Take a Minute

Okay, so I have admittedly been absent for quiet some time now. But I promise to do better...really, I promise.
I finally had to shed my SAHM status and get a jobby job. The job entails security clearances and other various government snares that have been quite trying. But really the consumption of me has been having to put my little buggy bear Henry into daycare. We had drama at the church run daycare that we started with...think 3rd world orphanages with babies crying unattended in cribs. It was heartbreaking. But on the bright side that lead us to the most brilliant in home daycare and my boy is a happy, tended to baby again...and that means that I don't cry myself to work everyday. Hooray.
So, I'm working at putting together a schedule of some sort so that I can balance work, being a mom, and being a wife again. I have felt nothing short of inadequate since starting work. So hopefully reassessing and getting things on paper will help.
Light a candle for me, kittens.

Eat This: Sopa Tortilla

It was a rare occasion but when asked what he wanted for dinner my husband actually had an answer...and a weird one at that...tortilla soup. I've never made tortilla soup and it is one of those things that is REALLY open to interpretation. So after grilling him on what he thought tortilla soup to be, I set out on a soup making adventure.
The amounts below are an estimate and sometimes a guess because I really just put stuff in until it tastes right. I'm also not afraid to mess up...that is why there are pizzerias.

2 or 3 chicken breast (i just use the generic frozen ones)
1 fresh jalapeno
1/2 large onion (I used some red and some yellow)
minced garlic to taste...i probably used 2 Tblsp
1 can diced tomatoes with jalapenos
1 can tomato sauce
1 small can green chili
1 can of chicken and 1 can beef stock
some green enchilada sauce (optional - i was making enchiladas and put some of the leftovers in)

poach the chicken
dice half of the jalapeno
chop the onions (set some aside for garnish
saute jalapeno, onion, and garlic in olive oil to soften in stock pot or large sauce pan
add tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chili, chicken and beef stock
rough chop the chicken and add to soup
simmer about 20-30 minutes
**serve over cheese and beans of your choice or hominy (i really have to recommend hominy here)
**garnish with avocado, minced jalapeno, reserved onions, and corn chip strips ( i made my own)
***cut corn tortillas in half and then in strips, fry in oil until golden. Drain on paper towels and salt immediately. This gives you a lovely chip with no preservatives and no weird oil taste.

Make This: 20s Inspired Hat

I loved it at first site and I loved it even once I was done. This is the first pattern that I knit using a chart. It was fun and I would definitely do this one again. I got the pattern for Chapeau Marnier over at knitty.com.

Make This: Wrap Sweater

So, we've covered the fact that I didn't think that there was anyway that the universe would give me of all people a boy and here is another reminder of my former belief in that fact.
This is an adorable little wrap sweater from Claire Montgomerie's Easy Baby Knits. This has been sitting in the WIP box for over a year because I never bothered to get ribbon to finish it off. So here it is...

Make This: Florella Infant Set or Audrey Turned Out To Be Henry

So I'm cleaning out my Work In Progress Box and I'm coming across stuff that is done or at least like I said before, done enough.
This little sweater set was done before I was ever even pregnant but of course everything I've knit has been girlish...I of course had a boy. But this little set is from a pattern that I found online. It is a little ditty from the 40's that someone was nice enough to translate into a pattern that is understandable to my knitting abilities. It came together super easy. I omitted the tie that is supposed to lace through the yoke and the one that holds the hat on...evidently choking was not a hazard in the 40s...I even finished one of the booties. I considered finishing the other one tonight but them remember how long a booty stays on a small baby...it's about 7 seconds for those that don't know....so, I won't be finishing the other one.
If you'd like to find this pattern just search Florella Infant Set. I'm pretty sure that I knit this up with something Debbie Bliss. But it feels vintage and definitely has that look.
Maybe the next one will be a girl. Jinx.

