10/20/12 - Hearty Potato Soup

Oy, vey! That about sums up today.

So, any “long time readers”, or folks who know us in real life, know that we had to put a cat down last year…really, closing in on 2 years ago now. Frank. One night I went into our basement to do some laundry and found Frank laying inside the door, lifeless. He actually was still alive, but barely. We rushed him to the emergency animal clinic, and they knew immediately his bladder was completely full, about to burst, and he was in really bad shape. They gave us some options, but made it pretty clear that anything we did was an extremely long-shot, and it did not look good. We ended up putting him to sleep, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life.

Now, we still have our other 2 cats, Rico and Chloe. Rico has always been the “perfect” sized cat…the perfect shape, slim and muscular. For a long time, he had some kind of weird digestive issue that made him throw up, basically on a daily basis. Sometimes food, sometimes just a watery substance. A few months ago he stopped throwing up. We had finally started regulating their food and we had water bowls in a few places throughout the house. He noticeably started gaining weight, and we figured it was just because we had his digestion issues under control. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed that he’s REALLY put on weight…he has been getting really heavy, like SOLID heavy. It didn’t seem normal, but I wasn’t sure what to think. Well, this morning, I knew there was something wrong with him. He was walking funny, he was fairly lethargic, he cried when we picked him up, and I caught him making a few unsuccessful trips to the litter box. We were immediately worried that he had the same thing as Frank, it instantly popped into our heads, and I was starting to panic.

I called the clinic we took Chuy to a few weeks ago, explained what was going on, and they said they could see him at 2:00. I was really hoping they would tell us to bring him right in, but I was just relieved they could see him so I didn’t think much of it. We tried to go about our morning…ate breakfast, played with the girls, kept an eye on Rico. The girls were really interested in what was going on and wanted to be close to Rico. We got them down for an early nap, showered and got ready. We had to wake them up to get them ready and head to his appointment (even though, of course, they weren’t tired).

The nurse that checked us in didn’t seem SUPER concerned. His temperature was low, but his heart rate was strong. But, he was just lying on the table…didn’t care who was touching him, or what they were doing to him. Definitely not normal. The vet came in, felt his belly, and knew right away his bladder was filling up. She started talking about options, and said that his bladder needed to be drained immediately, and he needed to get unblocked. Then started talking about IV’s, clinic care, etc. and the dollar signs were piling up. I started crying – over our poor cat, over this decision we had to make, everything. They left the room so we could talk about it, but made it known that we needed to decide NOW. I was so torn. I could tell Christian was too, but he said I’m the one who takes care of our money, so I had to make the decision. In the end, I couldn’t put him down. We’ve had him for 8 years, he’s strong, he’s our baby. There was something inside me, that just told me it wasn’t his time. So, we agreed to move forward with the procedure and care.

They rushed him back into their clinic, and we left. The girls ate a little, late lunch and then we all headed out into the yard. We raked up the leaves in the front yard, filled our Halloween pumpkin bags and ran around, playing with the girls. Anything to distract us from everything else that was going on.

We picked Rico up at closing time (they don’t do overnight care at this clinic). They said he responded well to the procedure, but the first bag of fluids that came out was almost all blood. He was in bad shape for sure. They kept him on an IV all evening, and injected some water under his skin to rehydrate him. They sent him home on a catheter to help flush out his system and make sure everything kept flowing. Because of that, we had to set up the dogs old kennel for Rico to stay in, and put it on our bed so it was up high, and the catheter could hand down below him. He was very mellow all night, and pretty much just laid with his head in his water bowl, drinking away. Hopefully that was a good sign. Tomorrow, he goes back to spend the day in the clinic. Fingers Crossed, my heart breaks just thinking about it.

Tonight’s dinner (amidst the chaos) was Hearty Potato Soup – perfect comfort food for the occasion!

