Takin' a little break...

I guess that's what I've been doing. We've had a crazy few weeks. I do have a long list of blog topics bumping around in my head, but I can't seem to sit long enough to get these topics in a form that any of you would be able to decipher! I should have some more time soon...but until then, I read a blog recently that really challenged me (yes, I know, I link up to this blog often...I'm ok if you just start reading hers and delete mine off your list--she updates frequently, I'm, well, a little AD...hey, what's that over there?). Anyway, I hope that next week, I'll be back on task (and working out!).
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2010/05/10-point-manifest-for-joyful-mothering.html
(you might need to copy and paste)
Hope you enjoy this post and that it challenges you as much as it challenged me!

How Not to Wait

It's dark outside. Not night time dark. Not early morning dark. Not even the darkness of an eclipse. It's the darkness of smog, no sun for days. It's a darkness that creeps into the house. The kind of darkness that makes you turn on all the lights in the house in an effort to fight it. I find myself waiting for real Spring.

It feels, sometimes, that I'm always waiting. Waiting to grow up and go to college. Waiting to get married. Waiting to start having kids. Waiting to give birth (yeah, I did that a lot). Waiting for Tim's school to be done. Waiting to move overseas and then waiting to move back to the States. There's the waiting for babies to sleep through the night. Waiting for them to be self-sufficient. Waiting for them to finish going potty (I spend A LOT of time doing this!). Waiting for them to do their schoolwork. It always seems that I'm waiting for what's next.

I find it hard to live in the moment. I find it hard to simply wait on God. I have a hard time being still and waiting to hear what God wants to say.
So, here in the darkness of midday, I will try to "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him..." (Psalm 37:7)

Hairdos, Belly Dancing, and Other Pictures

Since we no longer have a house helper, (yes, I hear you all crying your hearts out for me) the little girls have been having to entertain themselves more and more while I do school. I came in the other day to see the girls, for once, not in trouble. Ellie was combing Lydia's hair, and for once, they let me take a picture of them.

Before you all run screaming for the hills, it's NOT me belly dancing...it's Ellie's Belly Dancing. She really likes to try to take her clothes off to get ready for bed. She hasn't figured out how to get her arms out, though.

I took all the kids to the store with me the other night, as a treat for...well, for surviving, we went out for noodles at their favorite noodle shop. They love to eat it at the restaurant. I call it a restaurant, but the more accurate description would be carless garage.

And here, FINALLY, is a picture of Elijah's missing tooth. If you notice, the other tooth has already grown in...that's not because I waited so long to take the picture, the tooth was there before the old tooth fell out.

Lastly, I've not updated on my projects in a while. I have slowly...very slowly, been working on a quilt for Ellie. I have high hopes of finishing it before we need to take the big comforters off the beds...if that ever happens. It's a scrap quilt and is a little wild! Sorry it's so hard to see on the white background. Maybe when it's finished it will be easier to see.

Simplicity itself!

We love (LOVE) veggies in our house. We like them raw, boiled, fried, sauteed, baked, and ROASTED! Roasted is probably my favorite way to eat some veggies. I would much rather have roasted potatoes than french fries. I'd rather have roasted green beans to boiled with bacon. And all I can say is, I'd rather have roasted asparagus than any other vegetable! Happily, roasting veggies is the easiest, ok except raw, to prepare vegetables. Four ingredients...yep, that's all you need!
Olive oil
salt
pepper
green beans or asparagus

Clean up the veggies. For green beans, trim the ends and cut or snap to the length you prefer. For asparagus, cut off the tough part of the stalk. Spread out on a large cookie sheet or roasting pan, drizzle olive oil over all the veggies, and salt and pepper. Toss together. Place the cookie sheet close to the top heat in a 450 degree oven. Roast until they have brown spots on them. Takes me about 25 minutes or so. I suppose the oven will determine the time. They won't be burnt, but they will look very done.
You can add garlic if you like, but it's tasty either way.

Potatoes can be done like this too...although you won't need to put them so close to the heat and it will take longer. Just wash and cut into 1 in squares (you can peel them or not). Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic or herbs. I love rosemary and garlic. I grind the rosemary into almost a powder since my family doesn't like the hard pieces. Roast them until they are brown on the bottom and have little brown blisters on top.