Make This: Harris' Blanket

It's finished! Well at least finished enough. I have been working on this blanket since December of 2005. It's been pretty finished for a good while. I was going to sew a back onto it but I have instead decided to put ties in the seams to hide the dangly bits. This blanket is comprised of 63 individually knit squares all painstakingly hand sewn together. It's soft and the perfect weight ... forget your Snuggy! Hopefully one day Harris will appreciate it...until then, I will.

Sow This: The Garden Is In

Well, we did it! We got the grapes ripped out, the soil tilled, the rows hoed, and the seeds planted. Now we just wait...and chase birds and squirrels away as if they were snatching the food right out of the boys' mouths.
Our little compost bin is in as well. The next project will be installing (after we build them) rain barrels. Now if I can just figure out where to get free used 55 gallon plastic food storage barrels.

Here is the round up of what we will hopefully be eating until next year:
Lavender
Chives
Parsley
Rosemary
Thyme
Basil
Leeks
Two types of tomatoes
Watermelons
Peas
Brussel Sprouts
Yellow Squash
Zucchini
Romaine Lettuce
Butternut Squash
Carrots
Cucumbers - normal and picklers
Leaf Lettuce
Green Onions
Broccoli
Grean Beans
Cantaloupe
Swiss Chard

Make This: Freezer Paper Stencil

Thanks to some folks over at Craftster I have discovered the beauty of freezer paper. Skip on over the Craftster for a great tutorial on using freezer paper for stenciling. I give it my seal of approval. It's cheap, it's easy, and the results are pretty darn impressive.
I chose an easy stencil for my first project as I was not so sure on how well the cutting of the stencil was going to go. It wasn't so bad, a little tedious but worth the effort.
In about an hour I was able to take a tshirt that was ruined by non washable paint at preschool and turn it into a great recycled, fun shirt. Yay!

Moments of Clarity: Time Management and My Total Lack and Disregard of It

Where is all of this time going? Seriously, I need someone to explain this to me. Up until three months ago I would scoff at women who got to stay home but couldn't manage to keep the house in some semblance of order or who couldn't stop complaining about being tired. This is my official and earnest apology. I really had no idea that the second I had this baby that my time space continuum would be completely altered. I've gone from days at work that seemed to turn into weeks, to a day at home that surely could not have been more than four hours. I have no room to complain, I know this. I have a new baby that has never woken up to eat more than twice in the wee hours. He only cries if he is hungry, wet, bored, or is having the kind of tummy troubs that seem to fold him in half. He is never a mystery. He also keeps a pretty tight schedule. But for some reason I can't seem to get a single thing done...or more like I am getting things done but no one would ever know unless they saw me doing it. I had a flash of brilliance a month ago and made myself a chore chart. For two glorious weeks the house was in order and things were flowing like I always imagined they would. Then Henry and I got the creeping funk that had us both on the crabby, can't stop coughing train for a week. I did nothing but comfort and complain. That was last week. Now there is a brand new week to conquer and I'm not even mounting a fight. Every time I think I've got this kid's schedule mastered, he changes up on me. His latest curve ball is not sleeping unless I'm holding him. Don't get me wrong...I love this more than life and wouldn't dream of trading it for anything...especially a load of laundry...but OMG we need clean clothes. So in any given two hour cycle (that's how often he eats during the day) it's cry, change pants, feed, doze off, cry, fall asleep on mommy (sometimes for hours) OR expect entertainment that changes every five minutes (hard to perform this task for a three month old)...and start all over again. That leaves absolutely no time for anything. Just a few weeks ago I could get things done while he was sleeping and by "things" I mean at least a load of laundry or at least turning the vacuum on...those days have long since passed. For those that have known me for any amount of time are thinking "Since when do you care about cleaning your house?" I don't know the answer. It probably started when I decided I wanted to be an over achieving mommy. I'm not over achieving. You know, I take that back. I am a fantastic mommy. I am also a horrifying example of a housewife. For now I think I will be happy with being a great mommy. The house will always need my attention. I will eventually have to go back to work. These boys however will not always need their mommy.
So my shoes are sitting in the middle of the living room but my littlest is asleep on my chest.