Ingredients:

• 6 Potatoes, peeled and cut into ½” cubes
• 2 Carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 Celery Ribs, thinly sliced
• 2 14½  oz cans of Low-Sodium, Fat-Free Chicken Broth
• 1 tsp Dried Basil
• 1 tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Pepper
• ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1½ cups Fat-Free Half & Half

Sides:

• Fresh Bakery Buns - toasted in the oven.

Directions:

1.      Combine potatoes, carrots, celery, broth, basil, salt and pepper in a crock pot and cook on High for 3 hours.

2.      Stir together the flour and half & half, stir into the soup, cover and cook for another 30 minutes.

This was good, and a great, filling soup. I would like to add some kind of meat to it though…shredded chicken, some ham…something to give it a little protein. Then, it would definitely be perfect!

10/19/12 - 3-Cheese Keilbasa Bake with Sesame Green Beans

Today was my Friday off. YAY! My mom also had today off because of her work conference last week, so she had Olivia for the day. Amelia actually slept in until around 8:30, so that was a wonderful start to the day! Though, my weigh in brought that down a notch. I gained a pound this week. Ugh. Just a pound, and it's to be expected seeing that I haven't been at the top of my gain, but still. Boo.

Once up, we got right to potty training fun. Amelia was ready to go right away…I asked her what we were going to do today, and without missing a beat, she said “use the potty!!!”. We made her little sticker sheet, we filled her M&M jar, we took her diaper off, and we got to it. She played, colored, ate breakfast. All of the usual. She wouldn’t really sit on her potty much though. Shortly before her nap, I finally got her to sit down on it for a good long time (we looked at pictures on my phone to distract her). Yet, she still didn’t go. She made it through the morning with no accidents, but also didn’t go at all. A little frustrated, I put a pull-up on her, convinced her it was underwear and we don’t go potty in our underwear, and put her down for a nap.

She took a nice, long 3-hour nap. When she woke up, she proudly told me “I didn’t go potty in my underwear!”. I checked, and sure enough, she was dry as can be. She sat on the potty, but nothing happened. We went about our evening….ate a little snack, I made dinner, we played for a while. Christian picked up Olivia on his way home, we ate dinner and spent the evening hanging out together. NOTHING on the potty front though. No accidents, no success – she literally held it ALL.DAY.LONG. I finally got her back into the bathroom before bed and she sat on the potty for a while. I ran the water, I had her soak her hands in a warm bowl of water, we talked about it. Nothing. I decided I better put a diaper on her, because she was going to blow at some point, and a pull-up wasn’t going to do the trick. Sure enough, on the way to their room, from the bathroom, she went. UGH!

So, she clearly knows how to hold it and what the potty is all about, but she’s just not interested in using it. I don’t think she’s ready to give up “being the baby” quite yet. I know it was only one day, but I think we’re just going to take a break, and try again in a few weeks or so. I’ll see if she brings it up at all tomorrow, but I’m not going to push it at all.

Once the girls were in bed, we just had a quiet evening. We were both pretty exhausted, so we didn’t have the energy to do too much.

Tonight’s dinner was a 3-Cheese Keilbasa Bake with Oriental Green Beans.

Ingredients:

• 6 oz Elbow Macaroni
• 1 pound Kielbasa or Polish Sausage (halved lengthwise and sliced)
• ½ tsp Olive Oil
• 1 medium Zucchini, quartered and sliced
• 1 medium Carrot, grated
• ¼ tsp minced Garlic
• 14 ozs Spaghetti Sauce
• 7-8ozs Stewed Tomoatoes
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 7-8 ozs Ricotta Cheese
• 1 cup Shredded Cheese
• 1 cup Park-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

• 1-1½ pound fresh Green Beans
• 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 6 minced Garlic Cloves

Sides:

• Biscuits – cooked, according to the package

Directions:

Pasta

1.      Preheat oven to 350.

2.      Cook the macaroni according to the package. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown the sausage in the oil over medium heat; drain. Add the zucchini, carrots and garlic; cook and stir for 5-6 minutes, until crisp-tender.

