Dandelions Make Me Happy

I'm a very visual person. Pinterest is my new best friend. Here are some finds from this week, that made me happy to look at:

sources:
http://pinterest.com/lndjam/dandy/
http://tumblr.com
http://www.photographyblogger.net/19-delightful-dandelion-pictures/

Sweet and Sour Sauce

Nothing made me happier than finding a recipe for sweet and sour sauce to make at home! The original called for 2-1 ratio of OJ verses vinegar, but when you have very "aged" vinegar (few years past expiration date, come to realize!), it requires a 3-1 ratio. I also added corn starch to thicken it, which the kids loved. Next time I go shopping I'm going to pick up some more vinegar, so I'll post an update if there's a big difference.

    3/4 cup sugar
    1/2 cup red wine vinegar
    1 cup orange juice
    1 tablespoon butter
    2 tsp corn starch


In a small saucepan, bring sugar, vinegar and orange juice to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue cooking until it reduces by half, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat, swirl in butter. In a small glass, add 3 tbsp cold water and mix in the corn starch. As you are stirring fast, slowly pour in the corn starch and water into the pan until it is completely dissolved. Heat through about a minute, then take the pan off the heat. Sauce will continue to thicken for a few minutes. Serve warm. This sauce can be reheated, just stir well.

Roasted Carrots and Potatoes

I have heard all vegetables are better roasted. I didn't believe it until I roasted some brussel sprouts a couple of weeks ago, and even toasted them more than expected- for the kids to LOVE them-

So I had a couple of Idaho potatoes on hand, so I cut them up and added some carrots to the mix while I was at it-

 What's that speckled all over them? I drizzled them in EVOO, and tossed in 2 tbsp of Herbs de Provence. I have a container full of this mixture so I thought this would be a good way to use them up. I have used this mixture in place of rosemary, and in place of Italian seasoning, we well.

To create your own herbs mixture, simply mix:
    2 tablespoons dried savory
    2 tablespoons dried rosemary
    2 tablespoons dried thyme
    2 tablespoons dried oregano
    2 tablespoons dried basil
    2 tablespoons dried marjoram
    2 tablespoons dried fennel seed

(Or if you shop at Whole Foods, if I'm not mistaken, you can buy this herb mixture from the bulk section.)

I roasted them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper (easy cleanup, no stick!) in a 400% oven for 30-40 minutes, turning and tossing 2-3 times as needed.

No one complained about the carrots. SCORE!
I wish I had an "after" picture but my phone battery went dead before I was finished cooking that evening. Maybe next time! :)

Tell Me Thursday: Motley Crue

Watching Dancing with the Stars last week, the new tour for Motley Crue and KISS was mentioned. Being a longtime fan, hubby decided to see what tickets cost for a tour like that. He called me into the kitchen where he was on the laptop and told me to take a deep breath.

Realizing he was kidding, it was easy to laugh at.

Lemony Shrimp Scampi with Pasta

I've started DVR'ing Ten Dollar Dinners, and this dish looked SO good. I've always wanted to do more seafood at home so I thought this would be easy peasy to try at home. I LOVE lemon anything. This biggest hurdle I am facing right now (trying to go gluten free), is staying away from that lemon pound cake at Starbucks! So I tried the recipe as directed, and we all agreed, it's too lemony for us. I also questioned the merit of making the shrimp stock, but when we were finished, realized it was worth the effort. I figure the more I work with shrimp, the more efficient I will be at peeling and deveining.

I also question how shows and articles like this conclude how "cheap" meals like this is. I will not proclaim this meal was a ten dollar dinner. The wild caught shrimp was $8.99/lb at Whole Foods, on sale. I double checked at Food Lion, and you can get farm raised shrimp from Thailand for $6.99/lb regular price, but my conscience says stick with Whole Foods ;) Melissa d'Arabian claims she can get three bunches of parsley for a dollar. I have never in my life seen it at that price! The angel hair pasta, being gluten free, was in the $3 range, so we'll call this a $15 dinner and be happy- because we enjoyed it :o)

The next time I make it, I will make the following tweaks:

Lemony Shrimp Scampi with Pasta

• 6 garlic cloves, pressed or grated
• 1 lemon, half zested, and both halves juiced
• 5 tablespoons EVOO
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and butterflied (reserve shells)
• 1/4 onion
• 8 oz thin angel hair pasta (we will use a gluten free brand)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 handful parsley leaves, chopped

Directions

Peel and devein the shrimp. If you are as slow as I am, do this earlier in the day, ahead of time!

