Hump Day Wednesday! Our Daily Dinner

Hump Day Wednesday!

mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago
Morning everyone!! Supposed to rain all day today and tomorrow, and it's been raining off and on the last few days as well. Guess April showers are coming early for us!

Caiden is home with the flu :( Poor guy hasn't been sick in I don't even know how long, so it is very strange him being home on school days. Doctor told us he can go back Friday, so until then, it's movie watching and soup for him.

Pulling Bri out of school early today for a dentist appt. Thank goodness Michael is off all week, so he can stay home with Caiden, while I do my running around. Bri's birthday sleepover is in less than a month and I am trying to get things done early, so yesterday I went and did a lot of shopping. We are doing a bunch of homemade decorations and games. Got most of the ideas from Pinterest, so I'll post the links in a bit.

Have no clue of what's for dinner yet. Below is pics. from Bri's "photo shoot" she did with her rats lol. I think the limit is 3 pics. but I am going to try and post a photo of each rat, guess we will see!

Have a great day everyone!!
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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

First photo is of Spot, then of Pudding, then our chubby monster, Oreo. Sorry Lucy, I didn't get you in there :( She looks almost identical to Spot though :)

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

So we want a ton of balloons at her party. We are going to do some of them like this:
https://meliseamour.com/2015/05/13/cute-wedding-idea-balloons-wrapped-in-tulle/
they are so pretty and elegant! Picked up everything to make them and found tulle for dirt cheap :)

I think these are cute for the girls to do and something fun for them to take home and hang somewhere in their rooms:
http://www.maisondepax.com/
Got the wooden cut outs, which weren't on sale but still pretty cheap, and the chalkboard paint, which I've never used, so hope it works well!

Couldn't get the main page to open for this, but if you scroll down just a tiny bit we want to do the cutout numbers with the tissue paper:
http://hative.com/creative-tissue-paper-crafts-for-kids-and-adults/
I got two big pieces of thick cardboard that I'll cut a 1 and a 2 out of each. Hopefully I can get the tissue paper on there as perfect as they did, lol.

Wanting to do some sort of picture collage type thing like one of these:
http://www.deerpearlflowers.com/wedding-photo-display-ideas/
I'm really liking the clothesline one, where they are hung up by clothespins.

And that's it for now! Her favorite animal right now (besides rats) is giraffes, so I have to incorporate that in there somewhere...we'll see!

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Good Morning Everyone! Wishing you all a wonderful day. I've been trying to find time to post but every minute has been consumed with something. I've been lucky enough to keep up with reading so I know what all is happening with you and it seems like everyone too has a lot going on.

Bummer on the pellet stove not working again Janet. Is it fixed yet? There is no way I could ever choke down Balut. Not sure if the texture would get to me or something else. You'll have to let us know your DS experience when it happens. I often catch Andrew Zimmer's show Bizarre Foods and that man can and does eat anything!

Happy to hear you are healing Shona. I found warm compresses and light massage helped to heal bruising after the swelling and pain when down and I've had my share of them from Kenpo. Kava is something you get from a health food type store. I find the tincture to be best absorbed. Glad to hear it's warming up. I have to laugh as my freezer isn't even that cold :)

Roasts are funny Bren. Sometimes they come out great for me and other times just awful. I can never figure out why either. How were the smelt? I'm sure you are driving the car well enough ... get the new battery. I had that problem a couple years ago here with a new car and they kept telling me I wasn't driving it enough, got a new battery and all has been fine.

Your DS's adventure on the yacht sounds incredible Joce. I'm sure the islands have more resources than we think considering everything has to come in via boats.

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

How truly frightening an experience Laurie with your DH. I'm so happy to hear it all worked out. Awesome on finding "THE" dress for your DD's prom. The Buffalo Chix Meatballs you made for your book club sound delicious. Is there a recipe for them posted?

How are you feeling today Karen? Sinus troubles are the worse, so hard to relieve and so painful. Yikes on Sunday's adventurous outing on the road. You are lucky to have just plowed thru the tree's branches. I too have never heard of underground lighting ... how far can something like that travel? We have a whole house surge protector too and it's worth it and has saved us in a few lightening storms. Maybe the critters are feeling the atmospheric changes too like you and your DH are.

