new found love ???

I have a new love (or maybe just a rediscovered one).Homemade cooking.

Growing up, I loved having homemade meals and sharing them around the table with family.More often than not they were very simple meals.Nothing fancy. But I didn't care.We were together.Then we moved to the city and that all changed drastically.Slow, leisurely,Sunday dinners at Grandma's were a thing of the past.Everybody was going every which way and there just seemed to be no time to sit together.And meals became rushed.As with everything in the city, life moves fast and it wasn't long before we fell into the trap of eating out all the time.Something that was a rare treat when I was younger.Soon food just became unappealing all together.I got tired of trying to figure out what to eat all the time.At the same time I got sick of eating out too.

I have struggled for years with food and quite often have made more than my fair share of unhealthy choices just because food became boring.I got tired of cooking and I think I only had a list of a few items that I made regularly and we have had the same things over and over every week for the last several years. Its not that I can't cook.I just became really lazy about it.But something has rekindled a flame.I don't know if its because eating out is outrageously expensive or the price of groceries continues to sky rocket but I want to learn and to teach myself to make new things.Jams,jellies,breads,soup.I want to use my vegetable garden more efficiently!Learn to 'can' things.Share it with my kids so they can survive on their own with out eating macaroni and cheese every day of their grown up life.I guess I just long for the simplicity of life when good times were had making and eating meals together.

A couple of months ago I dragged myself (kicking and screaming all the way) into trying to meal plan.I hated the idea.There was no way I could come up with that many ideas for meals.Guess what? I did it! I started by writing down the meals that I normally made.Then I added in a few that I hadn't made in a really long time.Finally I added some new recipes that I wanted to try.Wouldn't you know it I have a list of approximately 35 different meals.So I could go an entire month never having the same thing twice.I have slowly been trying to figure out lunch meals now too.I hate lunch even more than supper.My kids don't eat much in the way of sandwiches (No pb and j in this house) and all of us have gotten tired of eating mac and cheese, even if it is homemade.Lunch has been a VERY slow process.I've gotten 2 weeks worth of meals.That is a start.The two biggest advantages I have found are that I don't have to think about what to make. When I am tired I just look at my little sheet and it tells me what to make.Second , it makes grocery shopping a whole lot easier.I write the menu out,write down the ingredients I need and wha-la! instant grocery list.There by making it less painful to go into the store and it saves me money because I'm not wasting food as much.And a side benefit is that we have hardly eaten out in the last three months!

I don't plan on totally going crazy.I'm still very much a meat and potatoe girl.So becoming vegetarian is not high on my list of priorities.I'm also not going totally off the wall into organic stuff either.Thats not to say I won't use it.Sure I will do it when I can.I just have no plans to go to the outer extremes of organic,green,whatever stuff.My only goal right now is to eat less prepackaged stuff ,eat out less and start to enjoy food again.

Spring

Is it spring yet? I don't know how much more of this wintery, blah I can handle.There is only so much hot chocolate one person can ingest before you get permanent chocolate and marshmallow stains above your lips.("Got milk?")

Its almost March though, so there is hope.I don't know if its a mental thing or not,but being that this is me we are talking about the answer is most likely yes.It doesn't matter how much snow and cold there is, the moment the calender changes from February to March, my spirits are instantly lifted.I have hope,I feel more cheerful,there is anticipation!
There will be an end to this"10 months" of winter.If only for a fleeting moment.There will be a chance to feel the warm sun on my face, watch the trees blossom and fill the air with their delightful smells,get dirt under my finger nails,enjoy the longer days.Oh bliss!

I tire of the long, cold,grey days.Even the ones that look deceptively lovely.Bright blue skies and sunshine.That is until you go outside and your nose hairs freeze together instantly and you are forced to make a hasty retreat back into your house.But like I said there is HOPE. Somewhere under the two foot pile of snow covering our front yard is a blade of green grass just waiting to come up.

Patience is all I need.

Leapin' Lizards

Yep, its official.My kids are weird.If I were to limit the toys in my house to two things, I bet you would be surprised to know what they were.Well maybe not one of them but the other is certainly not your typical "girly" play thing.

