Sunday Sup: Go to Brekkie

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 2 Comments

I got an Instant Pot last November on Cyber Monday. But I didn’t get around to reading the instruction and breaking it out until after the Holidays. Way too busy, way too tired. But I managed not to blow up the house when I finally used it. Yay, me!
So what did I make? A pulled pork to use in this awesome enchilada recipe from Jessica over at How Sweet Eats.
Except her recipe calls for 2 cups of pulled pork and I had half a small roast left over.

Hrm….

RePurposed Pulled Pork Brekkie

Take left over pork roast and shred that too. Add one 4 oz can green chiles, diced. Add all the jalapeño jack cheese you like. Store in Tupperware in the fridge until morning. img_20170121_125746

Put a portion of pork mix in a bowl, microwave 45 seconds. In the mean time fry two eggs over easy or medium but you want some runny yolk to mix in with the cheese and pork. Add the eggs to the top and mange!img_20170121_125906

 

 

Warm and gooey. Perfect for those days when I may not get to eat again until dinner, which sadly seems like every day lately. LOL

Fiendish Friday: Brick and Mortar

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 2 Comments

For years now I have quietly nodded when people raged at Amazon for putting brick and mortar businesses out of business. Yes Amazon was convenient but I could see their arguments about the mom and pop store. I didn’t feel like I could have a dog in the fight though.I have family that works for Amazon.

This week I attempted to buy good quality shoes for my son. He outgrows shoes every 8-10 weeks, or he was for a while, so I was buying medium ish quality shoes because even semi cheap shoes can last 8 weeks, and at 25 a pair, that adds up 6 times a year. But his feet have only grown about a size in 6 months and he’s been complaining about his legs hurting. So I decided since he had slowed down, I would spring for good quality shoes. Ideally, keens for the running/hiking functionality.

We went to several upscale stores, looking for keens. Guess what I heard at each one? “We don’t carry kids shoes anymore.”

You have got to be kidding me. Who stops carrying something that by it’s very nature has to be replaced every few months? No one who wants to make money apparently.

Wild guess where I got exactly what my kiddo wanted and at a decent price?

Amazon. laughing, what else was I gonna do?

Book Review: The Zig Zag Girl

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 4 Comments

I grabbed The Zig Zag Girl on a whim because of the time period, post World War II, is most definitely in my wheel house. After my long slog of cozy mysteries I was hoping this one would not disappoint with weak, holey plots and characters that irritated me. It did not. This is the first in Elly Griffiths’ Magic Men Mysteries but it has none of the common teething issues a new series often suffers from. This book is smooth, well written, and intriguing.

There are a pair of main characters, however Griffiths manages to make even that a surprise. She starts firmly rooted in the Detective Inspector Edgar Stephens and allows the story to bring Max Mephisto in when the plot is ready. It takes skill to allow things to build naturally and Griffiths does this brilliantly through out the book. A series of murders has DI Stephens investigating across half of England and delving into his own painful past. Both characters are demonstrably changed by the events of the novel, which is refreshing for a murder mystery.

I think half my love for this book comes from my own confusion. I always know who done it. Always. And while I had my first flicker of “I know who done it” early on, Griffiths managed to make me change my mind back and forth between 3 characters several times. Griffiths really had to reveal it for me and that is rare for me. I raise my cuppa in her honor.

℘℘℘℘ – 4 Pages – Satisfying read. I will definitely grab the next book in the series.

Sunday Sup: Bratwurst and Braised Cabbage

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You’re going to laugh, but I’m pretty sure this recipe came from a vegetarian cooking website once upon a time, years ago. I’ve tried to find it several times so I can give credit but alas…so if you recognize your original veg version of this recipe in my bastardization below, email me so I can credit you.

Thinly slice an onion or two. This is really up to you. How much of the onion flavor you like should guide how much you use.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to a large skillet or wok, just make sure you have a lid for the pan, medium-high heat.

Add the thinly sliced onion give it a stir and then add 20 ounces or so of shredded cabbage. I am lazy and buy the pre-shredded from TJs, 2 bags worth to my 2 onions. Stir it all together and allow the veggies to pick up some color. You want to stir frequently for 5-7 minutes.

Lower the temp to Medium-Low, add 1 cup of water and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, cover and let steam for 15 minutes.

In the mean time, preheat your broiler on high. Lay out some fat bratwursts on a broiler pan (save yourself some heartache and line the bottom of the pan with metal foil). Broil the brats until cooked. I turn every 7 minutes or so for an even brown color. 15-20 minutes cook time total.

Check your veggies, they might be dry, they might be cooked. If they are not the softness you like, add more water and apple cider vinegar, I suggest 1/2 c and 1 tbsp this time, and cook 10 more minutes. I am usually happy at the 15 minute mark. When you are happy follow on below.

Add 1/2 c white wine to the pan, stir.

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My kiddo’s plate all nicely cut up. 

Add 2-3 tablespoons of dijon mustard, your taste, and 4 tablespoons butter. Stir until it all melts into a saucy goodness. Serve with the bratwurst.

