Suburban Housewife Uprising

Test for New Comment Widget

2011-06-15T00:44:00.002-04:00

Ignore this, y'all. You know - all five of you.

Peace out.

In Love

2010-11-01T13:39:00.000-04:00

Last week was difficult. I think it’s because the little one was just coming into a cold, and wasn’t sleeping well. This week, both kids have a twinkle back in their eyes, and the whining has gone way, way down.

I love seeing how the kids play. Siu Jeun is all about exploring, poking, prodding, taking apart and stacking it back up. Just to knock it back down. I love seeing his fat little feet, padding across the floor. Or on tip-toes, if he’s especially curious.

Ming Wai, on the other hand, only needs an empty table or windowsill to be happy. She will happily talk to imaginary friends for up to half an hour, serving them tea or instructing them in the proper way to care for sick cats. I love listening to her chatter. She’s so shy, I think there are only a handful of people who have ever heard one of her monologues. They’re impressive. They’re almost always surprising. She is growing up so fast.

And, today, I’m in love.

An Afternoon of Apples

2010-10-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

And thus ended 40 pounds of organic apples from Eastern Washington. I loaded the apple peeler thingy. Ming Wai operated the crank. Siu Jeun dumped the apples into the biggest post I own…and taste tested every other apple for freshness. Because he’s just a giver like that.

An Outdoor Sort of a Birthday

2010-10-22T12:38:00.000-04:00

When my daughter, Ming Wai, turned four a few weeks ago, I was sort of torn. On the one hand, I am simply not the type of person to spend triple digits on a color-coordinated, catered, entertainment filled birthday bash for a kid who can’t read, and whose favorite game is Kick the Box Until it Falls Apart. On the other hand, it seemed a shame to give up a perfectly good excuse to eat cupcakes with our friends.

So, I compromised.

We met up with a few friends, and a few cousins, at a local park just behind our house. I loaded a birthday banner, some cupcakes, and some snacks into the stroller, and away we went!

It turned out to be quite a chilly, foggy morning, but we all had a really great time I think. And I was right about Ming Wai – she’s thrilled if there’s cupcakes, and over the MOON if someone will sing to her before she eats it.

I didn’t want to tell people NOT to bring gifts, since I knew she was looking forward to them, but I was really REALLY hoping this wasn’t going to turn into a big Plastic Love Fest. (You know what I’m talking about, right? One girl has a birthday party, and all the other girls bring her inexpensive plastic toys, which are broken or lost within a week. Unfortunately, this means that you must reciprocate when the other girls have their birthday parties. Or that seems to be the trend anyhow.) That was what I was worried about. And it wasn’t what happened! Ming Wai’s friends have brilliant mommies, and they all brought thoughtful, useful handmade gifts.

It was an absolutely lovely little playdate in the park!

In the Eyes of a LoLo

2010-10-20T11:56:00.000-04:00

The other day, I was playing around with the camera, and decided to take pictures of eyeballs. (Yes, really.) I hear, quite often, that Ming Wai and I have the same color eyes. I think they’re just a tad different. (Her eye color, however, is identical to my mother’s.)

What do you think?

(Ming Wai)

(Aunt LoLo) (*sob* When did I lose my smooth skin?!)

(Siu Jeun. He’s got Dad’s eyes. ;-))

The Garage Sale Chair

2010-10-18T11:53:00.001-04:00

Don’t you just love it when things just sort of work out? A few weeks ago, our neighborhood held its annual Everybody Have a Garage Sale day. It wasn’t as busy as some other neighborhood-wide Garage Sale Days I’ve been to, but we found some rather lovely things to take home! My favorites, though, were from a house just up the street. I think the woman had been culling through every thrift store in a 50 mile radius to gather everything up for her sale. Which doesn’t make sense, but there you go. Maybe she really likes to sell stuff! (Case in point: I found a Club aluminum covered roaster pan, in a beautiful robins egg blue. It’s vintage, and gorgeous, and had a Goodwill sticker on it: $9.99. She sold it to me for $5, no bartering needed.)

My other find there? This.

We found the perfect chair for our front room. It’s got very traditional lines, and a grey Asian print. Love it! It’s exactly what we were looking for. The front of the house is…difficult. I have huge, chunky “rustic” dining furniture, along with all of our art we brought back from China. So, if China had a Western style lodge…in the suburban Pacific Northwest, I suppose this is what it would look like! (Eh?!)

Other chairs we’d looked at, new, were between $200 and $2,000. (I didn’t say we looked seriously at all those chairs. Just that they crossed our path!)

This beauty only set us back $20. Perfect!

Put that Pet to Work!

2010-10-12T13:56:00.001-04:00

(Photo from Flickr, here.)

I had dinner with a group of old high school buddies last weekend. We had an absolutely fabulous time, and sat around the dining table for four hours eating jambalaya, chocolate pots and guzzling virgin Mint Juleps.

Our hostess was quite the domestic goddess, and has filled her apartment with beautiful things, and her balconies with beautiful plants. On her counter, I spied one lovely little goldfish, in a small simple bowl. When I asked about him, she replied that his name was Umm, and he was named by her two year old niece. He was also a rather productive member of the household. How? His tank water!

Apparently, the day he was bought went something like this:

Kate: Can I have a goldfish?

Clerk: Umm…yes? How many do you want?

Kate: How many can I have?

Clerk: *confused* How big is your tank?

Kate: *holding hands about nine inches apart*

Clerk: Ma’am, you can have one.

Kate: Oh, ok. Uhh…if I want to take water out of his tank, and replace it, how much water can I take at once?

Clerk: *more confused*

Kate: Like, can I take out half of his water and replace it? Two thirds?

Clerk: *blank stare*

Kate: See, I want it for my plants…

Eventually, she figured out that she could leave the fish in a small bowl of water while she removed the rest of the water, and then refill the tank with that bowl of water, plus fresh rested water from the tap. (She leaves the new water in a pitcher for a few days, to let the chemicals come out, before she puts it into the fish tank.)

The old fish water is then put into her watering can and used to water her gorgeous houseplants that week. Apparently, plants love nitrogen-rich fish water, and goldfish are particularly prolific in the poop department…resulting in particularly fantastic and nitrogen-rich water. Who knew?!

Now? You do. And I bet you can guess who’s going to go buy a goldfish soon…

(And hey! Christmas is coming! Go get your kids a pet that is USEFUL!)

How NOT to Help a Potted Lemon Tree

2010-10-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, my husband and I were doing some Yard Plant shopping together. As I strolled through aisles and aisles of perennials and annuals, my husband called across the square, “Honey! You have to come smell this!” It was a Dwarf Meyer Lemon tree, and it smelled amazing. Best part? It was half off. So, for a meager $30 we brought the thing home.

It had a rough start at our house. First off, the stress of the move caused the tree to throw most of its fruit. Two months later, we went on vacation and left the tree to fend for itself. During the hottest week of the summer. Oops. When we got back, I gave it a good long drink. The tree threw all of its fruit, and half of its leaves for good measure.

Determined to do better, I studied the plant. The roots were beginning to show through the soil on the top. Surely, this was a sign of bad parenting, right? I dug around in the garage and came up with a bag of MiracleGrow moisture managing soil, a third full. My mother swears by this stuff, and dumps bags of it into her large garden every year, with spectacular results. I scooped out handfuls of the rich, black soil and lovingly patted it into the pot, covering up the (obviously inferior) soil the nursery had given this poor tree. It looked like a mixture of sand and sawdust, and held water like a sieve. No wonder my tree couldn’t keep its fruit! It was dying of thirst!

You know where this is going, right?

A few weeks later, as our pathetic Seattle Summer began to come to a close, I took pity in our citrus-y friend, and brought it indoors. My bathroom has a large (opaque) West-facing window next to the tub…and the tub is rarely used. I thought it would be a perfect home-away-from-home for the tree, to weather out the cold, dreary winter.

Then I noticed the bugs.

Shortly after that, it was the mold.

I think it was a mixture of fruit flies and fungus gnats. Or maybe the fruit flies were just interlopers, lured away from the kitchen (and its own infestation) by the Gnat Shindig going on in our bathroom? I did research. And then some more. And then I pondered. And then I realized what had happened.

