Sour Cream

There are arguments for and against making dairy products that you can easily buy at the store. I can go to the store and purchase organic sour cream that has an appropriate list of ingredients, so why go to the trouble of making my own? Well, a few reasons. The biggest reason is just that I like doing this sort of thing. Making an entire meal from scratch for my family makes me happy. I also like showing my children how food is made and that it doesn't just magically come from the grocery store. Hands on activities like making sour cream are great because the kids have fun, learn something, and the result is a usable product. It isn't yet another piece of construction paper covered with marker scribbles that will end up in the recycling bin.

This is also a project that requires some patience on the part of the kids. This world is filled with instant gratification where we don't always get a lot of chances to learn patience. A project that requires us to wait for results is helpful in learning that good things, such as sour cream, really do come to those who wait. The anticipation and celebration when it turns out that everything went to plan is wonderful. 

Sour Cream

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup buttermilk

Put both ingredients into a jar with a lid then stir or shake it up a bit to mix everything up. Leave the jar out on the counter for about 24 hours. After 24 hours has passed the sour cream will be thick and delicious. Refrigerate to get it nice and cold before dinner and serve. The sour cream will keep in the fridge for a week. 

I have tried making this with 1/4 cup of vinegar instead of buttermilk and did not personally care for the results. It can be done, the taste is just different. 

3 Things About Me

I read a lot of blogs. I am a complete addict. I love those wonderful urban,n homesteading blogs where the families produce all of their own food, feminist parenting blogs where there appears to always be meaningful conversations happening between parent and child and cooking blogs where it seems that nobody even thinks of eating a processed food item. I read these blogs and think about how I can get closer to achieving my goals of creating an amazing life for my kids. I cook from scratch, challenge gender assumptions with them, talk my liberal politics, include them in projects, etc...

But, you know what? The thing is that I am never going to be as hip as these bloggers. Never going to be as fully dedicated to this lifestyle as them. Why? Because there are 3 truths about myself that I have just accepted:

1 - If  my temperature is below 101 degrees am always going to put makeup on in the morning.
2 - I am always going to keep a bag of precooked falafuls in my freezer (processed food) for an emergency.
3 - I have cable television (and I like it).

I can logically talk myself out of all three of these things. Why insist on wearing makeup even when I had twin babies, one of whom would vomit up to 50 times a day? Why not use my other pre-made from scratch meals in an emergency? Why not just have netflix for occasional entertainment and just cancel the cable?

Because I don't want to.

1 - Makeup: I have really blotchy skin. On a bad day where I am covered in some sort of disgusting body fluid produced by a child, it really does make me feel better to catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and not think "ughh". I know I should accept my body for what it is, but I love concealer.
2 - Falaful: What can I say? Sometimes I just want a falaful. I do put it on a whole wheat tortilla with homemade hummus, but I am just not always going to make the falaful from scratch. I don't think that I will ever really give up processed food 100%. That isn't my goal. The goal is just to make the best healthy decision that I can most of the time.
3 - I like HGTV. I like those really awful made for TV movies they show on Lifetime. I like the Barefoot Contessa. Sure, I could probably manage to find a way to rent/stream all of that without cable, but I'm not gonna. I'm just going to have cable.

So I'm not as cool, not as dedicated, not as radical. Oh well... I am happy, so that is good enough for me.

Petal Balls

I'll let you know right here at the top that I am not a crafter. I like to cook, I don't mind cleaning, a painting project with the kids is well within my abilities, building things with power tools is right up my alley, but "crafty" is definitely not a word used to describe me.

I am in the process of trying to change that. Why? So I can make cute owl shaped things to fill my entire house? No, not so much. I like owls and all, but I don't really need them to fill my space. I have 4 years to fill the space. I am trying to learn how to make things that are meant for aesthetic beauty only to save money. Yeah, it all comes down to frugality. I am trying so very hard to avoid Target and the lure of their quick to purchase and pop onto my shelf stuff. For christmas I made the twins a few gifts, and this was one for Haley. Forgive the bad photos, my camera is just about done in. I made these to hang from her ceiling to add a little fanciness to a corner of her room.