In a bowl, combine the garlic, zest of half of the lemon and juice of the whole, EVOO, salt and pepper, to taste, and the shrimp. Set aside. 

Shrimp stock: In a small pot, over medium heat, add the shrimp shells and onion. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain into a bowl and discard the shells and the onion.


Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add a generous amount of salt. Add the pasta and cook until just tender, 2 minutes less than instructed on the package. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water.


Heat a skillet over high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until they turn pink and start to caramelize, about 3 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the pan to a plate and add the remaining marinade. Let cook a few minutes then add about 1 cup of shrimp stock and about 1/2 cup pasta water. Continue to cook until sauce reduces by half.

Add the zest and juice of the remaining lemon, the butter and the parsley and stir to combine. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste. Add in the shrimp and pasta and toss to combine with the sauce.

Serve immediately.

Nap Nanny Chill (Review)

A little background on the purchase, we bought this $129 foam chair covered in "oh so soft" material for my daughter who was sick with a pretty bad cold at the time. At 2 months old there was nothing more we could do than keep her elevated and do our best with the saline drops.  This is a problem that almost every mom and baby face.  My problem, I have a husband who goes above and beyond for Maddie, so seeing this gave him hope that it would help her rest without gagging.  I'm inspired to give my "opinion" in all uses of this product.

First, I would like to add that their website says that it has "revolutionized infant sleep".  It is most used, as far as I can tell by moms whose babies have reflux. While it is a pretty cool lounger for my daughter (no reflux here!), and very soft so she will fall asleep in it for short periods of time, she sleeps better on our bed for naps. Like most moms, I want my baby close to me when she sleeps at night, the Nap Nanny is to only be used on the floor.  Really? It's cold down there! I thought we could put it on the top setting in the pack-n-play, but the makers strongly suggest that it ONLY be used on the floor. Even with baby strapped in due to safety hazards, I can respect that. So she used it during the day while playing and the angle did help her breathe a little better.

So whats the big deal? $129?  There are no bells and whistles, no vibration for the "bouncy seat" effect, just a cool lounger.  I can tell you that, with my experience with it, it has served such a small purpose for us. I bought a crib, mattress, co-sleeper and pack-n-play, and this Nap Nanny for her to sleep.  I use this the least.

Let's see a plus side.  The nap nanny is VERY portable and seems to be very convenient to put in the case and take on vacation. I will be trying this over the summer.  Little ones can use it up into their toddler years. The cover is removable and machine washable. There are raving reviews by moms who say their baby would not sleep anywhere else for months and it worked wonders for their baby's reflux. I didn't have the same results with the sleep.

I will say, being that we spent so much on it, and after being tempted to ebay it- I believe we will keep it, since there will be more children.  However, I am disappointed in my purchase. I have got the same results from the swing.  I do really wish we would have bought the cheaper version on the shelf next to it for $40, that DID have bells and whistles.  Bottom line, if your baby doesn't have reflux, there are other cheaper options.  The Nap Nanny is a cool product for what it is with the comfort factor, I just wish it had more features.

She does like to lounge and watch Dora in it, though.

 
Have you tried the Nap Nanny Chill? What did you think of you? Are you happy with it?

Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way for this post.

Would you like for us to review your product? We have children with ages ranging from infant to 13 years old. Contact us at notextingatthetable@gmail.com!

Wordless Wednesday

Pork Roast, but Not Really

The other evening I was so entrenched in the internet, time slipped up on me and I did not have enough time to fully roast that huge chunk of pork roast I bought that morning at the store. Years of 30 Minute Meal watching and reading taught me, if I cut it up, it would cook faster so all was not lost! When I took the string off for it to reveal two large pork tenderlions, I started cutting the tenderlions into smaller chops.

Hannah is not fond of a lot of seasoning right now, so for half of it I stuck to the traditional salt and pepper. The half I planned on eating, however, I combined:

1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp coarse sea salt

(The next time I'm going to try it with 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp hot pepper flakes.)

I had quite a batch of meat going on-

I seared them in a medium hot pan before finishing them off in a 375o oven.

I wish I had an "after" picture but my phone went dead by the time dinner was finished!

