End of summer
The beauty of my body is not measured by the size of the clothes it can fit into, but by the stories that it tells. I have a belly and hips that say, "We grew a child in here," and breasts that say, "We nourished life." My hands, with bitten nails and a writer's callus, say, "We create amazing things."
I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon.
~Ellen DeGeneres
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Starving
PAULA DEEN'S BAKED FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE WITH PRALINE TOPPING
1 loaf french bread
8 eggs
2 cups half and half
1 cup milk
2 T sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t nutmeg
dash salt
slice bread into 1-inch slices. arrange slices in generously buttered 9x13 in casserole, in 2 rows, overlapping slices. beat together the rest of the ingredients and pour over bread, making sure all bread is covered evenly, spooning in between the slices. cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
praline topping:
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c chopped pecans (optional)
2 T light corn syrup
1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground nutmeg
blend together well and spread over top of bread (like frosting). bake casserole for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees until puffed and lightly golden.
BANANA BREAD
I follow this recipe to the letter. While others may mess with perfection, I don't. Some people have said, "Oh, I substituted apple sauce for the oil." Good for you, I say. I made it last week. Just had a hankerin' for it. Accept no substitutes.
This is not about cutting fat, cutting calories, or cutting out flavor. This banana bread is best eaten about an hour after taken out of the oven, when the crust is still crusty. Cold, cold milk is the only drink that is good right then.
The recipe card is old. I laminated it. It is Stacey's from way back before the turn of the century.
This recipe isn't just good, it's Hall of Fame.
Preheat the oven to 325 F.
Mash 3 medium to large bananas in a bowl.
Mix in 3/4 C granulated sugar.
Add 1/2 C vegetable oil and 2 eggs and mix.
Mix in 1 3/4 C sifted flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, and 1/2 tsp. salt until you don't see any white from the flour.
Grease and flour a loaf pan.
Pour in the mixture. Bake 1 hour. The toothpick you stick in should come out clean.
Take the pan out and set it on a rack for about twenty minutes to half an hour. Cut in 1" slices while in the pan and serve hot; or wait longer if you can, turn the loaf out, and slice it.
http://nothingbutlove.net/test-blog/archives/000433.htmlFriday, August 13, 2010
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Chit chat
Scouts. let me tell you about scouts. first it was just taking Magnus in to be a Tiger. then it was being the den leader for those 8 little tigers, and then it was den leader for them as wolves, and then Erik had constant falling outs with his leader, so we switched packs, I became the den leader for the Webelos, and lead those boys including my own all to arrow of light (like eagle scouts) for the pack program. now Erik is in the boy scout program, Magnus is in the Webelos program, and I am doubly busy both on a troop level and a pack level. then someone said, hey, you have attended every training that we offer, how about kicking it up a notch, sure, why not. so I went to Woodbadge to be an even better leader. now I am coordinating a hiking program that will benefit the whole church family that sponsors our pack / troop and I motivate them to get out and get more outing in scouting. yesterday we took a boat tour of the Houston ship channel. last week we hiked through the downtown tunnel system and learned about civics, citizenship, and community. the chief of police bumped into us and had a quick chat with the boys. he almost seemed surprised that I didn't jump all over him and blabber away, but I just expect the boys to respect ALL the men in blue, no one more or less. :-)
I am extremely proud of my scouts achievements, my own boys and the boys in our pack, and I am extremely proud that both of my girls are with active duty marines. granted that freaks me out that boy are deploying AGAIN to Afghanistan, but duty to country is a foundation that I believe in strongly. so I help the girls out as best I can, and we just soldier on. I will figure out how to pay off my credit cards one day when this is all over.
as for my July baby, he is so very complicated. I knew something was up before he was a year, but they could not definitively link it to autism, so we just had to work through all the symptoms without any clue. even now, it is difficult to push him to keep going out, if he had his way, he would be a shut in, it is a constant battle but I try to find something for him to do three days a week that requires him to leave the house and interact with other humans.
this summer was INTENSE... for a summary... http://www.erikcameronamundsen.com is complete, http://www.jordanjasonmiles.com is mostly complete, and I am just starting to update http://www.magnusleeamundsen.com on what we did. I guess in my mind, I assume that anyone who is anyone already knows about the boy's blogs. ;-)
as for my tummy, I have never heard of a bezoar and I talk to many gastric bypass people. but I have heard stricture a lot, and that is what the doctor is thinking may be the cause, and a stricture is when the exit hole is too little for the food that was not chewed well enough to pass through and we are warned to cut small and chew chew chew, but frequently many people this far out get lazy and do not follow instructions, so it is a my bad for not doing a better job of taking care of myself.
okay, now I have got to get me some coffee, and find some kind of motivation to do my book keeping today, or the IRS nazi's will come down on my head and beat me to death and take my house for not filing my taxes within my extension. augh augh.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
family status...
okay.. so it must be time for AN UPDATE....