Sow This: Gardening 101

My grandpa used to keep three gardens. Sometimes all three at once or he would rotate them. Two of them were very large. He always encouraged me and my brother to help and there is no better reward for a day of work than your grandpa handing you a carrot pulled right out of the ground and rinsed off with the hose except of course a day spent with your grandpa. I miss these days terribly and I have spent a lot of time recently regretting that I didn't learn or retain the things that I learned from my grandpa. He was a very special man that because of the circumstances of his childhood knew how to do everything. Gardening is now the talent that I am admiring the most. Since Henry was conceived I have spent a LOT of time learning how to raise this baby in the best possible way. One of the things that I have been adamant about is not feeding him jarred processed baby food. Trying to keep him as preservative free as possible is going to be one of the biggest challenges. When we bought this house (right after we found out we were pregnant) I decided that a large portion of the sizable back yard would be dedicated to a garden. This sounds like a great idea...I will have something to do, I can teach these boys about food and work, and I can offer my family healthy food...then it dawned on me that I have no idea what I'm doing.
An old friend who has styled himself a farmer told me about seedsavers.org. I can buy seeds here and actually use the vegetables that I grow to create seed for future crops. Because of hybridization you cannot do this with seeds purchased at your run of the mill box store. So I visited seedsavers and proceeded to research and fill my basket with what I can only visualize as a beautiful bountiful garden. Then I realized that I have no idea how much space I will need for all of these things. Then I realized that I don't really know how to till. Then I realized that I don't know how to start seeds inside and keep the cats from destroying them. Then I realized that I don't know how to put up a fence to keep our yard bunnies out of our garden. Then I realized that I was about to spend a lot of money on seeds for a garden that I really don't know how to make happen.
So I printed all the material I could find on growing the things that I had picked out. I started working on measurements. Then I realized that I took so much time agonizing over this that my basket was unceremoniously emptied. Now I have to start all over. This is no small undertaking...it's not like I can just choose tomatoes...there a jillion to choose from...all beautiful and all with a story. But I don't remember what I chose. I guess maybe this is a good thing. Now I will work on my measurements first, dole out the space, THEN choose the seeds, and choose seeds that can just be thrown in the ground...none of this starting inside stuff. My cats are evil and crafty.
Now a rational person would read this and think "it's just a garden" but for me this has somehow become a measurement of my worth as a mother and nurturer. I've also discovered that having a baby makes you measure your worth in bizarre ways. So my new measurement is my grandpa. I will try to channel Doc and hope that he will send me the garden vibes and help me meet the bar that he set. It's a tall bar and it's big shoes.

Eat This: Paprikash Chicken

So Friday we got our tax refund and like all normal Americans we ate out all weekend. Now I've been thrusted back into normal money world...boo.
Two weeks ago my husband proclaimed that if he found things in the newspaper that sounded good, he would tell me, and I would make them. Once I stopped making "that" face I remembered that I am forever asking him what he wants for dinner because I'm tired of coming up with ideas and then getting really mad when he can't think of anything. So....hole dug.
Tonight's menu is now featuring newspaper paprikash chicken. Yippee for Hungarians. I would just put their recipe here, but frankly it needs a LOT of spicing up.....so this is my rendition.

4 pounds of chicken ( I hate chicken and even worse chicken on the bone - however this dish is for my husband so I will make it for him...so use boneless breasts or a whole fryer...whatever floats your boat.)
Some salt
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp vegetable oil (not olive oil as it will smoke out)
2 Tbsp sweet paprika (if you are a slave to the regular grocery store, you may want to use more to insure the flavor comes through)
1 Tbsp garlic powder or granulated
**Whatever other flavors you like here...I put celery salt in everything and added some chili powder to spice it up a bit**
1/2 C tomato juice
1 C sour cream
3 Tbsp flour

