I've Been Tagged

I am: a mommy, a wife, and a nurse
I want: to go back to school some day
I have: a wonderful husband and daughter
I dislike: laundry!
I miss: my family and friends in Idaho
I fear: hitting an animal with my car
I feel: content
I hear: nothing There is total quiet at my house right now
I crave: chocolate
I cry: when I am frustrated
I usually: can be found reading a book
I search: for new recipes to cook for dinner
I wonder: about the future
I regret: not traveling more
I love: being a mother
I care: about serving others
I always: eat breakfast
I worry: about a lot less stuff than I used to
I am not: a neat freak
I remember: a lot of useless stuff
I believe: in God
I dance: horribly
I sing: to Isha
I don't always: dress well
I argue: with Jai
I write: on the blogs
I win: at dominoes and cards
I lose: the dog sometimes
I wish: I could get a massage every day!
I listen: to Isha talking a lot
I don't understand: why people don't recycle
I can usually be found: soaking in the tub
I need: a maid
I forget: a lot of stuff since I had a baby
I am happy: that my life has turned out so wonderful!!!

We Made It!

I kept telling Jai that I thought it would be fun to go to a political rally, so when I found out that Barack Obama was coming to Richmond I decided that Isha and I were going to go. Well...easier said than done. The parking was horrible and after driving around for 45 minutes I was ready to give up and go home. For some reason I decided to give it one more shot and luckily I managed to find a spot! But by then I figured that we would never make it inside because the lines to get in were 3 1/2 blocks long. Isha and I got in line and hoped for the best. After an hour I figured it was a lost cause, but somehow we managed to make it inside and even find a seat. Of course we were in the very top seat, but I didn't care at least I was inside.


It was so amazing to see all of these people there to support Obama and to know that we were witnessing a part of history.

It was really hard to hear exactly what Obama was saying, but really after all the commercials, interviews and debates I think that we have heard most of it already. It was still really exciting to be there and I am so glad that Isha and I hung in there and were able to go. Hopefully this trip will be the start of raising Isha to be a responsible little American who never takes her ability to vote for granted!

Blisters For Barack

Today I volunteered with the Virginia Democratic Party for Barack Obama and Mark Warner. I went door to door (hence the name for this post) asking people how they thought they were going to vote in the upcoming election. The democratic party is going to get a hold of all the people who said there were likely to vote for democrats and make sure they actually come out to vote!
Before heading out our governor, Tim Kaine, spoke to us about how Virginia is a very competitive state for this election and how important it is for us to get out and get all the democrats to vote. He said that if Barack Obama wins Virgina then he will win the White House!
I know that not all of you may not have the same political views as I do, but really this post is more about getting involved in your government than trying to sway any of you to become a democrat. But...I do want to share something with you about my political views. Up until this years primary elections I have always called myself a republican and always voted republican, but this year something was different. I really think that it is because of Isha. Now that I am a mom I look at the world very differently. I would never have thought that I would become a Democrat, but every day I realize a new and different way that having a child has changed my life!
I wish I was a better writer because I have all of this stuff in my head, but I never seem to be able to get it out and onto the computer screen. I should take a writing class, maybe that would help. One of these days, but until then thanks for reading this and remember to get out there and vote!!!!!!

Parmesan Meatballs with Pine Nuts

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted anything here. Until recently I haven't read anything inspiring and have been a little slack in the cooking and craft department. Now I finally have something to share.

I am not a big meatball fan, but these sounded good so I decided to give them a try. I also like that the recipe came out of my McCall Idaho cookbook.

1lb. very lean beef
1/2c freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2t dried crushed basil
1/2t dried oregano
1t salt
1/4c pine nuts
1/2c dry plain bread crumbs
1/2c finely chopped onion
1/4t allspice
1/2t black pepper
1/2c milk
1 egg lightly beaten
1/4c chopped parsley

Combine ingredients and form 1-1/2 inch wide balls. Roll lightly in flour

Combine 3T olive oil and 1T of butter in a skillet. When butter foams, start adding meatballs, browning on all sides. Drain on paper towel and then place meatballs in a casserole dish.
Add 1c beef bouillon and 1/2c dry red wine to skillet, stirring until well combined. Add sauce to meatballs and bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. After 15 minutes add 1/2 lb. sliced sauteed mushrooms. When done remove meatballs and slightly thicken sauce with cornstarch. Serve over Tagliatelle pasta.

