Parental Note

Accounting for my absence

Dear Readers:

Please accept this note as an excused absence for Adaptive Mama.  She had very important appointments each afternoon and was unable to blog.  She will make up as much work as possible as quickly as she can.

Thanks,

Becky

I would like to apologize to all of you for disappearing the last few weeks.  I had a family issue that needed very intense focus from me.  Even though the situation is not completely resolved, I felt the need to “get it back together” and once again start making some progress on my personal goals that I have been sharing here.

I also did not feel that it would be fair to all involved in our family issue to air it so publicly.  I know, me, holding back and being reserved.  Who knew?  Besides, what adult want to look on the internet in 10 years and go, "oh, look...my mom told my business all over cyber space?"

I appreciate all of the comments from everyone, especially those that have missed my ramblings.  Hopefully, I will get back into the blogging groove and be able to post a few times a week.  Please be patient with me as we continue to work through this issue.  I also appreciate all prayers.

This is a pivotal time for our family.  Scott and I are tasked as parents with making decisions that are best for all of us, collectively.  And the very best decision at this time is not affordable and just doesn’t work logistically for us as a family. 

We will continue to pray on the best course of action.  And of course, continue to weave, bob, duck and adapt.  Cause that's what we do.

Sneaky? Who, me???

I spent Sunday afternoon baking the last of the “Miss Betty” oatmeal raisin cookies for Scott and making a great big pot of chili.  I also made pepperoni hot pockets.  Whew.  I was tired.

Everybody has their favorite chili recipe.  But me…I just go the Granny Fussell route and start throwing stuff in the pot.  It eventually becomes chili.  But this time I had a “secret” ingredient.

I have been concerned that the girls aren’t getting enough true vegetables.  A coworker, whom I can’t name cause she said so, told me about a little trick of adding pureed cauliflower to mashed potatoes and other side dishes.  As I looked over a few different chili recipes, one vegetarian that I would even eat, it hit me.  If you can hide cauliflower to mashed potatoes, certainly you it can hide out in chili.

I gathered up all my chili fixin’s and got to work.  Chopped an onion and sautéed it in some olive oil.  Then, added ground beef.  Sometimes I use ground turkey, deer or pork, just whatever.  After adding the ground beef, I steamed the cauliflower in the microwave until fork tender.

I then broke out with my trusty mini chopper and chopped the cauliflower up very fine.  But not pureed. And added it to the pot along with the rest of my chili stuff.  After it had simmered about an hour, I had to test it out.  Absolutely no hint of cauliflower.

But the real test was AnnaBelle who not only is a chili connoisseur, but also likes cauliflower.  She had no clue and declared it to be excellent chili.  So I let her in on the secret.  She asked for some more. 

But could I get it by Carlee?  I wasn’t sure.

So tonight, Maddie, AnnaBelle and I had chili with cheese and sour cream.  Carlee had tortilla chips with a few spoonfuls of chili and cheese.  Would she eat it?  Could she tell?  The suspense was killing me.

Two platefuls of nachos later, she had no clue.  I had successfully managed to get Mitchell County’s pickiest eater to ingest a vegetable.  Cauliflower at that.  And she still doesn’t know.

This went over so well, that I will try this with spaghetti next week.  There are so many things that cauliflower can hide in.  Manwich meat, white chicken chili, chicken enchiladas.  The possibilities are endless.  So if you are struggling to get your family to eat more vegetables, get sneaky.  Slip in some cauliflower.  I promise I’ll never tell!

Saved by Cooking Ahead

A few weeks back several coworkers and I purchased chicken from local distributor, H&L from Pelham.  We do this occasionally and I bought my usual, a 10 pound bag of chicken tenders.  This is great quality chicken and the tenders are easier for me to handle/cut up due to my "issues" with my right hand.

I brought the chicken home from work on my lunch hour and divied it up into several bags for the freezer, mixed up the previous crock pot teriyaki chicken and I boiled about 2lbs.  I seasoned the chicken with a little garlic salt, black pepper and dehydrated onions.

After the chicken cooled, I shredded it with forks and put in a freezer bag.  I also froze the chicken broth because it will soon be potato soup weather.  (Hint to the coworkers.)  The broth is seasoned lightly and lower in sodium than store bought.

When I ask the girls what would you like to choose to go on our dinner calendar, I get the same three answers.  Maddie wants chicken enchiladas, Carlee wants chicken broccoli casserole and AnnaBelle wants homemade Mexican.  So we go through a lot of chicken.

At Carlee's request, Tuesday night was chicken broccoli casserole.  The last few weeks have been long ones.  Work, homework, cross country and football have about tuckered me out. The thought of having to completely pull together a meal taxed my frazzled brain even more.

Lucky for me, I had cooked ahead!  I took the  frozen chicken and one 4 cup container of broth out of the freezer Tuesday morning.  It defrosted during the day.  It was so nice to come home to ingredients, ready to go.  No cooking chicken and no chopping!!

