We knew something was, well, a bit off about our daughter when she was less than a year old. Not only could she pull herself up in her crib at a very early age, but she was bound and determined to climb all the way the heck out of that cage...and climb she did. Out of her crib. Over baby gates. Up onto chairs, tables, counters. Just about everywhere. No fear. Just pure determination.
Fast forward to Kindergarten when she wanted to join the soccer team. We thought this would be an excellent choice for her, as she was full of boundless energy and what could be better for that than running up and down a soccer field a few hundred times? Only in Kindergarten soccer, it's not really about running up and down the field. It's more like 10 kids on top of the ball all in one spot kicking each other more than they connect with the actual ball. We realized quickly why they made us buy those shin guards. Only while all the other kids were amassed at one side of the field kicking each other in mad attempts to move the ball, our daughter was blissfully doing cartwheels alone at the other side of the field.
Needless to say, that was her last year of soccer. And her first of gymnastics. Up until that point, we thought we just might need to sell her to the circus someday. High energy, fearlessness, and a draw towards dangerous, adrenaline pumping activities fits the circus lifestyle, right? Turns out, it also comes in handy for gymnasts.
We didn't enroll her until 1st grade, which we found out was quite "old" to start! Never mind that, she was fully caught up to girls who had been doing it for years already within just a few short months. From there, she passed through the levels of instruction rapid fire, always wanting to try new and more advanced moves (and causing me to have more than a few nails bitten down to the finger in the process!). This year, in 4th grade, she had the honor of being invited to join her gym's elite competition team as a level 5 gymnast (the levels are based on the skill level for the competitions). Finally her fearlessness paid off!
She has had 3 competitions so far, and she has brought home 12 medals total, including 2 first places in the uneven bars! As I watch her twirling around the high bar, I can't help thinking to myself of that little baby climbing out of her crib. And how many broken bones would she have if we hadn't found a positive way to channel that energy and total lack of fear?
Here is her gold medal performance from this weekend's tournament. So proud of my monkey!! The circus' loss!!!
I like to make soup. You start with a lot of scraps of this and that...add a little more of this, a pinch or two of that. And after a while it turns into this wonderful blend of goodness. This blog is my metaphorical soup...a bit of this and that...whatever catches my eye, coming together here.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
BECAUSE I SAID SO and other things I swore I'd never say to my kids before I became a parent
I read a rather humorous article in the paper this morning. I'm sure it wasn't really meant to be humorous, but I'm equally sure that every parent out there got a chuckle from it. It was titled something like Ten Things You Should Never Say to Your Children. The author obviously never spent 2 minutes with a child trying to rationalize why he can't eat M & M's for breakfast. Two of the things that topped her list were to never say "because I said so" and "because I'm the adult". She suggested you calmly explain to the young cherub the reasons behind your decisions, to help him better understand and not feel spoken down to or demeaned.
This is how it usually goes in my household:
But WHY can't I have M & M's?
Because you need to eat a healthy breakfast and M & M's are not a healthy breakfast.
But I'll eat breakfast too, I promise!
No!
But Pop would let me have them (this is probably true, which is why they are not allowed to go down to their grandfather's house before noon. I love him dearly, but he is NOT the epitome of healthy eating, which is well known to my kids who affectionately refer to his house as Candy Land.)
Do you want diabetes and heart disease before you're 30? (that one whizzes past their heads at warp speed--they can't even think one day ahead, let alone comprehend being 30!)
But Moooooommmmmm, why can't I have them???? No fair!!!!!!!!!!!!
BECAUSE I'M THE PARENT AND I SAID SO AND IF I HEAR ONE MORE WORD NO XBOX ALL DAY TODAY!
Then magical silence.
My kids listen to explanations just like drunks listen to "no you cannot text your ex-boyfriend and tell him how much you still love him and how much better you are than his new girlfriend". They want what they want. They don't want to hear you tell them why they can't have it. You could say "blah, blah, blah, blah" and sing the National Anthem backwards for all they care. So, I usually will just skip the dialog and go right to the "I'm the parent and I said so" part. I have a strong suspicion that I'm not alone!
And I really don't think I'm doing them some grave psychological harm, as the author of that article suggests. In fact, I think I'm better preparing them for life. As adults we don't always get explanations and rationalizations for the decisions of others that often effect our lives. If kids grow up always being treated as equals and feeling they are owed explanations for every little thing that happens, they will grow up entitled and ill-equipped to function in a world that frankly isn't always fair and doesn't always give them the answers. And they are not equals. And will not be equals to everyone in life. They will most likely someday have a boss that tells them "do it because I'm the boss and I said so".