from the bottom:
Magnus is beginning Year two of Home school, he is in the 4th grade and begrudgingly doing his work. He is in a charter school system, funded by the state of Texas, with education dollars, he is taking 9 courses and it takes him 6 hours to do get through it each day. the program is called K12 and they are pretty intense, I call it prep-school. Magnus was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder, http://magnusleeamundsen.blogspot.com/2010/04/sensory-processing-disorder.html is where we summarized for those that follow his blog. he is 4ft9in, and 67 lbs, so as far as CDC says for his age, he is normal
Erik is currently in Norway with his dad for three weeks his blog is http://erikcameronamundsen.blogspot.com/ and that is the most up to date of all the blogs covering what we did this summer. He desperately wants to home school this fall as well, I am leaning heavily towards that but his dad is pulling ferociously in the other direction. I think there will be a small war come Sunday Aug 22, with a shot across the bow of the ship once the plane lands from Amsterdam. Erik is a complicated soul. he has a definite preference for female role models, and has beautiful blonde locks that are the envy of the sisters in the family. it brings him in for some serious ridicule from friends and strangers alike. most people are starting to let it go, but there are some die hard conservatives in town that just can not believe that this BEAUTIFUL person wouldn't just be happier if he was more 'boyish'. We are not going to be surprized when and if the day comes for some announcements. We love Erik or Erika (he has several role playing games that he has a female persona and female avatars named Erika)
Naomi, well we visited with Naomi this summer, and she is exactly the same as she was last summer, the summer before, and the summer before that. mentally she is about 6 and for the most part she is happy. she has her good days, and her bad days. she remembers her family, even if she has not seen them for several years. each of her siblings have various levels of connection with her, most are tolerant of her disabilities, Magnus the least, Krystal the most.Krystal / Jordan are back in California. Jordan came to live with us in February and stayed for 5 months, now his daddy (Jason) is currently deployed to Viper Training in 29 Palms California, for 6 weeks, and then 2 weeks vacation before deployment to Afghanistan. we are terrified, we are getting a flag draped coffin daily here in town, WAY WAY too many casualties. Jordan did have a good visit, and he grew and matured with us, but his momma missed him desperately.
and then there is Jasmine. Jasmine started college in January, she is studying early elementary education, going to teach K-3rd, she lives in Montana, and she and Chase are expecting their first wee one. Chase is in the same Group as Jason, so they will both deploy within days of each other. jasmine is still enrolled, her classes start the end of this month, and baby Lilyanne is due a month to 6 weeks before finals. oh joy. I am planning on going up mid October to help with Lily-anne, taking Magnus with.
as for me, I am still completed dedicated to scouting, went to wood badge training in April (200 hours of community service in the first month) and several hours each month on top of my normal duties as a webelos leader. homeschooling booster member, active in the church, and still struggling to be a professional photographer in an economy that is not conducive to luxuries like portraits.
I do have a outpatient surgery on Friday, so could use some prayers, have to go back in and make some modifications to the gastric bypass, there seems to be some blockage, called a Bezoar are tightly packed collections of partially digested or undigested material stuck in the stomach. lovely.
the husband, augh. the husband. he is still employed with HP, but they RARELY keep anyone past 20 years, and he is already past 17, so we know his days are numbered.
so that is me in a nutshell.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Taco Tuesday
Serves 4-6 Hands-On Time: 15m Total Time: 45m
Ingredients
* 1 10-ounce can green or red enchilada sauce
* 1/4 cup heavy cream
* 4 8-inch flour tortillas
* 2 cups (8 ounces) grated Monterey Jack, plus 1/4 cup for the top
* 1 3 1/2- to 4-pound rotisserie chicken, shredded
* 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
* 1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
* 1 cup salsa
* 1 avocado, diced
* 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
1. Heat oven to 400° F.
2. In a small bowl, combine the enchilada sauce and cream. Spoon 1/4 cup of the sauce mixture into the bottom of a shallow 2-quart casserole or 9-inch springform pan. Top with 1 tortilla and a third each of the cheese, chicken, onion, and zucchini. Repeat twice to form a total of 3 layers. Top with the remaining tortilla, sauce mixture, and cheese.
3. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes more. Slice into wedges and serve with the salsa, avocado, and cilantro.
Thursday, August 05, 2010
what is for dinner?
Intense Mother of 5 children: 3 girls (twins) and 2 boys (year apart), three of which are special needs children, Breastfeeding and car-seat nazi, Grandmother of 1 ¾ precocious turbo tykes, Jordan is age 3, Lily-Anne is Expected by Halloween. Clucking Mother(hen)-in-law of two Marines too deploy to Afghanistan for second tour this fall. Passionately involved Boy Scout Leader with fervent expectations of one Webelos and one Tenderfoot and fiercely patriotic. Professional Portrait Photographer of some epic note. Eco-terrorist and proponent of electronic and digital education. College Graduate with Bachelor of Science in Forestry, Natural Resource Management, Minor degrees in Geology and GIS (Computer Cartography). Wife of Sverre (eco-minion) whom is a I.T. Guru at H.P. Deeply committed to community volunteering.