Here are what I changed and what I would do next time.
I didn't use the allspice because I don't have any and they tasted fine. I used egg noodles instead of pasta. Next time I would saute the onions and use more dilute beef bouillon or low sodium beef broth because it was a little salty for me.

I should have taken a picture and I definitely wish I had "smellware" to share the wonderful aroma of this meal.

This Weeks Local Meal

After last weeks local eating blitz I decided to go easy this week. At my last trip to the farmer's market I bought a huge bunch of fresh basil and made pesto with it and it has been in the freezer just waiting to be paired with the right ingredients.

We had whole wheat pasta, with roasted local veggies and it was all tossed with some home made pesto sauce! I even got to use my huge pasta bowl to serve the pasta in.

I don't think I have ever had pasta with pesto sauce before and I am usually not a fan of veggies in my pasta, but I didn't know what else to cook so I was hoping this would taste good. And once again I hit the jackpot. I loved this stuff. I was totally prepared to not like it, but it just tasted too good plus it felt good to be eating something that was so healthy. We did have to make an addition in order to get Jai to eat it. I grilled up a chicken breast and sliced it up so that there would be some meat. I also put a scoop of ricotta cheese on the top and then stirred it into the pasta. It was a little tip I learned on Rachael Ray.

I will definitely be making this again! Yummy!

A Little Messy

In order to get anything done around the house I have learned to give Isha whatever it takes to keep her occupied. This is how our kitchen looks every afternoon. While I get dinner ready Isha drags all of her toys in the kitchen to play with. At first I used to get stressed out, but then I realized that it was easier just to let her make the mess. This leads to a good lesson, picking up the toys. Unfortunately I am the one who does most of the picking up, but Isha is usually good for throwing a few of the toys back in the toy box.

I think Stitch has done the best at adapting to this new philosophy of letting Isha make a mess. As you can see he feels totally comfortable laying around and napping in this sea of chaos!

A Week Of Eating Local

Since I missed a few weeks I decided to go big this week and do a full week of eating local. I was afraid that it would cost me an arm and a leg, but it didn't cost any more than my weekly grocery bill. I will admit that it did take a lot more running around town though.

So here is my haul from the South of the James Farmer's market, local fruit and veggie stand and P.T. Hasting Seafood store.
Look at all of this meat! Boy will Jai be happy.
Monday night was Flavorful Flounder, a recipe I found at allrecipes.com, and steamed potatoes. The flounder was caught locally and I bought it from my favorite fish guy, Mr. P.T. Hastings. They also make the best home made tuna fish salad there. It makes you never want to eat tuna from a can again.
This picture isn't very pretty because the fish fell apart when I was taking it off the baking sheet, but trust me it tasted really good. Here is the recipe
Tuesday night was eggplant Parmesan with home made marinara sauce. This recipe is super easy and tastes AWESOME. I am addicted to this stuff and I can even get Isha to eat it. The salad wasn't local because I ran out of money at the farmer's market and I had a whole bag of lettuce in the fridge from the week before. I know it isn't local but I figure it would be extra irresponsible to let something go to waste that had traveled so far to get to me.
I was looking forward to Wednesday night dinner, but it really turned out to be a flop. I bought a whole free range chicken and roasted it in the oven, but I don't think I seasoned it enough for one, plus some of the meat was kind of "rubbery". I don't know if it was the chicken or my cooking, but it wasn't very good. I didn't cook the potatoes long enough so they were kind of lumpy, but they did contain chives from my own little back yard garden. The green beans were good, but how excited can you get about them. The absolute worst was the corn. I think it got thrown into the wrong bin. Instead of being sent to be made into ethanol, which is the only thing this stuff would be good for, it made it into the farmer's market bin. After one bite it was thrown in the trash. It was inedible!

