Cozy Up To Your Tea.

After much thought I have decided to do a giveaway. I am going to make and give away one of my tea cozies. Its not finished yet, and it won't look like the one in this picture. It is going to be a surprise. I will post a picture on the blog when I announce the winner. I was going to just have comments made on Facebook, but they no longer allow people or pages to have contests like that, or some such nonsense. So, in order to enter all you have to do is follow this blog and post your answer in a comment. I am giving 2 weeks for this give away because its my first. Good Luck!

Question: What is your favorite kind of tea?

Airing ALL our Dirty Laundry not Just My Favorite.

I love cloth diapers, I think thats pretty apparent. I love the sense of community and support that the cloth diaper-ers of the world provide. I don’t however love the one-sided advocate.

      Recently, one of the “Fort Ladies” attended a free cloth diaper class at a local children’s resale shop. While she received a small amount of good information, she was disappointed by the class as a whole. The ladies that are kind enough to spend their free time educating other people on cloth, while very nice, were not very complimentary on any diaper other than Fuzzibunz. They didn’t seem to have a lot of information on important things like detergents and other diapers like hybrids.  I think what they are doing is amazing, but just as there are any number of different types and sizes of families, so is there diapers. For instance, I am not a big fan of pocket diapers. I just hate them and won’t buy them. That doesn’t keep me from informing other people about them.  I really believe it is the only responsible thing to do. I know of plenty of women that use them and love them. There is a perfect diaper out there for everyone and they are not all the same.

    Getting information about cloth online is amazing, but  classes like this are wonderful because done right, someone interested in cloth can touch and feel the diapers and see how they work. They can talk to someone who has experience with diapers and can help them sift through the overwhelming amount of information regarding cloth diapering. While cloth saves money in the end, it is a big upfront cost and the more information you have the more informed choice you will make. I myself would have bought different diapers in the beginning if I had been better informed.
    I am not downing the class, I think its amazing that these ladies are getting involved. I am going to hopefully, follow their lead. I just wish they were utilizing the class better and promoting ALL cloth diapers, not just their personal favorites.

Better Luck Next Time......

     I am sorry to say that my TGIF didn't go very well last friday. My nieghbors hubby was home for his 2 week r&r during his year long deployment and they had a very loud, very long party. Normally I would have been totally "Hey You are keeping my kids Up, Turn it Down!" But, I just couldn't rain on his very, very short Parade. So, I will try again this friday. If you want to join me let me know and I'll let you in on what I have planned, other wise its a secret.

A Pearl Of a Jam!

     Jam: a preserve containing fruit, which has been boiled with sugar until the mixture sets.

    My mom has signed us up for Harry&David fruit of the month club for the past two Christmas’s in a row which is AWESOME. The fruit really is amazing, both years during the summer months the Big Squid has come home to two cherry stained girls and no cherries. I feel bad, but not that bad. This month when our little green box of goodness arrived I was thrilled until I opened it. Peaches. I hate peaches. I have always hated peaches, and yet I love peach cobbler. I thought about making cobbler with these, but that's what I do with every batch of peaches that come our way. After a little researching on the internet I came up with jam. Who doesn’t love jam? I read a couple of different recipes, took what I wanted from each, and off I went.

         Here is how I made my Spiced Peach Jam...
6 cups of yummy peaches
3 cups of sugar
3 tbls lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp ginger
4 cloves

    Peel peaches. (Drop peaches into large pot of boiling water; boil for 30 seconds or until peach skins have loosened up. Remove peaches from water and drop them into ice water to cool. Use a knife to peel away skins.) Cut peaches into chunks. I like mine a little bigger than most, cause I like the bites of peach. Load all the ingredients in a pot and bring it to a boil. Stir periodically while boiling for about 10 mins. After about 10 mins has passed, get out your potato masher and set out to mash to your desired consistency. Boil and stir for another 10 mins. or until it sets. Pour hot jam into sterilized jars. Carefully wipe the jar rims & cover. You can make your jam up to 1 month ahead and refrigerate it  or up to 6 months ahead and freeze it. Want to leave it out at room temperature? Stick the jar into a boiling water bath for five minutes right after you jar it.

    Being that this was my first time making jam I am delighted at the results! I am totally in love with this jam! This morning I slathered toasted cinnamon raisin bread with greek yogurt and topped it with this jam, YUM! The Big S loves peaches so hopefully he loves this when he gets home, if there is any left! Okay, so I just looked at the jar and I will be making a trip to my local farm stand to buy fruit to make more. If I don't he won't get any.

P.S. My great Aunt is famous in our family for her jams, I am hoping to pick her brain for recipes.  Maybe I'll have some more to tempt you with later;)

Um yeah, I needed that.

      When I was single, in college and still living at home, my sister and I would occasionally indulge in theme weekends. Okay, more that occasionally, practically every weekend. We’d rent 3 movies and head to our local HEB to pickup what we began to refer to as weekend food. Those lovely fancy snacks that are far to expensive to get on a regular basis. Our themes covered everything from specific actor or actress, to era, or subject. We had the standard Jane Austen weekends, 3 movies starring hunky Ryan Reynolds, or The Thin Man movies. The whole point would be to treat ourselves to some quality food and film time, not to mention a little sisterly bonding.

      Due to the startling lack of Big Squid in the house at the moment I am going to reinstate these lovely bits of pampering on Friday nights. I’m going to get great movies, great food, a good foot soak and hopefully, relax a little. Feel free to comment, join along or whatever.
    This first ever "TGIF" or Thoroughly Grand and Indulgent Friday, will be French themed. I have had a hankering to settle in with my favorite french movies for a while and they will include, The Very Long Engagement, and Amelie. Both fantastic films! I’m not sure what I am going to eat yet, but rest assured it will tie in somehow to my french theme. French vanilla ice cream, French Onion Soup, French Fries, who knows, my main issue is anything I make will be enough for more than one person, which is all I am. I may end up asking a friend over to enjoy the goodies with me.  Got any ideas, suggestions? Let me know!