I just have to put out there that it was really hard for me to purchase these pink and purple fabric (that grayish ball is purple in real life) to make these things. I am a pretty big on the whole gender neutral parenting thing. I don't think pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Anything is for everyone is this house (except the vodka - that is just for me). Pink is a tough one for me because I feel like it is representative of all things princess, but at the moment it is a favorite color in the house. The only comfort that I can find is that it is equally loved by both Haley and Kaden. They fight over the pink plastic cup at mealtime. I'm considering throwing the cup away because I am so sick of hearing "but I wanted the pink one". Really? Just drink your milk kiddos.

So, if you decide that you have a ton of extra time and desire to do something repetitive these petal balls may be right up your alley. Start of with 2 yards of fabric and styrofoam ball. I used one 6 in ball and 2 4 in balls. Take the fabric and spread it out. Find something circular to use as your template. I used a cookie cutter, but a glass would have worked well too. Start drawing circles across the fabric in rows.

Now cut them out. I did this in half yard segments just so that I could feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of every piece. That was important because this might be the most boring thing I have ever done with my life. Seriously. The results are cute, but I would definitely recruit help for the cutting stage.

The good news is that the edges do not need to be perfect. As long as there are not any really sharp edges it will all look fine in the end.

I pinned the circles onto the ball at each half yard increment to see how much more was needed. For the 6in ball I used the full 2 yards. For the 4 in balls I used about 1.5 yards.

To pin the circles on hold the circle in your hand.

I know, you really needed a picture of that step.

Next, fold the circle in half.

Now fold the half in half.

Now pin it to the ball.

I tried pinning them all facing one direction and making it more chaotic looking and changing the direction the little pie sliced faced. It looks much better all facing one direction.

There you have it. Petal balls.

While I am sure you can tell that I really didn't enjoy this project, it was worth it in the end. Haley really likes them and they were an inexpensive gift to decorate her room.

Horrified

I am the mother of a daughter who has special needs. Haley has a genetic condition called Sotos. For her that means that she, among other things, has an intellectual disability. Does this mean that she is stupid? No. Does this mean that it takes her longer to understand concepts and learn skills? Yes. Haley requires extra supports, therapy, a thoughtfully considered environment that limits prolonged exposure to excessive sensory stimulation and patients. A lot of patients. If I am being honest here, which I am trying to be, it is physically and emotionally easier to parent my neurotypical son. Does this mean that I wish she were different? Absolutely not. 

Haley is incredible. She has a sweet disposition that is immediately endearing. To be around Haley is to be around a girl who experiences everything in full force. Happiness, anger, curiosity and frustration are full bodied experiences that she draws you in to experience with her. She doesn't hold back. She is full of energy and, at times, appears to never stop moving. She is athletic, loves to dance and has an insatiable appetite for knowledge. She wants to look at, feel and learn about everything around her. 

She also works harder than any kid I have ever met. Want to hear her count to 3? She will proudly show you her abilities. Please allow her to show off a bit because she has worked for 2 years to get to the number 3. That didn't come easily, she fought for it. It begs the question: what skill have I recently spent 2 years trying to learn? Personally, I usually get frustrated and walk away. She has also recently made huge strides in controlling behavioral outbursts. I wish I could claim credit for this, but it is her hard work and perseverance that makes these things happen. 

As her mother it is my job to hope. The teachers, therapists and doctors are supposed to give me reality based observations, diagnose her conditions, treat her and educate our family about how to best support Haley. My job is to believe in her, advocate for her, love her and stand by her side. 

