Friesencold

Today I went to Once Upon A Child, a local consignment store, to look for some shorts for Bauer to sleep in. He is such a hot boy. His pillow is always soaked after his nap, and with the warmer weather, and the fact that he still wants to be all cozy under the big covers, he definitely needs to be sleeping in shorts.

Just before we left the store, I decided to take a quick glance around the used toy section, and lo and behold, there was a big bag of Thomas wooden trains marked at only $10. I really thought it was either a mistake or these weren’t the real wooden trains, you know the ones that are $12.99 for the shorter ones and $19.99 for the longer ones with the tender behind them. And those are the Target prices, so anywhere else is probably even a bit more. Well, anywhere except Walmart, but theirs are probably $12.97 and $19.97.

Bauer has a small collection of the real wooden Thomas engines. He has Thomas, Percy, Billy, Gordon (with tender), and Henry (with tender). Billy was a birthday gift, but I believe we purchased the other ones for him over several different occasions. I don’t know for sure, but I’d say we have probably spent at least $50 in the past on Thomas stuff. All of his other wooden train stuff is from IKEA (cheap, but great!) or from a small Imaginarium train set he received for his birthday last year.

Today, though, his collection tripled in size. I could not pass up getting the bag of trains, even though it wasn’t his birthday or Christmas. TJ and I had recently been talking about wanting to buy Bauer a new wooden engine just as a way to reward him for his generosity recently (he even gave away one of his GeoTrax trains to his friend Brooke). So part of me wanted to just buy them for him for no reason except to reward him for being generous.

Another part of me, and this is what we ended up doing, wanted to have him trade in his money from his piggy bank to buy the trains. On our way home from the store, I actually gave Bauer the choice that he could buy them (pay me back) using his money from his piggy bank or that he could wait until his birthday and receive them as a gift. I know he probably doesn’t really understand about the money from his piggy bank being a sacrifice of any sort since all that money is just change we have given him anyway, but I had already been thinking recently about letting him buy something with his own money just to expose him to the idea. And this seemed like a good chance for that. Of course, Bauer wanted the trains now and was happy to dump his piggy bank first thing upon arriving home. We counted out $10 in change – I was actually surprised there was that much in there since two times lately he has taken a bunch of change out to take to church to put in the Goat and Chicken jars (Kids City was collecting money to buy a goat and a chicken for families in need in other countries).

I know it might sound a little silly, but I truly felt like finding those trains was a big blessing from God in my life today. Like he wanted to just reward me by letting them be out at just the right time when I was going to be in the store. I am convinced the store had just put them out before we walked in because I know they wouldn’t have stayed even for an hour on the shelf. In fact, as we were walking out of the store, a lady who was walking in with her son commented on the bag of trains Bauer was carrying and it was clear from our brief conversation that she would have grabbed them up in no time had we not. It’s like God knew that TJ and I were thinking of buying a new train for Bauer to reward him for his generosity, but then God beat us to that blessing by providing all those trains at such a low cost as a way to reward us for being generous in different areas. Now as I write this, I’m thinking maybe I should not have made Bauer use his piggy bank money….but then again, I think that’s fine too. I am just grateful that I could see this as a gift from God in my life today, and in turn, a gift in Bauer’s life. Bauer was in train heaven this evening at home.

I went online tonight to see if I could calculate about how much money’s worth of trains we got for a mere $10. I don’t have the time or motivation to be thorough at this task, but from what I can tell, several of the ones we got are considered Rare or Retired and are VERY hard to find, supposedly. Two of them are selling for $49.99 and one for $54.99. A couple of the other hard to find ones were $24.99 and $29.99. I think I could safely say that we got over $350 worth of trains in that bag. And what’s even harder to believe is that the consignment store would have paid only a bit over $3 to the people who sold them to the store (I know from personal experience of selling stuff to this same store that they pay the seller 1/3 of what they intend to sell the item for….in this case, that would be just over $3 paid to the seller for them to turn around and sell the trains for $10).

Below is a list of all the ones we got in the mystery bag of assorted trains. All of them are the real Thomas wooden engines/characters, except the final one is a Brio train. We also got the square Brio track piece that you see in the center of the above picture. Bauer is so excited about the little gates that open and close.

1. Wilbert
2. James and Tender
3. Duncan
4. Stepney
5. Thomas
6. Duke
7. Thumper
8. Big City Engine
9. Murdoch and Tender
10. Daisy
11. Diesel 10
12. Boco
13. Handcar
14. Aquarium Car
15. Blue Brio Train and Tender

My baby is 8 months old, grinning a lot and sleeping a little. Crazy baby.