3.      Stir in the spaghetti sauce and tomatoes, Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Drain the macaroni.

4.      In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta cheese and egg.

5.      In a 9x13”, greased pan, layer the macaroni, the meat sauce, the cheese/egg mix and top with the cheddar and mozzarella cheese.

6.      Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Green Beans

1.      Cook the green beans in boiling water, 4-5 minutes and drain.

2.      Combine the soy sauce, oil and sugar in a bowl and mix until smooth.

3.      Spray a skillet or wok, and cook the garlic over medium-high heat, stirring constantly for about 30 seconds.

4.      Add the beans, stir, and cook for about 2 minutes

5.      Add the soy sauce mixture, and cook for 1-2 minutes.

This one actually had some really good flavor. The girls loved it, and it was nice that the carrots were grated into the mixture – flavor, and guaranteed veggie intake. They actually really like the zucchini too though. Winner!

10/18/12

Today was a super busy day at work. Like usual, on my last day of the week, I had a ton to catch up on before the weekend. But, I’m pretty busy in general right now anyway. Christian has still been working a ton of overtime, with no real end in sight. The girls are doing great in school. They have been doing a “letter of the week” in Olivia’s class since the new “year” started, and Olivia loves it. She loves telling me about their new letters and what they’re learning. She seems to be playing with the other kids a lot more now that Bella hasn’t been going to school. I know she misses her a ton, but I do think it’s helping with her adjustment. Amelia is loving Miss Eva’s class and being with the older toddlers. She still loves her little buddy Niko – he’s definitely her little BFF at school. It’s cute.

I was fairly successful at doing some planning today. I made the girls’ dentist appointments (not until January, but they seem to book up fast) and Olivia’s 4 year check-up (also not until January, but I wanted them on the same day, and her doctor REALLY books up fast), I made their flu shot appointments and made my own dentist appointment. We also found out today we’re going to the Vikings game next week, so I talked to my mom about watching the girls. YAHOO, I was on fire!

After work, I picked up the girls, ran home to pack Olivia an overnight bag, and brought her over to my mom’s for the night. She was really excited, and Amelia was REALLY upset as we drove away and she didn’t get to stay. I welcomed the night of quiet with only one little toddler to take care of, and Amelia quickly got over her anger when she realized she had my undivided attention all night! We had a great night together too. We talked a lot about potty training and I did my best to get her excited. We ate some dinner, played together (no fighting, no yelling, no toy stealing, no tattling, no chaos). It was great!

Now, time to gear up for tomorrow. But, for tonight, I just enjoyed this girl…

10/17/12 - Hamburger Helper

I really don’t have much to report on today. Work was work, the girls did great in school, we ate and did our usual evening routine. Nothing too exciting!

Today Amelia’s teacher had all of the kids “write” a note to their daddy. Amelia’s note said “I like my daddy, but I like mommy too. I wish mommy was home”. This made me LOL. My little mama’s girl, she knows what’s up!

Tonight, I had kind of a lazy cooking night. We had some good ol’ Hamburger Helper!

Dinner:

• Stroganoff Hamburger Helper – cooked according to the box
• Green Giant Veggie Steamer – cooked according to the package
• Bisquits – cooked according to the package

It’s a classic, and it’s nice to have some quick, no think dinners on hand!

10/16/12 - Mexican Chicken Casserole

Well, I was in a bit of a better mood today, PLUS, but work was a major pain in the butt all day, MINUS. It was just one of those days where it seems like everything you touch gets all out of whack or goes wrong in some way. Everything is an issue or has something that needs to be fixed. These kind of days seems to happen way too often suddenly!

Right before I left work, I checked my facebook, and thank goodness I did. A couple friends posted about a huge backup on the highway I usually take home – a ton of cop cars had a portion of the highway blocked off for something, so there was a major gawker slowdown going on. I ended up taking a different way home and was able to get home at my usual time – YAY technology! Turns out, a somebody robbed a bar down the street, and was trying to hide under a (super high) bridge. I did have to pass the area on my way home, and there really were a TON of cops and troopers. Must have been a pretty big deal.