I clearly remember some of the conversations that we had with people leading up to the adoption of the twins. I was startled, angered and horrified when it was either implied or blatantly asked - why are you adopting damaged goods? We fostered the twins for just under 2 years before they became legally free. As soon as we were able we adopted them to make legally true what was already in our hearts. We are a family. I was asked by social workers from the state why I was choosing to adopt a special needs child, heavily implying that I must be making some sort of mistake. Former friends implied that I must be a saint to take on this "burden" when I didn't have to. Those were the last times we spoke. Complete strangers asked why we made this decision. I couldn't believe it. Of course I was adopting the twins, they are my children. Would someone who had given birth to a baby who has special needs turn their back on their child? 

I am telling you this because I have recently read something that has horrified me more than those statements and implications that my daughter wasn't worth adopting. Here is, at the very least, a doctor and social worker who is saying that a child with special needs is not worth saving. That because the child has an intellectual disability she does not deserve a chance at life. This is possibly a hospital wide policy, but at this time that is unclear to me. 

http://www.wolfhirschhorn.org/2012/01/amelia/brick-walls/

My heart hurts, anger is burning in my gut and tears come to my eyes every time I think of this story. How is this possible? How can a doctor make a decision about an assumed quality of life? And the question that scares me more than anything... What if this was Haley? 

Spinach Muffins/Biscuits

There is one green thing that every person in my family will eat: spinach. Not plain buttered noodles, not yogurt, and not even cheese. I don't mind that last one because it means there is more cheese for me. I have one very adventurous 4 year old eater and one picky 4 year old eater, so finding overlap in their taste can be a challenge. Haley likes spicy foods and anything that involves making a huge mess. Kaden is a little OCD about keeping his hands and face clean and would prefer to only eat white foods with no discernible taste. He lives a pretty tough life in this house - I make almost nothing that meets that criteria. Thankfully he will eat spinach.

I pretty much put spinach in everything.

This recipe can be made in a muffin tin or can be made drop biscuit style. I personally prefer the drop biscuit style because a cookie sheet is easier to clean than a muffin pan.

There is something here to please everyone: carbohydrate, greens, cheese and portability. I make a batch of these and bring them along as a snack when the twins and I are at the park, zoo, library or just going to be out of the house for more than 15 minutes. Inevitably someone is going to get hungry.

This is a modification of the recipe found in the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.

Spinach Muffins/Biscuits
- 2 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups grated/crumbled cheese (can decrease based on taste/pungency of the cheese)
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional based on the taste of your children)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 8 oz spinach
- 2 tablespoons butter

First start by washing and drying your spinach. Melt the butter in a pan and put the spinach in to cook.

Cook the spinach until it is completely wilted.

Remove to a cutting board and give it a rough chop. Resist the urge to squeeze the liquid/melted butter out of it. You will need that moisture later.

Next combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cayenne pepper in a bowl and mix together. Here is a place where you can make this recipe your own. Is there is a dried spice you would like to throw in there instead of the cayenne? Go for it.

Now mix in the shredder or crumbled cheese into the dry ingredients until it is well dispersed and covered in the flour. For this batch I have used a white cheddar to meet the bland needs of my kiddos who are recovering from colds/croup. I really like feta or gorgonzola in this, but with those I usually only add a 3/4-1 cup of cheese. Experiment to find your favorite.

Stir in the milk and egg with a sturdy spoon. Your dough is going to be dense. The first time I made this I felt like I had done something wrong at this point and had, horror of horrors, wasted the cheese that I included in the recipe. Don't worry, it is going to be okay.

Now mix in the chopped spinach. Remember how I told you not to squeeze the spinach? That moisture is going to loosen up your dough and make you feel so much better about these being muffins (or biscuits as I prefer).

Now either grease a cookie sheet or muffin pan. You are going to get 12 good sized biscuits/muffins out of this batter, up to 18 if you go smaller. I like them to be a good hearty size to be a stand alone snack for the kids in the afternoon. Now just plop blobs of dough onto the cookie sheet or fill a standard muffin tin 3/4 full.

Bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Vinegar Cleaning Products

I use vinegar to clean my home. I like to keep my children from playing in chemicals, so this is the number 1 cleaning agent used around here. I use two forms: full strength vinegar and a mixture of 50% vinegar and 50% water. I keep both in spray bottles and use the strength needed for the cleaning task at hand. For instance, to clean my kitchen counters I usually use the 50/50 mix, but for my toilet I use the full strength. This is a great way to replace those extremely expensive cleaning products that clutter up the cabinet under my kitchen sink. Here is a quick list of what I clean around my house with vinegar:

- Countertops
- Wooden cutting boards
- Stovetop
- Toilets
- Bath/shower
- Windows and mirrors
- Stains on carpets
- Tile floors

Really, anything that I would have pointed a bottle of 409 at in the past is not cleaned with a vinegar solution.

Here is the problem - I hate the smell of vinegar. Remember, I am a febreeze addict and I do not want to walk through my house smelling vinegar. To mask the odor I add lemon and orange peel to vinegar to add a citrus scent. I've also heard that infusing vinegar with citrus ups the cleaning power, but I can't say that I noticed a big before/after difference in the power of the product.

I use lemons frequently in cooking or mixing up a quick cocktail on a Saturday night and my daughter loves oranges, so I usually have no problem finding the citrus peels that I need. Personally, I prefer lemon to orange... But I prefer either to straight vinegar.

Recently we had a vinegar tragedy. A ball was thrown indoors, the jar was pushed off of the counter and broke, and I was suddenly without my supply of citrus vinegar. I was mad, but I eventually got over it.

So, I am whipping up a new batch. Here is a rundown of how to get started...

First you have to have a supply of citrus peel. This is the bowl of little tangerines my family has been feasting on to help me build up a supply.

They are an easy going bunch and put up with my weird requests. Each time they eat one they open the door to the fridge and deposit their peel into a baggie.

Once you have enough to fill whatever jar you are using about 3/4 full you can move forward. This is really easy. Just stuff the peel into the jar and pour vinegar in to fill up the jar. That is it.

Now let the jar sit for at least 2 weeks to infuse. The vinegar will change color, don't let that worry you. Strain the vinegar and put it into a spray bottle. I fill one with straight vinegar and one with and 50/50 mix of vinegar and water.

Once you have a supply you can then just keep a jar of vinegar and pop the citrus peels into it as they are available. That way you never run out and have to resort to regular vinegar again.

DIY Febreeze

As the owner of a very bad dog, mother of small children and wife to a person who may or may not realize that leaving something that smells less than desirable in our home makes our home smell less than desirable, I am a febreeze addict. I spray the stuff every day on curtains, pillows, beds, carpet, etc... For better or worse, I love febreeze.

The one thing I don't like is purchasing it. Even the generic brand runs a higher price tag than I would like to include in my household budget. Luckily, a friend of mine emailed me a recipe for DIY febreeze (Thanks Julia!). I tried it, unsure if I would really beleive that it could replace my trusty bottle of fresh smelling spray. 

Here is the recipe to make 32 oz (the size of the bottle I had on hand):

- 1/8 cup fabric softener of your choice
- 2 tablespoon of baking soda
- enough hot tap water to fill the bottle to the top

Simply put the baking soda and fabric softener into the bottle and fill it with hot tap water. Give the bottle a shake and you are done. That is it. One quick suggestion - mixing the baking soda in with the fabric softener makes it easier to get the backing soda into the bottle if you don't have a funnel handy.

The verdict: It works! Smells great, has not clogged my spray bottle and appears to have better scent staying power than what I was purchasing.

The pros of making this at home include the obvious: cost. My fabric softener costs me about $6 on sale. I used about 2 oz, so the cost is 38 cents. The cost of the baking soda is pennies. So, for 40 cents I have made a full bottle of febreeze. This could be cheaper with a lower priced fabric softener, I just prefer the scent of Mrs Meyer's Lemon Verbena. That is the other pro. Being able to choose the scent of lemon verbena is great. Now my home has a smell that I really enjoy.

