This Week on Facebook

I know a few of you aren't on Facebook so I thought I'd share some of the fun stuff that's been over there this week...

Videos of dogs greeting their returning owners/veterans. Need to cry? There you go.

I've been enjoying a thread on the 9 News page about a billboard put up by a group for atheists.
Sounds pretty harmless, eh? So you can guess how Cincinnatians responded, uproar and threats.

Then there's this hilarious link that's been going around with a recording of two messages some guy left for some girl after trying to pick her up. Go now and listen. So hilarious. It reminded me of this guy I met at a used car lot. One afternoon my friend Tamiko and I went out to a local used car dealership to look around. We were approached by a man named Sunny (Sonny?) who had me fill out a form, I don't remember what for, I wasn't buying anything. That night he calls me. AT HOME. He wanted to tell me that I was very pretty and that he had a good, solid job and a home. He has a nice group of friends who I would like very much. I (being unable to shake the need to be a "nice girl") told him how I was in college and happily living with my sister and two dogs. Or was it a dog and two cats? I don't remember. Anyway he tells me how his house has room for all of us, my sister too. I called the dealership and tattled.

Tomato Curry Chicken and Rice

Curry is one of those things that you either like or you hate. Sort of like licorice. I love curry and it turns out Kenai loves curry too! I had never actually cooked with it so I was happy to get this recipe from my good friend, Taffany.
Taffany is one of those people who just makes you stop and go, "Oh. Wow." She's incredibly driven and keeps going long after I would have given up. Just knowing her is like going to your first decent diversity training. I met her at church, a Christian/Church of Christ but she now attends a Nazarene fellowship. She was involved with the Mormons for a while and still had them come and pray with her before major surgery. The first time I had this rice dish she had made it for her daughter's birthday party. She had also made bbq turkey instead of pork because some of their friends who were coming to the party are Muslim. There were Latino friends, white friends and African friends; Christians and Muslims gathered around a huge spread of food, playing corn hole and running around. I hope it was something like what Heaven will be like.

Tomato Curry Chicken and Rice
vegetable or canola oil
onion (at least 1/2 large)
tomatoes (one can diced or fresh)
tomato paste (one small can)
boneless skinless chicken (I used 3 breasts)
rice - this usually calls for jasmine which is what I used but it has a particular texture that not everyone likes so long grain white rice is fine as well
salt, cumin, curry, garlic, goya (blue lid), red pepper flakes, tenderizer (optional)
water
frozen vegetables (peas are best)

First cut your chicken pieces into bite size, toss them with a little oil and all the spices listed above. Let them sit like that.
Dice your onion. You can do it as big or small as you'd like. I love the taste of onion but the texture makes me vomit so I chopped them until they screamed for mercy. I chopped the HELL out of those onions. Smaller than the onions on your McDonald's cheeseburger, these onions. See,

Cook the onion in your canola oil until it's tender (or if you are like me, very, very tender) Add the can of tomato paste and the diced fresh or canned tomatoes. I don't like large pieces of cooked tomato (I know I'm SO picky) so I got a can of petite diced tomatoes and then chopped them even smaller. Cook this down until it's a nice brown color. Add the spices listed above (minus the tenderizer)

While the tomato is cooking throw your rice into another skillet and brown it just a little. This brings out the flavor or something, I'm not sure. But it's fun and it smells good. I ended up using two cups of rice for the amount of chicken I had.

Add the rice to the tomato mixture with the amount of water called for on the bag. Then use the rice skillet to brown the chicken.

When the chicken is cooked through, add it to the rice and tomato. Add the vegetables. Taffany uses mixed veggies, I used peas and spinach. I would highly recommend skipping the spinach and going with just peas.


I LOVED this meal. Elliet tried it and didn't like it. Jedd didn't try it. Kenai ate it every single day until it was gone.

My Dad and I

Allllmost talking politics.

Sincerely

Dear childcare workers,
Ziva is tall for her age. She is not old enough to be on the toddler climber alone. She is not old enough to sit in an adult rocker by herself. Oh, and don't give me a reprimanding note about bringing in a cup for her when I brought in a cup for her.

Dear voters,
Gay people are just PEOPLE. They fall in love, they build a life with someone and they have families. Your ignorance is HURTING them. This is not a theocracy, we do not legislate morals.

