H0ttieB00mbaL0ttie

A few weeks ago I accidentally cut ALOT of hair off Thurm's head. But I actually really like it short. And I even sort of liked it when it was mid-cut and a mullet. Can I just brag about my husband for a moment. Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I got. He is Super husband and daddy. He is attentive to me, kind, helpful, fun, sweet. And he is a great dad. I love watching him with Quinn and can't wait to see him as our children grow older. And the other night I found out what a talent he is. I knew he had musical abilities, he picked up the guitar and within two months, he was up to the level I had achieved after years of playing. And I knew he wrote and he let me read some things he wrote as a kid and I was super impressed. But he just recently wrote some new things that he let me read and I was SUPER-DUPER impressed. This is good stuff. I just can't believe the imagination on this guy! I want to wax on and on about his writing, but he holds it pretty close, so I won't. But I love that I keep finding new things to love and being impressed by. I hope that when we are 80 that is still happening.

Chocolate Chip Pie (Think gooey chocolate chip cookies in the form of pie. YUM)

1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell-deep dish
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts (yuck, I never use nuts in desserts)

Preheat oven to 325

Beat eggs in mixer till foamy. Beat in flour and sugars. Beat in butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Delish :)

Oven Fries

1 1/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch strips
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
4 tsp oil
1 tsp paprika

1. Preheat oven to 450, spray baking sheet with nonstick spray.
2. In bowl, combine potatos, salt, sugar, and cold water to cover. Soak 15 minutes, drain, blot dry.
3. In another bowl, toss potatoes with oil and paprika. Place in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake, turning potatoes over as they brown, until cooked through and crisp, about 45 mintutes. Sprinkle with remaining salt.

3 points per 1/4 of potatoes

I didn't use the oil or the paprika. The salt/sugar solution draws out some the potatoes water so they brown, not steam in the oven.

Moo Shu Chicken

4 TBS soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2-inch stops
1 tsp minced peeled fresh ginger
2 cups shredded Napa cabbage
2 cups shredded bok choy (Chinese cabbage)
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 cup canned straw mushrooms, rinsed, drained and thinly sliced
1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots, rinsed, drained and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp hot chili oil
8 Whole-Wheat Moo Shu Pancakes (below)
4 tsp hoisin sauce

1. To prepare the marinade, in a gallon-sized ziplock bag, combine 2 TBS of soy and half of the garlic; add the chicken. Seal the bag, squeezing out the air, turn to coat chicken. Refrigerate, turning bag occasionally, 1 hour. Drain and discard marinade.
2. In small bowl, combine remaining 2 TBS soy and remaining garlic, with ginger. Set aside.
3. Spray wok with nonstick spray, heat. Saute chicken till cooked through; 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
4. In wok, combine cabbage, bok choy, carrot, mushrooms, bamboo shoots; cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage and boy choy begin to wilt, 4-5 minutes. Add the chicken, soy sauce mixture and the hot chili oil; toss to combine.
5. Serve on pancakes spread with hoisin sauce. Top with chicken mixture and roll up.

4 points per 1 pancake with 3/4 cup filling.

Whole-Wheat Moo Shu Pancakes

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
5 TBS water

1. In a medium bowl, combine ingredients until smooth dough forms. If dry, add few drops of water at a time. Divide into 8 pieces.
2. Roll each dough ball into a 6 inch circle.
3. Heat non-stick skillet. One at a time, cook pancakes, turning every 10 seconds till light brown spots appear on both sides, 30-40 seconds. Wrap in foil to keep warm.

1 point per 1 pancake

The pancakes are not fantastic. I would try to find some sort of substitute at an Asian store next time. I never follow recipes exactly, so we used regular cabbage, no hot chili oil, regular mushrooms, etc. It still turned out really good. But you definitely have to have the hoisin sauce.

