All posts by Nichole

The Adventure of Pirates, Part One

10/01/2013 Nichole 1 Comment

I can’t think of anything to say these days, but that has never been an issue for Pete. I found evidence of that this evening when I was cleaning of my computer’s desktop. The file was originally opened on September 28, 2012, and it took me a good long while to figure out exactly what’s going on here.

One afternoon Pete was playing with our “Story Cubes” by himself in the living room floor, and this was his creation. I think we might have a mini David Lynch on our hands.

The Adventure of Pirates
by Pete

There was a house, and in lived it lived a turtle. He went to a castle, but it was locked. He tried to use the magic cane, and then the magic wand, but he could not do it! He knew why. Because there were apples stuck in the gears, and he couldn’t work. So he saw a keyhole which attended the gears. What will happen next?

He “wrote” the story in multiple parts; tune in tomorrow for the next one!

Eating

7 freezer meals for new parents

09/25/2013 Nichole 1 Comment

I didn’t make dinner for about a month after Poppy was born. Every afternoon someone would show up bearing a hug and a good meal, and it was fabulous.

Having food on hand was such a big help when we were trying to adjust to having a new baby, and I wanted to pass that same sort of assistance on to Mr & Mrs Perry Mason. I live too far away from them to stop by with a daily lasagna and a hug, though, so instead I whipped up some meals, froze them and stashed them away in their freezer for them to use at their leisure.

I didn’t make all of these for the Masons, but I can attest that all of them are great freezer-friendly foods.

Tacos. I like to use Alton Brown’s Taco Potion No. 9 on ground beef. If you want to do something a little fancier than ground beef, though, Shredded Salsa Beef is a great option.

Rachael Ray’s Super Sloppy Joes

Meatballs. The traditional Italian meatball is great for subs or pasta, but I’m also fond of Hawaiian meatballs.

White chicken chili

Chicken tortilla soup. I use rotisserie chicken if I’m pressed for time.

Chicken pot pie.

Martha Stewart’s Lasagna Primavera.

menu plan Monday

We are overscheduled.

09/16/2013 Nichole

OK, so recovering from the kidney stone blasting has taken way longer than I’d expected. And this is the week that all of the children’s extracurricular activities get underway, so I’m a little bit stressed.

Monday: The grocery store: Co-op, Odyssey of the Mind and rehearsals for “The Nutcracker” start this week. We’ll be stopping by the grocery store’s hot foods bar tonight. I’m hoping to have my act together a little bit more next week.
Tuesday: Chicken sausages: Tomorrow is tae kwon do followed by soccer practice. Followed by one of the easiest dinners in my repertoire.
Wednesday: Frozen pizza: One of the other easiest? Frozen pizza. Wednesday’s schedule includes piano and two dance classes.

And that’s as far out as I’ve planned for this week. Pray for me.