First off, Meyer Lemon trees need sandy, well-drained soil. So that awful sandy soil the tree came with? Was perfect. Fungus gnats, on the other hand, need moist soil. Which, obviously, the MiracleGrow was. Oh, and fungus, of which we apparently had an abundance. Someone, on a forum somewhere, suggested that sprinkling cinnamon on the soil would kill the fungus, and thus starve out the fungus gnats.

Perhaps I’m not patient enough, but all I ended up with was a cinnamon scented bathroom that seemed to say Hi! I’m your consolation prize! Enjoy your gnats! It did smell lovely, though.

After much more pondering, I decided surgery was in order. I lugged the tree back down the stairs and out the back door. I pulled out my gardening gloves, and got to work scooping out all of the MiracleGrow soil, right back down to the sandy soil. Roots showing and all. (Oh, and as it turns out, the soil on a Meyer Lemon tree should just BARELY cover the roots. Otherwise your trunk will rot. Bet you didn’t know THAT, did you??!) That dirt was then put into the compost “Death Star” to aid in the decomposition endeavors, and the tree was put into the garage next to a South-facing window. In isolation, if you will.

It has been a week now, and there is not a gnat, fruit fly or any other winged beasty in sight.

Hindsight is 20/20, right?? *sigh*

Single Dad Laughing: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

2010-10-08T12:28:00.000-04:00

Single Dad Laughing: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

Everybody. Go read this. Now. I'll wait. (It's long, and seems rambling, but it's SO important.)

*********************************

I don't have a lot to add. Anybody who's ever been bullied, ever given birth to a child in the past 18 years, or ever worked with children needs to read this. It's important.

I have two children, who I adore. Neither one is old enough to join the education system yet. I do work with school aged children, though, as a piano teacher. You can bet that I will be taking the time to really talk to the kids. To tell them how great they're doing. To let them know how much I enjoy teaching them.

We have to do our part. And we have to do it today.

Celebrate: The Husband

2010-09-24T01:30:00.001-04:00

Hello, mamas. I have this crazy idea. I want to Celebrate. I want to celebrate lots of things…and if I don’t want to, I want to celebrate until I FEEL like celebrating. There are things that are easy for me to celebrate – my husband/best friend, living close to family, and rainy fall weather. (Yes, really.) There are other things that are harder to celebrate…but I’m going to celebrate them until I remember that it’s true. I’m not going to tell you this things right now because, frankly, I’m embarrassed. We’ll get to those later.

So, I’m going to start with something easy. My husband. Nearly 6 years ago, I was in a choir, and I was showing off, and I was sassy…and I met my match. I met my best friend. He could stand up to my teasing, and he could ignore it or throw it back. He went shopping with me and carried my bags…containing nail polish and hair spray. He was everything I was looking for, and everything I didn’t know I wanted. We were married later that same year, and started our family soon after. Now he’s not only my husband, he’s Daddy to two little kids who adore him. He’s incredible in those awkward First Impression scenarios. He’s a sharp dresser, and frequently lends me his skills. (Read: He takes me shopping and picks out my clothes. I’m hopeless when it comes to clothing myself.) He loves to play video games…which fits in rather nicely with my little blogging habit. He calls his mother every. single. day, and I know that he’ll teach his children to do the same for me.

Housewives, how do you celebrate your husbands? What do you love about him? Leave a comment, write a post and link back, or drop me a line. Think about it. If things aren’t perfect, tell us about the good stuff. Tell us what you love. Nobody, and no thing, is perfect. But let’s give this a shot.

How Does Your Garden Grow…..

2010-08-16T13:05:00.000-04:00

All in all, fairly well. I forgot to stake my tomatoes…and my Meyer lemon tree is throwing its baby lemons off, left and right. My basil flowered, and my hydrangeas look a little sunburnt. Still, for our first year in the space…I’m rather pleased!

Showing: Pretty

2010-08-13T12:52:00.000-04:00

Still Showing. This time…Showing Pretty.

A new skirt (Nordstrom Rack) with a tank that’s several years old (Target), a shrug from a dress that makes me feel like a princess (Dress Barn), red shoes my daughter tried on and I fell in love with (clearance, Dress Barn) and jewelry my parents brought back from a cruise.

Being told you look like a Movie Star at church?

Priceless.

(Mamas, please play along! Do something that makes you feel pretty…and then let me know in the comments. I’m doing these posts to play along with another bloggy friend who is trying to show…she’s still Her, she’s still Hot, and she’s still Here, at home, waiting for her husband at the end of the day. You know, in case he forgets while he’s at work.)

Food as Family History

2010-08-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

This video is long (about 9 minutes, 45 seconds) but I really enjoyed it. In case you don't have 9 minutes ad 45 seconds to devote to watching YouTube...I'll break it down for you.

Miss Schenone had a deep rooted jealousy for people with old "family recipes", and she wished that she could unearth one. As it turns out, she could. Kind of. Miss Schenone had a grandmother, named Adelle Giza (I have no idea how to spell that, but it's pronoused Ah-dell Jee-zuh). Adelle used to make ravioli, using an enormous 3 foot rolling pin and a lot of elbow grease. By the time Miss Schenone developed an interest in things Family History related, Adelle Giza had already passed on, leaving behind only the memory of her ravioli...and an enormous rolling pin. Through three separate trips to the mountainous regions of Italy, Miss S. learned how to make ravioli using this enormous rolling pin, plus Grandma's ravioli cutter (unearthed by a kind cousin). She made ravioli every day for a month before she could say that she had mastered the recipe. And now? It's hers. She can make up that little bit of family history every day if she wants to.

It got me thinking - what foods have I got that could serve as Family History? My grandmother, on my mother's side, was a master at...well, I'm not sure what you call it. She's the lady that could throw together Jell-O salad like nobody's business...and a mean casserole....everything from a can or a box. My favorite recipe from her, though, would have to be her tuna sandwiches. She grew up on a sharecropping farm in Alabama. Cans of tuna were, relatively, expensive. Eggs, apples, pecans...those all grew, for nearly free, around the yard! Her tuna salad was about 1/3 tuna, and 2/3 chopped apple, nuts and boiled eggs. It's divine.

What recipes do you have, lurking in your grandmother or mother's recipe files?

A Bit o' Thrifting Fun

2010-08-10T16:31:00.001-04:00

(Whee!!!! Just found this post, that I started in APRIL. Thought I might as well get it out there. heh.)

Just a quick, fun idea for those of you with little "Princesses" at home. My little girl loves "tea parties." Fortunately, for me, she has a very loose definition of a Tea Party. Small slices of bread, cheese and lunch meat, placed on a cutting board with sliced strawberries....et voila! Tea Party.

I wanted to maker her very happy one afternoon, so I told her to grab her piggy bank and load into the car. We went off to our local thrift store, and headed for the housewares section. We found just what I was looking for - scads of mismatched teacups and other nice things. We found these pretty cups, half off, plus that lovely little creamer. (Have you guessed yet? It's her "teapot", and does its job nicely. Most teapots are simply too bulky and heavy for a three year old to safely use.) She spent about $3, I believe, and bought herself two tea cups, two saucers and one little creamer.

Nice things, and a lesson on Money, all in the same day? That's pretty good, my friends.

Getting Real About Food

2010-08-09T09:56:00.001-04:00

Hi! I'm Liz, also known as "Ice Cream" over at my regular, and very neglected, blog: My Ice Cream Diary. I'm a tired mom to 5 awesome kids, I'm a bit kooky and I like to make messes, not clean them, I've been changing diapers without a break for the past 13 years, I'm a daydreamer, and I eat ice cream on an hourly basis. Aunt LoLo has asked me to guest post about a little food experiment I'm trying. I'm not good at long term commitments so I hope you will all encourage me and help me get through this.

I love Cheetos. Man, do I love Cheetos. I love high sodium, multi-sugared, overly processed, chemically treated, junk foods. I'm just that kind of girl. The other night, though, while grocery shopping with my husband (during date night, which is something I swore I would never do...) we found ourselves in the snack isle debating whether or not to get a box of Hostess Ding Dongs. Mr. Hotness, that's my husband, was saying that he used to love Ding Dongs but that the older he got the more chemical and processed they tasted. I told him that I solved that problem by freezing them. When eaten cold they taste more "real." We both laughed about how gross that was and walked on, leaving the "chocolate" and "cream" filled goodness on the shelf.

