I just put an old lady's maxi pad through the wash and all I can think is this is my life...

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Saturday, March 24, 2012

Love Notes

I am the kind of person who requires a lot of affection or else I worry that I'm not loved anymore. Turkey Butt is the kind of guy who isn't openly affectionate or quick to tell me how much he loves me or that he thinks I'm beautiful. I know he loves me but it's easy to get doubtful when he's gone so much and so busy when he's home. We're working on it.

One way that he has always been good at expressing his feelings is through his writing. So, while he's away this weekend and I am missing him desperately I will read and re-read passages from his little love notes to me, like this one:

"You have given me all that I could ever ask for and more than I could ever want!" - from his Valentine's Day card to me from this year.

This is my life!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Overheard in the Tub

Turkey Butt to Little Miss Elle: "The rubber ducky is floating because he's buoyant. Remember we learned about buoyancy?!"

Love.

This is my life.

Monday, March 19, 2012

What's That? Another Recipe?!

I know, I know.. Another recipe. I swear that all I do lately is bake - well aside from the usual bum changing and baby feeding. I just had to share this recipe with you though. I am sitting here with a cinnamon-y scented house and wanted to share the love. Believe me, if I could somehow attach this scent to this blog post, I totally would.
Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Original recipe found in "1,000 Vegetarian Recipes" cookbook by Carol Gelles

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt (optional)
               2 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned oatmeal) I used quick oats
                  1 cup raisins I used 1 cup of a raisin/semi-sweet chocolate chip mixture
1/2 cup butter or margarine (softened)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp water
                                     1 tsp vanilla extract I love me some vanilla and always use a generous splash!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Thoroughly grease (I use the paper that once covered my margarine square and rub it around the cookie sheets) 2 large baking sheets.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir in oats and raisins (and chocolate chips); set aside.
3. In a large bowl (I throw it in my mixer), cream the butter or margarine. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, water, and vanilla. Beat in dry ingredients until completely combined.
4. Drop by rounded tablespoons (onto the cookie sheets - obvious but I do like to state the obvious when others don't), leaving about 1 1/2 inches between cookies. Press with fork to flatten slightly (for a chewier consistency I don't flatten them with a fork).
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned on bottom. Cool on racks.

Variation: For crispier cookies, reduce water to 1 Tbsp and use quick-cooking oats (not instant) instead of rolled oats.


So there you have it! If you ever get around to making these cookies, please enjoy! And, take some advice from me and do yourself a favor, whip up a batch without the egg for cookie dough devouring purposes! Yum! This is my life!

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Baby Items To Save For.

There are a few items that I really wish I had of had for Little Miss Elle. Hopefully I'll be able to get them for any future Little Misses or Misters that we may have. And, just so I don't forget what they are, I'm going to list them here:

Ergo Carrier - $125 at Spoil Me Rotten. Gasp.
A Bumbo - $59.95 at Spoil Me Rotten, tray not included.
Sleep sheep - $39.99 at Toys R Us
Exersaucer Jump & Leanr - $139.99 at Toys R Us
A convertable car seat with a high weight limit instead of the dumb ols bucket style. This one from safety First is $199.99 at Toys R Us.
And there are more things which I will add at a later time because the Little Miss has woken up from her nap and is SO not a happy camper. This is my life.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe

If you know me, you know how much I love chocolate! I have to get my fix every day or I feel like something is missing from my life. Sometimes I have a hard time finding something and resort to eating a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Sometimes I have a secret stash of chocolate bars from days passed when Turkey Butt was feeling chocolate bar generous. You see, I don't necessarily need a lot of chocolate each day - just enough to satisfy my craving. So if my sweet hubby comes home with a handful of Wunderbar's for me, I may eat one then and stash the rest for another time.

Lately I have been a baking machine so Turkey Butt is sure to keep my pantry stocked with chocolate (and other baking supplies) so that he can eat some baked goodness too. Today I dug into a bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (I always bake with these and never milk chocolate chips - but that's just me) and whipped up some Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies! Here's the recipe that I use:

Mama's Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp baking soda
4 tsp milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
2 or 3 bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Cream sugar and butter together. Add beaten egg and mix until fluffy. Add mashed bananas, milk and vanilla - beat until well mixed. Sift the baking soda, salt and flour together. Add to the banana mixture and beat only until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.  Grease, spray, or put muffin papers into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 18 to 20 minutes. Makes 12.