So good to see you Tina. Happy to hear you found your misplaced items now to keep them in a known spot. Good for you getting off the antidepressants and feeling good about it and cooking. Keep it going my dear.

My pantry/fridge/freezer is finally restocked Kimmer. I too was out of so much but I think I have everything I need now. Just need to figure out what I'm cooking now that I'm cooking more. We use to eat out often and I'm so much happier to be cooking healthier wholesome foods.

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

I see and am happy to know you are just as busy Michelle with all sorts of stuff. I'm loving the photo shoot of the rats. You'll have to try and post Lucy's picture tomorrow. I think they are adorable! Hope your DS feels better soon, that's awful the little guy caught the flu. Love too the links for DD's bday bash. The girls should have a blast.

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MissouriFarmWife 7 years ago said:

Good morning.

Cute rat pictures. Michelle. The sleepover sounds like fun. I'm sure the girls will have a great time and enjoy the take-home balloons. Wow on all the neat ideas you have!

Hi Linda. It seems like things are settling into a manageable routine. We eat out too much, also....bad habit. Of course we had pumpkin waffles, from a mix no less, for breakfast, not exactly the healthiest. Sinus problems are a way of life in Missouri. Survival is imminent.

Another mouse has found its way inside. Fritz and Trouble are intent on mouse soufflé for breakfast. This one is very cute, sort of a soft gray color. It is hihing under the curio cabinet, which drives Fritz up a wall. He chased it from under a basket to under the curio and is determined to succeed.

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

Hi Michelle, sorry to hear Caiden is home sick, poor guy :( I hope he feels better soon, thank goodness Michael is home to watch him and help out. WOW, are you ever going all out on Bri's party!! I wish you were my Mom! ;) I love those balloons, and the tissue paper idea...and I like the photos on the clothes pegs too. I have some of those mini wooden clothes pegs from the craft store. I meant to paint them and hang up Sophie's art work in her room with them, but never got around to it! I need your energy, haha ;) I couldn't get the link to open for the chalkboard paint one, but I can picture it. You are the best Mom!

HI Linda, how is your DH today? How are you adjusting to him being home so far? I hope it is all going as smoothly as possible. Thanks for the Kava info, I was thinking it was in capsule form. Do you drink it like a tea?

Not much going on today. As nice as the weather is feeling, it has created a big melt of snow and everything outside is brown and muddy. If I took the dogs out, their white fur would turn brown......hmmmmm...so debating whether or not I want to deal with muddy dogs, lol ;)
Dinner is stir-fried pork in a hoisin=ginger-garlic sauce, with peppers and broccoli, served over rice.
Off to do more family research. I was so excited to find a photo of my great uncle in the National Library and Archives of Canada website, archived in "Immigrants from the Russian Empire". It says exactly what German village of Russia he was born in etc..so cool! Most of my Maiden name family went to the US, Milwaukee, Wisconsin to be exact--except for my Grandpa. His parents and all his siblings went to Wisconsin, and spread out from Colorado to Michigan and down to Nevada. I even have 3rd cousins in Texas. We've been trading family info on our myheritage.com site. I think I have almost found the family that first left Germany in the late 1700's to go to Saratov under Catharine the Great's 1763 Manifesto! I believe we are from Wurtemburg Germany.

Have a great day everyone!

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

Hi Karen! Pumpkin waffles sound good! I hope your GS feels better too.
yikes on the mouse!

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

Good Morning Everyone! Nice to see so much chit chat already!

Just finished brekkie. One of our Tomato and Cheese omelettes with hot sauce. :)

Sorry Michelle to hear Caiden is sick. :( Flu's are the worst. Cute photo shoot of the rats. (Never thought I'd hear myself say that sentance) :) The balloons wrapped in tulle are SO pretty! That's awesome! The link for the wooden cutouts brings me to a big page of stuff "Maison de Pax" but it's not evident what you're telling us about. I've used chalkboard paint a few times. Used it at work before to make a huge blackboard above the entranceway to write prices of earth and salt etc. on and then I also did one at home for Benjamin when he was young. Painted right on the wall of his bedroom and then used moulding to frame it. It was great. It's neat to use and you may get addicted and want to do a whole bunch of things. The cut out numbers with the tissue paper is cute. When I was a little girl I remember receiving a craft kit as a gift and I made these giant tissue paper flowers. It was a lot of fun. You sure are doing a ton of stuff!!! Not that that surprises me. :) I love the clothespin picture line. That'd be really cute to use at a birthday party or wedding or whatever. I think I'm going to pin that myself. :) Great work Michelle. Bri is a very lucky young girl!