Once home, it was just the usual. Dinner, some play time, baths and bed. Far less exciting than the rest of the day.

Tonight’s dinner was Mexican Chicken Casserole.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fat-free, less-sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 4.5oz cans of Diced Green Chiles
• 1¾ Pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1 cup Evaporated Skim Milk
• 1 cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
• ¼ cup tub-style Cream Cheese
• 1 10oz  can of Enchilada Sauce
• 12 6” Corn Tortillas
• ½ Cup Shredded Reduced-Fat Extra-Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 1 oz Tortilla Chips, crushed

Sides:

• We had some leftover refried beans from this past weekend

Directions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350.

2.      Combine the broth and 1 can of chiles in a large skillet, and bring to a boil.

3.      Add chicken, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, or until chicken is done, turning the chicken once.

4.      Remove chicken from the liquid (reserving the liquid), cool chicken and shred the  meat with two forks. Note, our chicken still wasn’t quite done, so I threw it back in the pan with a little more broth, covered it and steamed it for another 5-10 minutes.

5.      Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 can of chiles, and sauté for 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the reserved cooking liquid, milk, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese and enchilada sauce; stir well. Stir in the shredded chicken and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

6.      Place 4 tortillas in the bottom on a 2-quart casserole, coated with cooking spray. Spoon 2 cups of the chicken mixture over the tortillas. Repeat layers two more times, ending with the chicken mixture. Sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and finally the crushed chips.

7.      Bake for 30 minutes, or until thoroughly heated. Let stand for 10 minutes.

This casserole was actually really good. The girls loved it!

10/15/12

Today wasn’t really the best day. It was most definitely Monday, and I was sporting a case of the Monday’s ALL.DAY.LONG. It seemed like everything everybody did just rubbed me the wrong way. I suppose it’s good that I at least noticed, and accepted that! That’s the first step, right?

I did decide today, that we are going to try some potty training action this weekend. Friday is my day off, but my mom will have Olivia, so I’m going to work with Amelia all day without distractions. I’m really not sure how she’ll do. I’m honestly not interested in potty training at all. I know, that sounds ridiculous. But, diapers really don’t bother me right now, and we use so few, that it’s not really a financial burden or anything. And, I am not in the mood for one more kid I have to take on a bathroom trip EVERYWHERE we go yet. I feel like she’s still young enough that it isn’t a huge deal. BUT, she is getting to a good training age, so I figured we’ll see how it goes. She does show some interest in the potty, and she gets the whole process of it, but she’s never shown a hatred for diapers, or real interest in using the potty, so I’m not really holding my breath.

Since I didn’t make it to the store this weekend, and I didn’t feel like leaving work early today, we decided to take a family trip to the store tonight. The girls love going shopping (well, Amelia gets over it REAL quick), and it was nice to get out as a family. We gave the girls a quick dinner when we got home, played for a while, and called it a night. Hopefully I wake up on the correct side of the bed tomorrow!

On our way out the door tonight, the girls found my sunglasses and had to try them on. LOL...

10/14/12 - Chicken & Rice Casserole

Today was another super busy day for me, but in a different way. My mission today was to get our house back in tip-top shape. My plan was to send the family away, out of my hair, and tackle the disaster. After the girls woke us up, I took a few minutes to relax and wake up, and then got to work. I started getting all of the dirty clothes together to wash…I gathered my clothes, the girls’ clothes and all of the bedding in the living room, hoping Christian would take the hint and gather his clothes as well (since, you know, the entire house is his dirty hamper). He FINALLY got the hint, went into the room and got everything together…really, just in a pile on the bed. To me, that doesn't mean “wash me”, so…his stuff didn't get washed. It stayed right there, on the bed. Tonight, before bed (when I had him put the few things that did get washed away) he said to me “Oh, all of this needed to get washed too. Are you done?”. Yup, in fact, I am. Too bad, so sad. They never learn.

