My style of parenting...

As you may or maynot know, my background is Early Childhood.  Ever since high school I have been focused on tiny humans from birth to age five.  I graduated high school with the equivalent of the Early Childhood Credentials but they had changed the program my senior year to the fact that to acquire the "ECC's" you had to go to a class at the community college.  Since I decided to go to a 4 year school I didn't make the choice to actually get the credentials.  So I went to ECU and then transferred to ASU to finish up my BS in Child Development.  With all that said I have a lot of knowledge of how children develop and what practices are in child care in North Carolina.

Working in child care is not being a parent.  However, it prepared me greatly for the life that comes with being a parent.  Having twins is a very difficult thing for people who have twins and are first time parents.  Did you know that the state of NC ratio for infants to care givers in a classroom is 5:1?  In the higher star centers it's 4:1, these are the types of center's I've always worked in.  I came into this prepared for caring for multiple children at once.  No I have not ever work primarily in an infant classroom but I have work in there as coverage if needed.

I am not a read a book and follow it kind of parent.  In fact the spousal unit and I didn't even take birthing classes because we felt we had a good grip on things.  I did buy a book about twin pregnancies so I knew what to expect as we went though.  I enjoyed it but when it got to week 36 and I was giving birth I put it on the shelf and didn't flip any further into it about "life after birth."

I am also not a schedule type of parent.  I have two very strong minded babies.  One of them LOVES TO EAT and will eat anytime you put a bottle in his mouth!  The other will ONLY eat when he is STARVING.  Seriously he puckers his mouth and you can't put the bottle in his mouth, he is very strong willed!  I totally believe in routine and the fact that every day is different so it can be bent and molded to what I need to get done.  

I also believe that there is no reason that my life has to be significantly different now than it was in November or even last March.  My parents live 3 hours away am I going to stop visiting them just because the boys beds are here?  Hell no.  Am I going to stop taking a weekend trip to the beach if that's what I want to do?  Ummm NO!  My personal belief is that babies can handle life as you live it and there's no reason to change!  

My biggest belief is that if it doesn't work for me, I am the parent I can change things around to make it work for us!

I have also caught some flack from people about choosing to cloth diaper.  #1, The way you cloth diaper has been revolutionized since I was a baby.  #2, am I asking anyone to help me wash/dry/stuff the diapers?  No I chose to do this and I am understanding that my friends and family didn't make the choice.  I do love the fact that our families seem to have embraced the cloth diapers and will change the boys!  Be on the look out for a post about my reasons for choosing to cloth!

I'm sure that as the boys grow and/or we add to our family my feelings and style of parenting will develop and evolve, as everyone's does.  And I've got to go for now because those two tiny humans that were actually both napping at the same time are now stirring!  

How My Life Changed FOREVER!

3-29-2013: 6:15 AM I decided to get up for a bathroom run and hopefully head back to bed since it was Saturday!  I had a suspicion I was pregnant and the night before we had stopped to get a test on the way home from a family event.  I took the test and waited the longest 5 minutes of my life to look at it!

6-3-2013: I had a dream (nightmare) that I was pregnant with Triplets.  The spousal unit was out of town for work and when I jokingly told him about the dream he told me to wait until after he was off work the next day to call him unless it was really triplets!

6-4-2013: I went in for my first ultrasound.  I informed the doctor of my dream (nightmare) from the night before and he laughed when I told him to check and make sure there was just one!  He then told me "You see this black area here?"  I responded "Yes it looks like the top of another sack."  He then said, "yes that's what I think it is too, I'm going to recommend you go for a more sensitive ultrasound within the next week."  Needless to say the spousal unit was shocked when I called him in the middle of his work day!

6-11-2013: The spousal unit and I get up and head in for the "more sensitive ultrasound" really thinking the doctor was just covering his butt.  The technician only had the probe on me for 2 seconds before she smiled really big and said, "congrats dad it's twins!"  We were both shocked and silent!

8-6-2013: We discovered these identical beings inside of me were indeed boys!

12-7-2013:  36 Weeks!  I had been told "if you make it to 36 weeks we'll most likely take the boys then because that's really good for identical twins."  Sadly this was a Saturday so I hosted a Christmas Party!

*Note the HUGE baby mountain!*

12-9-2013: 4 AM I'm awake and getting ready to head to the hospital!  

