Turkey & hydrocodone

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What’s the best part about being on doctor’s orders during Thanksgiving? Not having to cook OR clean! Most of the boys pitched in a little here and there with various dishes that we took to my mom’s house, which is always fun because they feel like they’ve really helped to cook. I even puttered around the kitchen for a few minutes until I got tired of being on my feet and had to sit down for a bit, but mostly I stayed out of the hustle & bustle and enjoyed being on mandatory rest.

 

My folks and the guys had a fairly traditional menu of green bean casserole, pumpkin/zucchini dressing, turkey that my stepdad fixed on the grill (Yum!), fresh cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes and a choice between pumpkin or blackberry pie.

 

I really didn’t have any problems de-carbing my dinner portion. I took my grilled turkey with a side of hydrocodone, LOL! Seriously, though, we reserved some of the blanched green beans and tossed them with roasted pine nuts & bacon – yum! – and I didn’t feel deprived from the dressing at all. To top it off, I had some surprisingly low-carb walnut sandies for dessert. I never liked how sandies got powdered sugar all over me, anyway, so I didn’t miss having them dusted. They were lightly sweet and perfect with a scoop of low-sugar vanilla ice cream. 🙂

 

I also made a small batch of mock cornbread dressing (since I figured I would be the only one eating it) using texturized vegetable protein (TVP), and I was pleasantly surprised how well it turned out. My usual cornbread dressing is made with chicken broth and includes chopped celery, onion and hard-boiled eggs, along with shredded chicken. Besides the obvious substitution for cornbread with the TVP, I also used onion powder instead of chopped onions to save on carbs. The poultry seasoning, sage and salt & pepper gave it just the right seasoning that I was aiming for, so all in all, my tastebuds were happy with the result.

$5 … 4 brothers … go!

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I consider myself a pretty frugal person. I love clothing consignment shops, and much of our furniture over the years has been hand-me-downs. Don’t tell them, but I even filch some nondescript halloween candy for Christmas stockings (and Christmas candy for Easter eggs!). While that’s all well & good, it’s still too easy to get sucked into the holiday commercial mayhem and feel obligated to spend more than necessary so that the kids can have the excitement of unwrapping several items on Christmas morning.

 

This year, we’re trying something new to get the boys involved in the gift-giving process a little more. One by one, we’re taking them to the dollar store (the one that actually costs $1) with a $5 bill. They will pick out one special item for each of the other four boys and pay for the haul himself (the extra buck is to cover tax), then go back home and secretly wrap and label the items for his brothers.

 

When all is said & done, each boy will have four extra presents to unwrap that were specially picked out by his brothers. I’m looking forward to the smiles of anticipation as they get to say, “I bought that for you all by myself!”

Every penny counts

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In an effort to remind them that giving can be as much fun as receiving, the boys are having a little friendly competition this week. Kudos to Nana and Granddad for the great idea! You see, Granddad doesn’t like to carry change around, so he empties his pockets every day and saves the money — four full glass jars, at the moment. Here’s how the competition works:

 

The boys took turns guessing how much money the jars contain. The adults made unofficial guesses, too, but we’re not competing. The guesses had to be at least $5 apart, in order to avoid the $0.01 trick, ala, The Price Is Right. Nana will take the jars to the bank for the official tally, then the fun begins!

 

The boy who guessed closest to the total gets to keep 10% of the stash, with the expectation that he’ll tithe from his winnings. (So, if there’s $300, he’ll get $30 and give back $3. Sweet deal!) The other 90% will be used to support holiday ministries, which the winner will get to help choose. Our church and Nana & Granddad’s church each participate in several ministries, so it’ll be fun to involve the boys in a more hands-on way this year. We usually do the shoe boxes or gift trees, but there are lots of other options on the list, too. Depending on how much change-to-cash we end up with, we might be able to support a few different ones.

 

Needless to say, the boys are anxious to find how who the winner is!

 

In my next post, I’ll share another giving/receiving shopping idea that we’re launching this year. I think the boys will like it a lot.

Midnight premiere

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I wasn’t planning to attempt to get tickets for the midnight premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I tonight. It’s a school/work night, after all, and movie tickets aren’t cheap. My oldest really wanted to go, but I promised him that we would see a matinee this weekend, instead. He was satisfied with that alternative, and we’ve been looking forward to our “date” all week.

Well … this afternoon, I WON tickets to the midnight premiere! When I called to tell him, I started the conversation like I normally do after he gets home from school:

Mom: “How was your day?”

Son: “Good.”

Mom: “Did you have a really good day?”

Son: “Sure.”

Mom: “What would make today the best day EVER?”

Son: “If you let me stay up till midnight and go watch Harry Potter.”

Mom: “Hmm, but we’d need tickets.”

Son: “You got TICKETS?!?!”

About this time, I thought he was about to faint or hyperventilate. Needless to say, we’re both very excited about our “date” being moved to tonight!