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #10: Questions

 At wifeofasailor.com they do a MilSpouse Friday Fill-in. It looks like a great way to connect with other Military attached blogging spouses. This is the first one I've participated in, and the questions are entertaining.

1. What secret indulgence do you act on while your spouse is away? (from Devil Dog Darling) Ice Cream, ALOT of Ice Cream. And its not a secret anymore.
2. If you were a spice, what would you be? (from New Girl On Post)I'd be cinnamon, it reminds me of all things fall and winter which are my favorite times of year. Plus, it's such a warm and cozy spice.
3. Where do you go for support when your significant other is deployed? (from Texas Meets Washington) I call my mom, she's lived this life and has alot of good insight.
4. What is the oldest thing you own? (from A Troop’s Girl) My honey. She's a doll my grandmother gave me when I was born. She has been through me, my 2 nieces and my daughter is about to get her. 
5. How did you vision your future pre-military? (from Daddy’s Duty) Far more boring. 

www.wifeofasailor.com

There is a bug in my salad.....

      In addition to the gobs of delectible little bite sized tomato flavored jewels I have growing in my garden, I also have a large number of catepillars. They are everywhere! I want to kill them off and display the carcases as a warning for all other mischevious little leaf munchers, but I just can't do it. I just keep thinking of all the lovely little bugs on Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends. How sad am I? Catepillars 1, Katie 0.

That Lasso of Truth is a Tricky Thing!

      Anyone who knows me at all, can verify that I fancy myself Wonderwoman. I in no way think I am perfect, after all, even Wonderwoman has her flaws! I do, however, do what has to be done. I pride myself on being independent and being able to handle situations that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. The Big Squid always tells me that while I can fool everyone else, I can't fool him. Well, you my friend are in luck, my lasso of truth has wrapped itself around me and there is no getting out of it.
      The past couple of days I have woken to the feeling of utter defeat. Even though The Big S isn't gone on his deployments all at one time, that doesn't make them any easier. I feel as though I am a yo-yo. He is home just long enough to kiss the kids and smack my butt on his way out the door. The back to back to back to back missions have taken their toll.
      I came across this on a website called "The Goats Locker", which for anyone not familiar with Navy slang is what the Chiefs quarters is called. It just reminds me that I was made to be able to handle this life. It is specific to Navy wives, but I feel it is true for all military wives.

Creating the Navy Wife

When the good Lord was creating Navy wives, he was into his sixth day of overtime.

An angel appeared and said, are you having a lot of trouble with this one? Whats wrong with the standard model?

The Lord replied, have you seen the specifications on, this order? She has to be completely independent, must be sponsored to get on the base and have the quality of both mother and father during cruises; be a perfect hostess to 4 or 40; run on black coffee; handle emergencies without a BUPERS manual; be able to handle the flu, birthdays and move around the world if need be on a moments notice; have a kiss that can heal anything from a child's torn valentine to her husbands weary day; have the patience of a saint when waiting for the ship to come in; and have six pairs of hands.

The angel shook her head slowly and said six pairs of hands! No way! And the Lord answering, don't worry, we'll create other navy wives to help. Besides, it's not the hands that are causing the problem; it's the heart. The heart must swell with pride in her husband, sustain the ache of separations, beat on soundly and strongly when it's too tired to do so, and be large enough to say, I understand when she really doesn't and say I love you regardless.

Lord, said the angel touching his sleeve gently, come to bed, you can finish this tomorrow.

I can't, said the Lord. I'm so close to creating something unique. Already I have one that heals herself when she is sick, can feed three unexpected guests who were stuck in the area due to bad weather, and can wave goodbye to her husband from a pier or runway and fully understand that it is important to our country that he leaves.

The angel circled the model of the navy wife very slowly. It's too soft, she sighed.

But tough. Said the Lord excitedly. You cannot image what this woman can do or endure.

Can she think? Asked the angel.

Can she think! Why she can covert 1400 to 2:00 p.m.

Finally the angel bent over and gently ran her fingers across the model's cheek. There's a leak, she pronounced. I told you that you were trying to put too much into this model.

It's not a leak, said the Lord. It's a tear.

What for? Asked the angel. It's for joy, sadness, pain, disappointment, loneliness, and pride! You're a genius, exclaimed the angel...the Lord looked somberly at the angel and replied I didn't put it there.

http://www.goatlocker.org/retire/navywife.htm

Not your $15 Tags!

      When I was pregnant with my first baby I walked around baby stores snickering at what I thought were complete rip-offs aimed at  mom and grand-moms to be taken over with the baby fever. One in particular was the taggie. Its a book or blankie like toy that has various sizes and colors of ribbon sewn on to mimic tags on clothing and the like. I thought to myself, how ridiculous that a baby would want to play with tags. Furthermore, how ridiculous that some one would pay 15 dollars for one. Then, my daughter was born and boy did I eat my words! She managed to find every single tag and get her mouth on it. At that point I thought okay, so really good idea, but I’m still not paying 15 bucks for it! She can eat my t-shirt tags! Now, I have a new little one and he too loves the tags! Why? I haven’t the slightest idea, but I decided that I would make him a taggie and while I was at it I would make one for our nephew who is about the same age.
  

First of all I found some really cute flannel jungle fabric as a remnant and for half off at my Joann’s. Which means I made both of these for less that 50 cents since I already had all the ribbon. I washed and dried it as I am supposed to and then folded it so the right sides were together. Then I took my steaming tray,(yeah I know, I use the craziest stuff. It was just the right size though!) and traced it on the fabric. I then cut out the traced circle.