I threw the casserole together after we came in from cross country practice.  It takes about 10 minutes to mix together and about 30ish to cook.  I made a very large dish, 11 X 17ish, because the girls like to take leftovers for lunch.  While it cooked, Carlee studied.

Ingredients:
3 to 4 cups shredded chicken
4 cups chicken broth
1 large bag broccoli florets
cheddar jack cheese (1 cup)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
ritz crackers
margarine
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Place cooked/shredded chicken in large glass baking dish.
2. Microwave broccoli for 6-8 minutes and cover chicken.
3. While the broccoli cooks, whisk together chicken broth, soup, sour cream and mayo.
4. Evenly spread broccoli over the chicken.
5. Add the cheese and spread over broccoli. (use more or less)
6. Pour soup mixture over evenly over the dish.
7. Top with crumbled crackers and pat with margarine.
8. Cook for 25-30 minutes until topping is brown.

The liquid ingredients are a guesstimate.  If you don't think you have enough liquid to cover you dish, use additional broth, sour cream or mayonnaise.

Serve over rice.  For school lunch leftovers, I place rice in the bottom of a small container then add the casserole.  This is a major hit with Carlee, the picky eater.  If we have any extra leftovers are saved for a few nights later. 

Bonus:  These leftovers are also great to freeze in a small container for Scott.  He can defrost and reheat on the road in the big truck.  He so rarely gets a home cooked meal and enjoys his from home frozen dinners!

Things to come....

I am trying to add some pages and work on sprucing up my blog so that I can add some family recipes, calendars and pdf's in the future.  Please bear with me as I try several things.  I am html illiterate and really need to find a high school computer guru to help me.

So if any of you computer geniuses want to help out, give an old lady a holler!  And I'm open to suggestions!!

I will leak one small detail...I'm working on putting together about 20 of my Granny Fussell's recipes.  Granny was an amazing cook.  My mama really got it honest!

Primal Scream….Cleaning and Organizing

It just doesn’t feel like I’m making any progress…I have been steadily working on the kitchen, mainly because it is my favorite place.  Y’all ever met a fat girl that wasn’t happy in the kitchen??  Alrighty then.  Plus my kids really like to eat.  Sometimes I swear I’m feeding three teenage boys.  Their older brother liked to eat but these “growing” girls almost put him to shame!

So far I have cleaned out my bottom cabinets.  I have a whole bin of mismatched bowls and lids.  I am trying to reduce these.  If they have stains or look a bit used, in the garbage they go!  I rearranged the bottom three cabinets but would like to add some pull drawers or wire pull out baskets to help with organizing as well as my “cripple-itis”.  I looked at some from Lowes…they would make me a great birthday present later this month.  Hint Hint, honey!!

The orphaned lonely bowls and lids.

I still have one corner of my cabinets that I just can’t seem to get “cleaned off”.  This is where my crock pot also resides.  I’m hoping to make some more kitchen progress this week.  My goals are:

1.       Get that corner cleaned out…finally!!

2.       Start on upper cabinets.  This will take longer, there are more of them.

3.      Get a new red dish drain.  My old one will be re-purposed to the camper.  I like red and   just want a pretty new one.

4.       Clean out the refrigerator, a fate worse than I’m not really sure

5.       Tackle the pantry. Not going to happen this week.  But it makes the list!!

The Rest of the House

This is where things get a little bit tricky.  See, I’ve asked my darling daughters to assist with chores for the past two weeks.  Apparently, they only hear VERY LOUD YELLING.  And do not understand the relationship between working, not working and hunger.  So I am making them a chore list.  It MUST be completed by Saturday noon.  If not, two things will happen.

Consequence numero uno: Not football game for them Saturday night.

Consequence numero dos: a reduction of my dollars contributed to their college savings. Say what?  Oh, I’m a mean, mean momma.  Puhlease.  They can either help in this house or I will reduce what I sacrifice for college savings and pay someone to help me keep the house clean.

The principal is work now or work later when your friends are playing.  Pick one.  I don’t care.  Just sweep, mop and clean your own toilet. Load and unload the dishwasher.  Simple stuff.  That’s a mighty fine deal.  Once I wish someone had made me.

Personally, I feel that I’ll be calling someone very shortly to help with some cleaning.  But at least I’m willing to give the little angels a chance!

 

In all of this cleaning, I found my wedding silverware.  We have never used it.  Since most of my forks have vanished, I decided it was about time to use the good stuff.  What have I been saving it for? IF RAD has a positive point, I’ve learned to not put off some things, like using the good forks, knives and spoons.  Becky

 

 

Homemade Hot Pockets

Sorry this is such a short post.  It has been one of those extremely busy and exhausting weeks.  We started the week Tuesday with a cross country meet and haven't slowed down yet.  Between very busy days at work and tons of homework, there hasn't been any extra time for writing.  And I can tell because my stress level is through the roof!!