A little disappointed with the Wednesday meal I crossed my fingers and hoped for a better outcome on Thursday and we hit the jackpot. We had tacos made with local chorizo (I had never had chorizo before and this stuff was excellent), fresh home made tomatillo salsa make with local ingredients and some cayenne peppers from my garden and last but not least fried mice. These are local jalapenos stuffed with not so local cheese then wrapped in unlocal bacon and then grilled on the BBQ. They were really good, but my lips were on fire for 15 minutes after I ate them.
I made the left over chicken from Wednesday into curried chicken salad and it was actually really good. It was even made with Duke's mayonnaise which is made right here in Richmond, VA. I was never a fan of mayo unil I tried Duke's. It is way better than that junk that Kraft foods makes! I know I sound crazy talking about mayo like that, but it is kind of a southern thing. Ya'll wouldn't get it!!! We had some sweet watermelon to go with our sandwiches and I gave the corn another shot. This stuff was much better. A few of the kernels were tough, but it was a huge improvement from earlier in the week.
Last night we finished up the week with 100% grass fed beef hamburgers, roasted potatoes, cucumber salad and deviled eggs. The beef was really good. It had a totally different flavor from the hamburger you get at the store.

I had a great time trying all of my local food this week. Next week is going to be scaled back because I wasn't able to make it to the farmer's market this weekend and I can't make the Tuesday one because Isha has a Dr. appointment. But don't fret because there will be at least one local meal at the Oberoi house next week!

Idaho

People are always asking me questions about Idaho. The most common question I get is: What do you miss about Idaho? Well here it is:

A beautiful sunset in Roseberry Idaho.

Payette Lake in McCall Idaho

I really miss the beauty of Idaho. People are always cracking jokes about the potatoes and how backwards they think Idaho is, but the funny thing is that most of those people have never even been here. They have no idea of how beautiful it is here. I also miss the people of Idaho. We went to the music festival in Roseberry and it was fun just to relax and listen to the music. It was also fun to sit back and look at all the people. I can't exactly put my finger on what exactly makes Idahoans look different, but part off it is the laid back attitude. I also noticed that once you head north of Boise, most men don't shave. Gillette must not make any money here.
The old general store in Roseberry Idaho.

It was great to be able to go back home for a visit. When I first moved away from Idaho I felt so free and independent. I loved exploring my new surroundings and feeling proud of myself for being brave enough to move away. But now I feel myself being homesick more often. I'm sure that part of it is Isha, but I also think that as the newness of Virginia wears of I miss Idaho more and more. I feel guilty that I took so much for granted when I lived in Idaho. Virginia is beautiful and I really do love it here, but it will never be a replacement for Idaho. There is something about the place you grow up. It becomes a part of who you are.

You know you are in Idaho when you get out of your car and step into a cow pie. I like to call this an Idaho welcome mat! Ha Ha.
It was great to see some wildlife while I was at home, like this deer that ran through the cottage neighborhood in McCall.
My grandmother came to visit and we were able to get a picture of all four generations together. I have a 4 generations picture with my Great Grandmother and I want Isha to have one so that someday she can look at it and see all of us together.
It breaks my heart sometimes that Isha won't grow up an Idahoan, but at least I get to bring her home and take her to the places that I grew up and that are important to me. She will probably always be a Virginian at heart, but that is okay because she will have her own special memories just like I do.
The one thing I miss most about Idaho is my family. Sometimes I feel like I have cheated Isha out of a lot by living so far away from home, but then I remember that if it wasn't for meeting Jai and moving to Virginia, I wouldn't even have Isha. So I just do the best I can. Isha may not grow up in Idaho, but at least she will have lots of good memories of time spent there.

Go Local Challenge Week #5

I know that this is a little late, but better late than never. I didn't have time to post our last local meal that we had before I left town for Idaho.

I made it down to the Byrd House Market and found lots of yummy stuff to buy. I spent an arm and a leg for two local chicken breast, but when you meet the people who did all of the hard work to bring you that chicken you don't feel as bad spending so much on it. Along with our chicken we had fried green tomatoes, corn on the cob and roasted red potatoes for dinner. I didn't get any pictures of the meal. Jai always laughs at me when I take pictures of the food. I can't help it, I am a proud local eater!
We missed making a local meal last week because Isha and I were in Idaho. We won't be making a local meal this week, because after all of the traveling I don't feel like driving around and looking for local food this week. BUT, next week I am going to cook local all week, except for Friday because we always go out on Friday night. Wish me luck. Hopefully I can find lots of good stuff to fill up our fridge!

