Tagged

Okay, so my friend, Kelly, tagged me (admittedly a while ago), but since I did not have access to my photos yet (lack of computer), I couldn't post anything.  I am supposed to post the sixth picture from the sixth folder in my photo library.  I don't have my photos organized into folders like that (just a mass library of them in iPhoto), so I am improvising.  I closed my eyes, scrolled down and randomly chose a picture.  And here is what I landed on:

One of my many experimental shots testing out different depths of field with my camera.  I like that this angle makes him look like he still has the chubby cheeks he had as a baby.  Like these:

Your Wallet or Your Waist

So, after dropping the Liams (mine and his friend, also named Liam) at Joy School, heading to the YMCA for a nice long workout, then picking the boys up again and dropping Friend Liam off at his house, the boys and I were starving and Liam was clamouring for chicken nuggets (we had driven past a McDonald's on the way to Friend Liam's house).  By this point, Caleb was done being in the car and crying and whining and we were right next to Burger King so I decided to stop.  Okay, so I'm a drive-thru junkie, whatever.  Contemplating the fact that I had just finished working out, I rationalized that I could order a grilled chicken sandwich with little or no sauce and not feel guilty or gross after eating it, and then I looked at the menu board.  Their most basic chicken sandwich was 3 times the cost of a regular cheeseburger....3 times!  It appeared as though my choice was my wallet or my waist.  

While I appreciate that fast food

 places are making efforts to offer some healthier options for those of us whose children don't want frozen chicken nuggets from home but "the real kind", it's very frustrating that that "healthier food" costs so much.  Not that it is surprising...I have long fought the battle of "the budget versus the bulge", recognizing that o

ften, the healthiest foods are often not the cheapest (does anyone want to talk about the price of Ramen versus the price of...well, anything else).  I know, I know, it would have been cheaper and healthier all-around to just go home and make some lunch.  But I didn't...whatever.  

Anyway, it frustrated me as I sat in the drive-thru deciding what to eat.  I won't bother telling you what I ended up ordering, but suffice it to say that next time, I will just have to pack a tuna-fish sandwich before I leave home.

Adventures in Wheat

So, today I went to the Dry Pack Cannery in my continued quest to amass large quantities of dry food to be consumed in the event of the apocalypse.  Covered in the dust from Flour, Fruit Drink Mix, and Powdered Milk, I left feeling quite satisfied with my work and my acquisition of supplies. 

In preparation for this event, I have been recently contemplating how to use wheat.  Just plain old hard wheat.  In the past I have not really considered wheat a great option for food storage for us personally (mostly because I figured I would never get my kids to eat it), but after recent conversations with my sisters and some other friends, I have been inspired to look for more and more ways to use wheat.  So yesterday, I found several recipes online and starting experimenting with some wheat that I had already.  You're right, Cindy, wheat blender pancakes rock!  (OK, my words, not yours).  They were so tasty and the boys LOVED them...although that might have more to do with syrup than the pancakes themselves, but at the very least they didn't spit them out and continued to ask for more.  I guess that just means I need to make sure and have brown sugar and such to make mom's syrup (in the afore-mentioned post-apocalyptic scenario where I cannot buy syrup at the grocery store, of course).  But I digress.  I've seen several different recipes, and I will have to try a few more, but here is the recipe that I found that I liked:

1 Cup Whole Wheat

1 1/2 Cups Milk

1/2 Vegetable Oil

1 Egg

3 tsp Baking Powder

2 TBLS Sugar

1 tsp salt

And now that I am looking at it, I realize I only used 3 teaspoons of sugar instead of 3 TBLS (apparently I cannot read, but whatever), and that seemed sweet enough, so I think I will stick to that.

I also tried making cracked wheat cereal like my Grandma Wahlquist used to make.  I used my Ultimate Chopper (food processor) to chop the wheat up coarsely and then added it to boiling water and salt and simmered it a long time (just like you said, Mom).  I think I need to keep trying.  :(  The fresh cream from the farm might have had something to do with why Grandma's was so good, and since I don't have a cow...  :)  Oh well.

Anyway, those have been my adventures in wheat.  Other ideas that I have recently heard and am ready to try:  Cooked wheat (crock-potted overnight) in Oatmeal, Spaghetti Sauce, Hamburger, etc.  Wish me luck!

Photo Flashback

Well, We finally got our new computer and I can access all my photos again!  Yea!!  So, I have been sorting through and cleaning out the unbelievable masses of photos that I have taken in the time that Andrew and I have known each other and have had a great time flashing back.  Liam's cheeks were so big, I had forgotten how round his face was.  And the 4th of July parade at Mom & Dad's...well, who can forget that.  :)  Good times!

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

Okay, so the clovers might be a little much, but I thought it being St. Patrick's Day soon and all that I needed to embrace my Irish Buckley/MacGuire roots and style the blog up right. :) Don't worry, Andrew, it will be subtle and masculine again soon enough.

This past week has been pretty busy. My sisters were here to visit (which was so fun!), I taught Joy School this week (not as much fun), went visiting teaching, then hosted a baby shower for a friend. I know, I know, it doesn't really sound like that much stuff, but I am finding that I am less organized than I used to be, and the addition of small children to the mix cause everything to take a little longer...at least for me, anyway. Anyway, it was a good full week, but I'm glad it's over (except for the sisters' visit).

These were the flowers I got for the baby shower (Baby Lily and Mommy Rose). I love flowers.