Food Expectations

It snowed today.  Not as much as the weather peeps predicted, but enough to close everything down, keep the hubs home and let B play in it.  It was a very nice, low maintenance day in which I didn't do much besides shovel and watch a bunch of TV with my 2 favorite people.

My bestie, R, called me tonight to chat and make sure we were on for some future plans.  Then she asked me, "So what did you cook today?  I'm sure the snow inspired you to make some wonderful comfort foods today.  So what did you make, a stew?"  I didn't make a stew today.  In fact I didn't make any appropriate or expected snowy-day foods.  I can totally see how she, and others, would think that I would.  But I'm tired.  The last month or so has been kinda roller coastery, so I gave myself the day off.  I'm not Superchef; I'm human.  And here's the honest truth about my total lack of Superchefness today:

My men got up before me and fed themselves breakfast, so when I came down I just heated up leftover tortellini for myself.  That's right, tortellini, for breakfast.  I ate a couple of pieces of toast this afternoon after shoveling snow and making B a hot chocolate.  I'm not even sure B ate lunch; I know I didn't feed him. :o/  For dinner, I opened a bag of Tyson Honey Battered Breast Tenders.  Have you ever tried them? They're so good!  We haven't had them in quite some time, but while at the grocery store yesterday I grabbed a bag for some reason.  They're fully cooked, so I just put them in the oven for 10 minutes to heat them up.  You know what I served with them?  Ketchup, honey mustard and BBQ sauce.  That's it.  No sides.  No starch, no vegetable.  No complaints.

I will say, though, that after reading Facebook posts all day from friend after friend listing all the goodies they baked today, I kinda felt guilty at the end of the day for not making something.  So I went to my "Sweet Recipes I Want To Try" board on Pinterest and made The Cookie Skillet Recipe From Heaven by With An Everlasting Love.  Chocolate chip cookie dough made in one of my cast iron pans, on the stove, then baked for 15 minutes and enjoyed warm.  It was easy; it was delicious.  I highly recommend it.  I rarely make cookies because they are too labor intensive - all the scooping, pans in and out of the oven, cooling (but not too long), taking cookies off the pan and scooping more on the pan.  Bleck!  One pan and done?  I'm there.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know I am not Martha Stewart.  I am not Katie Brown.  I have good days and bad days in the kitchen, as well as days in which I don't even feed my son (how else will he learn to fend for himself, right?)  "My name is Jess, and I only heated up a bag of Tysons for dinner tonight."

Decking The Halls

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're Decking our Halls for Christmas.  We did half of our Christmas cards on Saturday (although we won't be mailing them out for another week or two, it's nice to get them done and ready), with the help of family we put the tree and outside lights up yesterday and this morning, B and I have really enjoyed decorating the refrigerator!  I've never decorated the fridge before, but I found this pin on Pinterest earlier in the year and thought it was a great idea.  Unfortunately, I cannot give credit to the original pinner of the idea because the link behind the pin has been removed.  But whoever you are, we are grateful for the inspiration!

We got out the scissors, tape and construction paper, put on the Christmas carols and went to town.  B did everything except the stick arms; I did those.  The hardest part was actually clearing off the refrigerator!  ;o)

Enjoy the rest of your Monday, everyone!  We've definitely set the tone for a festive day here by starting our day off with Frosty the Fridge!

Our Calming Jars

I have been wanting to make these Mind Jars from Here We Are Together since I found them on Pinterest months ago.  I should not have waited so long.  Oh, well.  We made them today and can start using them and that's what matters today.  Ours mos def do not look as nice as the ones on Here We Are Together (we can't get our glitter to suspend as long as her picture and ours are kinda cloudy), but what matters most is that we use them.

The ingredients are hot water, glitter glue, food coloring and glitter.  We didn't have glitter glue, just regular white glue.  This is probably why ours are cloudy.  Next time I'll only use 1 drop of food coloring instead of 2, so the color is not as dark.

We Are Here Together also provided the printable labels!  They say:

"A mind jar is a meditation tool
to use whenever a child feels stressed,
overwhelmed or upset.
Imagine the glitter as your thoughts.
When you shake the jar,
Imagine your head full of whirling thoughts,
then watch them slowly settle
while you calm down.
For you from"

I used a Sharpie to write that B's jar was from me and my jar was from him.  Yes, I made myself a jar.  I need one, too.  In fact, I think every parent (even every human being) can benefit from something that assist us with calming down.  B is a smaller, male version of me, so I need to be able to calm myself down to deal with him.  Also, by using one, I am setting the example for B.  Monkey see, monkey do works for all of my negative behaviors, so I'm going to use it for the positive ones, as well.  :o)

Gift For My Parents

I took several pictures of this, all over my house, trying to avoid any reflection of my house, me or the camera in the glass.  I was not successful, but this had the least reflection in it - just my camera, my wrists and my hands.  ;o)

I found this beautiful idea on Pinterest for a gift for your mom.  You really should go and look at the original pin because it is so nicely/professionally done!  I wanted to make one for my parents as a combination Mother's Day/Father's Day gift.  I had such grand plans for how I was going to do this.  Pinterest makes me feel like I can be Martha Stewart but I continually prove that I am only Larry the Cable Guy.  I had different pieces of wood in my cart.  I was going to use letter stencils in different sizes and fonts.  Then I decided to paint a piece of wood white, put letter stickers on the white to spell the words and then paint black over them.  When dry, I would peel off the letters and the color would show through.  But all of those supplies were so expensive and, as usual, I left this project until the last minute; I was going to see my parents that night!

So, my poor, creative side started looking around Michael's and I found the supplies that I ended up using: 16"x20" black frame on clearance; black poster board; Sharpie paint pen in white; Sharpie paint pen in gold.  I was able to cut the poster board into 3 pieces to fit in the frame so I could practice or if I make a mistake.  And, believe me, the one that actually went in the frame was the 6th and last side of those 3 pieces of poster board!  LOL

As a woman, I, of course, am my own worse critic.  I was disappointed in the final product because it is not all spaced nicely, there was not enough room to capitalize "Nana & Pop-Pop" and my printing is not "pretty, female" printing.  I was wishing I had waited until the hubs came home because his handwriting is beautiful.  But then I realized, this is a gift for my parents.  They made me the great parent I am because of their example.  They love me unconditionally and whether I am 4 or 40, they love every thing I make or do for them and are proud of it.  Just like I feel for B.  And I was right; they loved it.  My dad immediately took "real" art off of the living room fireplace mantel and replaced it with what I made.  He said, "I'm not saying that this will be the final place for this.  We may find a better spot in the house to display this.  But for now, I want to put it here."  They are the best parents in the world!

I Gotta Get Movin'

The last time I was this heavy, I was pregnant with B.  I have got to start moving, exercising, in order to stop gaining and then start losing.  I found The Starter's Exercise Plan on Pinterest, so I started it today.  Day 1 wasn't bad at all: 30 jumping jacks and 10 crunches.  I need to start somewhere, and starting with something that's easy gave me a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to do it again tomorrow.  It's a start!