In Case You Missed It . .

Very funny . . .

Just because . . .

When pumpkins drink

Recipe of the Week: Cajun-Seasoned Turkey Cutlets

I love perusing cookbooks and finding something interesting to try. Unfortunately, I am usually missing ingredients from any recipe I choose, no matter how much planning and spending I do at each week's grocery run.

I was overjoyed to find this recipe, which calls for turkey breast cutlets, margarine or butter, and some spices (miraculously, all of which I have), and doesn't take much time at all.

Don't let the word "Cajun" scare you - it is not that spicy - just enough to make it good. (I did use the optional ground red pepper) This is healthy too - just 6.5 grams of fat per serving. My kids loved these - and they are very picky and do not like spicy food.

Cajun-Seasoned Turkey Cutlets

4 servings

• 1lb turkey breast cutlets
  
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt
  
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
  
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
  
• 4 teaspoons non-diet tub-style margarine or butter, melted
  

Line a 15x10 baking sheet with foil. Coat the foil with no-stick spray and set aside. Preheat the oven to bake at 425 degrees.

Place each turkey cutlet between 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Working from the center to the edges, lightly pound with the flat side of a meat mallet or the back of a large, heavy spoon to 1/8" thickness. Remove the turkey from the plastic and lay the slices, in a single layer, on the prepared baking sheet.

In a custard cup (I have no idea what that is - I just used a small plastic bowl), stir together the chili powder, paprika, thyme, garlic salt, celery salt, black pepper and red pepper (if using).

Lightly brush the turkey with 2 teaspoons of the margarine or butter.

Sprinkle with half of the chili mixture. Turn the turkey slices over. Brush with the remaining 2 teaspoons margarine or butter and sprinkle with the remaining chili mixture.

Bake for 9 or 10 minutes, or until the turkey is tender and cooked through. Serve with a salad or other side dish (we had Parmesan couscous - a favorite in our house). Enjoy!

Per serving: 154 calories, 6.5 g. total fat (38% of calories), 3.1 g. saturated fat, 52 mg cholesterol, 229mg sodium.

Rideabout: Quarryville, PA

If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. – Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

This quote was the theme of our afternoon on Sunday. Every once in a while when we feel cabin fever, we pile in the car to go on a "rideabout" - with no specific destination in mind. We strike out on in a direction we are not entirely familiar with and see where we end up. While we have lived in this area for quite a while, there are still many unexplored areas, and we love finding new places. The main draw in our rideabouts is the journey itself - seeing new towns and areas, and leaving a mental trail of bread crumbs so we know how to get back home.

We drove about 35 miles away from our town and wound up in Amish country in Pennsylvania. We enjoyed seeing the rural life - lots of farms, horses and buggies and cute little towns. We wound up driving through Quarryville around dinnertime, so we decided to stop and eat. After driving around town scoping out the restaurants, we chose the Quarryville Family Restaurant right in the heart of town.

The Quarryville Family Restaurant lived up to what everything a family restaurant should be: casual, cheap, huge menu, friendly service and delicious. Diva ordered a kids' portion of turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy, and it was a huge plate. I figured she'd be taking home leftovers, but she ate the whole thing, to our astonishment. JV got chicken cordon bleu, and I had broiled shrimp and scallops with mash potatoes and some fresh cole slaw. All delicious. Daredevil ate his standard hot dog and french fries. #3 was an angel and slept the whole time, so it was a delightful dining experience. Our family gives the Quarryville Family Restaurant a double thumbs up - I think we will travel back to Quarryville just to eat there again.

After dinner, it was time to feed #3 before traveling back home, so we headed to Son's ice cream stand down the street. JV, Diva and Daredevil enjoyed some ice cream while #3 had her dinner. (I did not partake in ice cream as I thought I was going to explode from dinner!) By then it was getting dark so we headed home.

It was a dark ride home though, as the Amish farms that dotted our ride there were completely dark. Many Amish do not use electricity. Diva and Daredevil could not believe this. Daredevil asked "How do they watch TV?" and was incredulous when we told them that well, they don't. Diva asked what they do after the sun goes down. We figured the answer to that is that they either use candles or simply go to bed for the night. She was astounded by this.

Then JV and I got to chatting about how much TV our kids watch: way too much. We have discussed limiting our cable to basic (we have expanded basic now), getting rid of cable altogether, or keeping it and limiting the kids TV time. I'd be fine with getting rid of cable. It would be one less bill to pay, and I can watch my favorite shows and see news online, so no big deal. When we started tossing these ideas around, the kids were HORRIFIED.

