Let Joy Resound!

Photo book

2010-12-02T14:03:00.001-05:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

SwagBucks - really works

2009-02-18T09:49:00.003-05:00

Have you heard of Swagbucks? I came across it a few months ago and it's a search engine that gives you points (swagbucks) randomly throughout the day when you search. The search engine uses Google and Ask, and I've found what I need using this site. The best part is, you rack up swagbucks that can be redeemed for gift cards and other items - I always go for the gift cards. I've gotten two or three $10 gift cards so far, and depending on how active you are, you can earn faster. Check it out!

I know, I know

2009-02-17T14:04:00.010-05:00

It's been two months since I last posted. If you haven't guessed, I'm not blogging very much anymore! Way to state the obvious. I still cook and take pictures, though a little less of both as far as new and creative things go. From a couple VERY busy months at work to having the priority of rest (from work in the evenings) and health during my pregnancy, my blog is at the bottom of the list. I'm sure many of you understand!

I'll likely resume my blog a little more to post baby pictures, though at that point, I will either open a separate blog with a password, or add password access to this one.

My pregnancy:
-> Going very well. I'm 28 weeks, and the baby moves a lot. Ryan has enjoyed feeling the baby move for the last few weeks as well. I'm in the third trimester and can hardly believe it already! I can [safely] give birth in the next 9-14 weeks. I was brave enough to include a picture from 27 weeks, to the right.

-> The midwives have been great so far, and I'm thankful for the option of The Midwife Center to give birth our our child in May. So far, so good for remaining low risk to remain out of the hospital.

-> Three excellent books that greatly influenced my approach to birth and pregnancy are:
- The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth
- Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way
- Ina May's Guide to Childbirth

-> Our intention is to cloth diaper. I am decided on prefolds with covers, and look forward to it. We hope to use a diaper service the first month or so which will help ease us into baby life, cloth diapering, and laundry, especially living in an apartment with communal laundry facilities.

-> We are not finding out the gender nor telling a soul a hint of any names, but below is an amazingly clear, cute, adorable ultrasound profile from 21 weeks.

-> Thanks to a Webster certfied chiropractor, I found relief from some discomfort related to my pregnancy, and am back to feeling pretty good. Except when I try to roll over or get up off the floor. That won't change anytime soon :).

Why do I want to remain out of the hospital to give birth? We believe a birth center is the option for us to achieve a natural birth with little intervention and with the support we need to accomplish natural childbirth. We have many desires for how we'd like the birth to go or not go, and barring a true emergency or risk situation, we don't believe we need all the things the hospital likes to offer (or sometimes, force you into thinking are required). There are risks with each intervention, and when the benefit of the intervention outweighs the risk of not doing it, we'll gladly accept it. We also appreciate the attentive care of the midwives and admire their experience and knowledge of how birth should go.

Our life
-> Ryan is nearing the end of three years of seminary. Lord willing, he will graduate a few days after our baby is expected to be born. Yep, it's gonna be a full month!

-> Our first anniversary is next week. We look forward to a three-night stay at a cozy B&B in Lancaster, PA, when we attend the wedding of one of my dear college friends. It's been an awesome year being married to my best friend.

-> Our future after graduation is unknown, except that we hope to be caring for a healthy newborn and continuing to enjoy marriage.

-> Here's a recent photo of my very handsome husband

Baby Dreams

2008-12-17T12:17:00.002-05:00

I've neglected my blog. I know you are all fine with that and surviving. :)

I've had two baby dreams so far.

A month or so ago, I dreamed we had a boy, blue eyes, light hair and skin (like me) and we were in the car leaving a church. I was holding him up front (!) and he was a pudgy older baby maybe 5 mo, and I reached around to put him in his facing-forward car seat (!) and remember thinking, I hope whoever put him in the seat to come to church had read the instruction manual for the car seat, and I was thinking, I really need do read it myself.

So strange!

Last night, I dreamed that I had a baby girl and had to go away right away for whatever reason for about a week, and I came home to my old neighborhood and a neighbor offered me a piece of pita with hummus on it that I snacked on as I crossed the street to go to my parents old driveway. My mom came out with my baby and handed her to me, and I got a good look at her face: light hair, blue eyes, light skin, and I was so excited to be home and be with her again. She looked to be about 5 months old and not a newborn though I was only gone week, she wasn't pudgy like my son in the other dream. lol.

So far, I've put my kids in danger and neglected them! Thankfully I am not overly concerned that this will flow over into reality.

Bread

2008-11-18T17:35:00.000-05:00

A couple months ago, a friend at church graciously taught me how to make her whole wheat bread and let me have the recipe. The previous recipe I was using resulted in bread that I wasn't proud of, nor wanted to eat once it was a day old. It was called whole wheat, but wasn't 100% whole wheat. I don't know if it was the recipe or me not working it enough. I do know it wasn't the flour because I used the same whole wheat flour the first time I made this new recipe at home, and it turned out great. For the old recipe, I used my mixer for all of it, but actually enjoy doing it all by hand now, as my friend taught me.

She recommended I do that, particularly to learn how the dough feels and progresses. I should add that my mixer can't really handle 8-9 cups of flour for half the recipe, let alone 15-18 for the full recipe! She works in the last few cups of flour while working it by hand, out of the bowl.

Half the recipe makes two large loaves and one small one, which happens to work with the three loaf pans I have. I have only done this twice at home, but both times, made a cinnamon-sugar loaf with the small one.

Grapefruit?

2008-11-11T17:30:00.001-05:00

Do you all like grapefruit? If so, how do you eat it?

Pink Grapefruit is pretty delicious, though I always sprinkle sugar on it. I cut around the wedges to free them for eating, a habit I got from my Dad. For years, he'd meticulously cut grapefruit halves for the first part of our Christmas breakfast every year (for as long as I can remember). we still have it.

What about you? Leave a comment.

P.S. My mom's mom eats it with salt!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2008-11-03T17:55:00.001-05:00

Before today, I don't think I ever ate pumpkin seeds. I knew Ryan liked them so I went on the search for a couple seasoned pumpkin seed recipes. Of course, I couldn't roast them all just plain and with only salt. I had about 4 cpus of seeds, so I used four different seasoning combinations. We liked each of them pretty well.

Plain with butter, olive oil and salt. I used popcorn salt because it's so fine.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (rosemary, salt).

Spicy Pumpkin Seeds (salt, cayenne pepper)

Lime Toasted Pepitas (surprise, surprise) Actually, these seeds are from the butternut and acorn squashes that I roasted for Velvety Squash Soup for dinner on Saturday. They turned out tasty like the pumpkin seeds. I had a little less than a cup of them.

Pumpkin Puree

2008-11-01T17:46:00.007-04:00

Pioneer Woman illustrated how to make your own pumpkin puree, and I couldn't NOT do it since we received a couple pumpkins from the CSA farm.

Strangely, while the pumpkins roasted, they smelled like hay. It must have been the stringies that I couldn't completely remove.

My yield from three pumpkins was 10 cups of puree, which I froze in quart-sized bags, 2 cups in each. I don't know the cost to me of the pumpkins, but 5-6 cans of pumpkin puree would be at least $10.

Coming soon: roasted pumpkin seeds

Coconut Oil

2008-10-31T13:24:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to post about coconut oil all summer and haven't...

We love it. We eat it. We put it on our skin. I've read a lot about it. I plan to use it on our baby's skin for "baby acne".

Robin posted about it recently over at Whole Food Nation and it's a quick summary of its benefits. She has summarized what I've read in many places. Please check it out!

I have always bought the Nutiva brand, though there are many others. I get it from Amazon using the subscribe and save option I mentioned a while back. The key is to get cold-pressed, virgin, organic coconut oil. It should smell like coconuts.

I haven't been around....

2008-10-20T08:49:00.002-04:00

Blogging has been the last thing on my mind in the last several weeks since all of my energy has gone to working, sleeping, eating, and incubating our baby. Oh, and keeping my food down.

Our baby??? Wha-? Yep! Due in mid May to two very excited parents-to-be (and some very excited grandparents and aunts and uncles).

To God be the glory!

The Slow Cooker

2008-09-25T15:40:00.000-04:00

What are some of your favorite slow cooker recipes? I've been wanting to use mine more, and now is as good a time as any. I haven't used it nearly enough in the last three or so years despite the fact that I love to come home from work and have dinner prep so well progressed already. I thankfully have the option to come home at lunch or any time in the afternoon to start a recipe that doesn't require all day cooking. I really should use it more. Help me!

Now the Lightswitches Work!

2008-09-20T21:03:00.001-04:00

At five pm on Thursday, our electricity came back on. We were sooooo happy to have it back (and still are).

Here are some pretty amazing pictures of Hurricane Ike damage.

I still flip the switch anyway

2008-09-17T08:38:00.003-04:00

Wind on Sunday night. No power until Friday. That is our story.

The longer version is our area was hit by high winds from Hurricane Ike on Sunday night. As we drove home from the RP Home where Ryan preached, there were branches around and areas without power. Minutes after arriving home, we lost our power. It's been off ever since and the power company says "late Friday" for our area. Around noon on Monday, we moved the food in our fridge and freezer to the church, and it's still there, nice and cold. Some good friends invited us to shower at their place, which we took them up on the last two nights since we don't have hot water. They also invited us to dinner last night and for Thursday. Tonight, there is a meeting and pizza at church.

I've enjoyed going to bed earlier but it would be nice to have light to clean the kitchen and be able to cook or have cold food. I have food at work in my mini fridge, but Ryan has had to scrounge for breakfast. I'm thankful that we haven't lost anything and that it's been cool enough to sleep comfortably at night.

What's funny is I sometimes still turn on light switches or lamps out of habit. Obviously, nothing happens. Who knows how many lights will be on in our apartment when the power comes back.

What's the longest you have ever gone without power?

35 Ways to Save on Groceries

2008-09-15T08:23:00.001-04:00

Money Saving Mom linked to this helpful post on MotherLoad which lists 35 ways to save on your grocery budget. It's worth a read -I bet there is something you can implement from the list. Check it out.

I've done many of the things on the list. A few months ago, Ryan and I started using cloth napkins for the two of us instead of paper. We have a good stock of paper napkins, and they will last a long time! The cloth napkins last us a while since we aren't messy eaters - we see no reason to wash them after one or two light uses.

I've been making my own cheese biscuits using whole wheat pastry flour and sometimes half all purpose flour. I use palm oil shortening, and they are so much better than using Bisquick! Earlier this summer, I stopped using canola oil in my own cooking in an effort to reduce our consumption of damaged oils. I haven't made tortilla strips for tortilla soup yet though since doing so, and will need to find a good, flavorless substitute.

There are also many other things I prefer to make myself instead of buying the product or a mix to make the product: salad dressing, pancakes, waffles, bread, guacamole, salsa, spaghetti sauce, cookies, and cakes.

I have yet to cook a whole chicken...I don't know why they scare me!

Talk to me. Are there things on this list you do or other ideas you have?

When to Buy Organic

2008-09-12T08:53:00.004-04:00

I've known of some foods that one should try to buy organic, because of how heavily they receive pesticides (raspberries, peanuts/peanut butter). I've known of other foods where it isn't as much of a concern, because there is an outer skin (oranges, bananas). I read a helpful post on Whole Food nation summarizing what types of you should try to buy organic and which are ok being non organic. I summarized the info below but there is additional helpful info in the original post, including why certain foods should be bought organic and how many pesticides are sprayed on the foods (most are 25 or more).

Non organic is ok:
Asparagus
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cabbage
Eggplant
Kiwi
Mangoes
Onions
Pineapples
Sweet corn
Sweet peas

Organic is safer:
Beef, Pork and Poultry
Milk, Cheese and Butter
Strawberries, Raspberries and Cherries
Apples and Pears
Tomatoes
Potatoes
Spinach and Other Greens
Coffee
Peaches and Nectarines
Grapes
Celery
Red and Green Bell Peppers

I would like to add that I believe buying local produce when you know how it is grown (like from a CSA) can provide a happy middle ground to the expense of organic and the lack of quality and nutrients of the non organic, conventionally grown items above. Cost is unfortunately prohibitive of our buying more organic.

Are there particular foods you regularly buy organic? There are some for Ryan and I, though I don't think there are any foods we always buy organic. I prefer organic raspberries, for the lack of chemicals and because I have found them to taste immensely better. We have never bought organic meat. By the way, don't be fooled by "all natural" or "100% natural" labels on chicken - there are no established guidelines for what constitutes natural.

Perhaps you should try it

2008-09-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

The most common search that sends people to my blog is "Ancho and Coffee Rubbed Filet Mignon with Ancho Mushroom Sauce". It comes up at least weekly (which is pretty common for my low traffic blog).

Have you seen the recipe? It's the first Bobby Flay recipe I ever made, and it is delicious. A special occasion dish. Spicy. Flavorful. The method of cooking the steaks is perfect and superior over the grill, and there are components of the recipe that you can make ahead.

Check it out. Ancho-And-Coffee-Rubbed Filet Mignon with Ancho-Mushroom Sauce

Frisbee

2008-09-06T08:14:00.002-04:00

Micah and Asher could go all day with playing frisbee! Throw, fetch, tug, rinse and repeat.

My parents also do agility with each of them, and they can hardly wait to get out on the course to practice! They whine and whine when it's not their turn and see each other getting to do agility.

Practice at dusk in the backyard

Oregon!

2008-09-04T22:51:00.000-04:00

We went and are back already. Man, did it go fast. We looked forward to this trip for about seven months and can't believe it's already over! We had a great time with my family. Thankfully, we did not have any flight delays! Here are some photos. Check out the rest here, if you'd like.

