A fantastic bedtime story for my future kids

I saw this poem online a few weeks ago (okay, like a few months ago) and later learned it’s a great kid’s book.  I hope to have this book someday in my collection and be one of our (my kids’ and mine) favorite books to read.  It’s already one of my favorites and I don’t even have kids yet.  I suppose the nieces will have to do for now :)

You are my I love you
By: Maryann K Cusimano

I am your parent you are my child
I am your quiet place, you are my wild
I am your calm face, you are my giggle
I am your wait, you are my wiggle
I am your audience, you are my clown
I am your London Bridge, you are my falling down
I am your Carrot Sticks, you are my licorice
I am your dandelion, you are my first wish
I am your water wings, you are my deep
I am your open arms, you are my running leap
I am your way home, you are my new path
I am your dry towel, you are my wet bath
I am your dinner you are my chocolate cake
I am your bedtime, you are my wide awake
I am your finish line, you are my race
I am your praying hands, you are my saving grace
I am your favourite book, you are my new lines
I am your nightlight, you are my sunshine
I am your lullaby, you are my peek-a-boo
I am your kiss goodnight, you are my I love you

Is this what parenting's like?

SWAGGER WAGON - just for parents

Hope I can get my own Swagger Wagon - maybe not like this, but my own awesome mom car!

Jobless work

It's been so frustrating that my DH hasn't been able to find work.  It's already been almost seven months and I'm not exactly sure how we're making it through to pay the bills.  All I know is that life's been very stressful and somehow God is helping us get through this.  Sometimes I think, God, how am I going to be able to pay the bills today?  All we'd need is for my DH to get a part time job and although it wouldn't be the ideal situation (as opposed to getting a full-time job), it's better than nothing.  Can't a job come soon enough?  Please, God, soon!  I don't want to prod and ask, "have you found a job today" everyday, but sometimes it feels like I should, especially when the bills are piling up.  Every now and again I ask how the job hunt is going, but he can't seem to find a job, to much avail. 

For a year and a half, we've been planning, with my sister & brother and their families, on going to Disney World for a family trip this Christmas.  This will be the DH's first time at WDW.  I'm so excited to show him all around the area, as I've been there two times.  I'm looking forward to seeing my nieces' faces, filled with excitement when they see their favorite Disney characters!  I just get all giddy inside just thinking about it again and again!  Hopefully DH will be able to get a job ASAP so we can start saving for our trip.  Here's to hoping, wishing and praying.  I feel like I'm starting to sound like the intro to "My Best Friend's Wedding".

Happy Labor Day, everyone!  For the first time, I actually went in to work on Labor Day and was able to get a few things out of the way that were super important.  Wish I had another day to relax!

Chilean Quiche

Didn’t I just sweep this floor last night?  Those were my exact thoughts as I was yet again, sweeping the floor after washing dishes and placing them in the dishwasher after dinner yesterday.  How did so much dust and dirt can accumulate in just ONE day?  I went to work in the morning and came back home in the evening.  I’m certain that all wasn’t me, was it?  How much dust can heels really attract to a 2nd story apartment?

This weekend was incredible!  I deep cleaned most of the house and it felt wonderful!  About a week ago, MigL wonderfully surprised me with a completely rearranged living room.  What a complete shock!  After having a long, frustratingly busy day week at work, his wonderful surprise was like a breath of fresh air.  Simply refreshing.  Anyway, an incredibly clean house inspired a give me a pan and some food to cook kind of moment.  Saturday night I made chocolate croissants, cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookies, a Chilean quiche (recipe below), lentils and Spanish rice.  I also cooked some Trader Joe’s Indian chicken (I can’t remember the name right now), and made a yogurt sauce alongside some grilled chicken.  Lots of good food – good thing the fridge was empty!  I also marinated some chicken for what was supposed to be chicken masala, except I forgot to throw it on the grill.  Marinades are still good for a few days, aren’t they?  Anyway,I was in cooking bliss! The following morning I made some oatmeal waffles (so divine) and mustered up the courage to make some granola.  I’ve wanted to make granola for the last few months; essential ingredients were never there when I wanted to make them.  Actually it seemed a bit intimidating.  Granola?  Yep, granola.  Have you been to the grocery store lately to buy granola?  Have you seen those ridiculous prices??  $5.00 and up.  Thanks, but no thanks.

Cutting back on costs have been my goal lately, so I figured, I love granola for breakfast – why not make my own?  I’ll post the recipe later this week, but it was OK for my first try.  I couldn’t get past the ginger taste.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy ginger in Indian cuisine.  But this, I just wasn’t 100% sold.  After I made granola, I ventured into concocting my own homemade granola by perusing through Food Network and Cooking Light websites and picking pieces here and there.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make them because I had run out of oats on my first and only batch of gingery granola.  Rats!  I suppose the next time the grocery shopping is done oats is definitely going to be the #1 item on the list.

Chilean Quiche

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6
WW Points: 3

Ingredients

3 sheets of frozen phyllo dough, cut lengthwise in half
1/4 cup fat free cheddar cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup fat free milk
10 oz frozen spinach, defrosted, drained and chopped
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp sliced green olives

Directions

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees.  Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.

Cover the phyllo dough in a plastic cover and a damp towel to prevent the dough to dry.  Place 1 phyllo dough in the cake pan to form a base. spray quickly with cooking spray.  Place the second sheet on top with the corners located in different angles than the first; spray with cooking spray.  Repeat this process with the rest of the phyllo dough but don’t spray with cooking spray.  Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the inferior part of the dough.

Beat the eggs and milk in a large bowl.  Add the spinach, black beans and olives.  Spread mixture into the cake pan.  Cook to about 45 minutes, until the knife comes out clean after you place it through the center of the dish.  Cut into 6 pieces and serve immediately.

Latin cook’s notes

This recipe was incredibly yummy and so filling!  I replaced black beans with garbanzo beans (chickpeas) and omitted the olives, only to find out after I’d already cooked the recipe I did indeed have sliced black olives.  Hpmh!  I used pastry dough instead of phyllo dough; however, in my head, I swear I was using phyllo!  It wasn’t until I was supposed to lay out these “layers” that I realized, uh oh, this isn’t exactly phyllo dough.  Oh well.  I was really wiped out from all of the fun cooking I’d accomplished in a mere three hours.  You know what they say, sometimes disasters can turn into amazing wonders!  This was definitely the case for the Chilean quiche.  It had a nice flaky golden crust, almost like those freshly baked biscuits, fresh out of the oven.  The texture was one of a kind and melded in perfectly with the quiche.  Tomorrow, I’m definitely planning on having leftovers for lunch and pairing it with a yummy salad.  Filling food, here I come!

I’ll post pictures later on this week – I’m so tired!