A few weeks ago I heard something that I can't stop thinking about. It had to do with females being the weaker sex which I usually get very fired up about. I like to think that we are completely equal and can do things just as well as men. The verse in the Bible that says for wives to be submissive to their husbands gets taken out of context so often and this is what starts the fire in me. Some people think that this means women should have no voice, do whatever the male sex tells them and basically be human doormats. I tend to disagree with this.
Over the last few years we have had some role reversals in our house and it's caused a little bit of conflict. It's very hard for me to be the primary breadwinner, wife and mother. At the same time it's hard for Munchkie's Daddy to stay home, taking care of Munchkie, doing dinner and picking up some cleaning/laundry. I'm learning that maybe there is something about this difference between males and females. I don't think that it means we as females have to be damsels in distress, but we are created differently. Somewhere recently this is what someone told me, and it makes a lot of sense. They asked me what I do when I walk alone at night in a parking lot. I of course answered that I look all around me and try to be aware of my surroundings. Then they asked Munchkie's Daddy what he does when he walks alone at night in a parking lot. He answered, nothing, he just walks to his car. I found this pretty interesting. No matter how hard we try to be strong and self sufficient we are still vulnerable. The person who told us this example said that women are the weaker sex, we cannot change this, but it doesn't mean we have to be a doormat. It just means that we live our lives differently and experience situations differently.
As the vulnerable and weaker sex I realize that I really do want someone to take care of me and protect me. I guess if I was to add to the example, I would want to have my husband walk with me in the parking lot. If he walked with me, I would still look around me, but not feel my heart racing because there is someone there to protect me and fight with me. This is what it means to me to be the weaker sex. I now understand that I am not necessarily a damsel in distress by being a vulnerable female, but I am a female who doesn't like to feel the pressure of holding the family together on my shoulders.
Yes, I can be the breadwinner, wife and mother, but I will still check behind me in a parking lot. It doesn't make me a weak person, it just makes me a female.
Mama, wife, nurse, trying to be the breadwinner and the bread maker. Working full time to hold it all together.
Monday
Thursday
Friends are friends forever.......
I haven't been able to do much except work, sleep, repeat the last several days. Ugh! However, it was for a great cause! MY FRIENDS ARE COMING! I get so excited when people come to visit, and these friends are forever friends. Munty and I jokingly called each other husband and wife while in nursing school because we spent more time with each other than anybody else, including our boyfriends. I am so excited to pick them up from the airport that I am not even tired and really need to get at least a couple hours of sleep after working last night. Here are a few pictures from my past that I went looking for this morning and they bring up all kinds of memories! I can't wait for a great weekend followed by a week of vacation from work!
 | ||||||||
This is Munty and I freshman year of college headed to our very first nursing clinical.
Munty and I at our nursing "capping." Yes we had to wear actual nurses' hats.
Munty and I a few weeks ago when we went to Illinois. Oh how our lives have changed since that first day of clinical!
Sunday
Ten Reasons I love 10/10/10
10. Munchkie's Daddy made fresh pesto bread and the smell throughout our house is divine.
9. Beautiful swans floating on the river outside my window.
8. Juicy, crisp, fresh apples.
7. The bright sun is shining creating a gorgeous day.
6. Munchkie took an almost 4 hour nap and this is how I found her in her crib. So cute!
5. The leaves outside our windows are changing and brilliant colors remind me that God has a color palate that we can't even imagine.
4. My new necklace came and I finished making some complimentary jewelry. I LOVE them!
3. I don't have to go into work tonight! Which means....
2. I got to go to church this morning and enjoy an amazing service.
1. And the top reason I love 10/10/10 is because of my wonderful, loving and fun family. I am so excited that I get to spend the day with them!
