7 Quick Takes - Cooking Edition

It's been a while since I have participated in 7 Quick Takes hosted by Conversion Diary. I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately...

1.
Bread Machine Fail.
Subtitled "what happens when you forget to snap the pan in the bread machine so it can knead properly AND when you mess up setting the delay timer."

2.
What the cinnamon rolls were supposed to look like (and the next attempt did):
You can't see the bottom, but there was butter and brown sugar that melted and gooped together into something wonderful. (Well, it wasn't exactly brown sugar - I ran out and used white sugar and molasses, but didn't bother to check the proportions, so it was a bit...strong. But still good!)

3.
Did I mention my dad and I picked strawberries at a patch belonging to the family who sits next to us at Mass?

4.
I love doing things that aren't necessarily hands-on, but once you're finished, you feel like you've accomplished a ton. Pictured here: soaking oats, soaking nuts, beans in the crockpot.
I am almost out of oatmeal, so I made a small batch. I'm thinking of ordering again from Azure Standard and getting 25 pounds or so - the price is MUCH better than what I can get at Wal-Mart.

5.
Goose isn't a fan of the grain mill or the food processor as she thinks they're too noisy. I wanted to get a picture of what she did when I ground flour the other day, but she popped up as soon as she saw the camera.
Initially, all I could see was a pair of eyes peeping over the back of the couch. Once I shut the mill off, she always asks several times "all done, Mama? All done grinding wheat? All done, Mama?"

6.
I got Goose's jar of miscellaneous beans out yesterday for her to play with, and wondered why I don't do that more often. Well, this is why:

7.
My friend Katie at Kitchen Stewardship is giving away an Excalibur dehydrator. Go check it out!

7 Quick Takes - Snowed In Edition

I've been so busy working on my handmade Christmas stuff and posting for Frugal Fridays that I haven't done a Quick Takes post in forever! Let's see what I can pull together before Goose gets up.

-----(1)-----
We got about a foot of snow this week. The first wave was Sunday night, the second was Monday night to Wednesday early early morning. Temperatures have been around zero.

-----(2)-----
The two-year-old and I did not poke out so much as a toe from Monday at noon to Thursday at 3:30 PM. That was getting a bit rough!

-----(3)-----
Aforementioned 2YO has taken to chucking most to all of the stuff out of her crib at naptime or bedtime, then hollers for mama to come pick it up.

-----(4)-----
#3 is a problem because her wall-mounted space heater isn't working well enough to keep up with the COLD temps, so we've had to move in another space heater that sits on the floor. Since Goose is a lousy sleeper, I don't peek in on her much for fear of waking her up. You'd better believe I've been peeking in, though, to make sure there isn't a pillow or blanket or stray Nappy resting on the space heater, waiting to burst into flames . . .

-----(5)-----
Goose started potty training back at the end of September, and after about a month or so, she seemed to have the hang of it and wasn't having too many accidents; and if she did, she was able to stop she'd holler "put the tinkles in the potty!" and we'd take care of it. After about a month of that, I decided it was time to stop telling her when to go potty (unless it was obvious - when she got up, before nap, etc.). After a few days of doing reasonably well, she started having accidents again. And, she started wetting her diaper in the morning and after naps instead of waiting for me to get her up. I'm kind of bummed, but since we've gone back to my telling her every 2 hours or so, it's been better. Except the diaper thing, which is a bummer because I'd been re-using her disposables since they weren't wet... I'd love to go back to using cloth for $$$ reasons, but I fear that since they're bulkier, they'll encourage her to wet.

-----(6)-----
(Note to self: now that Goose is mostly out of diapers, I *really* need to get a post written on our beloved cloth diapering methods.)

-----(7)-----
I've linked to Faith & Family Live a number of times - did you know that they have a magazine? It's an excellent read for Catholic families. I've been a subscriber for over a year now, and I really enjoy it. I've also read the website since its inception - it is both a blog for a handful of very insightful moms (with an occasional dad and/or priest thrown in for a guest post) and there are occasional articles as well, some crossing over from its sister publication, the National Catholic Register (also an excellent publication). Good stuff! If there's a mom on your Christmas list that you're not sure what to get her, this is a sure bet. You can subscribe here or get a gift subscription here. You won't be sorry!

7 Quick Takes, No Goose Edition 2

--1--
Goose went to Grandma's again. She left this afternoon, after her nap. I'm already lonely. Hubs keeps doing our little "goose call" (like he's trying to call her in) and it makes me miss her more!

--2--
This week, I canned applesauce. Except I left the peels on, then ran it through my canning colander (that looks like these - I don't have a pic of mine!) I thought about blending the peels in, but they'd have needed to cook for longer and I was running short on time.

