A Culinary Masterpiece Gone To Waste

My sis-in-law came over today so we could knock two movies off of our Gilmore Girls movie list. We enjoyed Sixteen Candles during the kids nap time and An Officer and a Gentleman after the kids went to bed.

Ashlie was kind enough to bring lunch out for all of us. And it was good. Love me my Thai food. And the kids enjoyed their BDonald's.

For dinner I decided to make a double batch of chili with homemade stewed beans. This was my first time making beans and I may or may not have called my mom about ten times for instructions. I'll never tell.

I was super excited about this recipe and was hoping to post it here today. But, alas, I left Auntie Ashlie in charge for a few minutes and...well, let me back up.

About two days ago Nathan and I were talking in the living room and I was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of garlic powder. Realizing my "energetic" two year old was missing from the room I jumped up to run to the kitchen with a picture of mountains of garlic powder covering my kitchen floor.

I was wrong. About the garlic mountains. I was correct in assuming who was guilty. Abiah just doesn't do that kind of stuff and Amelia is too short to reach that cupboard. And I am constantly chasing Hazel away from that cupboard.

Anyways. I was relieved to see there was only a small amount of garlic powder sprinkled/dumped on the floor. As I went to clean the mess up I realized that the mess would have been much bigger if I actually had more than 2-3 tsp on hand.

Mental note: pick up garlic powder. Mental note: stored. Mental note: lost in storage.

So as I'm preparing to make chili tonight I go to the afore mentioned cupboard to pull out the salt, cumin, chili powder, and garlic powder and... ZING! Mental note found! A few hours too late.

I turned the meat that was browning down to low and left the beans boiling on high. I told my SIL Ashlie that I need to run to my mom's. (She lives about five minutes away. And no, Nathan doesn't hate that.) I tell her that status of dinner and let her know it shouldn't be a bother but she might need to look after the beans once or twice. I didn't call my mom for the eleventh time to let her know I was coming over. I knew she'd be there and be glad to see me (I'm her favorite! Shhh! Don't tell my sisters.)

I was gone for about twenty minutes. and when I walked in the door...smoke? I smell smoke. No. I smell something burning! I hurried to the kitchen. And sure enough my beans. My precious, first time cooking them beans!


Ashlie trying to look innocent. Don't let her fool you!

My extensive training as my mother's daughter had prepared me for this very moment. I knew NOT to scrape the bottom of the pan. I also knew to calm down and not yell at my SIL. Everything would be okay. I transferred the unburned beans to a new pot and found that only a small layer on the bottom of the pan had been burned. Whew!


Small layer of burned beans after being scraped out of the pan.

Then more of my training came into play. Season the heck out of the chili to cover any "smokey" flavor that there may be. When I had accomplished this I brought Ashlie a small dish of the chili to try. When I handed it to her she asked, "What's this?"

"Your mistake that I fixed," I said. And then I told her that I was going to use this against her for the rest of her life (bitter much?) and we had a lovely rest of the evening together.


Finished product. Mmmmmmm!

I do hope to publish this recipe soon as it is a favorite. But since using homemade beans I realized I'm going to have to rework the amount of each spice used.

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday: Pretty Pretties

Wha'da You Do?

What do you do when your two year old sticks her finger in her sisters snot? And then puts it in her own mouth.

Gag?

Puke?

Scream and yell?

Wash her mouth and the entire house with antibacterial soap?

Maybe.

Or you blog about it so as to make sure it's filed away and ready to email to the boys who prematurely pursue her when she's 15. Or 26.

The Cure For The Common Case Of Blogeria

So. I've shared my problem off and on of feeling like I have nothing to write and then it's like the floodgates open and I have three or four posts in a few days. I thought I had it figured out a few months back. But I was wrong. But only partially wrong.

Today I accidentally stumbled upon the answer. For those with blogspots anyways.

When you write a new post there is an option on the bottom left hand corner labeled Post Options. If you click on it you will find a place where you can reset the date and time. Once you've set it for your preferred time click the orange Publish Post button and Vwalla! Your post will be posted at the time you've set.

I'm smart. I know. Snapping my bra straps and patting myself on the back right about now.

I am aware that some of my fellow bloggers may have had this figured out long ago. But I would appreciate it if you would just go along with this so I can look good. And so I don't have to walk around in a state of drastic depression over the next few days. My emotional stability rests in your hands. Thank you. You are so gracious.