Low-carb buttermilk pie, part deux

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I made a fairly successful, low-carb, crustless buttermilk pie a while back. It turned out more like a custard, and the flour substitute that I used rose to the top, forming something like an upside-down pie. It tasted yummy, though, so who cares how it looks?!  😉

Since that experiment, I started thinking about how to modify a pie crust so that I could make a “real” pie to take to holiday potlucks, etc. I’m happy to report that tonight’s experiment was another success! I’ll share the crust recipe with you first, then explain the changes I made to the pie filling:

Low-carb crust:

1 c. Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb Baking Mix
1/2 c. flaxseed meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. shortening
4-5 Tbsp. water

Sift dry ingredients (I stirred with a fork). Cut in shortening until size of small peas. Sprinkle water 1 Tbsp at a time until mixture is moist. Form into a ball. Flatten on floured surface (I used another couple of Tbsp of Bob’s mix) & roll. Rolling didn’t work too well for me, so I just transferred it to a pie plate and pressed evenly to shape.

Bake at 425 for 5 minutes; set aside.

Pie filling:

My original buttermilk pie recipe only calls for 3 Tbsp of flour, but I was distracted tonight (I have five boys who kept peppering me with questions while I was trying to bake; cut me some slack! :p ), and I accidentally measured out the same as the crust. I didn’t realize it till after I had added the Splenda (which was all I had on hand!), so I had to figure out what to do. I measured out 1/2 c. of the Bob’s mix/flaxseed meal/Splenda and set aside the rest to make a batch of low-carb muffins in the morning. I also completely forgot to add the baking powder, but I think Bob’s Baking Mix compensated, because it didn’t seem to matter. So, with that caveat for my Oops, here’s what I ended up using (approximately):

2 Tbsp. Splenda

1/4 c. Bob’s Red Mill Low-Carb Baking Mix

2 Tbsp. flaxseed meal

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 eggs

1/4 c. butter (softened)

1 c. buttermilk

Sift dry ingredients; whisk in eggs, vanilla, buttermilk and softened butter. Pour into partially baked pie crust (see above). Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I’m not kidding y’all … the crust was dense enough but flaky and very flavorful. The pie fluffed up like a “real” pie, and even though I didn’t use as much Splenda/sugar as the original recipe, I found it pleasantly sweet. (I ate two slices tonight, if that’s any indication!)  :p

Simple blessings

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Several of my favorite bloggers are featuring posts of thanksgiving this month, so it seemed fitting to write one of my own. In no particular order, here are several blessings for which I am very thankful:

  • Snuggly Sunday mornings. As rowdy and stubborn as little boys can be, I love it when they snuggle up to my elbow, want to hold my hand or pull my arm around their shoulders during church.
  • Running water. Until there is a leak that forces you to shut off the water to the house and spend the weekend away from home, it’s easy to take things like bathtubs and toilets for granted.
  • Sugar-free chai. I love the funky, little eclectic coffee shop on the edge of campus.
  • Pictures. I’m not a great photographer – and an even worse scrapbooker, but I take lots of snapshots. Thanks to pictures, I can still see the sparkle in my brother’s eyes every day.

There are many, many more, of course, but these are a few that came to mind off-hand. I’ll try to post others before Thanksgiving.

Casualties of war

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It is Veterans Day, a time to reflect upon and appreciate those who have fought for our freedom. War is a necessary evil, for lack of a better phrase. People may argue till the cows come home that we should “make love, not war,” but the reality is that there comes a time when a country has to put its foot down and defend itself.  Our convenient, albeit overwhelming, access to 24/7 news means that we hear constant updates of war casualties … we can’t escape it … death tolls, names of dead soldiers, pictures of the wounded.

What we don’t hear as much about are the quiet struggles of military marriages and the internal turmoil of the soldiers as individuals. Suicide and divorce rates are both up from years prior.

The Army makes resources available to families and soldiers so that they can be alert to warning signs of behavioral health issues, but there is still a pervasive, negative view of seeking help. Soldiers are supposed to be strong. Soldiers are supposed to be resourceful. Soldiers never show weakness. Soldiers are Army Strong. They are drilled to be tough, yet we expect them to switch gears while the wheels are still in motion and become vulnerable.

It’s akin to never letting your kids climb trees, jump off ledges or ride a skateboard, but they grow up and you wonder why they are afraid to take risks. If they’ve spent years hearing that they should be safe, be careful, don’t run … and are never given the chance to explore those things, even under our watchful eyes … how can we expect them to do the opposite once they leave their protective bubble?

Is war to blame for the increase in suicides and divorces? Not entirely, no. I do think it’s a contributing factor, though. War is stressful – and not just for the soldiers! Problems that existed in a marriage may actually get a reprieve when a soldier is deployed, because it’s a forced separation for the couple. They get a timeout to focus on other things (like surviving). When the soldier returns home, chances are, those problems are still there. In addition, there are added stressors like re-acclimating to civilian life, reverse culture shock and so many other factors.