My husband, the rock thrower.

My younger brother Adam, being goofy in the surf. The water wasn't as cold as it normally is.

We picked peaches again this year.

The Chocolate Pudding That Wasn't

2008-09-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

It was last time though. It was very good. This time? Something went wrong. I took pictures, chronicling my pudding-making extravaganza, expecting to end with a lush, thick display of rich, dark chocolate. Not this time. Not like last time. Fear not, for you can make this successfully, as Catherine did, as I did before, and as Smitten Kitchen originally posted. But because I'm humble and want to capitalize on a teaching situation, I'll show you what happened. The end result was a less-than-thick pudding that tasted wonderfully chocolaty. The consistency was the problem.

Starting out, I make my own double broiler. The clothes pin, or something like it, is essential to let the steam out. It's smart to put it at the back of the pan to allow the steam to escape out the back and not up on your wrist.

I made a double recipe to use some milk that wasn't going to last much longer, and I used agave nectar in place of the sugar. Not being a pudding expert, I wonder if this did me in right from the beginning. I haven't baked with agave but we like it as a sweetener for coffee, smoothies and yogurt. It gives pure sweetness (as opposed to honey) and is raw and unrefined and doesn't cause your blood sugar to spike. So I tried it with this recipe. Since the cornstarch seems to "make" the pudding, I thought this would be ok. I used up most of the agave I had. I now wish I had saved it for coffee and such. I've since ordered more though, so it's ok.

Since I used agave, I added another tablespoon of cornstarch.

After an hour (AN HOUR) it had only thickened slightly. The recipe calls for 15-20 minutes. I realized it just wasn't getting hot enough to cook. I finally decided to add the chopped chocolate to see what would happen:

The first time I made this pudding, it quickly melted and became smooth and shiny. I finally resorted to straight heat and it started thickening, though a little lumpy. I think during all this I added even more cornstarch (whisked into a little water first to be lump-free; don't dump it straight in). I was so ready to be done with it that I stopped there and put it in dishes.

When I tried it after it chilled, it tasted GREAT and with a full chocolate flavor. The only problem was it was set very firm.

My mom didn't think the double broiler was actually necessary since there wasn't anything to curdle. Maybe the double broiler cuts down on the lumps though.

Me

2008-08-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Dreams At My House

2008-08-27T08:58:00.004-04:00

This week, for three mornings in a row, I had dreams that took place at my old house. Is it because we're going to Oregon tomorrow that it's on my brain? Who knows, especially since this is my old house in Pittsburgh, not the house where my family now lives.

First dream, Saturday:
I was told someone in a purple Camaro was going to be coming after me. I'm on my front porch, locking the door, and there the car is, backed up onto the grass of the neighbors across the street. I go to my car, but there is no time to get in and drive away, so I instead run down the street some, across and back behind a house, down the hill and over the road to another house. I'm being chased. I ask for help and the lady takes me in and shows me a secret area in her house, and I go there. I find a bathroom with a high window behind the door. I hear the person coming in the house. Covering the window are curtains sewn together, and the fabric is the kind used in pro basketball shorts. I had to rip open about four colorful layers of "curtains" to get out the window. I get out (jumping up with no problem whatsoever), and see a hidden cubby area on the roof, despite the fact that this lady took me to her basement. Dreams don't care about details, and there I sat. And woke up.

Second dream, Sunday:
Ryan and I were sitting on my front porch. Two of his sisters were staggered on the stairs in front of us, and there were many people out in the cauldisac, "the circle", playing a game with paddles and a bouncy ball. They were hitting it all over the street, trying to keep the ball up. It came up to us a couple times, and each time, Ryan hit the ball over to his sisters. Becoming annoyed, I complained that I didn't like the game and he couldn't understand why. WHY? Because I never get the ball! I woke up annoyed, looked at my husband with chicken pox scabs on his face and remembered that he's more understanding in real life.

Third dream, Monday:
I remember less of this one even though it was most recent. I was hanging out on the porch, and a kid from church was there, eating dirt from a planter. He was just shoving it in his mouth and loving it. His mom and sister came out of the house. Something was going on in the driveway. Sorry, that's all I have there.

Old Navy $12 Jeans Sale Saturday Only

2008-08-22T16:33:00.004-04:00

A friend alerted me to a sale tomorrow at Old Navy! For one day only, in stores and online, select Old Navy Jeans are $12 for men and women. Kids are $7. Click the picture to go to the sale.

Bean Around

2008-08-21T08:30:00.003-04:00

What is your experience with cooking dried beans? Have you done it? Do you dread it? Do you like beans? A friend of mine told me the method she uses to cook black beans on Saturdays for her family of 10. Just today, I came across an informative site showing how to cook dried beans, and it's similar to my friend's method: Cooked Beans Primer

I'd like to give it a try, southwestern style, and need to get some beans from the East End Coop (read: great prices and organic). Dried beans are cheaper than canned beans. Please tell me your experience with beans and give any favorite add-ins to them.

Food Allergies?

2008-08-20T10:11:00.000-04:00

I stumbled on a blog that has a lot of helpful information for those who have babies with food allergies or intolerances. Take a look if you can relate: My Food Allergic Babe

Get them as a kid, I say!

2008-08-18T16:42:00.004-04:00

Note about the poll: Please let me know if you aren't able to view the results. Mine does nothing when I click "view results".

Ryan's ordeal with chicken pox continues. There are 300-400 spots/blisters on his body, and they are not comfortable. Many have told us that getting them as an adult is pretty bad. They're right - getting it as a child is much less in comparison, though it's still a major event for a kid. In honor of this, I have included a new poll at the bottom of this post.

Some things we've done that we believe have been helpful:
- mega doses of Vitamin C (we're talking 20,000+ mg a day)
- recommended increased temporary doses of Vitamin A for tissue repair and reduced chance of scaring
- increased doses of Vitamin D for immune support
- topical ointments, including Aloe Vera gel, Vitamin E, and coconut oil. All have served to relieve the itching and promote healing in various ways.
- Epsom salt baths and Aveeno oatmeal baths. The Epsom salt bath has helped to progress the blisters to scabs (sorry) and the Aveeno has relieved itching, as it claims.
- once we knew the fever was down on its own, ibuprofen was a help for head pain, and he also started taking Benedryl today for itching. It has helped a little.

I've been glad to have the weekend at home and have the worst days fall on the weekend (at least we hope those were the worst days). We've also been grateful to be able to consult with a doctor at church, which has allowed Ryan to be able to stay in the comfort of our home. Ryan has slept poorly at night since Friday and is desirous of a good night's rest. Last night was a lot of discomfort, especially on his back and on his forehead and scalp. Despite all that, he is a great sport and is willing to swallow a lot of pills and rarely complains. I usually have to ask specific questions to find out how he is feeling :).

We see progress though: fever and sore throat have gone for the most part, breakouts have significantly slowed, some have scabbed over and the baths are a relief. We're on Day 5 and hopefully the worst is behind us. I've talked to a couple people in the last couple days about their experience with adult chicken pox, and it has never been fun or easy.

If you happened upon this post while searching for adult chicken pox treatment, feel free to email me if you have any questions. Not that I'm a pro by anymeans, but I've read a good deal this weekend about adult chicken pox (and chicken pox in general) and have been grateful for the info. So far, Ryan's case, though severe according to the doctor, is not out of line with what I've read or learned about this illness in adulthood.

This is a rare post, that fortunately for you and my husband, does NOT contain any photographs.

POLL: (closes at 5pm EST Tuesday)

Of all the things to get....

2008-08-15T22:34:00.002-04:00

Guess who's husband never had chicken pox? Guess also whose husband was around someone with shingles in the last couple of weeks?

If you guessed MY husband, then you are right! We were meant to get on a plane tonight to Kansas for a quick weekend trip for Ryan preach in Topeka and us to celebrate Ryan's parents' 40th anniversary. Well, instead of being on a plane right now, I'm at home, having tucked my dear husband, covered in about 70 chicken pox blisters with a fever of 102, into bed. The fever has hovered around 101-102 and indicates an active, contagious case of chicken pox. We're not sure how many more spots will appear but expect more over the next few days. He is taking quite a lot of vitamin C, some vitamin A and has been resting. He "feels" ok. He's not achy or cold like he was yesterday, and his spots don't itch (yet?). We're applying vitamin E for topical soothing and believe the vitamin A capsules will also help with tissue repair.

We trust in God's providence for this. Sometimes we don't clearly see why God's will includes things like this, but we trust Him, not our circumstances or understanding. We anticipate that we can reschedule the trip sometime in the next several weeks. Also, Midwest Airlines will waive the $100 change fee for each ticket if they can call the Dr.'s office next week to verify his diagnosis. That means we need to have him seen for a checkup and hope that will work out.

Ryan's sisters all had their bout of chicken pox as children but Ryan never caught it. We know that it's not shingles because shingles deals with the nerve endings, and Ryan doesn't have pain related to inflammation of the nerves. We know that someone who hasn't had chicken pox can contract it from someone who has shingles. We are thankful he has it now instead of during the seminary year or when we have small babies down the road, or when he is full time in the pastorate. His schedule is pretty low key right now besides missing Kansas this weekend. We hope and pray he'll be non-contagious when we travel to Oregon in two weeks.

Time to clean up some then head to bed myself.

Canoing

2008-08-14T13:12:00.002-04:00

I was hoping to lose 4 inches from my waist on the canoe trip and have more toned arms, but hey, that takes time, right? My arms are stronger though. I ought to canoe 35 miles every weekend. That would sure do it, wouldn't it?

The trip. First of all, God was so gracious and good to give us gorgeous, sunny clear weather. Forget the hazy, heavy air of a many summer days in PA. We had crisp skies, fluffy clouds and a nice breeze. That was a wonderful gift. The sun was blazing though and I missed a few spots with sunscreen! We are also so thankful that no one was injured. There were a few bumps of course, but we were all safe. The Allegheny River was pretty lazy, and we had pockets of faster currents which added momentary thrill and rocking. Fellow Pittsburghers will all be happy to know that it wasn't until we were halfway through the first day's journey that I realized that this was indeed the same Allegheny river that flows through Pittsburgh. The dots just hadn't connected until then. I really am smart though other times.

Sadly, I have no pictures. I wasn't comfortable taking my camera on the canoe or leaving it unattended all day at the vans, and we forgot to take our small point and shoot digital camera that could have been transported more safely in a ziploc bag. So instead, I have included other wildlife pictures, such as a beaver.

We canoed for about three and a half hours the first day and put out for the night around 5:30. We got back in around 1o am Saturday and finished the trip around 3:30. Ryan and I actually got home around 7:30. We had about 9 hours total of canoing, which was a little more than initially expected, and the youth were troopers to keep on paddling without knowledge of how long it would be until they'd have rest. While we wanted them to learn and grow and be stretched, we also wanted them to have a good time.

On Friday evening, setting up camp took a little while, and we barely got the tents up before it was dark because of a couple delays, one of which is way too confusing to explain, but it had to do with car keys. We also had to walk about a mile to [and from] the vehicles holding our equipment. We had some time to kill before we could set up camp, and there was a trail which is part of Rails to Trails running through the area, and we explored a long, old train tunnel. What used to be tracks is now a trail, and we walked this trial to the cars near the face of the tunnel. While exploring the tunnel, it was a very eerie to walk toward complete blackness and have light behind you. Step by step, the darkness slowly increased so much you could almost feel and hear it. It was strange.

The campsite? Rustic. A hole had to be dug for the bathroom.

As far as canoing was concerned, we were generally not far off schedule over the two days, but looking back, I can see how there was nearly constant work all weekend outside of canoing. Between walking to the vans, waiting for keys, taking two trips back with equipment, digging the bathroom hole, preparing dinner, setting up camp and more, it was a lot to do by bedtime. Again, the youth were great sports and helped out with no complaints. I think I would personally prefer a more established campground area with bathrooms and near by parking for the vehicles holding equipment. We had an awesome, loud thunderstorm around 2 am and thankfully, only one tent leaked water (not ours, hehe). Ryan and I each slept better than we anticipated though we were quite achy.

As far as adventuresome situations, Ryan and I had a little rescue mission when two 14 year olds tipped their canoe and couldn't get back in. We'll call them E and T. The canoe was nicely filled with water, and I had the smart idea to have T get back in and try to row. "Just try it" and sure enough, it started sinking when he got in. We quickly tipped it back over as dreadful images of a sunken canoe filled my head, and we ended up rowing them the riverbank. E held on to both canoes and felt quite "stretched" at times to stay connected to bring the water-laden canoe along to the bank.

At the very end of the trip, T was on the other side of the river as he approached the canoe center where we were getting out, and the current was decent enough nearly drag him downstream and keep him from crossing the river. He hurriedly stroked upstream to at least remain somewhat stationary while Ryan and two chaperones canoed out to him to catch and bring him in. They had no choice but to go downstream some, and they hiked their canoes back up through mud and sludge. Ryan and another chaperone ended up doing an army crawl in order to make progress! Needless to say, they were tired.

All in all, the trip was worthwhile. We appreciated having experienced adults along, and I know the youth had fun. I wouldn't really call it "fun" for us, but Ryan and I learned quite a bit about canoing and camping, and we really enjoyed doing that together.

Don't Get Mashed

2008-08-12T09:48:00.002-04:00

My parents sent me this story:

A Girl Potato and Boy Potato had eyes for each other, and finally they got married and had a little sweet potato, which they called 'Yam.'