5:15 AM We are at the hospital in the triage room starting the prep for my C-Section

5:30ish AM They start the IV and I almost pass out!

7:15 AM Here we go!

7:50 AM Child Unit 1 was born

7:51 AM Child Unit 2 was born

8:00 AM I was crying because they were so cute!

The rest of the day is a blur of joy/exhaustion/and carpal tunnel pain from the excess fluids they put in through the IV!

As I sit here 2 months later I am thinking:

"IT'S ONLY BEEN 2 MONTHS!"

"What did we do before them?"

"They really are the cutest boys EVER!"

Stay tuned for the ups and downs of my attempts through motherhood and trying to keep with my "normal" life!

Shrimp Risotto

I decided to blog my risotto recipe that I use rather frequently as a side however the night I documented my process I was making it as the main dish with shrimp so typically I do all these steps minus anything that is dealing with shrimp.

We are huge fans of risotto but before you begin you need to know you are going to need a great non-stick pot or a wonderful stirring partner.  My husband use to be my wonderful stirring parter however, I have gotten a new Pampered Chef Ceramic Non-Stick 2.75 Covered Saucepan and it is the best/only pot that I will use for Risotto.

To start the process you melt 2 tablespoons butter with 2 cloves of garlic in your non-stick pot.  Stir until your garlic is fragrant and the butter is melted.

You also need a second pot to heat 4 cups of chicken stock in, you need it hot but not boiling so I always set it at heat of 3-4.

At this point you add in 1 Cup of Rice and stir in into the butter.

Then add 1/4 (ish) cup of room temperature White Wine and stir until the rice is translucent and the wine is absorbed.  (The wine needs to be room temp so that it doesn't shock the rice.)  At this point you start adding the chicken stock 1 ladle at a time.  You stir until the stock is absorbed and then add more stock until you have added all the stock.

Once all the stock is added and absorbed you need to add about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and 2 more tablespoons of butter.  Stir into the risotto and cover for about 5 minutes.  If you are serving it as a side once 5 minutes have passed all you do is stir and serve.  If you want to do as I did move into the next steps.  

At this point I moved onto the shrimp.  I had purchased a bag of shrimp from the store frozen and thawed it before adding it to my saute pan.  I coated the pan with some olive oil and sprinkled a Pampered Chef rub (I can't remember which one) onto the shrimp and heated it through since it is already cooked in the package I purchased.

Once the shrimp was heated and the risotto had set I was ready to mix them and just stirred the shrimp into the risotto and served!

Let me know if you try this dish and what your results are!

Ratings:

Expense: $ as a side and $$ as a main dish

Taste: 4 Forks

Time to Prepare: 2 Clocks

Cleanliness to Make: 2 Dishsoap Bottles

Cleanliness to Eat: 1 Bib

Overall: 5 Thumbs

Homemade Butterfingers

So I have basically become a Pinterest addict.  Admitting it is the first step right?  In my searchings one day I came across a pin for Homemade Butterfingers.  Being one of my favorite candies I decided to give it a shot.  They were amazing.  No if ands or buts about it!  The best part is that it only involved 3 ingredients and was relatively quick!

So are you ready for the super easy step by step process?

-Melt 1 pound of Candy Corn (I was shocked too, if you hate candy corn do not worry, you can't tell) in a Microwave safe container.  I used my Pampered Chef Large Micro Cooker and it worked great!

-Mix in 1 16 Oz, Jar of Honey Roast Peter Pan Peanut Butter

-Pour into a container lined with Parchment paper and let set until hardened (This process took a bit longer than I thought it would. I suggest a bit of time in the refrigerator to speed it up)

-After the mixture hardens cut it into bars or squares depending on how large you want your pieces.

-Melt Almond Bark (or your favorite candy dipper) and dip your pieces into the chocolate and let them harden on a parchment or wax paper lined tray or rack.

Mine weren't winning a beauty prize but they tasted wonderful!  Everyone I shared with loved them as well!

Let me know if you try it and how they turn out!