Hi Linda! Good to see you! No, the pellet stove is dead still. Just got a call that the repair guy will be here tomorrow between 10-12 which is unfortunate as I wanted to head out first thing tomorrow morning, but obviously that takes priority. I'm happy to hear you got out and refilled your pantry/fridge and freezer and I'm also happy for you that you are looking forward to eating at home more and making healthy stuff. I know you wrote a lovely long post but it'd be nice to get an update on your DH as well. Hope things are going super well with the nurse and the new people helping you out. Again, make sure to make time for you!!!!

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

Morning Karen! Pumpkin waffles sound yummy. I've never had them. Mouse souffle may be equivalent to Balut. :) At least it is giving your crew some excitement in their day! :)

I was playing around on Ancestry.ca last night and made a huge breakthrough with my Grandpa's side so worked furiously on it again this morning to the point where my head turned to mush and I had to walk away. SOOOOO much fun! :)

Having the Chicken a la King over puff pastry for dinner this evening since we were too full from lunch yesterday to eat dinner.

Hanging close to home today and will dust the bookcase which should take up a good chunk of hours.

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

SP Shona! I knew that was going to happen! :) I'm going to have to say that you too are an Energizer Bunny and seemingly have an equal amount of energy to Michelle!!! I'm guessing it was more something like you re-doing your entire kitchen that just took precedence over hanging Sophia's artwork. Am I right or am I right? :) LOL! That is good you're getting warmer temps but ya, I see what you mean about the wet and the mud. :) Looks like you and I are both doing the Ancestry thing and having a whale of a time eh! Very neat you found a pic of your Great Uncle along with more details. It's like finding treasure isn't it! Very cool on Wurtemberg Germany! Bet you wish you could hop on a plane and go visit eh! Someday , someday.....

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Cosmicmother 7 years ago said:

Hi Janet, very cool on you getting a breakthrough on the family tree as well!! It is like treasure hunting! I can relate to the head mush thing, as soon as I feel tired I put it away because by the next morning I can usually see things much clearer, lol. I'd love to hop on a plane and go to Germany. Pete and I have talked about it for years, we'd love to go to his Dad's town of Hof and tour the Bavarian region. :)
Lol, yeah I guess I've kept myself busy in other areas! I feel like a bad mom sometimes because Sophia has never had a birthday party. The last one I did was when Colter turned 7 or 8? He never really wanted a party, and he almost always turns down going to them. I guess Sophia followed suit! They both do not have many friends, and the ones they do have are allergic to everything (nuts, dairy, eggs, gluten etc..), including dog allergy's! So it's just easier to have a family birthday. ;)

Yum on your dinner, I have puff pastry in the freezer and never thought to serve chicken ala king over it, yum! Great idea :) Good luck tackling the book shelves!

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MissouriFarmWife 7 years ago said:

HI again to all.

Shona, I disliked doing birthday parties and finally just stopped. The last one we did, we took daughter to her riding lesson place and let the kids (limited the number to 4 so some were miffed they weren't asked) be placed on the gentle type horses and led around. Of course daughter was feeling great bec. she rode horses and the one boy who was a big show off was afraid for the horse to move. (GS is the same way, doesn't take after his mother, for sure) It was fun, though, and she enjoyed it much better than a sit down party.
We loved Bavarian region, as well as Nuremberg, & Rothenburg particularly and there are so many things to see and do. You will enjoy the experience when you get to travel there. If you make the Northern portion of (former) West Germany, Weiden has gorgeous crystal at Glas von Marion. Sigh!