I will try very diligently to get back on track this weekend. My joints are achy and I realize this is a sign that my body needs rest.  So no football for me Friday night. sniff sniff  But I will be back in action for the next game.  Go Get 'em Cats!!

Hot Pocket Experiment

I finally found something Carlee would eat.  A miracle, right?  She loves the pizza pepperoni  hot pockets.  Even though these aren’t terribly expensive, I wondered could I make them at home cheaper than the $11.97 for a box of 10 at Harvey’s?

So off to the grocery store on Labor day to purchase ingredients:

Pepperoni $0.99                                        on sale for a 3 oz package (bought two and put in freezer!)

Grands Butter Biscuits $1.66                   also on sale (only made 3, used rest for breakfast!)

Hunts Spaghetti Sauce $.25                    (freeze leftovers, only used ¼)

1 cup shredded mozzarella  $1.22         (on hand from previous purchase)

Total:  $4.12        Cost per serving:  $0.515  vs Purchased:  $1.28 per serving

                            
I decided to “experiment” with smaller biscuits first.  When did they get so small?  The girls ate all of them, but the dough would not roll out large enough to put a “serving” of filling in.

For the larger grand biscuits, I rolled them out with a dough roller, smeared sauce on one side, placed about 5/6 pepperonis and covered with cheese.  I then folded over the dough and crimped the edges with a fork.  I lightly spread butter over the top and placed in a 350 degree oven for about 12/15 minutes.

After baking, I let them cool and then placed the entire baking sheet in the freezer.  After freezing, I put in zip loc bags for the lunch box. 

The Good News

All three lunch boxes came home empty.  Carlee and AnnaBelle both said that they would take them again.  These were quick and easy.  So we may try these again for Monday lunch boxes since I can make them and freeze on Sunday afternoon.

Menu Update Teriyaki chicken

Menu Update

I’m really trying hard to stick to our menu plan, which also helps with shopping.  We’ve had some activities and a lot of tests this week, so it has been hard. Scott was able to eat dinner with us Wednesday night, so I fixed one of his favorite meals, mini hamburger steaks, garlic mashed potatoes and green beans.  Also quick and easy.

Crockpot Teriyaki chicken

Quick and easy to mix up, was able to throw together during my 30 minute lunch.  I just somehow messed up thickening the sauce.  I served with white rice and steamed broccoli.  As usual, Maddie and AnnaBelle liked it.  Carlee at a few bites of chicken, rice and a few broccoli florets.  . 

Ingredients

2 lbs Chicken tenders
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup low sodium soy sauce
6 to 7 tsp of vinegar
Minced garlic
Minced ginger
A pinch of black pepper
2 cups of white rice
1 bag of broccoli florets (from Harveys)

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cooked on low for 5 hours.  Remove chicken from liquid.  Pour liquid in a nonstick pan and thicken with mixture of 4 ½ teaspoons of cornstarch mixed in 4 ½ teaspoons of cold water.   This is the step I messed up. 

Place cooked chicken back in crockpot and cover with teriyaki sauce.  I nuked broccoli and placed on top of chicken.  Served over rice.  I was the only left over taker.  It reheated really well and I will have for lunch again Friday.


Crockpot Teriyaki chicken...found on pinterest

Mini Hamburger Steaks plus Leftovers
Scott’s loads were a little off this week due to the hurricane.  He was able to come through town and have dinner with us.  It was a treat to have dinner together as family, very rare for us during the week.  

I made one of his favorite meals, but it required going to the grocery store to pick up fresh ground chuck and some fresh square dinner rolls. This was simply easier on me, as trying to thaw out frozen meat would take too long.  I already had the other ingredients/staples on hand.  I also made a boat load of the mini hamburger steaks intentionally for leftovers.

Ingredients

3lbs ground chuck plus seasonings
Instant Garlic mashed potatoes (boxtop!)
Large can of green beans

I never make these the same and season the ground chuck with whatever I have on hand, garlic salt, black pepper, seasoned bread crumbs, etc.  I make the steaks about the size of my palm and cook in an iron skillet.  Sometimes we make onion gravy, but this time I didn’t. 

Dessert
Oatmeal Raisin cookies (for Scott made from Miss Betty’s cookie dough sale)
Peanut butter cookies
 

Leftovers were great.  All three girls took two hamburger steak sliders to school for lunch.  I even had them for dinner Thursday night.  We have a few left but I’m sure Scott will finish them off when he gets in Friday afternoon.  He loves a cheeseburger!!  The sliders were a very easy leftover for a school lunch for me to fix!!

Trying something new

Breakfast in the crockpot?  Trying a recipe I found on pinterest…cinnamon biscuits.  They were easy to throw together.  I will share with you how they turn out later.  If they are really good, maybe this will be something easy for Friday morning prayer breakfast!