Go Local Challenge Week #4

I tried to find some local meat for this weeks meal, but unfortunately it just didn't happen this week. Sara sent me a link to a store that carries local meet, but when I went there they said that there have been problems getting the distributors to send them anything. They did have a few whole chickens, but I wasn't up for spending $12. I do know that I am going to have to fork out some dough for the meat and after Jai's reaction to this weeks meal I will probably be doing it next week! This week we had local peppers stuffed with not so local brown rice (this is what freaked Jai out), quinoa and cheddar cheese. The corn, beans and cucumbers were all local and the sauce on top of the peppers was my left over spaghetti sauce from last week. I really enjoyed this meal and Isha chowed down on the corn and stuffed peppers!

I got a hold of my friend that works for Ukrops and he said that their meat comes from many different states, but that some of it is actually local. So I guess there is the potential that the meat in the spaghetti sauce was local! Finding local meat has been the biggest challenge. The demand is so high for it that it either flies of the shelf or stores can't even get it in. There is a farmers market on Tuesdays called The Byrd House Market were local vendors bring meat and there is also a farm in the neighboring county that is open to the public on Saturdays so we may head out there to get some local meat! A trip to the farm sound like fun.

Heaven

Dessert was so good that I decided that it needed it's own post!!!
I love peaches and nectarines, but I had given up on eating them because the ones from the grocery store are awful. They are hard as a rock with absolutely no flavor and half the time they never ripen properly. When I saw these ones at my little fruit stand I decided to buy a few and give them a try. They were so good that I had to go back the next day and get more!
These nectarines came from a farm just outside of Charlottesville, VA and they were wonderful. I sliced them up and sprinkled them with a little sugar, which they really didn't need and some cinnamon.
The best part was that I found some local ice cream, from Homestead Creamery in Burnt Chimney, VA, to eat them with. They tasted so good that it was like being in Heaven!!! This was the best ice cream. It was totally different than all that mass produced junk. It tasted like the stuff that we used to make at home.

Isha's Little Dress

Here is the finished product. I am glad that I finally got around to finishing this because it turned out to be really cute and if I had waited any longer it wouldn't have fit her! There is a head scarf that goes with it, but I am not sure that I am going to make it. Isha isn't good about keeping things on her head. Plus it is so hot here in the summer that it would be uncomfortable to wear.

I had to redo the stitches around the top because the hole was to small for her head to fit through. After a few tries I finally came up with something that worked. This pattern can be modified for bigger kids so I might even make another one for her. I think it would be cute to make it shorter and then use it as a shirt. I have even thought about making one and putting a long sleeve shirt underneath and some cute tights and then she could wear it in winter. We will see if I actually get around to any of these cute ideas.
We went out to dinner last night with some friends so we will be doing our local meal tonight instead. I will post our meal here tomorrow. It isn't very creative, but that is the beautiful of local meals, you just go with what ya got!

Go Local Challenge Week #3

There still isn't a huge variety at our little fruit stand down the road, but I don't feel like driving and wasting gas to go all the way downtown so I made do with what they had. I made my first ever batch of home made spaghetti sauce! I am embarrassed to say that I have always used the jars of sauce because I was to busy working to take the time and make it from scratch. I threw everything in the crock pot yesterday morning and could smell it all day long.

The tomatoes and onions were local, the fresh herbs were not local, nor was the pasta or bread. Of course I had to put meat in the sauce other wise Jai would have been very put out. I am not sure if the meat is local or not. I checked on the Ukrops grocery store web site and it said that the meat is raised on small farms, humanely and all that good stuff, but not exactly where it came form. I even called the store but the guy I talked to wasn't sure where the farms were located. I have a friend who works for Ukrops so I will have to ask him to do some research for me. The zucchini was local and it was really good. I dipped it in egg, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and baked it and it was yummy. Much better than that soggy steamed stuff.

