I'm on a roll....!

If your kids/husband are anything like mine, they don't like chunks of anything - and casseroles/hotdishes are not their favorite, becuase it crosses too many food "borders" ("I don't like it when there is STUFF on my green beans, I like my green beans SEPARATE!). (big sigh.....) OK -- next time I make tator tot hot dish it's going to be SEPARATE piles of burger, tator tots and green beans. Not exactly a HOT DISH???

Ok - this is week 2 of trying to get more veggies (the important vitamin rich veggies) into my kids (oh yeah, that definately includes Dirk... he is the peas and corn kind of veggie-guy). I've tried many of the Deceptivly Delicious recipes, and LOVE her concepts. I thought I could probably start developing some recipes of my own... This one has been taste tested twice by my family, with no hints of anything being out of the ordinary... so I know it's a total success.

This whole system works great for my kids becuase they don't detect anything out of the ordinary... no chuncks, no mysterious lumps, etc. So here goes... I'm going to call this one: Taco's Plus

1 1/2 pounds ground meat (I use venison a lot 1/2 and 1/2 with beef, all beef or even turkey would
work fine)
Brown meat in the frying pan with 1/2 tsp. salt.

Meanwhile put the following into a blender:]
1 small onion, coarsly chopped
1 garlic clove, cut in half
1/4 of a sweet red bell pepper, cut into large chunks
1/3 to 1/2 cup of red cabbage (raw) coarsly chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsly chopped
1/4 cup cooked beet slices (I use the canned version)
2/3 cup water
2 packages taco seasoning mix (or 1/2 cup if you buy it bulk)
Blend on high until all veggies are blended into an "applesauce" consistency. Don't worry if you can still see a few small chucnks of cabbage or red pepper -- as it cooks with the burger, the veggies will completely disappear.

Add veggie-seasoning mix to the browned burger and continue cooking until the sauce simmers and is mostly absorbed by the meat. Taste for balance of salt, spice, etc. If it is a little too spicy for your family, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup ketchup. If you like more spice... please, add red pepper flakes, tobasco... whatever.

Serve with your favorite taco or nacho fixin'... From my "guess-timation" in every 1/2 cup serving: 1/3 cup will be meat and 3 Tbs. will be veggie (close to a 1/2 serving of veg. for adults). Plus -- my family really doesn't like beets, red cabbage or red pepper... but all three of these are PACKED with great vitamines they just don't get any other way. (the more color in the veg the higher the vitamin content).

i love the usa!!

I just finished my tax return!! Yeah!! and I have to say I really love the USA. I know it's money that I shouldn't have had to pay in.... and I paid a lot more in that what I'm getting back... but it really lifts my spirits to know that when we get our tax refund back we will have $0 in credit card debt... and the tax credit everyone is scheduled to recieve in May ($2100 for our family) can go for something for our family.... we won't have to use it pay bills with!! (ps: thanks Dave Ramsey too!! for keeping us on track with a budget last year!!)

home for this week

Thank goodness for good doctors -- and the ability for at least one of us to stay home with the kids full time! Liv had been feeling less than perfect since Wednesday -- and 4 a.m. on Friday she woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. So we visited our lovely Pediatrician, Dr. Whitney... clear ears (good), small sinus infection (not too bad), clear throat (good)... but positive for RSV (bummer).

On the good side -- Liv is the first of our kids to get RSV... Dr. Whitney wondered how we got through 2 kids without ever having to use a nebulizer... would have been great to make it through all 3. After getting set up with all the necessary stuff, getting Liv home and taken care of... she slept all the way through the night Friday night... and has been improving greatly each day.

Of course we gathered around Liv in prayer during family devotions... and prayed for all of the family ... good health and healing. Anika isn't 100% yet... but is also improving, mostly just cold symptoms.

It was good to have a more quiet weekend. We had a yummy dinner at the Welch family home Saturday night (had been planned for 2 weeks prior). Since they didn't have young kids, RSV wasn't really a factor for them... plus Jim works as a Resp. therepist at the hospital - so he gave us some pointers on getting Liv to calm down during the neb. treaments. He listened to her lungs too, and said they sounded clear. (PTL!!)

This is Anika and her friend Monet at Church... enjoying a little fun time with balloons.

So... now back to the housework for some much needed laundry and over-all cleaning!
smiles
N

catching up...

well... i thought i was doing OK in keeping up with family "stuff" and pictures... expcept for the occasions when i just didn't TAKE a picture.... but I found some great stuff on my camera....

This is Anika at the Dove Kids Christmas Service. Her class used streamers and dance express thier Joy of the holiday -- to Felix Navidad. The class is almost all girls... so it wasn't a big stretch for them to participate in a dance!!