Grape Ape: Part II Adapting to RAD Disease

My life must now adapt to this disease and its limitations.  Scott and I have to make “new” retirement plans. Our original plans were to sell out, buy a piece of property in Kentucky with a meter pole, well and septic tank and spend a few years full timing in a very large RV. Mosey through the west up to Alaska, work and ride a while.  Eventually settling back to Kentucky…the crossroad state of RVn nirvana, basically 8 to 10 hours from anywhere!  I want to see my flyover states…the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, ride route 66, and visit Oklahoma one more time.

Maybe not.  Alaska is too cold for me.  Probably not even Kentucky. Did I mention, I’m not that crazy about Florida or Arizona, even though both states have great weather for RAD patients? And forget riding.  I can barely ride to Macon and back without stoving up for days.  So we “adapt” our retirement plans…I just don’t know to what yet.  And I keep hoping for some new miracle drug.

Treatment (Just call me Dr. Thorpe)

Hmmmm.  This one gets me in a lot of trouble.  I am currently self-treating.  Prednisone as needed along with some Aleve.  I stopped the methotrexate injections to have a surgical procedure in April.  I started the injections back up in June only to have “side effects” return.  So, I am currently seeking ALL new doctors. It is my treatment plan and I can fire my RAD and gyn doctors if needed.  (Note: Methotrexate also thins the blood…no slicing and dicing when injecting.)

Yes, I need to get back into treatment.  I am well aware of how the disease is beginning to affect additional joints that were just fine six months ago.  Bear with me; it is difficult to return to a life of nausea, tiredness and hair falling out. 

Disease Progression

Is it worse? Probably.  I’ve developed sjogren’s syndrome, a kissing cousin to RAD.  The dry mouth has gotten really bad the last few weeks.  I long for a real crushed ice machine.  I keep water or tea with ice to drink all the time, especially at night.  Cotton mouth is yuck!

My joints burn similar to the sensation of having a foot asleep.  You know when it starts waking up and your nerves tingle and burn at the same time?  Except for its bones and joints that burn.  Shoulders, elbows, knees, toes, fingers.  Are you singing knees and toes, knees and toes?  Ha!

I have a large RAD nodule on my right arm near my elbow.  And I basically can’t bend my right wrist at all.  My fingers still work.  So as long as I can type and 10-key, I guess I can still hold down a job.  I joke with co-workers about developing a num pad for my feet.  Bet that would burn some calories!

The numbers tell me that I really need to work for at least another 5 years. That is my short term goal.  Sometimes my body tells me something altogether different.  If I’m lucky maybe the two will meet in the middle.  But, I’m still hoping for some type of new treatment that leads to a true “remission”.

Future Treatment Plan

·       Find another doctor or group of doctors that treat the entire RAD, not just the symptoms.

·       Weight loss…got to get some lard off these joints

·       Exercise…it is soooo hard when I’m tired.  I’m going to start walking more as soon as it cools off.  I also need to get my treadmill repaired.  Repairman suggestions?

·       Stress…less stress.  Much less stress.  Hear that darlin’ daughters? LESS STRESS.

·       More Rest. 

 

I have finally admitted that RAD affects everything that I do. Umm EVERYTHING.  I can brush my teeth with my left hand, brush my hair with my left hand and even have keyed financials with my left hand.  Now that’s adapting. 

It’s the Orange toes Football Mamas!!

Blog break for Football

My apologies for lack of posting, I will have a new post up later today if the schedule thingy works right…I will go home today at lunch to check it.

Everybody knows just how much I love me some car racing.  And probably always will.  To the point that if Tony Stewart called up and said I need the meanest accountant to ever work in motorsports, I’d haul tail strait to Charlotte.  No questions asked. 

My next love is Football.  And then God gave me three daughters.  I have no sons on the sidelines.  So I cheer like they are all mine!

I attended the first home game of the 2012 Westwood Wildcats football season Friday night.  And I have you know, I went very prepared:  Air horn, cowbell, pom poms and freshly painted Orange toes.  My horn ran out of air by the 3^rd quarter.  Guess they aren’t made to last!!  Punted to the brand new bell (Thanks Twitty Feed n Seed).  And did a lot of yelling.

The Spirited Orange Toes

Fortunately for my health, the Cats had their claws out from the get go.  Only one mild cardiac moment in the 2^nd quarter, the the Cougars scoring very quickly, twice. However, turned around the momentum of the game capitalizing on their opponents dropped punt with a touchdown.  We started the 2nd half receiving and marched right on down the field to score, chewing up nearly 8 minutes off the clock. That pretty much locked the W down.

I had not gotten my hopes up.  Being nerdy, I had done my homework and knew the opposition would be stout and could back up their 26 n 0 record.  I went to the game expecting a slug fest.  By no means am I saying it wasn’t a hard fought game, just that our Cats appeared better prepared and better conditioned.  Way to go boys and Coaches!