Sourdough White Bread

Starter

3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 envelope active dry yeast (about 1 TBS + 1 tsp)

Bread
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp salt (this seems like too much, next time I'm going to use a little less)

1. To prepare starter, in a glass bowl, combine the flour and water, sprinkle with yeast. Cover and let stand at room temp for 2 days. The starter should be bubbling and have a grapefruit-like odor.
2. To prepare the bread, mix flour and salt. With mixer running, slowly add starter until the dough just forms a ball (the dough is pretty sticky). Knead the dough until smooth.
3. Cover and let raise till doubles, about 1 hour.
4. Punch down dough, form loaf, spray baking sheet with nonstick spray. Cover and let raise till doubles, about 1 hour.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a pan of boiling water on the lowest over rack. With knife, slash top of loaf. Bake about 20 minutes, reduce teh oven to 350 degrees. Bake untill the bread is well-browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 20-30 mintues longer. Remove and cool.

1 point per 1/12th of loaf. I've looked for a good bread recipe and this one is awesome. I think it has more to do with how you bake it. Yum.

Hummus

1 (15-ounce)can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp olive oil
1 TBS water (don't use this, its too watery if you do)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

Just puree in food processor. Thurm loves this.
2 points per 1/4 cup.

It's almost midnight, my men are sleeping, and I'm wasting some time waiting for some bread to bake. Today I made vegetable barley soup, vegetarian chili, dahl (Indian lentil soup), cornbread made with yogurt, muffins made with applesauce, and sour dough bread. Thurm and I are trying to eat healthy, so I've been making recipes from a weight watchers cook book. The problem is I've been spending ALOT of time doing it. So I thought maybe I'd just kill a whole day and freeze a bunch of stuff. So far this cookbook is awesome. We've only eaten one meal that was sub-par. I'll have to post a few recipes.

Tuesday night I went to a book club. Well more of a book REPORT/SHARE club. They don't want everyone to have to buy the same book because of the expense of either driving into SLC or ordering it online. And the library here probably wouldn't have whatever book we were reading. So each month, we bring a few books that we've read, tell about them, and let others borrow said books. Pretty lame, but when living the life of a desert rat you take what you can get. So I'm at the book club and we went around the circle and introduced ourselves and told what we did. The woman before me said her name and said "I'm JUST a stay at home mom." Maybe its because I'm 29 and just now becoming a stay at home mom, but I think it rocks. When I introduced myself I said "I'm Natalie and I GET to stay at home with my baby." Now I know this woman had her first baby at a young age and is pregnant with her fifth, so maybe her perspective is a little different than mine. I had a good run as a single girl, got my education, traveled, lived in a foreign country, kissed a few boys. And I gotta say, being at home with an adorable baby is the best thing I've done so far. Today he discovered his feet. Yesterday he was nursing and caught my eye. He stopped sucking and proceeded to coo and talk to me for about five minutes before he finished his lunch. The day before he realized that there was a baby in the mirror and it smiled when he smiled. I could go on about all the adorable, heart-bursting moments that our little baby provides, but the bread's done.

Click here for cute new pictures of Quinn

TWO thumbs---little glutton.

How rad is this? If only they had it in red, Quinn could be Uzi from Royal Tenenbaums for Halloween.

My beautiful niece. She's off to Guatemala to see the world, better herself, and better the people she meets. Just 13 and already such a talented, outgoing, adventurous girl. She wants to be a nurse when she grows up, which fits her perfectly. I can just see her volunteering her skills in third-world countries and winning over everyone she meets.

Look at that pudem!


So sweet I can't look at this picture without saying "awww!!!"

Very Calvin

Courtesy smile

We're back!

Back in Wendover—we moved into a two-bedroom apartment across the grass from our old apartment. I like it because it’s on top and has lots of windows and light. The move back has actually been really good. Everyone has been happy to see us and, of course, little Quinn. Kids I taught are running up to me in the street to see him. I am babysitting a little girl, Ginny, born two days before Quinn. I thought I’d like having twins, but now I’m not so sure. It's crazy when they are both crying.