Setting the circles aside, I set to work cutting strips of ribbon. I used 4 different types of ribbon, satin ribbon, ribbed ribbon, and a woven ribbon(I am blanking on what its called). The idea was to use different colors and textures. I used green, orange and creme colored ribbon. I cut them about 2 inches long and folded them in half. Bringing back the flannel pieces I kept the right sides facing each other and put the ribbons in one by one, sandwiching them between the flannel pieces, loop towards the middle and ends flush with the outer edge of the circle. I then stiched all the way around leaving about an inch open to turn it inside out.

Once I removed the pins and turned the circle inside out, I tucked the edge in and pinned the hole. I stitched a plain stitch close to the edge to close the hole and then I did a decorative stitch a little ways in just for fun. That was it. I think its really cute and cost me next to nothing.

If Walls Could Talk they'd Say, Oh I love It!

    The walls in our house became a serious issue not to long ago. Growing up in a military family and moving all the time, I am used to, and actually like white walls. The Big Squid however, does not. I got a stern, “put something on the walls or when I get home I’m painting” speech with a serious look to match. So, the last time he was gone, I set to work to find something to liven up our living space.

    We always have wall calendars and my first thought was to frame some of my favorite calendar pictures, but I was uninspired by just framing a picture. I then came up with this twist on calendar framing. I framed one picture with two frames.

  I took 5 of my favorite pictures, and 10 clip frames from Ikea. My pictures are much bigger than my frames so I picked the most interesting part of the pictures to frame. Since I was framing one picture with two frames, I traced the frames put together and then cut out the picture and framed it. The best thing about this is that I spent 2 dollars on the frames and nothing on the calendar. So, this wall art cost me 2 dollars. Awesome!!

Snooty, Foodie Baby; Or How I am Using my Untouched Baby Food.

    If you are in the military and you take a trip to the doctor, or in the Big Squids case you have some higher-ups giving you advice, you will most certainly hear “If you aren’t already on WIC, get on it now!” When we had our first squidlet I thought to myself, “there is a mom out there who needs the WIC benefits more than I do” then I got wise to the fact that I am that mom. I have two kids, my husband doesn’t make a whole lot of money, and getting help now will be helpful later. If I can save money now, it will be that much more in our account later that we have saved.
    Now we are on WIC and let me tell you I couldn’t be happier. Wait, scratch that. I am now happy, I wasn’t always. I don’t understand why but, going to certain stores including our commissary on base, I get the dirtiest looks and heaviest annoyed sighs. I understand that I am going to take a little longer than some, but I am by no means going to take hours. Also, if you are going to accept WIC at least carry half the things I can purchase. ARGH! Anyway, now that I have found a WIC friendly store I am very happy. I get a new nursing bra every 3 months (awesome!!), a slue of classes and support groups that are actually helpful, I get all kinds of food for the kiddies, and its wonderful. One issue that I have had recently is that my youngest won’t touch baby food. WIC gives you a lot of baby food and if your baby doesn’t eat baby food, what do you do? I hate to waste anything so I decided to experiment with it and see what I could come up with.
    My oldest had low iron not that long ago and instead of giving her iron drops which have very unpleasant side effects, I decided to try and find a dietary way to fix it. I read that spinach was very iron rich and carrots were great in helping in the absorption of the iron in the spinach.  So, I made turkey meatballs that had chopped frozen spinach, grated carrots, iron enriched baby cereal (instead of bread crumbs), and parmesan cheese. I put them in spaghetti sauce and made meatball subs with them. They were a huge hit! She eats them by the handful, they are healthy for her and when we went back to recheck  her iron it was perfect. The Big Squid likes them so much, I make meatball subs with them all the time.
    I have also used baby food in cake. I made the Big Squids birthday cake substituting banana baby food for the oil. The cake was so light, fluffy, and moist! I was hoping for a little banana flavor, but all I could taste was the cake. Not a bad thing, it was really good! Last night I made spaghetti and put a jar of sweet potatoes in half a jar of sauce. I couldn’t even taste that it was in there and the squidlets sucked it down! 
    I have a couple more ideas I can’t wait to try. I want to use pears or apples in muffins. I am sure you could use bananas to make smoothies, or put it in pancakes. I will continue to try stuff out and I’ll let you know how it goes!

Sucky Update.

      Well, here we are, I finished the second pair of pajamas for the Big Squid this weekend, wish he was here to try them on. Our calendar is looking awfully colorful, and while I’m not sure if I’ve lost any weight (my pants sure aren’t as snug as they used to be though) my treadmill certainly is getting a work out.

Love Thy Neighbor: The Greatness that is Military housing.

       I recently spent time with a neighbor of mine that I have only just met. We had a delightful time and found that we had much more in common than kids and a husband in the military. We broached every subject (except sex...... we have to leave something for the next time we talk.) and at some point it occurred to me that this is why I love living on base. I know that some people enjoy the life off base of silent neighbors, decent landlords ( if they are lucky), and nicer housing, but I adore living where I do. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t love the housing people and the houses are most definitely flawed, but having an instant connection with someone who lives the same life you live is invaluable.
  
The military wife is often thought of as a special breed, and they are and have to be. They take on challenges most people wouldn’t dare brave without help let alone by themselves with children. The popular picture of a military wife is that they stay behind and “hold down the fort” while their loved one is gone, but there are so many other things that they are and do that are forgotten. One of them being a great neighbor and friend. When you move you don’t just move across the street or across town. You move across the country sometimes around the world. You leave all you know and love. You go from having a select group of friends and/or family to count on, to not knowing a single person. You leave your favorite restaurants, your hair dresser, your favorite mall, your favorite nail salon, and your favorite babysitter just to have to find it all again somewhere else.