Let me start by letting you know "monkey" has been a challenge right from day 1 in regards to toys.She never liked them much,could have cared less about them really.It wasn't until she was almost 2 when she showed interest in doing puzzles.She put together her first puzzles in about two minutes flat.So I kept increasing the difficulty.I thought I found something to keep her interested.In fact she made it all the way to a 65 piece puzzle before she was 3.Then in typical "monkey" fashion, it was "Ok, been there, done that, what's next? " I have tried every imaginable toy I can think of.From your typical average kid toy, all the way to games,puzzles and educational ones too.Nothing.Except this one thing.No it is not a cardboard box.But it was just as cheap.It, or rather they, cost me $1.50 at Michael's.

A package of brightly colored, rubber, lizards.Yes folks you read it correctly.Rubber lizards!! I have absolutely no clue as to why she is fascinated with these things.But she takes them everywhere.Forget playing with dolls.These lizards are the babies and the ones on all the adventures.Being orphaned because the mom and dad lizard died. (typically from drowning in the bathtub or falling off of some extremely high place aka the book shelf).Which brings me to the second thing. A doll house. Not too out of the ordinary except for the fact that no people reside in it.Only the little lizards dwell here, while the people are left to fend for themselves.These little lizards bathe in the bath tub,eat at the table,drive the cars,sleep in the beds.Nope no people here.

This past Christmas she got lots of things.Nice things.Even a REAL laptop of her very own!But that came in second best to the present she got from auntie "S". You guessed it rubber lizards!! 3 of them to be exact.These ones are big and ugly as far as I'm concerned.But hey, what do I know?She loves them.They don't creep me out or anything.I mean hey I worked in a pet store and held my fair share of them.But it is a little unnerving when you step backwards on to one of them or step on them in the middle of the night.They squish between your toes because they are a rubber outside with silicon beads inside.Yuck!

These, like their miniature counter parts, take center stage at play time.They do manage to work their way into the doll house most times.However meal times are usually spent at OUR table.I am sure you can imagine how well that goes.You know,hanging out in the drink glasses,eating off our plates,throwing food on the floor.They are a pretty rowdy bunch, let me tell you!

One day I will look back at this and laugh.But for now, I think my kids are just plain weird!

Pink

I love pink.No,I am not referring to the music artist.I most definitely mean the color.

This isn't meant to be earth shattering news.Rather just something to add cheer to this otherwise grey,dismal,dare I say depressing month of January.

Pink has always been my favourite color for as long as I can remember.I enjoy other colors as well,but pink has always been the one that brought a smile to my face.However I must clarify that not any shade of pink will do.I love the shell pinks and those in the palest shade.I find the dark shades to be harsh and I don't find them nearly as enjoyable.

I have noticed there seems to be an outright rebellion towards pink(except when it relates to baby girls)because to our modern feminists it is a color of weakness.
All the reasons that women don't like it, are the very reasons I love it.It is soft and feminine and pretty.It makes me feel that way.It makes me think of spring and newness.I love its gentility. It makes me think of simpler times when life wasn't as crazy and stressful as it is now.

Sometimes I feel like I belong to a small minority.Most people I know favour the color blue. Blue makes me sad and to me it feels cold.Not calming like they claim. Unless it is a pastel shade or something like robin egg blue (again "spring-y")
If you come into my home you won't find pink dripping from every possible place.But it is here.Soft and understated.I guess you could say.Just like me.

Scotch tape

They say that smell is one of the strongest senses when it comes to triggering a memory.In my case I think it is probably true.I have a good memory but it is short.

Today as I was wrapping brightly colored gifts for my sweet, angelic children (*ahem*), I caught a whiff of the tape.
It was like running head first into the "ghost of Christmas past".The smell of Scotch tape reminds me of my Grandpa.
Just in case you were wondering, old people do not smell like Scotch tape! Anyway, now that we have that established,back to the story.

As I was saying, it reminds me of my Grandpa.I remember his present wrapping station that he set up on the big long table in the basement.With his little hand drawn sign that said "No peeking!" I can still picture him sitting there, wrapping each gift with great precision.The corners were sharp, the paper was perfectly lined up and the smell of the tape filled the air.It always amazed me how he could get it just right.No wrinkles or anything.Even the tape was "just so"

Me,I have no patience for wrapping.If the paper is on and stuck together then thats good enough for me! It comes off in 30 seconds or less.So what's the big, deal huh?

I remember sitting beside him and listening to him talk and tell his silly jokes.He let me put the colored ribbons on or let me put my finger on the ribbon to hold it still. Thats just the way he was.Aways had time to listen and to teach and to love his grandkids. I miss you "Foxy".

Isn't it funny how such an inanimate object such as tape can open such a treasure.....