Thurm is feeling really positive about the school year. He likes his classes & is excited about his lesson ideas. As much crap as I talked about Wendover last year, I think we are both totally fine with being here this year. It felt like the right thing to do. And regardless where we live, my world is our apartment and Quinn. I think I’ve left the house about 3 times since we’ve been here.

I’m learning to be quiet. My sister-in-law is so quiet and I’m like an elephant in a glass shop. She always closes cupboards quietly, walks quietly, sidles into a room without you ever hearing her. She’s scared me quite a few times. You think I’d be used to it since I married such a stealthy husband, but he comes into a room all the time and, much to his delight, startles me every time. So as I was putting dishes away, very quietly, yesterday, I told myself, “you are Florecita…quiet as a mouse.”

Some ways life has changed
-Sometimes I don’t brush my teeth till noon.
-My work consists of rocking gently, interpreting cries, holding, nursing, kissing. It’s WAY better than making excel spreadsheets and attending meetings!
-I can’t seem to get anything done. I used to make lists and have them checked off by the end of the day. Now if I get at least one productive errand or chore done a day, I’m happy.
-The word poop (or some variation, i.e.- poopie, poops, poop-poop, super pooper, etc.) is now the most used word in our vocabulary.
-I now understand all things mother. Well, probably not ALL things. But I get why moms do and say the things they do. It’s like when you’re single and you just don’t relate to your married friends, but then when you get married, you start to do all those things you thought were annoying.


Today I put Quinn & Ginny together under a little play gym. Quinn wasn’t as interested in the toys as much as he was in Ginny. While she played with her toy, he quietly studied her. He tried a few attempts of attracting her attention. He faked a cough. He tried talking to her, but it sort of died in his throat as though he were too shy. She paid him no attention and kept playing with her toy. Sassy redhead. He finally gave up and cried for his mama, who he knew would pay attention to him.

Elaine: Did you read the whole thing?

Kramer: Oh! yeah.

Elaine: Huh . So What's it about?

Kramer: Well it's a story about love, deception, greed, lust and...unbridled enthusiasm.

Elaine: unbridled enthusiasm...?

Kramer: Well , that's what led to Billy Mumphrey's downfall.

Elaine: Oh! boy.

Kramer: You see Elaine, Billy was a simple country boy. You might say a cockeyed optimist,

who got himself mixed up in the high stakes game of world diplomacy and international intrigue.

Chubs

This is Quinn's cousin, Dane. He is the happiest baby in the world--so cute!

BIg Family!

Everyone loves Quinn

Family Reunion 2008

This last weekend in Rupert, Thurm's family had their reunion and the entire family was there- all 47 of them. This year was alot of fun. We rode motorcycles, went to the Twin Falls temple open house, went to Shoshone Falls, ate good food, played games, sang songs, swam in the canal, watched a movie on a big projector on the grass, the list goes on.

Quinn was also blessed in Rupert. My brother said he was laid out, relaxed, and enjoying himself during the blessing. Our brother-in-law also told us that he was watching Thurm and looking around at everyone. Thurm did a great job and gave him a beautiful blessing. Quinn is six weeks old!! It's going by really fast!

We are headed back to Wendover on August 14th or 15th. Thurm has meetings on the 15th, but we also have to move apartments to a two-bedroom. Everyone keeps asking if we are going back to Wendover, and yes, its true, we are. We sort of had a wake-up call. Thurm interviewed with a few schools and we found out how horrible the benefits are at most of the schools in Idaho. I did the math on one school and compared medical insurance and it was like taking a $10,000 pay cut. With teacher's salary's being what they are, I don't know how they can even afford to live on one income!! Most people probably don't. However, its important to me to stay home with Quinn this year, so its back to Wendover. Its actually been a huge blessing in disguise that we took the job in Wendover. We didn't realize at the time how great their insurance was, but we are so grateful now. Quinn was in the NICU for a week after was born and had lots of tests run, had an ambulance ride, etc. and he racked up quite a bill. So we feeling very blessed that we have good insurance. Even with our great insurance, we are going to be paying thousands in bills.