Dear orthopedic doctor,
Thank you for spending more than 60 seconds looking at my daughter. I know that now that she is post-surgery she's not quite as interesting as many of the cases you get. Thank you for taking time with her anyway and for understanding that there is more to orthopedics than surgery.

Dear November,
Thank you for mint m&m's and peppermint mocha creamer. You're my favorite.

Current Playlist

Run This Town - Jay-Z with Rihanna
I love all things Rihanna. Well, most things Rihanna. PS, Jay-Z "No Homo" is teh LAME.
Forever - Chris Brown
Yes, because of the YouTube video...
Down - Jay Sean with Lil Wayne
Which sounds so much like Forever that I sometimes confuse them
Whatcha Say - Jason Derulo
It grows on you
Don't Stop Believing - Glee Cast
They do it better than Journey.
Hide And Seek - Imogen Heap
I downloaded this to try and make it my friend's ringtone because we discovered the Dear Sister parodies while she was living here and it's a great memory. She called me up the other day when she heard Whatcha Say on the radio, we couldn't believe someone was sampling this song.
Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
When Hide and Seek turned out to be non-ringtone compatible (fuck you very much, Apple) I downloaded this, one of my friend's favorite songs (from Cruel Intentions, one of her favorite movies) and it turned out to be non-ringtone compatible (no really, Apple) I should probably check compatibility before I download.
Please Don't Leave Me - P!nk
Because P!nk is the shit. And have you seen this video? So funny, I'll pin it to the bottom of this post for you.
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
What is it about that guy's voice?
Dirty Little Secret - The All-American Rejects
I'm going to hell but I'm actually proud that Elliet knows the words
Sugar, We're Goin Down - Fall Out Boy
Very catchy
Know Your Enemy - Green Day
It's Green Day, everyone should have SOME Green Day. Take your pick, it all sounds pretty much the same!
Crazy Bitch - Buckcherry
Because my sister said it's my song... Plus it's not a good playlist unless there's one song I have to skip when the kids are with me.

What are you listening to?

No embedding of the P!nk video so here's the link!
Please Don't Leave Me

(I'm trying out Blip.fm so I'm going to try and embed these songs over there on the sidebar. We'll see how that works out. Don't worry, if it starts up automatically I will delete it.)

**Edit**The player was acting up so instead there is a link to my Blip page where you will find all of these songs.

My Confession

I did not nurse Kenai or Ziva for very long. I had reasons for giving up, pretty good reasons I think, but I still feel guilty. I wear the shame and regret that has become the mother's uniform. I'm not proud of it, I'm actually more ashamed of the way I feel than I am about the original "sin". But I always come back to this feeling that I cheated my children. Usually, it's after talking to breast feeding advocates.

I'm not against breast feeding (Elliet was nursed exclusively for a year). I'm not against advocating breast feeding. What I am against is people making claims that formula kills. I'm against comparing the marketing of formula to women in the US to serious human rights violations. I refuse to believe the assertion that women are so easily swayed by a pretty can of formula that we shouldn't even offer it to them or they will turn away from the almighty breast. Formula doesn't kill. Lack of clean water kills. Lack of education kills. Starvation and dehydration kill.

They say instead of guilt, I should feel anger. That I should blame the industry for making me think it was okay to give formula, for being tricksy enough to fool me into thinking formula would nourish my baby. That still tells me that formula is bad and my children will be inferior because of it. It assumes I wouldn't haven't chosen to formula feed if it weren't so readily available. It assumes I don't want to take responsibility for my own choices. But I do take responsibility. I had all the information then that I do now but I still chose to stop breast feeding when it became too difficult.

The #nestlefamily ordeal on Twitter was I *think* supposed to be about Nestle's unethical corporate practices. This includes using cacao harvested by slaves and children and heavy-handed marketing of baby formula to women in developing countries who have then mixed it wrong or mixed it with dirty water, both of which can lead to serious illness and death. I'm not sure what else it includes. There were people who were also upset about things like free cans of formula being given to new moms (in the US). That's when I got into the conversation. I was surprised that in the midst of a discussion on serious human rights violations, people still wanted to make it about how formula is bad and shouldn't be marketed to anyone. It makes me very uncomfortable when people make an argument that sounds very much like, "If women had fewer options, they'd make the 'right' choice." I don't like it.