While I was gathering everything up, and picking up the bedrooms, Christian got the girls dressed, packed them a bag and was off to his parents’ house. I wanted him to STAY there with the girls….I knew if he was home, he would either just sit around and do nothing, while I ran around like crazy all day (which would drive me nuts), or actually help me, but I didn't want him to help because I wanted to clean by myself, MY way. It was a double-edged sword, so I just wanted him to stay with the girls (which, he knew). Of course, he didn't do that. He dropped them off, and claimed the girls didn't want him to stay there. Really, he just knew I didn't want his help, and it was his opportunity to “relax” all day. So, of course, that didn't sit well with me. Men!

Nonetheless, I just went about my business. I finished cleaning the bedrooms, did some cleaning in the bathroom. Picked up the living room (one major disaster zone) and got to work on the kitchen. The kitchen actually wasn't too bad… I've been good about keeping up on the dishes (I just had some bigger, non-dishwasher-appropriate dishes to wash) and keeping the counters clean and cleared since I've been on my fresh cooking kick. I just had to do a little picking up, drawer organizing and sweep the floors. Not horrible. I swept the entry way and organized the closet then, then it was time to tackle the toddler-tornado zone…the basement. We've been so busy the last few weeks, I've totally let the basement go. The princess area was in shambles, I had clothes, coats and spare bedding all over the living area and the toy room was completely torn apart (thankfully, the downstairs bathroom doesn't get used too much, so that didn't need cleaning – and the laundry room, “under the stairs” storage and spare bedroom are NOT on my cleaning radar right now). It took me forever, but I got everything back in order. If I can do a little picking up in the laundry room this week, I should be able to get the coffee table and media storage out to finally finish up the downstairs “remodel”…but we’ll see.

Amidst the cleaning, I managed to finish and put away the laundry, remake the beds and made tonight’s meal. I pretty much felt like a rockstar by the end of the day! Christian picked up the girls around 5:30. Olivia didn't take a nap, so she was pretty tired and crabby. They watched a show while I finished making dinner, and were off to bed shortly after we ate.

I finally settled in to watch a couple of shows and relax for a while before bed. Feeling very accomplished, that’s for sure! The only issue is that I didn't make it to the grocery store (of course), so I’ll probably have to leave work early tomorrow (of course) to do that. But, all in all, it was a successful day!

Tonight’s meal was a Chicken and Rice casserole.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups, Uncooked Rice
• ½ Cup of Water
• 14.5 ozs of Chicken Broth
• 2 10¾ oz Cans of Reduced-Fat Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
• 2 Cups of Fat Free Milk
• 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• ½ tsp Salt
• 4 Cups Cubed, Cooked Chicken Breasts
• 2 Cups Chopped Celery (I only used a little over a cup, 3 stalks)
• ¾ Cups Sliced Almonds

Side:

• Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (baked according to the package)

Directions:

1.      Mix the rice, water and broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce and simmer for 15-18 minutes – until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender.

2.      While that is cooking, mix the soup, milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt, chicken, celery and ½ cup of the Almonds in a large mixing bowl. Adding in the rice once cooked.

3.      Add the entire mixture into a greased, 9x13 pan. Cover with foil, and bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

4.      Remove the cover, add the remaining almond slices, and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until heated through.

Note: When I as preparing this, I completely missed the “COOKED” part of the chicken ingredient, and just put the chicken in, cut in small pieces, raw. I was really nervous about it, and not sure if I should serve it, but I tasted it and it was perfectly fine and cooked through. I think because the pieces were small enough, it cooked fine during the baking process (vs. a whole chicken breast or something, which probably would not have cooked through). I’d say you could do it either way. If cooked, I would probably shred it (I’m always a bigger fan of shredded vs. chunks).