Lately this blog has been heavy on the "other stuff" and light on the books and nonexistent on the yarn. That is about to change. I actually picked up my crochet hook the other day and started to finish Isha's summer dress. I think it is still going to fit her. So stay tuned!

Go Local Challenge Week #2

Yesterday was kind of a rough day. I was grouchy due to a sunburn and Isha was grouchy just because! On my way to the fruit stand I drove past a pizza place and thought "I'm in such a bad mood I could eat a whole pizza" and that's when it hit me, home made pizza for dinner.

The only local part of this meal was the zucchini and tomatoes, unfortunately the rest came from the grocery store. I used an already made pizza crust because I was in no mood to role out dough. This pizza was really good. I at a ton of it for dinner and didn't feel totally guilty because it wasn't all meat covered and greasy.

Jai had boy's night out yesterday so he ate buffalo wings and went to the movies. He was excited that he picked local food night to be gone! If he could have gotten over the fact that there was no meat on the pizza I think he would actually have liked it.

This local food challenge has been really good for me. Not only am I finding local food, but I am being creative with veggies. I like lots of veggies, but I am never very creative with them. Usually they are just a side dish to meat and either potatoes or rice. The thought of a vegetarian meal is really foreign to me, but I am starting to incorporate more veggies into my cooking and realizing it can be a full meal with out meat. I want to cook with lots of different foods so that Isha gets used to eating lots of different things and not just meat and potatoes. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with potatoes, I'm from Idaho, I love the things, but there are also lots of other great foods out there.

Once again, thank you H for getting me to try something new and challenging myself!

Go Local Week 1

Our first meal wasn't 100% local, but we did pretty good. I made cucumber salad with my Hanover cucumber, but added a grocery store red onion for Jai.

Here is our tomato basil quiche that was made with Hanover tomatoes, local eggs and some local milk that I found at the grocery store. I did use an already made crust because I wasn't feeling motivated enough to make my own and grocery store cheese because I haven't found any local cheese yet.

This was the first quiche that I have ever made. I did take some of the advice of the reviewers and I used bread crumbs instead of flour to coat the tomatoes and I also added some Parmesan cheese to the tomatoes. It was really good, but I was hoping for a more eggy quiche. The tomatoes left it a little watery, but the flavor was really good.

I have to admit that tomatoes aren't my favorite veggie. I only started eating them a few years ago so I still have this weird thing with them. My brain still tells me that I don't like them even though they taste good. I guess it is one of those childish phobias I am still working on.

I also made some corn on the cob to go with the quiche. It wasn't local, but I am hoping that soon we will be getting some corn at the fruit stand.

Jai's Reaction

Jai wasn't impressed that there was no meat. I told him that meat was expensive and that he could live with one meal with no meat. Plus we are going to BBQ on Fri, Sat, and Sun so he will be getting plenty of meat this weekend. When I told him to get some cucumbers he said that he already had enough veggies(in a very sarcastic tone), but when he tasted them he took a big helping. I have to say that for as whiny as he is when there is no meat, he was very nice and ate all of his dinner. That is one of the things that I love about Jai, he always supports me in the things that are important to me!

The Go Local Challenge

Today I started doing my research for Heather's Go Local challenge. First we went to a little organic grocery store and we didn't find much local stuff, but that is where we got the eggs. Then we went to Carolina Mike's and we got Hanover cucumbers and tomatoes. Hanover tomatoes are so famous that they even have their own festival . There are a few more stores that I am going to try and there are also a couple of different farmer's markets where I am going to try to get local food.

I think that are first local meal is going to be a quiche made with our eggs, which came from Dayton Va and a salad made with my veggies from Hanover, which is just north of us. My first meal won't be 100% local, but it is a good start and I am hoping that as this challenge goes along I will get better at finding local food and there will be more of it out there once the growing season is in full swing. Hopefully tomorrow's post will have a picture of a yummy quiche.

The other part of this challenge for me is getting Jai on board. If you throw to many veggies at him he freaks. That boy loves meat! I will let you know how he feels about eating quiche for dinner!

