Immobile Parenting

I can barely move.  The past couple weeks have been a little stressful. My body is rebelling.  The worst of it is my neck and shoulders.  I woke up this morning in immense pain, to the point that I had to roll out of bed rather than sit up because all my muscles in my neck and shoulders were screaming at me.   Torture.  Literally.  It is now 3pm, I am sitting on the couch stiff as a board, smelling like a wintergreen factory (thank you Icy Hot Rub), with a heating pad across my shoulders, and praying that the boys continue to play nicely upstairs for just a little while longer. 

Jakob has noticed that I am not moving as quickly today…that I seem a little stiff.  He asked, I told him that I was sore, I think he is now upstairs plotting with Aiden for a hostile takeover.  Plotting how to get away with doing all the things that he knows I can’t prevent him from doing.  I am afraid to let them out of the house , as there is no way in hell that I could catch them if they decided to take off on me….which Aiden has a tendency to do if he thinks he can get away with it!

Do you ever feel that when you’re under the weather that your kids are plotting against you?  Can they smell it on you?  No, not the Icy Hot Wintergreen Scent, the weakness – the inability to act as quickly and swiftly as you normally can?

Next time I will be buying the unscented Icy Hot, just in case.

Wordless Wednesday

I love them best when they are….

 

Wordless Wednesday

THIS….is how we spent out 4th of July….

Such a beautiful day for a doggie swim at the beach in Gig Harbor. 

Show me your pie!

Today is the Pie Party!  Time to show me your pie!  Seriously…..show me your pie!  Pretty Please?

A couple of weeks ago I noticed a lot of talk of pie, and a pie party….on twitter of course.  And then a Pie Party event on FB….realized I must participate.  I bake enough pie.  And I had a couple of pie recipes that I wanted to try out too.  So the wheels started turning.  Thank you so much to Shauna, Gluten Free Girl, for starting the Pie Party….hope we have more of these!

First, I made this Blueberry Cream Pie….and damn was it good.

Then, I got the idea of making a S’Mores Pie in my head.  And couldn’t shake it.  Canada Day was coming up, 4th of July right behind it….and what says summer celebrations more than a S’More??  Not much. 

Attune Foods was kind enough to send me a box of their Organic Honey Graham Crackers a few weeks back, with hopes that I would make something delicious with them.  And I sure did.  This pie is incredible. At first I was worried that I wouldn’t have enough of the Attune Foods graham crackers left to make the crust…the little mice that are my children seem to have been making their way into the box and helping themselves!  Luckily after turning them into crumbs in the food processor I measured….and voila…enough.  whew.  minor crisis averted.

I love a baked Graham Cracker Crust…I think baking it just gives it a nuttier flavor and tends to be more stable when slicing.

Graham Cracker Crust:

Measure 1 1/3 cup of graham cracker crumbs, mix with 1/4 cup of sugar, add 5 tbsp melted butter, mix together to coat all the crumbs with a bit of butter.  Press into pie dish.  Bake at 350 for 8 – 10 min.  Let cool completely before pouring in pie filling.

Easy Peasy right?

Now I have a love of all things pie, but lately a GOOD chocolate cream pie has been creeping its way to the top of my list lately.  And this recipe makes a GOOD chocolate cream pie!

Chocolate Cream Pie Filling:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, plus 1 3/4 cups
• 3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)
• 3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Pinch salt
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Instructions:

In a small saucepan combine sugar, 3/4 cup heavy cream, milk, cornstarch and pinch of salt, and whisk until smooth. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil, whisking from time to time for the sugar and cornstarch to dissolve and the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Continue cooking at a low boil for an additional 5 minutes, whisking constantly.

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks lightly. Pour 1/2 cup of the hot mixture into the egg yolks and whisk thoroughly. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan and whisk over the heat until thoroughly combined and very thick, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, and whisk in the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Continue whisking until thoroughly combined (it will be very thick). Cover the mixture with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Once the chocolate mixture is cooled.  Whip the 1/2 cup of whipping cream with powdered sugar until you get stiff peaks.  Gently fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture.  Pour the chocolate filling into the graham cracker pie crust and chill in the fridge for about 3 hours.

Now….for the Marshmallow part of the S’more….the most important part! (in my book)  You can’t just throw on a marshmallow and all it good.  It MUST be toasted.  right?  So I cut marshmallows in half, covering the chocolate layer with them….then let Jason take the torch to them to “toast” them for me…..he did such a good job…look:

And then….you have this:

Beautifully toasted marshmallows, creamy rich chocolate filling, amazing graham cracker crust….S’MORES PIE!!!

Perfect for any summer night. 

Did you make PIE for the pie party??  Show me your pie….leave me a comment with a link…would love to see what you made!

Wordless Wednesday

Last day of KINDERGARTEN!  I am officially the Mama of a 1st Grader….gulp!

I am so proud.

Monkey and Military Monday

A couple of weeks ago, Jason’s Platoon was helping put on a field day at a local elementary school, including bringing a few of their vehicles for the kids to climb on and explore.  Jason invited me to bring the boys so they could see the new vehicles that Daddy was working with (Jason is no long on the M1A tank)…..of course I said YES!  They would love it.  It was the perfect day, warm – not hot, sun was shining – not a cloud in the sky, though of course we forgot the sunscreen.  The boys ended up with red cheeks, and Mama ended up with one heck of a sunburn.  Oh well, was almost worth it.

Here are some pictures of our afternoon. 

Please make note of the name of the MGS….CUPCAKE!!!  Perfect right?

It was a great afternoon and the boys and I really enjoyed seeing who and what Daddy’s working with.  Now to see if I can get them to come to Jakob and Aiden’s school next year….

I owe someone a huge apology…

 

I am an idiot.  Plain and simple.  I have a very bad habit of jumping to conclusions and making poor first impressions.  I admit that.  I also have a bad habit of assuming that those in my real life are unaware of my online life.  Tonight I got that slapped back in my face.  Again, I am an idiot.  And now I need to make up for it.  I am at a complete loss as to how.  So this is where I start, because it is 9pm, and walking across the street and knocking on their door when they have little ones they might be trying to put to sleep is not ok to me.  So here I go,

Dear J, M, J, and A,

I am truly sorry.  I don’t think sometimes, and I am sorry for the things I said.  My blog and twitter are how I vent.  I had noticed a change in how you all were not talking to me, or my boys, and had wondered if you had read my blog.  So I removed the post.  It was a rash post, before giving a true chance at our boys being friends and I regret it.  J is a great kid and my boys enjoy playing with him.  A is a wonderful little girl who Aiden adores.  And I fear that my words may have ruined what could have been great friendships. One more time, I am an idiot.

Today I couldn’t figure out what was going on, it seemed like I was getting the cold shoulder so I vented to the one place I didn’t think I could hurt feelings.  The people who only know me online. Mistake again.   I avoid confrontation.  I prefer to vent to people who I can’t see.  I am a bit of a coward that way.  Again, idiot.

I wish I knew what I could do to make it up to you.  Maybe you could let me know.  Maybe this public apology is a start….I hope it doesn’t make things worse. 

Please know that I am ashamed of this and hope that maybe we can work this out. 

Sincerely,

me…..the idiot.