____________________________________________________________________

Yup, that's my recipe! Super easy and super delicious. This time around I used 2 and a half bananas because that was what I had. In the past I've done it with 3 bananas and with 1 and a half bananas. It really doesn't seem to make much of a difference. This time around I also used muffin papers - I sure do hate the clean up afterwords if I don't - and I find that it makes more muffins that way. I got 16 muffins when I made it today. They come out soft, warm and gooey in the centre with a crisp top. And they are so good. But don't take my word for it - after sending the following text message to Turkey Butt (he was on the third floor working out):

Wait, what's that? Banana chocolate chip muffins, warm out of the oven? You don't say!

I immediately heard a thump thump thump as he came running down the two flights of stairs and straight to our kitchen! This is my life!

P.S. Just for fun...
Turkey Butt runs on the treadmill in his tactical vest (which is full of 30lbs of weights from his gym) while wearing his gas mask. He's a little nervous because he has to spend 6 hours in a gas hut during his birthday weekend. Poor guy!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Mary Kay

My Mary Kay order has arrived so I thought, in the spirit of blogging regularly, that I would update you all on what I got:
This is it! Hand delivered by my sweet coworker Kay just an hour or so ago. From left to right you're looking at Hydrate - a facial moisturizer from Mary Kay's new Botanical Effects line, Mint Bliss Energizing Lotion for Feet & Legs, and Satin Hands Fragrance Free Hand Cream.

I am so very excited about the new Botanical Effects line. If you're not familiar with Mary Kay products, they have the Velocity line which is aimed at teenagers mostly and they have the Timewise line which is aimed at diminishing the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Both excellent skin care lines (I should know, I had a facial using the Timewise line and have been rocking some Velocity samples while waiting for my order to get in) but I'm neither a teenager nor am I concerned about wrinkles yet. This is where the brand new Botanical Effects line comes into play! If you know me, then you know how much I enjoy saving the environment when I can (and let's be honest, occasionally only when it's convenient) so the fact that the box my product came in is made from recycled material and printed with soy ink makes me happy! I'm excited to test out this lotion once Turkey Butt gets home and I get the chance to hop into the shower.

Also exciting is the Mint Bliss Energizing Lotion for Feet & Legs. I'm a huge fan of mint foot lotion. I love the way the mint feels so cool and refreshing and tingly on my sore, achy feet. I will let you know how this product soothes my feet tomorrow as my sweet hubby has promised me a foot massage! Love!

The third and final product in my order is the one that I have had the opportunity to test out. I have such dry hands so as soon as I could, I tore into this product to test it out. On the back of the package it claims to be a nongreasy hand cream that leaves hands soft and silky - lasting 24 hours, even through several hand washings. My first impression was that it was indeed greasy. I can live with that though, so long as it gets the job done. So far I'm pleased with it. My hands do feel soft and silky as I sit here typing this. I'll let you know how it holds up to it's claim to last 24 hours! This is my life!

As Promised...

I'm back again - two days in a row is a pretty good deal. Hopefully I can keep this up! It is such a nice release for me to just write out my thoughts and goings on - even if no one reads them.

As promised, I have a recipe to share with everyone. It might just be my favorite recipe and it's not even for a dessert! It's the recipe I use to make Brown Bread in my bread maker. So simple, yet so tasty! As a bit of an explanation for my American reader (Hi, Lisa!) - Brown Bread is an East Coast tradition. A bread made with molasses that is best served with baked beans. Perhaps you knew that already? I just know that when I asked for Brown Bread when I lived in B.C. I was always given Whole Wheat Bread which is SO not the same!