I'm not going to boycott Nestle. I don't really think boycotting is all that effective and you have to be REALLY dedicated to boycott a company that big (seriously, they make EVERYTHING). Instead of boycotting I usually try and support companies I like. I buy fair trade coffee, preferably from companies that only sell fair trade products, but I'm not boycotting Folgers. I buy Seventh Generation cleaners but I'm not boycotting Clorox. I can get behind fair trade chocolate but I don't really buy much chocolate. I have tweeted to @NestleFamily to ask them what they can do to eliminate slave labor in cacao farming.

What do you think of Nestle? Will you boycott? Do you think boycotts are effective?

Edited: I just saw that I had written "free trade coffee" instead of "fair trade coffee" Not really the same thing! Fixed.

Again With The Muffins

I have been searching for a muffin recipe for a while now. All I want is something that is healthy, tastes good and isn't too hard to make. I'm either asking for too much or I just haven't found it yet. The last one I tried just didn't come out to my liking at all (even though I ADORE the blogger who posted it). Since then I've been making bran muffins using the original All Bran recipe. These are good. I use 1/2-n-1/2 whole wheat and white flour and I've been experimenting with adding ground flax seed. I also like things a teensy bit sweeter so I sprinkle a little cinnamon-sugar on top of the muffins before baking.
The bran muffins are good but I really want something with bananas in it. I have a killer banana bread recipe but it is SO not healthy and I find I am frequently in possession of browning bananas. Yesterday Kenai wanted to bake something so we tried out a recipe I found on the blog Sweet Savory Southern.

Healthy Banana Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour (I used 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup all purpose flour ( I used 3/4 cup)

1/2 cup granulated sugar (you can use a combo of brown & white if you’d like)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans…whatever you prefer)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

dash or two of nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup skim milk

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup mashed bananas

Preheat oven to 400*

Using a whisk, combine all your dry ingredients in one bowl: whole wheat and AP flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, nuts, spices).

Beat the egg lightly in a separate bowl. Whisk in milk, applesauce, vanilla to the eggs.

Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold bananas in.

Divide the batter among a greased or paper-lined muffin tin.

Bake for about 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

I used 1/2-n-1/2 whole wheat and white flour since I keep it mixed that way. Now that I think about it, I don't know the actual ratio due to some mishaps involving a husband who doesn't know he shouldn't just dump expensive bags of organic flour together all willy-nilly. ANYWAY. I used 2% milk and no nuts. I didn't have nutmeg so I added an extra dash of cinnamon. I also sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top. These were done (maybe slightly too done) at 16 minutes. They came out delicious and very moist. However, they have this thin outer layer that is kind of chewy. I'm not sure why that is yet, I've had this problem with other recipes.

The baby loves the muffins (maybe a little too much). I like them aside from the slightly rubbery outside issue (it's like a skin). They were good straight from the oven but even better this morning with a little cream cheese.

Maybe I'd Want to Do It If It Weren't Called "Discipline"

Jedd and I started the Dave Ramsey program last night. I wouldn't say I'm a fan of Ramsey, he's a little too conservative about gender roles and money for my taste. But he knows his shit. Our finances are a joke. Seriously, it's ridiculous. Jedd makes a decent salary but we are always broke. We have no savings to speak of and plenty of unsecured debt. See, we really like to NOT plan for things. We like to be undisciplined in every way we can get away with. (yes, a preposition, shut up) We like to avoid planning dinner so that we have to eat out when dinner time rolls around and we realize we don't have a personal chef. We aren't *big* spenders, we might go to the mall once or twice a year for the Apple store and Godiva. We don't have expensive clothes, Jedd gets his hair cut at "Should Have Done It Your Own Self" Super Cuts. I go fancy so I only go once or twice a year. We don't have new cars, we didn't get a tv until the color went out on the old one and when we did we got it small enough that the kid at Best Buy asked if it was our "bedroom model". We got a new couch when the two-seater just wasn't enough for our family anymore and we only spent $400.
The fourth "baby step" in the program is Building Wealth. Building wealth requires discipline is what Dave Ramsey said. Discipline. Huh. I bet discipline could help us in a lot of other ways. I bet discipline would get me to the gym again. I bet it would help us be more gentle with the children. Discipline might even help me stop eating so damn much. So now there's a theme. Discipline is my theme. The conviction I talked about before requires discipline.
Now, how do you get discipline? Is it just something you decide to do? Is it a "fake it til you make it" sort of thing? It sounds hard.
I'm going to work on being disciplined with our money, with food, with exercise, with parenting and maybe with reading the (*Gulp*) Bible. Did I mention I can't remember the last time I read the Bible? Yikes. So I'm going to try this discipline thing and it's going to solve EVERYTHING!
I'll keep you posted.