Last Saturday I was buying yogurt, a dairy product naturally thickened by the live cultures that live in it. I had to spend an extra two minutes reading the labels in order to find a brand that didn't contain gelatin. Gelatin is powdered bone, you know, the stuff used to make Jello and fruit snacks? Cheater companies use gelatin to thicken yogurt so that they don't have to wait as long for the natural cultures to mature. But if you aren't getting the good-for-you cultures then why even bother eating the gloppy stuff?

Why am I rambling on about all this weird food stuff? Because Aunt LoLo asked me to, that's why. Actually, these two events made me think about all the random chemicals I've been eating lately and led me to try a little experiment. I've decided that for one month I will only eat real food. If I don't know what it is, or if I can't buy the individual ingredients in my grocery store, then I won't eat it.

For instance, I made homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert tonight. The only thing preventing me from eating one is the soy lecithin in the chocolate chips. Soy lecithin is a chemically refined byproduct of soybean oil manufacturing that works as an emulsifier. I've read varied opinions about it but because I can't just buy it in the grocery store I'm choosing not to eat it. Baking soda is a chemical leavening agent that can also be used as a deodorizer and an abrasive cleaner, but I can buy it at the store so I'm letting it pass. Hypocritical? Maybe, but this is my experiment so I get to make the rules.

Will I loose lots of weight doing this? That depends on how cheap and lazy I am. I can eat doughnuts, cookies, buttered popcorn, ice cream, and even candy bars, but I have to make them from scratch, or pay the ridiculous high prices for commercially produced pure foods (which rarely taste that good). This isn't about weight loss, though. This is about eating real food. And it shouldn't be that hard to do.

Now I'm off to watch Charlton Heston in Soylent Green for motivation. "People! It's made out of people!"

And check it out! Mr. Hotness made me a few chocolate chip free cookies! I love that guy.

Introducing: Liz, of My Ice Cream Diaries

2010-08-08T23:28:00.000-04:00

Everybody, meet Liz - The Ice Cream Diarista. Liz, meet everybody.

There. Now, don't you feel better?

Liz spreads her fabulous brand of Mommy And General Life Wisdom over at My Ice Cream Diaries. I first met Liz when her family moved away from my Hometown, into my New Town. (Hehe...leeeetle joke. My church met in Newtown. heh.) Small world, right? To make the world even smaller, it turns out that Liz and her crew lived within a mile of my grandfather, back in my hometown. Add to that the fact that her two youngest children were the same age as my two children, AND that they played Really Really Well together...and you've got the basis of our friendship. The additional treat of finding a friend who both blogged AND was a crafter? Well...my dear, dear friends....it just doesn't get much better than that. Oh, the hours we spent huddled on my couch trying to teach ourselves how to make granny squares.....or the middle-of-the-night sewing playdates where we tore old clothes apart and put them back together, Frankenstein-style, to make clothes for our daughters....or the time she showed up hours after the sun went down to help me clean my house after the movers had taken all of our belongings away...good times, y'all. Very, Very Good Times.

And now I've moved away from that New Town, back to my Hometown, and she's moved away as well, on to bigger (and beachier) adventures in North Carolina. I'm seeing a North Carolina vacation in my future.....but that is neither here nor there. Right now, we are introducing Liz!

This morning, on Facebook, I saw that Liz had announced a month-long Real Food Experiment. I begged her to come on over to Suburban Housewife Uprising and share her journey with us. I'll let her explain her experiment...but I'm really excited to see how this month goes. I told my husband about it, and while he was really happy for our friend, he responded, "That's going to be EXPENSIVE. The more processed the food is, the cheaper it is." I think that, right there, is why Cheez Doodles are considered a starch, and ketchup is counted as "fruit and/or vegetable" in our school lunches.

Please help me make Liz feel welcome!

Berries and Jam!

2010-07-31T00:45:00.000-04:00

Maid Myrnie and her Mystical Pots

Raspberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

Exquisite Strawberry Jam

Did you know, dear friends, that if two sisters, with similarly aged children, combine forces for a morning, they can achieve miracles?

For example…canning. My two hooligans play remarkably well with my twin sister’s two rascals. We’ve found that if we combine the four of them, they can go missing for hours, only coming out when someone needs a snack. We’ve also found that, given two sets of hands, an ample kitchen, and a lack of hooligans and rascals, two sisters can put up quite a bit of jam in a morning!

Showing

2010-07-30T03:16:00.002-04:00

Showing off? Showing him? Showing me? (And a word of warning. I’ve been watching a BBC production of Emma tonight, so this entire post, in my head, is in a lovely lilting English accent. Try reading it that way, and my twisted words may make more sense.)

Here’s the deal: A blogger is embarking on a journey. She would like to remind herself, and perhaps her husband (*ahem*) that she is…pretty. That she is still…her, if that can make sense. And that she is still his. (They’ve hit a rough patch, and watching them get through it is truly inspiring.)

There are certainly days when I forget that I am me. Those days, I am Mom. I get up when the baby cries, clean when the kids spill their milk or dump their cereal on the floor. I cook when they are hungry, and intercede when they threaten to hurt each other.

And yet…that’s not what I am. I am, first, me. I love to create, to be in charge, but not so in charge that anything major will ever be my fault. Unless it goes well, of course. Then I want all the accolades the world can spare!

Perhaps more importantly, I am a wife. Please don’t misunderstand. I am not saying that to bury Me. I am saying that because I married my best friend, and with him, I CAN be Me. With my kids? Not so much all the time. I am my husband’s partner in this journey. I am the half that stays in the home, the keeper of the hearth. I spend all day with the children, trying to teach them to be Good People. I’m the half that is his, and he is mine. We are in this together. And it is Us. And our Kids. And some day it will be Them. With Their Kids. And then, it will just be Us. Again.

So, to that end, I’ve decided to play along with my fellow blogger.

Of course, it didn’t go well at first. Not well, at all.

Today, she suggested that we do something extravagant, and lovely, with our eyes. Since they are my favorite feature, I was excited! I took my shower, pinned my hair into submission, and did up my eyes in a sort of “smoky eye”, in blues.

It was a bit much for 9:30 in the morning…but it was all for fun.

Then I tried to take a picture. And I tried again. And…again. And then half a dozen more times.

Hello freaky, crazed Eye Lady!

And if you’ve never known someone, well, with hazel eyes, you might not know that our eyes can change color! It’s true. If that eye shadow had a bit more red in it, my eyes would be quite green. As it is, blues bring out the brown in my eyes.

Luckily, my sister came by in the evening, and agreed to take a shot for me. It took her another dozen shots, but we finally caught one where I didn’t look like I was either about to eat the camera, or melt it with my laser vision.

PS – Smizing is not as easy as Miss Tyro Banks makes it look!

Would anyone else like to play along?

Waste not, Want not: Strawberry Vinegar

2010-07-27T19:11:00.001-04:00

Inspired by my sweet bloggy buddy Carrie, over at Wee Two Three (not linking because I think she’s private?). She is one of the crunchiest, most inspiring women I know…and she made this a few weeks ago.

I cut up a bunch of strawberries this morning for a beach playdate, and thought of her “recipe.” I pulled out a clean jar, threw in the clean tops, and covered them in white vinegar. By this afternoon, the vinegar was already a lovely, murky pink. It’s currently chilling out in my refrigerator.

When I deem it “done”, I’ll use the vinegar to make some strawberry vinaigrette. Mmmmm.

A few weeks ago, my sister helped at a wedding, slicing up two dozen lemons for pitchers of ice water. She didn’t have the heart to throw away all those lemon ends, so she bagged them up, brought them home and put them in her freezer. Now, whenever her garbage disposal starts smelling funky, she pulls one out and throws it in. Instant fresh!

When I get stale bread left over, especially heels, I throw it together in a bag and throw it in the freezer. I keep adding it to it, and then pull out a few pieces whenever I need bread crumbs. The pieces are broken up, then pulsed in a food processor and mixed with spices. Easy peasy! They can be used as is, or toasted in the oven.

How about you? Do you have any special ways of using up those bits and bobs that most people usually throw away?

Of Eggs and Bananas

2010-07-05T02:50:00.001-04:00

Forgive me a little ramble here…but it’s been on my mind today. I’ve recently moved across the country, and thus have joined a new church congregation. Our new congregation is a wonderful mix of old friends and new faces, and I’m enjoying getting to know everyone.