Ratings:

Expense- $$

Taste- 4 Forks

Time- 5 Clocks

Cleanliness to Make- 3 Dishsoap Bottles

Cleanliness to Eat- Paper Napkin

Overall- 5 Thumbs

Lettuce Wraps

So I am a fan of the Lettuce Wraps that are available from P. F. Changs.  One night I attempted to make them at home with the assistance from my friend over at Craft On!  If you agree with me that the crispy rice sticks make the wrap then you understand that the first step was finding these to purchase.  Well turns out they are just deep fried rice sticks.  So I purchased a package of rice sticks and watched a few videos to learn how to do this.  I then read the directions on the package and ended up following the package not the videos.  The main difference was that the video said to soak and dry the rice sticks which was a 30 minute process versus the package saying to use dry noodles.  I decided to go for shortest time and tada we ended up with a pile of rice sticks.  

We only used a third of the package for this mountain of sticks.  So to fry them we added a few cups of vegetable oil to a pan (if you have a wok use it!) and heat it.  Once hot toss a few in and then as they "poof" and come back to the top pull them out.  Make sure the utensil you use is heat resistant because the oil melted one of my utensils!

Next we made a Chicken Stir Fry Mixture, I will be the first to tell you that I added soy sauce, teriyaki  sauce and chicken to the pan.  I can also tell you that I have no idea what amounts I used!  We added red peppers and carrots to the mixture.  It cooked for about 15 minutes before we were ready to serve it.  I did check the temperature of the chicken and it needs to be 165 degrees to serve so make sure you are either checking with a thermometer or you cut into the chicken to check it for doneness!

Next it was time to combine the wonderful components of our meal and enjoy!

It looked great and colorful and it tasted amazing.  I served a bit of soy sauce on the side because that's how I like it!

Ratings Wise the Lettuce Wraps shape up to:

Cleanliness to Make- 2

Expense- $$

Taste- 4

Time to Prepare- 3

Cleanliness to Eat- 3

Overall- 4

Does anyone have any suggestions of other veggies that would be good in the chicken mixture?  I am always open to suggestions!

Rating Scale for Recipes I Share

In future posts I will be rating the dishes I make based on this rating scale.  I figured I would post a Master Copy of the rating system here for 2 reasons.  I have a tend to forget things recently so I'll need it in the future!  Reason number 2 is that I'm sure some of you would like a reminder sometimes too!

Happy Cooking!


Expense:
$-          $1 - $5
$$-        $5 - $10
$$$-       $10 - $15
$$$$-     $15 - $20
$$$$$-   $20 and Up

Taste:
1 Fork-    Yuck
2 Forks-   Socks Not Blown
3 Forks-   Ehh
4 Forks-   Yum!
5 Forks-   WOW!

Time to Prepare:
1 Clock-    0-15 Minutes
2 Clocks-  15-30 Minutes
3 Clocks-  30-45 Minutes
4 Clocks-  45 Minutes-1 Hour
5 Clocks-  1 Hour or More

Cleanliness to Make:
1 Dishsoap Bottle-  Rinse & Set
2 Dishsoap Bottles- Let The Kids Do the Dishes
3 Dishsoap Bottles- Nothing A Scrub Brush Can't Handle
4 Dishsoap Bottles- Glad I have a Dish Washer
5 Dishsoap Bottles- OH THE DISHES!

Cleanliness to Eat:
1 Bib-  Wear White
2 Bibs- Paper Napkin
3 Bibs- Wet Wipe
4 Bibs- Lobster Bib
5 Bibs- Breakout the Hose

Overall Rating:
1 Thumb-  Never Again
2 Thumbs- Make for Somebody Else
3 Thumbs- I'll Write It In My Book
4 Thumbs- Add To My Rotation
5 Thumbs- Every Week Please

Let's give this another try!

OK folks, I had such hopes for blogging about living in the woods, (my husband would say that we don't live in the woods) oh well so much for that.  Follow up from the post more than a year ago, we caught the 1 mouse we had and have not had another since!  The man of the household is no longer my boyfriend, he quickly became my fiance and is now my husband!  The boxes are for the most part unpacked and we are settled in very nicely!

I'm trying this new kick with a friend of mine, she and I have both been thinking personally that we should blog and now have worked out a system for trying new things!  She is a crafty kind of person and you can check her out at Craft On! while she is helping guide you through a crafting process I am having adventures in the kitchen!  I plan to bring you some of my favorite recipes to make as well as tell the tales about my exploits with new recipes! 

Be on the look out for my take on P.F. Changs Lettuce Wraps as well as Homemade Chocolate Granola!