       If you are a civilian moving this far, it may take you years to become friends with your neighbors, but in military housing you can’t go more than a couple months without finding a friendly face. They are the people you spend time with, the people you explore with and find your favorite places with. They are the people to ask about nail salons and hair dressers. They are the people who know your husband is coming home and they make you leave your kids at their house so you can have just a couple of hours to yourselves, and they always know you’ll do the same for them. They become your favorite babysitters. I love that when my Squidalicious is gone, I spend tons of time with my ladies, but when he comes home and I don’t see them as often its okay and no one is offended. It’s great that we pick up right where we left off when he is gone again. It's friendship on the fast track. You get real close, real fast. It sounds horrible, but they are your friends of convenience. They all know that it is short term. They all know you will move on, but while you are here, they are here. Sometimes it make take a while, sometimes your group will have people you aren’t crazy about, but if you are lucky you will find that small group of people to call your military family. They are the few that will always keep in touch and will always be your family. It's pretty awesome.

      I am lucky enough to have 2 military families, I have my childhood family( my Aunt Penny &   Uncle Jim and their family, Sherry and her family, Todd D) and my adult military family, the Ladies of the Fort. I dread the day when we have to separate and its drawing near. I am making the most of the time we have and am thankful that we could be apart of their lives and they were a part of ours.

Panera Bread Taste While Keeping your Dough!

      Recently I put up my Baja Fresh Kitchen Knock off and I love it, but even I have to admit that it is alot of pork if you aren't feeding an army. So, I decided to use it in a different way. I once had a cuban from Panera Bread that was sooo good!  If you don't know what a cuban is, its a sandwich that has mustard, pickles, ham, shredded pork, and provolone cheese. I am all about mixing things up, but this is the standard formula. You put all this on a baguette type of bread and then give it a good smoosh in a panini press or something similar. The Panera Bread version was so amazing, but again, so not cheap. This is my version. Give it a try, I promise you won't be dissapointed. The last time I made this sandwich for the Big S and his Squid buddies, it was called not a sandwich, but an experience. I'm not sure about all that, but its tasty!
1 whole wheat baguette(single sandwich size)
1/2 cup of chopped bread and butter pickles
whole grain mustard
3 slices of deli ham
1cup shredded pork
2 slices of provolone cheese
Butter
       Cut the bread in half length wise,  spread mustard on both sides of the inside. Then butter the outer side of the bread. I put the bottom half in the skillet butter side down at this point and start building. Spread the chopped pickles on the bottom slice of bread then add the shredded pork then add the ham and cheese. Lay on the top piece of bread and proceed in smooshing. I am not fortunate enough to have a panini maker so I use a skillet and a lid to one of my pots that fits inside and a little elbow grease.  Smoosh until crispy, flip and smoosh again, then cut in half and eat. The Big Squid says it tastes better if you cut it on an angle, so thats what I do.

Airing our dirty Laundry, Rockin My Socks Off!

    Part of the joy of cloth diapering is the laundry. I know you think I’m kidding, but I love doing laundry. Don’t mistake my love of doing laundry with a love of folding and putting away laundry. I love the warm clothes right out of the dryer and the yummy smell. During the winter the squidlets and I love the dump a load of freshly dried towels on my bed and lounge in them. That being said they will stay there for a week before I force myself to do something with them.     When I began cloth diapering I never really thought about using a different detergent, but the more I researched them the more I realized it was a complete must. I noticed that there were precious few commercial brands that were acceptable to use on the diapers, but there were quite a few recipes and work at home moms selling their own. Once I started doing a bit of research it was getting hard to decide which to do, make my own or buy.

    Then and girlfriend of mine mentioned that she would like to try a detergent called Rockin Green. So, I decided to check it out. It looked amazing, it comes is lots of different scents like Rage against the Raspberry, Smashing Watermelons, Montley Clean, Bare naked Babies,  Lavendermint Revival and more!  I’ll admit I was taken aback by the disgusting before and in awe of the sparkling after pics. The company is based in San Antonio, TX and we are all about showing love to a fellow Texan. I just couldn’t get over all the great things I kept reading. I mean the creator of Fuzzibums uses it on hers, she is the creator of the modern cloth diaper!How much better could it get? So, I ordered some samples and waited impatiently by the door for my mailman like a puppy waiting for her parents. I’m surprised I didn’t pee all over the floor when my order arrived. I ordered classic not knowing which of the three formulas they sell, soft rock, classic rock, or hard rock. I later found by doing more research into what kind of water I have that Hard Rock is the best fit for us. The thing that threw me and that needs to be kept in mind is that if you live on a Military Base, you might have things a little different than that of the surrounding non-military area. Some say we live in a Soft Rock world, but I’m here to tell you only Hard Rock gets us going!
    I had already gotten my samples before I figured out what kind I needed, but I loved the scents and it did a pretty good job at cleaning my dipes. No better or worse that the store bought I borrowed from a fellow cloth diapering mommy. My next move was to order a whole bag. This time I ordered 2 bags of hard rock and gave one to my girlfriend to try. I was not impressed. My heart was broken and I kept wishing the next time would be better, but it never was. The saving grace for it was that it is uniform safe and I used it to wash my husbands dress white uniform. It came out spectacular and I told myself that I could totally justify buying it for that. Couldn’t I?
    I was close to the end of my bag, downhearted and being dramatic about it. “How can I use something else? I love the name, I love the smell, I love the bag!” Then, while browsing Facebook I came across a note from Kim the creator of Rockin Green. There had been some sort of mixing mistake and the Hard Rock was being recalled. HUZZAH!  That was it! That had to be why I wasn’t seeing results like other Rockin Green users. I set about learning what could be done. Kim let everyone know that while the detergent wasn’t suitable for diaper cleaning it was not dangerous and could still be used to clean other things, like toilets.(Which I did with great results.) All I had to do was contact them and fill out a form and they would send me 2 new bags of soap no charge. The customer service alone is worth going back for again and again.
    I got my new bags shockingly fast and was delighted with the washing results. I had to remind myself that while I wanted to post pics of disgusting diaper water, I had only ever used Rockin Green on my diapers and would most likely never get that chance. But, is that really anything to complain about? My diapers come out smelling clean and looking brand new, no poopy stains here! While I did contemplate making my own detergent, I am glad I left this one to the pros. And at Rockin Green thats exactly what they are!
 