Seattle is Home for me, and that was one of the major reasons we moved back. Another reason, and a very big one at that, is the sizeable Asian population here. Growing up, my elementary schools were 30-50"% Asian, and I always loved having such a diverse pool of friends. (Even as a child, I loved to eat…and loved the VARIETY of things my friends’ moms could make! Egg rolls from Kim, cabbage rolls from Jack, and sushi from Mrs. McMath, an immigrant from Japan. Yummy!)

My husband is from Hong Kong, and I am a sort of Euro-Mutt. My family emigrated out of various European countries at least three or four generations ago. That makes my children nearly exactly 50% Caucasian and 50% Asian. (You don’t know HOW much fun I had marking that on the census this past Spring! If one check is good, two is…better, right??! Well, maybe if you’re silly like me, and like checking boxes…..) As much as I’d like to say that children are color blind, and ethnicity doesn’t matter…it does. My daughter is always looking for similarities between herself and other children. Look, mommy, our dresses are the same color! Look, Mommy, I have brown hair and YOU have brown hair! Look, Mommy, Lucy and I both have pig tails! It’s important to me that while growing up, Ming Wai and Siu Jeun be able to look around and see other kids that are like them – mixed. (I apologize if this term carries any negative connotation. It’s the common term used in Hong Kong. Wan hyut, or “mixed blood”, is the formal term.)

I have a number of friends, both in my new congregation and older friends from the area, with “mixed” babies, and it got me thinking about culture. When I was working as a missionary in Hong Kong, I had the opportunity to partner with a number of native Hong Kongians. My language skills grew by LEAPS and bounds, and I was able to learn more about these people we were working to serve. A wise church member pulled me aside one day and pass along some wisdom that she had gained while serving her own mission, twenty years before. She had had the opportunity to partner with several sister missionaries from America, which sometimes led to clashes in opinion, temperament and habits. She was taught, by her mission president, that when partnering with someone so different from yourself, you must adapt. She, as the Chinese part in the equation, should learn to be a “banana” – yellow (or Chinese) on the outside, but white (or American) on the inside. She must work to truly understand her companions way of thinking if they were ever to work together and serve each other. And vice versa – the American sister must learn to be an “egg” – white on the outside, and yellow on the inside. I took that advice to heart, and tried my very, very best to adopt a “Chinese Heart.” (I think anyone who has ever lived away from “home” can relate to this idea.)

As I raise my children, I’m trying to raise them to be…both. Can you be both? Can you successfully teach children to be comfortable with two cultures, from opposite sides of the world, if the children have never actually visited both cultures? I wonder if any of my friends are trying? My relationship seems to be the minority, where my in-laws are immigrants and so staunchly Old Country.

So, my question to you, dear friends, is this – when raising your kidlets, are you simply raising them to be American…or do you consciously add other cultures to the mix? Are your kids “mixed”? (And this could be anything from American/Japanese, to Oregon/Tennessee. Or adopted, intercontinentally.) To me, raising multi-cultural children implies adoption languages and habits from other cultures…and not just serving sushi every Tuesday and hamburgers every Wednesday.

So, speak up, ladies. It’s hard to hear you over the babble in my head!

Hello, Suburban Housewives!

2010-06-25T11:40:00.000-04:00

I'm slowly working back into the swing of things around here, and I am sorry for the unexplained hiatus!! My family has recently moved cross-country, back "home" - the gorgeous, green Pacific Northwest. We are near (as in several-minutes-away NEAR) to family, and surrounded by trees. We've been unpacking and clearing away the dust...and general Housewife-ly duties have started to work their way back into the schedule.

There are two small planter beds on the north side of my home, that get no-to-moderate sunlight every afternoon. In the sunniest of the two I have planted tomatoes and basil, generously donated from my mother's prolific greenhouse. (Every spring, she goes to Costco and buys an enormous bag of 20-oz red plastic cups. And dirt. And then she finds SEEDS. And plants them ALL. Seedlings are then moved to the red plastic cups and transplanted to her garden. There are, of course, always dozens of seedlings left over after her garden is full. This is where her friends come in. Every spring, she showers them with various seedlings. Now that I live so close to home, I get to partake of the seed-y goodness. Huzzah!)

It's been a remarkably cold and WET spring, moving into what looks like a cool summer. I'm hoping there's enough zest in my tomatoes to get at least a few red goodies this summer! I think I counted 6 blooms, total, on 8 tomato plants.

We went into our farmers market last weekend and bought a few seedlings of our own, as well - two rosemary sproutlings, and some purple frilly basil, for the purple, frilly princess that lives here. We also found a half-used bag of cilantro seeds when we were unpacking, and spread those into a small pot. I'll harvest them, mesclun-style, as they sprout, so that they won't have a chance to "bolt." Here's hoping!

So, readers - what's in your gardens this spring?

Raw Milk?

2010-05-28T22:34:00.001-04:00

I was going to leave these thoughts in comment-form on a blog, but…I have a bad habit of starting fights with what start out as simply curious questions.

Her blog post was simply a small rant on how ridiculous it is for Big Government to swoop in and tell us what we can and cannot eat (raw milk, in this case). Her point was that if she did her research, and believes the pros outweigh the cons, why SHOULDN’T she be allowed to choose what she eats?? (The sale of raw milk is illegal in her state. She loves raw milk and wishes she could still buy it.)

It got me thinking, though (and I’m going to word this carefully so I avoid weird Google hits), but don’t you think there are a lot of people out there wishing THEY could buy OTHER “illegal substances” and believe the pros outweigh the cons (medical m*riju*na anyone?)

I have not looked into raw milk at all, and I agree that if people would like to drink raw milk, then they should be able to drink raw milk. (I also think, just off the top of my head, that there had better be some guidelines for how that milk is handled, prior to sale.) What do you guys think? Are you pro raw milk? Even if you’re not, are you frustrated that somewhere in Iowa a room full of lawyers and judges pleading the case that consumers should not be able to buy the foods that they want?

I can kind of see both arguments. Let’s put a different spin on this. Instead of raw milk, something a little more familiar? Wild mushrooms. How about that. Let’s say I love wild mushrooms. I do my research, and I go foraging. I am good at what I do, and I do just fine. Let’s say another woman DOESN’T do her research, and goes forth to forage…and ends up poisoning her family. Should there be a law in place to ban future families from gathering wild mushrooms, to avoid the same mistake? Or should we just chalk it up to Darwin’s Law already being satisfied and continue to allow the foraging of (possibly deadly) wild mushrooms?

Alright. Discuss. Thoughts on Raw Milk, and thoughts on Government Control over foods that we buy and consume. Go.

Childhood Obesity

2010-05-26T14:52:00.001-04:00

We’ve all heard about it. Michelle Obama has launched an all out war on it…and still. Still. Something here doesn’t sit right with me.

Certain Food Industry Leaders have agreed to cut calories in their products, to help reduce childhood obesity. That’s great! I can’t help but think, though…there are so m any more things that need to change. Fewer calories in a Lunchable, or a smaller slice of Kraft cheese is interesting, but it won’t fix the problem.

Let’s assume for a moment that our Model Child eats two meals at home a day, and a third at school. For our purpose here, we’ll assume the parents are too busy to pack a lunch (just go with me here) and that this child eats their mid-day meal (five days a week) off of the Lunch Lady’s cart. That leaves breakfast, and dinner, under the Parents’ direction.

Kids don’t buy groceries, parents do. My kids can only choose to eat whatever is already in the cupboards.

Part of the problem, I think, is that as parents, we’ve forgotten what “food” is. When I was first married, my sister gave me a cookbook that was basically a collection of “recipes” for doctoring up boxed mixes. “You use those sort of things, right?” I remember her asking. At the time, I said yes. I did!

Now? Not so much. Food is made from ingredients, not pulled out of sacks, wrapped in paper. Those are called “treats.” Fast food is tasty – that’s why it’s so popular. That doesn’t mean it’s “food.” I will occasionally eat leftover pie for breakfast, knowing full well that it is a once-in-a-while thing, and a “treat.”

As parents, we need to teach our children what Food looks like. I’m going to go all crazy here for a moment, and say that as “housewives”, it’s our job to feed our kids? Yes? That’s why we’re the Mommies? Right. Glad we’re all on the same page.

Our children need to learn the difference between Food and Treats, and learn to eat all things in moderation. If you told me to get rid of all the junk food, candy and sugary things in my house, I’d be the first one to raise my hand and call you crazy. It’s there, and the kids like it. They are also equally crazy about bananas and grapefruit (true story!). As soon as I put a food off limits, it becomes a Holy Grail, and there is no peace until that bag of chips is empty, or that entire can of soda has been guzzled.