Melt butter in the vegetable oil.
Lightly salt the chicken
Add the paprika, garlic, and spices of your choice, and saute for a minutes...not too long or it will burn as the chicken browns.
Add chicken and cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned
Remove the chicken and set aside
Add onions and saute until soft - about 4 minutes
Add tomato juice to pan (I used the juice from canned diced tomatoes so I added some of the tomatoes as well)
Return chicken, cover, cook on medium for about 40 minutes.
Remove chicken from pan
Mix flour and sour cream together and then stir into pan...stir constantly until the sauce thickens
Serve sauce over chicken


I served this over rice but I think it would be great over boiled or roasted potatoes or even lightly buttered egg noodles.
This turned out really oily...try cutting back on the vegetable oil. It was also a little blander than I care for so definitely taste it for seasoning before serving. Eating the chicken on bone was a bit tedious (aside from the fact that doing that grosses me out) and just for the sole purpose of cutting some of the fat out of this I would really recommend using boneless chicken breasts. This dish is also really lacking in the presentation department.
Those things aside, the husband seemed to really like it...so it's a keeper.

Grilled Chicken Spinach/BBQ Chicken Pizza

Sometimes I just really don't feel like cooking and sometimes I just don't have time to put forth the effort so I thought I would share our menu too.

Last night was one of those I just don't have time nights...which turns into pizza night and there is one thing I hate making is crust...pie crust, pizza crust, any light bread product...I hate it..so I am happy to freely admit that I buy pizza crust that is ready made...I don't even have to spread it out. So a big shout out to Kroger brand pizza crust!
Last night I made a pizza that was half grilled chicken and spinach and the other half was barbeque chicken. It was easy, easy to sneak veggies to the three year old and the husband, cheap, and was seriously really tasty.

1 pizza crust
A little less than a half a jar of Alfredo sauce
Some BBQ sauce
2 chicken breasts/cubed(I grilled them off on the Foreman with loads of garlic powder and pepper)
1 1/2 C frozen spinach (thaw in microwave)
However much italian type cheese you take on your pizza

**so alfredo on one side, bbq on the other. Spread chicken evenly. Sprinkle spinach on the alfredo side. top with cheese. bake as per crust directions.

In hindsight, the bbq side wouldve been really great with carmelized red onions and the spinach side wouldve been great with roasted red peppers.

And a great discovery for those with children that wont eat anything green or that doesnt look like cheese or a chicken finger...you can very easily hide spinach in a regular pizza with marinara. I pick my battles on the food front and am not above sneaking in vegetables.

New To The Game

So the best I can figure women go back to work after having kids solely for the purpose of being able to get something done in the house. With that being said, I will be holding out as long as humanly possible to raise my boys before returning to the draining world of information technology. In the meantime I will try to chronicle my trek through my trials, triumphs, and lessons learned.

My son is two months old and very literally occupies every moment of my time. Now I'm not going to pretend like I ever got a lot done before he was here, but I am so seriously getting nothing done these days. I have moments of brilliance when I can really clean the kitchen in 20 minutes flat or roll through loads and loads of laundry in a half a day....but these moments are few and far between. So like any normal person who doesn't have enough time to do their chores, I've decided it's a good idea to start up on my knitting projects again, get my nose in some long neglected books, and start blogging. Sure! Why not?

On The Needles:
One free form car seat blanket for my wee little man. I'm just doing a simple bordered blankie changing the pattern of the body as I get bored. I will post my progress with pictures just as soon as there is a tidied surface that I can take pictures on!

My Nose Is In:
Cryptonomicon - I'm only 15 pages in...now before getting pregnant, I read a lot and I read well. Well, 11 months of not reading anything but craft magazines has taken it's toll and I should've picked something much easier to get back into the reading game with. So far the premise is interesting and it is well written but the author is a little too proud of his vocabulary...or maybe I should just be ashamed of mine?? Either way at the rate of about two pages a day ( this is how much time I'm afforded by Henry) I should be done about the time he is graduating high school...which will be in the year 2027...how freaky old do I feel?

Now I have six hours to get this house cleaned, get dinner done, knit, read, watch Heroes, give Harris a bath and cut his hair, finish the load of laundry patiently waiting in the washer, and be nice to my husband all while holding the baby and trying not to wake him up. Any suggestions?