Thoughts from the Shower

While I was taking a shower this afternoon, I had a thought (Hey! this is my thought. Don't be thinking about me in the shower, thou shalt not lust)

It is well known that I help more around the house than many (most?) other husbands and people have been known to get jealous about it.

My thought was, why is it, when people see this, they automatically think that Corrina is a control freak and forces me to do these things. Has anyone considered that maybe I'm the control freak and won't let Corrina do it so I can make sure it is done they way I want it done?

Many will say, "that's ridiculous, we know you're not like that" and my response is: the other scenario is equally ridiculous. It's a little something called communication and division of labor. We have talked about it and have decided on how to divide the tasks how they work best for us as a couple. 

And the only reason I can see why anyone would care is because A) the wife wishes her husband could be as helpful as me, and B) the husband wishes I didn't make them look bad.

To this I say: maybe you need to talk with your spouse and make some changes. But above all, get over it and quit judging us for what works for us.

Vampires then and Now

I know this is a little late, since Halloween s over and all. but I wanted to mention something. Back in the 15th Century lived the real life Dracula, AKA Vlad Dracul, the Impaler. This was one bad mama-jama. The below image is of him feasting whilst all around him hang the bodies of his enemies he has impaled. He was a person to fer and loathe.

Nowadays, however, we are stuck with this:

A cry-baby, emo teenager that sparkles. Vlad must be turning over in his (undead) grave.

Happy Halloween!

Politics

Haven't posted in a while, especially about politics, so I felt I should make some comments that have been floating around in my brain:


First off, earlier this week, a friend of mine, who's a political consultant, informed me that the campaign he's working on still has a chunk of money and wanted to know if I wanted to work for them until the elections. I would have loved to do it, it would have been a blast, but the campaign is in Modesto and there's no way for me to get work off. Oh well.


Second off, has anyone heard about the Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell, running for US Senate in Delaware? Her big controversy is that a few years ago in an interview she admitted to trying out witchcraft. I don't know how far into it she got but apparently it was in High School. The liberal left is criticizing her for this, insinuating she's still a witch and probably she'll steel your babies for sacrifices. First off, as she said, it was in high school and a lot of kids do a lot of stupid things in high school. Are we supposed to hold that against them forever? Because, last I checked, Obama has admitted to doing drugs, starting in high school and ending in college, including trying cocaine. Does anyone seem to care about that? And Secondly, what ever happened to freedom of religion in this country? Don't elect her because she's Wiccan, don't elect him because he's Mormon?! I thought we, as a nation, were supposed to be beyond this immaturity.


Thirdly, anyone who knows me knows that I'm pretty conservative and don't have a lot of good things to say about Obama. If I mention his name, its usually to criticize something he's doing that I think he shouldn't or not doing something I think he should. So it pangs me to admit that he has recently done a couple things for which I have to give him mad props. The United States used to be leader in the fields of math, science, technology, and engineering. Recently, however, we have been starting to drop away, and its partially due to the decreasing numbers of students who are choosing to pursue these fields in higher education. To fight this downward trend an to try to encourage students to pursue these fields, Obama announced last November that he was going to launch what he called the STEM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, Match education). It is also known as his :Educate to Innovate" campaign. As part of this campaign, President Obama hosted on Monday the first annual White House Science Fair. I really love what he said about the event: "If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.” This isn't about politics, its about education, (which I know can be a politically charged entity) but science fairs are great because these kids weren't spoon-fed information, they had to develop an experiment on their own and carry it out, teaching themselves what they needed to know to pull it off. So there you have it. I actually agree and am impressed by something Pres. Obama has done. No, the sky is not falling, nor is it the end of the world. And I can assure you this in no way is sending me down the path to liberalism. This is purely one geek putting aside political differences to admire an accomplishment to help inspire other could-be geeks to follow their dreams. Way to go Mr. President.

Feeling Blessed

I have not blogged on here in a while. I guess I should give an update.

Dave did not get into Pharmacy School this year =(  We realize that this is probably the best. We should hopefully have our car paid off by next summer, which would be a BIG relief to not have to worry about a car payment once Dave is in graduate school. We should be in a better financial position then we are now, and that is truly a blessing in disguise. Dave is working on getting his Pharmacy Technician license so that he can do that until he gets into Pharmacy School too. He's passed his exam, now he needs to submit his certificate to the State Board and get it approved so he can work.

Lara will be 22 months on Saturday. I can't believe she will be 2 years old in just over 2 months. Where did the time go! She is growing like a weed. She is probably 3 feet tall (was only 2 inches shy at her 18 month appointment). But of course height is something that is not lacking in her genes. She talks all of the time, developing her vocabulary everyday. She loves babies, and torturing her brother.