Boo on the pellet stove repair, Janet. Maybe they need to replace it? For free? Sure! We are headed for warm weather so no worry about ice storms. Ha ha. Just thunder storms.

NEWS RELEASE: Fritz caught the mouse! Wayne disposed of same outside and we gave him his antler and a doggie cookie and told him he was a very good dog. I may put it on FB (haven't been there for ages).

Have to go to Rolla today or tomorrow to take care of Fire Dept. stuff. Election candidate information etc. It is a pain but not so bad as in the bigger fire departments. Our little volunteer group just doesn't have as much paperwork to contend with.

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MissouriFarmWife 7 years ago said:

It is probably spaghetti tonight. The venison is thawed and ready to use.

Daughter agreed GS's problem yesterday was that he had not eaten right all day. He has a swimming meet this weekend and his entire day's food intake yesterday was two granola bars, a fruit snack, and MAYBE a breakfast drink. He can't eat most food served at school -- it is processed, has artificial colors, etc. and he gets migraines, so has to take something from home. Plus he is extremely picky. I was not sympathetic to him, and suggested she cram at least a peanut butter and jelly sandwich down his throat next time before they go or make him miss swimming.I think if he was mine his bottom would be tender when he decides to not eat. Ahem! End of irritable gripe.

A.C. and Trouble are outside. Trouble goes in and out as she pleases, A.C. prefers outside unless it is super cold or rainy. Mel just lays back and stays cool.

Fritz is crated because we are in the sun room and he is NOT a trusted critter - my slippers were on my chair this morning and I had not worn them. Hmm.

Actually a trip to Rolla would be nice. Now whether to go today or early tomorrow? One of those executive decisions, I guess. Ha!

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gaspesiangal 7 years ago said:

Good afternoon everyone. Holy cow Michelle, that's a lot of work but I love the decorations. Sorry that Caiden is ill but children bounce back quickly. Really cute rats!!
Shish Janet, that pellet stove is really giving you grief. I love the sound of your dinner.
I hope that your doing well Linda. It will take time to adjust to a new routine but I have faith that you will do well. Continued prayers for your DH. The smelt were great but evidently not a popular item in the States. I was told that I was eating fish bait, indeed. I did get a new battery and am happy that I did. It's so frustrating to get into the car and it won't start.
Yikes on the mouse Karen!! I bet that Fritz was very proud of himself.
I know exactly what you mean re the muddy dogs Shona. Your dinner sounds wonderful.
Not much new here. Daughter is coming for dinner and I'll make one of her favourites Shepherds Pie She working and going to school so her days are really long, except Wed., 8-8. I made her a big pot of turkey/veggie/noodle soup for her lunches and she'll take the lefties home with her. Annie did the funniest thing last night. I was watching tv and got up to go to the bathroom and she must have thought that I had gone to bed. When I returned she was curled up on the couch which is not allowed. I asked her what she was doing and she put her head under a pillow. I guess she thought that if she couldn't see me than I couldn't see her, lol lol.

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Karen, when I was young I had a black mouse named Pippi ... what an escape artist she was too! Several times my mom would be yelling for me to come get the mouse. Thank God she never went far.

The easiest and best way I found to get Kava is in the tincture. A dropper full in a small glass of juice makes the "medicine go down" real easy. I can tolerate it in water too. Valerian is also another good one.
https://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Kava-Extract-ounce/dp/B0019LPLIA/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1484771505&sr=8-2&keywords=kava+tincture
How very cool to be tracing so much of your ancestry Shona.

And too Janet! finding out so much history about your past. That's awesome.

My ex's family use to make smelt for Xmas Eve dinner Bren ... the 7 fish thing. I liked them. My problem with them was you had to eat about 50 to feel full. Love shepherds pie ... now that I'm cooking I'm going to have to make one. That's funny when you catch a dog doing something they know they are not suppose to do (LOL!!)

