Works for Me Wednesday

I came home to four paper sacks full of clothes in the hallway yesterday. One of which seemed to have some good socks in it.

In the spirit of recycling and using the things we have, instead of buying new things, I found some uses for those socks. I am gonna make E and L sock monkeys, just because I have always wanted to. I have also used these ideas, and love them. Especially the soap!!

-Make muscle relaxing packs. Fill with rice or wheat and sew up the open end. Place in the microwave with a glass of water to heat for 1 minute. Hang around your neck or place on other sore muscles for instant relief. (Note: Always include the glass of water to provide moisture or the pack can catch on fire if it dries out too much after repeated use.)

-Make garden soap holders. Gardening can be messy and dirty. Pop a soap bar into the bottom of an old sock and tie a knot around the soap part of the sock. Leave the long part of the sock for tying onto a faucet in the garden. It will be ready for you whenever you need to clean up outside after a gardening session.


You can see the entire article and judge for yourself. I will probably skip the quilt made of socks, but then again it is 90 degrees right now....maybe I will change my mind come December.

We I have been using socks to dust the blinds for quite sometime. I will certainly be adding that to my little ones chore list, once they are a bit older. My five year old niece thinks it is a blast to gear up in a pair of socks and dust the living room. I can't wait.

For more great tips visit Rocks in my Dryer

Sock Monkey anyone?

I am totally giddy this morning.

Yesterday I went out to my mom's for a few hours, her parents and brother were in town. I hadn't seen them in awhile and they had never even meet L. Do you ever have those moments when you wonder "how could I be related to these people?"

My mom made burgers with chorizo in them topped with red pepper puree and caramelized onions and jalapenos. (She is not on my Meatless Monday bandwagon.....yet) They looked delicious. I did take a taste of the puree, yum. My dear uncle didn't even know what chorizo is....how are they siblings?

Anyway, when I got home My Guy had mowed the lawn, done the dishes (we don't use our dishwasher anymore...) and cleaned out the closet. Let me tell you, I have been hounding, pleading, begging, nagging him to clean out the closet since January. And, all of the sudden he finally did it yesterday. There are four paper sacks of clothes sitting in our hallway waiting for me to do something with them. Now, most of the time I drop them at Goodwill or the Wardrobe. I have tried taking them to a second hand shop in town, and they do buy some of our stuff occasionally. But it is pretty depressing to watch them rifle through all of our stuff and reject most of it. I guess we just aren't cool enough.

This is where My Guy and I differ, well, one of the many places. I see all of this *stuff* as money spent and he just sees it as *stuff* he doesn't use that someone else could. I have a hard time letting go of things because I usually know what I paid for it and never feel that we got full use out of it. Which is why I am loving the garage sale and thrift store purchases, but more on that later. It also helps that I have not bought anything new since January, well nothing that wasn't a necessity. With, of course a few guilty exceptions. Ooops.

This time I have decided to dig through it and see if I can find alternative uses for any of it. And I am not talking about rags. (although I am sure there are a few white tees in there that have carpet scrubbing in their future) I already spied something made of heavy corduroy....would that make a good bean bag for E? I love to unravel sweaters and use the wool for pants over L's cloth diapers. Wonder if there are any wool sweaters in there? Curtains out of the old man's clothes may be a little much. Let's see what I can come up with.....

Meatless Monday

Happy Meatless Memorial Monday.

I had big concerns over how much opposition I was going to encounter on this meatless Monday. My Guy is a big griller, and especially on such a holiday. It seems Memorial Day is not really about honoring our veterans, but about lighting up the BBQ grill. My dad would freak if he knew that we weren't eating some sort of red meat today. Never the less, I have found an acceptable alternative that didn't cause too much of an uproar when I posed it to My Guy.

So here ya' go. I haven't tried the mushrooms yet, but it seems pretty straight forward. I am going to be serving them burger-style with a slice of cheese and an onion bun from our local bakery. The Marinated Barbecued Vegetables are a staple and they find their way onto the grill every time we light it. Even E likes them. I think they are yummy served warm or cold.


Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

3 portobello mushrooms
1/4 cup canola oil
3 Tblsp. chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tblsp. balsamic vinegar

Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up.
In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients. Pour mixture over the mushroom caps and let stand for 1 hour.
Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.