Jaron will be 3 1/2 years old later this month. What happened to my baby boy? I see pictures of him from when he was smaller, and I can't believe how much he has grown. It seems like yesterday he was a baby. It's harder to give milestones for him, he's getting to the age where those a few and far between. Still not potty trained, but I know he has his own time table and there is no pushing our little "perfectionist." He likes to help out with cleaning and cooking and thinks he can tell Lara what to do. He also enjoys torturing his little sister.

I've been stressed out lately. With losing financial aid from Dave graduating in May and not moving on to grad school, things are extremely tight. No wiggle room makes Mommy want to pull out her hair, lol. I've been so stressed with recently learning Jaron needs a bunch of cavities filled that require him to be put under general anesthesia because he's too apprehensive. That equals $ we don't have. Fortunately our insurance covers almost 100% of everything, except the Dentist's fee to go to the hospital and sealants. When I talked with the office manager about getting the fees reduced, she told me the sealants were already reduced by 50%, but she went ahead and gave me another 10% off. I could say no to the sealants, but then I'll probably have to go through all of this again if I don't get them, and the sealants are less than the Dentist's fee, so we are going ahead and doing it.

Still stressing about where we were going to come up with the money (charging to credit card, but how to pay it off), and a sleepless night where neither child wanted to sleep at the same time for most of the night with my 3 year old waking up before 7am bright eyed and bushy tailed, I was frustrated. I called Dave at work, while he was on his break, to help me relax and gain my perspective. Dave let me that he was offered to work double shifts for 3 days this week. Blessing in disguise! If I had not called him, he would have waited till he got home to tell me and could have missed this opportunity. I said, "Dave, we need the money bad, take those shifts!" So he worked double shifts this week, three days in a row. It's been crazy! But the take home pay for those 3 shifts should cover just over half of Jaron's dental bill. Then (after tonight's shift), Dave was told to call on Monday because they may need the help again. I'll be praying between now and then that he gets it!

So, I've been worrying most the summer about what we're going to do. I know Heavenly Father knows what He's doing, I just stress when I don't know what that plan is. I'm a planner, I don't like not having a plan. We're already seeing the blessings, with Jaron waking me up early so I'd call Dave and he would get the extra shifts. Hopefully the Board Certification goes through fast and Dave is able to find a Pharm Tech job soon! I know if we're faithful and do everything Heavenly Father asks of us, we'll be taken care off. I'm so grateful for the blessing we received this week. It could not have come at a better time.

My Cooking Adventure III

What I Made (Friday):
"Simply Amazing Meatloaf"

I followed the recipe straight thru and was really interested to see how using the Rice-A-Roni instead of bread crumbs or crackers would work. The rice was still crunchy and I don't know if that is intentional, but it was unexpected. One change I made was instead of using a loaf pan, I just formed it into a loaf and placed it in a 8x8 Pyrex dish. I had done this before with another meatloaf, but here it is explained why its better than using a loaf pan. Per the hints and tips on this page, I wanted to lay strips of bacon across the top before cooking because, as they say, everything tastes better with bacon. But my wife vetoed that idea because she was already planning on cooking the squash we got at the farmer's market for our vegetable. She was trying her mother's recipe of cooking onion an bacon in a skillet and then adding the squash, with a little seasoning, until done. It was yummy.

What I Learned:
making meatloaf in a roasting pan is better than using a loaf pan.

This might be it for a while because there is still quite a bit of meatloaf left over, but one of the links above also mentioned that it makes a good sandwich, so I will have to try that for lunch tomorrow. :-)

My Cooking Adventure II

Yesterday I introduced a new adventure I'm embarking on (I have no idea how long it will last, but I imagine Corrina is pleased with the variety and, hopefully, healthier food). Tonight I wish to catch up on yesterday's meal and share tonight's:

What I Made (Wednesday):

Stir Fry Vegetable with Pork

As I mentioned it would be yesterday, it was really easy because I just use the big bag of frozen stir-fry veggies from Costco. However, before throwing them in the skillet (we don't have a wok) I heated a little bit of EVOO and some fresh grated ginger root. Then I threw in the veggies. After they were done cooking, I added the pork that I had previously grilled with a little garlic powder rub. After adding the pork to the veggies is when I added the stir-fry sauce. I had also added a handful of slivered almonds to add a little bit of crunchiness to the stir-fry. All this combined made it taste almost identical to the bottle of Kikoman's Stir-Fry sauce we had used before.

What I Learned:

Adding fresh grated ginger root to the oil before the veggies will not(!) make the ginger flavor too powerful (yay!)

I need to review cooking temps and times for pork chops before the next time I grill it. I think I cooked them a little too long because they were a little firm. Fortunately, they tasted fine (I think the garlic powder was a nice touch, and was Corrina's idea) and I chopped them into bite-sized pieces after cooking and before adding to the veggies so it wasn't that big of a deal.