For now, we decided that the TVs will remain off starting Sunday night through Thursday nights - school nights- during the school year. I unplugged the TV in the kids' playroom. We decided the kids should be doing homework, reading, playing board games, or playing outside after school. And if the kids complain they are bored, they then get to dust and vacuum.

It was no big deal last night, as Diva had dance and we were busy with dinner/homework and taking her to dance. It will be similar tonight as Daredevil has karate. We'll see how it goes the rest of the week!

All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our rideabout and discovering Quarryville, and the kids learned a bit about Amish culture. Good times!

Cool Stuff: Obli Organics

An associate at my company has started her own very cool all organic clothing line with her sister for babies, children and pets. Obli Organics (Obli stands for "On Borrowed Land, Inc.") has very hip and cool environmentally friendly clothing.

A dear friend gave #3 this adorable Obli onesie - it is SO soft. She looks very hip and green, doesn't she?

While the stuff isn't cheap, it's very cute and would make a great (and environmentally conscious) gift idea. I can attest to the high quality. I'm always looking for baby gifts that are off the beaten path - this stuff is perfect!

Also, as a driver of a full size SUV, I do try to find other ways to be green to make up for my massive greenhouse gas emissions. Check out Obli Organics here & happy shopping:

http://www.obliorganics.com/index.html

Recipe of the Week: Chicken Wing Dip

Each Wednesday, I'll try to post a recipe that's easy, fast, and yummy (and occasionally healthy!). I do enjoy cooking when I have the time, but typically I'm scrambling to put meals on the table for picky eaters (including my "meatatarian" husband) after a long day of work and a stressful commute, while simultaneously overseeing homework time, so I understand the value of a a good recipe. I will road test each recipe prior to posting to ensure they are indeed quick, easy, and yummy.

The following recipe comes from Cara at Working Moms Against Guilt (link below right). I saw this on their site about a year ago, saved it for future use. I broke it out this past weekend for Daredevil's 6th birthday party, and while it was a bit spicy for my kids, it got a thumbs up from parents and family and I wound copying the recipe for several of them. I could not stop eating it. While it is not exactly healthy, it is very quick and easy and would be perfect to enjoy while watching football!

Cara's Favorite Chicken Wing Dip
This dip tastes just like chicken wings! No dealing with bones or messy fingers.

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  
• 3/4 cup hot pepper sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot
• 1 cup Ranch-style salad dressing
  
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (out of the can is fine)
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and hot pepper sauce until well blended.

Mix in the Ranch dressing, chicken and Cheddar cheese. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish (I used an oval casserole dish, this worked fine too.)

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. If oil collects on the top, dab it off using a paper towel. Serve with tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Paid Leave ends today

#3 is 8 weeks old today, which also marks the end of my 8 weeks of maternity leave pay. I am not returning to work until January 2009. While I realize I am fortunate to be able to take some additional unpaid time off, this was definitely the fastest 8 weeks of my life.

It has gone by in a flash. My life has been a whirlwind of round the clock feedings (I'm nursing, so it's all me), bus stop runs, chauffering to karate, dance, sleepovers, birthday parties, etc. #3 and I are finally starting to set into a routine, so I'm starting to enjoy my time more.

She's starting to give me at least one 3-4 hour block of sleep at night, so I'm less of a bleary eyed zombie than I was a few weeks ago. I've also resolved my kidney stone issues via a procedure called lithotripsy, so I don't live in fear of a stone attack anymore.

So all is well, but I can't believe it's October already. Soon it will be January 2 and I will be back to work. I'm so busy right now I have no idea how that will work, but I remember feeling that way with 2 kids, and even with one. So I guess I'll figure it out!

In Case You Missed It

Here's another one, in case you didn't stay up late to watch SNL. Too funny!

Just give Tina Fey the Emmy now!

Whatever your political views, this is hilarious!

Overwhelmed in a different way

#3 is here! She arrived on August 12, and we are all head over heels in love with her. I couldn't have ordered an easier delivery, and I'm feeling quite good a week later, compared to my previous births. Diva and Daredevil adore their new sister, JV is taken with her too, and I spend a lot of time just staring at her. I am getting very little sleep, she likes to eat about every 2 hours, and no one else can assist in this area for now, so I am pretty darn tired.