It's His Birthday and I'll Cry If I Want To!

      Today the Big Squid is 23. It’s the first of his birthdays since we’ve been together that we haven't actually been together. He hates working on his birthday (don’t we all). It's sucks big time. It's not just that he is gone or has to work on his birthday, but our daughter is getting to be the age when it can really start being fun to do birthdays. One year for his birthday instead of having birthday cake everyone got woopie-pies made to look like turtles. I’ve made banners, and made puppets, I always go all out. I was so looking forward to including her in my shenanigans. How much fun would it be to have her decorate his cake, make decorations or help me put on my puppet show? In reality it isn’t really anything more than some people do for their loved ones, it is just a shock to go from party central to.............nothing, crickets.
      I started thinking of the future. He was gone for Fathers Day this year and now his birthday. What happens when our kids will be fully aware of what a birthday is and how we celebrate it. What will we do when he isn’t home then? My dad never celebrates his birthday and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe that is part of the reason. My mom says that we celebrated his birthday no matter if he was home or not, and I don’t doubt her, I just don’t remember. In any case since Big S loves birthdays we are going to take steps to ensure that he always celebrates. This year we are having a little party. I made cupcakes, I won’t deny that I'm having a rough couple of days and I need cake. Much to my chagrin after all the cakes and pies I have made from scratch his favorite is still Pillsbury Funfetti, and I iced them with icing I colored blue since that is his favorite color.  We won't open presents, but we will sing him Happy Birthday and video tape it. He is on a boat, so we don’t get to talk, but he knows we are thinking of him and can’t wait until he can come home and we can celebrate with a real party.

Happy Birthday My Big Squid, My very Best Friend and My Heart! We love and Miss You!

Baja Fresh, only Cheaper: another Kitchen Knock-off

      Here in Maryland and I’m sure in neighboring states they have a restaurant called Baja Fresh. Its a lovely little “good food fast” not “fast food” joint and since I am from Texas I get that craving for good mexican food. I’m not saying they don’t have good Mexican food here in Maryland, but if they do, I haven’t found it. So, when I first ate at Baja Fresh it kind of satisfied that need and I decided it would have to do. Recently, I have stopped going to Baja Fresh not because I don’t want their yummy food, but because it is so freaking expensive! I get 2, yes 2 tacos for 7 dollars. I wish I could say that they were worth it, but being that they use a small corn tortilla, I’d be lying.
    That was when I set to work making my own version, my best friend in this venture, the crock pot. Big S bought me the most awesome crock pot for Christmas last year and I love to use it for anything I can. Here is what I do.

4-5 lbs of boneless top sirloin pork roast.
2 packs of McCormick Mojito Lime marinade
4 Tbsp of redwine vinegar
2 cups boiling water
1 chicken bullion cube( you can omit the water and bullion and used 2 cups warm chicken broth)
2 vadalia onions
3 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of Fresh cilantro

I take the bullion cube and the 2 packs of marinade and put them in a bowl. I then add the vinegar and the boiling water. I whisk until the bullion is dissolved. Now, the package of marinade calls for 1/4 cup of oil for each package, but because I’m using pork that has a decent amount of fat on it, I omit it altogether. Set the bowl aside, half one onion and then quarter the halves. chop the garlic and put both the garlic and the onion in the bottom of the crock pot to act like a rack for the pork. I add the pork, pour on the contents of the bowl onto the pork, cover and cook on High for 5 to 6 hours or until it falls apart.
    While that is cooking I chop up the whole bunch of cilantro for current and future use, and dice 1/2 an onion. These are both condiments so in the end the amount is up to you. Once the pork is done I remove the pork only, and strain juice. I replace the strained juice and shredded pork. Thats it. I would normally take 2 corn tortillas and fill them with pork, raw onions and cilantro and devour.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize I was out of corn tortillas, so I just ate it as it was, a stew I suppose. It was so good, and in the end I didn’t spend nearly as much money.

Comfy Pj's: Sucky Deploymets Cont'd

      It's been weeks now that the Big S has been gone, wow time crawls when you’re waiting for someone! I have just finished the first of 2 pairs of pajamas I plan to make for Big S, and I wanted to share not only the pants but why I make them. First thing to know is that if the Big Squid could live in pj pants he would. He has a pair of flannel “Cars” pj pants I made him that he lives in when he isn’t at work. I made them 2 Chirstmas’s ago and I was even able to make a pair for my oldest. Now he takes them with him on every trip, so I wanted to make him a couple more because the Cars are getting worn. I know this goes against my whole “thrifty” vibe, but here is how I look at it. It is far cheaper to go pick up a pair of pj pants from Target, than to buy fabric from the store to make them. For me though, being able to personalize it and say that you made them just for him, well, that is awesome. The Big S is so proud to tell his fellow Squids that his wife made them just for him and the babies even have matching ones.
      I use a pattern from Simplicity #4889 and it is one of the easiest patterns I have ever used! Sign up for the Joann’s email newsletter and you can regularly get 40% or more coupons to use on fabric or anything else you want to buy and the flyer will also tell you of any pattern sales. I got my pattern for .99 cents during one such sale. It really is an amazing bargain if you don’t want to pay the 10-20 dollars that it usually costs!
    If you don’t sew, don’t sweat it. Just, take some time and go pick some out together, or have your kid(s) pick out a pair. It will be just as special. The whole point is to have something warm and cuddly that reminds him of home, you and your kids if you have them. It’s just something small to help him through what is a rough time for everyone.

Maternity Clothes, wait I still Want to wear That!