Yesterday I tried my hand at homemade croutons. We had run out of the croutons we buy at Target and I was thinking I could make a healthier version anyway. These turned out pretty good, although next time I think I’ll use a different kind of bread that isn’t as dense. What I used yesterday was Healthy Life 100% Natural Flaxseed bread. I liked the croutons just fine, but TJ said he’d probably like them more if they were airier. I found this recipe online at The Vegan Chef.

Recipe 11: Baked Herb Croutons

4 cups bread of choice, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used 5 slices of bread)
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 t. dried basil
1/2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. dried rosemary
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. onion powder
1/4 t. paprika

Place the cubes of bread in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with 1-2 T olive oil, to taste. In a small bowl, stir together all the spices. Then sprinkle over the bread cubes and toss well. Spread the cubes in a single layer on a non-stick cookie sheet, and bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, stir the croutons around, and spread out to a single layer again. Bake an additional 8-12 minutes or until lightly browned and crisp. Allow the croutons to cool before using. Store in an airtight container.

I happily discarded 5 pairs of pants yesterday to make room for the new ones I bought. I have been NEEDING new pants for a long time. All, and I mean all, the ones I have been wearing all winter (and all last winter) were on their last leg. They were not only shredded at the bottoms (which actually I thought added to their cool factor more than anything – although the dragging in the snow and ice was a big ole pain), but they were also so droopy that every time I wore them there was the real possibility that I might just lose them in public by accident. I’m not exaggerating. Over time, I guess the 3% spandex that is in literally all the pants these days had lost all stretch-back ability and just plain gave in to being stretched out. They were comfy to a point, but then they just got annoying because I was having to tug them up all day long.

So yesterday was the day for me to go out and not come home till I had some new pants. TJ kept the boys and took them to IKEA for a while in the morning, while I went to the mall. Previously I had looked at both Old Navy and American Eagle to no avail. So I had decided that a department store was in store. I picked Macy’s, mainly because the last time I was on the pants hunt, I found a couple pairs from Macy’s. (I didn’t think of the fact, until just now, that those are the same pants that I eventually had to throw away due to wearing out, but I think I just haven’t accepted the wear-out factor of anything yet, which is my problem, not Macy’s).

Ta-da!

I like green pants and green smoothies.

I found 4 pairs of pants and 1 pair of shorts at Macy’s (after trying on about 47 and being in the dressing room for well over an hour). I decided to swing by American Eagle for one more try since it’s my favorite store although I’ve never had any luck finding pants there. Just those super-soft t-shirts made in Peru. Anyway, I scored with 2 more pairs of shorts and a shirt, all on clearance.

Ta-da! Again!

I was just waiting for this shirt to go on clearance!

So now I’m all set. It’s heavenly to be wearing pants today that are actually staying in place.

Here’s Cash a few days ago, trying to pull himself up on the basket of library books.

The puzzles in the background are Bauer's new ones that he loves from Gigi when she visited.

And here’s Bauer this morning eating spinach from the big clamshell container while watching the Berenstain Bears on TV.

Look, he's NOT wearing his punkin pie pants!

This is a new smoothie I made up this morning and it was good! It was my first time using papaya in a smoothie.

Papaya the Sailor Man

5 large bananas
2 cups organic frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen papaya
1 cup red seedless grapes
2 handfuls organic spinach
4 T ground flaxseed
4 oz cold water

Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix. Yields 6 cups.

This “green” smoothie is a variation on a recipe in Victoria Boutenko’s book Green for Life. I don’t understand why she always says to add 2 cups of water to yield 1 quart smoothie. I only add a tiny bit of water, but maybe the ice cubes make up the difference. The ice gets completely disintegrated in the Vita-Mix, making the smoothie a creamy dreamy delicious breakfast. Victoria’s recipe didn’t say to use bananas, but I just don’t think a smoothie’s a smoothie without bananas. Not to mention that we’re a little banana crazy lately. I still have 19 bananas sitting in my kitchen. I couldn’t resist buying the marked down bananas (84 cents for like 15 bananas) at Meijer a few days back since they mostly end up in smoothies anyway.

Blackberry Dream

2 bananas
1 bosc pear, peeled
1 6oz container blackberries
2 leaves kale
2 T ground flaxseed
8 ice cubes
2-4 oz cold water

Blend all ingredients in Vita-Mix. Yields 4 cups.