What say you, Moms? How do you handle this in your house?

Just Getting Through It

2010-05-25T16:34:00.001-04:00

Hi. We’re moving. Like, next week. Did you know?

It’s hanging over our heads, and coloring every decision we make. Are we going grocery shopping? Nope! There’s a FREEZER full of food, and it’s got to be gone by next Tuesday, or it will be thrown out. What can I make with all that pumpkin? Frozen spinach? Chicken breasts? (Turns out, I canNOT cook a decent chicken breast, unless it’s attached to a whole chicken. *sigh* We’re having a lot of rather DRY dinners. There was one rather notable Tikka Masala dinner last week. Maybe I’ll make that again.)

The kids…they’re a little weird. Couple the impending move with random half-packed boxes appearing all over the house, and stories of the Great! Wonderful! Things! waiting for us There…and they’re kind of weird.

I have times, every day now, where I just wander through the house yelling. I grin at my kids, so they’re not scared (goodness knows, they’re used to Mommy yelling!) but sometimes it’s the only way to get the Anxious out.

Do you know what this feels like? I’m nesting. (Although I don’t remember being quite! this! anxious! last time I was pregnant.) I’ve got a queen-sized quilt top halfway pieced, hanging over my banister. I have half-packed boxes. I’ve unloaded over a dozen bags and boxes of things on Freecycle. I have yards of fabric to make new pillows for new couches in the new house, but I can’t make them because I’ve never seen the new house (true story!) and we haven’t picked out the new couches yet. I’m nesting.

Share, Mamas – how did your family handle the stress of your last move? (Or your last baby? Because, apparently, it’s the same thing.)

We ARE excited to move. I’m really excited to see my new house, and be close to my family, and see old friends again. We’ve just got to get through one more week.

What Does Your Day Look Like?

2010-05-11T16:03:00.000-04:00

I'm a very visual person. I think that's what you call it. I need to VISUALIZE what has to happen before I can make it happen. (That's probably why I can't follow recipes or tutorials...I just skip to the end and guess how to get there.)

That said...motherhood? Isn't very straight forward. I suppose my goal is to raise a couple of humans that other humans enjoy being around. Good manners, law-abiding, all of that. How to get there kind of escapes me. I have a three and a one year old. I would assume that all they want to do is play, but...that just doesn't seem to be the case all the time. We need a schedule...but it needs to be flexible.

I need to play with them, to make sure the house stays relatively sanitary, to get food prepared for the hungry bellies that live under my roof and to carve out some time for me to work on my crafts. (No, that last one probably isn't a Necessary Item...but, for right now, it's a Sanity Saving Item...so it stays.)

What am I missing? What do Moms DO all day? Yes, we're busy. Yes, we're raising the next generation. But...what do we DO.

So, here's an invitation - I would love to know what you do all day. Especially moms with an all Pre-Kindergarten set...but I know I won't be in this stage forever, so tell me what you do anyways. WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY.

Thanks.

PS - If nobody comments to my satisfaction, I WILL hunt you down for "interviews." Be warned. If you could see me right now, I've got that Crazy Glint in my eye...and I won't rest until I get this question answered!

Being Mom is Hard, and Beautiful

2010-05-07T20:42:00.001-04:00

Have you seen this video yet? Stephanie Nielson, of NieNie Dialogues, is the subject of this film. It’s heartwarming, and might just make you cry. My favorite part is at the end. She says something along the lines of “I am not my body.” So interesting!

I mean, it’s true…and it’s not. You know how when you’re in high school, and your Mom says “You’re beautiful! This is the BEST you will ever look!” Or maybe it’s just me. Anyhow – I DIDN’T BELIEVE HER. Not for a second. I was a work in progress…one continual round of dieting. I assumed that would remain the case for the rest of my life!

The day I got married, I have to admit – I looked pretty smokin’. I was too nervous to eat during the month leading up to the big day, which took care of my waist. Oh, and a healthy round of birth control took care of the girls! My dress fit like a glove.

Then I had kids. After my first, I somehow managed to cling to an extra 10 pounds. After my second, those ten pounds were gone. Yea for a great nursing baby! I was back down to my wedding weight. And I should have been thrilled.

WHY DIDN’T ANYONE TELL ME! Oh, wait. They did. I’m back to the same weight…and it just. doesn’t. matter. There is no way I’m ever going to look the way I looked the LAST time I saw those numbers on the scale.

And you know what? I think I’m ok with that. My body shows proof of some of my proudest accomplishments in life. And yet, I am not my body. I am beautiful. We all are. Just in different ways. Different from each other. Different from how we were. Different from how we will be. Our grandkids will think we are beautiful, because we will be Grandma. Our husbands think we are beautiful, because we are theirs. Our kids think we are beautiful because we are the ones that sneak them fruitsnacks during church.

Remember, ladies. You are your body...and you’re not.

Mommyhood and Creativity

2010-05-05T13:24:00.002-04:00

Have you seen this? If not, please take a moment to do so. I agree with this video whole-heartedly..and it has definitely changed my view of myself.

I'm a mother. It was my choice, my dream, and my goal. I've always wanted to be a mommy. When I entered the workforce after college, I just couldn't find my groove. I took no pride in the filing and data entry jobs that came my way. (Looking back, I realize it's because there was no creativity involved...just drone work. If I had been doing something like working in a craft based shop, the story might have been really different!)

Now that I'm a Mom, though...it's so easy to get overwhelmed. I think that's why I started to craft. Playdates and kid-approved dinners can only get you through so much. I needed to create something that couldn't be eaten, torn apart or smashed. Something that would beautify my surroundings...and the fact that I could now make gifts for only a few dollars, instead of a few tens, didn't hurt either!

I craft for other reasons, too. There's something very soothing about hiding out in my craft room and sewing yards and yards of straight seams for a quilt, while I listen to the kids play (or fight?) downstairs. I need that escape coupled with a sense of accomplishment sometimes!

Sometimes, there are other distractions. Last Friday, a good friend and I ditched our kids and homes for the day and took off for an amusement park. All. day. long. We spent ten hours riding roller coasters, eating burgers, screaming and laughing. It was absolutely amazing - by the end of the day we were holding each other up and acting like (rather tired) high schoolers again. Good times, my friends.

So what do you do? I think all women are creative, to some extent. Some of us sew, some crochet, some paint, some just make a mean PB&J. What do you do to unwind and add to the world?

Family Recipes as Family History

2010-05-02T20:52:00.001-04:00

Preserving my husband’s heritage is almost easier – it’s so much more DEFINED. He was, after all, born in China. We are teaching our children to speak Cantonese, and celebrate the major festivals, and eat the foods common in China. (Currently, my daughter’s favorite is teeny, tiny dried fish, steamed and served with soy sauce. My son is grooving on tofu – he’s big on flavor, not on chewing, so it’s a perfect match for him.)

My family, on the other hand, hails from a handful of European countries, with all immigration ending about four generations back. We have long since lost the ability to converse in foreign tongues, and don’t even serve the foods anymore. The closest we can come is serving up Southern Food, hailing specifically from the poor regions of Choctaw County, Alabama. Hush puppies, collard greens and banana pudding all hold special places in my heart. Unfortunately for my kids, I never find myself cooking these things. Banana pudding calls for a list of store-bought, shelf-stable ingredients that I usually don’t have around the house. Collard greens are not sold where we live. Hush puppies would require me to heat up several of inches of oil hot enough to make things crispy…and I’m just not willing to clean up the mess afterwards, or “waste” that much oil. (But I’m willing to mix it into my food and eat it? Weird.) I know that I could make my own versions of all of these dishes..but that’s not the point. It wouldn’t be how Grandma Made It. If I remember correctly, she had an ancient, tiny, FryJunior in her cupboards. I used it once, about 10 years ago, to make hush puppies for a big family dinner. (They were quite a hit, as nobody had eaten them outside of Alabama in years.) Perhaps, for old times sake, I could ask my Grandfather if that little piece of history could live in my cupboards for a while and churn out a few more memories this summer.

What about you? What recipes do you remember your grandparents cooking? Is there anything you can learn to make, now, that would help pass on those great memories?