And then they will think back and silently thank me for preparing them for that moment in life.
This is how it usually goes in my household:
But WHY can't I have M & M's?
Because you need to eat a healthy breakfast and M & M's are not a healthy breakfast.
But I'll eat breakfast too, I promise!
No!
But Pop would let me have them (this is probably true, which is why they are not allowed to go down to their grandfather's house before noon. I love him dearly, but he is NOT the epitome of healthy eating, which is well known to my kids who affectionately refer to his house as Candy Land.)
Do you want diabetes and heart disease before you're 30? (that one whizzes past their heads at warp speed--they can't even think one day ahead, let alone comprehend being 30!)
But Moooooommmmmm, why can't I have them???? No fair!!!!!!!!!!!!
BECAUSE I'M THE PARENT AND I SAID SO AND IF I HEAR ONE MORE WORD NO XBOX ALL DAY TODAY!
Then magical silence.
My kids listen to explanations just like drunks listen to "no you cannot text your ex-boyfriend and tell him how much you still love him and how much better you are than his new girlfriend". They want what they want. They don't want to hear you tell them why they can't have it. You could say "blah, blah, blah, blah" and sing the National Anthem backwards for all they care. So, I usually will just skip the dialog and go right to the "I'm the parent and I said so" part. I have a strong suspicion that I'm not alone!
And I really don't think I'm doing them some grave psychological harm, as the author of that article suggests. In fact, I think I'm better preparing them for life. As adults we don't always get explanations and rationalizations for the decisions of others that often effect our lives. If kids grow up always being treated as equals and feeling they are owed explanations for every little thing that happens, they will grow up entitled and ill-equipped to function in a world that frankly isn't always fair and doesn't always give them the answers. And they are not equals. And will not be equals to everyone in life. They will most likely someday have a boss that tells them "do it because I'm the boss and I said so".
And then they will think back and silently thank me for preparing them for that moment in life.
Friday, January 20, 2012
choose your battles aka how to freak out the school guidance counselor
Real life recent conversation with my 12 yr old boy child:
Seriously?
what?
SERIOUSLY?
What Mom? It's like 38 degrees. It's not like it's cold or anything.
You are NOT really planning to go to school in THAT, are you???
The boy is stepping out the door on his way to the bus stop wearing nothing but shorts, a tee shirt, and a hoodie. I, on the other hand, have on a turtleneck sweater, a ski parka, scarf, and gloves and am walking out in back of him to head out to work. To me, anything less than 50 degrees is frigid. To my kids, anything above 30 degrees is downright balmy. If I wasn't fully awake during both their deliveries I would swear they weren't mine. But since the bus was due to arrive any minute and I had no time to drive him to school and make it to work on time, I relented.
You're going to freeze.
I'm not going to freeze. Freezing takes place at 32 degrees and it's 38 degrees
(damn that science teacher for telling him that)
Whatever. I just don't want to hear how cold you were when you come home this afternoon.
I won't be cold.
And I don't want any calls from the guidance counselor.
They don't do that in Middle School.
So he got on the bus and went to school in shorts, a tee shirt, and hoodie in 38 degree weather. I had decided to choose my battles and this was one lesson that he could learn the hard way. Though all day I wondered when my phone would start ringing. Like it did not too long ago, only that time for the 9 year old girl child, who is still in elementary school, where apparently guidance counselors don't really understand the whole choose your battles concept.
hello? (seeing the caller ID of the girl's school and anticipating the nurse's voice saying come get your kid, she's puking all over my office, which is usually the only type of call I get from her school)
yes, Mrs. S, this is the school guidance counselor and I'm calling because your daughter didn't have a coat on today at school.
ooo-kay
she won't be allowed to go outside for recess if she doesn't have a coat on.
ooo-kay (apparently the guidance counselor hadn't gone to the same science class as my boy child had, as it was at least 40 degrees that day)
does she have a coat? because we have some here at the school that we can give her if you aren't able to get her one. (OK, I appreciate that the school is looking out for families in need and all, but no, both my husband and I have good jobs and are not "in need")
no, she has numerous coats in her closet. she just chooses not to wear one. she's at a stage that she thinks coats are not cool and apparently freezing your butt off while trying to look cool is.
well, we can still give her one because otherwise she can't go out for recess.
she can stay in for recess, I'm fine with that. Maybe she'll start choosing to wear a coat if that's the consequence, though you have my permission to let her go out without a coat. That also is a good consequence. I'm all for natural consequences. If she's cold, then maybe then she'll also start choosing to wear a coat.