So far I have not found any cons, but if one pops up I will let you know.

I'm off to spray the carpet...

Tortilla Soup

This is a great soup to make on a day that you have no time to mess around. It is also handy to make a couple of extra batches of and keep it in the freezer. I usually serve this with a quick salad, quiche or quesadillas.

This isn't truly tortilla soup because I don't make the little tortilla strips to add into it. I don't fry because I am pretty scared of getting burned and hate the mess. This recipe makes a spicy tomato soup. You can then add anything into it that you like. I usually have black beans, brown rice and shredded chicken available, but it is also great on it's own. My children love it with a dollop of sour cream and a little shredded cheese.

Tortilla Soup
- 1 jar/can of diced tomatoes
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 red or green bell pepper, chopped (I use frozen bell peppers and just use a handful)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped (1/2 or none at all if you don't like spicy)
- salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sized pot over medium-high heat start with a drizzle of oil that is your choice. Put in the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes and stir frequently. Add the bell pepper and jalapeno, cooking for another 2 minutes until everything has softened up. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute (don't let it burn). Next add the tomatoes and broth, stir to combine, and then allow the soup to come to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Next pull out your immersion blender and puree everything to the texture of your liking. Alternatively you can use a food processor or blender. Just transfer the soup carefully (it will be hot!) in batches to be pureed.

Taste and season as needed with salt and pepper.

Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, shredded chicken, beans, avocados, lime wedges or anything else hanging out in your fridge.

Ladle into bowls and allow everyone to personalize it with the toppings or add-ins of their choice.

Enjoy!

Making cheese

I love all cheese. Well, all real cheese. Please do not use velveeta, american or cheese whiz around me. Those make me sad. Why eat those when you could be eating gorgonzola? Or a lovely chevre?

No matter how much I may be trying to shed a few of the pounds I have added over the last year and half I will still eat cheese. It is my opinion that food altered to be low fat food is not real, and that if you are trying to eat low fat then you should eat items that are naturally low fat. Fruits and veggies to be specific. I'm a "all in moderation" kind of person. So, we eat cheese.

This is an easy way to start making cheese. A simple cheese that you can easily flavor to lend it to the dish you are making. I love to cook chopped onions, garlic and spinach and mix them in with the cheese. You can then use it has a filling for stuffed shells, lasagna, a pizza pocket, etc.

Here is what you will need:

- 1 gallon of milk. Want to make cheese on a budget? Take a look to see if there are any gallons of organic/hormone free milk on sale because their expiration date is coming up soon. Make a batch when you get home and have lasagna for dinner.
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 2-3t sea salt
- Thermometer
- Colander
- Cheese cloth

This may be the easiest recipe of all time. Start of by pouring the milk into a large pot. I have only ever done this in a stainless steel pot, so that is what I recommend. Add the salt and stir. You can start with just 2t of salt and add more when flavoring the cheese later. Mix the salt well and put the pot on a burner set to medium heat.

When you make a little mess and spill salt while pouring it to measure make sure that you throw a bit of it over your left shoulder before you clean it up:

Heat the milk to 190 degrees, but do so with some patience. You don't want to burn the milk.

Once the milk hits 190 scoot the pot over to the next burner to take it off the heat. Stir in the vinegar and keep stirring until the curds start to separate.

The milk will separate into curds and whey. The curds are the milk solids, the whey is the liquid. The whey will be yellow, don't let that freak you out. Now walk away from the pot for 25-30 minutes. I know, I know - you want to go and stir it and see the magic happen. So do I, and I did the first few times I made it. It didn't cause any ill effects, except that I lost those 25 minutes to looking at a pot of curds and whey :) While you are waiting line a colander with cheesecloth.

After 25 minutes take the colander and put it over a bowl. This is so that when you dump the curds and whey in it the whey will be caught in the bowl. Save the whey for future use in a glass jar. After the majority of the whey has drained off it will look like this:

You can see that there is still whey in there. Pull up the corners of the cheese cloth together and give it a good squeeze. Then hang it from a wooden spoon placed across your pot or from your faucet to let the rest of the whey drip out. It usually takes 20-30 minutes.