8. Juicy, crisp, fresh apples.
7. The bright sun is shining creating a gorgeous day.
6. Munchkie took an almost 4 hour nap and this is how I found her in her crib. So cute!
4. My new necklace came and I finished making some complimentary jewelry. I LOVE them!
3. I don't have to go into work tonight! Which means....
2. I got to go to church this morning and enjoy an amazing service.
 |
| Photo courtesy of Calvary Evangelical Free Church http://www.calvaryefc.com/ |
Saturday
Fifth times a charm!
I have successfully made yogurt twice now. It only took five tries to get it to the thickness I wanted. Liquidy yogurt just isn't my thing. I had been buying organic milk at the grocery store, the regular milk that I buy for us to drink/use. It is ultra pasteurized and can last for weeks in the fridge. Isn't that odd? I guess with the ultra pasteurization every possible thing that could be in the milk is killed and so the result is that it is very difficult to make yogurt. I first tried to make skim milk yogurt, well that was just straight liquid with a few thick chunks in it, no good at all! Then I tried whole milk and it was slightly better, but once I strained it there would be a tablespoon or so of thicker yogurt, so that was used for smoothies too. On my fourth attempt I found a store that sold raw milk and thought I would try that. It turned out beautifully! I followed Katie of Kitchen Stewardship's recipe for the most part and Munchkie's Daddy's Aunt (who had been making yogurt for years) so I can't claim that I came up with this myself. There are some things I'm going to change for next time to both make it a little easier on myself and create a taste I would enjoy better. So here goes!
Items needed-
1. The first thing to do is to sterilize your glass jars and lids. I usually do this in the dishwasher and then let them dry completely before I begin my yogurt making. If they aren't sterilized, you will culture whatever bacteria is in the jars along with your yogurt cultures. What a petri dish of bacteria you will end up with!
3. I evenly distribute the milk (half a gallon) between 5 canning jars. I place a wash cloth in the bottom of my pot and put a few inches of water into the pot. I then place the jars into the pot. Now don't laugh at my thermometer set up. I had to figure out a way to keep the thermometer in a jar. I also put a spoon in the water to sterilize it so I can use it for distributing the yogurt cultures and stirring later.
4. I bring the temperature of the milk up to 185 degrees and keep it there for a few (5 or so) minutes. Now the reason why I'm not so concerned with the raw milk is because I am now pasteurizing the milk myself, but it's not ULTRA pasteurized.
5. Once the milk is up to temperature I put a few inches of cold water in my sink and put a few ice packs in. I don't have one of those nifty tools to pull hot canning jars out of pots, so I have found that if I quickly put the lid on I can grab the lid to transfer to the sink, or can use a pot holder, without loosing my sterilization, to transfer to the sink. I'm sure those tools are not so expensive. I should look into it maybe.
6. You need the milk to come down to a temperature of 90-110 degrees, preferably right around 100 degrees. When I put the milk in the cold water, it brings the temperature down pretty quickly and I had a lot of problems before missing that mark. It would get too cold too fast. I use the thermometer to stir the milk in each jar to accurately get the temperature. I have to keep a pretty close eye on this. Once the milk is around 105-110 degrees I take them out of the cold water and set them on the counter. (I am going to change this next time. I am going to just leave them out on the counter and let the milk come down to the right temp on it's own. I have missed my mark too many times and need to learn patience. With it on the counter it will not be as difficult to obtain the correct temperature because it will cool slower.)
7. While the milk is cooling I fill my pot at least half way with water and then bring the water to a boil again. This will be used to incubate the yogurt and I've found if I don't do this, the temperature isn't warm enough for long enough.
8. Once the milk is on the counter I add my yogurt culture. My jars are pint jars and so I believe you are supposed to use about a tablespoon. Munchkie's Daddy's Aunt said that she used a small carton per half gallon. I use this spoon and about this much per jar. As you can see, it's more than a tablespoon, but less than two tablespoons. I'm pretty exact as you can see (kidding!). I gently stir each jar to mix, but making sure not to kill the cultures.
