Mothering Many

I mentioned my kids wanted a blender for making fruit smoothies, right? I haven’t purchased a blender yet, but I did find this site with smoothie recipes. I’m sharing because I’m nice like that. Once I actually start preparing the smoothie recipes, though, you need not expect me to be quite so nice.

Here’s the chicken salad recipe I mentioned the other day. Thanks, Ann, for reminding me!

Technorati Tags: chicken salad, recipe

Monday: BBQ Ribs from the crockpot, potato salad, baked beans
Wednesday: hamburger casserole, veggie
Thursday: leftovers

Not on the above days:
beef roast, rice, veggie
chuck steaks, pasta salad, veggie
fried chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie

Today I am blessed to report that I got a griddle very similar to the one I showed you for just $27 on clearance. I used it last night to make grilled cheese sandwiches. It’s mighty fine!

For NINE people??? Bwahahahaha. No. Until I get this, that is. The Presto BigGriddle Cool Touch Griddle is about to become a friend of mine. I have no idea where I am going to store this gargantuan goodie, but I will figure that out. Its nearly 400 square inches of cooking surface makes it all that and then some. And it’s coming home to me sometime this weekend. Oh yeah, baby, I’m cookin’ now! Or I will be!

I’m also looking at this waffle iron and this toaster, too. And the kids really want a blender for fruit smoothies. This breakfast thing?? It’s rockin’

Well, sorta. Remember a while back I posted about wanting to do better about serving real breakfasts? Well, I’m getting up and cooking, but i need some ideas. The kids and I brainstormed today, and came up with this list:

grits
oatmeal
breakfast casserole
breakfast burritos
boiled eggs
sausage in pancakes
yogurt
omelets
fr toast
stuffed biscuits
eggs and rice

Got anything to add to that for me? Please?

Yes! I bought 30 pairs of socks. That would be 6 identical pairs times 5 kids who ought to be old enough to get 2 socks at a time into the laundry but consistently fail to do so.

Yes! I did work on that section of my room that I showed you on Tuesday. I spent about three hours cleaning this morning, along with the children, and substantial progress was made in several rooms, including mine.

Yes! I made some Rockin’ Good Chicken Salad the other day, and I will totally share the un-recipe with you soon.

No! The laundry is not caught up, and I am not sure that I will ever see the bottom of the hamper again!

So, this is going to be an interesting week. The van has conked out again so I have DH home during the day. This is a mixed blessing, since we can’t go anywhere or do anything, and it’s frustrating for both of us. So, today we had our big meal at lunch, and we will do the same tomorrow.

Monday: country fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday: shake and bake chicken, noodle side dish, spinach
Wednesday: beans, rice, possible sausage
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: don’t know yet, but it’s in the freezer, LOL

I’m having one of those weeks where the hurrieder I go, the behinder I get. Do you have those? I’m sure you do, LOL! Right this second, I’m trying to figure out how it came to be that I went three days without posting here. And also, if the laundry will ever be completely done again. And how to get Drama to go potty in the actual toilet instead of wherever the urge hits. And maybe how to change our current eating habits without making everyone totally angry at me.

One of my children is beginning (ha?!?) to have a real weight issue. Now, I’ve struggled with my weight all my life, and she doesn’t know it yet, but she’s headed for a hard time in a few years. I don’t want her to be taking diet pills or to deal with esteem issues, so changes are in order here. I don’t buy stuff that’s marked low fat, as a rule, since they all taste pretty bland to me and I prefer to have just a little of the good stuff, or even none at all that to have a flat substitute, so I will needing to look at different preparation methods, and more raw food choices. Summer is here, and that is a great time to put out healthier choices. We’ll be needing to be a little more active, too. Notice I am saying “we”; what’s good for her will be good for the rest of us, too, I think.

So! less frying, more walking. And what’s going on at your house?

We’re ho-oo-ome! We got in late last night, and I have been so sleepy all. day. long. I haven’t done much of anything beyond survive, and that was more or less successful depending on whether you require any amount of grace in your definition of survival or if just continuing to draw breath qualifies. BUT!!! FUN!!! Oh my goodness, we had so much FUN!

The girls rode several hard core thrill rides, the ones rated 5. I rode one, my first ride of the day, and then I stuck with 4 and under. Note for the future: Casses take special care. They are not meant to be turned upside down. You may spin the Cass, you may jiggle the Cass. You may even make the Cass go very fast, and she will laugh her fool head off. But do not under any circumstance turn the Cass upside down whilst you are spinning her very fast. No, no, no. If you do that, your Cass will not be able to walk, and you will be sad for her.

The water park was incredible. I really liked the water slides, and could have ridden on those over and over. It was so fun to slide fast down the tube, and then shoot out the bottom, like mail through a chute. And this brings me to the topic of mailboxes. We’re going to need a new one shortly, I do believe. I joked earlier that mailboxes were the one item where my large family size did not affect my purchasing decision. We may need the food service size can of green beans, but we have not yet reached the point where we require a commercial mailbox. I guess that’s a good thing, since I don’t find those very attractive at all. I’ll continue to browse the residential mailboxes until I find one that I like and I can afford. It will probably be a plain-jane metal box, which is kind of a let down after looking at these by Dahlhaus. I’ll just hint that I don’t want my neighbors to feel badly, instead of indicating TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A MAILBOX!!!??? That’s a lot of beans and weiners. Which brings me around to grocery shopping.

I must go to the grocery store sometime between now and Saturday. Either DH or myself or both have been flying for the past few weekends, and so no serious shopping has been done. He’s going to be out again this Saturday, and if I don’t procure at least some snack stuff before then, the kids may want to cook some ladyfingers, and I am afraid they will be mine