A Little "Healthish" Comfort Food for Fall

With a new month starting tomorrow, the air becoming crisper in the morning and at night and school being back in full swing, I can't help but get excited about our upcoming season.  One of my very favorites...Fall.  It is quite a welcome and refreshing break after such a long and sweltering summer.

I really appreciate living in a place now where I experience an actual change of seasons.  It's really gorgeous to see the leaves change colors and fall to the ground in their crunchy glory.  I love the smells of my favorite Amish Pumpkin bread and Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins baking in the oven, the warmth of hot coffee and the kid's cocoa in the morning, and the feel of the chill in the air.

At Lucas' request and to celebrate the coming of Fall, I made an easy, new and tasty recipe the other night.  And because I am a nice person, I am going to share it with you now.

Quick & Easy Italian Meatball Soup


Start to Finish: 25 minutes  Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1. 1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with onion and garlic, undrained
2. 1 14 oz. can reduced-sodium beef broth or 1 3/4 cups homemade beef broth
3. 1 1/2 cups water
4. 1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
5. 1/2 of a 16 oz. package of Italian-style frozen cooked meatballs
6. 1 cup of frozen loose-pack mixed veggies (I probably doubled this and used three different kinds that included broccoli, peppers, corn, peas, zucchini, carrot coins, etc.).  Next time, I plan to add some fresh spinach at the end, too.
7. 1/2 cup of small dried pasta (such as ditalini, macaroni, or orzo)
8. 1 Tbsp, shredded or grated Parmesan (optional)
9. Fresh basil to taste (optional)

In a large saucepan, combine undrained tomatoes, broth, water and Italian seasoning.  Bring to a boil.  Add meatballs, frozen veggies and pasta.  Return to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, about 10 minutes or until veggies and pasta are tender.  If desired, sprinkle each serving with Parmesan.

My whole family loved it which says a lot, as kids can often be hard to please.  Even picky Emily was telling me that I am the best cook in the world.

Next time, I will try to take a photo to include in the post.  The pasta sucked up all of the broth, so it looks kind of scary and unappetizing in the fridge now.  I suggest draining the broth out and storing it separately in your leftovers (if you have any).

Enjoy and happy almost Fall!!

It's Seriously Time for a Post

So, having taken more than 6 months off of blogging, I suppose that I should post something before my blog goes inactive and is shut down.  Would they actually do this I wonder?  Probably not, but as a rule follower, I am not going to take any chances.

What's new with me?  Well, I'll tell you...

• We had a seriously great summer which included 5 trips for me (Ohio, North Carolina, Nevada City, Pollock Pines, and San Francisco). 3 were me alone with family or friends, 1 was Michael and I and 1 was with the kids.  Last summer stunk.  I worked mostly full time and didn't have much fun.  This year more than made up for it.
• Michael turned 40!  And he is still cool and doesn't seem like an old dude yet, which is a relief since I am much, much younger;-). 
• We just celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss.  Ok, so it hasn't all been bliss, but it's been a pretty great but, wild ride.  In 11 years, we've "owned" 3 homes, lived in 2 states, lost a job and obtained a masters degree (him), and had 3 children (me).  We even trained for and ran a marathon together pre-kids.  This is what I accredit to giving me arthritis (knees), but was entirely worth it.
• I have 2 kids in school now.  Lucas started 1st grade and Emily started Kindergarten.  They are loving it, but tired as they adjust to the new schedule.  Emily especially as she was accustomed to napping everyday and is in school now at nap time.  The other day, I told her that it was an early school day and we were going to come home and nap.  I expected that she would fight that, but instead said, "Good!  I've been so tired." 
• I am about to officially become a "soccer mom."  I signed Lucas up for a city "Kidz Love Soccer" program.  It is more of a class to teach them drills and how to play than an actual team.  It will let us test the waters of the sport before we commit to spending several days a week on it.  So really I will be more of a poser soccer mom than an actual one, but maybe someday...
• I still do childcare part-time and work part-time at our church.  I'm also trying to figure out a way that I can volunteer in both kid's classrooms (but need to find a solution for what to do with Clara).
• I am eager for the weather to cool off and fall to begin.  I can't wait to see the leaves change, eat all things pumpkin and wear long sleeves again.
• I started up a women's group this Spring.  It's a group of women whose husbands are all in a men's group together.  It has been fun to have this social outlet and time out with girls!  Looking forward to starting up again in the fall.  With the busy summer, we had taken time off.
• I am starting up a new exercise regime.  Mike and I are doing some kind of workout together a couple/few days a week and I am starting to run in the morning with a friend one morning and walk one evening per week.

