Yotam Ottolenghi

Is that a cool name or what?  I distinctly remember when I first met Chris thinking that I couldn't marry him because his last name was Nelson and there was a girl in my high school with the same last name who was, how should I say, promiscuous, and you know how you get negative associations with names because of experiences?  Well, I got over it.

Anyway, Yotam Ottolenghi (super de-duper cool name) is a Jewish guy that's been living in London close to 20 years and he has written two cookbooks.  Both have been released with critical acclaim, oh, and because he probably is an over-achiever, he had restaurants before the cookbooks.

1.     2.   

Plenty, his first book I have owned for several years.  The focus on Plenty is vegetables which sounds so boring and unappetizing you can already hear your kids complaining.  But look inside the book and you will want to eat vegetables all the time based solely on the pictures, which was why I bought the book.  And here's the kicker- I have never used it.  Our basement flooded, things got shuffled and I forgot about it.  But then I saw his second book, Jerusalem, which caused me to remember the first.  So then I also ordered Jerusalem as well.  I know, I sound a little strange ordering a second cookbook when I haven't even used the first.  That is such a first world thing to do.

Jerusalem is done with a man named Sami Tamimi, another cool name.  Sami was raised on the Muslim eastern side of Jersusalem and Yotam was raised on the Western Jewish side of Jerusalem.  I am excited to see how the different cultures play out in the book. In the introduction he talks about how they both ate pretty similar things with just slight differences with their cultures.

To get a grip on myself for now having two cookbooks that I have not used, I am going to dedicate December to Yotam Ottolenghi month. When I am not using my amazingly, awesome freezer meals, which averages out to twice per week, then I will be cooking out of either Jerusalem or Plenty.  But not on weekends because weekends are too crazy to try and do something like that.  I figure this is a good way to actually use the cookbooks and then I can feel better about purchasing them.

 I did mention to Chris that it would have been so awesome if he had a last name like Ottolenghi, he didn't have much to say in return.  But it would probably make filling out forms a royal pain in the butt, so instead I will remind myself that Nelson is short and easy to spell.

Anyway, they are both around $20 on Amazon, and would make totally awesome Christmas presents for anyone that needs ideas.  Probably you should buy one of them just to say his name when people ask you where you got the recipe.  Something like "Oh, that old recipe?  It came out of Yotam Ottolenghi's cookbook".  Come on, admit it.  His name is really fun to say  :)

The Kidlets Christmas Presents

Thought I would post what we are getting the kids for Christmas.  Most of them are super easy to pick out for.  All except Ava.  She's 9 going on 15 and very mature for her age.  She would love some make-up, etc. I caught her going out the door this morning wearing my perfume- like I wasn't going to smell it- but nine year olds don't need to wear make-up and adult perfume to school.  Or anywhere outside of the home.  I am afraid to get these types of items for her and push her into being older.  There is already enough pressure like that from the world.  Or am I making too big a deal of it?

Anyway, everyone but Ava has presents.  Here they are.

Owen

 1.       2.
 3. 

1. Character Encyclopedia  $10 on Amazon, by far the best price, it's around $20 everywhere else.

2. Ninjago Venom    $9 on Amazon, but I got it on Black Friday for around $5

3. Jay ZX Booster Pack  $6 on Amazon

This is our first foray into legos.  They are just so darn expensive, but he has seen this cartoon at my parents (don't know what he sees in it!) and loves it, and the book really is nice, plus comes with a little fighting dude.  So I thought we would give legos a whirl.  This will almost certainly end our lego buying, we just can't afford to spend $50 on lego sets.

Kembia




Tiana's Gumbo Cooking Party  We scored big here, I paid $17 on clearance at Walmart, it's currently $49 at Target.  On a side note, this has got go be the worst Disney movie ever.  We ended up leaving the theater because my kids don't need a lesson in voodooism.