Marinated Barbecued Vegetables

1 eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch thick slices
2 red or green bell peppers, seeded and cut into wide strips
3 zucchinis, sliced
3 squash, sliced
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
4 cloves garlic, minced

In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, basil and garlic. Pour the mixture over vegetables, cover and marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.

Place the vegetables on hot grill and cook about 2 or 3 minutes per side, brushing with marinade.

Pass the milk

I am so having one of those days.

This morning the neighbor boy came over for a bit while his parents were busy. Everything was going swimmingly, until I looked over at E. She had woken up just after he got there, and was still in her jammies. Just as I looked at her a big juicy poo fell out of her pants and dropped in a puddle of piss. Awesome.

When they came to pick him up, they offered to let E go over and play while I ran errands. This is perfect, she is ready to go...and in a diaper because I cannot deal with anymore accidents. We have been having a really bad week of accidents and I am over it.

So I head of to my WIC appointment. I applied for WIC about a month ago and this was my second visit. I hate, hate, hate it. I have already had the "is it worth it?" conversation with my guy. He thinks if I can deal with it, then yes it is worth it. As of right now we get 6 gallons of milk, 2 dozen eggs, 36 0z. of juice, 1 lb. of cheese, 18 oz. of peanut butter and one can of evaporated milk. However, in order to get these things every month, we have to go in for "nutrition" consultations and "general nutrition" classes. This morning was one of those general nutrition classes. I am sitting there in a room full of women with their babies...one of whom is feeding her infant *CHEETOS*, yes, Cheetos. I could not even believe it. The over zealous woman running the class started by asking everyone what a calorie is. Silence. After a few quite moments, I finally pipe up that it is a measurement of energy. She almost hugged me.

She goes on to tell us all the predictable things. Eat so many fruits, eat so many veggies, meat is a source of protein, blah, blah, blah. Then she starts in on a milk rant and how that is the biggest thing that she wants us all to come away with. How extremely important calcium and milk are, and that we should all be sure that our little ones are drinking enough.

Just as I was about to put in my two cents and ask her how she felt about all the hormones, antibiotics, dead bacteria, and fecal matter in her frosty live-saving glass of milk....a woman comes in to get me to ask me if I am still breastfeeding. Jeez, that was a narrow escape. I manage to make it out of the WIC office without totally losing my mind.

I head to the grocery store and collect the items I am "allowed" from my checks. All the while wondering why in the hell are they giving me evaporated milk? Why are they giving me sugar laden juice? And where are all the fruits and vegetables? I get all my stuff, and find some killer deals on some natural/organic soap and lotion. And into the check-out line I go. The woman behind the register saw my WIC checks and was visibly distraught. I took a deep breath and proceeded to put my items on the convayor belt. She about has a melt down and treats me like I am a piece of garbage. Then all of the sudden when I am paying for my non-WIC items, she completely transforms and I am just another customer that she is pleasantly chatting with. L was being her adorable self and was giving her huge smiles. She asked me if L was my only one, I took a deep breath and tried to be friendly. No, I replied, my other one is playing at the neighbors. Oh, and where is dad? she asks.

It was then that I realized I was still being judged. None of your god-damned business! was the first thing that came to mind. Somehow I manage to get through the transaction. I don't make it out of the parking lot before I break down into tears. I suppose I am a little hormonal. I can't wait to tell my guy about this one, when he gets home from working a 12 or 13 hour day out in the hot sun. He will go ballistic. heeheehee I guess I won't be going to WIC anymore.

And then, just as I walk in the door with my arms full of babies and groceries, the dog pukes on the carpet. I sure could use a drink.

Works for Me Wednesday

I stumbled upon this on accident. Last week I was cleaning off the back porch and had drug the trash can outside. Of course, I got distracted with the feeding, changing and such of the kiddos and left our kitchen trash can out on the porch. Dinner time came around and now I am just too lazy to go out and get the trash can, so I spent the night with out my kitchen garbage can.

Let me tell you, I loved it. In my attempt to be more green I am recycling and have started a compose. However, as hard as I try to be noble....sometimes my laziness gets the best of me. The recycling is outside, and sometimes it is just easier to sneak that plastic tab from the milk into the trash can. Or it is just too simple to chuck that little bit of food into the trash. It is just too much to have to open the back door and toss it into the recycling or out to the compose pile. I know, I know, pretty sad.