Of course, they wanted the best for Yam. When it was time, they told her about the facts of life. They warned her about going out and getting half-baked, so she wouldn't get accidentally mashed and get a bad name for herself like 'Hot Potato' and end up with a bunch of Tater Tots.

Yam said not to worry, no Spud would get her into the sack and make a rotten potato out of her! But on the other hand she wouldn't stay home and become a Couch Potato either. She would get plenty of exercise so as not to be skinny like her Shoestring cousins.

When she went off to Europe, Mr. and Mrs. Potato told Yam to watch out for the hard-boiled guys from Ireland. And the greasy guys from France called the French Fries. And when she went out west, to watch out for the Indians so she wouldn't get scalloped. Yam said she would stay on the straight and narrow and wouldn't associate with those high class Yukon Golds or the ones from the other side of the tracks who advertise their trade on all the trucks that say, 'Frito Lay.'

Mr. and Mrs Potato sent Yam to Idaho P.U. (that's Potato University) so that when she graduated she'd really be in the Chips. But in spite of all they did for her, one-day Yam came home and announced she was going to marry Tom Brokaw.

Tom Brokaw!

Mr. and Mrs. Potato were very upset. They told Yam she couldn't possibly marry Tom Brokaw because he's just......

Are you ready for this?

Are you sure?
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OK! Here it is!
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A COMMONTATER

Fruit Quiz Answer

2008-08-11T13:17:00.003-04:00

The fruit pictured in the quiz post is a plum! Erin got it right. Nice job, my friend!

Maureen, I've never heard of a pluot but I looked it up, and you were pretty much right too. I wonder if this fruit is really a pluot and not a true plum? From what I read, a pluot is a cross between an apricot and a plum. If so, I wonder how you can really tell the difference.

I promise to post about the canoe trip sometime this week. It was difficult, fun and hard, and Ryan and I learned a lot.

New Poll!

2008-08-06T16:11:00.000-04:00

Fruit Quiz!

2008-08-04T08:23:00.000-04:00

What is this? Leave your answer in the comments.

By the way, with comments, you do not have to have a blogger account to leave a comment. You may choose Anonymous, and you can also choose "Name" and type your name in. I also do not have word verification to make leaving comments more convenient.

Cream of the Crop

2008-08-02T08:17:00.000-04:00

I should say so! We had some of the best corn we've ever had before, and it is from the CSA farm. They were absolutely perfect. Take a look. I was amused at the kernel pattern.

Hair Poll Results

2008-08-01T16:14:00.000-04:00

You may need to enlarge the pic to see the words. I have another poll we can do. Would you like one?

Rustic-ing It

2008-08-01T00:17:00.001-04:00

Man, am I in for an adventure today and Saturday. Ryan and I are chaperones on a youth group canoe trip for our church. I'll tell you more about the trip later on in this post. First, the context of Alicia going on a canoe trip.

You may or may not know that I really want to learn more about outdoor excursions such as extended hiking, camping, and so on. I love the mountains. My one-time experience of camping so far? Let me see if I can find a picture for you.

Ah. Yes. Here we go.

So you can imagine my excitement to jump into a "broader" "experience" of a two-day canoe trip with no bathrooms, no showers, 18 teenagers and sleeping in a tent (not all 18 together, mind you) on a campsite that you'd only know is a campsite because someone made a fire pit in the past. It really is exciting, no sarcasm there. I used a precious half day of vacation time and worked through lunch the rest of the week since it's all I have left after what I've scheduled the rest of the year. Friday is the first of the 5 busiest days of the month too. I really wanted to go on the trip. My boss will be there too!! Hahaha! He goes to our church and is bringing two of his kiddos along. I think it will be a good break for both of us from the potent corporate-ness of our jobs.

I can't wait. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous up near Parker, PA on the Allegheny River, and I think it'll be a great time. I'm helping with the food, and I had a planning meeting the other night with two experiences ladies, one of which offered to do all the shopping for us. Melissa and I will take it from there for the trip and order the youth around to be our kitchen slaves. I'm going to learn a lot and have a great time, and we've been praying for safety on the river and while camping. We were kindly encouraged to string up all food at night at least 30ft from the campsite. We have bears 'round these parts. We'll have the vans with our all stuff parked "near" the campsite ahead of time before putting in, and loop back around to the starting point to start canoing. Did I say near? I meant to a MILE away from the "campsite". Yup. That's our only optoin, so we have a hike there and back to bring equipment and food to the campsite once we put out of the river Friday evening. I believe the total distance we're canoing is 30 miles or so.

I keep using quotes on "campsite" because, well, it's not a typical campsite with a parking lot and hot showers. We'll dig a hole for the bathroom, put a tarp up around it as a luxury feature, and go through a bottle of hand sanitizer. We'll heat water to wash dishes and ourselves and clean dirty icky filthy teenager feet.

Oh, on another topic, guess who is making the amay-hay-zing Quinoa dish again sometime soon? Ding Ding ding! I am!! We're getting 12 ears of corn from the farm this week so there ya have it. Speaking of Quinoa, I was flattered to have wonderful comment from the Whole Grains Council on my initial quinoa post. Has anyone tried it yet???? Was anyone's interest in quinoa piqued as a result of my post? Please tell me so. Some of you are "lousy" at leaving comments (and some are awesome...thank you!!) Just sayin'.

More on Quinoa

2008-07-31T07:19:00.000-04:00

Remember the post on Quinoa? Remember the recipe listed, Quinoa with Corn, Scallions, and Mint? A W E S O M E. Make it.

If you haven't tried quinoa yet, do make this dish. Fresh, flavorful, light, a bit chewy, and healthy. If you have made quinoa, make this dish next!! I've made it twice now with eight different, very positive comments of surprised delight. It's in my top five side dishes, along with Island Rice and Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Green Bean Salad w/ Mint Vinaigrette.

The second time I made it, pictured here, I used half buff quinoa and half red quinoa for a variety in appearance. It tasted pretty much the same, and it was just an option I decided to try. I also used half basil, half mint, both times since I didn't let my mint grow back enough to get a full half cup.

Blowout Sale!

2008-07-30T00:00:00.002-04:00

Have you heard the big news? TODAY ONLY you can get an excellent e-book package from MoneySavingMom.com which has over $100 worth of money-saving e-books, homemaking helps, and encouragement for only $5.97! Check it out here. I purchased these items a few months ago for $10, and this sale is even better.

What makes this deal so good is that this e-book package includes the e-course Supermarket Savings 101--this course alone is worth much more than $5.97 and will teach you how to drastically reduce your grocery bill. If high fuel and food costs are discouraging you and leaving you strapped for cash, you definitely need to buy this e-course.

Go here here to read more about this great sale! The price goes up Thursday, so get this money-saving ebook package at an incredibly low price while you can!

Texture

2008-07-29T07:14:00.000-04:00

Old. Aged. Weathered.

Pears Three Ways

2008-07-27T17:16:00.000-04:00

On the property of the B&B where we stayed last week.

And my husband :)

Dinosaur Bugs

2008-07-26T16:12:00.000-04:00

(Or stick bugs)...really do look like sticks! This is one on my basil which I found recently.

Notice the legs on the right side. The bug was "standing" up more with the left side in the air, and it reminded me of a dinosaur except with a realllllllly long neck, a LOT smaller and without a tail.

You had to be there.

Poll Still Open

2008-07-26T12:48:00.002-04:00

The poll is still open if you haven't done it yet!

Blueberry Muffins

2008-07-23T11:02:00.000-04:00

Do you have any favorite recipes? I sort of made up my own crumb topping and think it could use some improvement. I used a recipe from Cook's Illustrated The New Best Recipe and they were delicious.

A Series on Fruit

2008-07-21T11:47:00.001-04:00

Photos, that is. Post your favorite fruit and how you like to eat it, in the comments. I was on a "Still Life with Fruit" kick the other week. Can you tell? Which photo is your favorite?

Don't forget to take the current poll below!

New Poll!

2008-07-19T11:35:00.000-04:00

Thanks for taking my food poll last week! It was fun.

Since some of us are comment-shy and there are many readers of my blog, I want to get to know you some. I also want to get a feel for what you like about my blog. I will be posting various polls over the next few weeks, so be sure to check back for new polls! I am open to suggestions for types of polls.

Vaccines: Update on Us

2008-07-16T13:20:00.005-04:00

Ryan and I haven't made all of our decisions regarding vaccines, but I thought I'd post where we are now on some of them. We have more reading and talking to do but have made a lot of headway. We are on the fence in some areas. If you've been doing research yourself, we'd be interested in comments on our uncertainties or other comments in general.

We will do a delayed vaccination schedule. None will be given at birth or two months, at the very least. We are leaning towards giving our kids select vaccines at 2 years. When they do get vaccines, we will take measures the day before, day of and day after with their food and vitamins to prepare them. If there is any hint of sickness beforehand or if they were recently sick, they will absolutely be postponed a couple of weeks. We will be watchful for reactions to individual vaccines and because they'll be separate, we'll know to which shot the reaction is related. I will not get a flu shot ever again, and not when pregnant. If for some reason our kids go to daycare and are formula fed, we will re-think our positions. That is not our intention, but the future is always uncertain.

We will not give hepatitis B (if you're thinking about that one, you need to decide before your baby crowns, since the first dose is given a day or so after birth).

We were pretty convinced about the chicken pox vaccine because it's worse to get it as an adult, and you have lifetime immunity from getting it as a child. Also, I read from the CDC itself that the reason for the chicken pox vaccine is they wanted to reduce the number of moms taking time off work to care for their spotty and itchy kids. Seriously. To me, that is a ridiculous reason for the shot. However, a friend pointed out that not many kids get it now so it's hard to have "pox parties" for your kids to get it and get over it (and have greater immunity than from a shot). That's a tough one because we wouldn't want our kids to get it as adults if it's not around as a child for them to contract. Ryan has never had chicken pox and could possibly have natural immunity. He never caught it as a kid even though he went to "pox parties" too. I actually read this week that kids can get chicken pox but not show symptoms and gain immunity. I came down with it right before I was supposed to go to a school roller skating party and had to stay home. :: sniff, sniff :: We lean towards declining the chicken pox vaccine in the chance that our kids could get it naturally and have lifetime immunity compared to the artificial immunity from the shot, which can wear off. The unknown long-term affects of "messing" with your immune system are a concern for any of the vaccines.

We will likely not give the measles vaccine because of the seeming high occurrence of the diseases from the vaccine itself and potential severe, and sometimes chronic, side effects of this particular vaccine. We will become familiar with the symptoms and signs and have it treated it if our kids get it.

As for tetanus, we are comfortable with our kids getting the shot if needed, when they are older. Tetanus is rare, and they are not at risk as babies. If they enter a situation we know about in advance (like if they work on a farm or near filth for whatever reason), they will get the shot. If they are injured and at risk, we'll talk to the doctor about getting the tetanus immune globulin, which is not a vaccine, and ask if he recommends it. The vaccine itself is not effective after the fact but many ERs push the vaccine anyway. If they will be traveling to a country where the risk is greater, they will get it. We are concerned, however, that all single tetanus shots still have mercury. The only way to get mercury-free tetanus is in the combo DTaP and DT. As for the D, diphtheria, there has been 1 case in the last five years, and it was in 2003. We do not believe the vaccine is necessary today. We'll look at the stats again in the future when we have kids to see if this changes. We may do DT in an older child to avoid mercury in the single Tetanus.

There have been no polio cases (both paralytic and non paralytic) in the last several years, and there is question as to the safety of this vaccine. Also, the inactivated vaccine (IPV) "cannot prevent the spread of wild polio virus" and "it induces only very low levels of immunity to polivirus locally, inside the gut" (source). We are leaning towards not giving this one but will do more reading and research.

We will definitely not have our kid get the combination vaccine MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), and since we're already taking out measles, we may only do mumps. I read that the chance of male sterility from mumps is extremely rare. The Rubella vaccine is cultured in aborted fetal tissue which is an issue for Ryan and me. Rubella itself also doesn't appear to be a concern today.

The least concerning shot to us regarding safety is Hib. We may do this after we read further. It seems that the majority of infections today are from a strain not addressed in the shot, so our question is, is this vaccine really necessary or effective?

If you've been following my posts, you may somewhat know that the concerns and questions we have are multi-faceted. The 1) frequency of shots, 2) the age of the child, 3) the ingredients, 4) the combinations, 5) the risk of the actual diseases today, 6) the lack of long-term testing (ie more than a few days) before going to market, 7) the application of a risk in a small group to the whole population not necessarily at risk (ie hep B), 8) the effectiveness of the vaccine itself and 9) the history of deceit negligence from those in charge. We can't just brush all that under the rug. In addition to that, as brought out by Dr. Cave in her book, those who have family history of auto-immune disorders should take care to consider the current vaccine schedules. There is diabetes, asthma, allergies, and fibromyalgia in my family. I have allergies and asthma. We'd like our kids to not have those things, and we believe adhering to the CDC schedule as it is today would compromise our kids' immune systems and cause them to be more prone to develop any of the above conditions. We believe the risk of the diseases that we wouldn't vaccinate against is not as great as potential problems from the shots themselves.

Another factor is that for any of the vaccinated diseases, they are preventable, and our kid's doctors will know how to treat them. Also, Ryan and I can learn the symptoms of the non-vax diseases to identify if our kids get them. However, if our kids have a reaction to a vaccine, it is more likely that we will not be helped by our doctor to treat the reaction and address it like we would for the actual diseases or infections. The overwhelming response to vaccine reactions today seems to be that it's normal and not related to the shots. End of story. We would rather take our chances with some preventable diseases (note: some, not all), knowing they will be addressed immediately and knowledgeably. Many of the diseases have a quick recovery and are not life-threatening or even requiring a hospital stay.

