Menu Plan

--In the pic above, my sweet sister and her kiddos joined us for an impromptu dinner in February. Thankfully, I had a menu planned and could feed these precious ones a yummy meal that did not involve cussing or running to McD's (neither of which I am above doing, sadly enough. Just keeping it real).--

Monday:
Squash/Zucchini/Mushroom/Chicken Quesadillas with sour cream, homemade salsa and chips

Tuesday:
Roast (Julia Child style, see below), mashed taters, salad made with spinach from our garden!! our first fruits this year!! I LOVE gardening! (make granola)

Wednesday:
Date night with the hot hubster

Thursday:
Butter Roasted Chicken (another Julia style), leftover taters, green beans or peas (soak dough for pizza)

Friday:
Homemade Pizza

Saturday:
If it doesn't rain, we're hoping to spend the day at the pool. I'll probably take leftover pizza or make cheese quesadillas, will definitely take popcorn, apples, raisins, whatev.
Dinner that night will probably be marlboro man sandwiches with a little less salt than the recipe calls for.

Sunday: clean out the fridge day. We eat all the leftovers and often eat out for lunch or dinner on Sunday.

Recipes:

So, what I mean by a roast being made Julia style is that I cook a good sized roast (large enough to serve 6 adults) with nothing but red wine and beef broth (about 1 cup wine, 2-3 cups broth or vice versa). Now, Julia does a LOT more to her roasts than I do to mine, but this still gets a very rich flavor and makes an out-of-this-world gravy.

Butter Roast Chicken is another Julia recipe. I bake a whole chicken (bones and all, people) for this recipe. When the chicken is raw, I rub the entire surface with 1 stick of softened butter, then I sprinkle salt all over the chicky. Then, I stuff the cavity with a whole bunch of fresh herbs from my garden. Bake at 350 for about 2 hours, I check mine for doneness with a thermometer. Divine, I tell ya! Divine!

Julie's Granola (easy and delirsh)

10 cups whole oats

16 oz hot water

3 oz Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar

1 cup coconut oil

soak the above for 8-24 hours

then add:

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. maple syrup

1.5 teaspoon salt

1-2 tablespoons vanilla

Stir well, bake at 240, 3ish hours, maybe more, stir every 30 minutes. Watch this well after the first two hours. It burns quickly and you will cry if it does. Trust me. If I do this at night, I'll turn the oven off for the last thirty minutes or so and give it all night to dry out in the oven. If it's not crispy in the AM, I turn on the oven again for a bit.

Okay, party's over. Laundry and granola are calling my name. Enjoy!

Making it work, part 2--Giving your babydad the night off

I've started a little series on things that work for our fam. Part 1 was all about how we revamped our breakfast routine to include a devotional and a little peace.

Here's Part 2:

When we just had one child, I tried to give my man the night off once every couple weeks. The babe and I would go to my ma's or my grandparent's house and give Justin some much needed free time. Now that we have three little ones and two of them are toddlers, I've had a much harder time giving my man an entire evening for himself. By God's grace, I have been able to give Justin several nights off in the past year. They are not every other week as they once were, but I think it's enough to give him some freedom and let him know I appreciate his efforts to work hard and lead our family well. A few tips on giving your man a break:

• email him or text him during the day and let him know you are giving him the night to himself.
• plan something fun for you and the kiddos (the park, a friend's house, a visit to the grandparent's, any place with a play land and food for you and the babes)
• If your man is a home-body, get out of the house so that he can enjoy some peace and quiet.
• If he enjoys a certain restaurant, give him a giftcard or coupon to said restaurant.
• Be sure that he knows you want him to enjoy himself and that you will not resent him for taking a break or make him "pay you back".
• Don't resent him. Give freely.
• Don't let the fact that he doesn't give you nights off keep you from serving him. He just might learn from your example. ;)
• If he's at home, let him know how long you will be gone. If he's out, let him know when you will have kiddos in bed, so he can come home. :)
• Don't plan to clean out a closet or cook a nine course meal while your man is maxin' and relaxin'. If Justin has the night off, we eat leftovers, pb&j or I take the kiddos out. I try to keep my time with the kids low-key and simple so that I'm not super exhausted by the end of the night.

The main thing is to be in tune with your man. If you can sense that he needs a break, give him a break. Love him selflessly, give to him freely and thank him for working hard for your family. I have never regretted giving my man the night off. We both give each other time off regularly and we see it as an investment in our marriage and our family. I am not the poster child for loving Justin selflessly, but I have seen firsthand how his selfless love for me ministers to me and really does make me a better mom and wife.