But, with my trash can outside with the recycling there is *no* temptation to just toss, toss, toss. I consider every piece of garbage, and they all go in their proper place. If you are a lazy recycler/composer try this method for a week or two. Then you will be able to move your trash can back in, but with a new awareness and a good habit. It works for me!

Check out more Works for Me Wednesday @ rocks in my dryer

Which sin is this?

I am looking into purchasing the Baby Safe Feeder. Whole chunks of food go into the feeder and through sucking and chewing, baby makes its own liquefied food. "Safe" in that there are no chunks to choke on. I contacted Designs U-2, Inc. the company that invented these things and requested an ingredient list.

What I got in return was a form letter saying, in summary, that the Baby safe feeder is made in the USA and FDA approved. That it contains no phthalates, BPA, PVC, dyes, or latex.

That's all great but, I am a little confused. In my email I asked for a list of what these things were made of, but what I got was a PR letter about what they don't contain. I do not trust the FDA. Their "approval" does nothing for me. In fact I think that the FDA should be done away with all together, then we would have the personal responsibility to ensure that the things we are giving our children to suck on do not contain chemicals that are cancer-causing. Or that the lotions, creams, and sunscreens that we are lathering on them are not full of parabens and "fragrance" and causing more harm than good. We would know that we are the only ones looking out for ourselves and our children, without some false sense of security that someone else is protecting us.

Oh, in reply I also got washing instructions. They advise washing it with vinegar, so they get bonus points for that I suppose. At least they are not suggesting you dip it in bleach......

So although they are not parading their product as "green", I think anything that you tout as being safe for children should fit that category as well. Why not make the mesh out of organic cotton, instead of polyester?

So, which one? Irrelevance? No Proof? Vagueness?

Meatless Monday

Well, Saturday morning was spent running around like a chicken with my head cut off!
My little ones are not even to the soccer game/ballet lesson/birthday party/etc. age yet and I still was super busy Saturday morning. I did make it to the farmer's market bright and early to pick up my "bushel" of goodies from the CSA I signed up for last week. What a serious disappointment. My so-called bushel contained two small sprigs of oregano, a bunch of chives and a few asparagus spears. I am heart broken.

I was whining about it to my mother and she basically told me to suck it up, and that when signing up for the CSA I should have known that I was "participating in the risk". I hate it when she is right. The weather has been really, really mild here. I don't know what I was expecting...he can't magically coax food from the earth just because I cut him a check. The thing that really got my blood boiling though, is that he charged me for the plants I bought from him. I wanted to get a few more tomato plants and a couple more herbs to squeeze into the empty spaces in my garden. Couldn't he have throw in the marjoram for good will?

I am still optimistic about next week, and the items we did get look great so hopefully in the end we will all come out on top. The eggs are awesome, it is too bad I broke three of them on the way to the car wrestling L and E and the stroller and the plants and the eggs and, you get the idea. I am still supporting a local farmer with a family of his own, so maybe I will just consider this a charity case this week.

At any rate, here is what's for dinner tonight. It is Meatless Monday and the ingredients are all in my fridge and pantry.


Spring Tabbouleh

1 cup fine bulgur
1 bunch of asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup peas, freshly shelled

1 garlic clove, crushed to paste with 2 big pinches of salt
juice of one lemon
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 bunch chives, finely chopped
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Fill a medium saucepan with water and bring to a boil.

Put the bulgur in a medium bowl, add boiling water to the surface of the grains and let stand for about 15 minutes, just until tender. Drain and press out any remaining water and toss with a couple pinches of salt. Set aside.

Return the saucepan to the heat and bring the remainder of the water back up to a boil. Salt the water and cook the asparagus and peas for just about 20 seconds, just long enough for them to brighten up and lose a bit of their bite. Drain, run under colder water to stop the cooking, and add to the bulgur.

For the dressing, whisk the garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil together and season with more salt if needed.

To the bulgur, asparagus, and peas add 1/2 the chives and walnuts. Toss with a big splash of dressing. Taste and add more dressing if needed. Adjust the seasoning. Garnish with the remaining chives, walnuts and chopped egg.

Serves 4-6.