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

I've been super busy adjusting to our new life. So much happened so fast but it's all starting to fall into place.
I have a visiting nurse 1x week that assist the doctor until we find a permanent primary care. Since we didn't have a primary care doctor here (well we did but were not happy with her and used her 2x) they have a mobile one who we can use.
I was also able to schedule my first appointment for DH with a new primary. Trying to get a doctor down here this time a year leaves a lot to be desired. They either are not accepting new patients or are booked till April because of the "snow birds" which I have come to resent taking up the resources. Anyhow ...
We met with the speech therapist today and now have her scheduled for 2x and also the physical therapist 2x week. Still waiting to put the occupational therapist on schedule.
I still have to conclude, but have a lot of flexability, with the private nurse. I like her here maybe 2x week in the morning for about 3 hours so I can run an errand, go grocery shopping, etc. DH hates the fact that she is here because he feels he doesn't need someone to babysit him but for now he does.
Surprisingly I've been doing well. I'm calm, cool, patient, and have everything under control and tying up loose ends with other things. Still some stuff that has to be done but every day I have to see what the priority is.
DH is able to walk and does well enough in the house and is able to use the bathroom by himself. I help him with the shower and thank God we have a walk in with a bench. He is starting to get more movement with his right arm but he has a lot of work ahead of him with it. My sister called today and I put her on speaker phone to say "hello" and DH mumbled what sounded like "hi" and that was fantastic. The speech therapist gave me a lot of good ideas and we have homework.
And too he is eating better. Nice balanced healthy meals which I think are far better than what the hospital and rehab were feeding. He is suppose to be on a low fat/low cholesterol diet and he is but there idea of compensating was to load him up on carbs thus sugar which was not good. Nothing wrong with healthy fats in moderation and I do egg beaters mixed with one real egg in the morning. Eggs have not been proven to raise dietary cholesterol and his cholesterol was fine when tested. And too the hospital fed so much processed and artificial food ... YUK!!

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Got to Costco the other day and bought some really nice Mahi fish. I never cooked it before but had it out and we love it. It was wild caught making it all the more better. I rubbed it with olive oil, sprinkled with a little salt, and grilled it and it was fantastic. I need to go back and get more for the freezer. Also bought a big Salmon filet and will cut that up and grill a piece of that tonight for dinner. DH seems to be eating what ever I put in front of him and seems appreciative of the good care. He just doesn't like when he has to be babysat but I too need a break.

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

I always enjoy hearing your stories of your time in Germany Karen! The Pellet stove is 10 years old and is a work horse. We use it A LOT! Parts do break as time goes by, and the company we bought it from offers great service so we don't have any reason to complain. I guess if you compare it to standard electric, gas or oil, our system probably has more problems than normal, but seeings it's newer technology, we're okay with it, and Jim believes it's cheaper to run. Way to go Fritz on catching the mouse. :) Jim has caught a few in the basement and he throws them under the bird feeder and the crows come and clean them up. Looks a little oogey but it is the circle of life kind of. LOL. Spaghetti sounds yummy. Haven't had that in a while.

That's great you got a new car battery Bren! Shepherd's pie sounds delicious and how sweet of you to make your daughter a batch of soup for her lunches! LOL @ Annie hiding her head.

Good work Linda getting all that orchestrated and it really sounds like it's progressing well. That is a shame you can't find a Dr. I love ours to pieces. We've had her ever since we first moved to Ottawa eons ago and she is now talking about retiring, which is very sad but of course I can't begrudge her. We do have our sights on a new female Dr. who has just opened a practice fairly close, so we'll see. What's the difference between a physical therapist and an occupational therapist. Hope DH doesn't begrudge the nurse being there too badly. It really sounds like DH is progressing and I'm so happy to hear it. It's fantastic he can do all that at this point already! When my Mom came home my Dad had to put pipe insulation (soft styrofoam tubes) along the edges of things like their desk and what not as she was quite tippy and Dad was worried she'd fall and crack her head open. He installed bars in the bathroom to help her get up from the toilet etc. Which was good because now she uses them because she's elderly. LOL. Odd that a hospital would serve a lot of processed and artificial food eh? You'd think they'd be on the cutting edge of serving healthy things. Your Mahi sounded wonderful. I don't think I've ever had it. That's nice DH is eating well as I know he tended to be picky prior to his stroke. :)

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

I worked on the bookcase the majority of the day and am half finished. I had a lot of fun to be honest. It's neat going back through all the books we've purchased over the years. I have it divided with half fiction and half non-fiction and I have the fiction all sorted alphabetically by the Author's last name. I re-arranged a bit as I went along. We have two shelves full of children's books that kids do like to poke through when they visit but right now they're directly behind an end table and not the easiest to get at, so I'm going to re-arrange tomorrow and move them into a more accessible area.