Oh, no, we'd never send her out without a coat. She'd get sick. I'll just give her one. (my hunch is that if they made her stay in, they'd have to assign a teacher to stay in with her and I don't really think they wanted to do that)
That's actually a myth.
What?
It's a myth. you can't get sick from being out in the cold. Bacteria and viruses cause colds, not being in cold weather without a coat. Cold weather actually kills bacteria and viruses, they proliferate inside where it's warm and where every kid is wiping his nose with his hand then touching everything. (I'm a health care professional. I've worked in hospitals for 20 plus years. I know these things.) .
So we left the conversation like that. The girl child came home with a new coat. I'm sure I'm on some "bad parent" list at the school, but I still stand by my decision to allow my kids to dress inappropriately for the weather. Natural consequences (within the bounds of safety) work best with my kids. I choose my battles and this is one I choose to let them learn naturally.
There will always be someone out there questioning your parenting skills. Forget them, and do what you know is best for your child. Even if it freaks out the guidance counselor.
edited to add: lest you think my kids are these wild savages who have no parental limits what so ever, think again! Much to their displeasure, I can and DO say no, and I do it often. I do not let them out without coats when it is 10 degrees and there is a risk of frostbite. It's just if it is a low risk situation that I know doesn't threaten life or limb, I sometimes choose to let them learn for themselves instead of engage in a battle of wills. And as an aside, my daughter wrote a nice thank you note to the guidance counselor for the coat, and we sent in some Wal-Mart gift cards to be used for the Angel Tree that was going on at the time. Maybe, just maybe, my name was taken off of that list!
Seriously?
what?
SERIOUSLY?
What Mom? It's like 38 degrees. It's not like it's cold or anything.
You are NOT really planning to go to school in THAT, are you???
The boy is stepping out the door on his way to the bus stop wearing nothing but shorts, a tee shirt, and a hoodie. I, on the other hand, have on a turtleneck sweater, a ski parka, scarf, and gloves and am walking out in back of him to head out to work. To me, anything less than 50 degrees is frigid. To my kids, anything above 30 degrees is downright balmy. If I wasn't fully awake during both their deliveries I would swear they weren't mine. But since the bus was due to arrive any minute and I had no time to drive him to school and make it to work on time, I relented.
You're going to freeze.
I'm not going to freeze. Freezing takes place at 32 degrees and it's 38 degrees
(damn that science teacher for telling him that)
Whatever. I just don't want to hear how cold you were when you come home this afternoon.
I won't be cold.
And I don't want any calls from the guidance counselor.
They don't do that in Middle School.
So he got on the bus and went to school in shorts, a tee shirt, and hoodie in 38 degree weather. I had decided to choose my battles and this was one lesson that he could learn the hard way. Though all day I wondered when my phone would start ringing. Like it did not too long ago, only that time for the 9 year old girl child, who is still in elementary school, where apparently guidance counselors don't really understand the whole choose your battles concept.
hello? (seeing the caller ID of the girl's school and anticipating the nurse's voice saying come get your kid, she's puking all over my office, which is usually the only type of call I get from her school)
yes, Mrs. S, this is the school guidance counselor and I'm calling because your daughter didn't have a coat on today at school.
ooo-kay
she won't be allowed to go outside for recess if she doesn't have a coat on.
ooo-kay (apparently the guidance counselor hadn't gone to the same science class as my boy child had, as it was at least 40 degrees that day)
does she have a coat? because we have some here at the school that we can give her if you aren't able to get her one. (OK, I appreciate that the school is looking out for families in need and all, but no, both my husband and I have good jobs and are not "in need")
no, she has numerous coats in her closet. she just chooses not to wear one. she's at a stage that she thinks coats are not cool and apparently freezing your butt off while trying to look cool is.
well, we can still give her one because otherwise she can't go out for recess.
she can stay in for recess, I'm fine with that. Maybe she'll start choosing to wear a coat if that's the consequence, though you have my permission to let her go out without a coat. That also is a good consequence. I'm all for natural consequences. If she's cold, then maybe then she'll also start choosing to wear a coat.
Oh, no, we'd never send her out without a coat. She'd get sick. I'll just give her one. (my hunch is that if they made her stay in, they'd have to assign a teacher to stay in with her and I don't really think they wanted to do that)
That's actually a myth.
What?
It's a myth. you can't get sick from being out in the cold. Bacteria and viruses cause colds, not being in cold weather without a coat. Cold weather actually kills bacteria and viruses, they proliferate inside where it's warm and where every kid is wiping his nose with his hand then touching everything. (I'm a health care professional. I've worked in hospitals for 20 plus years. I know these things.) .