The O-line was stout and our running game was on the money.  The defense stopped Piedmont’s running game with some key tackles. It was awesome to see so many of the 9th and 10th graders making plays.  We have a lot of young talent out there.   Overall, I think it was a great game. 

So, I am optimistically excited about the Stratford game.  It may prove to be that cardiac event I have been dreading.  Again, I will be prepared…TWO air horns, my bell, my pom poms, baby aspirin and these bright Orange toes.  Go Cats!!

Menu Update: Crock Pot Lasagne

Again, I had my doubts that this would actually work.  Lasagna is normally one of those more labor than it’s worth to make at home.  But since the ingredient list was short and it was going to “cook” itself, I thought why not give it a try.

It worked!!  Again, my crockpot impressed me.  I cooked my sauce the night before and put in the fridge overnight.  I assembled everything in the crockpot Monday morning about 6ish a.m.  It took about oh, ten minutes, max.

Ingredients

Sauce:  two cans of sauce with browned turkey/ground beef
16 oz. Ricotta cheese
1 egg
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
Lasagna noodles

I mixed the egg, ricotta cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, and then began layering.

 

·         First layer: sauce to cover the bottom of the crockpot, about 1 ½ cups.

·         Second layer: Noodles…I broke them to fit and overlapped in some areas…could have added more noodles in hindsight.  So double up if you want…they will cook.

·         Third layer: cheese to cover noodles, spreading evenly.  If you have a cheesy family add, some more mozzarella on top of the cheese mixture.

·         Repeat two more times.

Turned Crockpot on low and left it to cook.  It cooked on low from 6:30 to 12:30, about six hours.  I went home at lunch and turned it off.  It was still warm when I got home from work but I turned the crockpot back on and let it warm.  I am buying myself a programmable crock pot for my birthday so I can program the start time…less running home at lunch.

Reviews

Maddie and AnnaBelle thought it was great and took leftovers to school for lunch.  As usual fickle Carlee wouldn’t touch it. But she will eat spaghetti by the boat load.  Go figure.  I had planned to serve with steamed broccoli.  We didn’t get that far.  If you want to hide a vegetable, you could add some chopped spinach to the sauce.

We will make this one again!

The Great Grape Ape: Part One

I have rheumatoid autoimmune disease which is my 1000lb gorilla in my and my family’s life.  I sort of like to think of it as this bright purple ape mocking me, you know like Grape Ape.  And if you know grape ape then you are older, like me.

I was diagnosed about 20 months ago after what I thought was the beginning of a stroke or a heart attack.  While sitting in the gym watching JV basketball with Maddie, my right arm starting tingling and felt numb.  Pain radiated down my arm.  So I left the gym, went home and took an aspirin.  The pain seemed to lesson, so I returned to the basketball games.

I went to Dr. Patel and she diagnosed rheumatic fever and drew a few pints of blood, testing for all kinds of autoimmune diseases and cancers.  The results were mixed so she sent me for an echo cardiogram.  Believe it or not, I have a heart.  And it was just fine.

Two weeks later in Tifton at a Jr Pro basketball game, the same thing happened to my left side.  I decided maybe I should go back to the doctor since the pain was now in both arms and my shoulders, and my elbows and hands felt like they were on fire.

More blood work later, my Rh positive factor was through the roof and Dr. Patel referred me to a Rheumatologist.  I had two options, the doctor in Thomasville with a 6 month waiting list or use a not on my insurance doctor and wait 3 to 4 months.  By the time my appointment rolled around in April, I had been in pain for nearly four months. My ankles and toes were extremely swollen and I had basically lost the movement in my right wrist.  Dr. Patel had prescribed prednisone and Aleve. 

Xrays and blood work, and the RAD doctor confirmed the disease, again.  She started me on methotrexate pills, folic acid, more prednisone and Pepcid.  Those pills are strait from satan. I later found out that methotrexate is used to treat and shrink tumors and is chemo in a pill.  After two months of nausea, my doctor swapped me to injections.  Only one problem, my right wrist still won’t bend.  So my mom gives me my shots…when I take them.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001467/

My RAD responded to the treatment, but I still had to take my “chemo” cocktail before “shooting up” on Saturday night…one zophran, two Pepcid, two folic acid and two ibuprofen.  And then I would attempt to sleep through the nausea.  In addition to the worse than being pregnant nausea, I had female related side effects.  Read your drug labels folks.  You’ll be amazed at the side effects of some drugs.

The RAD took several months of my life.  I was so tired and in so much pain that I don’t really remember much other than working and going to bed.  I spent hours wrapped up in heating pads.  Maddie even helped me dress most mornings and AnnaBelle would brush my hair.  I guess I have gotten use to the pain.   I still hurt, but just grit my teeth and go on.

