madmommy

A Disjointed Post

Oh, fair blog readers, beware.  This bodes to be a rather disjointed, rambling post.  Don't say I didn't warn you...

First, if you haven't ordered any of the wonderful products from Moo, as featured on Flickr, then run, don't walk, your happy little fingers over to their site and pick up some of their items right now!  I seriously forgot to mention that I had ordered the Moo Stickers a month ago and was so happy with the results, price, and short shipping time (they come from the U.K.), but luckily Fluffy Flowers had a recent swap that reminded me to post about them.  She traded me some of her Moo cards for some of my Moo stickers.

What are Moo Minicards and Moo stickers you say?  Well, moo cards are small business cards that are printed using your Flickr photos (or some of their beautiful stock photos, your choice) that can be printed with your email, etsy shop, blog page, etc. on the back.  Moo stickers are similar, in that they use your own photos and artwork, but they are made of a heavy plastic that holds up well and come in sets of 90 in a little sticker book (your choice of book cover color!) for only $9.99.   They had free shipping at the time, but currently shipping (for either) is only  $4.99 for anywhere in the world!  The minicards are 100 for $19.99.  And the best part is, you can have all of them using the same image, or 90 different images, or a mix.  Too cool.  I'll do the same as Fluffy Flowers and say, if you want to trade, leave a comment or shoot me an email!

Second, for those of you who pack your own lunch (or your kids'), you may have heard of the latest craze of bento lunches. Bento lunches aren't exactly new; they've been in Japan since 1185 , but it wasn't until the 1600s when modern bentos (including the laquerware boxes) made it on the scene.  Nowadays, bentos are just as likely to be plastic, stacked containers with interior dividers and anime characters on the covers.  The advantages to packing your lunch in a bento are: less messy, more variety, portion control, and just plain cute!  Head over to Biggie's website to see what I mean!

So, I was pleasantly surprised to find these boxes at the Dollar Tree...

They are two-tier bento boxes, with lids for each tier.  And at only a $1 apiece, a great deal.  They are probably not microwave or dishwasher safe, but bentos are generally eaten at room temperature.

Last but not least, my new love...

Sorry for the terrible picture.  This is my new (old) Apple iBook G4.  All of the students, teachers, and staff of the high school that I work at have Apple notebooks.  And all of the middle school too.  Mine is last years model, but still a wonderful computer.  Since I work with special ed kids in the regular classroom, my job often means taking lots of class notes and keeping up with several kids' schedules.  All of their textbooks are on the computers, and every classroom is wired for the internet.  This isn't a large school, and I feel this gives these kids a leg up in the world, because many don't have computers at home.  Just wanted to share the laptop goodness!
Hope your week is going well!

Calling All Cooks

Well, I have to admit.  I normally wouldn't post pictures of my kitchen on this blog.  Not because I'm ashamed of my kitchen.  It's actually very charming, even if it is a little messy all the time and we aren't quite done getting everything organized after the move.

No, it's because I'm ashamed you might actually get a glimpse of my oven.  Or, more correctly, the oven of the crazy people who used to own this house.  Crazy only because I can't imagine why anyone would purchase such a monstrosity when there are so many wonderful ovens out there to choose from!

The only reason I'm going to unveil it now for the masses is purely a cry for help.  I have been unable to bake since we moved here (two months ago) because I can't for the life of me figure out how to use it!  We didn't have a stove to bring with us, as our last house had a wall-mounted oven and a separate gas range.

Here's the first trouble. The Oven Dial.  Can someone please explain the various choices for me?

For example...the other night I wanted to bake some fish.  Should normally take 7 minutes.  I used the radiant bake setting, thinking bake sounded good, right?  After 7 minutes, the tops of the filets were perfect, the bottoms still frozen.  It took 2o minutes to cook through, but then the tops were ruined.  What's the difference between timed bake, radiant bake, and convected oven?  And what's with the separate setting for preheat?

Second is this little area...

This is next to the oven area when you open the oven door, plus another smaller door.  It says it's a grill, but I have no idea how that's supposed to be, even after reading the instructions there on the door!  Not to mention, it's pretty nasty.

So, finally, the big picture...

Basically an overgrown rangetop with a large paperweight underneath.  I'm trying to contact the company for some help, but if any of you know anyone who's had one of these and understands how to use it I'd be glad for the advice.  And my hubby is waiting on brownies, lol!

From SAHM to WM

Today was it.  The big day.  Mommy went back to work, and munchkin started daycare.

I really expected it to be much more melodramatic.  In honesty, for the first time in two years hubby and I woke up at the same time to get ready for the day.  I let the munchkin sleep a little longer while I leisurely fed the cat, dog, and then myself.  He woke up quite well for a child who normally sleeps until 8:30 am (I got him up at 6:45 to get him to daycare by 7 am).  All smiles, drank his chocolate pedisure drink with a smile.  Got to daycare and he headed straight for the toys and never looked back.  Wow.

Later, when I picked him up, I did find out that occasionally he would look around saying, "Mommy? Mommmmmyyyyyy?"  But didn't fuss.  And I guess when he figured I wasn't there, he went back to playing.  The biggest problem I thought she'd have with him was naptime.  He's used to a late nap, in his crib.  But the provider no sooner laid down the mats at 1pm than he laid down on his, looked at the other kids falling asleep, and promptly did the same!  I was in shock.  I think he'll do well...he's such a schedule boy.

And where, might you ask, am I working?  I'm going back to a job I had before the munchkin was born; paraeducator for special ed kids.  This time I'll be working in a high school environment.  I'm a little nervous, as it's been two years, and back then I worked with younger kids, but I enjoy the job.  We had our orientation today and I must say I feel very psyched to go "back to school".  It's also a job I can continue with when the munchkin gets into school, and he'll never notice I'm not home, because our hours will be the same.  A big advantage in working school hours.