So we left the conversation like that. The girl child came home with a new coat. I'm sure I'm on some "bad parent" list at the school, but I still stand by my decision to allow my kids to dress inappropriately for the weather. Natural consequences (within the bounds of safety) work best with my kids. I choose my battles and this is one I choose to let them learn naturally.
There will always be someone out there questioning your parenting skills. Forget them, and do what you know is best for your child. Even if it freaks out the guidance counselor.
edited to add: lest you think my kids are these wild savages who have no parental limits what so ever, think again! Much to their displeasure, I can and DO say no, and I do it often. I do not let them out without coats when it is 10 degrees and there is a risk of frostbite. It's just if it is a low risk situation that I know doesn't threaten life or limb, I sometimes choose to let them learn for themselves instead of engage in a battle of wills. And as an aside, my daughter wrote a nice thank you note to the guidance counselor for the coat, and we sent in some Wal-Mart gift cards to be used for the Angel Tree that was going on at the time. Maybe, just maybe, my name was taken off of that list!
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Chicken Corn Soup for my non-PA Dutch friends
When I moved away to college a long time ago, it was the first time I had ever been away from home for any length of time. Having grown up in PA Dutch country, I had no idea that other parts of the country and even other parts of Pennsylvania didn't have some of the delicacies that I was raised on: scrapple (well, to some it's a delicacy--personally I think it's gross), Utz chips, Unique pretzels, and of course Chicken Corn Soup. Imagine my surprise when I ordered Chicken Pot Pie and got, well, pie with chicken in it. NO PEOPLE, CHICKEN POT PIE IS SOUP....GET IT RIGHT REST OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!! (note to self, need to blog about this in future). And I think the first time I ordered dippy eggs in a restaurant, the waitress looked at me like a had a third eye. (translation for my non-PA Dutch friends: dippy egg=sunny side up only with the whites fully done. "dippy" because you dip the toast in the yolk. Duh!). But I digress.
Today was a cold windy day in South East PA. The perfect day for soup. And oddly enough I had nowhere to go and nothing to do (believe me, days like this do NOT happen often in my world!). I did have a chicken in the freezer, so decided to make chicken corn soup. If you have a rock hard frozen chicken like I did, you're gonna need all day to cook it. If you have pre-made stock you can make this quickly (but then your house doesn't smell nearly as good from having a chicken boiling in a pot in your kitchen all day! Someone needs to make a "boiling chicken" candle!). If you are one of my Berks/Lancaster County friends, you can stop reading here. I know you already know how to make this. But for the rest of the world, here is one of the yummiest. soups. ever.
Start with your chicken--it can be rock hard frozen solid or thawed. Put it in a large soup pot of water (like for my bones stock--see link above--I put it and all the solids in a pasta insert to make it easier to pull out). Add some celery (you can include the tops--this stuff gets thrown out and is just to flavor the broth and add more nutrients), onion, carrots (no problem if you don't have any of these, it will still be good), peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a handful of fresh thyme if you have it). Cover and simmer all for 4-5 hours or so (less if your chicken is thawed). At some point during that time, hard boil some eggs--I usually make around 6-8 of them) and save for later. When done, throw out solids (well, except for the chicken of course--you still need that!). De-bone the chicken and shred. Add to stock. If you're already starting with pre-made stock, add diced chicken to it. Also add a large bag of frozen corn and a bag of egg noodles (some people make rivels--little bits of dough--to add, but I prefer egg noodles). Slice the hard boiled eggs and add, along with a few stalks of sliced celery. Boil about 15 min or until the noodles are done and the celery is soft. And there you have it.
Awesomeness!
PS. If you have never made it before and decide to try it, be sure to let me know how you like it!!!
Today was a cold windy day in South East PA. The perfect day for soup. And oddly enough I had nowhere to go and nothing to do (believe me, days like this do NOT happen often in my world!). I did have a chicken in the freezer, so decided to make chicken corn soup. If you have a rock hard frozen chicken like I did, you're gonna need all day to cook it. If you have pre-made stock you can make this quickly (but then your house doesn't smell nearly as good from having a chicken boiling in a pot in your kitchen all day! Someone needs to make a "boiling chicken" candle!). If you are one of my Berks/Lancaster County friends, you can stop reading here. I know you already know how to make this. But for the rest of the world, here is one of the yummiest. soups. ever.