9. Once the jars are mixed and the lids on they go into the cooler. This is my set up. Pot of water on one side, jars on the other. I put a towel in between the pot and the jars because I don't want the jars to get too warm.
10. Then I cover the jars with a towel. Close the lid and let incubate 4-24 hours. Here is another change I will make for next time. I usually do this after dinner and let incubate overnight. However, the longer you incubate the more "plain" and tangy the yogurt will taste. I think I will not incubate any more than 6 hours because it was pretty tangy this time. If you do like it tangy, or want something more like sour cream, and decide to incubate longer you will probably need to add more boiling water to your pot after about 4 hours or so.
11. Once you are finished incubating, put into the freezer for about an hour. Somehow this helps with the consistency.
12. Transfer to fridge and enjoy! This is why mine looks like when finished.
I like my yogurt thicker, so I strain it through cheese cloth again to get as much whey out as I can. Then I eat it with some melted raw honey and ground flax seeds or granola. Mmmmmmm!
Items needed-
- Jars (to hold however much milk you are using, Munchkie's Daddy's Aunt puts her milk right into a pot, stirring constantly)
- Large Pot
- Washcloth (to place in bottom of pot to prevent jars from rattling/breaking while boiling)
- Candy Thermometer (there are ways to do without this, but I failed miserably when I tried, so I got a thermometer)
- Milk
- Small container of yogurt for a culture (once you make your yogurt, you can use your own for future cultures)
- Cooler (Munchkie's Daddy's Aunt told me that she uses her oven)
- Towels
1. The first thing to do is to sterilize your glass jars and lids. I usually do this in the dishwasher and then let them dry completely before I begin my yogurt making. If they aren't sterilized, you will culture whatever bacteria is in the jars along with your yogurt cultures. What a petri dish of bacteria you will end up with!
2. I set out the yogurt culture I am going to use to bring it to room temperature while I do everything else. I prefer Greek yogurt, so this is what I used, even though there are not the 4-5 recommended cultures.
3. I evenly distribute the milk (half a gallon) between 5 canning jars. I place a wash cloth in the bottom of my pot and put a few inches of water into the pot. I then place the jars into the pot. Now don't laugh at my thermometer set up. I had to figure out a way to keep the thermometer in a jar. I also put a spoon in the water to sterilize it so I can use it for distributing the yogurt cultures and stirring later.
4. I bring the temperature of the milk up to 185 degrees and keep it there for a few (5 or so) minutes. Now the reason why I'm not so concerned with the raw milk is because I am now pasteurizing the milk myself, but it's not ULTRA pasteurized.
5. Once the milk is up to temperature I put a few inches of cold water in my sink and put a few ice packs in. I don't have one of those nifty tools to pull hot canning jars out of pots, so I have found that if I quickly put the lid on I can grab the lid to transfer to the sink, or can use a pot holder, without loosing my sterilization, to transfer to the sink. I'm sure those tools are not so expensive. I should look into it maybe.
6. You need the milk to come down to a temperature of 90-110 degrees, preferably right around 100 degrees. When I put the milk in the cold water, it brings the temperature down pretty quickly and I had a lot of problems before missing that mark. It would get too cold too fast. I use the thermometer to stir the milk in each jar to accurately get the temperature. I have to keep a pretty close eye on this. Once the milk is around 105-110 degrees I take them out of the cold water and set them on the counter. (I am going to change this next time. I am going to just leave them out on the counter and let the milk come down to the right temp on it's own. I have missed my mark too many times and need to learn patience. With it on the counter it will not be as difficult to obtain the correct temperature because it will cool slower.)
7. While the milk is cooling I fill my pot at least half way with water and then bring the water to a boil again. This will be used to incubate the yogurt and I've found if I don't do this, the temperature isn't warm enough for long enough.