So now I am a temporary stay at home mom (do we call this TSAHM?) I plan to return to work in January 2009. It was nuts trying to finish up at work prior to delivery. I work on a lot of long term projects and deals, so it was a lot of transitioning. It was actually bittersweet - a few of them I've worked on for a year or more, some are reaching the closing stages, and I won't be there to see them through.

I am enjoying being at home and focusing on family. Diva and Daredevil start school on Monday, so we are gearing up for that. There will be several firsts on Monday - Daredevil starts kindergarten, and both will ride the bus for the first time (Diva has always done before/after care right at the school, so we've driven her.) But with me on leave, they will be bus riders for the first half of the year.

JV has already been on the horn with the school district's transportation office about getting the bus stop moved - it is right on a curve in our neighborhood where there are a lot of trees close to the road, so it's a bit of an blind turn that many people take too fast. The district's suggestion was to move it completely out of our neighborhood, where the kids would have to cross a busy road with lots of truck (the 18 wheel variety) traffic. Ridiculous. We just want the stop to be a few houses down within our neighborhood (closer or farther from our house, we don't care, we're happy to walk). We know a few neighbors feel the same way, so far we haven't enlisted their help, but we may soon need to.

I vow to be better about updating this blog and making it snazzier looking now that #3 is here and school is starting. I plan to add all kinds of interesting stuff, come back and visit soon!

Feeling Better!

I am feeling better, thank goodness. One of the stones is gone and the other is staying put for now, which is not causing any pain. So I went back to work. It was nice to focus on something else for a change. Unless anything changes, I'm going to continue working as long as I can. The longer I can get paid, the better, since I'm taking some unpaid time after my paid leave.

Today I went to Babies R Us to pick up some essentials after we unpacked most of our 5 to 8 year old baby stuff over the weekend. I'm trying not to get much, but there were some things I just have to replace or get new. I was shocked at how much prices of the baby basics have gone up since I last had a baby (almost 6 years ago). Yikes, this is one instance where I'm glad I was a pack rat and saved as much as I possibly could.

We are still woefully unprepared for this baby. The past few nights I have been waking up in a panic at 3 a.m. over all we have to do. (And general panic at the thought that in a few short days or weeks we will have a baby in the house again!)

While I am certainly grateful not to be in pain anymore, going back to work is tough because now I'm just too tired to accomplish anything in the evenings after work, picking up the kids, dinner, cleanup, etc. My past few evenings have consisted of, after the forementioned activities, watching whatever crappy reality TV show is on and passing out the same time as the kids. #3's room is slowly starting to take shape, although the crib is still in pieces. Hopefully I'll be closer to my due date (Aug 19th) than I had previously thought!

Pain on a scale of 1 to 10? That would be 20.

How to ruin a week at the shore for an entire family . . . Wake up with kidney stones on the third day there. Yup, kidney stones. At 36 weeks pregnant. After two stints in the hospital at the beach, we cut our week short and we are back home and I am heavily medicated. Thankfully, the baby is oblivious to my agony and is doing just fine. I sure didn't see this one coming. I have been good throughout pregnancy about staying hydrated and not drinking more than 1 caffeinated drink a day, but apparently I have been dehydrated. I've got stones in both kidneys, and I just have to wait until they come out. Went to both my OB and a urologist today, and for the next week we are going to wait and see what happens, then we'll talk about inducing, since I can only take pain medication for a short period of time. In the meantime, I am done working and am to rest, rest, rest. It's tough to do anything with the amount of discomfort I'm in, so it's maddening to look around the house and see so much to do. I was also counting on a few more weeks of working, since I am planning on adding unpaid time to my maternity leave. JV has been wonderful, taking full charge of the kids and house and driving me to my appointments, although he's very busy at work. My brother, sister in law, and my mother have also cut their vacations short to help us. At this point I need to stop worrying about the dog hair dust balls on the floor and the crib that is not put together yet and focus on both my health and what I'm grateful for - and there are so many things. Hopefully this kidney thing will resolve itself on its own, and soon.

"Picture This" - I sure didn't

Last night, Diva and I sat and watched the movie “Picture This”, starring Ashley Tisdale, on the ABC Family Channel. Diva is a huge fan of Ms. Tisdale, a Disney channel actress and singer best known for her role as Sharpay Evans in the High School Musical juggernaut.

Here’s the description of the movie per the ABC Family Channel web site:
"Ashley Tisdale stars as high school senior Mandy Gilbert who's not too hot within the high-stakes world of teen society. But her social status is about to dramatically improve when she lands a date to the biggest party of the year with Drew Patterson (Robbie Amell), the school's hottest guy. Only problem … she's grounded! With the help of her friends and her new, must-have video phone, she'll have to outsmart her overprotective dad and Drew's ex-girlfriend, in a crazy, adventure-filled day that proves that popularity can come and go, but good friends will always be in the picture.”

