Sick children and new plans

I haven't posted in a while because our menus have gotten all messed up lately.  Between sick children, sick mommies, and again more sick children, my meals have been very strange lately.  We've just been using up what was in the fridge and freezer as best we can.

I've decided to try something new.  My husband and I are really into watching Diners Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri.  I'm not sure if its because Guy is a dead-ringer for my brother-in-law (when my brother-in-law used to dye his hair) or if its just checking out cool ideas for menus and foods.  I have to say I was quite disappointed in one recent episode that included a New England diner, but that's beside the point. The items they chose to show from that diner really were nothing special (though the baked beans looked pretty good).  I mention this because while watching an episode last night, they showed someone in New York making soft pretzels and I decided I really wanted to try making some.

I've decided I need a bucket list of foods to master.  Recently I've been baking lots of bread.  I have a bread machine, and I like that for mixing and rising the dough, but not so much for the baking.  I have one recipe that I love to make a large sized loaf of and then bake it more like an Italian bread in the oven.  Its been great for sandwiches.  I also recently tried an artisan bread recipe that I found online that you just lightly mix and then let rise in the fridge.  It was great, but now I want to try out some variations on that recipe... maybe rosemary and olive oil, or Parmesan, or asiago cheese bread.

I also have an ice cream maker, and I love to try new twists on making ice cream as well.  I've made some great recipes and my family loves coming up with new concoctions.

Now, I'm feeling the desire to come up with a "bucket list" of foods I want to master preparing!  I love soft pretzels and bagels, so those are next.  I've never made a souffle (well, that's not entirely true, I made one souffle in a cooking class with my mom).  I've never made a great meringue PIE.  I've made meringue cookies, which are all well and good, but the one meringue pie I tried to make I burned the top and the bottom was just soupy.

I'd love to hear from my friends on the types of foods you'd like to see yourself mastering.  What are you afraid to try?  Please, nothing with mayonnaise in it!  :)

Bon Appetit!

Back to the regularly scheduled Program!

So, I never meal planned for the month of December and I HATED not knowing what we were going to eat for dinner each night!  I felt that our family suffered because I wasn't prepared for breakfast or dinner the way I normally am.  This weekend we went out to breakfast (a rare treat, but only because I needed to go grocery shopping) and as a family we discussed the meals we wanted to see on the menu for the month.  Well, its planned and up on my google calendar.  I am truly a better mom when I've planned in advance.

So, on to the new year's resolutions, and boy do I have quite a few... and they fall into distinct categories.

First, and foremost, I need to get back to working on my health.  Our eating habits have definitely taken their toll, on my energy and waistline.  I plan to reduce my coffee consumption(which will be toughest part), increase my consumption of fruits and vegetables and get moving a bit more.  Regular exercise has truly fallen by the wayside this year, and I NEED to get back to work.  Now, to find something I like to do.  I am also trying to be more conscious of what all of the kids are eating and i'm using the food pyramid game from imom.com to see if we can, as a family, eat more of what we should be eating.  (As an aside, the imom.com website is really cool, with some wonderful articles and tools.  I found it by accident, but will be making it a regularly visited site.)

Second, I need to get my house in order.  This involves cleaning, organizing, and monitoring.  We're cleaning out the excess, buying only what we truly need, monitoring the behaviors of the kids (making them pick up their stuff... more on that in a minute) and keeping on some semblance of a schedule and routine.  This also is looking at my behavior and keeping some consistency in my reactions.  I've already had discussions with the kids and time-outs have resumed (for all age levels... not taken well either).  One thing I've instituted, and is already going well, is the ransom box.  The kids are now given ONE warning to pick up an item and put it away.  If it is not put away, it goes into mommy's ransom box.  In order to get that item back, they must pull a stick from the chore jar and perform it.  Holly is finding herself doing lots of chores, but I think she's also learning more about cleanup.  This is not an original idea... its a combination from two ideas found on pinterest. I am also going to try out this calendar for getting my house organized as well.

And finally, my spiritual side is trying desperately to get back to basics, with reading the Bible daily and spending quiet prayerful reflection time each day.  I will be following the 90 day Bible plan as closely as I can.

And so, in a nutshell, there is a lot in the works, and I'll write about some of it.  What are some of your resolutions this year?