If you want to get in on the challenge just check out Heather's blog

Politics

I decided to read this book when I received an email about some of the lines in Barack Obama's books. I was sure that the phrases were taken out of context so I wanted to see for myself. Here is one of the quotes from the email, "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." and here is the actual excerpt from the book, "Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." The interesting thing is that even the full quote in the proper context doesn't say that he would stand up with Muslims, it just says that they are looking for reassurance that he would stand up for them. The other interesting thing that he says is that he would "willingly take up arms myself to prevent such tragedy from happening again." talking about 9/11. I don't know about you, but he doesn't sound like an extremist Muslim terrorist to me.

This book also gives you some good insight into how our political system works and a glimpse into campaign funding. I'm sure that some candidates would love to not have to take a dollar from anyone, but that isn't realistic, so they have to play the game in order to have a chance.

It was also interesting to read about how the wealth is distributed in this country. Actually interesting isn't the right word. It is really more like disgusting and pathetic.

This is a big admission for me, but I am feeling more and more like a democrat as time goes by! I used to think that things were black and white, for example, work hard and get ahead or get a job, and get insurance, but now I realize that this isn't the case for millions of people. As a Christian and a fellow human being I am now realizing that it is our responsibility to help each other out and take care of each other. I think that getting older (that seems really weird to say),being a mother, and doing community service has helped open my eyes.

Lastly there was a part of his book that I really connected with. Nothing regarding politics, it was about family. He talks about the moments that he shares with his girls and how he wishes he could remember all of these important moments. I have felt the very same thing at times when I watch Isha figure something out for the first time or when she makes me laugh. He says that while you may not be able to remember all of the specifics of these moments, these moments become a part of who you are and make you the person that you are. As a mother this made me feel really good to know that even though I may not take enough pictures (I know that this is hard to believe considering all the pictures I am always putting on Isha's blog) or write down every funny story or event that happens, all of these wonderful moments will not be forgotten, but will always be a part of me.

What I Learned

When I was finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver the book was full of little scrap pieces of paper tagging things that I found interesting and wanted to share. Unfortunately a 16 month old who shall remain nameless pulled some of the tags out, but trust me there are still plenty left.

Here goes!

1. The author's daughter wrote essays that are part of the book. One that I really loved talked about how as children we decide on the foods that we don't like and we hold onto those immature ideas into adulthood. Just think of all the good food we are missing out on because we are still to immature to just take a bite of something we decided we hated when we were five.

2. Our tax dollars subsidize a huge amount of industrially grown foods, almost 80 billion dollars a year, according to Steven Hopp, the author's husband who also included essays in the book. So when you compare an organic veggie to a industrially grown veggie the organic one probably costs more at the store, but you have paid a chunk of tax dollars for that cheap one!

3. Our children face a shorter life expectancy than us.

4. A yummy recipe for Basil-Blackberry crumble which you can check out at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/.

5. The transportation cost of shipping food is tax deductible for corporations, therefore tax payers pay for the shipping of food. I find it interesting that part of the reason for the steep rise in food prices is the rise in fuel costs, yet companies are able to deduct that. HMMMMMM!

6. You don't even want to know how the poor animals are treated in the meat industry. They have to be given tons of antibiotics because of the filthy conditions they live in. They are fed food that isn't their natural diet, in order to fatten them up, therefore the quality of the meat is decreased. Organic beef has way more good for you omega 3 fatty acids than industrial meat and free range eggs have way less cholesterol. (Sorry about the unscientific term of way more, but I couldn't find the exact number due to missing tags, which I have already explained).

7. An interesting essay about mad cow disease scared me to death. Our USDA is so nonchalant about this that it is scary. Check out www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.html.




This book really inspired me to make a better effort of eating locally . While it is a small step I have started a few herbs this year. I decided to grow some peppers, cilantro, chives and Thai basil because I am tired of paying all that money for herbs and then only using a few leaves and tossing the rest when it goes bad. This is my first attempt at growing anything from seed so keep your fingers crossed for me because I definitely do not have a green thumb.
I also plan on shopping at the farmer's market and local fruit stands this summer. I would also like to find a place where I can buy free range meat. As expensive as food is getting I really have to watch my dollars every time I go to the grocery store, but after reading about the meat industry this is the one area that I feel like it is a good idea to spend a few extra bucks for our health and the treatment of animals raised for meat.

