Dinner is ready! I

I know, it's only 9:30 a.m. EST. But see I've been up since the wee hours of the morning being systematically tortured by thoughts of faulty wiring causing our house to burn to the ground and by the incessant kicking, headbutting and general bed- hogginess of our otherwise adorable 3 year old. Seriously, how can someone only 3 feet tall take up 90% of the space in a king-sized bed? Also my friend Mark brings up a great point with his theory that children actually grow extra arms and legs in the night because they flail around like beached octopi. But I was talking about dinner wasn't I? Yes, since I have literally been up since the crack of dawn it gave me a chance to start a crockpot meal.

Taco Crockpot Chicken

To the crockpot add 1 16 oz package of frozen corn
Over that place 1 can of rinsed and drained black beans
On top of that add boneless chicken(3 breasts, 4-5 thighs, tenders what have you)
Over that pour 1 16 oz container of salsa

Put the lid on and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. You can shred the chicken with two forks and serve it as taco filling, or you can add a can or two of chicken broth and make a tasty soup.

This recipe has been making the rounds on a parenting website I frequent and I have no idea who to credit for it, but my friend Lisa passed it on to me.

What makes this recipe a winner to me is 1) the chicken can be added frozen and 2)slow cooker recipes are perfect because they do not heat up the house and they are not labor intensive at all. Enjoy!

Back in the Saddle Again

You know, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you move into a house that was apparently built on an Indian burial ground or something. Yes, the new house has been a bit of a challenge (rats, snakes, broken refrigerators) and now some wonky electrical issues. My breakers keep flipping. I don't have anything plugged in aside from the usual kitchen appliances and also sometimes when I plug things in I hear a little sizzle-pop sound and see some sparks.

This is a wooden house and I feel like just maybe it will catch fire. Normally I would not indulge in such catastrophic thinking, but my track record with this house has not been good. I am going to call the landlord tomorrow.

Anyhow, I DID make dinner tonight, simple Spaghetti and Meatballs. I know today was technically Meatless Monday, but you could make this a meatless meal just by omitting the meatballs or by adding any good vegetarian meatballs or even adding something like a can of rinsed cannelini beans for a bit of protein and heartiness.

My basic method is to start my lightly salted water to boil in a stock pot with a lid on it. Then I sautee my vegetables in a bit of olive oil in a sauce pan, tonight I used minced garlic, diced onion and diced green pepper, adding the garlic last to make sure it doesn't scorch or burn. Other nights I might wilt some spinach or sautee some mushrooms as well, basically use anything you like, sometimes I even add some grated carrot if I think the kids need another serving of veggies. Once your veggies have softened a bit I add 1 small can of diced tomatoes and 1 small can of tomato sauce, plus some Italian seasoning. I let all of this simmer until the pasta is ready. If using meatballs you can let them simmer in the sauce until cooked, or cook them in a seperate pan and then add to the sauce at the end. I was using frozen meatballs today so I let them simmer in the sauce for 25 minutes. Our pasta tonight was whole wheat thin spaghetti. Dessert was no sugar added applesauce with an optional sprinkling of cinnamon.

Everything Will Kill You

So I grew up in the South making sun tea, we even had the special little glass jar with a spigot on the bottom just for making it. It was painted with little flowers and was super cheerful. Sun tea is so easy too, just add water, tea bags and let it sit in a sunny spot for a few hours. Then add sugar, lemon, or mint and you were done.

Now apparently, sun tea CAN KILL YOU!!! By not boiling the water you are allowing an environment where bacteria can grow and (it is implied) eat your face off, scare your dog and ruin your credit rating.

I live in a house without air conditioning, and boiling anything on my stove top add a certain humid heat that is unpleasant. I made some deviled eggs for the girls the other day and standing anywhere near the stove was what I imagine a wrinkled shirt feels like under the iron. I could make it in the microwave but I always forget it and then hours later I open the door to defrost something and BOOM there's a glass measuring cup full of cold tea staring at me.

What is a southern girl to do? Make some refrigerator tea, of course! Just add water and tea bags to a pitcher the night before and leave it in the fridge for 12 hours. The next day you will have fresh iced tea. To add sweetness to already cold tea, I simply make a cup or two of simple syrup and use it to sweeten individual glasses. Simple syrup is just 2 parts sugar to one part water, for instance if I boil up 2 cups of water, then I add in 4 C of sugar, stirring constantly. Once the sugar has dissolved I remove the water from the heat, let it sit and cool and thicken, then pour it into a clean mason jar and refrigerate it till I need it.

So there ya go. Of course you really need a refrigerator for this recipe and I won't have one until this weekend, but have a nice cold one for me!

...and now the refrigerator broke!

Last night I made steak and chicken fajitas, watched my family eat peacefully at the dining room table. We were all watching the lizards running across the dining room windows eating bugs and I thought, "Yes, things are going to be alright here."