Here's a great recipe I got from a friend we stayed with this weekend.  (If you don't like spicy food, omit the cajun seasoning and substitue 1/4 tsp. salt instead).

Cajun Hummus

1 can chickpeas, drained but reserve the juice
1 medium clove garlic
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp creole seasoning (or more to taste)

1. combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth (add the reserved liquid if the mixture seems too thick, but only a very little at a time...you can also just add more olive oil, or even tahini if you can find it).

2. enjoy with crackers or pita bread!

Very low carbs, high protein, low cal.  And good for you.  This is going to be a favorite for my school lunch packing.

Embroidery Love

The mail-lady just dropped this off for me today...

Soulemama had talked of this book several times, but I couldn't purchase it from Superbuzzy, where she originally found it.  And I now have to admit, I have no idea how to use YesAsia or Amazon Japan to find these books, even knowing the ISBN (which, for this book, is 4-8347-2421-2).  It seems the further I get into the site, the less english there is.  Can someone please get me a dummies guide for this?

Thankfully, I found a copy at this ebay seller.  She is so sweet and the package took only a week to arrive.

My newest obsession (as my hubby would put it) is purchasing a bento box.  I'd really like to find a nice one for starting back to work, and with my new dietary changes, I think having smaller portions of a variety of foods will help.  Last night I stumbled upon this cute daily video blog, called Bento TV.   The host has over 100 episodes, each only a few minutes long.  Some are recipes, others are purely informative.  And I'm loving Biggie's blog, which features "speed bento" tips (she has a preschool child and also prepares lunch for herself and her husband).

Hope your week is going well!

The Bear House, and Cookie Decorating Disasters

Each day I think of one more thing I have to blog about before signing off before Christmas. 
Today, I bring you, The Bear House.

I would be in deep trouble if I didn't mention The Bear House.  Mom and I built this dollhouse from a kit many, many years ago with the intention of displaying it every Christmas.  Which has remained true most years (some years I've been out of the country, and other years, like last year, I was in the process of moving).  The inside of the house is furnished and occupied by a family of four bears (Mother, Father, and two children) as well as the two maiden mice who keep house and do the cooking and cleaning.  There are also many visitors; bunnies, more mice, more bears, and Tigger has even put in an appearance on the roof, apparently waiting for a glimpse of Santa Claus.
This year I've place the house on a lazy susan, since the tree inside has electric lights that I'll be setting up soon.  The very worn and well-loved Frosty the Snowman in the yard to the left of the house still plays his song if you wind up his base.  And on the porch, a little girl and another bear sing a Christmas carol...

Oh yes, the part about the cookie malfunction...well, see for yourself what happens when you try to get overly ambitious in your decorating!

And on that note, I'll be taking a small Christmas break.  May you and yours have a Merry Christmas!

More Everyday Italian

First, I'd like to apologize to any of my readers who might have been offended by my congratulating Italy's win in the World Cup.  We Americans are so clueless when it comes to the "real" football (we call it soccer, don't ask me why), and we know we don't have a snowball's chance in h*ll of winning, ever.  Except for our Women's Team.  Of course.  But seriously, I'm not really on any side, and I truly believe there were some bad calls made.  Between that and the fiasco that has become Olympic judging, I don't know what's going on.  So let me try this...

If you're Italian, rock on!  You rule!

If you're not, those refs really sucked eggs!  I can't believe [you] (fill in your country here) didn't win! 

Please take all the above as totally unseriously as possible!

Back to our regularly scheduled blog...

Here was tonight's menu...chicken piccata with verdure al forno (vegetables in the oven) courtesy of Giada again (what can I say, I'm on a roll).  At least, that was supposed to be the menu, until my oven quit working.  I'd turned it on to preheat, and when I went to put the verdure al forno in, there was hardly any heat; this was like 15 minutes of preheating.  It's an old gas wall unit that came with the house (we've already replaced the gas range, which can be seen in the previous post).  Hubby couldn't fix it, so we'll have to have it repaired.  Sigh.  And I had to bake the dish in our toaster oven.  By then it was too late to stop the piccata, so I had to whip up some cheesy rice and broccoli.  But both dishes turned out wonderful; just not at the same time.  Here are some pics to "feast" your eyes upon...

Chicken Piccata

Verdure al Forno

And if you're curious, I found the recipe for Giada's Chicken Piccata here, and the recipe for Verdure al Forno here.  Buono appetit!

Viva Italia!

When I sat down to write this post, I had intended to focus on my cooking recently, and had almost forgotten that Italy won the World Cup.  So, I inadvertantly cooked Italian to celebrate...

Preparing Stuffed Tomatoes...

Hubby and I are big fans of Italian cooking, so I purchased this book not long ago.  The recipes are super easy to follow.  I wanted a cookbook that focused more on what Italians eat at home, not necessarily what you eat in the restaurants, and  this book provides.  Giada de Laurentis is very down-to-earth, and her show is fascinating (when I remember to watch it!).  Oh, and the tomatoes were absolutely superb.  They're stuffed with rice, grated parmesan, olive oil, and fresh basil and parsely (two of the few plants I haven't killed yet, lol).  The olive oil and parmesan give the rice a nutty, buttery flavor.  You can serve these hot or room-temperature, but I could imagine they would taste good cold, like a salad.  And I'm fairly sure kids would find them pleasing also.

A few posts ago I mentioned a dish towel I purchased to hang in our kitchen.  I decided not to frame it but instead to sew pockets at top and bottom for dowels.  Here it is above our small kitchen table (we do own a larger dining table, but it doesn't fit in here).

As Julia Child would say, "Bon Appetit!"