Your comments are welcome.

Quinoa

2008-07-14T08:45:00.001-04:00

(keen-wa)

Readers, have you cooked with quinoa before? Do you like it? Please post a recipe or two in the comments that you've liked.

I didn't initially like quinoa all that much. Ryan said he's liked it for some time, so I kept going with it. Quinoa is a nutty, unrefined grain and a complete protein* with the highest protein content of any grain. It's fast-cooking and good for you. There is a multitude of quinoa recipes available, and I like that it's a good gluten-free option to have in stock. Quinoa is also simple to prepare, and I think as more time goes by, as Ryan, Lord willing, enters the pastorate and as our family hopefully grows in the future, I will keep simple things nearby for my sanity. Oh, and while Ryan loves quinoa, he would never want it to completely replace white rice. Ryan loves white rice. Not nearly as much as he loves me though. :: sigh ::

As for recipes, I found one I didn't care for very much but have enjoyed quinoa in other ways from the same chef. The cinnamon just wasn't a pleasing combination for me or Ryan. However, this grain married surprisingly well with cooked kale & collards from a couple weeks back. All that was added to the quinoa was a little olive oil, salt and balsamic vinegar. Oh yeah, I also threw in some goat cheese, which added a nice creaminess. Hehe. Cheese.

Uncooked quinoa is pictured above, and once it's cooked, it looks like the picture to the right. The light "rings" remain a little crunchy, and the rice-like interior is soft. There is a buff colored grain and a red grain.

Sometimes, when I look at the search results for quinoa recipes, I think they're are all vegan, strange recipes that are weird to try, that have tofu, pistachios, pumpkinseed, and dates and bugs. I just skip those. Just kidding about the bugs. If you look through the recipes, you'll find contenders for excellent side (or even main) dishes, such as the recipes below. Give quinoa a chance. Some recommend rinsing the uncooked quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer 2-3 times before cooking to wash off the bitter coating that is often on quinoa. This coating is a natural deterrent to birds when quinoa grows. Some say today's cleaning and harvest of the grain is better and it's not necessary, so it can be optional. I rinse it if I remember.

Recipes:
Delicious Big Bowl - a surprisingly delicious combination of foods and flavors; a main dish
Quinoa with Corn, Scallions, and Mint - I plan to try this side dish soon since I don't need to buy any ingredients. My mom made it recently and gave it her highest rating. She reduced the quinoa by a half cup since some reviews said the quinoa seemed a little dry.
Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa - 98 user ratings, looks like simple prep
Other Highest rated quinoa recipes from Epicurious.
Quinoa and Onion Risotto with Crème Fraîche and Hazelnuts - from Cooking Light. I might use yogurt or sour cream in place of creme fraiche. Try almonds if you don't have hazelnuts.

If you want to start out simple, make a basic recipe (below), throw in some salt, pepper and 1 T olive oil when it's done and have it accompany the rest of dinner. If you have a meat prepared with some sauce, pair the sauce with the quinoa at the table. I prefer it to be teamed up with grilled or roasted meats as opposed to a meaty stew since the grain is fine and would become lost next to something like stew. It can be used in stews though. That's different. At least to me. Anyone else? Or, try it with grilled vegetables. Use quinoa in place of couscous in this bountiful summer dish (I have serious plans to do that). Seriously. For serious.

Unlike some other grains, quinoa has a long shelf life and does not require refrigeration. Other grains have fats that go rancid quickly and require refrigeration if not used right away. One source I read said quinoa is not a whole grain and is actually refined, like rice or barley. The Whole Grains Council says quinoa is a whole grain.

* complete means it has all the essential amino acids needed for growth and development. It's the only vegetable source of protein recognized as complete (like beans, meat and diary).

There you have it. I've equipped you with the ideas and knowledge to try quinoa. Now you just have to find it. Whole Foods will have it. If you live in my area, the best price is at the East End Coop near the seminary. If you've bought quinoa before, please post where you've found it for the benefit of others. I'm thinking it won't be at Giant Eagle, Meijer, Safeway, but I could be wrong. The price is likely to be higher and bulk buying really is the way to go with less common grains. This isn't typical fare for a Western diet. I did some research, and the best price I found online is from Natural Grocers for $1.59/lb. Not bad, but you have to spend $20 minimum, and add on shipping. Your best bet will be to find it locally since you'll have to pay shipping in most cases when buying online.

The advantage of going to Whole Foods is being able buy it in bulk and get a scoop or two for one recipe's worth for about a buck if you're trying it for the first time.

Basic Recipe

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Place quinoa and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until all of the water is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes 3 cups. Quinoa is done when the grains have turned from white to transparent, and the spiral-like germ has separated.

Food Poll Results

2008-07-13T17:43:00.003-04:00

Here are the results of the food poll, the first poll on my blog. Asian pulled out ahead of Italian for a win. More polls to come in the future!

How to Rescue a Roux

2008-07-11T09:15:00.000-04:00

Have you ever found yourself making a sauce with flour and milk and there are more lumps than you care to have, and they're not going away no matter how much you whisk it?

That happened to me a couple of weeks ago when making beef stroganoff, and I did something that worked perfectly. Using a mid-sized Pyrex measuring cup (a mixing bowl would do) and a fine-meshed strainer placed over it, I carefully poured the hot roux into the strainer and let the smooth sauce strain into the bowl. The lumps were left in the strainer, and I whisked the lumpy roux until it smoothed out and blended into a paste. It didn't take long. Placing the pan back on the stove and turning the heat on, I put the roux paste in and added a little bit of the strained, smooth roux and whisked it until it combined, then I added a bit more and whisked to combine. I repeated those steps until the paste was no longer a thick past but a smooth, thick sauce, then I added the rest of the smooth liquid and continued whisking to allow the entire roux to thicken as needed.

The alternative? Taking out the lumps scoop by scoop and losing the proportion of flour to milk, or starting over. The above trick worked well with no loss of ingredients. I'd recommend turning the burner off while you do this to keep the empty pan from getting too hot. Otherwise, the roux may scorch when you return it to the pan.

Do you have any kitchen tips that have saved you? Please post in the comments! Also, if you haven't taken the poll to the left, I am awaiting your answer!

Cook It. Blog It.

2008-07-10T09:23:00.001-04:00

I joined a blogger group for cooking called "Cook It. Blog It!" Click the image below to go to the main listing of blogs. I know this is unrelated to cooking, but there are some pretty cool designers that have their blogs listed and have beautiful patterns and fabrics for clothes they make (plus they cook, I would guess!)

If you are visiting my blog from Cook It, Blog It, and want to get down to business, check out the recipes linked to the left as well as past posts related to recipes and food. I've been checking out your blogs and hope you enjoy mine! Feel free to leave a comment that you've been here.

POLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-07-09T12:01:00.004-04:00

Hey guys! I'm trying something new on my blog. To the left you will see a poll. You have until Saturday morning to take it then I'll post the final results!! Get to it! Please and thank you.

P.S. You are answering this for yourself, not me. Just in case clarification was needed....

Subscribe & Save from Amazon

2008-07-09T11:29:00.002-04:00

Amazon has a new feature called Subscribe & Save, and today, it saved me about $12! Amazon offers a multitude of products (9,000 +) at a 15% discount, plus free shipping, when you subscribe to a regular delivery of a product. You can cancel at any time. What I purchased today was two jars of the coconut oil we like, and it totaled $26 compared to about $38 if I bought the oil at the store. You can choose from a delivery every 1, 2, 3 or 6 months, so I chose 6, which is likely when we will want the oil again. According to the terms, I could cancel after getting the delivery of the order I just placed and not worry about future purchases and not be penalized. Amazon will send an email when the next order is going out so there isn't a unexpected or forgotten charge.

Take a look around and see if there are products you normally buy; maybe you can save some money this way. Examples include: cereal, diapers, snack bars, paper towels, and more. Click here to view a list top brands and access all brands offered. Now, I know many of you can do better with CVS deals, but there are many products here you can't get at CVS.

Ladies, if any of you drink raspberry leaf tea, you can get it (organic) for a per-box price of $3.33. It comes in a six-pack.

I'm doing some price comparisons on agave nectar and finding it cheaper to buy from amazon.

Image from amazon.

Cabbage Ideas

2008-07-07T23:40:00.004-04:00

I have a head of cabbage. Any ideas for its use, besides coleslaw or soup?

Also, check out my other posts and share your pet stories! Coming up this week will be a vaccine update and a post about a grain, Quinoa.

Asher

2008-07-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

Funny story from my mom, if you like dogs:

"I was laying on the couch and Asher came over to me and put his front feet on my shoulder. I was reading and didn't pay any attention to him, so he started tapping me on the shoulder with one of his paws. He kept on tapping me on the shoulder until I looked at him and then he gave me a couple of kisses and then went and laid down. It was like he was saying 'Mom, Mom'."

Hilarious! Do you have any funny pet stories?

7

2008-07-05T23:10:00.002-04:00

7. Loads of laundry. Today. Done. Washed, dried, folded and put away. Seven. 49 quarters used. 2 loads yesterday. 63 total quarters in two days.

P.S. My husband has a new blog. Link to the left.

Shoestring Zucchini Fries

2008-07-04T09:04:00.000-04:00

My, was this a tasty way to use the zucchini I had from the CSA!

Shoestring Zucchini Fries

1 medium zucchini (6 oz), trimmed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, halved lengthwise
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Halve zucchini crosswise, then cut each half lengthwise into 1/8-inch-wide slices and cut slices lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick strips. Toss with salt in a large medium-mesh sieve set over a bowl and drain 30 minutes. Squeeze handfuls of zucchini to remove moisture, then roll up in a triple layer of paper towels and squeeze to remove remaining moisture.

Cook garlic in oil in a 7- to 8-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat, turning occasionally, until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Discard garlic.

While garlic is cooking, toss zucchini with flour in a small bowl, then add to oil and fry, turning occasionally with a slotted spoon, until zucchini is golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer zucchini to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately.

Scenes from a recent dinner prep

2008-07-02T08:02:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I made some impromptu grilled veggie fajitas the other night. We also had corn on the cob with lime butter. Regarding the recipe I linked, I don't grill the corn. Instead, I steam it in a large pot. But I LOVE that butter. Add extra red pepper if you want more heat. I actually think the butter is better in a very soft room temperature consistency before making the Lime Butter. If it's too solid (but still soft) the juice won't combine. Having the butter mixture in a soft, solid state is less messy for application [with a pastry brush] than a melted mixture.

Prepping onions and peppers for the grill. After slicing 1 Vidalia onion into sections just shy of a 1/2 inch thick, I slid two toothpicks in either end to keep them from falling apart on the grill. Genius! I also brushed the onions with olive oil, then I sprinkled on some salt and freshly ground pepper.

As for the red peppers, I halved them then sliced a bit of each end in order to press them relatively flat for more even grilling. Next came the dousing of olive oil and salt and pepper.

On the grill. This is obvious.

This is some mighty fine avocado! Click to take a closer look. Mmm mmm.

An avocado slicer is a waste of space in my opinion...not present in my kitchen! To "peel", don't try to peel the skin off the meat. Halve the avocado, remove the pit, then slide a spoon inside and around the skin (against the skin) and scoop out the flesh in one piece. Then slice as desired. If you want to dice the avocado, don't scoop it out. Rather, run a butter knife both ways across the flesh and then scoop out the chunks with a spoon.

The final product: flour tortilla spread with sour cream, topped with vegetables, avocado slices, Tyler Florence's Simple Salsa, some Cholula and a squeeze of lime. It was delicious and full of flavor. See what you can throw together with a bounty of summer vegetables.

Coconut Macaroons

2008-07-01T07:53:00.001-04:00

I thought I got this recipe from 101Cookbooks.com, but I can't find it. I only have a printout.

:: several seconds pass ::

Ahh. I found it. I searched online for key words in the printed recipe that I have: "coconut macroons tedious 32" and it popped right up as the first result. This recipe doesn't use any flour, and the macaroons are a wonderful combination of crunch, sweetness and chewiness, all rolled up into one bite. I plan to make them again!

Coconut Macaroons
(or, Rochers à la Noix de Coco)

9 ounces unsweetened dried coconut flakes
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar (I use unrefined cane sugar)
a fat pinch of salt
3 medium egg whites

Makes about 32.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the coconut, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the egg whites and mix them in with a fork.

Scoop out rounded tablespoonfuls of this mixture and shape them into pyramids with your fingers; if you find this too tedious, simple balls will do.

Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, or until golden at the edges. Let set on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

The rochers will keep for a few days, stored at room temperature in an airtight container.

Couscous Salad with Vinaigrette

2008-06-29T11:39:00.000-04:00

Here is this week's harvest from the CSA. Notice the HUGE green onions! They are larger than the onions I received a couple of weeks ago.

I used the basil, tomatoes and green onions to make a salad:

Couscous Salad with Vinaigrette

adapted from Southern Living

1 ¼ cups water
1 ¼ cups couscous

¼ cup vinegar*
2 Tbs olive oil
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

2 cups diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped basil
1/3 cup diced sweet onion or green onion (if you use green, use mostly the white part and not as much green)

Bring water to a boil. Add couscous, stir, remove from heat, and let it set covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, transfer to a medium to large sized bowl and cool in fridge until it’s no longer hot, about 10 minutes.