Linky Love

2010-04-23T22:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a few days! So, I'm going to share with you some things that I've loved this week! (This is...a lot of links to read through. I'm running on the assumption that no one is going to want to read every. single. one. However, if this is totally overwhelming, and you'd like linky lists like this broken up in to separate posts, please let me know in the comments.)

To Make:
How to make a ruffled top from a men's shirt (ThreadBanger)
A quiet book (Camille's Casa) (Loads of pages and patterns!)
Little Girl Leggings (Sparkle Power, hat tip to Myrnie)
Bubblegum Jumper (From an Igloo, hat tip to Myrnie)
Indoor Hopscotch! (Dollar Store Crafts)
A Chore Jar that everyone can help with (Somebody Needs a Nap)
Make your own Deodorant (How About Orange)
Pillow case to a market bag! (whipup.net)
Easiest Cushion Cover Ever (Gingham Cherry)
Fabric Covered Brooch Makeover (~Chez Vies ~)
Tile Coasters (Cheap AND fast!) (Little Birdie Secrets)
Non-Committal Curtains from Bedsheets (Sew Much Ado)

Food:
A blog of nothing but pictures of school lunches, from around the world. Yum! (What's For School Lunch)
You're Throwing Away more than $500 in Your Kitchen Every Year (mnn.com)
A blogger is looking for 1000 picky eaters, in 30 days. Click through to sign her petition and sign up! (Good Bite)
Did you know you can grill beets?! (sfgirlbybay)
How Jelly Beans are Made (Serious Eats)
Edible Science Experiment with your kids (Make and Takes)
Beyond Easy Oven-Dried Tomatoes (Svelte Gourmand)
A SF school has planted the first vertical school garden (Slow Food USA)
Fudgy Frosting (Teach me to Walk)
Lunch Lady Q&A (Fed Up With Lunch, hat tip to Myrnie)

Garden:
Make a Sunflower TeePee! (RootsAndWingsCo)
Make your own seed tape (Givers Log) (An easy way to plant itty bitty seeds, or a great way to gift them!)
Grow your own microgreens...no garden necessary (Craftzine) (harvests are ready in about a week!)

To do:
A man's mission to share skills with the younger generation (Make and Meaning)
(Here's his new blog, too) (Hands On Project)

Proud to be a Mama

2010-04-19T13:39:00.000-04:00

(Please excuse me for a minute. This blog is still a baby, and I'm still stumbling my way around, trying to figure out her voice. I want this to be a place of inspiration and idea sharing...and so far, all I've managed to do is share lots of OTHER people's ideas, and a few write-ups on Food Revolution. I'm looking for a few guest posters, so if you'd be interested, PLEASE leave a comment! Any topic, housewife related, is great. Green living, playtime ideas, Joy in the Journey moments...anything you have to share.)

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to road trip with a few good friends. It was a short trip - just a 90 minute drive into the city. We were there to listen to a visiting church leader from Salt Lake City host a discussion with local leaders from the three closest states. It was a great meeting, and I learned a lot...but what I enjoyed most was spending three hours in a small car with three awesome mamas. We we noisy, we were laughing, we were sharing stories...and we were reveling in being mamas. Very few of the stories involved cute kids or proud moments. Our theme seemed to be, "Oh my goodness, the craziest thing happened." These stories were followed by relieved ELATION when we found out that the story was in no way, shape or form unique. Kids talk back? Yup. Mine, too. Kids throw kicking, screaming tantrums? Yup...just last night. I think the highlight was when one mother-to-a-sassy-8 year old girl actually broke out her notebook and took notes while another mother (who USED to be a sassy 8 year old girl) told her all the things that would have helped her when she was a child. It was glorious.

After I had dropped off half of the noisy carload, I had a few minutes to talk alone with one of the quietest moms in our group. She is a talented woman, and the mother of two little boys. Our conversation turned to high school reunions. My ten year is coming up, and hers was just last year. When she was in high school, her classmates assumed that by the ten year reunion, she would be married with a brood of 9 or 10 kids already. After she graduated, she took a different path - school instead of marriage, and then a move to the Big City where she worked as a professional seamstress (a stitch setter, actually) in the garment district. She had her career laid out for her, and figured that by the time the 10 year reunion rolled around her classmates would be astonished at her fabulous career, instead of her army-sized brood.

Well, life's funny. She ended up meeting a wonderful man while she lived in the city, and now is a stay-at-home mom to two adorable little men. She didn't attend her ten year, because she realized that all of the people she wanted to see...were still in regular contact. She had nothing to prove.

Think back to your high school years. Do you have anything to prove to your classmates? Did you exceed their expectations? Meet them? Do you care? Are you where you thought you'd be?

Share!

Healthy Fast Food Nutrition and Calorie Counter Guide

2010-04-17T14:39:00.000-04:00

Healthy Fast Food Nutrition and Calorie Counter Guide

A friend sent me this link, and I thought you guys might enjoy it! A nutrition guide to...fast food. (Is that an oxymoron?)

(Image from www.fastfoodbook.com)

Linky Love

2010-04-16T23:03:00.000-04:00

Food:
Chef Jamie Oliver and PTA create healthy toolkit for parents (free download) (Prime Writer)

Homemade Twix (Bakers Royale, via Be Different, Act Normal)

Make your own Hostess Cupcakes (Tea and Scones)

Once a Month Cooking (The Diaper Diaries)

Make:
How to: Gardener's Hand Scrub (House on Hill Road, via WhipUp)
DIY: Repurposed Tumbling Composter (Sorta Crunchy) (We used to have big barrels like this when I was a kid.)
Build your own Raised Garden Bed (Craftzine)
Reusable Swiffer WetJet Cloths (The Sky is Pink)
Toddler Dress from Dad's Old Button Down (LoLo Craft)
How to make a Crossfront Swing Top from a Tee pattern (Miscellany of me)
(swing top pattern, part two)

Home:
Spring Cleaning Week: The Importance of Organizing Your Way (SimpleMom)

Linky Love

2010-04-15T22:16:00.000-04:00

Food:
Jamie Oliver has just filmed the sixth, and final, episode of Food Revolution. It will air on April 23. (Charleston Gazette)
Shop Healthy! The Free App that gets you shopping for healthy food. (AppCraver)
Play kitchens encourage healthy eating in kids (ad) (PRWeb)
Friday is Food Revolution Friday! Go here for a link to the petition that Jamie will take to the White house on April 15. (Sensei Talks)
Jamie Oliver's Cheats Sponge Cake with Berries and Cream

Home:
Spring Cleaning Week: The Bedrooms and Bathrooms (SimpleMom)

Make:
Strawberry Bag (ikat bag) (a sweet little market bag, that folds up....into a strawberry!)
Recycled Upside-Down Planters (Design*Sponge)
The Lemonade Dress (~Ruffles And Stuff)

Aaaaand....just for giggles. Go here to see why mother's need sleep. PLEASE. I cry, with tears streaming down my laughing face, every time I watch this. (Mormon Mommy Wars)

How TV Superchef Jamie Oliver's 'Food Revolution' Flunked Out | | AlterNet

2010-04-15T21:22:00.000-04:00

How TV Superchef Jamie Oliver's 'Food Revolution' Flunked Out | | AlterNet

I was going to include this in my next Linky Love post...but I had too many things I wanted to say.

This article claims that Jamie's Food Revolution has failed, flunked, gone kaput.

Forgive me while I vent for a moment. (This is an uprising afterall!) Did anybody ever say that Jamie was going to single-handedly change the nation's school lunches with a reality television show?! No. Nope. Never. What he did do, with his over-budget, over-the top television show was to highlight an issue. School food is nasty. Kids have been saying it for decades, chefs have been saying it for years...and now parents have been saying it for weeks. Now, what are we going to do about it?

The reason that so many kids are buying lunches at the elementary school highlighted in the show is that their parents provide for the family at a level so close to poverty, the students need the school lunches to ensure that they are receiving the proper nutrition during the day. The author goes on to say that the federal reimbursement for these meals is so low, it could barely buy a Snickers bar.

While that might be true, I propose that the parents could feed their children wholesome meals at home, with a little effort and planning, for $.60 if needs be. I know I sound pretentious saying that, but I believe it. Homemade yogurt and granola is a perfectly acceptable breakfast, and would just take a little bit of time to prepare.

What do you guys think? Did the Food Revolution fail, or is it just beginning? My vote is that this is just the beginning. And kudos to ABC for funding the show, and (yes, even) paying the difference for the kids to have healthier lunches for two months. Good on them. Now, let's continue the revolution!