Cute, right? I thought this would be a nice, wholesome and innocent family movie to watch with my 8 year old. I was disappointed. While it told a cute overall story and it was clearly a vehicle to promote Ms. Tisdale’s acting and singing talents, it had some references that I thought were not only inappropriate, but completely unnecessary for advancing the plot. Here’s a short list:

• Several phrases describing sex with no commitment – “Hit and quit”, “hump and dump” and a couple more. Diva asked what these phrases meant. I just told her it meant a boy took you out and then never called you again. Lame and inaccurate, I know, but when put on the spot I didn't know what else to say.
  
• Slightly mocking references to Alcoholics Anonymous (as in, “Where’s your Mom? At an AA meeting, and then she’s going out for drinks afterwards”) I suppose this was meant to be funny?
  
• Discussing loss of virginity by using the term “deflower". As if that wasn't bad enough, they talked about doing it in the shower! Diva also asked what this meant. I gave a lame, inaccurate, G-rated answer to this too.


• Use of the word “a**” twice to describe the posterior. Really, what’s wrong with saying “butt”?


• Implied underage drinking at a high school party (I don’t think high school kids would likely drink fruit punch out of martini glasses, and everyone else holding opaque plastic cups at the party – are we really to believe there’s Coca-Cola in them?)

I must say these were minor or implied references, and since weren’t really central to the messages in the overall story, we kept watching, although in retrospect I probably should have turned it off. This movie was clearly geared toward a teen audience, not my rising third grader.

It didn’t help that peppered throughout the movie were promos for a new ABC Family series, “The Secret Life of an American Teenager”, which, from the ads, deals with a teenager hiding a pregnancy from her parents.

Of course, Diva and I have already discussed teen pregnancy as a result of Jamie Lynn Spears’ brilliant decision to get knocked up at 16, so she is familiar with the concept of teen pregnancy and how it’s just not the ideal situation for mother or baby. However, she does not yet know the specifics on how one actually gets pregnant. I’m sure that question will come soon enough, given that I myself will be giving birth in a month or so. :)

Anyhoo, the promos did indicate the new series comes with a warning: “Parental Discretion Advised”. I will use that discretion and will not permit her to watch it. I don’t know if “Picture This” had a similar warning, if it did, I didn’t see it. Granted, I did not research this movie much (at all!) but I figured it was FAMILY friendy, since it was the ABC Family Channel.

I wouldn’t have minded this so much if I was watching with a teenager, but with an 8 year old, I’m starting to stress a bit about her being exposed to so much at such a young age. I certainly don’t want her emulating such teenagers before her time. I wished I had been given some indication about this movie’s target audience.

So, as I learned last night, you still have to research and censor your kids’ TV choices, even when it’s the ABC FAMILY CHANNEL!

Take the kids to see WALL-E

We saw WALL-E yesterday and it got a thumbs up from all. What a great movie - animation is top notch, and it told a sweet love story, amazingly, with very little dialogue, with some messages in thrown in there for adults. This is one we'll buy on video and watch again and again. Daredevil thinks it was the best movie ever made, and Diva loved it too. I only looked at my watch once, and already an hour had gone by. It seemed like 10 minutes! While I enjoyed Kung Fu Panda, I think WALL-E is better. Go see it!

Happy 4th of July Weekend

Hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend. We certainly are. The weather here on the East Coast is cloudy, with some rain here and there, and that suits me just fine. At almost 33 weeks pregnant I am enjoying staying indoors, baking brownies, vegging on the couch and watching the Beach Patrol: Honolulu marathon on TruTV. Daredevil has been watching the JAWS marathon on AMC and is loving it. Of course we had that talk that it's just a movie and the shark is fake, since I don't want him terrified of going in the ocean, as I was as a kid after first seeing JAWS.

Since it's not nice out I feel no obligation to park my beached whale self by the pool in one of my maternity bathing suits. JV took the kids out for fireworks last night. It was raining but they had fun all the same. I enjoyed the quiet time in the house and went to bed early. We saw fireworks last week after a baseball game, so I didn't feel like I was missing anything, although I think JV thinks I am unpatriotic by skipping them on the 4th. Today we might go see Wall-E at the movies to get out of the house. Other than that, we have no plans to do anything for the rest of the weekend, which is a beautiful thing!