Happy Mother's Day! :)

Mostly Whole Wheat Rolls

Connie's Rolls
(This recipe makes about 8 big sandwich rolls.)

1 cup warm water or leftover potato water (i.e. water used to boil potatoes in--makes tender rolls, but not totally necessary)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup brown or raw sugar
3 T. butter
1 egg
1 T. yeast
Whole wheat (I usually use freshly ground wheat, but I've made them with bagged wheat from Kroger and they still turned out very well)
unbleached white flour

Put the water in the mixing bowl. Add salt, sugar, butter. Let the butter melt. (If butter is cold the water will need to be pretty warm, almost hot).

Add enough whole wheat flour to make a thick paste. Stir well. Add egg and yeast. Stir vigorously.

Add unbleached flour slowly and stir in. When too thick to stir, turn out on floured board and knead.

Knead for 5-10 min, keeping the dough soft, but not too sticky.

Let rise in covered bowl until about double. Punch down.

Let rise again until double. Punch down. Let rest 5-10 min.

Shape into desired shapes. For hamburger buns, pat dough on floured surface and cut with upside down drinking glass. (I usually just roll these into the shape I would like. I find that I make them too thick or too thin when I roll them and use a cutter) Transfer to greased cookie sheet. Cover with tea towel. Let rise until light. Put in preheated 375 degree oven. Bake for 10 min. Butter tops when out of oven.

I would love to say that these freeze well, but they are really best fresh and keep well for a few days at room temp in a sealed container. These are great with burgers, chicken salad, and even good ole pb&j. I made these a lot before I got my heavy duty mixer. They are a great alternative to store bought breads and are very easy.

When you plan to make these, it is best to allow plenty of time. If I'm going to make them for dinner at 6, I usually start making them around noon so that they will be out of the oven and out of my way.

If you have any questions, shoot me a comment or email and I'm happy to help!

In the pic below, the rolls are toward the bottom of the table. I am no perfectionist, so you can see what the rolls look like when a non-chef prepares them. :)

Breakfast with the Bertmans, making it work, part 1

Hey friends. I'm blogging from the couch with a twin on each side. I usually don't/can't blog while the kiddos are awake, but I'm also using this as a training session regarding not touching the computer. I'm multitasking as usual and it's awesome. Or not. And, the babies just ran off to play with bubber. Whew.

Anyhow, I wanted to share a change that has really helped me as a mom. For the past couple years, our breakfast routine goes like this:

I wake up. Starving. Daily. Kids wake up starving daily, esp. Gramm. If Gramm does not eat early enough, he will turn green, lay down and sometimes vomit. Strange, I know. It's often a race to feed the kids while I ignore my hunger and get crankier by the minute as the hungry horns emerge and mommy becomes evil-hungry-get-out-of-my-way-and-give-me-my-food-mommy. The kids sit at the bar while I fix breakfast, plate their food and then start to fix my breakfast and eventually Justin's breakfast. By the time my food is ready, the kids are usually asking for more things: milk, napkins, "more eggs! milk! milk!" while I am trying to fill my bottoming out self and saying, "ask me nicely. I will not give you anything until you USE YOUR MANNERS!!!!!!!!!!!" And, I usually take Justin his breakfast in his office during all this chaos with resentment in my heart and frustration that he needs food, too. (I know that is totally ridiculous.) I have never been a fan of eating while standing, which is what I do nearly every morning.

It has taken me a long time to realize that this routine stinks. I have been getting frustrated every morning. I am, by nature, a morning person and want to enjoy our mornings and start out days out in a non-hurried, easing in kind of way.

On Monday, I got the bright idea that the kids and I would all eat breakfast together. After having breakfast together at the table with Justin over Easter weekend, I saw how much more pleasant it was. I've been fixing all of our plates at the same time. The kids and I all sit at the table together and I take Justin his breakfast before we sit down to eat. I fix the kid's drinks before we sit down and try to bring everything to the table that we may need (napkins, seconds, etc.). Now I get to eat sitting down with the kids. I have even had time to drink hot tea! No more demands to overwhelm me, no more bottoming out and wanting to yell at little people first thing in the morning.

Eating breakfast with the kids has also given me a very natural opportunity to have a quick morning devotional with my kiddos. I have been wanting to read the bible and pray with them in the morning for quite some time and I love that this is working out. I can see how God is blessing my efforts to make the most of my time with these precious ones.

