Green is for the Grass

This “trying to be greener” crap is a pain in the butt. Yes, I know it is imperative for the health of our planet and the welfare of our children and blah blah blah. But old habits die hard.

I went to Publix and bought ice cream and immediately went “damn!” as the bagger boy loaded it into a plastic bag. I need to get some of those eco friendly-I-don’t-shave-my-legs canvas totes for groceries. I am constantly running around the house flicking off lights and TV’s my husband leaves on in his trail. I have the toaster, coffee pot and computer printer unplugged when not in use. I am gradually replacing my cleaning products with greener stuff as I run out (and recycling the empty bottles). I wash clothes in cold water, don’t use bleach, and turned the thermostat up two degrees. We use our ceiling fans, have energy star kitchen appliances, and don’t drink bottled water. We recycle. Even the mail, and everything I possibly can. My goals this year are to start a compost bin, carry groceries in cloth bags, and replace the light bulbs with the cool green ones (C something maybe F and then a C? I don’t know the letters!).

Since part of the whole reduce- reuse- recycle thing is to reduce, I see no point in purchasing light bulbs and replacing the ones that work until the ones we have are all gone. That would be a waste of money and resources if you ask me. I will not be replacing all my current flooring to meet greener expectations either. I will use it, since it is already here. Better on my floor and in use than in a landfill, right? I think you should go green when you make new choices or get replacements. But don’t throw money away and replace what already works.

I am on the lookout for healthy home cleaning products, whether homemade (vinegar/water counter spray) or commercial. Remember, I am a bacteria freak, so they must really work. And I am cheap (no thank you to the $20 bottles of stuff please). I will share whatever I find!

Creative Ways to Avoid Things

I am currently avoiding several things I should be doing this very minute.

• painting the front door
• painting the hallway
• digging out all the receipts for exemptions for taxes (we filed an extension…long story…do you own a business?)
• scrubbing the shower
• exercising
• exercising again (I ate a huge bowl of chocolate brownie ice cream!)
• learning more about blogging

Now you know why I am writing about NOT doing them instead!  Besides, how could I focus enough to do these things well if 13 Going on 30 is on?

Recipe of The Week!

Pancake Battered Chicken

Ingredients:

• chicken cutlets, cut into bite sized pieces
• ready to make pancake batter
• hot sauce
• oil for frying
• dipping sauce (ranch, blue cheese)

Directions:

Pour an inch of oil into pan, heat to med/med high.

In one bowl put half a cup of dry pancake mix.

In another bowl, add half a cup of pancake mix, half a cup of water, and a few Tablespoons of hot sauce.  It wont be crazy spicy.  If you don’t believe me then only add a little, but it will taste bland!  Dip the chicken pieces into dry mix, then wet mix, then dry mix again.  Fry about 4-5 pieces at a time so the oil temperature doesn’t drop too much.  Set on paper towels to drain and serve with dipping sauce, and sliced carrots,  peppers, and broccoli to dip as well. This was adapted from a recipe by Rachael Ray I saw on Food Network.

To Do It or Not To Do It. That is the Question.

How do you deal with a toddler when you have a  baby on your boob?  On top of having almost ZERO hours of sleep?  How do you get up and fix food for someone else and care so much about them when you feel terrible and are pregnant and all you want to do is sleep and throw up?

These are the questions I ask myself.  I have an almost two year old.  She is very good, but she is almost two.  Do I start to try soon ( I got pregnant the very first try with my first one)?  Do I wait?  I don’t want my daughter to grow up without a sibling.  However, how is it possible to fully care for two children at the same time?  I could barely function with one baby.  I look forward to nap time like no one’s business.

Our family all lives far away.  We have very few people we even trust around here, to help out or babysit.  My husband is not terribly willing to do this again.  He has his original wife (not the tired cranky postpartum witch he was stuck with for a while) back again, and knows he is not as helpful as required (wheelchair, owns his own business, need I go on?)  I know that I don’t want my kids too far apart either, and we will be pushing three years soon.  I would like to get on with my life eventually.  Should I wait?  Go for it (I hate to say get it over with, but that is what we are honestly looking at)?  We are pretty sure two kids will be plenty, and I want to be done by thirty (I am 27).  Suggestions or comments please!  Your own experience, thoughts, and words of wisdom are needed.  Thank you!

I Feel Like a Smear

This is how I feel today!  Like a bug squashed on a windshield.  Yes, that is what this is a picture of.  I’m tired and have my period (that should explain it all.  Now I don’t have to go into great detail about headaches, bloatedness, etc.) One of a thousand nasty splats on the windshield of life.