I tie mine to my faucet with one knot and then put the ends into a chip clip to keep it from slipping.

After you have let all of the whey drip away you will have a ball of cheese.

Now throw it into a container and stick it in the fridge for eating later. Or, go ahead and mix things into it. Honey and nuts, roasted garlic, mushrooms... really anything goes here.

Food, not food and quiche

First, let me say that my children have eaten more than a few boxes of macaroni and cheese. They have also eaten food from a drive-thru and my daughter will eat any type of candy offered. My son has a slightly more discerning pallet and only likes chocolate candy. That all being said, when I feed my family I try to feed them real food.

But, what is real food? There are a lot of different books, blogs and sites out there with different information on this subject. There is that great Michael Pollen quote "Don't eat anything that your great-great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food". I like the quote but I am not 100% successful in living by it (right now there is an emergency box of macaroni and cheese in my cabinet).

Here is what we try to do in our house: Eat as many veggies and fruits as we can in our diet daily, only eat ethically raised meats, try to use only organic food, make it from scratch if at all feasible, avoid white flour and avoid anything labeled "low fat". Attempting to eat this way is complicated by money. Where I live in Washington state it is much more expensive to eat real food than to go the processed middle of the grocery store route. We are on a tight budget for three reasons: 1) I am staying home with the kids for a year, 2) I am married to a social worker and 3) that social worker I married is the cheapest person you will ever meet in your life.

I feed our family of four on a budget of $100 per week. To make sure that I stay on this budget I use cash. At the beginning of each month I pull my grocery budget out of the bank in cash and put it in an envelope that I keep in the kitchen. If I go over budget then I am dipping into the coming week's money, so I better be sure it is a good idea. There are three strategies that I use to keep on budget:

1 - Meal plan. I know, this is not fun and feels stifling in the creativity department. There are benefits though. You know what to expect through the week and you can set expectations for your family by posting the meal plan. I plan 4 meals per week. The other nights we eat leftovers or whip something up last minute. If I planned more than 4 meals per week we would waste a lot of food by throwing away leftovers we can't through.
2 - Stay on list. I take a list with me shopping and I shop alone. I do not go off list unless I am under budget and there is an amazing sale. I have my list, and pen to check things off, and a calculator or keep a tally going while I shop. Remember, I am on a cash budget. I really don't want to show up at check-out and have to put things back because I went over the $100 I brought with me.
3 - Batch cooking. I read the blogs where people cook a months worth of meals over one weekend and freeze them. I used to dream of being that organized, but that is just never going to happen. I will, however, make a double batch of something when the ingredients are well priced and put one batch in the freezer. I do this for soups, lasagna, ravioli, and pizza pockets in my house. This will help if you are a little over budget on you groceries and need something to help float you on a tight week. It also helps when there is absolutely no way you will have time/desire/ability to cook and still need to feed your family without hitting a restaurant (wouldn't you rather do that when you have a sitter anyways?).

Now that I think about it, if I had to add a fourth strategy it would to by to ALWAYS have eggs in the house. With eggs anything is possible. A poached egg with toast, quiche, breakfast burrito, etc...

So, with that I will leave you with a recipe for my standby quiche. It helps if you make a keep a couple of pie crusts frozen handy for days that you need a quick meal. Add a salad or a bowl of soup for a crowd pleasing supper.

