Monday, February 25, 2013

Keep Calm and Eat Dinner

Helping me cook dinner
Oh man.... I have a confession. Dinner routine in the Sachs house has totally gone off course. What used to be a special treat of movie night and eating in the living room watching TV has become the norm. What's worse? I started cooking Connor his separate dinners as he was starting to refuse what I was making him. I took the easy way around things because by the time the end of the day rolls around I just want to keep the peace. I've been up with him getting ready for daycare, most likely sat in traffic with him getting to daycare, worked all day and then by the time we get home we have almost 3 hours to spend together as a family.

The last three weeks have been up and down. Connor has been fighting a nasty imbalance of bacteria in his belly since having the stomach bug at the beginning of this month. I didn't realize what crappy food we were feeding him until I was trying to wean him off it to help balance out his sour belly!!! Talk about being disappointed in yourself.

Sooooo yesterday we started... I cleared off the cluttered kitchen table... made us ALL tacos (one of Connor's favorites). While he barely touched the taco meat he tore up some avocados and we all sat together as a family, eating dinner and gasp.... TALKING! It was a Christmas miracle for sure. I don't know how long we've been in his rut but its officially over. No more cluttered kitchen table making the living room look more enticing. No more!

I knew it was bad when tonight when I had the following conversation with Connor as I asked him to help me set the table....

Me: Connor come help mommy set the table.
Connor: Is Diva coming for dinner tonight?
Me: No. Its just the three of us.
Connor: Well who's coming over for dinner?

This is a total sign that we only eat at the table when we have company! Eek!!!! Sigh....

Sooooo tonight was evening two of eating at the table. Connor ate the same chicken as us (with a little bit of a fight) and I made him noodles tossed in coconut oil and green beans since I knew that was easier to eat than our asparagus and baked potato. At least its a start!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Longer Days

It's happened! Shhhh... don't say anything... we might jinx it..... I've been noticing the sun is up just a tad longer than in the past month.

Evidence: I'm still using my sun glasses on the way home from picking up Connor from daycare, I don't have to turn on my headlights RIGHT AFTER leaving work, the sun is still smiling at us if only for an extra minute or two when we pull into the drive way.

I was feeling the stir about two weeks ago. My insides were noticing that extra minute of daytime and taking it in. Then Connor said something last week when we got home, "What is the sun still doing awake?" He's feeling it too.... Shhhh don't tell mother nature... it might be too good to be true.

December into January is one of my least favorite times of the year. You wouldn't think that as in those months is my birthday, Christmas, New Years and then Connor's birthday. I'm pushing through those SHORT days as best as I can knowing that by the end of January the days seem to get longer each day... just an extra minute or two but longer none the less.

The feeling is refreshing even though there are many cold days ahead of us. Hold on though... Spring is just a few cold weeks away.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Library Visits

This week's books
Connor and I had our third trip to the library last night. We've been going on Tuesday evenings for the 7pm Story Time. I found myself at work excited for the evening ahead of us yesterday. I don't know why it surprised me as I'm a lover of reading myself but I am truly getting excited on library days for Connor.

We get there a little bit before Story Time and I check to see if there are any books available that I put on hold for him and then we head over to the Children's section. Connor likes to grab a basket and put books into it to read. We read books until Story Time and then afterward we go back and read a few more books. Before we head out the door I let him pick out two movies for the week.


I'm thinking the main reason I'm liking library nights so much is because its giving us new books to read at bed time and a new assortment of movies to watch throughout the week. All this new variety in our lives and no money spent!

And boy have times changed in regards to checking out books from what I remember. Connor checked out 4 books last night and 2 movies. I was concerned that he may have hit his max on checking out items and might not be able to check anything out when he went with daycare the next day. I asked what the limit was on checking out books and she said.................."99 books!!" I almost fell over.... 99 BOOKS! That right there would cause me some fines from the library for sure.

I usually try to pick up a new Dr. Seuss book that we haven't read yet (they can get looooooong and man he had quite the imagination) and then Connor picks out a few books. Last week he picked out Pippin by Gerard Moncomble and I really enjoyed it! It talks about how Pippin is a kitten and likes to go at his own speed. His mother is always in a rush and he secretly calls her "HurryMama". His father is always putting things off and he secretly calls him "LaterPapa". There is a concern that Pippin hasn't started purring yet. Its not until "HurryMama" and "LaterPapa" slow down and put him first that Pippin starts to purr. It spoke to me because I am certain that Connor is probably secretly calling me "HurryMama"!! I swear if we're going anywhere I know I'm rushing him all over.

Looking forward to next week! What are some Children's books we should look into picking up?

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Tastefully Simple Tuesday!

Back again for another yummy Tuesday! This time I'm going to focus on two items. This weekend I used Onion Onion and Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup together to make one tasty casserole.

Onion Onion is a spice from Tastefully Simple that will become an every day staple in your kitchen. It's not just 4 different kinds of onions that make up this spice but garlic, sea salt, shallots, red bell pepper, parsley and chives all together for a delicious must have in whatever you are cooking.