      I recently went to the thrift store, and anyone will tell you I frequent these joints a lot. I love a good thrift store, they have great deals on great stuff, and if you look hard enough you are sure to find something you can’t live without. Anyway, I was in this store all of 5 minutes before I had sniffed out a sweet pair of maternity capris. Now, I know what you are thinking, “oh my goodness, she’s gone and got herself knocked-up AGAIN!”  But let me stop you right there, I'm not pregnant again, I just really love a good pair of capris. They were 5 bucks, a steal in my book, and all I could think while I had my grubby mitts on them was that I don’t need to be wearing maternity pants anymore. I grappled with myself for about 2 seconds and put them in my cart. The struggle with myself didn’t end however, so I decided to “fix” them into regular pants so that I can wear them as long as I want. But, this begs the question. How long is it acceptable to wear maternity clothes after you have had a baby? I totally plan on wearing maternity clothes until my little one is a year. I think its almost a must. I would love to be out of maternity clothes before the baby was 6 months, but I am a heavy girl, always have been and that isn't in the cards for me. So, I have adopted this philosophy. I think it would better serve me to wear maternity clothes which make me feel just fine while I get healthy than pre-pregnancy clothes, that make me feel fat and unattractive, make me eat ice cream to deal with my unhappiness which causes me to then feel more unattractive, which causes more need for ice cream. AAAHHHH! Its a vicious circle! I really think its healthier to continue to wear maternity clothes as you try to lose weight, then to try to squeeze yourself into pre-pregnancy clothes. But, that's just one girls opinion.
      The pants turned out good by the way. I did them in a hurry so they aren’t the prettiest things ever, but they work. I cut the double panel, added some holes for the string, folded the cut sides of the panel  in on itself, pinned and stitched it with a zig-zag stitch because I was working with a knit. If I had just a plain panel I would have cut enough to fold the bottom down to the top of the pant, stitch and have place to thread the string through.  I then I thread a string through it and was done. They are super comfy and no longer maternity. Not that it would matter.

This Little Pig went Wee, Wee, Wee all the way to the Bank!

      Any one who has ever sold to a children’s second hand store will tell you that most of the time you just leave feeling empty. You’ve just sold your little ones stuff which leaves your heart empty, and you won’t be getting very much money from it which leaves your wallet empty. Thankfully here in the Baltimore area there is a cure for that. Its a huge consignment sale called Wee-cycle. A girlfriend of mine let me in on this secret a year ago and I have come to look forward to this sale every 6 months! I have shopped as new mom and gotten in early; I have gone back on Sunday and bought stuff 1/2 off, the only thing I haven’t done is consign. That ends this sale, for the first time I am going to see just how much money I can get for my stuff. The great thing about consigning at wee cycle is that you set your own price. They do give you a suggested price sheet, because they want you to succeed and sell all of your things. You can opt to have your things be sold for 1/2 price on the last day of the sale, but you don’t have to. I love this sale so much for so many reasons. The mother/daughter team that runs this slice of heaven have really got a great thing going. In order for me to get in all I have to do is show my military ID and give a bag of food. If I didn't have a military ID all I'd have to do is pay 1-2 bucks and make a donation to my local food bank. That's right 1or 2 bucks for the whole weekend, and a donation to charity, love it. If you are pregnant, you and a guest can pay 5 dollars along with a food bank donation and shop the day before the sale opens publicly. You can only do it once, but it is so worth it! I have been fortunate enough to go twice and its awesome! I purchased my sit and stand stroller for $40! All the people that work the sale are volunteers. In “payment” for working volunteers get pass for themselves and guests to shop before the general public, even before the new moms do. Believe me you want to shop early! They are so family/mom friendly that if you want to bring your baby and "wear" them while you volunteer, you can! Awesome!! The deals here are amazing. You will find everything you need from newborn to teens, plus maternity. They have what is called “momsfest” on Saturday which has all kinds of great stuff like free mini-massages from actual masseuses and FREE child care for 3 and up potty trained tots! Vendors from, work at home moms to pampered chef reps are also on hand to give you great deals. It really is a wonderful event and I encourage everyone in the area to participate if you can. It would be great if there was a wee-cycle in every area! Here is their link. Go check them out, and be sure to check out if there are any consignment sales in your area!
http://www.wee-cyclemart.com/

Take this Shirt and Cut it.

Thanks to the Navy and their need for sailors to look good, and they do, look good that is! I have an abundance of rejected white undershirts the Big Squid wants nothing to do with. Because I am me,  I of course had to find something to do with them. So, when I decided my kids had to many toys, it came to me. Toy bags. I would make toy bags and that way, I can have only a small amount of toys out and about at a time and it would make my toy rotating that much easier. So, thats what I did. I remembered seeing a "pattern" for a skirt using the hem as the waist so that you could just thread a string through and be done. I could do the same and just stitch the bottom, ingenious!

I took 4 t-shirts and dyed them a pretty blue color. I just picked some up some dye from my local Joanns, and followed the directions. Once they were dyed and dried, I turned them inside out and cut just below the armpit. While they were still inside out I simply stitched across the shirt where I had just cut making the bottom of the bag.

I then very carefully made a small cut in the hem of the shirt not going all the way through the bottom stitching. I took felt and made decorations and stitched them on quickly. Lastly I took some thin matching ribbon, put a safety pin on one end and threaded it through the hole in the hem. Once it came out the other side of the hole i tied the ends together and there you have it, a toy bag. I rotate each bag every 6 months. That way my squidlets get “new” toys every 6 months. Not wanting the tops of the t-shirts to go to waste, I just use them as bibs for the kids. Its pretty sweet.

Why yes, I am a fan of delicious flavors!

With the handful of little cherry tomatoes I picked yesterday I had finally aquired an entire bowl, so I decided it was time to test out the flavor. But, how was I going to eat them? Cooked? Raw? In a salad? Pop em’ like popcorn shrimp? I eventually just sprinkled them with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and pepper. It was delicious! I was so excited! I was eating a whole bowl of yummy tomatoes I grew myself. SWEET!

Speaking of Awesome!