--3--
Then I canned more tomato juice. (This tip from Heather made a HUGE difference in my mess level - why didn't I think of that???)

--4--
Then I canned some roasted tomato sauce. Thanks to Valerie at Frugal Family Fun Blog for pointing me toward that link! The bummer thing was that I was too stuffed up to smell it!

--5--
I also canned some salsa, using a recipe from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I definitely wore gloves to avoid jalapeño hands.

--6--
Thankfully I seem to be getting over my cold quickly. After getting up so early to make salsa, I got to bed at a good time Tuesday night. But I was pulling a batch of tomato sauce out of the canner at 12:30 this morning - ouch. I actually have one batch left to can, but decided to take a bit of a break today so I put it in the refrigerator and will get it done tomorrow. And I'm extra thankful my nose isn't running constantly like it was!

--7--
Doing all this canning has really been tough on my tennis elbow. My chiropractor showed me a stretching trick with a rubber band to help strengthen the muscles and hopefully help it, but for now, it just aches. And, I'm a weenie. :>)

I have lots of great links for my reading the whole internet post this weekend, hope to see you later!

Also please see this post to learn how September 10, 2001, was as significant for me as September 11th, and I'd love for you to leave a comment over there of where you were when you learned of the events of September 11, 2001.

7 Quick Takes, Chicken Fried Steak Edition

---1---
I made Amy @ Finer Things's chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and cream gravy for lunch today. I do not fry well, but I think Hubs appreciated the effort. Well, maybe not entirely. An hour and forty-five minutes to prepare, then a solid hour of clean-up. No wonder I don't do this every day, and God bless my grandmothers who did. I'm not gonna lie, there was ice cream involved in getting me through it.

---2---
Much of my time this week has been spent putting together activity bags and the like for Goose as we are looking at attending a cousin's wedding that is around 9.5 hours away - and that's just getting there straight through. Head over to my post on occupying toddlers in the car to see what I have planned, and let me know if you have any suggestions!

---3---
For anyone who prayed for my special intentions a while back, thank you! One of them came to pass - I went to confession this weekend. I had been trying for a while to get an appointment, but I kept running into brick walls. (Even after leaving my priest a message saying "I'd like an appointment for confession. I can meet you X, Y, and Z times. Please call me back and let me know which of these will work for you.") I am looking forward to going much more regularly now and seeing how God's graces through this sacrament will help me draw closer to Him. I still have a couple of intentions pending, so if you'd send up another quick prayer, I'd appreciate it.

---4---
Goose seems to be over her stomach bug and I have to admit, it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it might be. Sure, I had to clean up plenty of accidents and do plenty of laundry, but once I let go of fear, turned everything over to God and asked for His grace, He gave it to me! Of course, it was up to me to *accept* that grace and *implement* it - and then *be thankful* for it. God is so good. Though now I seem to have a bit of the stomach bug myself, but it's not too bad.

---5---
Speaking of letting go of fear, Hubs wants to go camping this weekend. Goose has never been camping, and she's always been a pretty poor sleeper. (Sounds like a combo for some good times, eh?) We have made arrangements to borrow a 2-person tent, which will give us enough room for the pack-and-play and the air mattress. It's going to be interesting . . . and a lot of fun, I think. Once I let go of that fear.

---6---
I've been meaning to share this for a while - I get an e-mail each day with a bit of Scripture and a quote from a saint or other holy person. (you can subscribe here) Here is a bit of a paraphrase of what it was a few months ago:

Lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you have been called. (Eph 4:1)
Be humble, be simple, and bring joy to others. St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, 19th century

Pretty simple but strong words as I strive to be the kind of wife and mother that God wants me to be.

---7---
Potty training was completely put on hold for Goose's stomach bug. Now she doesn't want much to do with it. Do I push on, knowing we have a BIG car trip coming up in three weeks, or do I wait until we get home? And is there a good way of protecting a car seat cover that is safe?

And, my 100th post will be coming up in the next couple of weeks. I'm putting together a number of random items to give away and I'd love it if you'd come back and enter - the more, the merrier! It's like a phobia of having a party and no one coming . . . I would be so sad to have a give-away and no one enter it . . . :>)

For more quick takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes, No Goose Version

--1--
I'm experiencing a different kind of freedom, and I'm not sure I like it. I'm all about "God Bless America" and very thankful for the blessings that come from living where we do. The freedom I'm talking about is not having a toddler around! Goose is visiting my parents while my brother's family is there, and I miss her so much already. As I was finishing up my grocery shopping yesterday, I kept feeling like I was missing something - it was not having a diaper bag slipping off my shoulder as I kept an eye on a darting two-year-old. I'm a bit worried that once I get her back, I'll do something like leave her in the car because I'll be out of practice! Good thing she's too vocal to let that happen.

