Wednesday's What Now?

As soon as this post closes, I'm blowing off work and cleaning this house.  I have a Spotify music list ready to crank, the TV will be unplugged, and snacks will be administered 5 minutes before blitz time.

Tomorrow, a friend is coming over with her teenaged son and we're going to spend the morning cooking.  She's interested in doing gluten free, but she's a single, working mother, so we're going to give a few "convenience" foods a shot at making the regular menu.  We're going to try our hands at breakfast muffins (eggs, veggies, and meat baked in muffin tins), paleo biscuits and tortillas (coconut flour for the win!), BBQ pulled chicken, cave ketchup, paleo bread (almond flour, FTW!), and we'll give "riced cauliflower" a whirl.

Then I'll be preparing the house for a visit from a friend from grade school.  We had the most amazing chance meeting shortly after I had Kid #1.  My husband was doing some research for his Masters Degree, so I walked with him to get out of the house and take our new baby to get some sunshine.  A woman stopped me in the hall and began cooing over our newborn.  Then a small gaggle of twenty-somethings surrounded me to see the baby.  One of these girls remarked, "Aw, he looks just like my son with that blonde hair and blue eyes!"  I looked up and was utterly stupefied to see Loretta, a girl I haven't seen since the 8th grade, looking as gorgeous as ever.  I, in all my surprise, blurted out, "Oh my gosh!  Are you Loretta?!?!"  She was surprised I knew her, but once I told her who I was, we had a tremendous laugh at the mind-blowing chance of it all.  I spent that afternoon at her house, catching up with her and her mom, who was there to help with the baby.  

We attended grade school in Colorado for three years together before the Air Force moved her family out to Ohio or Virginia.  We lost all contact with one another until that day (almost 9 years later!) in a small Ohio college, and we've managed to stay in spotty contact ever since.  Well, her family is in DE, about an hour south of us, so we're finally getting our families together.  It should be fun!

But, before I can get all excited and finalize any of those plans, I have to get the place cleaned.  Cue the music!

Did You Catch That?

Did you see that I posted a "Thursday's Thoughts" last Wednesday?  Yeah, that's how things are going.

Ugh.

Anyway, today is going to be full of phone calls to our medical providers for ID numbers.  I'm filling out paperwork to switch up our insurance plan.  It's tedious, but completely doable.  The most frustrating part about all of this is that we get to spend the upcoming year scrambling for coverage to buy as my husband's Catholic company makes tough decisions in light of Obamacare.  This may also lead to having to switch medical and dental providers, which may totally throw our budget and schedules off the rails as our coverage and impending surgery plans change.  Note my enthusiasm...

I also have to crank out some work for the mister's office.

Days like this find my kids being babysat by the TV.  I hate that.

I'm so grateful for the work, and even more grateful that they are a family-friendly company who understands that I spend a good chunk of my days just trying to keep the kids alive until tomorrow.  My husband must talk a super-sweet game about me at work, because the people at his office love to compliment me on the amazing job I do at home and with the kids and for the office.  My response is usually one of confused gratitude and we laugh together.  They laugh at my clueless humility and I laugh because they must be insane to think I have it together.

Most of my days are like trying to tame a troop of kangaroos on meth.

For example: there is a pile of laundry on the couch that has been folded FOUR times.  I get about half of the load folded before catastrophe hits in the form of a butt needing wiping or a snack needing providing.  I go and put out that particular fire, only to return and see Kid #(any) has made him/herself a nest of fluffy clothes in which to nap.  I'm faced with the internal dilemma of letting them sleep (hooray for free time for me!!!) or waking them up and correcting their behavior while they wail about the injustices they endure at the hands of their mother.

Nap.  Always.  Wins.

And I haven't stopped the flow of laundry, so some gets folded, more appears, it all gets messed up, and repeat.  My husband did the dishes the other day.  I saw an empty sink for the first time in weeks!  Don't get me wrong, the dishes are in a constant state of doing and there are always clean dishes for our needs, but the rotation of cupboard-to-table-to-sink-to-dishwasher-to-cupboard NEVER ends, much like our laundry.

One of these days, for a very brief and sparkling moment, everything will be done!  Until then, I'd better keep truckin'.

Thinkin' Things...

My mind is a jumble of things that need to be done, the importance of each thing, long term, short term, overdue things...  I can barely type about it without it feeling like my thoughts become a ball of yarn stuck in a lawn mower.  See?  Even my analogies don't make sense.

I'm trying to crank out some work for my husband's company because the extra money is needed, like, yesterday.  Quarterly bills have come pouring in (insurances mostly).  The house screams to be completely gutted of stuff.  I still need to gather pallets to prep for fencing in our yard.  All of the glorious rain we've had has led to a jungle-like front yard that begs to be weeded.  The artwork on my walls, while endearing, needs painting over.  Dings in the walls need patching and painting.  Some kids are feeling sick and need my attention.  I'm not feeling spread too thin, but I am feeling pulled in too many directions.