Discuss.

A simple homecooked meal

2010-04-15T20:13:00.000-04:00

Jamie Oliver is right - this was simple! (In fact, it's his recipe for the chicken.) A half chicken, rubbed with olive oil, salt and a spice mix. The potatoes were tossed with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. I arranged the potatoes in a roaster pan, and the chicken on a rack on top of that. Preheat the oven to 475, and then turn it down to 400 as soon as you put your pan in. It needs to roast in there for over an hour and a half. The chicken is done when a thermometer in the thigh registers at 170 F. It will continue to cook after you pull it out, and will reach 180.

The green beans were sauteed in a little canola oil, and then tossed with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Total hands-on prep time? About 15 minutes. Not bad!

Linky Love

2010-04-14T22:08:00.000-04:00

Food:
Real Food: Making the Switch to Real Sea Salt (SortaCrunchy)Make your own mustard! (Martha Stewart, via Angry Chicken)
Sustainable Eats (a Seattle blogger who has turned her 1/5 acre Seattle lot into a garden...and grows all her own food. Amazing!)

McDonalds Votes no to cage free eggs (NYTimes)

School Lunches affect Student Learning (School Library Journal)

Jamie Oliver's Essential Pantry List (Oprah.com)

Want to avoid nasty, contaminated ground beef? Grind your own. (NYTimes) (We've been doing this for a few months, ever since my husband watched Food, Inc. last December. Incidentally, we haven't eaten any fast food burgers since then, either. Hmm....)

Home:
Spring Cleaning Week: Living Room, Kitchen and Outdoor Spaces (SimpleMom)
The Benefits of Non-Toxic Cleaning (SimpleMom)
Common Roadblocks to DeCluttering (SimpleMom)
More homemade cleaners (Little Adventures)

Food Revolution, Episode 4

2010-04-14T15:22:00.000-04:00

1. Without the community, there's no way I'm ever going to start a Food Revolution.

2. Jamie's going to get 1,000 people into his kitchen...or he owes Rod the DJ a beer.

3. By telling people that Jamie has no chance in h*** in winning this bet...he's offering some great publicity for Jamie's kitchen! (All part of the plan, folks...)

4. He's tried his schtick on elementary school kids...and then high school kids...why not get the college kids in on it?! And...dancing, while they're in it.

5. And...cue the flash mob! Ever wonder what a stir fry recipe would look like...as a dance? Now's your chance to find out. (Go here to check it out.)

6. This dance is cracking me up! I would I could have been there to see it. It's weird, yeah...but does anything happen in the Quad of a university that ISN'T weird?! Right then.

7. Closed down the street, got his little board with his 1,000 squares for the 1,000 faces...and he's ready to DO this thang!

8. It will improve your skin, your hair, your life, your s** life. Whew, boy. Them's a load of claims!

9. A 50-something woman who has never cooked before?! How does that HAPPEN. Seriously. Woman or not, how do you live for 50 years and never COOK?!

10. He's got foxy chicks and old nannies on his board. (I certainly hope I can be an old nanny someday!)

11. How cool for that construction business to let Jamie come in and do a demo/cooking class session. How's that for a little break in your work day?!

12. Alice has shown up! She cracks me up. "Have we got gloves??" No, dear girl. We have soap, and lovely "pahsta."

13. "People see how excited he is, and how easy it is to cook." It seriously is easy. That's not the point, though - so many of my friends don't cook because they. don't. want. to. Simple as that. They'd rather be doing other things. So the trick is to come up with cuisine that gets them in and out of the kitchen as quick as possible...without raiding the pantry for a boxed something or other.

14. Now it's time to show DJ Rod WHY Jamie is here. It's not to pick on your nice people...it's to HELP them. We're in a mortuary. Looking at caskets. There's a normal one...and then one that could fit my entire family. It's built for one very. large. person. You could do cremation...but the person will not cremate properly with all that lipid build up. If the person must be buried, they must purchase two burial plots.

15. "It aint about cookin' lettuce. The Food Revolution is about saving lives." ~ Jamie. Amen.

16. Rod is meeting Jamie's friends. The big ones. That room...is sobering. There is an issue, for sure, in America. Rod, wake up. Don't fight this. Seriously. To anyone who thinks the annoying little English man should go home...WAKE UP. There's an issue.

17. Rod's had a change of heart. Whether his animosity was a publicity stunt or not, I think it depicts the struggle that many people would have when Jamie first arrived.

18. A nice little plug for frozen veg...and for Green Giant in particular. (I have no problem with this! SOMEONE has to have been paying for all the things this show has consumed in the past two months - ingredients, kitchen space, etc.) (Frozen veg are, theoretically, picked at the peak of fresh, and then frozen within hours. Therefore, they're usually "closer to the vine" than fresh produce that has been trucked across the state (or the world!) before it ends up in your supermarket.

19. That board, with its 950 people on it, is really really impressive! Such a lot of smiling, happy faces.

20. The governor is insisting that the progress that has happened already will not be undone. Not sure how he'll do it...but it's his intention, anyhow.

21. "Sprinkle it from on high, guys. Give it some style!" Good advice.

A really great episode. Food is...essential. Food is life. Food does not have to be an unhealthy obsession. I firmly believe tha tonce we give our bidies what they crave and what they need.....other things sort of work themselves out. Did you see how much oil Jamie was putting in that wok?! Over a tablespoon. Fat. is. OK. Cutting out fat from your diet won't save you. Cutting out sugar won't save you. Cutting out fried things? Now, THAT has real possibilities....

What do y'all think?

Episode 4 can be found here.

My take on Episode 1 can be found here.
My take on Episode 2 can be found here.
My take on Episode 3 can be found here.

Something to think about

2010-04-13T22:39:00.000-04:00

I've tried the HK rice burger. It was called "Fahn-tastic", because "fahn" means rice. Naaaaasty! Nice concept - gluten free and all that, but the rice bun was just tasteless. Kind of like...bad burger sushi?

In defense of fast food...it employs a lot of people who wouldn't otherwise have a readily available source of employment. Again, just something to think about. It needs fixing...but I think it's WORTH fixing.

I'm not anti-fast food...not yet. We don't go often anymore...not since my husband watched Food, Inc. last December, but....I don't know. I'm still trying to process all of this new information. Can someone tell me how to duplicate the McD's burger TASTE at home? 'cause I'll miss that.

Via: Online Schools

Dear Jamie Oliver: For A Successful Food Revolution, You MUST…

2010-04-13T09:01:00.000-04:00

Dear Jamie Oliver: For A Successful Food Revolution, You MUST…

A great blog post, from a Seattle mama, on Jamie's Food Revolution.

Can Organic Veggies Transform Education? - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com

2010-04-13T08:47:00.000-04:00

Can Organic Veggies Transform Education? - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com

Evidence that Jamie's revolution did work on his home turf. "Authorized absences" fell by 15% after he helped remove 'turkey twizzlers' and chicken dinosaurs from the daily menu. Huzzah!

Jamie Oliver wasn`t planning on having fourth baby - Monsters and Critics

2010-04-13T08:46:00.000-04:00

Jamie Oliver wasn`t planning on having fourth baby - Monsters and Critics

Nothing really Uprising-worthy here...but wanted to share the good news that Mr. Oliver is expecting his fourth child in September. Congratulations, Jamie and Jools!

Alle-Kiski Valley schools disagree with what Jamie Oliver is saying - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

2010-04-13T08:42:00.000-04:00

Alle-Kiski Valley schools disagree with what Jamie Oliver is saying - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

This is the article I've been waiting for. Other school districts across the country are getting a bit...steamed up over Jamie's depiction of public school lunches. Where he depicts french fries and pizza on a daily basis, other schools have been serving baked fries and using part-skim mozarella on their pizzas for at least 4 years.

Of course, maybe that's the point - if Huntington, W. Va. had already implemented these changes, maybe they wouldn't be the most obese city in our country. They serve as a warning...and a wake up call. As this article points out, eating better can mean more expense (unless, of course, you can grow it yourself!!!) and parents must be on board for that to be able to happen.

Kerry Trueman: Let's Ask Marion Nestle: Can Jamie Oliver Declare Victory?

2010-04-13T08:35:00.000-04:00

Kerry Trueman: Let's Ask Marion Nestle: Can Jamie Oliver Declare Victory?