TJ looks like a movie star, obviously, with the shape of that face that I love. Bauer has his PEZ that he got for Easter and he’s eating his cold toast (and grape PEZ candy). Cash has his Easter duck that has fuzzy hair just like him. Bauer is wearing his favorite “pumpkin pie pants” which he would seriously wear every day if we’d let him. Well, we pretty much do, except not to church on Easter morning, and as long as they aren’t too filthy-dirty on other mornings. TJ and I were shopping in Target one night when we’d gone out on a date and we saw these little blue sweatpants that had a tiger logo on the top of one of the legs. I thought Bauer didn’t need more pants, but TJ was really wanting to get them for him. So we got them and they’ve turned out to be Bauer’s favorite item of clothing. I guess he thought the orange tiger looked like a pumpkin (maybe it was back around Halloween when we got them), but I’m not sure why he added pie. But now they will forever be etched in my mind as his pumpkin pie pants.

This stirfry is a combination of two different recipes: Ratatouille from the red Betty Crocker cookbook, and Sweet-and-Sour Pork Stir-Fry from Everyday Food Magazine. I was planning to make the ratatouille, but once I was done cutting up all the vegetables for that, I decided I wanted to add some pineapple, which made me think of making a more traditional stir-fry. I did not have any cornstarch on hand, but thankfully my neighbor Lori did. And obviously I omitted the pork from the Everyday Food recipe.

The muffin recipe is a quick and easy favorite of ours, gleaned from the package of Bob’s Red Mill Natural Raw Wheat Germ. I made a few adaptations to the recipe, such as substituting 1/4 cup applesauce for the 1 egg called for, reducing the amount of butter from 4T to 2T, and using rice milk in place of cow’s milk. I also increased the cooking time from 20 minutes to 28 minutes. I did this by mistake once when I forgot the muffins were cooking and I went to take a shower, and then realized they tasted better after having cooked longer. They get chewier and denser, which is how I like them. Bauer calls them pancakes, but they’re not that flat.

Ratatouille Stir-Fry

1 medium unpeeled eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 small red onions, diced
1 medium tomato
1 small head of broccoli, broken into tiny florets
8 white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks in juice, drained (juice reserved)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
3 Tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup water
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Cooked rice, for serving

In a large nonstick skillet or wok, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Cook all vegetables until tender (10-12 minutes), adding up to 1/2 cup water partway through cooking to keep vegetables from sticking.

While veggies are cooking, in a small bowl, stir together 1/2 cup reserved pineapple juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, and remaining water that was not used to cook vegetables. Season with salt and pepper.

Once veggies are tender, add pineapple chunks to the veggie mixture in the skillet (I used half the can and plan to use the rest in a smoothie). Then add the sauce. Bring to a simmer; cook while stirring for 3-5 minutes until sauce thickens. Serve over cooked rice.

Wheat Germ Corn Muffins

1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill Wheat Germ
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
2 Tablespoons butter, melted on stovetop
1 cup unsweetened organic rice milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together flour, wheat germ, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller bowl, combine applesauce, rice milk, and melted butter, and stir together. Then add to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened; batter will be a bit lumpy. Grease muffin pan and fill 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 28 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

This recipe is one of our favorite new recipes in a long time. I got it from the insert that was in a box of quinoa that I bought recently. The brand of quinoa is Ancient Harvest and it is the pre-washed kind that cooks in 10-15 minutes, so it’s a really easy alternative to rice or couscous. This is also one of the products I was able to buy in bulk on Amazon recently. You can find it for $4.99 a box at Meijer, or order a case of 12 boxes from Amazon for only $2.80 a box.

Also of importance is the fact that this was my first time ever cooking beans of any kind from the dried variety. I have always used canned beans, but had been wanting to try the traditional method not only because I thought they would taste better but because I know they are much cheaper. In a recent issue of Everyday Food Magazine, the “Have You Tried?” column was about Dried Beans, with simple instructions for soaking them and cooking them.

I went to the trouble to soak the dried pinto beans overnight and to cook them on the stove for 1 1/2 hours. I was thinking the whole time that I wasn’t sure it was going to be worth the effort. But when we tasted the beans in this recipe, I was convinced. They tasted so much more natural, more tender, and less salty. I was able to freeze the extra pinto beans I didn’t need for this recipe to use the next time I need beans in a recipe. So it won’t take as much time every time.

Mexican Quinoa with Pinto Beans

3 cups sliced bell pepper and onions (I used 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, and 2 small yellow onions)
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
3-4 cups cooked pinto beans (2 cups dried beans yields 4 cups cooked beans)
2-3 cups cooked quinoa
2 cups sweet corn (I used Trader Joe’s Super Sweet organic frozen corn)
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups water (or liquid from cooked pinto beans)

Saute peppers, onions, and garlic in a large skillet or pot using a small amount of olive oil (and/or some of the reserved liquid from the pinto beans). Add chili powder, cumin, and salt, and saute for another minute or two. Add pinto beans, cooked quinoa, frozen corn, and water (or liquid from beans). Bring to a simmer, cover loosely and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered for another 10 minutes. Makes 4-6 servings.