8. Once the milk is on the counter I add my yogurt culture. My jars are pint jars and so I believe you are supposed to use about a tablespoon. Munchkie's Daddy's Aunt said that she used a small carton per half gallon. I use this spoon and about this much per jar. As you can see, it's more than a tablespoon, but less than two tablespoons. I'm pretty exact as you can see (kidding!). I gently stir each jar to mix, but making sure not to kill the cultures.
9. Once the jars are mixed and the lids on they go into the cooler. This is my set up. Pot of water on one side, jars on the other. I put a towel in between the pot and the jars because I don't want the jars to get too warm.
10. Then I cover the jars with a towel. Close the lid and let incubate 4-24 hours. Here is another change I will make for next time. I usually do this after dinner and let incubate overnight. However, the longer you incubate the more "plain" and tangy the yogurt will taste. I think I will not incubate any more than 6 hours because it was pretty tangy this time. If you do like it tangy, or want something more like sour cream, and decide to incubate longer you will probably need to add more boiling water to your pot after about 4 hours or so.
11. Once you are finished incubating, put into the freezer for about an hour. Somehow this helps with the consistency.
12. Transfer to fridge and enjoy! This is why mine looks like when finished.
I like my yogurt thicker, so I strain it through cheese cloth again to get as much whey out as I can. Then I eat it with some melted raw honey and ground flax seeds or granola. Mmmmmmm!
 |
| It seems pretty thick, but with Greek yogurt, once you stir it, it thins out a lot. The containers usually say not to stir. |
 |
| When you strain it you can use the whey in place of water for baking or cooking. You can squeeze even more whey out and make cream cheese, or work with it more to make other cheeses. I have not tried any of these options out. |
Friday
Rough Morning
This morning Munchkie and I drove Munchkie's Daddy to work and then we drove to take her to the babysitter's. When I turned right to go into the driveway and Munchkie saw the house she started crying, screaming "NO! NO! NO!", waving her hands no, and kicking her legs. Just by driving into the driveway. Then I parked the car and got out and she held onto her car-seat straps and said "Please? Please? No! No! No!" but I had to take her out of the car-seat. I pulled her out and she wrapped her legs around me, held me in a death grip and laid her head on my shoulder.
We stood in the driveway and cried together.
After several minutes of trying to compose myself I grabbed Munchkie's bags and walked up to the front door. We pressed the doorbell while a lady was smoking on the front step and the poisonous second hand smoke was wafting over us.
I stood there and told Ana "Remember all your favorite Elmo toys? Your Elmo music book is upstairs. Do you want to play with all of your Elmo toys?"
She replied "Yes!"
I said "Ok, then we have to go upstairs so you can play."
We pressed the doorbell again. Nothing.
Then we walked back to the car so I could check with Munchkie's Daddy that they were expecting us. Munchkie started crying then and said "Elmo! Elmo!" So I was hopeful that maybe once she saw the Elmo toys that it would be smooth sailing.
Finally on the third ring we were let upstairs. At first when Munchkie saw the babysitter she smiled and waved, then when the babysitter held her arms out for Munchkie she turned and clung to me. I took her inside, put her bags down and set up her sound machine. The whole time she was crying. I said give mommy a kiss, kissed her through her tears and wide open mouth begging me "Please Please" then walked out. I could hear her crying as I walked down all three flights of stairs.
I frantically got in my car and lost it just as the door closed. I sat there and cried.
I thought that I had it together so I began to drive away. I cried as I drove.
How can I sleep to prepare for work tonight? Is it really worth it? Nobody said it was easy. But nobody said it would be THIS hard to be a working mom.
We stood in the driveway and cried together.
After several minutes of trying to compose myself I grabbed Munchkie's bags and walked up to the front door. We pressed the doorbell while a lady was smoking on the front step and the poisonous second hand smoke was wafting over us.
I stood there and told Ana "Remember all your favorite Elmo toys? Your Elmo music book is upstairs. Do you want to play with all of your Elmo toys?"
She replied "Yes!"