I am sure that there is more, but my husband is ready to have a wine on the porch date with me.  No, not whine on the porch.

Here's to hoping that I won't let 6+ months slip away without another blog.  I need to practice if I ever want to write that book with "pages that sparkle."  That is my new goal after reading The Brothers K, the book I just finished.  One of the reviewers described it as such and I thought, I want to do that.  I want to write something that makes people imagine and weep and somehow changes their lives (for the better).  Maybe someday...

One Loved Bear

Beneso (pronounced Ben E So) has had a rich life for a stuffed bear.  He has been my precious bear for 32 years.  After years of being my favorite (I think that I even took him off to college with me), I passed him on to my son when he was a toddler.  Lucas, almost 6, sleeps with him by his side or even lays on him every night.  And he generously shares Beneso with his little sister, Clara, who calls the bear "Nutho" and lovingly drags him around with her during the day.

When I was young, I was convinced that my Beneso was real.  Well now I know that he is...just like the skin horse described when asked by the Velveteen Rabbit the question "What is real?"  His reply was: "Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Maybe Beneso wasn't alive back then, but he surely is real now.  This shabby bear sure has been loved and has years of love left in him, if he can only stay in one piece.

Clara's Vices

It is so easy not to blog anymore. There are a million other things that are pulling at me...but let me give it another try. Seeing that the last post was a summer recipe, it has clearly been awhile.

Today, I got to experience what being the mother of a blanket baby sounds like. Clara's been into her blankie (a cute duckie one that a friend, Anna, made for Emily when she was an infant)for a month or so now. It's really sweet to see how she cradles it, drags it around with her, cuddles with it while sucking her thumb. She calls to it when it is not around "DUCK!" Sounds more like "Guck," I think.

Well this morning, I decided that it was time to wash her bedding, including her blankie. I did not tread gently, waiting for her to put it down. I just marched right up and took it, telling her that I needed to wash it.

Poor Clara cried at the washing machine for a while. Pointing and yelling for her "Guck." She didn't seem to care when I showed her that it was all wet and soapy.

I ran up to her room and attempted to find her a substitute blankie while hers was out of commission. None of them appealed to her. Soon the tears dried and she moved off to do something else. But a couple hours later when she had her "Guck" back all fresh and warm out of the dryer, you should have seen her face. She danced with it. I played a game of taking it away from her and she squealed and giggled. And the kid could hardly concentrate on eating her lunch because she wanted to get her blankie back.

Yes, my kid has an addiction. A couple in fact...she's a cute thumb sucker. But I love that about her. I love the way she is. Her little things are what make Clara, my little punk.

A Sensational Summer Sandwich

Tonight I made an awesome new recipe that I had to share.

Fruited Tuna Salad Pitas

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. honey
1 can (12 oz) white, water packed tuna, drained
1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges, drained
1 medium apple, chopped
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 celery rib, thinly sliced
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/8 tsp. salt
4 whole wheat pita breads
2-3/4 cups alfalfa sprouts

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise and honey. Stir in the tuna, oranges, apples, pecans, celery, cranberries and salt. Serve on pita breads with sprouts.

I toasted my pita bread and served the salad in them, instead of on top of them.

They were super, light and you couldn't really tell that it was tuna because it was so sweet. I'll bet that it would also be good with chicken and served on croissants.