The book we are using for our devotional time was recommended to me by a friend a year or two ago and I LOVE it. It's a little old-school and so far, is packed with great explanations about God, who He is, how we can look for Him in creation, etc. Each devotional has a bible verse and a passage of scripture to read with my kids. The book is Leading Little Ones to God by Marian Schoolland. Reading the devotions to the kids has been a much needed reminder that Justin and I have a wonderful responsibility and privilege of sharing the Gospel with our kids. As parents, it is primarily our responsibility to teach our kids the Word. This task overwhelms me at times, but I am reminded that God has equipped me for this good work and His grace is sufficient for me in everything, even teaching my kids about God and the b-i-b-l-e.

I hope this helps other moms as we journey through raising little ones. Lately I have struggled to find joy in this blessed task. After months of finding great fulfillment and happiness in caring for this brood, I've found myself resentful, tired, and just plain wore out. I told my husband one night last week that I feel completely poured out on many days. It took the Spirit's work in my heart to show me that I was creating chaos in our days by not having a good routine in place for many things, in this case, it was breakfast. I can honestly say that this one change has positively affected much of the rest of our day. Granted, we won't always have a devo at breakfast, although that would be nice. There will be days that it won't happen. I don't expect perfection, I just want to do this well and I want my kids to know that my time with them is precious, important and worth planning for.

Gotta run now. The twins have dressed themselves while I wrote this. Here's to high-water jeans, pink t-shirts tight across chubby tummies, and black patent leather dress shoes on the wrong feet!

Corn and Sausage Chowder

A sweet friend of mine recently gave birth to twin boys. While she was pregnant with her little guys, she was very busy caring for her three older children. I made this soup for her toward the end of her pregnancy and she said it was a huge hit and asked for the recipe. I thought you all might enjoy it too. It freezes well and is very easy to prepare.

Corn and Sausage Chowder
1 pound breakfast sausage (I believe I used hot sausage)
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 stick butter
1/3 cup flour
1 quart whole milk
3 cups corn
1-2 cups potato, cut in small (about 1/2 inch) cubes
1 teaspoon cajun seasoning (optional)

Brown, crumble and drain sausage. Set aside. Melt butter, add chopped onion, bell pepper and potato, saute for about 3 minutes and then sprinkle with flour, stir and continue to saute until the onion is soft. Slowly add the milk until it is heated and thickening. After the milk is thickened, add the corn and season to taste. Heat long enough to ensure that the potatoes are no longer crunchy and the flavors are well combined. This is great with hot rolls or cornbread. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies

I've had requests for several recipes lately. I hope to share them with you over the next couple weeks. My gal pal, Julie, requested the following cookies for her birthday this year. I made these for my girls last year on their second birthday and everyone loved them, including Julie. Some people never forget a face, some foodies never forget a cookie. Here's the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies
for the cookie:
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (I usually substitute muscavado or sucanat in place of the sugars)
1/2 cup cocoa
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
16 ounces chocolate chips

Cream butter, sugars and cocoa, add eggs one at a time. Leave mixer running while adding remaining ingredients, add chocolate chips last and mix them just till they are incorporated into the dough. Chill the dough if you have time, no big deal if you don't. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. A tip about the size, I would make these on the small side because they are extremely filling when sandwiched with the filling listed below. Do not overbake these bad boys, you will regret it.

For the wonderful filling recipe, go here. This is a frosting recipe that the Pioneer Woman discovered via her recipe site and I've been in love with it ever since. Here's the deal people, you can make this frosting WITHOUT white sugar. That's right, y'all. You can substitute muscavado or sucanat, which are sugars that are processed very little, unbleached and they actually contain a little nutrition, and you can still have a great frosting. My little fam loves this frosting and I've not once heard, "Gee, Mom, I really miss powdered-sugar laden frosting that makes my teeth rot out of my head. Could you please make some more?" (Please note that I still occasionally make powdered-sugar frosting especially when I'm in a hurry or need to make chocolate frosting. I've not yet found a good white-sugar-less chocolate frosting.)

To assemble the whoopie pies, let your baked cookies cool on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes or so, then put a generous dollop of frosting on the underside of one cookie and top it with another cookie. See, cookie sandwiches! This cookie is what I call the good girl's oreo. Enjoy it and be sure to share! The pic below is the only one I have of these delicious treats. Feel free to color the filling bright blue or pink. :)

People be Having Babies!

pic above: me and Gramm, 7.12.05

During the past few months, several of my friends have been blessed by the joys of parenthood. Many are pregnant for the first time, and many are enjoying the roller coaster ride of a babe's first year of life. All of these recent happenings have brought back many memories of Gramm's first months of life. Now that I am nearly six years away from that time, I feel like I can write with clarity about what really went on at our little casa.