Moyz

I had to take a picture of this because Walmart apparently doesn't sell it on their website.  $10 

I'm feeling a little neutral about this at the moment.  I think it's super cute, but am wondering if all the little men are going to wind up around the house and irritate me to death.  We'll see if it makes the cut

Truitt

Lil' Movers Airplane  We paid $15 at Kohl's, but it's almost the same at Amazon.  He is obsessed with carrying things around the house and this has a handle.  I totally see him just shoving random junk inside the plane and wandering around.  

Obviously, we don't buy the same number of presents per kid.  We try to do similar costs, which is why Owen got 3 instead of one.  Our kids have so much stuff that we don't really want to add lots of crap to that as well.  We will put a small toy in their stocking and a bunch of candy, because really, what children don't need more candy in their lives, and call it good.  

I also bought the Toby Mac Christmas CD, $10, which comes sometime today.  I tend to not get totally into Christmas music, but figure we won't be able to go wrong here.  We are obsessed with his Eye On It cd.  If you have kids, go out and buy this cd immediately.  Go out and buy this cd if you are an adult.  The best way to describe this music is a blend of hip hop/rap/all things funky, but it's Christian music.  All of my kids have most of the songs memorized.  He is by far our favorite artist.

Now the kids want us to wrap the presents, since they know they are bought, and put them under the tree.  Not gonna happen.  We just put up the tree Monday and have spent the last few days trying to keep Truitt from playing in it and grabbing the ornaments.  I foresee a long month ahead of us as far as the tree is concerned!

My Black Friday Loot

I have to admit I love black friday shopping.  Mostly I love watching people go crazy for dancing chipmunks and things like the Snuggie (remember that?), but you can find some good bargains.

This year I didn't find anything that I wanted in the ads- Target, I am so disappointed in your deals that I almost wanted to cry.  I wasn't even going to go out and watch people but Ava really wanted to and it's kind of become a tradition.  So I bucked up, woke up at 5 (late to most openings, I know) and got ready.  I was going to carpool with my brother in law because Chris wasn't going to go, but then he wakes up, decides to go because "he woke up at 2am thinking about it", and proceeds to tell me that I can't ride in the car with his brother and him because he doesn't want to stop where I want to go.  Awesome.

It actually worked out great because then I didn't have to go to Menards and wait for them while they bought batteries.  Because nothing says good deal on Black Friday like batteries.....

Here's the loot we brought home.  Shame on us for falling prey to impulse purchasing.

1. Gun case- nor really an impulse purchase because we have been looking for this, but it's massive and Chris now has to redo his closet to make room for it.

2. I bought boots, like I need another pair, but these have zippers on the outside which I thought was so stinking cool, plus they were a great tan color.  How could I pass them up?  I now have boots to last me probably for the rest of my life.

3. Ratchet straps.  How utterly boring.

4.  An SD card for our camera, boring.

5.  USB disc thing for storage of important docs. if our dying computer crashes one day and never recover, boring but necessary.

6.  Couple of Christmas presents for the kids.

7.  Christmas present for Chris, which I can't say what it is in the odd chance he reads this blog.  Which he does about twice a year and knowing my luck it would be this post.

8.  Fishing pole holders, boring.

9.  Christmas wrapping paper, boring, but mostly because Chris bought them and they didn't match.  I like to try and go for a theme, but I appreciate that he thought of this and initiated it all on his own.

10.  Canon Printer.  We're probably one of the remaining families in the US who didn't have a printer.  Normally I would email Chris and beg for him to print something off at work.  But we got an amazing deal on our printer so we snatched it up.  Cause it's definitely annoying to not be able to print when you need to.

You can see from this list that it was kind of a boring year, and mostly bought by the hubs.  It is just so practical.  And if anything drives me crazy it is practical presents and things.  You don't go out on Black Friday for practical.  Practical is everyday of the week.  Black Friday is for expensive things that are marked down so low you can now afford them.

The best part was that we shopped at a smallish town that essentially stocked enough of the black friday deals like it was a huge metro area.  I walked through a Target at around 10:30 and they had tons of tv's that were black friday deals still hanging around.  I bought our printer at Best Buy over the phone at 3 in the afternoon.  Both Chris and I thought we should go there every year.  Sleep in and don't worry about the crazy lines because all the good stuff will still be there later.