I am trying two more recipes this week: Ratatouille with Polenta and Bacon Chicken Sandwiches so stay tuned...

Next time I will try to remember to take a photo before I inhale it:).

Two Posts in a Day--NO WAY!

So, after several requests for the recipe for our tasty dinner the other night...I decided to post it here. I got it from my favorite cooking magazine, Taste of Home's "Simple & Delicious." I had it for lunch again today and it was perhaps even better. Quiche makes an excellent leftover! Too bad the picky kids didn't like it. Oh well. I ate most of their leftovers...who can let awesome deliciousness go to waste?? Unfortunately, I overdid it a little. Must exercise tonight to make up for gorging!

Spinach & Bacon Hash Brown Quiche

3 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/4 cup of butter, melted
6 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, chopped
3 eggs
1 cup half-and-half cream
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
2/3 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese

Press hash browns between paper towels to remove excess moisture; toss with butter. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-in. pie plate. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are browned.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon and onion over medium heat until bacon is crisp (maybe 10-15 minutes...it was hard for me to tell), Remove to paper towels to drain. In a large bowel, combine the eggs, cream, salt and pepper. Stir in the spinach, cheeses and bacon mixture; pour into crust.

Bake at 350 degrees (remember to turn your oven on now...this is a very important step;-)for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

I think that I will start regularly posting good recipes that I have tried. Also I would like to host a monthly cooking club where we try out new recipes, each bring ingredients and share in our treats. Any locals interested in joining me on a culinary adventure? Julia and Julia inspired me and I even bought Julia Child's cookbook, so we could try our hand at some fancier things, too.

Sisterly Love

It's been so long since I've blogged that I almost forgot how to log in. I am so accustomed to using Facebook now for quick updates that it hurts my head a little to think of blogging again, but...it's been 5 months so it's time for a little something.

In the early days of having a new little sister, Emily wasn't quite sure what to make of her. I think that she was having some jealousy issues. I asked her once if we should take Clara back...just to see what she said. And to my surprise, she said "YES!" I explained that Clara was our little baby and we had her for good. She is a precious member of our family.

Since then, Emily has warmed to Clara and often wants to hug and kiss and touch her. Emily must have touch as her primary love language. She also regularly loudly exclaims "You are BEAUTIFUL!!" which makes her little sister giggle and smile. Perhaps Emily likes words of affirmation, too:).

Recently, though, she revisited her early desire to get rid of her sister. "Mama, can we take Clara back and get a pet like a doggy or kitty instead?" I think that this came up because the kids have been asking me for a pet and I have said that we will have to wait until Clara is older so that mama can handle it. And her logic is, if we just ditch the sister, I can get me a puppy!

Gotta love kids. They keep me on my toes.

5 Months Later

Today Clara turned 5 months. She has almost been with us for a half a year. It has flown by...wow. And it has not been easy. 3 kids is taking it to a "whole nutha level."

But we are getting better at it. Things are going smoother. She has such a sweet, easy-going personality and fits right into the family.

Her smiles come quick and lights up the room. She kicks and snorts in excitement when she sees her parents or siblings. We work to make her laugh and are rewarded for our effort with bubbling giggles or coughing laugh fits.

We love our baby so much. Even though it has been a challenge, our family would not be complete without this beautiful little girl.

Daddy's Little Girl

I just had to take this photo...risking waking both of my sleepers. Yet, they kept sleeping and I captured a sweet moment. See the family resemblance?

So, I don't blog much anymore. I'm much more into one line Facebook updates. That's about all I have the mind and energy for these days.

I do have a few moments to myself now, though.

Life with 3 kids is tough and has really kicked my booty. I hope that it gets better soon!

My Little Clara Beara

Well, my new daughter made her grand entrance into the world early. By two and a half weeks. I was expecting to have her early...both siblings were exactly 4 days before their due dates, but she had other plans and wanted to join us sooner. What a drama queen!