While the couscous is cooling, prepare vegetables and set aside. Prepare vinaigrette by whisking together vinegar through sugar. Toss couscous, dressing and remaining ingredients and chill or serve.

AH note: If you plan to make this ahead, I recommend holding off on chopping and adding the basil until you are close to serving. The basil gets a little brown overnight.

*champagne, white balsamic, white, sherry, etc or a mixture

Strawberries

2008-06-27T08:05:00.000-04:00

Fresh-picked, local strawberries beat store-bought strawberries, every time. Hands down.

That is, if the crops are good and there isn't too much rain! Ha!

Question for you: was a flash used in this picture?

Letter to Parents

2008-06-26T15:54:00.003-04:00

Background to this post
Other posts labeled Vaccines

If some of you fear reactions in your child to vaccines, you may soon get a letter like the one below from your doctor, which is the product of a very new movement of organizations including the American Association of Pediatrics, to (in my opinion) bully parents into vaccinating and retain national control of the vaccine industry, in partner with pharmaceutical companies. This new group, which will be called Immunization Alliance, will seek to counter parents' rights to make informed decisions for their own kids. I wonder what goes on behind the scenes in doctors' offices that support parent's decisions to delay or fore go vaccinations? Surely they receive this literature and pressure.

"By not vaccinating your child you are taking selfish advantage of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children, which decreases the likelihood that your child will contract one of these diseases. We feel such an attitude to be self-centered and unacceptable. We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We recognize that the choice may be a very emotional one for some parents. We will do everything we can to convince you that vaccinating according to the schedule is the right thing to do.

However, should you have doubts, please discuss these with your health care provider in advance of your visit. In some cases, we may alter the schedule to accommodate parental concerns or reservations. Please be advised, however, that delaying or "breaking up the vaccines" to give one or two at a time over two or more visits goes against expert recommendations, and can put your child at risk for serious illness (or even death) and goes against our medical advice as providers....such additional visits will require additional co-pays on your part. Furthermore, please realize that you will be required to sign a "Refusal to Vaccinate" acknowledgement in the event of lengthy delays.

Finally, if you should absolutely refuse to vaccinate your child despite all our efforts, we will ask you to find another health care provider who shares your views. We do not keep a list of such providers nor would we recommend any such physician."

From Barbara Loe Fisher: "The message from the AAP leadership to vaccine-educated parents is: you WILL give your children every vaccine that industry produces even it brain damages or kills them. You DO NOT have the human right to protect your child from vaccine injury and death because you MUST sacrifice your child for what AAP and government officials have decided is the "greater good." Your child does NOT belong to you and if you don't agree to do exactly what we say, we will make sure your family is denied medical care."

The underlying assumption is that if you choose an alternate schedule, you are doing it because you are confused and stupid, and the government knows better. You may think that is rash, but it's my opinion. If you are a parent who chooses to do individual vaccines instead of combination or multiple vaccines (an act that can significantly reduce the risk of reaction, both short term and long term), they will try to convince you it's unsafe to give them individually. This is an utterly false and negligent assumption. Were these vaccines designed to be given together? They were not. They were married up by the government for convenience to assure full vaccination. It was not because a vaccine given alone would cause increased health risk.

What trust has the CDC & AAP earned to dictate to you that your child is better off receiving 5 shots containing 7 vaccines at a mere 8 weeks of age rather than receiving each or some shots individually, when the child is older?

By the way, twenty-six years ago, the AAP concurred with the need to provide "simple justice for children" by passing the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986.

Source

Pizza - a different way

2008-06-23T08:34:00.000-04:00

I stumbled on an idea for pizza which Ryan and I tried the other night.

It was good! To arrive at this final product, I did the following:

1. Made dough and let it rise all day, used 1/4 of it and divided the rest and froze
2. Heated oven with pizza stone inside to 450.
3. Prepared dough and slid onto stone to bake for about 3 minutes before adding toppings. It ended up in an oval shape instead of a circle.
4. Added toppings (olive oil, garlic, salt, a mixture of cheeses, diced tomatoes)
5. Baked for about 6 minutes or so
6. Cracked three eggs over pizza and baked for a few minutes more and topped with french sea salt
7. Cut and ate!

100 Things

2008-06-20T09:22:00.000-04:00

Money Saving Mom posted a link to a list of 100 things you can make and asked us to post what we made. My list is below (I copied and pasted, then deleted what I haven't made). From this list, what have you made? List yours!

Of the 100 things on the list, I have made:

5. Jelly
9. Guacamole
10. Pesto
11. Salsa
12. Mango salsa
14. Hummus
17. Gravy
23. Pancake mix
27. Pizza
49. Jewelry
78. Bread
81. Donuts (failure as a teen!)

I had spaghetti sauce and BBQ sauce on the MSM list but realized afterwards that I hadn't actually made those two items yet.

I was a wedding planner this weekend

2008-06-18T16:07:00.004-04:00

...and I only made a couple mistakes! Ryan, however, saved the day a couple times. We're good for each other.

Two friends from church were married on Saturday, and I was the coordinator for the day. Many times I was told, 'you should do this for a living! You're so good!!' and I had never done this before! I thought, it's probably more fun this way than getting paid for it. Since I've been in plenty of weddings, I have enough opinions about what works and what doesn't work and what thoughtful things should be in place, so I was able to offer helpful suggestions, many of which were taken and implemented.

Upon walking into the church on the wedding day, the bride's father told me the bride's brother was lost and not there yet. It was about an hour till show time at 1pm. He had time.

"We have a problem". This occurred about 50 minutes before the wedding was to start. It came from one of the bridesmaids who said that a groomsman received a white vest and a white tie, not black. Only the groom was to have white. I quickly arranged to have Ryan make a run to the tux shop which was fortunately about 10 minutes away. He left and came back with the black tie and vest in no time. We can NOT have a groomsman dressed like the groom! That was save #1 for Ryan.

The bride's lost brother ended up arriving at 12:57 and was putting his tie on at 12:59 as I walked him down the hall, explaining what to do to seat the bride's mother. He hadn't been at the rehearsal and was clueless for what to do. We walked around the corner and there were at least 12 guests waiting to be seated...so the wedding would start a few minutes late. Readers, please arrive at weddings on time (ie early). Please and thank you. The brother was filled in and ready to go.

Minutes later, I nearly led the bride out into the hallway when the groom was just feet away! Fortunately, someone else stopped her and hid the groom. Whew. I can't be on top of EVERYTHING, can I?? However, the actual processional went very smoothly, which we worked on several times the night before with the timing of the music.

Following the ceremony, we organized for pictures. I had the bride's list ready to go and we started executing. I straightened bridesmaids necklaces, gave them facial blotting sheets (love those), got bottled water, and fixed the grooms too-long shirt sleeves. One less heroic thing I did was spill iced coffee from my travel mug on the purse belonging to the groom's mother. I held it while she was in a photo, and when I stooped to pick up her fallen wedding program...trickle trickle went the coffee onto her fabric, ivory purse. Blast. Embarrassment followed. I sent the purse off with Ryan to see if he could clean it some. Minutes later, relief came as Ryan returned with the purse, spotless. Save #2 for Ryan.

The rest was pretty uneventful. Save #3 for Ryan came after we departed from the church, and he remembered that we left the tuxes at the church. We had volunteered to return them to the tux shop. It sure would help if we had them in our possession! Back to the church we went...

I had a blast that day even though I didn't get to snap a single photo! My husband sure rocks.

Some of thoughts regarding the logistics of weddings:

Have bottles of water ready for the wedding party right after the ceremony.
Instruct the bridesmaids (and bride) to carry their bouquets low at their hips and not up tight at their waist
Get the larger group pictures out of the way, especially with family who are only needed for one or two shots. Let them move along after that.
Have someone do what I did to give cues and be a go-to person.
Avoid going to the bride and groom for questions or problems on the wedding day. Go to the coordinator, best man or maid of honor.
Make a list of formal photographs desired and give it to your photographer and coordinator.
Cover all the details you can at the rehearsal and Bride, have as much worked out as you can before the rehearsal.

I bet you haven't had zucchini this way

2008-06-07T23:28:00.000-04:00

Except my mom, since she made this before I did, a few years back. Hi Mom!

What do you think of when you think of zucchini? Ryan, being a man, said "green vegetable". I wanted him to say mush. Bland. Blech. Soggy. But, he didn't. So I'll lead into this post myself. I'm not a fan of cooked zucchini, or most squashes. Is zucchini a squash? I think it's a squash variety. Either way, grilling is the way you should have zucchini. Try this recipe. Face it, you need a new way to use the abundance of zucchini that comes with summer. Armed with this recipe, you will not shrink away from folks at church who drop off a bag full of zucchini! As we all know, when there is some zucchini, there is a lot of zucchini.

Grilled Zucchini with Lemon-Balsamic Vinaigrette
serves four as a side dish

Zucchini has a high water content, so it's helpful to salt it and draw out some of the water before grilling. See instructions below.

3 small or 2 medium zucchini (about 1 pound)
Kosher salt
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (or a dash of dried thyme)
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (I used lime last night...all I had)
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano Reggianio (NOT the green can "cheese"!)

Wash the zucchini well and dry. Trim ends and quarter the zucchini lengthwise. Slice off the top 1/4 to 1/2 inch of the soft seed core by running a sharp knife down the length of each quarter; it's alright if some seeds remain (I actually forgot this step as you can see below). Arrange the zucchini, cut side up, on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with kosher salt and set aside for 10 minutes. Blot the quarters dry with paper towels.

(Note the water that is drawn out over a few minutes)

Heat a gas grill to medium-high. In a small bowl, whisk 2 T of the oil, the vinegar, thyme, lemon zest, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Set aside. Toss the zucchini with the remaining 1 tsp olive oil. Set the zucchini, cut side down on the grill and cook, flipping occasionally, until it browns and softens but doesn't turn mushy, 6 to 8 minutes. Cut the zucchini into 3-inch pieces and put in a medium bowl. Whisk the viniagrette again and drizzle over zucchini. Sprinkle on the Parmigiano, toss well, adjust the seasonings to taste, and serve immediately.

Ok, I confess. I made this quickly the other night and didn't follow the directions for cutting out the seeds or grilling the long segments before cutting into pieces. I recommend following the directions :).

I also have another recipe for grilled zucchini using sun-dried tomatoes and basil, if you are interested.

Our first "Harvest"

2008-06-06T22:58:00.008-04:00

This week was the first pickup for the CSA that we joined. Thanks to a lot of rain and not a lot of sunshine, the harvest is a couple weeks behind from what the owners anticipated. What we got this week looks fresh, vibrant and full of good flavor and nutrients.

Spinach

Kale

Collard Greens

Humongous green onions - I've never seen any this large!

We also got asparagus, rhubarb, tomatoes and a huge head of green lettuce. I trimmed the ends of the kale and collard greens and put them in water - the ends smelled like broccoli.

Any recipe ideas for kale or collard greens? I've never used either. I have a recipe from Heidi Swanson that I may try, called Meyer Lemon Risotto, made with barley. Ryan and I have been wanting to expand our repertoire of foods that are, well, truly good for you and that are a whole food. I bought some organic pearl barley at the East End Food Co-op today ($1.09/lb!). I also got other goodies, including the most wonderful raspberries my mouth has ever met, and some hippie things like organic quinoa ($1.49/lb!), agave nectar, raw milk, and bulk raw organic sugar.

The next thing I plan to make with the quinoa is what may become my new breakfast that appears to be flavorful, filling and probably better for me than any other breakfast I can imagine: Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa. I actually found red quinoa which the recipe calls for but does not require. What is convenient about this is I can make a week's worth at home and take it to work each day.

For those interested in the photos, I shot RAW, ISO 100, manual mode with a diffused Canon 430ex flash. I use Photoshop Elements 6.0 for editing.

Earthquake Test

2008-06-04T00:15:00.001-04:00

Take the earthquake test. I got 8/10. How did you score?

update: this link should work now. I had a bad link previously.

So many recipes. So many pictures.

2008-06-03T10:05:00.003-04:00

The number of food blogs in my feed reader has been growing. Some of the food blogs I particularly enjoy and from which I've either made recipes or have them in the line-up include:

Smitten Kitchen (thanks for the referral, Catherine!) I made her Chocolate Pudding and we loved it.
Joy the Baker - I haven't made anything of hers yet, but the recent cake looks delicious
101 Cookbooks, by Heidi Swanson. She posts her own recipes plus those she tries from other cooks. I currently have her book, Super Natural Foods, from the library and want to try a couple recipes, at the very least. Heidi Swanson has great information on whole grains and natural foods which we all should consume more than we do. She comes from a vegetarian perspective but doesn't push it on the reader. Two recipes I want to try are here and here.
Pioneer Woman - Cooking - Ree's blog is just fun and there are many parts to it - ranch life, cooking, photography and fun posts. The egg dish I made for my grandparents the other week came from her blog and we loved it. I can't wait to try the Crash Hot Potatoes she just posted.

It's funny how we find things online. I don't even remember how I found 101 Cookbooks. I sometimes go from one blog to another with referring links and starting with Smitten Kitchen, I think I found Joy the Baker. Another random blog, maybe from one of the commenters on a post, had a link to Pioneer Woman. One common theme of the above blogs is the great photography.

What blogs have you enjoyed lately? I know I have a lot of lurkers and I also ask questions on my posts (like here and here and here)....but I think only one or two people actually answer (again, thanks Catherine :)! I do want to hear from you.