None of this for us, we leisurely strolled through every store.  Totally the way to go.

2012 Family Photo

I tend to take a lot of pictures throughout the year, but pretty much only take a family photo when the yearly Christmas cards are due.  The following are the best of the bunch.  I am actually fairly impressed with these.   We took about 10 as a group and 10 just the kids.  Without fail, there wasn't one picture where everyone was actually looking at the camera, even with family yelling and creating chaos behind the photographer.  But I'll take them.

You know by looking at them that they are ready to run away from all of this crazy picture stuff.  Kembia sort of looks like she is going to cry and Owen looks like he is restraining Moyz.  Truitt looks like this is the most ridiculous thing he has had to do in his short life.  Ava and Owen have that "we're pros at this" look to them.  Their motto- "hold the babies and smile."

Look at Moyz.  Doesn't he have a dignified look to him?  Like this whole thing is beneath me so I am going to look slightly off to the side and tilt my face upward to be all aristocratic like.  

Totally wish we would have been standing in front of a bunch of snow covered logs, but no such luck.  We always seem to not have snow when the picture is taken because if I wait too much longer then I don't get the cards out before Christmas.  And actually, I tried to order some from walmart last night, but somehow in the process deleted my card and ordered blank ones.  I amaze myself some times.  Good thing I was able to call and cancel them.  

Such is life.

Christmas Gift Ideas

I know, Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I should probably focus on the current holiday first, but I love Christmas time, the trees and decorations and all that fun stuff.  Plus the presents.  I know I should say that I love giving gifts, and I do, but truly, I like getting them more.  There.  I said it.

It's been awhile since I have done a round-up of cool things that I have found so I thought I would do that for present ideas.  Some DIY and some buy-because-you're-lazy/don't-have-time.

Also, for any family member reading this, you may or may not be receiving something from the list below.  It's up to you to continue on with reading!

1.  Rachel Ray "My Year In Meals"  $16.91 on Amazon

I love her recipes.  Never seen the show, but use her cookbooks all the time.  I am so excited to get this one in the mail.  Haven't seen one of her cookbooks that I haven't liked, and while yes, sometimes the recipes are quite familiar to others, it's always stuff that I never thought about.  

2.  Target Scarves  $14.99

     

I have the first two.  The yellow feather scarf actually stopped me in my tracks, that's how awesome it is.  The color is strange, more of a yellow/pea green, which I know doesn't make it sound appetizing, but it rocks.  Then I saw the second one and had to bring that home too.  The third is skulls.  I have an interesting relationship with skulls.  I love them, but sometimes people wear them in a way that I don't think is appropriate.  This, I think, is an acceptable way to put skulls into your wardrobe.

3.  DIY stamped friendship bracelets

These totally rock.  In fact, I want some for myself, but mostly I am thinking for my nieces and nephews.  You would have to buy all the stuff to do them, but Michael's and JoAnn's always have coupons in their ads.  

4.  The Zoo Calendar

Okay, so this picture is huge, but it is fabulous, and only $5 for the download.  Each month is printed out in color on cardstock.  I think these are gorgeous, and would make a great gift, especially for those who reside in an office during the day, something to look up and see on the wall.  How could you not smile?

5.  Freezer Meals

I know, how unglamorous could you possibly get?  But let me tell you, there isn't a busy mom in this world who wouldn't LOVE to get a few freezer meals.  When the babies got home, our friends and church gave us meals every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of the week for the first three months we were home.  And it saved my life.  The freezer co-op that I am a part of rocks my world.  I heart so much the fact that when it is crazy and and I don't know what to fix for supper I can just pull a meal out of the freezer, and so will any person who gets this for a present.

6.  State Park Pass

I really like this idea a lot.  It's not something that families generally consider, but really forces people to get out and use their pass and explore our awesome planet.  One state pass allows you to go to every park in that state.  I think for MN it's like $25 for an annual pass.