My man said that from the first (induced) contraction I became a different person. I remember snapping at him as he told me to breathe. I was breathing, or so I thought. I was actually concentrating on not vomiting during contractions that were 60 seconds apart. Did I mention that we'd been married about 18 months at this point? I ended up having a C-section and delivering a screaming, healthy boy several hours later.

We got home and our new life began. I didn't understand why my tummy still looked so pregnant. I mean, I'd had the baby, right? I was also really tired. I was cranky. I had nightmares about someone physically harming my newborn son. There was drama with my extended family that caused me immense amounts of stress. I vividly remember waking up to feed Gramm around 4 a.m. when he was just weeks old and sobbing uncontrollably. I mean, sobbing so hard that I couldn't breathe. Justin did his best to comfort me and I think he prayed with me. I didn't have too many more crying spells, but I was anxious and angry often.

I remember thinking that I needed an assistant. My baby was a lot of work. I had to nurse him, which hurt, change him, which required standing up and even that was painful for about 2 weeks, and I still needed to be nice to my husband. Seriously? I couldn't fathom the thought of having another baby and for awhile, I really thought Gramm would be an only child.

When Gramm was around 5 weeks old, he began crying a lot. I mean a lot. This crazy crying went on for about 2 months. I was embarrassed by the fact that I didn't birth a laid back baby. He had horrible reflux and just wanted to be held. He never really complied with a 3-4 hour "schedule". He screamed at toys, loud noises, bright lights, etc. My younger sister and sister-in-law had little ones in the year before G was born. Both of their babies were very chilled. My son wasn't. I thought I was doing something wrong. I thought he wasn't relaxed enough because I was so stressed.

The anxiety continued. I was constantly fearful of Justin or Gramm dying or being harmed by some evil person. Snapping at my poor husband had become the norm. Gramm was around 6 months old when I realized I had post partum depression. I think it was at a visit to my general family doctor that it dawned on me that something was wrong. I'd known I hadn't been normal for several weeks. Talking with my doc, who was also a new parent, opened my eyes. After much prayer and discussion with my man, I began taking an anti-anxiety medication and got my hormones tested. As it turns out, I was headed straight for menopause at 25 years old and had to start taking hormones to get myself back on track.

The hormones and the medication helped a lot. Another motivating factor was that my sweet man sat me down and basically told me that I had to stop being mean and selfish. He did all this with the utmost care and gentleness. I listened and cried and said I was so sorry. With the Lord's help, I was able to start being nice consistently again.

pic above: me and Gramm when he was about 3 months old

If you know me, you know I can talk the paint off a wall. Surprisingly enough, I talked to very few people about my PPD. I was so ashamed of the fact that I was depressed and that I couldn't hold it together. And, since there was some family drama, I couldn't really talk to the people I normally talked to about how I was feeling.

I learned a lot during this stage of life. It was really hard, but also really good. I finally got my sea legs and enjoyed mothering our little guy. I got more sleep. I was able to get out and take my boy everywhere I went. The storm subsided and I felt free to enjoy our life without so much stinking fear.

If I could go back and talk to the naive, excited, 9 month pregnant HB pre-delivery, I would say the following:

• be nice to your man. Put him before the baby always.
• if you get depressed, don't freak out. Find someone to talk to about it and get help.
• Taking anti-anxiety medicine to deal with your PPD does not mean you will be on some type of anxiety/depression medicine forever.
• PPD does not make you a weak or inferior person.
• A fussy baby is not a reflection on your parenting skills.
• find friends that have little ones. Don't expect your life to look like the life of someone without children in their home.
• run like the wind from the comparison trap. Comparing yourself to another mom will very likely never be helpful.
• keep trusting Jesus, or at least try.
• enjoy the cute boy, he will soon be big. (see below)

Now that I've been a mom for more than a few weeks, I know that what I experienced was very normal. If you are a new mom, an old mom, or about to be one, I encourage you to talk and/or write about your experiences. Most of us have struggled in the dark at one time or another. Being real about our lives can shed light on another person's pain and help them to grow, feel normal, and heal. Here's to keeping it real.

Love to all.

HB