An interesting take on how effective Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show is. I don't think anybody is banking on him completely revitalizing the way the town eats...but I think we can all agree that when he leaves Huntington, W. Va., there will be a few people who eat more veggies than chicken nuggets on any given day.

Trailer for Food, Inc.

2010-04-12T21:33:00.000-04:00

Here you go! Coming soon to a TV near you. April 21, I believe. Check your local listings. I think this will be on your local PBS channel.

For more ways to get involved, head to www.takepart.com/foodinc.

Sustainable Shindig: Host A Food, Inc. Potluck | TakePart Social Action Network: Important Issues, Activism, Environmental, Human Rights, Political News

2010-04-12T21:26:00.001-04:00

ETA - Sorry. The movie isn't new, per-say, but it is new to TV!
Sustainable Shindig: Host A Food, Inc. Potluck | TakePart Social Action Network: Important Issues, Activism, Environmental, Human Rights, Political News

Hello, awesome! (Hat tip to Sally for sharing this on FB!) The Food, Inc. movie will be premiering on Wednesday, April 21, and will be streaming online a week after that. Will you be hosting a Food, Inc. potluck to celebrate? (Details are on their page.) Note - you might want to eat before you watch this movie. Just sayin'.....

An Easy Way to Buy Sustainable Seafood - Diner's Journal Blog - NYTimes.com

2010-04-12T15:00:00.000-04:00

An Easy Way to Buy Sustainable Seafood - Diner's Journal Blog - NYTimes.com

If you could buy seafood from a company that only sold sustainable seafood...would you do it? The prices are apparently pretty competitive, but the shipping is what would get you - this reviewer spent $50 on some fish, and spent almost that much to get it shipped to him in NYC (wrapped, of course, in layers of styrofoam and cool gel packs). (The company's physical local is California.) Discuss!

Coming up with a Menu

2010-04-12T08:52:00.000-04:00

I've been researching CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) of all sorts. I knew there were CSAs for general produce, but did you know that there are now shares of flowers, herbs, eggs, seafood and even meat?! Living here in Connecticut, we've been really spoiled. Stew Leonard's has a location near to us, and we've been buying nearly all of our meat, and most of our produce, there. (Click over if you've never heard of Stew's. They are the World's Largest Dairy Store. They process their own dairy, from their own cows, in their flagship store in Norwalk, Ct. They butcher their meat from animals they raise themselves. Oh, and they have singing animatronics scattered throughout the store, so that's cool too. Heh.)

After looking at the CSAs, I talked with my husband...and he expressed a (very valid!) concern that I would not use all of the produce that the Fruit Fairy would bring me. Umm...ouch. (I have a history of reaching for the baked goods when I'm hungry, instead of the fruit, so the fruit gets thrown out after a few weeks...but the baked goods, somehow, never even get stale. *ahem*.)

To try to gear up to a more veggie-centric mindset, I sat down with him last night and tried to come up with meals for the rest of the week.

Here's what we have to work with:

2 heads of romaine lettuce

1 pound of green beans

4 russet potatoes

4 pounds of red potatoes

2 pounds of carrots

2 small crowns of broccoli

5 pounds of strawberries

4 pounds of oranges

Oh, and a batch of gorgonzola dressing from Sunday night that is WAY bigger than I expected it to be. Anyone local need some dressing? It only lasts for three days! Oy. What am I going to do with three cups of dressing?!

Her's what we came up with!

Monday: Cheese and Broccoli soup, with french bread (today is baking day!) and a green salad with homemade gorgonzola dressing.

Tuesday: Half a roast chicken (I found a half chicken in the freezer. Weird.) with roast red potatoes and steamed green beans.

Wednesday: Twice baked potatoes with gorgonzola dressing. (This might just be mashed potatoes instead, since the dressing is mostly sour cream and milk, with a little mayo.) Probably a salad this night, too. (This could also become gnocchi with a creamy gorgonzola sauce. Heh.)

Thursday: Carrot, sugar cane soup, with pork chops, spicy green beans and rice.

Friday: Costco night! We usually eat pizza before buying our big stuff for the week. I'm out of yeast (*gasp*) so I'm going to be really upset if I forget to buy that this week!

Saturday: Maybe I can convince Lo Gung to cook this night? (Honey? *batting eyelashes*)

Sunday: Usually MEAT, of some sort. Tuesday of this week marks 7 weeks until we move, so I've got to start getting through the stuff in the freezer! We've planned on not buying any meat between now and June. We've got enough packed away where this shouldn't be a big deal.

The oranges and strawberries will be snacks throughout the week. (My kids, unlike me, are GREAT about eating fruit.)

So...what are you eating this week?

Make Jamie Oliver's stir-fry recipe from last night's 'Food Revolution'

2010-04-11T20:30:00.000-04:00

Make Jamie Oliver's stir-fry recipe from last night's 'Food Revolution'

Would you like to make the stir-fry from the most recent episode of Food Revolution? Click on the link, and try it out!

Childhood obesity summit: Food industry vows to make processed food healthier – Can we trust them?

2010-04-10T20:34:00.000-04:00

Childhood obesity summit: Food industry vows to make processed food healthier – Can we trust them?

Companies are starting to respond to the Food Revolution...but when they take out the fat, will they replace it with salt and sugar? Read this article, and come back and discuss!

What is a Suburban Housewife Uprising?

2010-04-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

This blog is inspired by the Food Revolution happening right now, but it goes so much further than that. Every generation is shaped by what is going on around them in the world. Previous generations of housewives have grown their own wheat, or taught their daughters to fight for the right to vote, or gone outside the home and entered the workforce, or replaced tired old recipes with new and exciting flavors found in mixes and boxes...or become housewives now, when Green is the new Black, and Eco Chic is the new Economical and Cheap. We are Suburban Housewives, and we are changing the rules. You might say we're even having an Uprising.

What is a Suburban Housewife Uprising?

Well, I can tell you what it's not. It's not judgmental. It doesn't convince. It doesn't cajole, nag or bring you down. It doesn't preach. It doesn't confine itself to one religion, ethnicity, area or social group.

What does that leave us with? I want to create a space where we can share our ideas, our experiences and our thoughts. Are you a mama that feeds their children nothing but homegrown vegetables and eggs from your back garden? Come on in! Do you just do your best to make cookies with real butter instead of buying Chips Ahoy? Awesome. And bring some with you. Do you make your own clothes? Sew your own table linens? Know how to tie a bow onto your daughter's hair? Come on in! You're all welcome. Just bring whatever you've got, and let's chat.

This will be a space to share links, ideas, passing niggling questions and other such thoughts as might help us to live up to our vital role as housewives. We keep the hearth warm. We feed the tiny bellies and mold the growing minds. We are homemakers - those mythical creatures who turn four walls and a roof into the place our children, once grown into adults, will dream about and try to emulate.

The Suburban Housewife Uprising is about us, as women, embracing that role. Never being ashamed of it. Stretching our wings and finding out where our creativity will take us. I was in my 20's before I realized I was creative. I wasn't creative like my friends were - I couldn't draw, or paint, or sculp Fimo dough into tiny, intricate shapes. I could sing, but I couldn't create the melodies. I could play piano, but couldn't perform anything that was truly great.

After I became a housewife, and was subsequently fired from my (extremely non-creative) filing job, I decided (with my husband) that it was time to finally be what I had always wanted to be when I grew up - a mother. I wanted to stay home, and play house. Shortly after I was married, my parents found a (relatively inexpensive) sewing machine for me, and made it my birthday present. To christen it, I went to a Black Friday sale and bought more yards of Snuggly Flannel than I had any right to. I had sewn when I was a child, but the experiences were never great. I could sew with some level of ability, but I never enjoyed the things I made. That all changed with that 16 yards of flannel.

My husband has been able to let me stay home and raise our children, and it has been wonderful. I know not every woman can stay with her children 24/7. Circumstances might dictate otherwise. However, I would suggest that every mother has a duty to raise her children as best as she can. We use our instincts to raise our children. Nobody can do it better than we can. Nobody knows them better than we do.

So, our creed is this - armed with our creativity and our instincts and our knowledge and our experience, we will raise our children to the best of our ability. We will beautify our homes, care for ourselves, and feed and clothe our families as best as we know how. We will use the knowledge we gather, and we will decide what is best for us.

So, just one question remains - Are you in?