Even if you aren't up for reading this book you should definitely check out the website http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/.

Human Footprint

I watched an interesting program on the National Geographic channel called the Human Footprint. I just thought I would share some interesting information that I learned.
Since we use a lot of diapers around this house I found this scary. In an average child's life time they will go through 3,796 disposable diapers. In order to make these diapers here are just some of the ingredients it will take: 1,898 pints of crude oil, 715 lbs of plastic and 4.5 trees. After these diapers are used it is estimated that they will take over 500 years to biodegrade. The estimate is that there are 80 billion diapers used a year in the world. The funny think is that we use them because they are supposed to be so convenient, but they sure are not convenient to make and definitely not convenient to get rid of. I was feeling pretty good about myself for using cloth diapers until they said it takes 22,455 gallon of water to wash them, but I am sure that water is used in the manufacturing process of disposable diapers. I guess you are going to leave a human footprint whether you like it or not, but at least I feel like I am not going to leave thousands of diapers that will still be here 500 years from now. Boy is that leaving something for posterity. It is funny because when people find out that I use cloth diapers they look at me like I have two heads and then most people just admit that they are to lazy to us them. I don't know why they think it is so much work to use cloth diapers. All you do is throw them in the washing machine every 4 or 5 days and then hang them up do dry.
If all of this information has inspired you to try cloth diapers then here is the website where I ordered ours. www.motherease.com. I have to say that I love using these diapers. They are not the things our poor mothers had to use with pins and plastic pants. They are so easy to use and wash and we hardly ever have leaks. I use liners that just get flushed down the toilet, that way the poo doesn't end up in the land fills where the bacteria can cause problems ( I bet you never thought of that). Plus nothing feels better on a bare bottom than nice soft cotton.

If you are interested in more information on the Human Footprint, you can check out the site at http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/human-footprint/

An Amazing Book

I am currently reading this book right now and it is amazing!!! I love it. Heather inspired me to read it and I was finally able to get it from the library. I will probably do a few posts on this book because there are so many things in this book that have inspired me. What I love most about the book is that she is very honest about food and it isn't full of a bunch of propaganda. She just gives you the facts about where your food comes from. I also don't feel like she is preaching to you. Once again she just tells the truth about the story behind food and gives you ideas about what you can do in your own lives to eat healthier and more responsibly. I can't wait to head down to the farmer's marked and local fruit stands to start eating some yummy summer veggies and fruit!

Birthday Presents

Poor Amelia! Here is her birthday present. I finally got it finished and now I just need to get my lazy self to the post office to send it to her. I am going to send Hadley's along with it and maybe the fact that hers is one month early will offset the fact that Amelia's is one month late!

Cute Onesies

In trying to keep up with the booming baby population of my friends I have had to come up with some easy and quick gifts, but still cute and hand made. Okay I didn't make the onsie,but I did make the little flower. I am going to give this and a few of my hand made burp clothes to my physical therapist, who is have his third baby girl this summer. I figured that when you are the youngest girl of three your future if full of hand me downs so I thought it would make something nice and new just for her!

Barbecued Pork and Apple Kebabs

We made these kebabs this weekend and they were great. I love being able to BBQ and sit outside and eat dinner on the screened in porch. LIFE IS GOOD!

New Link

You might have noticed the new places to visit. I figured I should put the Martha Stewart site up since I have been making tons of her recipes recently. I also added Beaded Energy. A friend of ours has started this business with her sister and they are making some beautiful jewelery, so head on over to their site and check it out!

Finally A Finished Project

This is the little purse that I posted about earlier. I bought the material years ago and wasn't able to figure out the pattern. I don't know why I couldn't do it before because it is really easy. Working with the fuzzy yarn wasn't easy, but I figured it didn't matter if it was perfect because you can't tell if there is a mistake in all of that fuzz! It feels good to finally have something finished. This has motivated me to get going on some of my other projects. There is a one year old back home in Boise patiently waiting for her birthday present so I better get busy. I think I am going to send this purse along for her big sister's birthday in June!

Asian Salmon Patties

It has been awhile since I have posted anything here. I have been working on lots of projects, but I don't have any finished ones to show off yet. I have also been reading a lot lately. I am currently reading Jane Eyre and loving it.

