Quick change

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That guy who said necessity is the mother of invention? Not in my house, fella. Around these parts, laziness leads to innovation.

A year or so ago, Poppy woke up screaming around 1am. It wasn’t her usual “I’d like to get up and play” scream. She meant business. I stumbled out of bed and into her room, where I discovered one distraught little girl and a whole lot of vomit. I cleaned her up and calmed her down while Rockford changed the sheets.

About half an hour later, she screamed again.

We spent the rest of the night cuddling in the bathroom floor, administering Pedialyte and holding little Pi over the potty every few minutes. It was not a fun evening.

But there was a silver lining! Ever since that late-night sheet-changing fest, I’ve double-sheeted the beds. (The kids’ beds, not ours. Although that would save a full-on sheet change every now and then, wouldn’t it? Hmm …). Pete’s crib, for example, has several layers: the mattress, a mattress pad, a sheet, a sturdy piece of cloth, another sheet. This came in handy a few days ago when he had a major case of the spit-ups during his nap. All I had to do was pull the nasty sheet off and viola! Clean sheets!

If I were on top of things, I would have put another fresh sheet on top as soon as I had the chance. I’m taking baby steps toward efficiency, though, so that hasn’t yet happened. Maybe I should go do that right now.

Hangin' tough

Listen up everybody if you wanna take a chance.
Just get on the floor and do the New Kids dance.
Don’t worry ’bout nothing cause it won’t take long.
We’re gonna put you in a trance with a funky song.

If this really happens, I plan to be there. I might even break out the Aqua Net for the occasion.

Runaway Soup

In “Runaway Soup,” Grover wakes up one chilly morning and decides that a big bowl of soup would hit the spot. He throws things into the pot until the soup sort of comes to life and overruns the town. Poppy loves the story. When I brought dinner to the table this evening, Poppy declared it Runaway Soup. I would have called it Chicken Tortilla Soup. But to each his own, I suppose.

Runaway Chicken Tortilla Soup
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
vegetable oil
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 cup or so frozen corn, thawed
1 1/2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1/2 cup or so half-and-half

Heat oil in soup pot. Saute onion, garlic and red pepper until onion is translucent. Stir black beans and corn. Stir in taco seasoning and chili powder. Add chicken broth and tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes. Add chicken. Simmer until chicken is heated through. Stir in half-and-half. Serve with tortilla chips (we like Garden of Eatin’s Chili and Lime chips), shredded cheese and sour cream.

The chicken I used was from last night’s barbecue chicken sandwiches. The barbecue on the chicken was light enough that it didn’t effect the flavor of the soup. This was an improvised recipe, and I’m so happy to report that it was delicious. We’ll definitely have it again.