Onion Onion can be a dip for chips and vegetables by mixing it with sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt for lighter version). You can add Onion Onion to olive oil, vinegar and water for a great marinade. Mix Onion Onion with ground beef or ground turkey for wonderful Burgers or Meatloaf. Mix Onion Onion into mashed potatoes, omelets, stews, soups or on top of whatever you're getting ready to toss in the oven for great flavor.

Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup is a Fall/Winter 2012 soup that warms you on the inside on a cold day. The soup itself is rather tasty but you can add chicken, broccoli, a can of diced tomatoes or a can of beans to turn the soup into a meal of its own. The soup can be used to make mac and cheese or Au Gratin potatoes. For an easy lunch you can top the soup with Bacon Bacon, minced ham, pop corn or shredded cheese. Prepare the soup with a dark beer and enjoy!!

On Saturday I decided to marinate chicken breasts in Onion Onion with olive oil and a splash of vinegar and water. I was planning on just cooking up the chicken with quinoa and roasting asparagus but looking in the cabinet I found I had Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup Mix. As I prepared the quinoa, I started making the soup in another pot. I figured I only need to make half the packet of soup because I only had one cup of quinoa and three chicken breasts. I used a 9 by 5 glass casserole dish and put the chicken and quinoa in it, poured the soup over top, and baked it. I served the casserole with with roasted asparagus and all I can say is YUM!!

Cheesy Onion Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts

Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 packet of Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup Mix

Quinoa
1/2 cup of dried quinoa
1 cup of water

Marinade
2 Tbsp of Onion Onion
Splash of water
Splash of vinegar
3 Tbsp of Olive Oil (I'm guessing as I didn't measure)

Directions:
A few hours before you're ready to cook everything combine the marinade ingredients together and add chicken. Let chicken marinade.

When you're ready to start cooking preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dried quinoa and water in a pan and cook over medium heat until quinoa is soft and water has been absorbed.

Combine 1/2 packet of Bountiful Beer Cheese Soup Mix and 1 1/2 cups of milk in another pan and follow directions on packaging for cooking the soup.

Place chicken breasts and quinoa on the bottom of a casserole dish and top with soup. Bake for 30 min (or until chicken is cooked all the way through).

Notes:
This is for a smaller sized casserole as Kevin and I were the only ones eating. Feel free to double everything on this recipe and make a larger casserole.

If you don't like quinoa swap out that with rice or pasta!


Feel free to order from my site and or look around what other fabulous tasting foods Tastefully Simple has to offer! http://www.tastefullysimple.com/web/asachs2

Monday, February 4, 2013

Humbled.

Last week was an extremely humbling experience for me. Sitting here now coming down from the Raven's Super Bowl win high I'm melting back into the experiences I had last week and wondering why Universe put them out there for me. I usually don't question things that Universe hands to me but its left me wondering what is around the corner this year.

A year after Connor was born I decided to put my Reiki practice on hold and focus on my new family. If I got a call for a Reiki session I did home visits as its hard to keep a relaxing environment in a home with a toddler. Slowly but surely those clients fell away and I was comfortable with that. For the last two years I've basically used Reiki in my day to day life on my own personal journey and with my family.

Imagine my surprise when I received a call from a family last Monday asking me to come to their house to do Reiki on their father who was in the process of passing over. They wanted me there every day until he passed. I dropped everything I could (except mine and Connor's Tuesday night library night) to help this man and his family. In the end, I only worked on him two times as he passed sometime after my second session with him.

When I was working on him, I was working on providing him strength, comfort, and helping release the ties to this world that were keeping him here suffering. At one point, I expanded my bubble of comfort and strength as the family said their heartfelt good byes to him. I did my best to become a vessel of calm and peace in a time that was full of sadness and out of control.

I learned about the other side of life that is waiting for us last week. I've experienced bringing life into this world. As a mom, I've been learning about growing and learning from infant to toddler. I'm learning how life grows and independence is gained.

Last week was the first time I had ever been at someone's deathbed. I've always got the call that someone is dieing or that a person has died. I've been to many viewings and funerals... but I've never witnessed death in action.

It truly humbled me. I was able to connect with the energy that was letting go and ready to move on. I was seeing the physical body become dependent and weak. It was sad yet taught me respect for the dieing process. I learned that death isn't something that should be feared, its something that needs respect and strength. I learned the importance of letting go and saying good bye. Not everyone gets to say their good byes and I've realized how truly heart breaking that can be. I learned death is just as precious as birth. I learned that in any process of dieing, death is leaving the heavy physical body behind.

My heart was heavy and as I tried to disconnect from the energy after each session, it was the hardest I've ever had. Lifting myself up and celebrating a bit yesterday helped pull me out of the whirl wind of emotion and energy that I was feeling.

After all is said and done, have you experienced death in your life? What has it taught you?