How to Piss People Off on a Plane

1. Bring your handbag, laptop carrying case, a suitcase that doesn’t really fit in the overhead compartment, and your little drugged out dog that you will stash cram under the seat in front of you.
2. Make sure the child you bring is almost 2, therefore fidgety, loud, wanting to run all over the plane, and not sleep (that was my contribution to this trip).
3. Kick your tray table as many times as you can in four minutes.
4. Flail your arms and elbows into the person sitting next to you (who is using your armrest and half of your seat because their large ass can’t fit on just one seat. Does that mean they should pay for half of my ticket?)
5. Take a huge crap in the bathroom, so the plane smells hot and fruity for the remaining two hours of the trip.
6. Cough and sneeze a lot, and make sure they sound really juicy and gross.
7. Ask me to get up, and out of my seat as soon as my child (see #2) falls asleep on top of me.
8. Please, Mr Pilot, can you scream louder into the PA?
9. Look at my portable DVD player with the Elmo Goes Potty music streaming out, and act like it is bothering you.
10. Eat something smelly, like an onion sandwich, and breathe in my direction.

C is For Cookie

If you are going to make cookies, do yourself a favor and make them the real way. Don’t use whole wheat flour. Don’t use fake sugar or pretend butter. Use WHITE flour! It tastes so much better, which is why you want to eat those cookies in the first place. I made some this morning with whole wheat flour. I don’t want to say they are awful, but they are not what I was hoping for. And that was a gooey, sweet, chewy melt in your mouth chocolate chip cookie

Feeding a Toddler Sucks

Feeding a toddler sucks. I hate making any sort of effort to feed her, just because of the dreaded “No” or the lack of eating anything I worked so hard to think up and create. Another tried and tested kid friendly recipe from the Jooshy kitchen! Just remember, they won’t starve themselves to death. They will eat when they are hungry, and ready to relinquish a bit of control.

Veggie Protein Pizza

one ready made pizza crust (Boboli is fine)

jarred pizza sauce

mozzarella cheese, shredded

chopped lower sodium ham

cottage cheese

grated squash, zucchini (place on paper towel for a minute to soak up the excess water)

thin sliced tomatoes (plum tomatoes are firmer and stand up to the oven better)

broccoli (the tops only, try to leave all the stems off, should resemble green crumbs)

Preheat oven according to pizza crust directions. Spoon on sauce. Place tomatoes on top, followed by some cottage cheese. Sprinkle on shredded cheese. Toss on your sliced ham, broccoli crumbs, and grated veggies. Bake 8-12 minutes. Make sure to let you kids help you prepare this. They will be more likely to eat it if they do. Check out other recipes I have posted as well. As always, I will keep posting recipes as soon as they are child approved!

Just a note: I use full fat foods for my string bean child. If your pediatrician has expressed concern about your child’s weight, using lower fat cheese and other products are great substitutions.

I’ve Got the Itchys

It’s allergy season! Hooray! I am so itchy and scratchy I am going crazy. My nose, my eyes, my skin…

I can’t take the scratching, which is making my skin raw. So I take Benadryl, the only thing that really helps (and doesn’t cost $30 for ten). But one of the side effects of Benadryl is sleepiness. After two cups of coffee I fell asleep on the couch about noon. I woke up once with my daughter gauging my eyes out while putting her sunglasses on my face (which were very cute, and less than $3).

I woke up another time to her Awful (did you note the capital A in awful) rubber ducky singing in my ear. If there is anyone you don’t like very much, that is the gift to give their kids. She got them as a gift; I think they were purchased at Linens and Things. These ducks are LOUD loud loud. they sing if you put them in the bathtub; there are sensors on the bottom of them. You can also make the ducks sing if you cover the sensors with your fingers, which my daughter has figured out. I tried to tape their little ducky mouths shut by placing tape over the part sound comes out of. It does work, try it on any toy. But beware, your kids will peel it off once they discover what you did.

In my attempt to ward off housework, I came across this little gem, a steam powered floor cleaner. I wonder if it works. Maybe it will be my Mother’s Day gift this year. Last year I bought myself a vacuum broom which works great, especially at sweeping up lots of man hair off the bathroom floor.

http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2850512&cp=3079538&parentPage=family

Do not hit balls against fence……

read more | digg story

Top 10 Things I Have Done on a Toilet

1. Breastfed my baby
2. Held my daughter as she freaked out during a thunderstorm, because she jumped up on my lap mid stream
3. Painted my toenails ( A real time saver, I’ll tell you)
4. Plucked my eyebrows
5. Fought with my husband
6. Played pat-a-cake
7. Talked on the phone
8. Wrote an email
9. Addressed thank you notes
10. Read Something

All right, the last few aren’t creative, but they are true.  Although I do miss my alone time, my daughter does make up for it.  As soon as I flush, she waves at the toilet and says “Byebye, peepee”. Definitely something to embarrass her with when she is 16.