7.  Magazines

I have a slight magazine problem.  But everyone I know gets a magazine or two, sometimes 14 different ones (no names but it rhymes with mess!), per month.  My all time favorite one to give is National Geographic.  Watch Amazon closely because you can get it for as little as $15 per year. 

8.  Leatherman Wave Tool   $62 on Amazon

I have this in mind more for a man gift, but I actually own this and Chris has multi-tool envy.  This puppy has a crazy number of gadgets on it, including screwdrivers, knife, saw and scissors, plus tons more.  I carry it on me all the time in my purse, cause you never know when you might need it.  And at some point, you will need it.

9.  Survive: Essential Skills And Tactics To Get You Out Of Anywhere Alive  $13.59 on Amazon

Another man gift.  This is actually a very useful book.  Not only does it tell you what to have in your car, home, etc. for emergencies, it also tells you how to survive pretty much anywhere in any given circumstance. Your man will feel much better about himself and ability to keep you safe after he has read it.  I am not joking.  I felt better about my ability to take care of my family in the need of an emergency.  I seriously recommend this book for pretty much everyone, not just for a man gift like I said at the beginning.  

10.  DIY Barbecue Rub  

Appeal to your man's inner desire to grill up a chunk of meat.  Will definitely be giving this one from Real Simple Magazine a whirl.

So there you have it.  A few ideas for this holiday season.  Hope something inspired you!

My kids disgust me

Truitt was walking around the house with a red straw.  For a fleeting second I thought that perhaps I shouldn't let him do this, you know, in case he falls and the straw stabs him in the back of the throat, but I didn't take it away.  Probably I should have.

Fast forward 10 minutes later when I went to go and meet Owen from school at the door.  When I went back to find Truitt and Moyz who were awfully quiet and missing, I discovered them using the straw and drinking from the toilet.

I truly don't have the words for the disgust I feel, so instead, I will just post a picture to show how cute they are.

Truitt and the ER (again)

Hopefully this week will prove to better then last, with a holiday in there, I don't see why it shouldn't.

Last week, Truitt fell out of the basket while shopping at Target.  Moyz and Kembia were buckled in the mega family cart, but at this Target, you couldn't put a baby where they would normally go in the seat.  The leg area was sealed off with red plastic, there were no buckles, and where the baby's butt would sit was the words "for merchandise only".  So I was out of options and in the basket he went.  I thought it would be okay because he was the shortest and least likely to fall out.  Didn't work out that way.

We call the clinic and they said that we needed to bring him into the ER and get a CT scan done.  What?  Ava fell out of a cart 7 years ago and we didn't do diddily squat.  So we decided not to take him and called a Paramedic friend of ours who ran us through some neurological stuff to do with him and stuff to look for and called it good.  Two days later he started bleeding heavy from the nose during nap time.

I freaked.  With head injuries it specifically tells you to call 911 if there is any nose bleeding after injury.  I didn't call 911 but rushed him to the ER freaking out that he had a brain hemmorhage or something equally terrible.

They took it very seriously since the timing of the bleeding after injury.  The triage nurse told me that if children survive a head injury after the first 6 hours they generally don't worry so much, then if you hit 24 all is pretty good, but because of the bleeding they were thinking that he had a frontal skull fracture causing the nose to bleed.  Great, my baby has a broken head.

I'm feeling generally pretty crappy about the whole situation and the nurse's comment about why kids shouldn't go in the basket really ticked me off.  I tried to explain about the cart and that my other kids were in there, but he cut me off and wouldn't let me finish.  At least the ER doc let me tell the whole story so I didn't look like the worst mother ever.

They did a very thorough exam of his head, heart and all that stuff.  And after spending extensive time shining a flashlight up his nose, determined that there were multiple lacerations inside, and thus deduced that it was not related to his head injury, and was in fact, because he is a nose picker.

Not Truitt

Awesome.  So I spent $500 to have a doctor tell me that my son picks his nose.  At least they also said he wouldn't suffer any negatives from bashing his head onto a concrete floor.  And for what it's worth, he has never really picked his nose before.

And then poor kid, a can of food fell out of the closet and on to his face when we got home.

What doesn't kill them makes them smarter....?