I said "Ok, then we have to go upstairs so you can play."
We pressed the doorbell again. Nothing.
Then we walked back to the car so I could check with Munchkie's Daddy that they were expecting us. Munchkie started crying then and said "Elmo! Elmo!" So I was hopeful that maybe once she saw the Elmo toys that it would be smooth sailing.
Finally on the third ring we were let upstairs. At first when Munchkie saw the babysitter she smiled and waved, then when the babysitter held her arms out for Munchkie she turned and clung to me. I took her inside, put her bags down and set up her sound machine. The whole time she was crying. I said give mommy a kiss, kissed her through her tears and wide open mouth begging me "Please Please" then walked out. I could hear her crying as I walked down all three flights of stairs.
I frantically got in my car and lost it just as the door closed. I sat there and cried.
I thought that I had it together so I began to drive away. I cried as I drove.
How can I sleep to prepare for work tonight? Is it really worth it? Nobody said it was easy. But nobody said it would be THIS hard to be a working mom.
Thursday
Converse Wearing Mom
Today I was at Target and I looked around to the other moms who were there with their kids. I saw their cute Coach shoes, trendy clothes and perfectly styled hair. Then I looked at myself, my hair pulled back, pink sweatshirt, jeans and purple Converse shoes, however I did wash my face before leaving the house.
How do these moms do it? How do they keep themselves put together? I looked at my friends' moms growing up and they seemed to be that trendy, stylish mom and I always wanted to be that mom. I thought my mom was so old fashioned with her thousands of turtlenecks, jumpers and seasonal sweaters. Now I've become a 2010 version of her. Hoodies and Tshirts. Ugh!
What am I doing wrong? How can I be put together and stylish on a tight budget? Is that the key? No budget? Do they not sleep? Is there a perfect mommy pill that I never knew about?
I guess for now I'll work on wearing something besides a tshirt and pray that Munchkie won't care what I look like when she gets older. Haha!
How do these moms do it? How do they keep themselves put together? I looked at my friends' moms growing up and they seemed to be that trendy, stylish mom and I always wanted to be that mom. I thought my mom was so old fashioned with her thousands of turtlenecks, jumpers and seasonal sweaters. Now I've become a 2010 version of her. Hoodies and Tshirts. Ugh!
What am I doing wrong? How can I be put together and stylish on a tight budget? Is that the key? No budget? Do they not sleep? Is there a perfect mommy pill that I never knew about?
I guess for now I'll work on wearing something besides a tshirt and pray that Munchkie won't care what I look like when she gets older. Haha!
Monday
Full Freezer = Happy Munchkie's Mama!
I said before that I would talk about those processed-convient-chemical-ladden-frozen meals. I think you can catch my thoughts from my description. I am not saying anything about the people who make and eat them, I'm saying that the people who create them are to blame. Let me give a quick synopsis of our food eating married lives.
First we got married six days after graduating from college and were thrown into grown up living, married life, first time real jobs and keeping up a home. At first we were basically just surviving, eating fast food, take out, with an occasional frozen meal thrown in. We both enjoyed cooking, however it was time consuming, we both hated dishes and expensive to decide to make a recipe and then buy everything that you needed for that recipe. When we discovered that you could buy frozen fulled prepped meals (both of our moms are mostly homemade from scratch) in the store. This our bridge to homemade cooking. We were able to get into the routine of figuring out what to eat and then have the patience to cook it ourselves. We found ourselves cooking at home more often because it was zero prep, quick, not very many dishes to clean (however we still felt sluggish and uck a lot). Once we started doing this, we began branching out and making more meals from home. This slow progression from fast food to homemade brings us to today (we find when we are eating a lot of organic food, fruits and vegetables and eliminating preservatives and chemicals we have so much more energy and overall feel better).