Can you see the gold star way up high on the baptristy ledge?? That is our Thor-man!! The kids did a Live Nativity -- with naration by some of the older kids and teachers... and the younger kids played the parts of the nativity "family." Thor was the Star... and wasn't real excited about being up so high... but that night his jitters didn't show at all!! The music leader, Greg commented that I was like Mary, willing to sacrifice my first born son (really, he wasn't in danger... it just looked like it... possibly).
The next joyous occasion in the family was the birth of Theo Gilbert Alan Montiel on January 17th. He was 7 pound, 7.7 ounces, 20 inches long (something like 57 centemeters) and was born at 12:27 p.m. I think 7 might be his favorite number?? Anyway, his is totally adorable... and has the BEST hair ever... stands up straight and tall, just like Holli puts gel in it every day! How cute. You can go to RCRH.org baby pages to see another picture of him. Holli and Jason took him home yesterday (Sunday).
Liv is growing... growing... She has officially denounced all forms of 'baby food' and most often refuses spoon feeding no matter the tasty morsels being offered. She far prefers hand to mouthing everything herself... and makes a royal mess... as you can see after this session of Ziti. I wonder if she got a bit of Italian in her somehow... she loves anything in spaghetti sauce??? She ate a whole beet last night at well (cut into bite size pieces)... and loves every kind of veggie we have tried. She follows her dads example... and picks out the green peas first, no matter what else is on her plate at the time.

So you might be wondering what a container of pureed beets and maple syrup and whipped cream have to do with each other?? My intention was to take a picture of the adorable pink pancakes we made together this morning for breakfast. The kids are home all day (vacation day, MLK Day)... and it's just too cold to go anywhere (-2). I used my new favorite cook book -- Deceptively Delicious. We made pancakes with beet puree! They are the most fabulous pink color ... and are light and delicious. No beet taste what so ever.... Amazing??!! Anyway -- the kids ate them up so fast, I never go a picture of the finished project! I barely got a taste of ONE pancake myself... Thor ate 15 (silver dollar size)... Anika at 13... the baby ate 3 or more...

Here is the recipe: (I had to alter the original just a bit becuase I don't have pre-made pancake mix on hand).
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 c white flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 ts. baking soda
1 Tb. sugar
Mix together in a large mixing bowl.

In a blender combine:
3/4 c milk
1 egg
1/2 cup yougurt (i used vanilla flavor)
1/4 c pureed beets (from a can of cooked regular beets)
dash of salt
Blend until there are no visible spots of beet or yougurt (1 minute or less).

Add wet ingrediets to the flour mixture. Stir until all flour is incorporated. Let sit for 4-5 minutes while you heat up a frying pan, griddle or electric skillet. Spray with Pam or small amounts of butter. Use an 1/8 or a 1/4 cup measure to make "silver dollar" size cakes on your pan. Cook as usual. Serve with warm 100% maple syrup and a dot of whipped cream.

Each serving (1/4 of the batch) is a 100% of a childs need of protien and carbohydrate for one meal -- and a 1/2 serving of vegetable (again, per child)!! If you serve it with a fruit side-dish, they would have a balanced breakfast: protein, carb, fiber, fruit and veg!!

Phantom Power??

If you were in my house right now, you might think I've made a New Year's Resolution to go "Green".... but it's actually just a coincidence. Dirk and I are both very clear on our political and moral standings when it comes to "Global Warming" (not really swayed by the "evidence" shown so far) and just being good stewards of this earth that God has created for us.

I'm not as concerned about the polar bears not having ice to live on at the North Pole as I am about my montly electric bill.

I'm definately NOT buying "carbon credits" to make up for all the extra resources I use... We send our tithe and offerings to our church and other similar ministries. If God wants us to start supporting "save the earth" funds... he probably should have not told us in Revelations that he was going to destry the earth anyway.

Even so, Dirk and I have taken some time to educate ourselves with various resources of information about basic saving ideas for the home. When it comes down to it, most of the way my parents and grandparents live(d) is the way to go.... just common sense... not so much dollars and cents spent on conveinences.

Phantom power is when an electical appliance uses electricity, even when we THINK we've turned the thing off. The first info we saw on this said you might be able to save as much as 40% of your electicity usage and bill each year if you stop phantom power usage. Here is the catch... somethings I don't want to turn off, becuase I do want it working when I'm not awake, or at home (ie: my phone answering machine and the DVR).

Some of the biggers "users" of Phantom power are microwaves, a TV that have a remote control, VCRs, computers, cable boxes and cordless phones. (here we go again... did my grandma have any one of these items?? NOPE!) The reason is that most of these have a built in function that causes them to draw small/large amounts of electricty to be ready to use when I get the "whim" to say.... "ON."

From what we've read, basic appliances like a toaster for instance, are really off when you are not using them -- they don't have a built in clock to give the time, or a built in computer that knows when to warm itself up -- to be ready for you when you wake up in the AM.

The info I saw on one website showed that the average family uses a microwave less than an hour a day -- which uses less than a $1 a month of power. But the built in clock uses about $.25 per day to keep on... is that just CRAZY! Not like a quarter a day is a big deal... but when you add it up the average family uses as much as $500 per year keeping appliances "ready"... but not really using them for any functional purpose. I'm not talking about your fridge keeping your milk cold... I'm talking about cell phone chargers... plugged in and charging a phone that is already fully charged... or a TV and cable box "ready"... when no one uses it for 20 hours.

So I guess I'm off to Walmart to buy some power strips. You know, those things we all had to get back in the 80's so we could plug 8 things on the same outlet. Turns out they have an even better funtion. When you turn them off, there is no power going through. I've already unplugged the extra radio (with a useless clock) and a few other things. The biggest things we are going to change is having our TV's, VCR, DVD and stereo on a powerstrip. I won't be putting the cable box on though... otherwise I won't get my shows taped while I'm busy or gone. I figure I can afford the $25 per year to keep it plugged in all the time since I'm going to save so much more shutting off the rest of the items.