I still get angry at times about my diagnosis…mostly at myself.  I should have taken better care of myself…even if that meant some very drastic decisions.  I use to hope for remission.  Now I realize that remission is total BS.  There are times of flares and extreme pain and at best just times of pain.  There is no remission.

So what to do? I hope the next 12 to 24  months will be a time of adapting to this disease.  I want to get the most out of the "good" years of mobility that I have left and spend as much time doing fun stuff with Scott and the girls.  I will address more about my future with RAD in part two.

Menu Update

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes

Stop whatever you are doing…read this.  I don’t remember the web site where I found the crock pot baked potatoes.  I'll even confess, I thought more like crack pot, that won’t ever work.  Color me wrong.  The potatoes were great, done all the way through and very soft unlike microwave baked potatoes, that can have hard dry spots.  And the kitchen was hot as hades while waiting on the potatoes to bake in the oven.  We will definitely have these again.

Ingredients
6 medium size baked potatoes
El cheapo aluminum foil
Crock pot
2 tablespoons water

I went home at lunch and washed the potatoes and wrapped each one in foil. I put about two tablespoons of water in the bottom of the crock pot.  Four potatoes across the bottom, two across the top.  Covered with a lid.  For some reason, my Aunt in Florida always puts a clean dish towels over the crock pot lid.  I guess to hold the heat in.  Turned it up on high and went back to work. 

AnnaBelle and I came home around 5 p.m. I figured well, if the potatoes aren’t done we can finish them off in the microwave.  I took a knife to check for doneness.  To my surprise the knife went all the way through two potatoes.  I turned them down on low until dinner time.

But were they good?  According to AnnaBelle and Maddie they were great.  The potatoes were almost steamed.  We topped the potatoes with Boston butt leftover from Sunday, steamed broccoli and shredded cheese.

House Cleaning Nightmare

News Flash:  I am not June Cleaver.  Never have professed to be.  For some reason my household never runs as smoothly as June’s.  And I can’t tell you when is the last time that the front (living areas) and back (bedrooms) were all suitably clean at the SAME TIME.

I have concluded that our house is too big.  Even with three drama queen girls.  When we first moved in I was astounded at the massive amounts of storage.  Huge closets in every bedroom…storage down the entire hall way.  I thought we would never fill it up.  Now today there is so much junk and stuff everywhere.  It is driving me nuts.

 I told Scott that I wanted to rent a U-Haul, load up everything we own, clean and scrub and move back in.  If you haven’t been fortunate enough to move recently, then you do not understand the de-cluttering that takes place when moving.  You pack up all the “important” stuff first.  By the time you’re done the dumpster is full and the throw away pile is humongous!  We moved often when living in the northern suburbs of the ATL…definitely helped keep the stuff from piling up.

Right now we have two ongoing projects.  The girls have been sorting through clothes for give away and goodwill.  I am working on the kitchen cabinets and pantry.  My goal is to have the kitchen and the closet project completed by the end of August. 

Future Projects

1.       The hall way storage…it needs cleaning, reducing and reorganizing.

2.       The game room closet…again, cleaning, reducing and ready for bathroom renovation.

3.       Attic…I don’t even know what all Scott has stuff up there…so reduce, reduce, reduce.

4.      Hardwood Floors…they definitely need a light buffing and another coat of polyurethane. You know, shiny stuff!  This is where that U Haul comes in…we will definitely have to move out some furniture!

5.   Organizing a home office space suitable for homework and for our business.

Daily Grind

Then there is just the plain old daily stuff.  Sweeping, mopping, emptying the dishwasher…Guess I will have to do a calendar for that too!

I have been assigning extra chores.  A co-worker, Jim Bob, recently suggested a chore motivation tactic he utilizes with his children.  Xtra chores are attached to wants.  He puts the chore and reward in an envelope.  When the chore is completed, the reward is earned.  I think these should be above the normal clean your room, unload the dishwasher and wash your own clothes.

I am working very hard to get the clutter back under control.  It’s like eating an elephant…one bite at a time.  Pass the tabasco.  It has taken the last two years for it to get this bad…I’m sure it will take several months to get it back the way I would like.  My goal is to have it presentable by Thanksgiving.  And ready to decorate and enjoy the holidays once again.

Menu Update

BBQ Pork Roast

Punted on Sunday, well it’s football season folks…had to get some extra practice in.  I bumped our crock pot BBQ roast up to Sunday dinner.  I let it cook overnight Saturday night.  The girls have taken lunch several days and we have enough left to use for stuffed potatoes on Wednesday.  Yeah me!

Ingredients

Pork roast
½ cup Brown sugar
1 cup Vinegar
1 cup Ketchup
Paprika, salt, pepper to taste

Put the roast in crock pot on low setting.  Mixed remaining ingredients and poured over roast.  It cooked over night for about 8 hours on low.