Start with your chicken--it can be rock hard frozen solid or thawed. Put it in a large soup pot of water (like for my bones stock--see link above--I put it and all the solids in a pasta insert to make it easier to pull out). Add some celery (you can include the tops--this stuff gets thrown out and is just to flavor the broth and add more nutrients), onion, carrots (no problem if you don't have any of these, it will still be good), peppercorns, a bay leaf, and a handful of fresh thyme if you have it). Cover and simmer all for 4-5 hours or so (less if your chicken is thawed). At some point during that time, hard boil some eggs--I usually make around 6-8 of them) and save for later. When done, throw out solids (well, except for the chicken of course--you still need that!). De-bone the chicken and shred. Add to stock. If you're already starting with pre-made stock, add diced chicken to it. Also add a large bag of frozen corn and a bag of egg noodles (some people make rivels--little bits of dough--to add, but I prefer egg noodles). Slice the hard boiled eggs and add, along with a few stalks of sliced celery. Boil about 15 min or until the noodles are done and the celery is soft. And there you have it.
Awesomeness!
PS. If you have never made it before and decide to try it, be sure to let me know how you like it!!!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Healthy do it yourself chicken fingers (though technically they're chicken breast strips not really fingers, but you know what I mean)
I don't know about you, but I sometimes get into a cooking rut.
I work all day, come home, and run kids to practices (you can cue the violins now and get out the cheese to go along with my whine)...who has time to cook? It's so easy to fall into the trap of pulling out a bag of some sort of "meat" product from the freezer and popping it into the oven. But is this healthy? Um, hardly! Read the ingredients and nutritional info on the bag...pretty nasty! So, I've been really trying to avoid pre-packaged "convenience" foods, preparing most of my meals from scratch. Not only is this healthier, it's cheaper (notice the tie-in to my last entry? I'm still all about cheap!). AND it really doesn't take a whole lot more time...maybe 10 or 15 minutes more, sometimes not even that (c'mon, I wanna see hands, how many of you today wasted 10 to 15 minutes reading your facebook??? Huh??? You could've been using that time to make a healthy, nutritious, from scratch meal!)
So here's what I did tonight. I took chicken out to thaw...no, wait, gotta give props to my husband...HE took chicken out to thaw this morning (I'm always forgetting to do this crucial step; good thing he has my back). Not that I had a clue what I was going to do with it. So tonight I asked the kids what they wanted me to make tonight with chicken. "Can we have chicken nuggets" they both yelled in unison (in one of the rare moments they could actually agree on something). Well, since I don't buy that crap in the first place, I'm sure they thought the answer would be a robust "NO". My boy child added "please don't make some sort of weird thing with coconut milk and fish sauce". He knows me so well. Guess I have been into the Thai thing a little too much lately. My bad. So, I told them, OK, no weird ethnic things tonight, we're having chicken nuggets. (now you can cue the Party Rock music). Good old American chicken nuggets. With a twist (I always add a twist!).
So I started with 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut them into strips (though it would be much easier to just use chicken breasts already sliced into "fingers" at the grocery store...too bad chickens just don't have fingers). Mix equal parts peanut butter and honey (this is the twist), and add a few spoonfuls of mayo (I use the olive oil type--don't feel quite as guilty with this stuff). I know that sounds weird but trust me, it gives it a little bit of tangy-ness. I don't measure so just eyeball it--there should be enough to coat all the chicken and have some left over for dipping if you wish. Separate out enough to coat the chicken and put the remainder for dipping in the fridge. Place the chicken in a ziplock bag along with some of the coating and squish and squeeze until all the chicken is covered (this is good to do if you're angry--just squeeze the you know what out of it--it can take it!). Take another ziplock bag and pour in the crunchy coating of your choice--you can use plain bread crumbs, crushed ritz crackers, crushed flake cereal, panko, oreo cookies (no, NO, that's only what my kids wanted me to use...but no, don't keep that crap in the house either and they know it!). Put peanut butter mix coated chicken in the crumbs and shake/mix until all coated. If it seems too sticky, just add more crumbs. Spread in a single layer on a baking tray sprayed with olive oil cooking spray. bake at 400 F for about 20 min (flip halfway through for better results). Serve with reserved dip. So much better than frozen chicken (if that really is what's in them) nuggets.
No more cooking ruts, no more frozen convenience foods...just healthy from scratch meals, knowing exactly what the ingredients are...even if occasionally some coconut milk and fish sauce sneaks in...shhhhhhh...
I work all day, come home, and run kids to practices (you can cue the violins now and get out the cheese to go along with my whine)...who has time to cook? It's so easy to fall into the trap of pulling out a bag of some sort of "meat" product from the freezer and popping it into the oven. But is this healthy? Um, hardly! Read the ingredients and nutritional info on the bag...pretty nasty! So, I've been really trying to avoid pre-packaged "convenience" foods, preparing most of my meals from scratch. Not only is this healthier, it's cheaper (notice the tie-in to my last entry? I'm still all about cheap!). AND it really doesn't take a whole lot more time...maybe 10 or 15 minutes more, sometimes not even that (c'mon, I wanna see hands, how many of you today wasted 10 to 15 minutes reading your facebook??? Huh??? You could've been using that time to make a healthy, nutritious, from scratch meal!)
