towns in Northeastern Oklahoma and people drive from all around to eat at the Miller's place.  I wasn't that excited to go because the weather was dreary and foggy, not to mention I'm on a diet.

When we arrived at the farm, I was instantly excited by the milk cows that were right across from the house in a huge field with a grain silo and barns.  I never had the chance to really see that stuff growing up so I love when I'm anywhere near a farm.  I love Holstein cows and their adorable black-and-white coloring.

(***Total sidenote........I remember in 1987 when Poison came in concert with Brittny Fox and the lead singer of Brittny Fox wore holstein cowboy books.  I've wanted a pair since the first day I saw him wearing those.   I also caught CC Deville's t-shirt that night-It's probably still in the garage packed away with my other headbanger momentos!)

I took pics of the cows and when everyone in our group finally arrived, we went in to be seated.  It was a simple farmhouse and the eating area was in the basement. 


My boys getting ready to eat some good food!

Such a quaint, simple and beautiful house.  It reminded me of paintings of the perfect farmhouse

They require a reservation of at least 10 people so that you fill up the long tables.  The food is served family style and there was tons of it.  I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that, next to my Momma's cooking, of course, this Amish food was........the......best......ever!!!!

We started out with coleslaw, then green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade chicken and noodles, rolls with apple butter (to die for!), turkey and dressing, roast beef, baked chicken, 4 kinds of pie; butterscoth (soooo good), coconut, chocolate and peach.  One of the other tables had left a whole cherry pie and the sweet Amish lady serving us asked us if we wanted it.  Of course we did!!!  After all, we did have a crowd of around forty people.  It was amazing that the food kept coming out.  They gave us more than enough to eat. 

The really fun part of the night was explaining to my kids that the egg noodles for the chicken and noodles didn't come in a bag that said Reame's Egg Noodles.  The noodles were made by hand and cut by hand.  The pie crusts didn't come from the Wal-marts, they were handmade.  My poor kids didn't know what to think about that.  It actually made me feel a little guilty for not cooking home-cookin' type food all the time.  The honest truth is....I work and I don't have that kind of time, nor do I have that kind of metabolism! HA!

Mr. Hautemama and I have been on a diet for a couple of months now and we actually weighed ourselves before we went to dinner and then the next morning.  I gained 1.4 pounds that night and hubs only gained .4 - go figure! Men-they kill me!!!

The biggest surprise of the night was the lighting in the family's house.  And we ate in the basement of their house.  Upstairs where you walk in has a little desk and some shelves for selling their food stuff.

The lights throughout the house were gas lights, and they were super bright.  Towards the end of the night, it got a little warm in the basement because the house had no central heat and air.  Also, it was slightly dark upstairs when we left because of the no-electricity thing going on.  I am not a dark room type of person and I'm quite sure I would be completely depressed with no electricity.  Also, how would I use my Chi hair straightener??? That's a serious dilemma! 

I have to admit, I bought some of almost everything they had for sale.  I bought a huge jar of sweet garlic dill pickles, a package of homemade noodles and chicken base in a little plastic container.  We also bought a big jar of the apple butter.  We've had toast every morning for breakfast and eaten it with the apple butter.  During the dinner, Small Fry liked the Apple Butter so much, he put it on his plate and started just eating it with a spoon.  Now that's some good Apple Butter - kid tested and approved!

 They were selling the family cookbook with all their recipes and I bought that too!


 If I could learn to cook like that, I would have a happy family!  A fatter figure, but a happy family.  You win some, you lose some!

After reading through the cookbook, I realized that the Amish way of cooking is fairly simple.  Just really fresh ingredients....that's what makes the difference.  Our family could stand to leave the preservatives alone for a while!  We're probably pickled from all that stuff that's in our fast food and junk food.

The boys getting ready to ring the dinnerbell. Oh how I adore weathered barns!

The cows were mooing at my cute Tater Tot
Notice the sleeping child with his hand still on the Ipod....kids these days!

The absolute sweetest moment of the night happened when we were leaving.  Upstairs when I was buying the cookbook and food, Small Fry was talking to the teenage Amish boy sitting at a small desk taking the money.  The Amish boy had a teddy bear and Small Fry was looking at it.  The Amish boy was joking around with Small Fry and said he could hold it.  When I noticed Small Fry hadn't put it down, I told him he needed to put the teddy bear back on the desk.  Small Fry was a little disappointed that he had to leave it there.  We went outside and started getting in the car, I saw the Amish boy come running out towards us. 

He handed the teddy bear to Tater Tot and said, "Hey, give this to your brother."

By the time I noticed what he had done, he was running back into the house.  I did tell him thank you and that he was so sweet.  That was such an example of the Amish spirit.  Simple ways but with kind hearts. 
Small Fry was so happy when he got the bear.  He yelled, "Thank you!!!", hugging the bear really tightly.

On the way home, I looked back to check on the boys and I saw Small Fry asleep hugging that teddy bear.  It was one of the most precious memories for me.  Sometimes, it's the little things that can really touch a child.  Small Fry now sleeps with that bear.  I sent a thank you to that sweet, sweet boy. 

He didn't have to do that, but did out of the kindness of his heart. 

If we would all act like that, this world would be a much better place.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Spring has Sprung

Yesterday was the official start of Spring for our family.  When you are a soccer family like us, the first practice, whether cold or warm, signals the start of Springtime.  We are sooooo excited!!!  This last winter has officially been the worst evah!  We aren't used to snow and ice during the winter months.  We have a few weeks of cold temps but usually it's a do-able winter.  Not this one-we've had a total of close to two feet of snow.  Yuck.....no...double yuck! 

Needless to say, Momma was super happy about soccer starting.

  I took the boys to their practices, which entailed Momma driving like crazy all over town dropping two boys off at practices that start at the same time but are at different places.  Luckily, I love, love, love Tater Tot's coach so I felt comfortable just dropping him off at practice while I rushed down the street to Small Fry's.   Small Fry was excited when we got to his practice because one of the little neighbor kids was on his team.  They had no clue they would be playing together this season so it was a wonderful surprise! 

Our temps hit a high of 51 degrees today so guess what I wanted to do???

Plan the decorations for our back porch!

I found beautiful urns at Big Lots that were on sale for $20 a piece. 

(Courtesy diynewlyweds.com)
They were brown and I was looking for black urns.  No problem.  That's why they make black spray paint!!!  You gotta love good ol' black spray paint.  It saves the day every time!


I have black wrought iron furniture on the back porch and a small black table for plants.  I recently picked up some wrought iron decor at Hobby Lobby.  I found a black iron scroll for the fireplace wall that's right behind the table and chairs. 

I also bought an iron basket that will sit in the middle of the table with a plant inside.  I've been trying to figure out a way to secure the basket on the table in case an Oklahoma storm blows in.  The best thing I can think of is to use a black twist-tie and tie it through the table and basket.  Hopefully that will help keep the basket in place.  Our winds can get pretty vicious here though during our nasty Spring storms.

I've attached some pics from one of my favorite blogs  - Melissas Heart and Home.  I love the way she decorates her home. 


I adore Boston ferns!  I have almost the exact same chair with pillow and plant stand on my front porch.

Don't you just love this fountain and the furniture? Adorable!

Love the planter in the middle of the table




I'm so addicted to the green color in the pillows below. And the tall iron scroll thingies!!!!

(Courtesy of Outonthepatio.com)
(Outonthepatio.com)