Penne Spinach Pasta

Last Thursday’s spinach penne pasta was a big hit with Maddie and AnnaBelle…they both requested leftovers for lunch.  As expected, Carlee wouldn’t touch it.  She has become a very picky eater.  However, I have told her “if you don’t eat what I have fixed, you eat peanut butter bread.”  And that is what she did.

It was easy to make…a requirement these days.  Not completely homemade but close enough for my crowd.

Ingredients

Whole wheat penne pasta
48 oz. pasta sauce
16 oz. ricotta cheese
1 egg
Pre-shredded Italian blend cheese
1 bag of chopped spinach (pic sweet brand)

Boiled the pasta with some olive oil and garlic salt seasoning.  When almost done, drained half the water.  Added the bag of frozen pasta in the pot with the pasta and let sit while I mixed ricotta cheese, egg and Italian blend.

Sprayed a glass 11 X 17 baking dish.  Drained pasta and spinach and poured into dish.  Spread cheese mixture over the pasta.  Covered with pasta sauce.  Topped with remaining shredded cheese.  Baked on a low temperature (about 325) for 30ish minutes or so.  Served with white wheat toasted buns.

First Day of School

Sooo excited.  Our first morning went off without a hitch (other than the missing mayo...thanks Scott!) The girls got up, dressed and we all ate breakfast together.  May not happen again for the rest of the year, but I'm gonna try to fix breakfast 3 mornings a week.

I am also getting off work at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  I am really looking forward to spending the afternoon with the girls, fixing dinner and plowing through 6th grade homework with Carlee.

The girls have "chores" to complete each evening, so maybe the house will get a little better organized.  And, cross country practice starts after school next week, so we will get much busier in the days to come.  Hoping Maddie can get in some extra roundball practice also.

Hope everyone is having a great first day! And if you don't start back until next week, enjoy your last weekend.

House Renovations Summary

Well I put the pencil to paper and made a list of the ALL the renovations that we would like to do to our house.  This is in addition to a great deal of work we did ourselves prior to moving in May 2006.  We started replacing windows over 18 months ago.  Nothing like getting a dining room window for Christmas! 

Due to my health and related bills as well as having one of our two semi-trucks dead, we haven’t had the funds to stay on pace with our planned repairs. Guess that is why you punt in football.  So here is the list of repairs…and they are in my priority order.  Of course we have a wish list of non-necessary items…you know girls can dream.

1.       Roof….we MUST get a roof ASAP.  It has some damage due to several storms and is getting worse.

2.       Windows…we don’t have that many more to go.  We started on the back side of the house and have been working our way around. We have 7 small windows and 1 large triple window left.  Plus I would like French doors in the family room on the back of the house.  That is currently a triple window that needs replacing.

3.       Deck…this is a want…I want a deck off the family room’s new-to-be French doors.  We had a deck in Jasper and I loved sitting out there while the girls played.  Of course, it was much, much cooler up there! And fall deck time was wonderful.

4.       Master bath…due to my RA and the age of the master bath, it needs refurbishing.  The original tile from 1950 is still in there.  And it has held up amazingly well.  But we need to replace plumbing fixtures and  the only way that is going to happen is to gut more than half the bath.  So…Voila…new Master Bath for me.

5.       Hall bath…also needs updating.  It was the bomb in 1950 with a separate shower and tub.  But only one sink.  And that is not enough sink space for three girls.

6.       Kitchen Fluff…the Kitchen is avocado green straight from 1974.  I’ve learned to ignore it.  I have a beige extra wide stove, off center sink and a huge pantry.  Love the wide stove and pantry.  Not so much the avocado green.  I would like to add a double oven, new counter tops, new stove and some paint.  I would love granite counter tops but my frugal side says let’s put that money into something else…like an outdoor kitchen area in the new carport.

7.       Carport…we currently park in the back of the house with no garage or carport.  I would love, love, love to have some type of covered parking.  I would like to have a bonus room/with a bath at the end of the carport for future old people space.

8.       Lastly the pool…the girls are driving us batty for a pool.  For years I have resisted.  It is a whole in the ground that you just pour money into.  But I have finally nearly caved.  It is too hot and I’m tired of hearing that there is nothing to do (clean the house maybe?)  We truly would love a pool; it would be great for my RA and it does get extremely hot down here.  But notice the pool is at the bottom of the list. 

Total Cost:  About $72,000 and that is NOT finishing a game room/old people bonus space or my beloved outdoor kitchen.  Yes…that is a lot of money.  No…I don’t have that much just lying around.  But we are saving and paying for some repairs as we go.  Truly hoping that with two semis on the road, we can get our renovations program back up and running this October with that new roof and a few more windows.

August Menu



Finally completed the menu calendar for August.  I have yet to complete all the grocery shopping for this menu, but have picked up sale items from Harvey's for several of the meals.  I will finish my shopping this weekend and hope to stay clear of stores for several weeks.  Back to school shopping has nearly killed me!