Martha's Prop Room

2008-05-27T19:39:00.000-04:00

...is run like a library! Fascinating, and I'm sure it's a system that is necessary. Read more on the Martha Stewart blog.

Photo from MS blog.

Tonight's Menu - Results

2008-05-26T18:38:00.010-04:00

Where to start on our dinner tonight? The beans were delicious and really not very complicated.

Bourbon BBQ Beans
from Weber
I halved the recipe, which would yield 4 generous servings

4 slices bacon, chopped
1 cup diced red onions or other onion
1 tbsp crushed garlic
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup dark molasses
1/4 dijon mustard
1/4 cup bourbon
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3-4 dashes Tabasco
2 cans (28oz each) baked beans
Kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
(I actually forgot the salt and pepper...we didn't even notice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small dutch oven over medium heat, cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until crispy, about 10 minutes. Blot off with paper towel or drain half the grease. Add onions and garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. While cooking, rinse and drain the baked beans. Set aside. To the onions and bacon, add ketchup through tabasco sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the baked beans and bake for 45-50 minutes covered. Uncover for several minutes afterward.

The Best Potato Salad
adapted from Mom and Cooks Illustrated

This is the best I've had so far. Regular baking potatoes crumble too easily. Try to use red potatoes as they are sturdier. I used regular baking potatoes today before reading the Cooks Illustrated recommendation.

2 lbs red potatoes, peeled
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
4 hard boiled eggs
1/3 cup green onions
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp + 2 tsp (5 tsp) dill pickle juice (correction from previous listing of 3tsp)

Cover potatoes with water in a pan on the stove. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes, until tender. Drain and lay out on dish towel to cool slightly. When the potatoes are still warm but not hot, gently cube them and fold in the vinegar, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate 20 minutes to cool further and allow the vinegar to absorb. When cool, gently fold in eggs and onions. Add mayonnaise and dill juice and fold to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Chill 1 hr and serve.

The burgers? Tasty, though lest you think the dinner was perfect, the burgers shrunk up quite a bit. They were 5oz each and I think 7 oz is better. Noted.

The pudding? Ryan and I shared one earlier today and it is rich with real chocolate. Delicious. No changes were made to the recipe except forgetting to add the vanilla. But they were darn good and we liked them better without.

Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for a great example of food photography and for the pudding recipe.

Leave a comment if you would like the recipes in a nice Word document (picture included).

Tonight's Menu

2008-05-26T17:16:00.008-04:00

For Memorial Day, we're having the following for dinner:

Hamburgers, topped with bourbon caramelized onions
Bourbon BBQ Baked Beans, a Weber Grilling recipe
Potato Salad, a mix of a family recipe & ATK Best Recipe
Chocolate Pudding for dessert

I added Sweet Thai Chili sauce and green onions to the hamburger meat. I also made a lime cilantro mayo for the buns. The onions are a recipe from Max & Erma's that my mom replicated at home years ago. The beans and pudding are new recipes for me.

It's easy to caramelize onions. Sweet onions, such as Vidalia, are best. The key is to let them sit and cook, in a stainless steel pan. Don't over stir because the bits that build up on the bottom of the pan are key for flavor and cut down the time required for caramelization. When you stir, scrape the pan and get the gooey bits off. See the progression:

I'm hungry! Time to turn the grill on. What's on your plate for today?

Pickle Poll

2008-05-26T09:50:00.000-04:00

Pickles. Do you like them? My husband has been merrily snacking on Claussen dill pickles, though I easily pass them over. I like sweet pickles, but dill? No thanks. What kind of pickles, if any, do you like?

Weekend

2008-05-25T16:33:00.002-04:00

Ryan and I had a great visit with my Pap & Grandma, my mom's parents, on Friday and yesterday, who live about two hours from here. Our conversations consisted of talking about their old farms, who is related to who, showing wedding pictures, all with loud voices and enunciated words since my Grandma is nearly deaf. She is great with reading lips though and I was glad we were able to communicate so much. We spent about an hour in the computer room at their retired living center, and I showed them online pictures of their great grandson, Cohen, trips to Oregon, our wedding, honeymoon and more. My grandma particularly loves seeing the pictures and misses out on a lot since she can't talk on the phone.

Our breakfast turned out great, and we all really liked the egg dish. I ended up having more bread than the recipe called for and as a result had to add more eggs. I should have baked it longer and at a higher temperature, because I went to serve it and the eggs were still runny! I put it back in the oven, covered, and raised the temperature 25 degrees, and it turned out great. The use of sourdough bread gave the dish a nice tang. Alas, I didn't take a picture of that dish or the Butterscotch Breakfast rolls but I did take some of my grandma. She's not one to look at or pose for the camera. I didn't think to pat her hair down though...

The land near my grandparents house is lush and green right now. It's a rural farm area and to get to their place, we travel over a "mountain" which has a pretty nice view. What do you think of the first picture? I was playing around with it in Photoshop. It's tricky to get a good picture of a light sky and dark foreground, especially when you have your husband quickly pull over to the side of the road and take a picture into the sun instead of the sun being behind you. Do you look at it and first think that it's too processed? Your thoughts, please.

Oh, my grandma LOVES Ryan. She's nearly deaf though so she calls him any of the following names: Rain, Randy (I have a cousin Randy), Rine, and sometimes Ryan. She's a dear and sent us home with some homemade applesauce.

And to top off the country, down home theme, a tire:

Some sort of Hash

2008-05-25T16:09:00.002-04:00

I had no plan for lunch today after church (back at home) and Ryan kept reminding me that I had hash browns in the freezer. Over the last few weeks, I'd say "I'm saving them for something", and Ryan just kind of looks at them hungrily, wishing I'd do something with them. Today though, thanks to his reminder that I hadn't used them, I gave in. I sauted some breakfast sausage, red onions and some of the potatoes. I added some salt, pepper, ancho chile powder and cumin, about 1/4 tsp each, plus about 1 TB of butter. I covered it and occasionally stirred/turned the mixture, and once the potatoes and sausage were cooked, I added 4 eggs. I wanted to feel like a ranch woman so I used my cast iron skillet instead of my ninny non-stick skillet. No, you are not a ninny if you use one.

Here's how it turned out. It was complete by topping it with the following: sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, tomatoes, green onions and cilantro. We added some splashes of Cholula sauce, and it was complete. It was a flavorful mixture of breakfast, country and southwest.

Indulgent Brunch

2008-05-23T11:31:00.005-04:00

I'm probably going to regret this calorie-wise, but I can't wait to eat breakfast tomorrow! For what reason? Well, I'll be making the following two recipes at my grandparent's place this weekend. They live about two hours away in a retirement apartment in rural PA, and Ryan and I are going to visit them tonight and tomorrow, and this will be our brunch in the morning:

First, a family favorite: Butterscotch Breakfast Rolls. Some of you may have had these or know them by another name. A close recipe is here. Though my mom used to use rolls and make them in a bundt pan, she now uses Rhode's frozen cinnamon rolls (in the bag, discarding the icing) in a regular 9x13. My mom started that a few years ago and since she's, well, a fabulous cook, I've adopted it as well. That makes me fabulous, right? There is no additional cinnamon in the recipe I use, and they sit overnight in the oven to thaw and raise. Something to note in finishing them well is to let them sit for a few minutes after you turn them out onto a plate or tray but before removing the dish in which they were baked. This will allow the syrupy, sticky, buttery topping to settle on the rolls and not on the baking pan. We grew up having them every year for Christmas breakfast and only occasionally have it other times in the year. And oh, I only put nuts on half since I don't care for nuts in baked goods. I think I still get teased for that sometimes! My family loves me.

Second, I'm making a half recipe of Sleepin' In Omelette, posted by Pioneer Woman. I'm making half since I don't want to use 10 of the 12 eggs I just bought, and the four of us do not need a huge dish of the stuff. Some of us will be tempted to eat more of it than our consciences want us to eat (me? nahhhhh). Instead of onion rolls , I may use some nearly stale sourdough bread that I have in the freezer.

Check out the rest of Pioneer Woman's blog for some delicious (non-light) recipes and good photography. She got sucked into ranch life by being swept off her feet by a cattle rancher and now lives on a ranch with 4 children and a lot of cowboys and has some pretty fun photos of ranch life. Talk about a run on sentence!

I love spending my time this way

2008-05-21T20:29:00.009-04:00

An hour of my evening tonight was spent doing a task that was 100% preventable.

What is this little bugger doing in soapy water, you ask? Thanks to my adeptness at drinking coffee at the computer, these guys got a good bath. Especially since I turn my coffee into wonderful, creamy, sugary goodness. Mmm.

It took a little while to put the keys back on.

My handsome husband was quite absorbed in the skill I displayed.

And...let's just say the "Quality Control" department didn't quite test all the keys to see that they did indeed type with out slushing around before grinning with satisfaction of a job well done. Blast that L and spacebar. Who needs them anyway? Same with N, K, J, comma. We don't need you!

And yes, I chronicled this in photos. For you.

Vaccines: Hepatitis B

2008-05-20T10:33:00.002-04:00

Background to this post
Other posts labeled Vaccines

All infants are inoculated at birth and at one month against Hepatitis B. Looking at the risk groups for this disease, one typically has to engage in a sexual act to be placed at risk for Hep B, or share drug needles with infected persons. The vaccine is effective for 23 years. "HBV is not spread through food or water, sharing eating utensils, breastfeeding, hugging, kissing, hand holding, coughing, or sneezing" (source).

I wonder if this vaccine was instituted for all children to protect children of drug users? Does a baby need this inoculation, especially at birth? What does this vaccine (and the preservatives included, which can be toxic chemicals) do to such a little baby? Since this appears to be a disease contracted through lifestyle choices, should a parent shield their child from the consequences of sin? Ryan and I wouldn't vaccinate ourselves or our kids against AIDS, should a vaccine arise. Why? We have no intention of placing ourselves at risk, and if we do, we should face the consequences of it. We believe the same goes for a disease like Hepatitis B. It's not an airborne disease that can be contracted in everyday life.

Interestingly, on the CDC website is the following statement at the very bottom of the page about the disease:

...administering the first dose of hepatitis B vaccine soon after birth to all infants acts as a safety net, reducing the risk for perinatal infection when maternal HBsAg status is either unknown or incorrectly documented at delivery. Also, initiating the hepatitis B vaccine series at birth has been shown to increase a child's likelihood of completing the vaccine series on schedule.

It is interesting that the two main reasons it's given is 1) they might not know if the mother is infected, so they protect the baby and 2) parents are more likely to return for further vaccinations. A CDC memo from 1999 states that the vaccine must be given to babies with mothers who are positive for Hep B and for those where it is unknown. However, seeing this on the mandatory schedule, it appears that now, ti's given all across the board no matter if the hospital knows the mother is negative.

From the CDC:

When vaccines that do not contain thimerosal as a preservative are not available, these groups should be vaccinated with thimerosal preservative-containing vaccine. For infants born to HBsAg-negative mothers and who are not in high-risk groups, existing recommendations should be used for administering thimerosal preservative-containing hepatitis B vaccines if vaccine that does not contain thimerosal as a preservative is not available.

Summary: Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, is a toxin. When the toxin-free vaccines aren't available, instead of opting to not vaccinate, they opt to administer a mecury-laced vaccine to a newborn. More alarming: those NOT AT RISK for contracting Hepatitis B should still receive a mecruy-laced vaccination.

Refuse, Accept or Postpone: Unless I become infected with Hepatitis B or our life changes to such an extent that we would be at risk, our children will not receive this vaccine.

Burger, Anyone?

2008-05-17T21:12:00.004-04:00

Remember the Thai Burger I mentioned a few times? I found the contest website that lists the Thai Burger recipe plus the other grand prize recipes from recent years. If you're hankering for a burger with an explosion of flavor, my guess is you wouldn't go wrong trying any one of these. Summer is nearly here...make yourself burger that is a cut above the rest! These folks won $50,000 for their winning recipes. I did notice that many of the recipes involve a lot of ingredients, which you should expect. Some of them may be hard to find.

Build A Better Burger past winners

Two finalist recipes we hope to try are:
Pineapple Upside-Down Jerk Burgers
Grilled Pork Burgers Indochine

It helps that we watched the Food Network TV show which detailed the finalists' recipes from two different years. Man, were we were craving a burger!

photo from the contest website

Vaccines: Catherine's Book Reviews

2008-05-08T10:25:00.007-04:00

Background to this post
Other posts labeled Vaccines

I'm a slower reader (or just average, and Catherine is speedy :)) and got sidetracked recently in reading another book, so I wanted to refer you to Catherine's book review from this week which covered two vaccine books. I'm reading one of them and have the other on my list.

Simple Salsa by Tyler Florence

2008-04-30T12:17:00.000-04:00

A while back, I posted about the fabulous Mexican Pot Roast Nachos from Tyler Florence. I wanted to highlight again the quick, delicious salsa that is in the recipe. I took pictures when I made it last week (probably for the fifth time since the fall). It's so simple to put together and tastes quite fresh for coming from canned tomatoes. It yields a generous batch as well. Print the recipe here.

Another recipe we recently tried is Couscous with Apricot Vinaigrette. It's from Real Simple, and you can't get any simpler than couscous. It's so quick to make! The fixings that go with the couscous are also simple and quick, and the finished product is a great accompaniment to a meal. I measured out my own couscous instead of using a 10-ounce box.

There Is More Cheese!!!

2008-04-28T18:12:00.001-04:00

Ryan and I got a surprise in the mail last week, thanks to my mom :) Thanks, Mom!