Today? Not so much. The refrigerator has not been acting right since we moved in, I called the repairman and he came out and said, basically, the whole fridge is shot to hell. Go get a new one. Well my landlord lives in another state from me, so coordinating a new fridge has fallen on my shoulders a bit. Then there are the vagaries of delivery when one lives on a small island. Saturday was my earliest delivery date. SATURDAY. Till then I am to what? Cool the milk in a sink filled with ice?

I remember there being a chest freezer in one of the backyard tool sheds. I haul it out, clean it up and plug it in to keep my freezer stuff, uh, frozen. Meanwhile I start a new load of laundry (one of the kids had an accident last night) so I am up to my ears in sheets and blankets. I come back half an hour later ready to put the clothes in the dryer and, lo, the washer is full of hot dirty water. What. the. hell????? I trudge to our outdoor breaker box, now conveniently located in ankle high weeds because the landlord's landscaping company did NOT come out and mow the yard. I saw a snake out there yesterday. A SNAKE. So I go to the breaker box and a fuse has blow. I flip the switch and go over and turn the washer back on.

Meanwhile I am trying to load all of my refrigerator stuff into some coolers with the last of the ice from the freezer. I decide after I get that packed up that I will go out and dry my laundry. HAHAHAHA! The washer has turned off again. Go back to the breaker box, flip the switch, go back and restart the clothes. Make more phone calls related to the refrigerator crisis. Wait for the exterminator to come and bring me a key to the landlord's cottage so I can load my fridge stuff into her tiny fridge. Try and unpack. Debate the wisdom of unpacking into a house already beset by rats, carpenter ants, a lousy fridge and now bad wiring. Cry a little. Hear tremendous thump where Preschool Child has flipped off of my raised bed and landed face first onto the floor. Her sister runs by sobbing, "I didn't push her!" The preschooler has a scrape on her head. Take to my bed with the baby and calm her down. Decide that I am definitely going out to dinner tonight and I may well have a drink or two with it.

Dinner in the New House

Okay, despite the unpacking ordeal and the rat thing, I sucked it up and sanitized the dishes and made dinner for the last two nights. Night one involved everybody's favorite grocery store rotisserie chicken and some heat and eat side dishes, night two was hotdogs, mac and cheese and steamed broccoli spears. So yeah, no great culinary masterpieces, but we ate all together at the dining room table as a family. We couldn't find the table cloths so we put a giant sized beach towel over the table. I had the baby put the forks and paper towels by each plate that the 8 year old laid out, we all drank out of plastic cups gleaned from various casual dining restaurants and chatted; about the rat, about the kids new school, about my husband's new job, my hopes for putting in a late summer garden.

I know I haven't been too enthusiastic about this move but really the house (rat aside) is pretty awesome. It is an old style "conch cottage" and the woman who owns it is a horticulturalist, so it is all set up with raised garden beds, a compost tumbler and several mature fruit trees. I have carambolas (star fruit), key lime (of course!), and a freaking grove of banana trees. The banana trees are watered with the water that drains from the bathtubs! The washing machine waters another grove of banana trees. There is also an all-spice tree that grows tiny allspice berries. The leaves when crushed smell delightfully like pumpkin pie or egg nog or any number of spicy holiday treats. My landlord said she packs up her Christmas ornaments with fresh leaves so that when she opens them the following year they smell wonderful.

Going to finish putting the kitchen together tomorrow, I have been washing the cabinets out with ammonia and water and sanitizing dishes and trying to figure out where to put every thing. Also listening for the sudden snap of a rat trap, so you know... busy.

How was your week?

Until I get back on my feet blog wise...

here are some super cool links for yummy lunches and snacks. I know with school starting back soon we are all thinking about these things. Today my kids ate Vienna sausages, cheese sticks and pickled okra for lunch (this was their choice). Man, moving-in meals cannot be over soon enough. We have been eating a lot of cold cereal and PB and J over here too.

Here is a yummy sounding vegan snack bar from Martha Stewart.
Here is a BUNCH of cool sounding sandwiches from Family Fun magazine.
Here are some cool healthy lunch ideas from Kaboose.
And finally, some seriously funny banana magic from The Bloggess!

That's all from me today, I have to go unpack 47 thousand more boxes now, but please keep in touch!

Where the heck have I been?

Moved out of old house, discovered small snake living in a hole in the rotted door jamb of old house, scare snake away, fill hole with expanding crack filler.

Move stuff in various bins, boxes and bags to new house, discover large black snake living in the laundry room (outdoor separate building) watch snake slither from laundry room to under the house. Freak OUT. Keep moving in, making sure to keep door more firmly closed. Go on vacation for a week, eat like a horse (amazing southern home cooking food) and return home rested, relaxed and ready to put the kitchen together and get cooking when I realized... SOMETHING has chewed through a bag of coffee and a bag of chocolate chips. I have a mouse. Maybe a rat. In my kitchen. Eating things. Walking on my counters.

I want to know what the HELL the snake has been doing that it let a rodent into my house?!

Also, should I get a cat?

The exterminator gets here at 2.