Fiendish Friday: Television

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 9 Comments

Television is always a controversial subject when it comes to kids. I have had such a love hate relationship with the box on the wall. And none of my friends agree on a policy or method of function. If I poled every  parent at coop they would all give me a slightly different answer that runs the spectrum from “it’s evil, we don’t even have one in our house” to “the kids watch as they please.”

When the kiddo was very little the hubs was adamantly opposed to TV. He had read all these studies that showed how detrimental TV was before age three. I respected his beliefs. No Baby Einstein in our house. Bad TV.

Then one day when the kiddo was two maybe, he got off the couch where we were cuddling and I was reading a story to walk over to the TV and pat the screen. He kept looking at me and patting the TV. Since I had never let him watch any TV, I thought he was just curious about it. So I told him that was a TV, you could watch books on it, and went back to reading the story. Over the next week he would randomly go to the TV and pat the screen. Finally, it occurred to me that maybe he was watching TV at T’s house. She and I had a babysitting swap going. Her kiddo was the same age as mine and we had been swapping child care since they were three months old. I asked and T said yes, she left them watch PBS kids.

At this point kiddo had been through about 6 months of speech therapy because he didn’t talk. And he still didn’t talk. So I started watching one PBS show a day with the kiddo. He quickly developed an obvious preference for Curious George. And we made that our show. Over the next month he developed 20 new words he used fluently. Hrm, perhaps TV wasn’t the devil. Sure he was still going to speech….but that hadn’t been working, the only change was this daily dose of Curious George.  Good TV.

Flash forward a few years, the kiddo is in kinder and every day he comes home so destroyed, so wiped out, so drained of life, all he wants to do is have me read to him or watch TV all afternoon. He lays on the couch like someone with cancer. So I excise the cancer.

Now we have a whole day to fill. I quickly settle on what I feel is a rational process. We handle our responsibilities in the morning and then the rest of the day is ours to do with as we please. For the kiddo this becomes TV. As much as there is time for. Every day. I kept thinking he would tire of it, eventually he would move on to other cool things to do. But it never happened. After a year, kiddo was still watching as much as he possibly could. And then I remembered. I hadn’t reckoned with his compulsive traits. The ones that come with his ASD. sigh. Bad TV. (Bad Mom, too.)

So I banned all TV. But it quickly became apparent that because of those compulsive issues, the kiddo literally could not rest without a distraction. He mind would not let his body slow down. Damn, being a parent is hard.

All this came up for me today because of a book someone recommended to me, Radical Unschooling. It was an ok book, but the author frequently used TV watching as an example of letting kids figure out their own paths. And I knew from my experience that doesn’t work for every kid. Made it hard for me to accept her other tenets of unschooling. LOL. But she had some good points. Like meeting your children’s needs even if they fly in the face of common parenting conception.

So now the kiddo can have TV after 4, when he needs the rest. Sure, TV is a crutch. But we do yoga every morning to help him learn stillness through active meditation. And his reading is improving and I can see a day in the near future where he can read to rest, where he will want to read to rest, rather than watch the TV. TV is a tool for us, neither bad nor good.

What are the rules or lack of rules around TV in your house?

 

Wednesday Writer’s Update 1/25

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 8 Comments

Greetings and Salutations. I am back at write in tonight at the cafe. Of course the first question I get asked is what are you writing. Sigh. I am again slogging through beta feedback from round 2. And again people don’t agree.

“I love character A, his story is so well developed.”

“I wish you had developed character A’s story more.”

“I really liked the romance between B and C.”

“The Romance between B and C needs more sex.”

“I completely felt and understood D’s journey.”

“You need more scenes to really explain D’s journey.”

“Dump the first chapter.”

“No don’t dump the first chapter, I love the way it ties in to the last chapter.”

Just shoot me now. Or don’t. Why should you agree on anything having to do with me? LOL

We’ve all been talking about classes we took in junior high and high school and whether it was coed forced or not. I took wood shop which wasn’t forced coed and I was the only girl.

Did you have wood shop? Did you take it?

 

Book Review: The Boy Is Back

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 3 Comments

If you say Meg Cabot, chances are people think Princess Diaries. Yeah, ok, she wrote them. But she also has several adult series books that I adore. (1800WhereAreYou, Heather Wells) The “Boy series” is not a typical series. The books are all written. There is no dialogue. She uses emails, journal entries, text messages to communicate the story. And only a few characters bleed over from one book to the next. Generally minor characters appear over and over.

The Boy is Back, I read it in one day. Small town girl gets an unexpected chance with the boy who broke her heart. Awww. It was funny, fast moving, sadly a little predictable. Maybe just because I know how she writes or maybe I just over analyze as I read now. But I still enjoyed the book. In all the boy books there’s this trend of misunderstanding coming between people. It’s very Austenesque. And in this book, Cabot fully embraces Austen, quoting from her novels. It was a nice little turn. Makes me think she might not be writing anymore boy books though. Don’t ask me why, I just get that vibe.

Then again Cabot often comes back to a series after a long spell away to provide closure to her readers. Talk about a win win. Give the readers what they want and they give you more money. LOL.