I mentioned a bit back about my once a month cooking...it's really more prepping than cooking, but so far, it really has made things come together much more quickly in the evenings. If it continues to be helpful, I will post more about what I do next month. Hope everyone is well.

When I Grow Up

Isabella, as a 3rd grader, has been doing more and more writing activities. Her last writing of the year is entitled "When I Grow Up." I found it amusing and thought I would pass it on. I hope everyone had a blessed Resurrection Day!

When I grown up I want to be a famer. I want pigs, sheep, chickens, turckeys, horses, cows, goats, ducks, and a sheepdog. I need a sheepdog to take care of my sheep. I want chickens for meat and for eggs. I want the cows and goats for milk. I want the horses for riding. I want the turckeys and ducks for meat. I want the pigs for meat. I want the sheep for meat and cloth. I will need my children [to help] with the animals. I will need my husband to raise mony.

I don't where or when she decided that she wanted to be a farmer. Apparently, her family will have a lot of meat! I especially love her purpose for her husband. I literally laughed out loud.

Hope everyone is well!

Once a Month Cooking

Menu Monday has been replaced (on Wednesday!) with Once a Month cooking this week! I thought I would try it to see if it would help me with some time management issues. I worked almost all day yesterday and all I really want to say is that I never want to touch a raw chicken breast again! It was a long process...more getting ready than anything else. I sent my dear husband to the store to buy 30+ chicken breasts. While many of you are imagining that this simply entailed a trip to Wal-Mart where he picks up 3 or 4 bags of frozen chicken breasts, this is NOT the way it's done here. Here the idea is fresh is best...and I do agree with that to some extent. I love fresh veggies and fruits and herbs. The ideal way to shop, according to the locals here, is just before you start to cook a meal. The idea of buying groceries for a week is outrageous! I get so many criticisms about how full my cart is when I head to the grocery store. On top of that, Tim had to pick out the chicken breasts and bag them himself. This week, they were unsplit and still had the tenders on them. So all I can say is, I have a great man who would go and do this for me!
So yesterday, I spent the day splits, cleaning, separating, and de-boning gobbs of chicken! In the end, I probably prepared chicken, pork, and beef for 15 meals. We'll see how that helps!
Last week, I mentioned my world famous (well, at least our house famous!) Baked Eggplant Parmesan. It's a great way to eat more vegetables and to save on the budget. When we were back in the US, we ate this a lot since eggplants were $1.45 each at Kroger. The first couple of times the kids picked at it, but now they eat it like crazy! Some people don't like the texture of the skin, so if you don't, just peal the skin before slicing. We can 2-3 eggplants in the US. Here the eggplants are Asian so they are different, thin and long, so we can eat 3-4 depending on how big they are. I don't have any specific measurements I just keep mixing the bread crumb mixture until I finish with eggplant.
For the breading: bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, a little salt, garlic powder, and shredded parmesan cheese (we don't use a lot because it's expensive and can only be bought in a couple of places)
I start with 2 eggs and some milk whisked together.
Slice the eggplant in half inch slices. Soak the slices in cold water for about 30 minutes, this takes the "bite" out of the eggplant. Then drain the eggplant.
Spread a little bit of Olive Oil on a cookie sheet.
Dip each eggplant slice in the breading mixture, then the egg mixture and then the breading again. Then place the breaded eggplant slices on the oiled baking sheet. When the sheet is filled up, drizzle the eggplant with olive oil and then bake at about 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy. It takes us two cookie sheets to bake all of ours.
I serve it with whole wheat penne and a good chunky spaghetti sauce.
Hope you enjoy this lighter version of Eggplant Parmesan!

Ready for Easter

Sometimes, living overseas, I have a hard time feeling "in season." Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Fourth of July are not celebrated in the same way here. So as Easter is coming up I was getting a little mopey...no new Easter dresses for the girls and nice pants and vest for the boy. No Easter candy or seeing everything in pastels. No "displays" to remind me that its coming. Last night I was thinking about that when I overheard the kids singing in their room. Suddenly it hit me what they were singing: "What can wash away my sin, Nothing but the blood of Jesus." And now, while I still like all those other things, I am really ready for Easter.