Spinach and Cheese Quiche (a loved flavor combo in my house)
- 1/2 recipe of pie dough (made with white whole wheat flour, recipe to come soon)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk/cream (whatever type you keep in your fridge)
- 1/2lb fresh spinach (or 5 big handfuls)
- 1/2-1 cup cheese. You can do chedder, feta, gorgonzola, parmesan, or whatever else you have on hand.
- Salt and pepper to taste

Make the pie dough. Roll out half the recipe and put into a pie plate. Put the pie plate in the fridge while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

Start by washing your spinach. Drain off excess water, but don't worry about getting all of it off. Throw the spinach into a pan and put over medium heat. The water on the spinach allows you to skip butter or oil to saute the spinach. If you have dry spinach use a small pat of butter of a drizzle of olive oil to cook the spinach in. Cook the spinach until it has all wilted and remove from pan to a cutting board. Roughly chop the spinach and allow to sit and cool.

In the meantime crack 4 eggs into a bowl. I always add the eggs first in case a bit of shell gets in there. It is easier to fish out the shell when it isn't hidden by the milk. Add milk, salt and pepper. Whisk the ingredients.

Pull the pie crust out of the fridge and sprinkle half the cheese on the bottom of the crust. Next, spread the chopped spinach on top of the cheese then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the spinach. Finish by pouring the egg mixture on top. Put into an over heated to 350 for 40-50 minutes. I always start checking at 35 minutes so that I don't overcook it. Take it out when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Here is what I love about quiche: you can put anything in there. Broccoli, caramelized onions, leftover taco ingredients... Really whatever is in your fridge. The only thing you really need is a crust, and the mixture of 4 eggs and a cup of milk to pour over whatever you put into the crust.

Table

We moved about 3 months ago from a tiny townhouse to, what feels like in comparison, a huge house with plenty of room for the twins to run. In our tiny townhouse we used a dining table that was given to us by Mary's parents. I never loved the table, but it was free. With the twins so young I never had time to refinish it the way that I had always planned. When we moved to the new house I suddenly had a dining room instead of a small space between the living area and the kitchen that I stuck the table. My tiny little table looked silly in the new house. I looked around at tables that I wanted, but the costs were insanely high for a newly staying at home mom. So, I built a new table. That's right - I built a piece of furniture. I am really pleased with how it turned out. There is room for 8 (double what the last table accommodated) and it is wide enough that serving dishes can comfortably remain on the table during dinner. I started with a trip to a lumbar yard, plans from the best site ever, and a willingness to completely screw up. Mary, the cheapest person you will ever meet in your life, was not so willing to accept a write off of the money spent on the lumbar, but she was happy with the idea of a small price tag if I pulled it off.

The pile of wood that I started off with:

Luckily, I had two amazing "helpers" to keep me entertained through the project:

Why do I buy toys? All they need for fun is that laundry basket.

In the end, after taking the thing apart and rebuilding it twice because of errors (it was my first time building something that didn't come with an allen wrench for assembly), I ended up with a table I am happy with. It has flaws and irregularities not found in mass produced Pottery Barn tables, but I can tell everyone that I built it with my own hands. The table that I really wanted to purchase was $4800. All told I spent about $350 to build the table. The wood, glue and screws were in the neighborhood of $250, but I had to invest in a few tools. Not to worry, I will make good use of the investment in my next projects.

The table pre-stain:

Every time we sit to eat dinner as a family at the table I am grateful to have a such a wonderful home for my family, and a place to eat with a enough space that my legs don't touch anyone else's legs.

New year

Over the past two months I have been talking to my children about being grateful for all that we have. As I take a look at my life I am consistently amazed by everything that I have and the people who I am surrounded by. I am married to the most spectacular person in the world and I have two children that are incredible in every way. To have a family like that, I really don’t need anything else. But I have more… A lovely home, friends that I cherish, a car that gets me where I need to go, a million kitchen gadgets... What more can a person want?

As I consider all of this stuff and the people I have in my life, I realize that I don’t really need more. That doesn’t change my wanting more. I could probably give you a list of 20 things that I want at any given time. But do I really need these things? Will they change my life in a meaningful way? These questions are on my mind a lot recently. I try to lead an ethical life. I try to make decisions that benefit my family. In the new year I think that these issues will be what I try to negotiate and find a way to lead my family in a direction that we can be proud of.