      So as I'm browsing around the various sites I visit through out my busy day I happen upon an this little gem! Just this morning I was talking about my love of a specific cloth diaper and low and behold The Cloth Diaper Whisperer Is giving away a Flips Diapers "Make your own day" Package for Fluff Friday this week. I fully admit I got a little tingly inside. It includes 2 covers, and 6 cloth inserts. I have already entered to win and I think you should too. What a great way to start your stash! Go check it out, and good luck to you. Well, not to good. You have to enter by this Thursday the 12th of August. GO, GO!
http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/

Airing our dirty Laundry, an adventure in cloth diapering.

My baby in his G's

    Flash back to early this spring, a friend of mine sent me a link on Facebook to a company called Gdiapers. Since I have two kids in diapers right now I thought “wow, cloth diapers that dont require pins? Ingenious!” That was pretty much the end of my train of thought. Fast forward a little bit and I am shopping at my local wee-cycle(more on that later) and there they are; two packages of gdiapers, one small and one large. I grab the smalls figuring I’d try them on my littlest one first. Heck, they were only 8 dollars for 2 pants and a package of disposable liners. *a note: gdiapers  and a few others have the option to put a flushable, biodegradable liner in the diaper instead of cloth. Which is perfect for traveling and I thought it was the perfect place to start.*
    I got home and went straight to work replacing the disposable diaper on my tiniest squidlets tush with my newest purchase. Once I had read the directions and made sure it was on correctly I stood back and took a long hard look. I admit I was impressed. My thoughts of pre-folds, pins and plastic pants went straight in the trash with the disposable I took off him. It was cute as heck, looked comfortable and did I mention it was cute as heck?
    Over the next week or so I fell deeper and deeper in love with this diaper. I began to research what, if any other, cloth diapers were out there and I have never been more overwhelmed with information in my life. There are so many types, kinds, etc. that I had no idea where to start. As a result, I just decided to put my oldest in G’s also. I picked some up at my local organic store and soon was totally off disposable diapers. I then bought some gcloths, the cloth inserts made for Gdiapers, to see how I liked them. Again, I was instantly in love. How had I gone almost 2 years without knowing these things existed!?
    During this time, I had a girlfriend ask me how I liked them. Her tiny tot has some seriously sensitive skin and she was wondering how it was working out for me. I told her that in the entire time I had been using them my squidlets had not even a trace of diaper rash, or redness at all for that matter and I had no leaking issues what-so ever. I offered her a couple of pants and disposable liners to try out and soon after that she had a healthy stash of her own branching out to pocket diapers and other kinds of covers.

    You might ask, “well, what kind of diapers are there” and I might say “a lot!” cause I’m kind of a smarty pants. I would then add. There are only a couple of main types with several brands available.  One and seemingly the most popular, is the pocket diaper. It is a diaper made out of a waterproof material, that has a soft lining and an opening in the back between the layers, which is where you stuff your cloth inserts. Some popular brands are bumGenius, Rumparooz and Fuzzibunz. Then there is the one that I love which is just a diaper cover. You can place pre-folds, disposables or cloth inserts in them and just wipe them out every change if they don’t get nasty. Some popular brands of these are Flips, Thristies and of course Gdiapers. Flips with just a pre-fold inside is my current go to diaper combo. These are VERY basic descriptions, there is quite a bit more to it, depending on what you choose.

    Caring for them is also surprisingly easy. I was concerned that the care involved would outweigh the love I had for these diapers, but it is not trouble at all. Once I got into a routine, and everyone has their own, it was like I had been doing it forever. I have a specific detergent made for diapers that is a very reasonable price. I later found out it also happens to be the same detergent used by the creator of the modern diaper, kind of cool. I rinse out the diaper every time I change a baby, and put it in a hamper. Every other day I do a load of diapers only adding an extra rinse to my washing cycle. Once a month I spend a day boiling my diapers and wash them without detergent also with an extra rinse and thats it.
    The main draw for me to use these diapers is money. I love that I’m helping the earth, but I’ll be honest I get sick to my stomach thinking of how much money I wasted on disposable diapers. Plus, I think it really is the perfect solution for military stay at home moms, any moms really. You are doing laundry anyway so why not throw in a load of diapers. The money you will save is amazing and if you live on a military base your utilities are included. If you don’t, you can air dry them and save on dryer time. Either way, how can you go wrong? I know that a lot of parents don’t want to deal with the mess of a number 2, and thats cool but, for me its no more or less work than disposables. I love never having to do a “diaper” run. Never having a single stinky diaper in the trash can really speaks to me, particularly my nose. For me the pros far out weigh the cons here.
    It has been months now since I picked up that first package of diapers and I’m obsessed! I haven’t even scratch the surface of the awesomeness that is the cloth diapering community and  I am loving every minute of this adventure. I now have a couple of different types of diapers, and love each of them for different reasons.  I have and will continue to loan out my diapers for other women to try out and I hope more moms, especially military moms, consider this a viable option for their babies. Its so much more healthy for your baby, the planet, and your wallet!
      Here are some great web sites to visit if you are thinking of trying out cloth diapering.
http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/
http://rockingreensoap.com/
http://www.kellyscloset.com/

I added patches to a couple just for fun.

I can Hardly Contain Myself: A Garden Story.

       I would love to say “I have always been interested in gardening!”, “My thumb is as green as grass!”, “The Jolly Green Giant is my Homeboy!”  but that is just not how it is. I have never been interested in gardening. I don't really know if I have a green thumb, and I don't personally know The Jolly Green Giant.  My mom has always had quite a few plants around the house, in fact at one point instead of a curtain she covered our front window with various plants. Therefore, inspired by stories of my mom driving across country to our new duty station with clippings of her beloved hanging spider plants in a water-filled glass in the back seat, I have started my very own container garden. We also made a small raised bed which is the only other garden our housing permits.
It has "grown" (giggle) from a weekend experiment into an amazing way for our temporary house to become more of a home.
    I am in love with the thought of eating veg I have grown myself and so I put it to the Big Squid (who has actual horticultural experience) to help me obtain this dream. He was very supportive and even has some plants of his own growing up a storm. What I love about this idea is that when its time to move, I will take the containers with me and be able to start a new garden in a new place. This time around I have planted soybeans, 3 types of tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, sage, cilantro, corn, jalapenos, cilantro, cantaloupe, and strawberries ( I think that's it).