I was actually laboring most of the week with pretty intense contractions that kept me up for several nights, the loss of my mucous plug (on three occasions) and an overall feeling of yuckiness and exhaustion. Feeling like labor was getting close, I was a nesting maniac-washed her clothes, sheets, towels, got the house ready, packed my hospital bag and bag for the kids, etc. I felt like every night was going to be "the night" and was just waiting for my water to break.

Saturday night, I was up again, lying in bed having contractions. I got up and messed around on the computer for awhile, timing contractions and playing Facebook Scrabble. Finally after about 45 minutes, I decided to try sleeping a bit. The contractions were coming, but still pretty irregular. At around 5 am, I woke Michael up.

"Mike, this may be it. I think that I am in labor."

He shot up, ready to go. And within 30 minutes, our friend was over to watch the kids and we were out the door and en route to UC Davis downtown. We left so fast that I forgot to grab my purse (no ID on me, I hoped that that wouldn't be a problem). It wasn't, luckily.

We arrived at the hospital in record time. Very little traffic at 5:30 am on a Sunday morning and I was checked in at around 6. They immediately took me to triage and found me to be at only 4 cm dialated and having contrations about 5 minutes apart. I was disappointed because with Emily I came in almost fully dialated and more or less ready to go. I was worried that this time we wouldn't make it to the hospital in time, so we had come earlier in the labor. There was still a ways to go.

They started me on an antibiotic IV drip and wheeled me down to my labor and delivery suite. My labor progressed slowly and after the second dose of the antibiotic 4 hours later, they found me to be only 6 cm. Sigh. I felt like I had transitioned already and had only gotten 2 cm closer.

They offered to break my water to speed things along and I agreed, but warned them that the last time they did that, the baby came out in the next contraction.

The process of breaking my water really was really horrid this time. It felt like I was being prodded and jammed with a knitting needle for a very long time. It would not break and took several tortourous attempts to finally do the job. That was the worst part of the labor up to this point. And then came the next 9 minutes of HELL.

In the course of 9 minutes, I dialated from 6-10 cm and pushed a baby out. I felt the intense urge to push almost immediately, but had to wait for the doctor. This was nearly impossible and very painful. Luckily at the end of the 9 minutes, I had a new baby.

Her name is Clara Joy Lomonaco.

She was born at 11:16 am (the same time of day I was born) on April 19.

And she weighed in at 6 lbs, 8 oz and was 19 in long.

Pretty good sized for 2.5 weeks early.

I felt pretty rough and exhausted for the first little bit after she was born, but it is amazing what a little bit of rest, a shower or two and a peaceful day can do for you.

We go home tomorrow where we will begin our lives as a family of 5. Eeeeek! I'm so glad that Michael has almost 2 weeks off to help with the transition.

We'll post photos soon!

Cute Questioning

Emily asked me about her cabbage patch doll the other day.

"Mama, where did this doll come from?" she asked.

"Oh, the White family gave you that for your birthday, remember?" I said.

"Are they snowmen?" she wondered aloud.

White...snow. Get it???

A valid question, indeed, from an inquisitive two year old.

33 Weeks

So here I am at 33-34 weeks pregnant. I'm being told constantly how cute I look. And by cute, I am quite sure that people mean HUGE.

I have about 6 weeks to go. I can't believe how quickly that is coming up.

There is still much to do in this time to prep for our new little girl, but I am not really getting too worried about it yet. What's a few loads of laundry, cleaning an entire house and setting up Emily's new big girl bedroom? Really is it such a big deal if I don't get to any of that? NO!

I threw in this photo of Mike so that you can see what poor children we have. A couple of nuts for parents. Sorry, kids.

Emily Pretty Ballerina

My little girl, who became obsessed with ballerinas late last year because she received a Nutcracker book, just took her first Tiny Tots dance class last weekend. She did awesome, especially for a two year old.

She loved following her teacher and romping around in her tutu and new ballet shoes on her toes with the other girls.

I wasn't sure what to expect, because she often yells at me to stop dancing with her when "ballet" (classical music) is on and I try to join in at home.