--2--
Anybody notice I *really* forgot to do a garden update this week? (Eek, I've missed TWO weeks!) I thought about getting a pic on both Sunday and Monday, but didn't get it done while it was still light out, then I did a lot of running around to get Goose ready to go. I'm thinking for next week, I'll do more of a row-by-row update - some stuff is getting pretty tall!

--3--
We are hoping to catch a couple of baseball games this weekend, one minor league game and one . . . even more minor than that, but still professional ball. :>) Ever since my big brother took the field, I've loved the game. Hubs and I have joked that if we ever have a son, we'll nickname him "Javy" - which is short for Javier and sounds like a good baseball player's name (i.e. Javy Lopez who used to play for the Braves).

--4--
I have given up cold cereal for breakfast. Whoo! Now I just need to start planning so I can do better than just oatmeal every day. And I need to start getting up earlier to ride my bike before Goose gets up. We've been doing some walking over to the farm (per my mid-year resolutions but have found that the farm dog follows us home. I've been able to get her in the garage each time, but it is a hassle and if she gets over to the highway and gets hit, I'll feel terrible.

--5--
One of my cousins is getting married this summer, and we won't be able to attend her wedding shower. A while back, I read a post on Like Merchant Ships about mailing a prettily wrapped package. So, I wrapped the gift in white paper, tied on a wedding-y ribbon bow, and wrapped the whole thing in cellophane. I'd show you a pic but Blogger is *not cooperating*. I made sure to leave a spot not fully taped so she could get a finger in there to start unwrapping and I noted "OPEN HERE" with a sharpie. Hopefully she got a kick out of it!

--6--
For those of you still reading :>) could you please say a quick prayer for a few special intentions I have right now? One is something that I need to do - that I know God wants me to do - but the doors aren't readily opening for me to do it. I know that if I persevere, God's grace will be extremely abundant, but in my human-ness, it's so much easier to just sit back and wait.

--7--
I'm stuck on six things, so for my 7th, I'd love to share with you a few things I've blogged about this week. One is Prayerful Beads, where I purchased some beautiful rosaries for a very good price, another is how I successfully cooked a frozen casserole on the grill, and finally, how I organized my ribbon scraps for my little craft projects, especially taggie blankets and burp cloths.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary.

Inaugural Seven Quick Takes

--1--

We had quite a hail storm go through last night. No branches down, but lots of leaves are scattered all over. Our siding took some hard dings, and my garden looks a bit sad. I'm hoping it'll bounce back!! A cousin that lives a few miles from us said she noted hail that was near baseball sized. Yikes!

--2--

Hubs is fishing again today. I'm glad he gets to do fun things like that but I sure miss him while he's gone.

--3--

Goose and I are going to hit some garage sales this weekend. The nearby town is having city-wide sales, and I've marked a few that I want to go to for sure. One of the outfits I picked up for her last weekend is missing a few buttons, grr! It's my fault for not looking it over more closely. If I had sold it, though, I'd have attached a note (or piece of tape) that noted the missing buttons, AND I sure wouldn't have sold it for $2.75! But that's just me.

--4--

I practiced my knitting just a little bit more. I think I'm doing it right, anyway. I'm very deliberate still - my mom told me how she could knit and read, or watch TV. I'm not there yet.

--5--

I noted that Goose didn't nap the day I learned how to knit, and didn't sleep all that well that night. She's taken great naps since then (even falling asleep quickly, not her normal MO) and didn't peep once during the storm last night. It's all about letting go of that fear, right? Even when the two-year-old is being VERY TWO!

--6--

I don't think I've mentioned that Goose is going to be gone for a whole WEEK around the 4th of July. She's going to my parents', and my brother and his family will be there, so she'll have a ball. I'm pretty sure I'm going to miss her like crazy, in between appointments for a massage and my annual exam, work, hopefully a baseball game with Hubs, etc.

Oh, I really have no excuse for not cleaning the house top to bottom - except for all the blog posts I want to write. I'm thinking of a system where for every minute that I clean, I can spend like 50% of that much time on the computer, until the cleaning is done. Maybe I'd better cut back to 25%, though . . .

--7--

I will be participating in a weekly Bible study starting next week. I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time in God's word - there's so much to learn, and I can't figure it all out on my own!

Visit Conversion Diary for more quick takes!