So here's what I did tonight. I took chicken out to thaw...no, wait, gotta give props to my husband...HE took chicken out to thaw this morning (I'm always forgetting to do this crucial step; good thing he has my back). Not that I had a clue what I was going to do with it. So tonight I asked the kids what they wanted me to make tonight with chicken. "Can we have chicken nuggets" they both yelled in unison (in one of the rare moments they could actually agree on something). Well, since I don't buy that crap in the first place, I'm sure they thought the answer would be a robust "NO". My boy child added "please don't make some sort of weird thing with coconut milk and fish sauce". He knows me so well. Guess I have been into the Thai thing a little too much lately. My bad. So, I told them, OK, no weird ethnic things tonight, we're having chicken nuggets. (now you can cue the Party Rock music). Good old American chicken nuggets. With a twist (I always add a twist!).
So I started with 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut them into strips (though it would be much easier to just use chicken breasts already sliced into "fingers" at the grocery store...too bad chickens just don't have fingers). Mix equal parts peanut butter and honey (this is the twist), and add a few spoonfuls of mayo (I use the olive oil type--don't feel quite as guilty with this stuff). I know that sounds weird but trust me, it gives it a little bit of tangy-ness. I don't measure so just eyeball it--there should be enough to coat all the chicken and have some left over for dipping if you wish. Separate out enough to coat the chicken and put the remainder for dipping in the fridge. Place the chicken in a ziplock bag along with some of the coating and squish and squeeze until all the chicken is covered (this is good to do if you're angry--just squeeze the you know what out of it--it can take it!). Take another ziplock bag and pour in the crunchy coating of your choice--you can use plain bread crumbs, crushed ritz crackers, crushed flake cereal, panko, oreo cookies (no, NO, that's only what my kids wanted me to use...but no, don't keep that crap in the house either and they know it!). Put peanut butter mix coated chicken in the crumbs and shake/mix until all coated. If it seems too sticky, just add more crumbs. Spread in a single layer on a baking tray sprayed with olive oil cooking spray. bake at 400 F for about 20 min (flip halfway through for better results). Serve with reserved dip. So much better than frozen chicken (if that really is what's in them) nuggets.
No more cooking ruts, no more frozen convenience foods...just healthy from scratch meals, knowing exactly what the ingredients are...even if occasionally some coconut milk and fish sauce sneaks in...shhhhhhh...
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Making soup
The older I get, the less I like winter. Give me a nice warm beach in the tropics and I'm happy.
The one thing that kinda gets me through is making soup (that and seed catalogs, which as my good friend Lin pointed out today are starting to arrive in the mailbox--woohoo!!!!!!--doesn't take much to get me excited!). Good homemade soup is so easy to make and so much healthier and tastier and CHEAPER than canned supermarket soup. Cheap is always good. And by Cheap, I mean almost free...your basic soup stock is made almost entirely of garbage! Pennies per bowl really. And I love cheap--I'm constantly looking for bargains, bogo's, sales...I think I'm on all the web points sites (swagbucks especially rocks!) and was able to amass a few hundred dollars of gift cards for Christmas this year for doing nothing more than doing searches through certain websites, going through certain sites before I make online purchases, etc. I'm sure I'll post more on that in the future, but for now let's get back to soup.
My first rule is never, never, NEVER throw away bones. Chicken bones, beef bones, ham bones, shrimp shells (kinda bones), you name it--DON'T throw them away!!! They are FREE food--can't beat free! You know that thing going around on facebook about wanting to drug test people before they get welfare benefits? Well, I think they need to garbage-test them. No food stamps if you have bones in your garbage that haven't been souped yet. If you don't have time to make soup (and that's the one drawback--good soup stock needs to simmer all day, but then again isn't that why God make crock pots???), freeze the bones for later.
When you're ready, fill a big pot with water (I use a big pasta pot, you know the kind with the insert you stick the pasta in, so it's easy to lift out of the water when it's done?) Well, those things work GREAT to lift out all of the bones and stuff leaving you with the broth and eliminating the need to strain everything into a different pot, but you can still do that, it's not that hard). If you're using beef bones, roast them in the oven first--maybe about a half hour at 400 degrees F. I usually drizzle them with a little olive oil and roast some veggies (tomatoes, carrots, garlic cloves, onions) with them too....just watch them and when they're brown they're ready. Any other bones you can throw right into the water in the pot.