All I want to do is sit with my sewing machine and crank out my overdue maxi skirts, go thrifting for a small console table so I can make a coffee bar in our kitchen, switch the office and craft desks, tend to my sick kiddos, and have ONE DAY where all of the laundry is clean, folded, and put away.

It looks like I'll be whipping out my trusty notebook and mapping out what needs doing, when it needs doing, and the budget allotment for each project.  As always, purging will happen first.  That is really the only certainty.

Oh, and Kid #3 has her 6th birthday on Saturday.  Somewhere in the cracks of the next two or three days, I have to make a chalkboard for her, get her cake made, assembled, and decorated, and make a dress that she wants.  I'll be making the chalkboard (Pinterest saves the day again!) and the dress will be easy enough.  It's finding the time to shop and assemble that's the trick.  Baaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh...

All of this on top of the day-to-day that needs to happen.

But you know what?  As much as I wail lamentations about all of this, I really do enjoy every moment. The stress, the panic, the confusion, and the disorganization is almost comforting.  It means I'm alive, I'm well, I'm facing the challenges that come with being a wife and mom.  It sweetens the moments of validation and success that make their rare appearance.  It gives me greater cause to rejoice in my successes and learn from my failures.  It gives me the push to always try harder and do better.

If all of this were easy, it wouldn't be any fun.

Tasty Tuesday Strikes Again.

My sweet tooth was screaming yesterday.  It reminded me of Lent this past year, when we followed the traditional fasting guidelines of the Eastern Rite.  Save for fish, we were pretty much vegan.  It was a whole new level of sacrifice, for sure!

However, it introduced me to possibly the most amazing dessert I've ever had.

Ladies and gentlemen, I relay to you, via Gourmande In The Kitchen, the Chocolate Nut Tart (a Paleo-friendly, gluten free, vegan mouthful of awesome):

Soooooooo delicious!

Ingredients:

For the Crust
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1 ½ cups almond flour
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup


For the Coconut Milk Ganache
• 1 cup full fat coconut milk
• 12 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


For the Topping
• ½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• ½ cup raw macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
• A pinch of sea salt

Instructions

Make the Tart Shell:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse together almond flour, salt and shredded coconut until finely ground. Melt together coconut oil and maple syrup and add to almond flour and coconut mixture, pulse until coarse crumbs form (dough should clump together when squeezed with fingers).
2. Transfer dough to a greased 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Using a measuring cup or your fingers, evenly press dough in bottom and up sides of pan.  (In a pinch, use a springform pan.  It worked fine for me.)
3. Bake in center of oven until golden and firm, about 15- 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely, at least 1 hour.

Make Topping:
4. Spread the chopped macadamia nuts and shredded coconut evenly over a sheet pan and bake until lightly golden (about 3-5 minutes). Set aside.

Make Ganache:
5. Place chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan, bring coconut milk to a boil. Pour hot coconut milk over chocolate and let stand 1 minute, then stir until smooth and creamy. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Assemble Tart:
6. Pour chocolate into cooled tart shell. Lightly sprinkle toasted macadamia nuts and toasted coconut across the top. Sprinkle with a pinch of flaky sea salt if desired. Chill for at least one hour, or until set, and serve.

You won't be sorry.  It's amazing.

Monday... Meme... Rawr!!!

source

I have been gluten free for two solid weeks and the biggest difference has been my sleep.  I sleep better than I think I ever have in my entire life.  I'm dreaming again.  I can't remember the last time I had a good, solid dream sequence.  It has taken me from waking up in a constant state of feeling hungover to waking up and nearly skipping out of my bedroom to begin my day.

But yesterday, the husband bought a growler of beer at a brewery where we had brunch.  He insisted that I try it, so I did.  It was good.  I had MAYBE three tablespoons of the stuff and I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck.  My body ached, by head raged, and it felt like I didn't sleep a wink.

It has turned my Monday into the dinosaur you see above, and my resolve into the screaming, fleeing kid that the dinosaur wishes to devour.

Even still (get ready for some blatant bragging), I managed to wash, dry, and fold two loads of laundry, put one of those loads away, and got the kids to empty the dishwasher (only one dish broken this time, huzzah!), so we'll chalk that up to some serious success!

When Kid #4 hits the pillow for nap time, I plan on finishing up the kitchen's state of affairs and then flopping down to hammer out a menu plan and shopping list for the week.  I may need to carve out some time for a quick catnap though, because I am feeling particularly wrecked.

Damn you, gluten.

The Hangover.

I didn't post yesterday because the day was positively crammed.  It was a good kind of crammed that kept me on my toes from start to finish.  Sadly, today is a major hangover kind of day where I clean up the aftermath of the previous day.  (No, I don't have an actual hangover.)

The family woke up early and shuffled out the door in time to meet family friends for breakfast at their lovely farm.  After enjoying the fellowship at the breakfast table, we made our way out to their coop to dispatch their rooster, Cowboy, who has been terrorizing their family for the last month.  With a towel and some fancy footwork, we caught him and made clumsy work of his demise.  His neck feathers were thick, he fought the whole time, and then stubbornly refused to die after the mortal wound was made.  It was AWFUL.  Our only comfort was that he was a complete terror to the family and we were doing everyone a favor, no matter how he met his end.

