Kid and Caboodle

Thank goodness for microwaves!  In my capacity as short-order cook this morning, I prepared A.J. sausage links and pancakes, with a glass of orange juice on the side.  I also made Chris breakfast burritos — scrambled eggs, melted cheese and salsa wrapped in tortillas.  As for me, I enjoyed smoked salmon and spinach on croissants.  Now for a cup of hot chocolate ….

breakfast burritos

Read about this blog, The Perfect Pantry, in the Washington Post today. This blog talks about the history and use of various spices and includes lots of recipes. When I have some free time I will take a closer look at this.

This is the last official “think positive” post I’ll be making. This 30-day experiment to find at least one good thing to write about each day has been interesting, but I don’t think it has made a permanent change in my outlook on life. I think it is a healthy attitude to try to find something good in everything, but I also think it is important to acknowledge when things really are beyond saving.

Last weekend was enjoyable. Attended a birthday party for the daughter of a friend on Saturday and got to socialize with some of my college friends. It was nice talking to people who appreciate my personality quirks rather than judging me for them and who understand the challenges of balancing work, family and personal obligations. Saturday I also had dinner with several family members and friends who are part of a football pool. It was very nice to see them; we don’t get together nearly often enough. On Sunday, my husband and his stepfather went boating while my mother-in-law, A.J. and I went to an arts-and-crafts store. We had a grand time going through the bead section — even A.J. picked out several things he liked. One of these days I really should take a beading class …. I think I do fine stringing together artistic combinations of beads, but I don’t know how to finish things off yet.

While I have been figuring out how to do beadwork, my husband has been working on model rockets. He had a frustrating time with some spray paint last week because he couldn’t really control it. So, on Sunday I also bought him some enamel paint and some detail brushes. Things are starting to come together! We’ll be visiting some friends in Charlottesville next weekend. Not sure if the rockets will be ready to launch by then, but it is interesting to see the progress he is making.

Right now I am multitasking. In addition to writing this blog entry, I have been cooking tomorrow night’s dinner (oven barbequed chicken) and doing laundry. I also need to do some writing and editing, but I think I’ll leave that for tomorrow night.  It’s late.

Today A.J. and I went over to the home of one of his classmates. The two kids seemed to get along very well, and I enjoyed socializing with his classmate’s mother, who is Chinese. Both A.J. and his classmate are only children, so I think it was good for them to have the opportunity to play with someone else of the same age.  Apparently they are only one month apart. The classmate’s mother and I talked about the types of food our kids like to eat. It seems that A.J.’s classmate only likes to eat Chinese food, and fresh fruit. This is a healthy habit, but it is causing some concern at school because A.J.’s classmate won’t eat most of what the school serves at lunchtime. I noted that it is possible to eat healthily in different cuisines. Because the classmate’s mother is Chinese, though, that is the only style of cooking she knows. Being Chinese, she also doesn’t like dairy products or raw vegetables. I did find it interesting that she not only served the kids a big plate of fresh watermelon, but also chips and cookies, though!

We plan to invite A.J.’s classmate and his mother over for a playdate in return soon. Perhaps I will take the opportunity to introduce them to some healthy, but non-Chinese snacks.

Today was my telecommuting day. I worked in the sunroom all day, enjoying the sounds of birds and feeling the warm breeze blowing through the windows.

At lunchtime I relaxed on my living room couch looking at catalogs while doing laundry.

I made two entrees for dinner — baked salmon with a mayonnaise-horseradish-dill sauce (recipe) and breaded chicken patties topped with marinara sauce and melted cheese.

I had a nice slice of chocolate cake with a whipped cream icing for dessert this evening.

I’m looking forward to going to bed early.

This afternoon my supervisor approved my request for two consecutive days off in May, no questions asked, despite my recent three-week trip to Taiwan. I wonder whether she is trying to boost my morale. She keeps asking me how I am adapting to my new work schedule and points out that it enables me to spend more time with my family. So far I definitely appreciate the benefits. I am very tired at 5 a.m. and at 9 p.m., though. This schedule is quite an adjustment for me; I have had the evening shift, which is in line with my natural sleep cycle, for over five years so it is hard to remember to go to bed early so I won’t feel miserable the next morning.

The weather was very nice this evening. I let my son, A.J., ride his bike and play with a neighbor for more than an hour after we got home.

Since A.J. was having so much fun outside, I delayed our evening meal until my husband got home from work so we had a family dinner for a change. The three of us had asparagus-and-gruyere ravioli with smoked salmon, which was a spur-of-the-moment but very tasty combination of ingredients. A.J. also had a bowl of chocolate ice cream for dessert.

One of A.J.’s classmates has invited him to play at his home on Saturday. The two of them seem to be good friends in school. I had a nice chat with this classmate’s mother and look forward to meeting her.
Tomorrow will be my teleworking day. I look forward to sleeping in an extra hour.

I’ve been trying to use the rosemary my neighbor gave me last week. So far I have put rosemary in mashed potatoes, a pork dish, spaghetti sauce and a salad. So far I like the salad the best. I took some fresh spinach, strawberries, crumbled goat cheese, and walnuts and added just a sprinkling of rosemary on top. It really enhanced the flavor! In the other dishes, I didn’t really notice the taste. I did notice the aroma, and I did notice the spiky objects in my food, though!

Anybody have any good recipes involving rosemary?  My neighbor generously gave me what appears to be an entire branch of the stuff, and I’m trying to figure out what to do with it.  It smells lovely, but it’s shedding needles like an old Christmas tree, so I’ve shoved it into a plastic bag for the time being.