So, once you have your bones in the water (and no, you don't have to clean the little scraps of meat, fat, or gristle off--just throw it all in there!), you can add other things to flavor the broth (these things will be thrown out and are not part of the finished soup--they are only in there to give the broth more flavor and nutrients). The good thing is you can throw in more garbage!!! Those celery leaves on the top of the stalks you usually throw out? Keep them and throw them in the water! onion skins? Yup, throw them in too. I usually throw in a few stalks of celery, a few carrots, and a few slices of onions (you only have to chop them in a couple pieces)--If you don't have one or all of these, don't stress, your broth will still be good! I will also throw in a small handful of peppercorns, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and a bay leaf for good measure, but again whatever you have on hand will be fine (trust me!)
Bring all to a boil then cover and simmer for at least 2-3 hours (or longer--the longer the better!). If you're doing it in a crock pot, set it to low for 6-8 hours. After it's done strain out the solids and there you have it: good, healthy, no-salt (unless you boiled a ham bone then it'll be salty but less salty the more water you use), low fat, nutritious, CHEAP soup broth! Then just use the broth in whatever soup recipe you want to make. (I promise, I'll post some general ideas in the future!) Or just drink a mug of it plain (great for colds!) Or freeze in 1 or 2 cup portions to use at a later date. I sometimes even freeze it in ice cube trays for recipes that only call for a little bit of stock.
So that's the basic idea--if I can figure out how to link back to this in future posts, I will, so that when I say "start with chicken broth" or "ham broth" or whatever you'll know how I get to that. Sure, you can use store-bought, but this is so much better (and CHEAPER, oh and did I mention how incredibly awesome the house smells when you make this???)
So when life gives you garbage, make soup!!
The one thing that kinda gets me through is making soup (that and seed catalogs, which as my good friend Lin pointed out today are starting to arrive in the mailbox--woohoo!!!!!!--doesn't take much to get me excited!). Good homemade soup is so easy to make and so much healthier and tastier and CHEAPER than canned supermarket soup. Cheap is always good. And by Cheap, I mean almost free...your basic soup stock is made almost entirely of garbage! Pennies per bowl really. And I love cheap--I'm constantly looking for bargains, bogo's, sales...I think I'm on all the web points sites (swagbucks especially rocks!) and was able to amass a few hundred dollars of gift cards for Christmas this year for doing nothing more than doing searches through certain websites, going through certain sites before I make online purchases, etc. I'm sure I'll post more on that in the future, but for now let's get back to soup.
My first rule is never, never, NEVER throw away bones. Chicken bones, beef bones, ham bones, shrimp shells (kinda bones), you name it--DON'T throw them away!!! They are FREE food--can't beat free! You know that thing going around on facebook about wanting to drug test people before they get welfare benefits? Well, I think they need to garbage-test them. No food stamps if you have bones in your garbage that haven't been souped yet. If you don't have time to make soup (and that's the one drawback--good soup stock needs to simmer all day, but then again isn't that why God make crock pots???), freeze the bones for later.
When you're ready, fill a big pot with water (I use a big pasta pot, you know the kind with the insert you stick the pasta in, so it's easy to lift out of the water when it's done?) Well, those things work GREAT to lift out all of the bones and stuff leaving you with the broth and eliminating the need to strain everything into a different pot, but you can still do that, it's not that hard). If you're using beef bones, roast them in the oven first--maybe about a half hour at 400 degrees F. I usually drizzle them with a little olive oil and roast some veggies (tomatoes, carrots, garlic cloves, onions) with them too....just watch them and when they're brown they're ready. Any other bones you can throw right into the water in the pot.
So, once you have your bones in the water (and no, you don't have to clean the little scraps of meat, fat, or gristle off--just throw it all in there!), you can add other things to flavor the broth (these things will be thrown out and are not part of the finished soup--they are only in there to give the broth more flavor and nutrients). The good thing is you can throw in more garbage!!! Those celery leaves on the top of the stalks you usually throw out? Keep them and throw them in the water! onion skins? Yup, throw them in too. I usually throw in a few stalks of celery, a few carrots, and a few slices of onions (you only have to chop them in a couple pieces)--If you don't have one or all of these, don't stress, your broth will still be good! I will also throw in a small handful of peppercorns, a few sprigs of fresh thyme, and a bay leaf for good measure, but again whatever you have on hand will be fine (trust me!)