Checker Games, A Potty Mouth, And Poopy Pants

Tonight Abiah and I sat down to play checkers. As he went to get the board he laughed as he proudly shared that when he plays checkers by himself he always wins. I laughed to myself as he finished getting the board and we started our game.

Our game didn't last long and Abiah seemed shocked that I won. Then he explained/confessed.

"Well, maybe it's because usually when I play against Trucka (his imaginary co-worker/friend) I move all the pieces so I can jump Trucka's pieces." He laughed and then continued, "You know on Bob the Builder when they play checkers and say, 'Yeah, Lofty! The checkers champ!' Well, I say, 'Yeah, Abiah! The checkers champ!'"

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During our checkers game when Abiah saw that I was winning he exclaimed, "Oh sh@#!" To be sure I'd heard correctly I asked him what he said and he told me he accidentally said, "Oh shed!"

While stifling laughter I told him not to use that word and it's not "shed" anyways. (I didn't tell him the real word for fear that he'd get it right one day soon)

He could see me trying not to laugh and after he told me where he learned it ( thank you Daddy!) he said, "Don't start calling me that."

I laughed even harder. Mostly because I was picturing myself getting upset at him and yelling, "You little shed!" It's funny in my head. Sad but true.

Then Abiah let me know he was going to add it to his "list". A list I hadn't heard of. Especially since he really doesn't know how to read or spell very well. After I asked he told me that since he likes XBOX he wrote his name as XBOX Abiah on his school work today. By this time I was unashamedly cracking up. I can just see tomorrow's school work: XBOX shed Abiah. Oh dear. So much for homeschooling.

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Hazel is potty training and doing really well. She stays dry almost all day and sometimes even through her nap time. Her biggest problem so far is going poo in the toilet. I've tried to watch for the "signs" and hurry her into the potty. But to no avail.

The other day she woke up from a nap stinky and I asked, "Hazel, did you poop your diaper?"

"No", she said.

"Well, then who pooped your pants?"

"Maga did."

Wordless Wednesday: Making Brownies

Valentine's Giveaway Winner

Let me tell you, if ever you're having a rough day and you need a little lifting up, a great way to feel better is to have a giveaway where you force people to tell you how wonderful you are just so they can have a shot at winning a prize. I've been smiling all week from your lovely comments. And while I wish all of you could win... you can't. Sadly enough.

But one of you did! And all of us here at the PnP Castle got involved to find out which one of you won:



These are just a few of my favorite things:

Starbucks coffee sampler
(Love me my coffee!)

Ms. Pedicure Best in Toe Pedicure Kit
(I got this little kit for Christmas and I LOVE it! It's great for those times when you can't get to the salon for a pedi. Which is most of the time for me.)

Sinful Colors Nail Polish in You Just Wait
(This brand is my new favorite. And the color is perfect for Valentines Day!)

LOVE Magnet

Gummy Cherry Hearts

Heart Shaped York Peppermint Patties
(Not only are they heart shaped, when you bite into them they are pink inside!)

Large Conversation Hearts
(Makes the grade schooler in me happy)

Valentine's Day card from me. Personally. I know. That's the best part, huh?


So, I threw all your names into a hat.



Then had a cute little prince draw a name.



And the winner is.....



And then I returned the hat to the rightful owners.





Congratulations Cheryl! I hope you enjoy these Valentine's goodies as much as I enjoyed picking them out for you!

Thank you everyone else for participating. I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's day! I am looking forward to and planning for the next giveaway already!

Of Chickens, Gobbles And Burritos

Hazel came in the kitchen and saw me de-boning a roasted chicken and exclaimed, "Mom! You making a mess!"

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I'm reading Respectable Sins right now and have been reading it out loud so I can focus through the noise that is my children. Abiah asked me, "Mom are you reading the gobbles?"

"The gobbles? What are the gobbles, Abiah?"

"You know. The story about Jesus."

"You mean The Gospels?"

"Oh... yeah."

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I made burritos for the kids dinner earlier this week. Trying to get Hazel to eat her dinner I told her no cake unless she ate her burrito. She refused the cake and got down to go play. After about five minutes I got out the frozen mixed veggies for Amelia and within seconds Hazel came racing back into the kitchen to eat her burrito so she could have frozen veggies! Sometimes I don't understand that girl.

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At the same burrito dinner I realized that all the kids weren't really enjoying their dinner and so I asked, "Do you guys really not like the burritos?" Amelia turned toward me with her nose all scrunched up and started jabbering off as if she was completely disgusted by her dinner.