But back to the most important question of Carlee's day...What's for Dinner?  We will be trying some new meals this month.  I will post those recipes as we cook them.  Also, if you would like to request a recipe, please let me know and I will gladly post for you.  I am also trying to modify old family favorites to meet my weight watcher guidelines....so I'll happily warn you when cutting fat and sugar!

The girls have also requested that I bake more muffins and snacks.  We are going to decide this evening one breakfast and one snack item to bake.  I am looking forward to trying to bake my own granola and a lot of low fat/low sugar chocolate recipes!

Menu list for Back to School

I am a natural planner.  I like to have a Calendar and put everything on it.  I use the Calendars on my phone, the school’s google Calendars and several different ones for work.  Just love to have stuff written down.  Back to school is no exception.

So, I have started making a menu plan for the month of August.  It isn’t done yet…but when finished, I will attempt to post the calendar as well as the list of meals. The game plan is to utilize a monthly menu for ingredient shopping. Not only am I hoping to save time and trips to the grocery store, but I'm also hoping to avoid those last minute fast food runs. You know, rolling through the DQ drive thru because there is and I quote "nothing to eat in this house!"

I am trying to incorporate some precooking, the crock pot and casseroles.  I have found some great websites and am still looking for a few more kid friendly ideas of almost made from scratch meals. I am also looking for healthy ideas with fewer "processed" foods, more fruits and vegetables and even some meatless meals.

Suggestions are welcome!!

The Adaptive Mama

Welcome to my newest writing venture…The Adaptive Mama.  Why Adaptive?  Well if I’ve learned anything since giving birth to Maddie it is you better be able to adapt.  No two or three kids are the same…and my beautiful girls are the epitome of differences.

Me…Rebecca, Becky, Mama

I am married to Scott. Mama to Maddie, Carlee and AnnaBelle.  Daughter to Robert and Judy.  Co- worker, friend and sports fan…NASCAR, SEC football, NCAA women’s basketball.

 I have searched the blogosphere and could not find the right voice that addresses where my family currently is at and where we hope to be going.  The back ground of our lives is soon to be undergoing significant changes.

 The catalyst to a lot of our ongoing changes is my health, the 1000lb gorilla in the room that is always lurking, maybe not intimidating today, but there.  I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease over one year ago.  Some days are great, some are not.  Currently I’m trying to find another RA doctor while also addressing some of the wonderful treatment side effects.

 Our Family and The Thorpettes

Scott, my hubby and my best friend, I constantly tell him how lucky he is…we met working for a race team and both love football.  That is a lucky man!!

 Maddie is my sporty chic…she has about played it all (except football) and still wants the school to add volleyball.  She has been in several beauty pageants and loves to sing.  Go figure! Maddie will be in 8^th grade and has already picked out a car for her 16^th birthday.  Sadly, I think she is a sportier version of me.

Carlee, our middle daughter, is by far the prissiest thing I’ve ever seen.  She is starting Middle School this year much to my terror.  I’m just not ready for two in middle school.  This one is Scott made over…she has a lightening quick sense of humor and is genuinely kindhearted; never fear…there is a lot of English in this one.

AnnaBelle, our bonus baby, has so much personality.  She is bold and abrasive at times, but always laughing.  She was Carlee’s baby and still loves to play with baby dolls. She currently wants a bandalero race car.  You should see what she did to the fence with the golf cart. God help us all!

Mimi and Poppy, my parents, are the primary reason we relocated from the ATL to south Georgia.  We wanted the girls to grow up knowing their grandparents and cousins. Mimi doesn’t miss a game or event.  Poppy doesn’t get out too much, but he does a great job puppy sitting!

Gracie is our miniature dachshund and the best behaved of the Thorpe clan. She stays with Mimi and Poppy during the week and visits with us on the weekends.  Very. Smart. Dog.

Home Sweet Home

And lastly our home...one year after retuning down south from the ATL, we purchased a large rambling brick home on four acres.  We knew it needed extensive renovations, but loved the location and the yard. Well, nearly six years later, many of those renovations have been put on hold.  Scott and I are desperately trying to work out a plan to start turning this amazing house into the home we originally envisioned.

 What I Plan to write About

Granted this may change but I have identified several areas that I can’t find a resources in the blogosphere that address my needs:

a.        Budgeting: balance for our family expenditures that address current needs and future plans.

b.        Time Management: my work, the kid’s school work, afterschool activities, family time, church time and a clean house!!

c.        Health issues: mine as well as incorporating more healthy lifestyle with our family.

d.      Working on our house, renovations, new roof, carport, bathrooms… 

These are my personal priority areas.  I’m sure that not all members of our household agree with the order of priority….the girls badly want a pool while I’m lobbying for a new roof.  Please follow along as we negotiate through the next few months.  I’m sure it will be entertaining if nothing else!