Unfortunately Jai found out that he has high cholesterol and high blood pressure, so we have been working on eating healthier these last few weeks and trying to eat more fish. I found this recipe for Asian Salmon Patties and thought I would give it a try. These were great. I don't know if it was the ginger that cut the fishy taste or if the salmon was just not fishy tasting, but we really enjoyed them and they were very easy to make. I love cooking with ginger. We keep a jar of ginger paste in the fridge which makes it very easy to use. I always buy it at the Indian store, but you may be able to find it at a regular grocery store in the International aisle. Of course you can buy it and grate it yourself, but it is a lot of work. I also made the sesame mayonnaise to go with the salmon patties. I did add a little bit of soy sauce to the sauce. We ate this with a salad and some rice. I don't like to eat plain rice, so I always mix a few tablespoons of soy sauce (or fish sauce if you are brave), a few tablespoons of lime juice and crushed red pepper to put on my rice Yummy!

Today I had one of the left over patties chopped up on a salad with veggies and Asian dressing and it was still good!

Wreath

Isha received this adorable bouquet of "flowers" as a gift when she was born. The flowers were actually rolled up baby clothes. I didn't want to tear the bouquet apart because it was so adorable, but I knew that he whole point of the gift was the baby clothes, so I finally pulled it apart. I decided that I wanted to do something with the leaves and flowers so that Isha would always remember this really cool gift. After a year of sitting in a bag I have finally gotten around to doing something with them!

I took all of the flowers and leaves and put them together on a heart wreath to hang on Isha's door.

It is funny because I was always shocked by how much these wreaths sold for at craft stores, but after making one of my own, I know know why. I was not as easy as I thought, but after a few burnt fingers from the glue gun and 3 attempts at making the bow I had a finished product!

Projects

I know I haven't posted any projects for awhile, but I have been working on them. They are just more long term projects. I am almost done making a baby blanket which I think I am going to donate to an organization that helps support parents whose children have to undergo heart surgery. I have also been making some little hats to send along with the blanket, but I can't figure out part of the instructions so I will have to wait until next week when my grandmother is here to finish those. I am also working on a wreath to put up on Isha's door. She received this adorable bouquet of flowers which where made up from rolled up baby clothes and some paper flowers. I saved the paper flowers to use on the wreath. I am almost done with that so hopefully there should be some finished projects on here soon.

I am also in the middle of an amazing book right now so between that and a 14 month old nothing is done yet.

Sesame Orange Shrimp

Lately we have been trying to be good about cooking at home and using some of the food in our freezer and pantry since everything has become even more expensive. I was looking through an old copy of Everyday Food and found this recipe for Sesame Orange Shrimp . It looked good so we thought we would give it a try. The verdict... This stuff is amazing!!!! Jai is still ranting about it. The only thing I added was some cayenne pepper to the batter and some crushed red pepper to the sauce. The only problem w had was that I used Splenda instead of sugar and because of that the sauce didn't want to thicken up, so I just added some sugar and more crushed red pepper flakes to offset the sweetness.

We ate the shrimp over freshly steamed brown rice and had a green salad with some crunchy chow mien noodles and Asian dressing as a side dish and it was as close to gourmet as it gets in the Oberoi house.

I hope that you enjoy this as much as we did.

Breakfast Pizza

Here is a great recipe from the Beyond Burlap cookbook that the Junior League of Boise put out a few years ago. By the way, my name is in the back of this book as a recipe tester. That is the sign of a true Idahoan: your name is in a potato cookbook. I hope you enjoy this recipe. We have made it a few times and our neighbors just called this morning to get the recipe.

Breakfast Pizza

1 can (8 count) cresent rolls (I used 2 because I did mine in a bar pan instead of a pizza pan)

1lb sausage

2 cups of frozen hashbrowns, thawed

5 eggs beaten (I did a couple of extra because of the extra dough)

1/4 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese ( I used cheddar)

press the rolls onto a 14 inch pizza pan and press the perforations together

brown the sausage in a skillet, stirring until crumbly and drain

layer the sausage and potatoes over the rolls

mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper and pour over potatoes

sprinkle with cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Enjoy!!!!