Made Wonton soup for lunch. Jim went down and worked out on his recumbent bike afterwards and then we went for a Hot Tub. It was a gray, solemn day out but fairly warm.

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

My understanding is Physical therapy concentrates on the lower part of the body and gross (bigger) motor skills and Occupational therapy concentrates on the upper part of the body and finer motor skills. I know occupational worked with him on grooming and shower and dressing too. Physical was more about walking and balance.

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mommyluvs2cook 7 years ago said:

Wow, a ton of chatter in here today!!! Glad to hear the chalkboard paint works well Janet, Michael is very skeptical of it for some reason lol :P I'll catch up later tonight, about to get dinner prepped. Making Keni's Spiced Pistachio Chicken with sweet potatoes and brussels sprouts. Gotta pick up Bri from the high school at 7 so juggling dinner to be ready when we get back will be interesting, LOL! Have a good evening!!

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

That's great Linda! :)

I was JUST looking at Keni's Pistachio chicken recipe last night Michelle! I'm trying to figure out what to make for the Keni Cooking Day and I think that looks marvelous. Can't wait to hear what you think.

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MissouriFarmWife 7 years ago said:

Hi to all.

Good to hear your DH is improving, Linda , even small steps are good steps! Agree healthy fats are fine, butter is all we use, not margarine! And esp when the chickens start laying, we use lots of eggs. Our chiropractor dislikes the low cholesterol theory, he says you need it to keep the brain functioning. He advocates the Schwarzbein diet, high fat high protein low carb.....like they say everything in moderation; a pat of butter is good, a cup of fried butter isn't ....ha ha!

I had two white mice, Linda, Antony and Cleopatra. Very cute. We had them in a STRONG cage since we also had cats.

Janet, you making me feel guilty---haven't cleaned the bookcase in a zillion years.

Hi Michelle and anyone I missed.

Bren, Fritz was extremely proud and very perturbed when Wayne took it away. He wanted to eat it. Eeesh!

We are home from Rolla. Had a late lunch so no one is hungry. Fritz and A.C. are on Wayne's lap. Mel is on mine. Mauser and a Trouble are on the couch. Mel is on mine. All is quiet. Have a good evening.

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laurieg 7 years ago said:

The Buffalo chicken recipe is super easy. Just ground chicken I like the lean 98% . Chop up a carrot, celery stalk and a small onion in food processor. Mix with breadcrumbs (I just eyeball it and an egg. I usually put some crumbled blue cheese in as well but one of the book club girls can't have dairy so I omitted it. Form into balls and bake for about 20 minutes. Then toss in kens buffalo wing sauce.

I used to have parties for the girls but mostly joint pool parties since they are both August birthdays. Then on the actual birthday they got to pick what dinner was and family usually came. But as they got older they didn't want them. Neither wanted a sweet 16 party.

I forgot to tell you all Becca got into The National Honor Society. She didn't have to interview. They took her based on her application, essay, and grades.

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chuckieb 7 years ago said:

Don't feel guilty Karen. Jim and I were just talking this morning about the last time that we cleaned the bookcase and we're thinking this is only the second time it's been done and we had it built in 2004! LOLOLOL! I did a fair amount of sneezing! Pulled the books off the shelves, swabbed the shelf down and then dusted the top of the pages and then back in. Have a nice evening!

Those Buffalo chicken meatballs sound delightful Laurie! Congrats to Becca! No surprise there is there? LOL! Good for her!

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LindaLMT 7 years ago said:

Thanks Laurie for how to make the Chix meatballs ... they sound so good! And big congrats on DD getting into TNHS! That's awesome!

I think most doctors are behind in nutritional knowledge Karen.

I think dusting is my least favorite house cleaning chore ... actually they all are but having to move everything to dust is tedious.

Had a glass of wine tonight and it gave me heartburn. Ugh.

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