℘℘℘℘℘- Five Pages. Read it in one day. Will of course read anything she writes. I actually follow her on twitter, not that she’s very active.

Sunday Sup: GF Chicken Strips

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This is another obscenely easy recipe but people go crazy over it. So I’ll post it up here.

The original idea came from Danielle over at Against All Grain but of course, I’ve played with it rather a lot.

GF Chicken Strips with Dijon

Preheat your oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Set out a couple of bowls and a small plate. In the first bowl mix gf flour blend with ground mustard powder and garlic powder. I couldn’t really say how much of each but I’ll estimate for you. 1/4 c flour to 1 tsp each mustard and garlic.

In the second bowl, 2 eggs, whisked together.

On the plate, put a thin layer of shredded coconut, unsweetened. Have your bag of coconut nearby and open.

Cut up your chicken breast into tenders or buy precut tenders, whatever. I don’t dry my chicken. I know a lot of people do, I don’t. Maybe that’s the difference.

Dip chicken in flour mix, then in egg, then lay on the coconut plate and pour coconut over it until coated. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat until done. Three large breasts can be done with this amount of prep for the coating.

Slide it in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Flip, bake for 10-12 minutes depending on how fat your strips are.  Broil on high for 2-3 minutes for a nice golden brown color.

While the chicken cooks, make honey mustard dressing.

1/3 c mayo, 3 tbsp dijon mustard, juice of one lemon (~3 tbsp), 1-2 tbsp honey, depending on how sweet you like it. Stir until combined.

Eat up honey bunch.

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Fiendish Friday: the ideal

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 8 Comments

I tried to explain it to my husband, and he gets it just enough to nod and say wow. But I think this is probably true for anyone who home schools their kids. When I first decided to pull my son from public school and I this whole IDEA in my head about what home schooling would look like. It never happens that way. Ever. It’s the impossible ideal. Except every once in a while, usually when I am at my most frustrated, it happens. So here is my real life example of the ideal day of home school. The normal is in parenthesis.

Wake up, kiddo is playing mine craft. Big hug. Drink a cup of coffee.  (Kiddo complains he is bored and wants to be entertained, wants waffles, a play date and new legos before I even get a cup down from the cupboard.)

We do our work book work. It goes brilliantly. No arguing, no complaining, no tears. (Arguing, complaining, tears.)

We do yoga together. (He interrupts yoga 19 times despite me checking that he has everything he needs before I start.)

Kiddo does his vision therapy.

Kiddo takes a shower while I write grocery list and clean out pantry.

I shower.

We meet up with friends at a local library to see the Washington State Old Time Fiddlers group perform. We sing carols. Kiddo cheerfully eats one of the snacks I have in my bag. (It’s never the right snack.)

We get books. He lets me pick several for him. (If it’s not Lego then no way.)

We go grocery shopping. Kiddo is helpful. Pushes cart. (runs into my ankle 3 times before I take the cart away, complains the whole time.)

He helps put the groceries away. (demands he needs food now before he perishes.)

We eat a nice meal and he eats the vegetables. (Do I even need to tell you how this normally goes?)

We lay down together and read a book I picked out, Frindle. This leads to an amazing talk about changing the world and how you can change the world you live in to make it a better place even if you can’t start a scholarship fund. (!!!!!!)

We put together a puzzle, happily. (Kiddo gets frustrated and spews but he wanted to do that part. this is stupid, he’s done.)

We clean two bathrooms, he actually cleans. (??!!??)

We fold laundry, he actually folds and puts it away. (ok this happens normally but usually with a lot of stomping and complaining which was absent today.)

We sit down to watch Worst Cooks and he cuddles nicely. (wiggle, wiggle, head butt mom, complain the dog is squishing him.)

I make dinner and he eats it and says it was yummy mom, thanks. (this is gross, I don’t like this, can I have a quesadilla?)

Tomorrow will be twice as bad to make up for it. LOL. But at least I have this day to remember.

Book Review: Frindle

~ tahenryauthoress ~ 2 Comments

I grabbed this at the library to read with the kiddo fully expecting he would argue but he didn’t. There’s a post coming about that on Friday. LOL.

Frindle by Andrew Clements.

I cannot say enough about this book. The premise is simple but complex. A boy gets the idea that if words come from people then he can make up his own word. And he does. And he gets all the kids to use it. Of course the adults rebel which only makes the kids want to say it more. Along the way the boy learns you can’t always control a rebellion once you start one. LOL But you can use your influence for good.

It’s definitely the kind of book that leads to serious conversations if you have a child like mine. Possibly no matter what kind of child you have. But the book itself is amazingly well done and amusing. I had no idea I would find myself crying until the last 5 pages. It’s just entertainment. And then it sneaks up on you.

℘℘℘℘℘ – Read it in one afternoon. Already picked up two more of Clements books to read with the kiddo. But hey, even if you’re a grown up (or like to pretend you are) this is an awesome book, all about the power of words. Take an hour and read it over coffee or a beer. It won’t be a wasted hour.