"NO, Emily dance!" she says while swinging at me to sit down and go away.

I've been working on her and told her that she would have to dance with the other girls and be nice in class or the teacher would ask her to leave. She did just fine--no arm swings or threatening comments. I was so proud!

She is so into ballerinas that she begs to put on her tutu first thing every morning. Wants to dance to music throughout the day. And sleeps with her Nutcracker book and tutu cradled in her arms. She gets out of bed to get the tutu each night to take in there with her.

As a side note, we are planning to name her new baby sister Clara Joy after the main character and ballerina in her favorite story. And as an added bonus, Clara is my grandma's middle name and Michael's grandma's confirmation name and Joy is my sweet sister's middle name.

26 weeks

Here I am about a week ago. Pardon the bad hair and growing beer gut. It's the middle of the night, so I should be trying to sleep again...

All you skinny ladies out there can bite my butt!;-)

Happy V-Day! Tell someone you love them today.

The Wrong George

When I was putting Lucas in his car seat this afternoon, he had a strange request for me.

"Mama, will you play that George Bush song?"

"Huh?" I asked, racking my brain and not recalling any song that I played him about or by our former president.

"Do you really want to hurt me," he sang.

"Oh... you want to hear Boy George not George Bush." I was cracking up by now.

We listened to my Wedding Singer soundtrack on the way home and then showed him a video of Boy George tonight. And the song is still stuck in my head.

"Do you really want to make me cry?"

History

This morning on the way to and from dropping Lucas off at school, the inauguration was playing on the radio. I actually cried as I heard Obama being sworn into office (yes, I am so hormonal and weep at the drop of a hat when pregnant). It wasn't because I was so happy or even sad about the event, but just that I couldn't believe that I was "witnessing" such a historical happening. Finally, a black president after 43 white ones! Pretty cool.

Anyway, I turned the TV on when we got home and Emily and I watched the rest of President Obama's speech. After a few minutes of patiently putting up with a "boring," non-kids show, she asked me to turn it off and turn on Mickey Mouse instead. Sheesh, two year old's have no attention span for history. If only it had been a cartoon.

Pessimisim

I saw a headline in the Sacramento Bee the other day that read:

"Folsom Lake is Half Empty."

What a negative attitude I thought. The news is always so depressing.

Living Large

This is me and the growing baby belly taken a few days ago. I am 21 weeks pregnant or a little over halfway there. By the size of the ball I am carrying (and the fact that I am outgrowing my size small maternity clothes), I am truly living large. Starting to feel a bit gross, too, unfortunately. Darn the stigma that we women need to always be thin to be pretty. It's hard to lose that mentality that is drilled in us even when pregnant. Don't worry, I am absolutely not starving myself (I like food too much for that), just am not feeling super good about how I look with this freakish belly that is only halfway as big as it will get.

Friday morning is my ultrasound where we hope to find out the baby's gender this time.

How Can I Get Mad?

A few days ago, I heard my kids yelling at each other in the other room.

"What's going on, guys?" I hollered over them as I poked my head in the room.

"Emily hit me!" was Lucas' reply.

"Emily," I said in a disappointed voice. "Why did you hit your brother?"

"Because...I love you." she said with a radiant smile on her face.

I looked at her not knowing how to reply.

"Because I love you SO MUCH!!" she added to sweeten her case.

It worked. I didn't send her to time out as I usually would have. I just gave her a hug and told her not to hit her brother anymore. How could I punish her with such a cute albeit suck up response?

I hope that I am not helping to create a future Eddie Haskel (the phony friend of Wally's on Leave It To Beaver).

2008 Family Portrait

This year instead of using the Target studio, we had our friend from church, Anna Robertson, do our family portrait. She is one awesome photographer and captured some great shots of us (a tough feat with 2 little kids and a husband that likes to shut his eyes in photos).













To see more of the photos, keep an eye out for your Christmas card that will get to you hopefully before the end of the year;-).