Vaccines: Anthrax

2008-04-28T11:50:00.001-04:00

In my reading, I'm finding information that vaccines can be unsafe for adults as well as children. The anthrax vaccine, mandatory for all US soldiers as of 1998, has never been clinically tested for safety. Yet it has been used on all soldiers for almost 10 years.

There is an independent film being shown at the at the GI Film Festival, Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C. on May 18. This film reveals information about the anthrax vaccine and its dangers to our soldiers. You can view the trailer here. It's sad to see the images at the end of the trailer of deformed babies, borne to women who served in the military. They received the vaccine and later had deformed children. There are many cases of physical and neurological ailments tied to the vaccine. It all started with the "anthrax threat" in 2001:

Significantly, the infamous 2001 anthrax powder attacks, killing five people and sickening 17 others after 9/11, were domestic and not foreign in nature. They were allegedly inspired by laboratory insiders who mailed the powder to the offices of two US senators, a number of national news offices in New York City, and elsewhere. The incidents are still under active FBI investigation. That probe, says Fox News, recently identified three or four new suspects at an Army bioweapons lab intricately involved in helping to support the need for the mandated vaccine. They include a deputy commander, an anthrax scientist and a microbiologist. Thomas D. Williams, Truthout Report (April 9, 2008) http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040908A.shtml

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. John Richardson said,

Two federal judges have now confirmed the Pentagon broke the law by forcing service members to take anthrax vaccine from 1998 to late 2005. Since 2005, mandating the vaccine is now lawful only because of the FDA's willingness to ignore clear evidence in military medical records of the deaths and disabilities associated with the anthrax vaccine. Just as the government misled the American people about the threat from Iraqi anthrax and the source of the anthrax letter attacks, it continues to mislead the troops about the safety and efficacy of the anthrax vaccine.

Also,

Several Israeli news investigative reports from May 17, 2007 and February 24, 2008 reveal that elite combat unit troops were given the experimental anthrax vaccine in 2000 without being informed what they were getting and, when they suffered severe reactions and disability, were told their poor health had nothing to do with the vaccine they were given.

What does this have to do with us who are not in the military? For me, it's eye opening to consider the breadth and depth of misinformation about vaccines. Apparently, the anthrax vaccine is not proven to protect against powder anthrax. It hasn't been clinically tested, yet is fully endorsed by the FDA.

The big question I'm facing currently is: are vaccines even effective? Do they really protect against various diseases? I've read from more than one source that major diseases were on the decline before vaccines were introduced in various communities and countries. Polio was on the decline, thanks to better sanitation, before the vaccine was introduced. It is very disturbing to me but I need to read more.

Vaccines: Mercury Followup

2008-04-27T21:13:00.009-04:00

I wanted to follow up my other post on mercury with some information from the book I'm reading (What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations), from Chapter 3, Mercury in Vaccines: Shots of Danger?

Thimerosal has been used in vaccines since 1930. The concern over mercury in foods and drugs began in 1997.

High levels of mercury can cause brain cells to die, and lower, chronic levels may result in silent, or insidious effects that affect the immune system at the cellular level. Thus the first signs of low-level mercury poisoning may be an inability to get rid of the flu, bronchitis, or a yeast infection, or it may lead to cancer. Thus many people may be toxic from mercury and not even know it.

Also,

The ethylmercury in the vaccine is being injected into the bodies of infants who do not have a fully developed immune system, and their bodies cannot get rid of the mercury properly. The mercury in the tuna is not injected into the bloodstream; it is eaten, which means it goes through the digestive tract, and the liver has an opportunity to help rid the body of the poison. In infants, the blood-brain barrier, a membrane between circulating blood and the brain that prevents certain harmful substances from reaching the brain, is not yet able to keep out toxins that can damage the brain. So mercury sent directly into the bloodstream enters the brain and converts to a form of mercury (inorganic) that remains the brain, where it does its damage.

The author mentions the dramatic increase in autoimmune and neurological health problems affecting children since 1964, "the year the US added six new vaccines to the required vaccination schedule: live virus polio (five doses), measles, mumps and rubella (MMR, two doses); Hib (four doses); and hepatitis B (three doses)." Autoimmune and neurological health problems include asthma, autism, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and more.

There has been some victory with the removal of thimerosal from many vaccines. Yet the government, in a joint statement from the CDC, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics and the Public Health Services, said that "while there was no evidence of any harm caused by low levels of thimerosal in vaccines and the risk was only theoretical," they agreed to remove thimerosal from vaccines "as a precautionary measure".

Do you believe thimerosal is dangerous? If so, you might have a problem with the above organizations saying the risk is only theoretical. What does common sense tell you about the safety of metals being injected into babies (or anyone, for that matter)? Do you believe the above organizations when they tout the safety of other medications and vaccines when they ignore the danger of thimerosal? It's true that many vaccines had thimerosal removed. However, what else do these organizations say (including your doctor, possibly) that may not be true or a blatant negligence of the truth? Are they truly informed and justified in saying that it is not too much to inject a 2 month old with 7 vaccines? Can you really believe them when they say that when your baby has an adverse reaction to a vaccination event that it's just normal? Is there something that could be going on inside your baby that he can't tell you about, and with the next set of vaccines, does it worsen and build up further? Do we really understand the long-term impact of vaccines on one's immune system? Has the government truly given you assurance that the safety and health of your child is #1? The vaccine industry is a huge business (If you don't know how huge, read this to start, thanks Sara). I read on a government site that the thought behind combination vaccines and multiple injections is to ensure that all the vaccinations are administered. Parents don't want to make 10-15 trips to the doctor every year to space the shots out. It's more conventient to stack them up. Is this safe? Is it really safe???

These are the questions we ask ourselves, and they raise such a level of concern to us.

Clutter

2008-04-25T08:59:00.004-04:00

I think there is a message I'm supposed to be hearing, as I've come across topics of "Clutter" a lot recently. It is spring, after all. Crystal is spurring her readers on with de-cluttering projects, and Get Rich Slowly is helping us remember how much stuff we accumulate.

The other night, while Ryan was at class, I finally attacked the mount of linens and clothes in our bedroom. I had winter sweaters out that needed to be stored (no drawer space thanks to my new husband...who I wouldn't trade for the world!), a huge duvet that was too warm at this point and pillows and sheets and towels that needed a home. I trimmed down a lot of it by putting some linens and clothes in some plastic bins I got on clearance at Target a few weeks ago, and reorganized Ryan's closet shelf to house sheets and blankets. It felt great!

Our next project is to find homes for many items stacked in the old guest room/new study. We rearranged it a few weeks ago and it's now Ryan's study with a desk and a book shelf. Much is left to organize though, but we're glad he has a dedicated place for his seminary studies.

An incentive for me to push on sooner than later with some de-cluttering and organization is a yard sale our church is putting on next month. I plan to take a ton of stuff there, including items that we "upgraded", so to speak, through wedding gifts. Some things are just extra and no longer needed. I LOVE getting rid of clutter.

Are you working on anything like this lately? If so, what is it?

Items to Note

2008-04-25T08:26:00.004-04:00

I subscribe to several blogs, and a couple items of interest were recently posted:

First Car Purchase!

2008-04-25T07:55:00.000-04:00

Ryan and I purchase our first car together this week! We picked it up Tuesday night and are enjoying it. We had shared a car since we got married two months ago and while we enjoyed the extra time together, we looked forward to replacing Ryan's dead car. I looked and looked and looked for a 2000 or 2001 Camry and we finally found one that we could look at (schedule restraints, distance, etc), pay for, and like. It is our hope and prayer that we can have it for 6-8 years and 100k more miles. This one is a 2000 and it only has 82k miles which is low for the year.

Vaccines: Meet Sara

2008-04-24T13:39:00.003-04:00

I just "met" Sara, who started a blog to chronicle her investigation into vaccines. We're coming from very similar points of view in raising awareness and chronicling our own journey for more information to make a decision for our family. She is a fellow Christian in the area, and her blog is called Vaccines and My Child.

Vaccines: Mercury & Preservatives

2008-04-24T13:00:00.002-04:00

Background to this post
Other posts labeled Vaccines

It's pretty widely known that mercury is poisonous to humans. I learned that the volume allowed by the EPA to be considered nontoxic is .1 mcg per day. I also learned that the amount of mercury in vaccines that contain the preservative thimerosal is 25 mcg, many times over the "safe" amount. While the presence of mercury is not as prevalent today as it was in the 1990s (thanks to countless parents and advocates who raised enough of an outcry to have it examined and largely removed), there are still a couple vaccines that contain mercury, seen here. Where it shows .01% Thimerosal concentration, that equates to 25mcg of mercury. Largely, most children's vaccines do not contain thimerosal today.

The EPA has been outspoken regarding mercury in women who are of a child-bearing age and who are pregnant, advising against consumption of fish with higher levels of mercury and also warning about spills and proper cleanup for both men and women. On the basic information page of EPA website, they introduce mercury and where you might find it, and it does not even mention its content in vaccines. It is mentioned further down on the site along with other products containing mercury. Even more disturbing, on the Human Exposure page for how humans can come in contact with mercury, it does not mention vaccines. However, they bend over backwards to illustrate how fish become contaminated with mercury. On the FDA's website, I read the following:

It's only in a few species of fish that methyl mercury levels reach FDA limit for human consumption of 1 ppm. [This is .1 mcg...compare to 25mcg in some vaccines] This most frequently occurs in some large predator fish, such as shark and swordfish. Certain species of very large tuna, typically sold as fresh steaks or sushi, can have levels over 1 ppm. (Canned tuna, composed of smaller species of tuna such as skipjack and albacore, has much lower levels of methyl mercury, averaging only about 0.17 ppm.) The average concentration of methyl mercury for commercially important species (mostly marine in origin) is less than 0.3 ppm.

The government is concerned about people being exposed to mercury fish and other substances, but it recommends that even higher amounts of mercury be injected through vaccines! Many people can properly excrete the mercury before it does a lot of damage. However, one cannot see what internal mechanisms have been affected and what neurological effect could be taking place from mercury. It may not be evident until years later. The damage from diabetes, smoking, and drinking cannot be seen for some time either, but the damage is still occurring. Thankfully, there are significantly fewer children today being exposed to mercury than there were in the 1990s. I don't know at this point which preservative replaced thimerosal in each vaccine, and some do not require a preservative at all. The package contents of the vaccine disclose what substances are contained in the shots and which brands have what such as: formaldehyde, anti-freeze, aluminum, aborted fetal tissue (human diploid cell cultures and human diploid lung fibroblasts), and fetal bovine serum.

Some simple questions to consider: 1) are you aware which brand of vaccines your doctor gives your child, and 2) does it contain toxic preservatives, and 3) can you ask for a different brand? And for your own health as an adult, did you know the adult flu shot contains thimerosal, as well as the tetanus shot? According to the table, there are 7 kinds of flu shots, and 4 of them contain thimerosal (the pediatric version (up to 35 months) does not). One company makes the single tetanus shot, and even the booster contains 25mcg of mercury. The DT(the T being tetanus)for pediatric use does contain thimerosal but the combo DTaP does not contain thimerosal even though the individual tetanus does. That's a challenge for us because we do not wish for our children to receive combination vaccines, but getting the tetanus later in life when there is greater risk doesn't look so hot either because of mercury.

What's interesting is that when most shots did contain thimerosal, the content was the same whether it was an adult or a baby receiving the shot. It's just one problem that we have with the "one size fits all" approach to vaccinations.

Skewed Skewers?

2008-04-24T07:54:00.001-04:00

America's Test Kitchen has an interesting review of skewers used for grilling. I bought my first set a last summer, and they're long, flat and metal. I've found them to be pretty satisfactory. They weren't too thick to thread meat or vegetables and kept the food in place while grilling and turning. I remember that I bought them at a store in the Strip District of Pittsburgh [a wholesale shopping area...not the other possible meaning] but am unsure of the brand.

Let's take a look at the review. Bamboo skewers stink, they say. They are bound burn and break when cooking at high heat, regardless of soaking. The food typically ends up turning on round skewers, making it difficult to turn the food when needed. They recommend flat skewers, which works for me since I already own them! So as grilling season heats up, be on the lookout for flat skewers. I hope you can find some and enjoy skewering to your heart's content. Chicken thigh meat, by the way, is a delicious choice!

Read these old Posts!

2008-04-21T16:51:00.002-04:00

Most of my blog is about cooking or photography. If you are new to viewing my blog, I thought I'd highlight some posts and favorite recipes. Note the link to the left called "Previously Posted Recipes". I have captured most recipes in this link which I have mentioned on my blog.

I'm all in the mood to cook some fresh, spicy, and/or flavorful foods since winter is mostly behind us, so here are some of my favorites:

Simple
Island Rice (Cooking Light)
Asian Barbeque Chicken (pairs VERY well with Island Rice)
Green Bean Salad with Mint Vinaigrette - Northwest Best Places Cookbook
Individual Chocolate Melting Cakes - Real Simple
Tuscan White Bean and Garlic Soup - Giada De Laurentiis

In Between
Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard Dressing - CL
Arugula, Roasted Tomato, and Goat Cheese Salad - CL
Chipotle Sweet Mashed Potatoes - CL

More Involved
Crunchy Shrimp with Toasted Couscous and Ginger-Orange Sauce - This was the Grand Prize winner and Entree Category winner from the 2006 Cooking Light Reader Receipe Contest. I can't wait to make this for Ryan!
Ancho-And-Coffee-Rubbed Filet Mignon with Ancho-Mushroom Sauce - Bobby Flay

There Is No More Cheese

2008-04-19T14:35:00.002-04:00

It's usually a little sad when I use up the last of our supply of Tillamook Cheese. What's this cheese, you say? It's made in the coastal town of Tillamook, Oregon and growing up, we'd always get a 2lb loaf of "Oregon Cheese" from my grandparents in our Christmas box that came in the mail. Not only are we fond of it because it's from Oregon, but it's also a highly rated cheese for it's quality and taste (which I didn't appreciate as a child for obvious reasons: it was just CHEESE!!!). As an adult, I certainly appreciate it more, but I can't get it here in Pittsburgh without paying an arm and a leg for an itty bitty block at Giant Eagle. Tillamook ice cream, by the way, is the best I've ever tasted.