Bring all to a boil then cover and simmer for at least 2-3 hours (or longer--the longer the better!). If you're doing it in a crock pot, set it to low for 6-8 hours. After it's done strain out the solids and there you have it: good, healthy, no-salt (unless you boiled a ham bone then it'll be salty but less salty the more water you use), low fat, nutritious, CHEAP soup broth! Then just use the broth in whatever soup recipe you want to make. (I promise, I'll post some general ideas in the future!) Or just drink a mug of it plain (great for colds!) Or freeze in 1 or 2 cup portions to use at a later date. I sometimes even freeze it in ice cube trays for recipes that only call for a little bit of stock.
So that's the basic idea--if I can figure out how to link back to this in future posts, I will, so that when I say "start with chicken broth" or "ham broth" or whatever you'll know how I get to that. Sure, you can use store-bought, but this is so much better (and CHEAPER, oh and did I mention how incredibly awesome the house smells when you make this???)
So when life gives you garbage, make soup!!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Welcome!
So the New Year has started. I'm not really a resolution-y type of person...I mean, if something's not worth doing on say Oct 3, why is it suddenly worth doing on Jan 1??? So, it kinda surprises me that I got this idea to start a blog for the New Year. Though, because I'm also one of the world's biggest procrastinators, I'm actually not getting around to this until Jan 7. And I have to admit right off the bat, I really don't have a clue how to do this. I've been tinkering around with the settings on this site, but I think what I really need is a big neon blinking CLUE sign to click on. But I couldn't find one of those, so I guess I'll learn as I go--I count on you, my friends, to point out to me if something is really sucky. OK? Do we have a deal?
OK, then. Here we go. I'm not really sure what direction this will take. I'm a mom, but I don't really want this to be ALL about Momhood, not that there's not enough material there (haha, you moms know what I mean and if you don't, well, really?) I'm a wife, and yeah, there's material in that too (hopefully my poor husband will understand the occasional rant?). I've also worked in the Mental Health field for close to 25 years (you know the old "it takes one" adage?), so maybe there's something in that. I foresee posts (on blogs are they called "posts" or is it more appropriate to say "entries" or does anyone really give a flying crap?) on my various hobbies--cooking is a big one, as most of my facebook friends know from my "guess what I made for supper" posts. But don't really look for many recipe recipes unless they're links to other sites. I fly by the seat of my pants when I cook and am very much the add a bit of this, then a bit of that, stir, taste, add more of that, taste, taste some more (this works especially well when adding wine to something!) kind of cook. I may also write about my other interests such as gardening, hiking, geochaching (where I go by joeyandmaggiesmom--I'm SO original, can you guess the names of my kids?), canning, pole dancing (just seeing if you're paying attention! NO, not really), and a variety of other things that I can't think of right now because it's late and my mind shuts off at a certain time (and by "late" and "a certain time" I mean 10pm--to think, long ago I would just be getting ready to go OUT at that time--20 somethings, don't get old!). Maybe I'll even learn how not to write run-on sentences with lots of things in parentheses (maybe not).
So, we'll see how this thing goes. I think Soup describes what I want to do perfectly. A little of this, a little of that. Hopefully it doesn't become too boring. If so add some wine, taste, add a little more, taste....
OK, then. Here we go. I'm not really sure what direction this will take. I'm a mom, but I don't really want this to be ALL about Momhood, not that there's not enough material there (haha, you moms know what I mean and if you don't, well, really?) I'm a wife, and yeah, there's material in that too (hopefully my poor husband will understand the occasional rant?). I've also worked in the Mental Health field for close to 25 years (you know the old "it takes one" adage?), so maybe there's something in that. I foresee posts (on blogs are they called "posts" or is it more appropriate to say "entries" or does anyone really give a flying crap?) on my various hobbies--cooking is a big one, as most of my facebook friends know from my "guess what I made for supper" posts. But don't really look for many recipe recipes unless they're links to other sites. I fly by the seat of my pants when I cook and am very much the add a bit of this, then a bit of that, stir, taste, add more of that, taste, taste some more (this works especially well when adding wine to something!) kind of cook. I may also write about my other interests such as gardening, hiking, geochaching (where I go by joeyandmaggiesmom--I'm SO original, can you guess the names of my kids?), canning, pole dancing (just seeing if you're paying attention! NO, not really), and a variety of other things that I can't think of right now because it's late and my mind shuts off at a certain time (and by "late" and "a certain time" I mean 10pm--to think, long ago I would just be getting ready to go OUT at that time--20 somethings, don't get old!). Maybe I'll even learn how not to write run-on sentences with lots of things in parentheses (maybe not).
So, we'll see how this thing goes. I think Soup describes what I want to do perfectly. A little of this, a little of that. Hopefully it doesn't become too boring. If so add some wine, taste, add a little more, taste....
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