Then we went back to gather a hen who wasn't laying so that she might prove more useful post-mortem: in a crock pot.  She was MUCH easier to dispatch.  She was calm and went very peacefully.  I'm glad our botched job with Cowboy helped to prepare we (us?) newbies to make her passing much better.

The children from both families watched the process and they were amazing about it.  They were incredibly curious about the farm-to-table reality of food, and really excited that they knew how happy the chickens lived so that they'd "taste happy" when that time came.  Kid #1 loved their feet the most.  "They're just like T-Rex feet, almost," he'd say.  Smarty pants!

The scalding and plucking was a breeze.  Gutting and disemboweling will take some practice.  Continuing to be a complete pain in the patootey, even in death, Cowboy's opening to his chest cavity was about the size of a golf ball.  Getting a hand in there to get everything out was a nightmare, so we ended up splitting open his breast bone and finishing up his processing.  He's now bagged and in the garage fridge of our friends' home.

And, once again, the hen was a breeze.  Her processing was much quicker and easier.  What was neat about her was that she was full of yolks.  No eggs, no shell-less eggs, but just yolks of all shapes and sizes.  I'm not sure why that is, but I'll be researching that later today.  She's bagged and in our fridge as a "thank you" from our hosts for researching, facilitating, and aiding in their first-ever slaughter.  That's a pretty awesome gift!

We got home in time to shower and assemble a couple of sides for a July 4th cookout.  We got to reconnect with a family we hadn't seen in some time, meet their German au pair (she's very sweet!), and enjoy even more friends and food.

Sadly, as the evening progressed, Kid #4 developed a fever and we had to hightail it home.  John lit off some fireworks with the older three kids while Kid #4 and I cozied up on the couch and snuggled away.  Poor guy was so talkative and enamored with the sounds and lights coming from outside, but he didn't want to be out of my arms for a moment.  I tried putting him to bed, but I have no idea if I was successful or not, as I fell asleep almost immediately.  Boom.

So today begins.  It began hours and hours ago with our neighbor ringing the doorbell at 6 a.m. to borrow our mower.  He mowed our lawn after mowing his own, which was pretty awesome!  Then breakfast happened, and coffee, and now a sink full of dishes, a couch full of clean laundry, and a washer full of dirty clothes cry out to be addressed.  This is on top of the kitchen floor needing serious attention, a yard screaming for some weeding, carpets needing some vacuuming, and a baby who is still sporting a low grade fever.

So, naturally, I'm blogging. ;-)

Here is a fun peek inside our madness.

We are addicted to matching pajama sets.

We make ourselves comfortable, even if it makes us look silly.

We help ourselves. Sometimes it means climbing onto the table to raid the fruit bowl.

We have sweet and innocent faces that are a complete smokescreen for the impish souls within.

We are serious about fitness.  So serious, in fact, that we will do it without pants, in a polo shirt, in shoes that are 15 sizes too big.  And, obviously, safety while using the equipment is a must.

I know, kid #1 is playing a video game in the second picture.  I'm torn about it.  The therapist at the children's hospital autism research group said a half hour to an hour a week would help his hand-eye coordination and exercise his problem solving skills, so long as it's not a point-and-shoot game.  They love to play a game called "Little Big Planet," where you are a little knitted doll who has to run around helping characters from different dreamscapes.  It's really cute, and it does require problem solving.  I just don't know that it requires more of him than, say, a puzzle.  But the selfish mom in me is happy that it does what the therapist wants while captivating the other kids long enough for me to have a breather.  Ugh.

The ant saga continues.  Kid #4, a voracious carnivore, gnawed on the bone from the steak we had the other night and then, unbeknownst to me, tossed it into the laundry closet by the dryer.  Yesterday, I go to do laundry and am met with a swarm of them on that bone.  Naturally, I freaked out and began hosing the lot with poison.  I don't know why we still have the poison, because I abhor using it, but it was right there on the laundry shelf and I wasn't thinking.  Post-massacre clean up involved the making of ant bait (sugar, water, boric acid) that I've placed around the main floor.  I think they're travelling along the baseboards, beneath them, to the various spots in the house.  Ack, ick, yuck.  Hopefully, within a few days, they should be history.

Oh, and in the spirit of rejoicing in small projects, I was given a beautiful shantung satin spring coat for The Girl (kid #3).  It's a classic, beautiful cut.  But there was one aspect that just wasn't her:

The buttons.  They're classic-looking faux-brass, with a shield and some palm detailing.  Lovely, of course, but not my daughter's style.

I was hoping to update it, bringing in a touch of whimsy that my daughter practically lives by:

Bye bye, brass!

Hello, whimsy!

I think it helps update it ever-so-slightly, and The Girl is over the moon about the results.  I may yet swap the buttons on the front for plain white shank buttons rather than sew-throughs.

Well, I'm going to check ant baits and plow through some paperwork before addressing Mt. Washmore on the couch, begging to be folded.