These days, since I only get it from Oregon, having Tillamook Cheese in our home means that I saw my family recently, either because I was there or they were here, ever since they moved more than a year ago to Oregon. My mom generously brought me not one, but TWO baby loaves of Sharp Cheddar Cheese when they came for our wedding about two months ago. We just finished up the last of the cheese last week.

At this point, the next time we'll have any Oregon cheese is when we visit my family over Labor Day. Labor Day! It's so far away!! Mom, can you send some more before it gets too warm to mail it? :) We miss you guys too, not just the cheese.

Photo from company website

Birthday Cake

2008-04-18T09:57:00.008-04:00

Ryan requested that I make the Double Chocolate Torte for his birthday next month. He really enjoyed it last year, and I even went as far as freezing a couple slices for him to take to his family in Kansas. It went over EXTREMELY well, and I think I became part of the family at that point. I laced it with "We really like Alicia" dust.

For this year, I am happy to delight my husband this way, and I have no one to impress (and I really didn't back then either). I am very thankful to have a husband who loves chocolate like I do :).

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

2008-04-17T22:23:00.008-04:00

I added a funny blog to my Google Reader feed. I haven't viewed all the posts to determine if there is questionable content, but the posts from the last few days have been humorous. You can get the jist of it just from the title: The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks.

Vaccines: Recent News

2008-04-17T16:00:00.004-04:00

Excerpts from the National Vaccine Information Center this week:

"After nearly three decades of resisting public calls from parents of vaccine injured children for a formal investigation into vaccine safety, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has established the National Vaccine Advisory Committee Working Group on Vaccine Safety to review a scientific research agenda proposed by DHHS."

"Another panel participant, Peter Bell, of Autism Speaks, described his son's regression into autism. While making it clear he is strongly pro-vaccine, Peter gave an eloquent plea for credible scientific research into vaccine safety issues and asked Committee members and government officials to "not demonize parents who are asking questions and searching for answers" to outstanding questions about vaccine risks."

"SafeMinds board member Jim Moody, JD, commented that a lack of credible scientific studies demonstrating vaccine safety makes the application of one-size-fits-all vaccine policies on the entire child population an uncontrolled "scientific experiment."

"Only time will tell if the meeting on Capitol Hill last Friday was for real or for show. Three decades is long enough to wait for government to listen to the people and take action to find out the truth about vaccine risks so every child in America has the opportunity to grow up healthy."

It's my understanding that three decades is also how much time passed after the first studies came out (1939) about smoking for the government to start issuing warnings on cigarette packages that smoking "may" be harmful to your health (1969).

Vaccines: Article

2008-04-17T09:44:00.005-04:00

Cluster of "SIDS" deaths in north Idaho prompt parents to blame vaccines; doctors, government deny vaccine link

The deaths of three infants in Coeur d'Alene in September and October, 2007, within a few days of their four- month vaccines, prompted one of the mothers to fight back.

By Ingri Cassel
Frontpage story

Shelly Walker's heart wrenching story made the front page of The Spokesman-Review newspaper on December 22, 2007, with the provocative headline, "Did vaccines kill?"

The headline shook up many residents here as they prepared for Christmas with their families. The story highlighted Shelly's shock when she discovered her son Vance in his crib unresponsive and limp. Blood was crusted under his eyes and a bloody foam was coming from his mouth onto the blanket lying beside him.The following is from The Spokesman-Review story:

"My baby was so healthy," said Shelly Walker, 39, of Hayden. "He was extremely full of life, energy and vitality.

"In the early morning of Sept. 15, less than three days after Vance Vernon Walker received a round of vaccines at Lakeside Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in Coeur d'Alene, his mother awoke to a parent's worst nightmare. "It was about 5:15 a.m. I woke up and thought, 'He's not making any noise!' " Walker recalled. "I went to pick him up and then I screamed.

"Her 16 1/2-pound boy was warm and his lips were still pink, but he wasn't moving. Blood was crusted beneath his eyes and his clothes and toys were covered with a bloody froth. As her husband, Brian, 46, called 911, Walker worked frantically to resuscitate their child. But in the emergency room at Kootenai Medical Center, doctors said Vance had been dead for several hours."

Read the rest of the article here.

Vaccines 3: CDC Schedule

2008-04-16T11:40:00.005-04:00

Background to this post
Resources I'm using (plus others that I will link)

Below is a link to a chart comparing vaccinations today versus in 1983. Those in my generation should keep in mind that it's not the same as when we were kids and received vaccinations. And even then, I do not believe they were very safe when we were kids because vaccines contained the preservative thimerosal during that time. Thimerosal's content is half mercury, and there was enough of an outcry in the 90s that thimerosal was removed from most vaccines...eventually (the existing shots with mercury were still administered until they were gone...hel-LO it's a poison...they should have been destroyed, not injected into kids!!). Some vaccines still contain toxic levels of thimerosal today (adult flu shots and tetanus) and I'll post about that and more about mercury later. Regardless of what is or is not contained in preservatives today, we are concerned about the vaccinations themselves (frequency, age given, necessity, etc).

Looking around at how many people I know who have immune system problems, I wonder about volume of issues (allergies, asthma, fatigue, arthritis, gluten allergies & celiacs) in adults today. While I am not ready to say, yes, these are caused by such and such (because I don't know), I do not believe it is all attributable to "greater capabilities to diagnose and learn". Take mercury poisoning from dental fillings - it's fairly widely known (I think) that the mercury in fillings can slowly poison people. In a couple cases of people I know, much relief was found by purging the body of mercury that had been built up over time (often from dental fillings) and had been slowly, daily, released into the blood stream. There has been a surge of poor health in recent years and I wonder how much, if any, can be attributed to childhood vaccines, resulting in a compromised immune system. Maybe the vaccines alone were handled OK by the body, but other factors hindered the body from resisting the effects. I believe there are other factors such as food and environment too.

Now for the chart. Here are the vaccines given today compared to vaccines given in 1983. Note the increase: there were 10 vaccine events in 1983 by the age of 6, and there are now 36. Looking at the chart, in 2007, at two months of age, an infant is injected with the following vaccines in one office visit:

Diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus (DTaP)
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV),
Polio (IPV)
Rotavirus
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)

Here is a color layout 2008 schedule from the CDC itself.

This totals 7 inoculations given in 5 injections. Thinking about that makes us uneasy, and we wonder what that does to a two-month old. We are looking at each vaccine and the related disease and will post here about them. Keep in mind how long it takes the government to finally admit something isn't safe when you look at their recommended schedule and their assertion that vaccines are safe and not harmful. They are just beginning to take the concerns of parents more seriously and conduct studies. Many studies in the past were promised, but not conducted. The studies will take years to complete. Don't wait for that. Take a look around now at the facts about vaccines and also growing number of testimonies of parent after parent who now have a vaccine injured child and trusted the word of their doctors to proceed with vaccinations. We certainly do not wish to tell you what to do or not do. We encourage you to look at this subject and consider the issue of vaccine safety for your children (or future children). We may look at the same research and draw different conclusions - I just want to put the information out there.

Books?

2008-04-15T11:43:00.006-04:00

What books are you reading or wanting to read right now? I have several checked out from the library:

Supreme Conflict - started the other night
Thirteenth Tale - haven't started
Going Gray - 1/3 read
Omnivore's Dilemma - picking up from library today
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations - a couple chapters in

I chose the first four books from Catherine's year-end favorite books post.

Ryan and I started reading the Narnia books to each other a few months ago and need to pull them out again. However, instead of reading on Friday, it was pretty fun to kill each other at Monopoly. I won the second game with over $47 million. We have the new version of Monopoly with modern properties, and it was fun.

Great Sale on Makeup

2008-04-15T11:33:00.000-04:00

UPDATE: I've read online that this company is a scam and never ships their products. I place an order last week and am now skeptical and advise not ordering anything.

I read about a great sale going on at E.L.F. makeup. The company was bought by Nordstrom so many ELF labeled products are listed at $1. She also gave a coupon code (CAROLINA) for $7.50 off your first purchase of $15 or more, which ends up covering shipping costs.

Some things I saw for $1:

Eyelash curler
Travel mirror
Pressed Powder
Blush
Nail polish
Nail files
Brushes

There are MANY more products for $1. Check it out and save!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep

2008-04-15T09:12:00.011-04:00

It seems morbid and sad to post about this service, but I know it could possibly help someone: Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is a volunteer photography organization that provides professional photography to families facing infant bereavement, free of charge. I saw it mentioned on the blog of a family who lost their baby daughter hours after her birth last week (the father is a member of the Christian band Selah). They knew at 20 weeks that she likely would not live after birth, and they continued the pregnancy with trust in the Lord for His providence. (Read their story here).

I hope you will never need this service but want to mention this group in the event that someone you know could benefit from it. There are photographers all throughout the country who do this on top of their regular, paid business. I read a great deal of the website and appreciate their approach to capturing those precious moments after birth when a baby is not expected to live. Testimonials state that having the pictures helped them grieve and remember their child. The pictures are softer and warmer than the point-and-shoot or Polaroid photos taken by hospital staff and are more representative of the precious baby they remember.

Image from organization website.

Splurges

2008-04-14T13:03:00.000-04:00

What do you "indulge" in? Especially if you work to be frugal and live on a budget - do you occasionally splurge? On what?

Ryan and I have made a tight budget for ourselves so that we're saving about 36% of our take-home pay every month. There are some things, however, that I love to buy, such as All-Clad stainless steel cookware & Le Creuset cast iron cookware. I don't buy these items very often either but have tried to obtain some classic, versatile pieces over the years. I often find it for less than full price, either with a Bed Bath & Beyond coupon or buying from eBay. I know they will last a very long time and are high quality brands. Ryan and I just used some wedding money to buy this beautiful 8-Qt. Stockpot, new from eBay. It ended up being about $110 lower than the full retail price after shipping. There is an All-Clad seconds sale coming up in a couple months at the factory south of Pittsburgh. Instead of buying a couple other items from our wedding registry at BB&B, I hope to find the pieces at the sale.

We also both love Starbucks Iced Mochas but usually use our blow money on them. It's nice that we save in many areas such as cutting Ryan's hair at home, CVS shopping, selling items on eBay and amazon, taking time to look through grocery store ads, using the envelope system, among other things.

What about you? What items do you really like buying?

Vaccines 2: Books and Sources

2008-04-12T12:04:00.005-04:00

These have been recommended to me.

BOOKS

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children's Vaccinations (Currently Reading)
By Stephanie Cave, M.D., F.A.A.F.R

The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child
By Robert Sears

Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parent's Guide: How to Make Safe, Sensible Decisions about the Risks, Benefits, and Alternatives
By Aviva Jill Romm

WEBSITES

Think Twice
National Vaccine Information Center
Vaccination Information & Choice Network
Generation Rescue

Pittsburgh!

2008-04-11T10:00:00.000-04:00

This list was featured in the paper last year with articles surrounding the All-Star game.

Top 6 Things Pittsburghers apologize for in advance:

1) The Pittsburgh Left- If the first car in the opposing lane of traffic has its left-turn signal blinking, be careful. As soon as the light turns green, the driver likely will try to streak through the intersection before you do. Pittsburghers are, for the most part, wonderful people, but they can be awful drivers. [GUILTY!]

2) Liquor stores and beer distributors - You can't buy beer at liquor stores, you can't buy liquor from beer distributors and you can't buy any alcoholic beverage at a grocery store. Beer distributors are privately owned, but they're not allowed to sell you anything smaller than a case. And even though liquor stores are owned by the state, the state still charges an 18 percent tax on liquor. BYOB.

3) Road layout - The geography around here doesn't allow for a grid, but clearly the city planners could have done better than this. Streets seem to stop randomly or, worse yet, turn into a concrete staircase before continuing a block or two later as if this was completely normal behavior for a road. Right angle intersections are precious commodities, and roads have two or three names each, but that doesn't matter because they're often not marked.

4) Pittsburghers' casual relationship with stop signs, speed limits and turn signals - This comes from years of driving under the conditions explained above. It's sort of a passive-aggressive rebellion -- since they can't defy the roads, they defy the rules.

5) Directions from natives who use landmarks you only know if you live here - Nearly everyone who lives in Pittsburgh was born here. Not knowing the location of Gateway Center is as alien to them as not knowing where the sun is. Also, some residents take pride in having spent a lifetime learning the road system, and this sort of thing is their only chance to show it off.

6) Parking prices - Pittsburgh's 50 percent parking tax, increased two years ago when the city went broke, is by far the highest in the nation. When you pay your parking tab, think of it as a lesson in civic engagement -- when you go home, you'll know what happens if you let your local leaders spend every dime in the city's bank account.

For any of you who visit or used to live in Pittsburgh...can you identify?