As friends and loved ones of military families, I wish there was something better we could say to each other than, “If you need anything, I’m here for you.” What is the military spouse supposed to answer? “Gee, thanks – could you please get my husband to look me in the eye when we talk? Or, better yet, could you get him to talk to me, period? Could you get my kids to stop lashing out and pushing him away? Could you get him to stop bouncing his leg nervously at the dinner table so that the whole table shakes? Could you force him to go to counseling with me?” I’m not saying that all of these questions are mine, personally, but at any given point in time, some of them could be.

We tend to romanticize homecomings. Everyone is supposed to be happy, right? We are glad that the soldier is home safely, indeed, and that’s nothing to make light of; too many do not return whole or at all. Those lingering problems that were shoved into a box and stashed in the back of the closet with all of the outgrown winter clothes are still there, though. At some point, the box needs to be opened and sorted through, or it’s bound to spill over and become a bigger mess to deal with.

Miffie the poodle

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At the risk of sounding like a heartless person, I have to admit that I can’t stand poodles. I know that people think they are cute with their fluffy ‘dos, but I’ve only met one poodle that I could tolerate — a gray/black miniature who was elderly and blind.

My dislike is not without precedent — in elementary school, I was once chased through my neighborhood by a poodle that stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our doberman pincer. In fact, that monster may have even been bigger than our doberman! I pedaled my bike as fast as I could while that beast snapped at my heels. I can still hear the click of its teeth … *shudder*

I remember making it safely home and telling my family about the ordeal. My brother teased me for YEARS about my fear of poodles. Years. Incessantly.

A few nights ago, I woke up feeling confused by a conversation that felt very real, but it didn’t make any sense. It took me a few groggy moments to realize that I had been a dream.

I’ve had straight, fine hair all of my life, and for the last several years, I’ve kept it pretty short. Unfortunately, I did go through a few seasons earlier in life where I thought a perm would be a good idea. I thought that the only way to get “body” in my hair (other than teasing it with a comb) was to perm it. Oh, ’80s, look what you did to me! I can’t recall a specific incident to verify this claim, but I’m pretty sure that I recall my brother also telling me that my hair looked like a poodle when it was permed. This is important, because I was just looking at some of these “big hair” pictures the other day, so it was fresh on my mind.

Anyway, I woke up with the echo of my brother’s laugh in my memory. He was laughing at me, of course, but it was his hearty, I’m-just-joshing-you laugh. The only bit of the dream that I could recall was that I had been standing in front of a mirror with – you guessed it – a horrible perm. I had tried to tame it by pulling it up with a barrette, but that only made the front more poofy.

Nathan was standing behind me, laughing at my terrible hairdo, and he said, “You look like Miffie the poodle!” He kept laughing to the point of tears and wheezing, and I was fighting a chuckle, myself (just too stubborn to give into him). That’s when I woke up.

Miffie the poodle?! I’ve never even heard that name before. What a funny thing to dream. I don’t even care that he was laughing at me — it is so rare to hear his voice in my dreams, so I relished even what little I could remember from the silly scene. I miss his laugh the most.

Zoom, zoom to California

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Traveling with five children can be challenging, but I tried to be organized & think ahead. I did forget chewing gum for takeoff and landing, but all in all, I think we did pretty ok.

I packed a drawstring backpack for each boy with his own plastic folder containing a new coloring book, notebook, pencil and a few crayons. They also had a paper lunchsack with some snacks, and they each brought a handheld game (the oldest 3 have Nintendo DSes, and the youngest 2 received Leapsters for their birthdays). All of the above kept them fairly occupied.

A few fun tidbits I thought I’d share:
• The flight attendant on our first leg asked the little two if they were twins. No. 5 looked up at her and responded with utmost sincerity, “Nope, we’re brothers.”
• The awesome crew on the next flight offered for the boys to go inside the cockpit AND take turms sitting in the co-captain’s spot! Talk about some excited kids! If that weren’t enough, the captain even let No. 4 greet the passengers over the intercom. He said, “Hi!” and the captain followed up by saying, “That was your captain speaking; he’ll be back in a moment to welcome you aboard.” He totally made my munchkin’s day!
• There were also some kindnesses from strangers, like the grandma who sat next to No. 3 and struck up a conversation with him, the two folks on either side of No. 5 who helped him with his word search — all-around awesome people, and the lady who shared pieces of gum with Nos. 2&4. We didn’t have any control over our seat choices, so it was nice that other folks took to our scattered family so kindly.
• I would be remiss if I didn’t also give a shout out to the terrific volunteers at the USO at IAH (Houston). What sweethearts!

Well, it sounds like everyone is finally asleep! We hit that wall where they were so tired, they got hyper. Thankfully, some dinner in their bellies and a walk back to the hotel in the brisk air seemed to help. I’ll try to write more later this weekend.