There is nothing more convenient than pulling out a frozen meal that is prepped and cook it up in minutes. However most frozen meals are so full of chemicals, preservatives, and other not so good for you things. The other night at work another nurse was showing me a Lean Cuisine frozen meal that said it was preservative free. When I asked what was in it, on the ingredient list, she couldn't pronounce most of the huge list of ingredients. For this reason I was so excited when I saw a friend's blog about freezer dinners that I had to get the book right away. When you make it yourself, you know what the ingredients actually are. Due to my recent purchase of many pounds of meat and a weekend off, I have spent my entire weekend creating freezer meals and now I have about 70 options for frozen meals in my freezer. That will last us a long time!
Now this is how a working mom has homemade meals for her family without relying on chemicals and preservatives. I may not be able to provide a fresh homemade meal every night for my family, but I can make sure we have healthy options in the freezer.
Look at all I have made this weekend! I had to create an inventory document because I don't know how else to know what we have buried in that bottomless hole of a deep freezer. If anyone has an organization system for their deep freeze please let me know!
First we got married six days after graduating from college and were thrown into grown up living, married life, first time real jobs and keeping up a home. At first we were basically just surviving, eating fast food, take out, with an occasional frozen meal thrown in. We both enjoyed cooking, however it was time consuming, we both hated dishes and expensive to decide to make a recipe and then buy everything that you needed for that recipe. When we discovered that you could buy frozen fulled prepped meals (both of our moms are mostly homemade from scratch) in the store. This our bridge to homemade cooking. We were able to get into the routine of figuring out what to eat and then have the patience to cook it ourselves. We found ourselves cooking at home more often because it was zero prep, quick, not very many dishes to clean (however we still felt sluggish and uck a lot). Once we started doing this, we began branching out and making more meals from home. This slow progression from fast food to homemade brings us to today (we find when we are eating a lot of organic food, fruits and vegetables and eliminating preservatives and chemicals we have so much more energy and overall feel better).
There is nothing more convenient than pulling out a frozen meal that is prepped and cook it up in minutes. However most frozen meals are so full of chemicals, preservatives, and other not so good for you things. The other night at work another nurse was showing me a Lean Cuisine frozen meal that said it was preservative free. When I asked what was in it, on the ingredient list, she couldn't pronounce most of the huge list of ingredients. For this reason I was so excited when I saw a friend's blog about freezer dinners that I had to get the book right away. When you make it yourself, you know what the ingredients actually are. Due to my recent purchase of many pounds of meat and a weekend off, I have spent my entire weekend creating freezer meals and now I have about 70 options for frozen meals in my freezer. That will last us a long time!
Now this is how a working mom has homemade meals for her family without relying on chemicals and preservatives. I may not be able to provide a fresh homemade meal every night for my family, but I can make sure we have healthy options in the freezer.
Look at all I have made this weekend! I had to create an inventory document because I don't know how else to know what we have buried in that bottomless hole of a deep freezer. If anyone has an organization system for their deep freeze please let me know!
It took a lot of pots to make all of the soups, which is why it took so many days.
Munchkie's Daddy had made this tomato sauce a little while back, but I took inventory of it this weekend.
Spaghetti squash to go with the tomato sauce. I have no idea how well this freezes, I guess we'll find out.
Chicken with Peanut Sauce frozen in rolls with a ziploc bag of peanut sauce in the middle. I have plans to make a stir fry with some frozen peppers and onions and serve over rice with that peanut sauce.
Dijon Pork Loin Roast, we had to cut it up into portions for our family. I think this will be served with some mashed cauliflower and salad.
Orange Teriyaki Chicken. Going to be another stir fry.
Lentil Soup, a family recipe that took me a long time to try, but is now a winter staple.
Sausage, Kale and Bean Soup which is very yummy!
Chicken and Rice Soup, hopefully this is good, I didn't have a recipe, just kind of threw stuff into a pot.
Creamy (Creamless) Zucchini and Potato Soup which I haven't tried yet, but hopefully is good!
My full freezers make me very happy!
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