 **    I’d like to stop here and have a moment of silence for those plants that didn’t make it. Know that it was an accident, and that we did everything we could.

    RIP: cilantro, corn, habaneros, 3 cucumber plants, strawberries, all the melon plants and 3     tomato plants. Your deliciousness will be missed.

My soybeans are on their deathbed, I am doing all I can but it doesn’t look good.**

    So far, on all the remaining plants have at least something budding if not already fruit. Well, all except for the bell peppers. They seem to be growing good just no buds.

    A few things I have learned along the way:We don’t have a lot of room in our house so starting our plants indoors was not quite do-able. Instead we collected plastic berry containers, and just using seed starting soil we planted our seeds. It worked wonderfully, acting as a mini green house I guess.

We also tried paper egg cartons, and we got a few sprouts but by the time they had outgrown the cup they still weren’t strong enough to transplant. Sad, but true.

 When it came time for me to actually transplant my babies I chose to use anything I could find to do it in. I had a set of mixing bowls I no longer used, a 5 gallon ice cream tub from the squidlets birthday party, and a tin in which I received Christmas goodies. I just gathered these up and had Big S run holes in the bottom with his drill. Eventually, I also found some hanging pots on sale for a dollar that I just never hung up and put some plants in them.

 I always knew that you had to water plants, but MAN! I have to water those plants one maybe twice a day! Big S , the smarty tarty that he is, told me that because you have to water them so much, the nutrients gets washed away and you have to feed your plants regularly. I feed my once every 2 to 3 weeks. Its unbelievable what a difference it makes.
 I haven’t had trouble with vermin or insects (knock on wood), I have heard that human hair deters vermin, but I’m not sure what I would do about insects. (I should really look that up.)

My first tomato harvest!

    This has really been an awesome venture and I’m so glad I tried it out. I can’t wait to do it all again next year! Stay tuned for updates on the condition of my plants and how I choose to devour each and everything I harvest.

Honey Nut Cheerios Or How WholeGrain Goodness helped me Control My Martha Habit!

      I have to admit that I am a HUGE Martha Stewart Fan and hers is the only magazine I currently subscribe to. Big Squid lovingly signs me up every year for Christmas, the angel. He also has a few mags that he loves to receive monthly, so, when the magazine started to pile up in awkward stacks around our humble (and small) abode I decided to create a quick and awesome fix. Big S is crazy about cereal! So much so that I think Jerry Seinfeld would be envious of the collection atop our fridge, so when I came upon this it was the perfect solution.

      Take one cereal box free of a bag, place the magazine you want to store on the front side of the box to make sure it will fit.

       Mark the top of the magazine on the box as well as the side, making sure you see what you want to on the spine of the mag.

      Just cut out the side panel to your mark and cut the flaps off the top. Then fold the wide sides in towards the back of your mag holder.

Cut across the back at your magazine top line and there you have it.
Easy peasy. Now, just because I am so very forgetful,( I blame the kids I swear the longer I nurse the more memory I loose)

      whenever I read a magazine I like to stick a post it on the outside of all the stuff in that issue I love. It is awesome as a quick reference!

Not your Grandmothers attic, but still Awesome!

As you all know I am a huge fan of huge savings. When we first moved our little squid family to Maryland we had precious few belongings and precious little cash. This is not abnormal in the military world as most can tell you, so we set out to discover any and all good deals to set up shop for as little money as possible.
    We knew from the Big Squids time in A-school that most if not all bases had a thrift store so we asked anyone that would talk to us where we could find the one on our current base. Thankfully, a kind soul pointed us in the right direction and we hit thrift store money in hand and very excited. However, once we got there we found that our joy was washed away by a slightly over-priced inventory. Don’t get me wrong, we found some great deals. Our squidlet sleeps in a $20 crib that we bought in good condition.  And they are always doing $2. bag sales. But, we really  had to dig and seldom found exactly what we were looking for.
    Then, on the same fateful day we got the crib we were sent to a place called the attic. What is the attic you ask? A stuffy, dusty place full of your grandmothers old dishes, unread books, and abandoned toys? Absolutely, and so much more! It’s formal name is the Airman’s Attic. It is a converted old fire station where military volunteers organize donated items so that anyone E5 and below can give them a new home. The only thing they don’t take is adult clothing (except for uniform items) and anyone that can get on base can donate.
    It was amazing, we stepped in and a heavenly light shone down on one specific section in this mecca of unwanted items. The baby room. An entire room dedicated to one of the most costly undertakings in history. Everything from shoes, to car seats could be found here and it was all free. I could hardly believe my eyes as we sifted for hours through the piles of clothes and bedding. We have clothed both our squidlets from the attic our entire time here and when we finish with what we use we send it right back there for other mililtary brats to run about in, plus I have gotten countless items from the attic that I have turned into fun stuff for our house. I love giving old items new life.
    Now, understand that because of its nature not everything is in pristine condition, but who cares? Its Free! Take what you want and with a good cleaning most of the time you’ve found a gem. There are rules of course, like, you can’t sell what you get there and if you want to put a hold on a piece of furniture its only for 7 days.
    Its a mad house during peak PCS time, furniture gets unloaded from one truck almost directly into another. It is a hit or miss deal and I love it. It is one of the greatest uses of military volunteers I have heard of and embodies the entire spirit of military families who look out for each other. I hope if you are military you go in search of whether or not there is an attic at your area!

I made these from an old t-shirt and a terry cloth changing table cover found at my Attic!

Bathroom hand towel

Toilet seat cover.