What I Made (Thursday):

Soy-Glazed Salmon Steaks and Steamed Vegetables

So, I was a little worried I was going to fail tonight because, for various reasons, I didn't think about dinner til this afternoon. I found a fairly simple, and yummy-looking recipe for a meat loaf that I thought about trying, but when I mentioned it to Corrina, she pointed out that there wasn't going to be enough time to thaw the beef and cook the loaf :-( So I went onto supercook.com (which was suggested to me by Amanda Dyck) and entered a bunch of the items we have on hand. We happened to have some frozen Salmon fillets so I added that to the list and this was one of the recipes that bounced back. Can you say super easy! The glaze is 3 ingredients that you whisk together and then you just brush it onto the salmon and broil it. The veggies were another bag of Costco frozen veggies, Normandy-Style this time. I cooked those in the micro-steamer while the fillets were broiling and added a little bit of butter to them in the last minute or two. My wife and I aren't big fans of fish, but we have found some yummy recipes for salmon, and this is one that I think I'll add to the repertoire, with a minor change which I'll discuss below.

What I Learned:

I CAN'T BROIL AND, IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! This isn't the first time I've tried and every time I have, I can't get it to work right. If the recipe says broil for 5 minutes, it ends up taking 10-15 and the extra juice/sauce/glaze run-off inevitably burns and smokes up the the place. That is why the minor change in repeating this recipe will be to brush the glaze on both sides and throw it on the George Foreman grill.

I also learned that I love ginger in cooking. It added nice flavor to the stir-fry last night and added nice flavor to the salmon tonight, didn't even need lemon juice. My mother-in-law is very allergic to ginger, so that would be a problem when she visits. However, when she visits, she usually cooks because she is so much better than me. :-)

Sneak Preview for Tomorrow:

Can we say bacon?!

My Cooking Adventure

Recently I started a little cooking adventure. I've been making at least one item home-made from scratch each night. It started when I was in the mood for curry and, knowing we had curry powder, got online to find a recipe how to make the sauce. The recipe I found was labeled as easy and I only lacked a few ingredients that were easy enough to acquire at the local grocer.

What I Made (Sunday):
Chicken Curry with Rice

I cooked the rice in the rice cooker and boiled the chicken breasts so that I could cook them with out fear of burning them and so they would be easier to shred to add to the curry sauce when its ready. I followed the simple recipe to make the sauce and then when it was ready, I added the shredded chicken and some frozen peas until everything was heated through then spooned it over the rice.

What I Learned:
If the recipe calls for tomato, it will be a red sauce and that is why it doesn't call for coconut milk
If the recipe calls for coconut milk, it will be a yellow curry
next time I will either add less chicken, or double the curry recipe so there is plenty of sauce for the rice.

What I Made (Monday):
Tacos de Maiz

So, technically, there were actually 2 homemade items this meal: We cooked up some dried red beans in the crock-pot a couple days earlier so I reheated them and mashed them up almost to refried consistency, but the planned homemade item was pico de gallo. For the sake of my wife's and son's taste buds, I left out any kind of hot pepper and only used onion, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice. We also had the left over rice from Sunday night, which I threw frozen peas in before reheating (I'm telling you, this is the only way I like peas), shredded chedder cheese, and sour cream in corn tortillas.

What I Learned:
chop up the tomatoes SMALL! (I don't like the taste of tomatoes so the bigger the chunks, the more pervasive the flavor)

What I Made (Tuesday):
Tacos de Maiz (yeah, yeah, yeah... there's nothin' wrong with leftovers now and again, especially if its so yummy)

What I Made (Wednesday):
Stir Fry Vegetable with Pork

Okay, so as of this writing, I haven't actually cooked anything yet, but I have prepared the homemade portion: the stir fry sauce. Tonights meal is going to be really easy and the sauce is the easiest homemade part yet. I'm kind of cheating because we buy the big bag of frozen stir fry veggies from Costco so I just have to throw them in the skillet (we don't have a wok) until they're mostly done, then I add the sauce and the cooked meat. The pork I will cook separately on our electric grill with a little bit of seasoning and then chop up into bite-sized pieces before adding to the veggies. The sauce has 4 ingredients: chicken broth, corn starch, soy sauce, and white wine. The only bottle of alcohol we have ever bought, or has ever dwelled in our home, is a little bottle of white cooking wine used for cooking only (duh) :-)

What I Learned:
Well, nothing yet, because I haven't tasted the final product, but I do like the idea of being able to make things from scratch that are really simple and end up being cheaper in the long run. I hope it tastes good, too.

So far, all the recipes for the featured homemade item have been found on eHow: How to Do Just About Everything