Weeds vs Greens

Spring has sprung, and for most people, lawns all over are already being mowed on a regular basis. Unless you're at my house. Then part of the lawn has been mown. My front flower bed ... "flower bed", has seen many better days. It needs a total overhaul, but I am starting to wonder if the Lord is not providing my deep seated need to garden, without my participating in the panting of the plants and seeds. We have not had a garden in a good ten years, and this bothers me. I've noticed these "plants" sprouting in this flower bed. A couple weeks ago they looked like this-

This weekend, they looked like this-

(Click to see a larger version)

I asked a couple of weeks ago on Facebook and the consensus was "it looks like dandelion, but when it doubt, don't". Well of course I'm in doubt, but if I have free salads growing in my front flower bed, I wanna know! So off to 'the google' I go. Apparently, these weeds are the awesome of most awesome salad greens, yet you can saute them as well. From RebeccaWood.com (no relation)-

Dandelions support digestion, reduce swelling and inflammation, and treat viruses, jaundice, edema, gout, eczema and acne. This sunflower relative boasts potent medicinal properties with laxative and diuretic properties (its French name, pissenlit, wet the bed, aptly names its effectiveness). More of their–and other foods’–medicinal properties, are listed in The New WHole Foods Encyclopedia.

I always figured you'd see the greens along with the flowers, but I don't see any. But there are the big stalks like this-

It appears the leaves vary a little in appearance, but when you check out what Bon Appetit has, to mine they look the same.

So what do you think? Do I have an endless source of salad greens going on in my flower bed?


If you eat dandelion greens, how large are they before they're not good, or does it matter?

Breaking Pride Trailer

Breaking Pride eBook Trailer

Description:
So many of us desire freedom – the freedom that is promised to us when we decide to follow Jesus. The freedom from the burden of our sin, the need to be “good enough”, anger, jealousy, and envy.

Even though we are believers we would be ashamed to say that we don’t always experience peace, contentment, and joy in our life. We are looking for the grace that God has so graciously given to us to be real in our life…

Breaking Pride is an eBook based on one simple truth:

In order to walk in God’s grace we need to tear down the the walls of pride.

A lot of believers, even though saved by God’s grace, are still walking in pride rather than walking in His grace. Knowing what pride is and learning to identify pride in your life is the first step to overcoming a life filled with pride.

Pride is rooted in fear and leads to anger, jealousy, and envy.

Sin isn’t keeping us from having a relationship with the Lord, it’s our pride.

So many of us long to have an authentic and REAL relationship with the Lord, and we long to have the fruit of the spirit filled in our heart. Our desire is to achieve these fruits through will power. But we do not even realize that the pride that lives within our heart is what is blocking the fruit of the spirit from living within us.

In Breaking Pride you will learn to identify different areas of pride in your life. Filled with encouragement, Breaking Pride will take you through a practical reading of what pride may look like in your life…

Let’s stop building walls of pride and start building the foundation of grace within our lives…

Visit http://breakingpride.com

Disclosure: the author is a friend :o)

Man Faces 5 Year Sentence for Facebook Status

from ZDnet.com-

"Dharmasraya Police Chief Sr. Comr. Chairul Aziz said the district branch of the council and other Islamic organizations believed Aan had defiled Islam by using passages from the Koran to denounce the existence of God and highlight his atheist views. “So it meets the criteria of tainting religion, in this case Islam,” Chairul told The Jakarta Globe.

On Facebook, Aan said he was brought up as a Muslim. In 2008, however, he came to the conclusion that God could not exist. In addition to his comment about the possibility of a deity, he also declared that he did not believe in angels, devils, heaven, hell, as well as other “myths.” He was aware he could lose his job and was prepared to do so to defend his beliefs.

Atheism is a violation of Indonesian law under the founding principles of the country. Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, recognises the right to practice six religions in total: Islam, Protestant, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhism and Confucianism. Atheism is, however, illegal. According to Indonesian criminal law, anyone who tries to stop others believing in a faith could face up to five years in jail for blasphemy.

Aan was charged because he used Facebook to spread beliefs that violate the law. Furthermore, it was pointed out he lied on his job application by saying he was Muslim. Aan asked police investigators: if God really exists and has absolute power, why doesn’t God prevent bad things from happening in this world?"

I hereby declare today Thankful Thursday.
I am thankful for living in a country where I can be free to practice whatever religion, or lack thereof, I want.
I am thankful to have found the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ so many years ago.
I am thankful that Christ died for my sins that I may be with Him in heaven when I die.
I am thankful for the peace that comes through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, that I can accept that when bad things happen, they are a result of living in a sinful fallen world.
I am thankful that we do not live in a country that oppresses its people through the veil of religion.
I am thankful for Facebook, because with these gas prices, that's the only way we'll be able to keep in touch by the end of the summer!

Hunger Hits Home

Food Network's new documentary about hunger in America airs this weekend.
Check out the trailer:



Then check out Rachael Ray's organization "YUM-O", which concentrates on childhood hunger in our country.

Come back Monday and tell us what you thought about the documentary!