Machine Brown Bread
1 1/4 cup hot water
4 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp butter
1Tbsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 rolled oats
3 cups flour
1 Tbsp quick rise yeast

As always with a breadmaker, you put the ingredients in in the order that they're listed on the recipe. When it comes time to add the yeast, I always make a little bowl in the flour with a spoon and pour it into there so it doesn't hit the moisture before it's supposed to. If you have a Sweet Bread setting on your breadmaker, use that. Mine doesn't have that setting so I bake it on the White Bread setting at 1 1/2lbs with a Medium crust. I only do that because I find that the amount of flour in my brown bread recipe is comparable to my machine's 1 1/2lb White Bread recipe. And, as a special touch, I always rub the top crust of my breads with butter or margarine when it is done cooking. The butter melts nicely over the top giving it a yummy flavour and I find it keeps the crust from getting hard. But that's just me!

Anyway, this is my life!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

The Reasons That I've Been Neglecting My Blog.

I know, I know - I have been M.I.A. lately. I apologize! Incase you were wondering what I`ve been doing with my time these days, here`s a rundown:

- Turkey Butt is no longer working his civilian job and his BMQ is only Friday to Sunday at the moment so I`ve been enjoying spending extra time with him. I especially love to watch him and Little Miss Elle interacting with each other:

Action Shot.
- A local gym was having a 10 days for $10 deal so I decided it was time I got my butt in gear and tried to lose a little baby weight. So far I`m really enjoying it and am attempting to find the money in my budget to get a membership once my 10 days are up.
- Baking. I`ve been a baking queen! It`s pretty much the only housewifely duty that I truly enjoy. Around this house you wouldn`t be hard pressed to find brown bread, chocolate brownies with peanut butter icing:

This is what happens when you cannot wait for it to cool down first...
, apple sauce, banana chocolate chip muffins, or peanut butter chocolate chip cupcakes with peanut butter icing to name a few. Oh, and it is so much fun eating all of these delectable items.
- My lovely friend Jay has introduced me to this magical thing called a Diaper Co-op. Long story short, items are offered at wholesale prices if a minimum amount is ordered. I`m addicted. So addicted. I don`t even know where the money comes from that is paying for this obsession - let`s just say it is fabulous and I am never ever paying retail, for a cloth diaper or home pregnancy test or wooden toys, again. Love!
- My sweet sissy Aych had her 24th birthday on Friday. Sadly she came down with the flu and her party was postponed til Sunday night and my Mama had to miss it (she was down for the weekend). Luckily the party was still quite spectacular and well worth the extra effort that went into it.

The birthday banner that I made for her!
As luck would have it, Turkey Butt arrived home from his BMQ just as my Mama was packing up her vehicle to go. This was a wonderful surprise - a) because I missed him so desperately and b) because the Little Miss had just woken up from her nap and I hadn`t accomplished anything party related except for the decorating and the cupcakes. The Little Miss slept through most of the party:

It was her second one in as many nights (my childhood babysitter celebrated her 60th with a big surprise party the night before) and I think she was all partied out.
- Speaking of the Little Miss, she is changing and growing so much lately. She now waves and gives kisses (especially to her rubber duckies in the tub). She has started her first veggie (avocado) and is not a very big fan of it:

At all... The faces this kid makes, sigh! She is very quickly approaching the 5 month marker and she is just a delight to be around 95% of the time. Love. Her.
Anyway, those are a few of the things that have kept me from blogging much lately. I hope to get back into the swing of things this week perhaps. There may just be a recipe or a beauty product review in your not too distant future! This is my life!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Exhaustion.

Elodie is still screaming. Happy screaming, sad screaming, angry screaming. Sigh. I'm exhausted! I've been lucky enough to have Turkey Butt home more than usual the last few days but have his first weekend of BMQ quickly approaching.

I've been attempting to use Turkey Butt's extra time around the house to get a few things done. The main thing that I have been dying to complete is Little Miss Elle's bedroom. I'm happy to say that, aside from a few hours that I need to focus on organizing my craft supplies, I am almost finished. Looking around it today I am shocked to see how many ideas I picked up from Pinterest. Love Pinterest. I hope to be able to show everyone in blog land some of my Pinterest projects soon.

On top of Elodie's room, I have a very important birthday coming up! My very favorite (and only) sister in the whole wide world, the lovely Aych, is celebrating her birthday in 8 days. I have offered to throw her a little family birthday gathering and am loving the ideas I'm planning for it. Can't give anything away incase she reads this, but again, I love Pinterest. This is my life.

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