I Made Some Dinner Tonight

I did. It was good and it was simple. I have a newish friend who is very cool and I'm finding that I sort of ADORE her. She is the one who convinced me to workout and then split a trainer with me. (mmm, delicious trainer)
Anyway, this friend told me she couldn't really cook. What I didn't realize was that she really can't cook. She and her brood came over for chili once and she wanted to know how I made it so I jotted down the basic ingredients. I mean, it's chili. She asked me how long to cook it after you put it all together. Uhh, until it's hot?
I mentioned this friend to my mom who reminded me that I had to ask her how to fry an egg after I got married. (I can cook a mean egg now. Shut up)
So anyway, from now on I will post occasional food things like I always have but they will be very basic so that my friend (should she ever read here) and others like her can figure it out. Given some time these people will be able to fry an egg and saute a veggie as well as the rest of us.
So today I needed to make dinner. I have to do this because my kids can only eat so many fried eggs, no matter how well I make them. Plus have you SEEN the price of free range eggs? Those bitches are pure gold.
So I made dinner. I had some zucchini and yellow squash that really needed to be cooked. I bought them because I like to cook them in a skillet with lots of garlic and eat them next to pretty much everything. But then I didn't do any cooking last week. So I washed them and sliced them. It doesn't matter how thick as long as they are all similar in size (keep the zucchini and yellow squash separate!). I heated a skillet on the notch above medium and put in a little olive oil, I'd say maybe a tablespoon or so? When it was warm (the oil gets shimmery) I crushed a few cloves of garlic into the pan and spread it around a bit. You don't want it in there very long by itself, once it's brown it changes the flavor of the garlic. So at this point I added in the zucchini and then about 1/3 cup of chicken broth and put the lid on the skillet. I have found that the yellow squash cooks faster than the zucchini. So about three minutes later I add in the yellow squash and put the lid back on. It cooks for a few minutes 5? 10? I'm not entirely sure, I'd say check it every 3 minutes. It's done when the pieces look more opaque, not so white anymore, and they are soft. It was early in the day so I took them out of the skillet and put them in a glass bowl. I used tongs so I could leave the broth in the pan. Then I threw a large handful of frozen carrots in the pan and covered it. I cooked this on the notch between low and medium for a few minutes until they were hot and soft. I let the carrots cool and then pureed them. I used a mini blender because I don't really know how to use the big one. Add in the juice from the pan for a little extra moisture. I added the carrot puree to two cans of spaghetti sauce (we like LaRosa's). At dinnertime I mixed the sauce, carrot puree and veggies together and served it over whole wheat pasta (Bella Terra is the best, trust me). It was really good and super healthy.
What'd you make for dinner?

Conviction

I hate conviction. I hate it because it means I HAVE to do something. It will eat at you until you do. Tonight I felt convicted. But this time I'm pretty happy about it.
During the Summer of Love series at church we have been going through the ten commandments. The ministers approached the commandments with the premise that God is love so what are the commandments saying about love? Tonight was the one about coveting.

Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The preacher summed this up as "Love contentment" (each commandment had been re-worded as Love____). I cannot believe how bad this issue has become for me and how completely ignorant I was to it. I am not content. I want a bigger house. I want more money. I want to be able to eat out whenever I want without worrying about the money. I want more children. I want I want I want. It's ridiculous really.
So I feel convicted. I feel that I need to find contentment. I could start with being grateful for the things I have.
I am so grateful that Kenai is okay. Her surgery last year was successful and she hasn't had a seizure in over a year. Jedd has a good job and chances are, even if the company downsizes as a result of the healthcare bill, he will be one of the ones that stays on because they appreciate how hard he works for them. I am grateful that my family has come so far. It was not so long ago that I couldn't even talk to my parents and now my mom is one of my best friends. I am grateful for my old church and for my new church. I love them both for different reasons. LifeSpring is the first church I went to where I found family. I am certain I will carry some of those relationships with me forever. I am grateful for the church we are in now and their amazing willingness to serve the community and the world.
I have an idea of what this conviction will require of me but I will save that for another post. For now, I am simply aware of the problem and this is lightyears from where I was before the sermon.